5. Ridge
Five
Ridge
A fter dropping Avery off at the vineyard, I spent the morning doing chores around the ranch. The work got done faster today without having to check on Avery every few minutes. My mom was picking up Lily and Cody later, and they were going to spend the night at her place since it was a holiday tomorrow.
Once the ranch work was taken care of, I grabbed a quick burrito for lunch while going over some paperwork. After that, I cleaned up around the house picking up the scattered toys and books, placing them back where the belong. That’s when I got a text from Ethan.
Ethan: Dinner at the vineyard tonight. We’re trying out some new menu items, need as many critiques as possible.
I sighed and typed back a simple ‘Okay.’
An hour later, I sat in my office trying to work but my mind just wouldn’t focus. My mind kept wandering back to the fact that I’d left Avery over at the vineyard all day with Emma. It was her first time looking after Avery, and I couldn’t help but worry she might get overwhelmed.
The thought of Emma potentially feeling in over her head made my chest clench with anxiety. I didn’t want her to panic and make a run for it like Melissa had…
No. Stop right there, McCords. You’ve only known this girl for half a day - there’s no relationship here at all, period. Don’t go projecting all your baggage onto her.
Except…I did feel this odd connection to Emma, a gravitational pull I couldn’t quite explain. Even after such a short time, just the thought of her made my pulse pick up, my throat go dry with longing.
She was everything Melissa hadn’t been - soft and warm, with a gentle strength that called to the deepest parts of my soul. Looking into those emerald eyes, I felt like I was drowning in their endless depths, the rest of the world fading away until there was nothing but her.
And Christ, when she smiled…it was like the clouds parting after a storm, bright and radiant and so fucking beautiful it damn near brought me to my knees.
I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face as I tried in vain to push those dangerous thoughts aside. Getting hung up on some girl was the last thing I needed right now. Avery was my priority - end of story.
Still…I couldn’t quite shake the nagging sense of guilt at having left her with Emma all day. For all I knew, Avery could be running my poor neighbour ragged, testing every last ounce of her patience. The kid was a handful on the best of days; asking someone with zero childcare experience to wrangle her might have been too tall an order.
The more I lingered on it, the more convinced I became that I needed to go check on them, if only to ease my own mind. Emma had done me a huge favor today, after all - it was the least I could do to make sure she wasn’t in over her head.
Yeah, that was it. I was just being a good guy, doing my neighborly duty. Definitely no ulterior motives at play here, no sir.
With a huff of determination, I heaved myself up off the desk and headed out, making the short trek over to the vineyard. When I arrived, Ethan’s mom pointed me towards the back garden, letting me know that’s where Emma and Avery had been working.
As I pushed through the gate and rounded the corner, I damn near swallowed my tongue at the scene that greeted me.
There, in the middle of a large tub filled to the brim with plump, purple grapes, was Emma - and holy hell, she looked good enough to eat.
Her sundress, which I could have sworn had been a pale, dusty blue when I dropped Avery off, was now soaked through with grape juice, turning it a deep, sinful maroon that clung to her lush curves like a second skin. Her chestnut hair was tousled and wild, a few loose tendrils escaping the messy bun she’d tied it up in, framing her face in a way that made my mouth go dry.
I watched, transfixed, as she threw her head back with a peal of delighted laughter, the column of her throat bared in a way that had me itching to run my tongue along its length. Christ, she was a temptation, all soft and sweet and utterly irresistible.
The sight of her, coupled with the realization that she was covered head to toe in sticky, sugary grape juice, had my blood heating in a wholly different way. Visions of licking every last inch of her, tasting that sweet nectar on my tongue as she writhed and whimpered beneath me, began to fill my mind unbidden.
I let out a strangled groan, shifting in a vain attempt to ease the strain in my suddenly too-tight jeans. Goddammit, this woman was going to be the death of me, and I’d only known her for a matter of hours.
Just then, a sticky glob of squashed grapes came sailing through the air to smack me square in the chest, shattering my heated reverie. I looked up to find Avery giggling madly, her hands cupped around another handful of ammunition.
“What in the name of holy hell is going on here?” I growled, trying in vain to stamp down my simmering arousal. Because seriously…a goddamn grape fight? Now I had to bathe and change not only Avery, but myself as well, all because these two couldn’t be bothered to act like responsible adults for five goddamn minutes.
Emma whipped around at the sound of my voice, her cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink as she took in my no-doubt thunderous expression. Ethan, on the other hand, just grinned at me, one eyebrow cocked in a look of pure, shit-eating glee.
“Heya, Grumpy,” he called out cheerfully, reaching down to scoop up another handful of grapes. “Care to join us?”
“Don’t you dare…” I began warningly, but it was too late. The squishy projectiles were already sailing through the air, splattering against my face and chest with a nauseating plop.
I sputtered, scrubbing at my eyes as thick rivulets of purple juice trickled down my shirt. “For god’s sake Ethan…” I growled, leveling a murderous glare at my so-called best friend. Oh, he was going to get it now.
Before Ethan could so much as blink, I was diving into the tub, sloshing through the sticky sea of grapes until I was right in front of him. With a feral grin, I grabbed two handfuls of ammunition and let them fly, pelting him squarely in the face and hair.
“Hey!” he protested, swiping the juice from his eyes with the back of his hand. “No fair, man! Two against one?”
I scoffed, already reaching for another round of ammo. “Should’ve thought of that before you decided to make me a target, jackass.”
And just like that, the battle was on.
Grapes went flying in every direction, splashing and splattering until the whole garden was a sticky mess. Peals of unrestrained laughter filled the air as we ducked and weaved, taunting each other like overgrown children.
At some point, Avery managed to wiggle her way into the fray, taking up a position behind Emma and lobbing grapes at me with surprisingly good aim for a two-year-old. Each time one of her little missiles managed to hit its mark, she would erupt into a fit of giggles, her whole face scrunched up with delight.
“That’s my girl!” I crowed, ruffling her hair proudly before returning fire at Ethan. “Avenge your old man, baby girl!”
Despite my earlier frustration, I couldn’t keep the grin off my face as the battle raged on. There was just something so…freeing about letting go like this, about embracing the chaos and just allowing myself to be in the moment. All my worries and stresses seemed to melt away, until there was nothing but the thrill of the fight and the joy of Avery’s bright, uninhibited laughter.
At least, that’s what I told myself in an effort to ignore the very different kind of thrill that sparked through me every time my gaze landed on Emma’s lithe, luscious form. The way her dress clung to her curves, outlining every soft swell and dip in mouthwatering detail…it was enough to make a man’s thoughts turn downright sinful.
More than once, I found myself shamelessly ogling the way her chest heaved with each breathless peal of laughter.
Finally, when Avery’s giggles subsided, she tugged on Emma’s sleeve and asked in that sweet, pleading tone only a child can muster, “pick me up, plwease?”
“You feeling tired, buttercup?” Emma cooed, those big doe eyes of hers shining with pure adoration.
I felt a tightness in my chest watching my little girl nuzzle into the crook of Emma’s neck, small fingers playing idly with the damp tendrils of Emma’s hair. A pang of guilt lanced through me. If Melissa hadn’t been so selfish, so eager to chase the illusion of a better life with her hotshot lawyer boy toy, I hope Avery wouldn’t be so starved for that bond, I hope I could be enough.
Shaking off the bitter memories, I cleared my throat. “I’ll take her home and we’ll freshen up, then see you for dinner.” I tried for a casual smile, but couldn’t help drinking in every detail of Emma in that clinging, ruined sundress.
There was an effortless beauty about her in this moment—mussed hair, flushed cheeks, and all. Gone was the shy, awkward girl from yesterday, replaced by this vibrant, uninhibited creature radiating pure joy. She was utterly captivating.
And damned if I didn’t find the whole raucous, messy scenario insanely arousing despite my initial irritation. Maybe it was the grins and squeals of delight from my typically reserved daughter. Or maybe it was the equally carefree smile Emma wore so dazzlingly.
I’m a stickler for order, for rules and discipline. So this unapologetic chaos shouldn’t appeal to me at all. And yet… there was something undeniably alluring about cutting loose like this, surrendering to unbridled fun and whimsy.
Responsibilities and self-imposed emotional barriers had me wound up tighter than a coiled spring most days. But Emma, with her infectious spirit and easygoing grace, had a way of throwing me deliciously off-kilter. Of reminding me that it was okay to embrace the unscripted messiness of life every once in a while.
As I took Avery from Emma’s arms, our fingers brushed ever so briefly in the transfer. A shiver rippled through me at the whisper of contact. Avery was all I could focus on in that moment to avoid turning beet red from the swirling haunt of desire I fought to ignore.
“We’ll see you soon,” Emma murmured, giving my daughter’s cheek an affectionate stroke.
I bobbed my head wordlessly, turning on my heel to make a hasty retreat before the sight of Emma covered in that viscous liquid proved too much temptation. The damp clinging fabric left absolutely nothing to the imagination, and my overactive mind was already storming with X-rated thoughts of using my tongue to thoroughly clean every luscious inch of her body.
Get a grip, you filthy bastard, I chastised myself as we neared the house. She’s barely out of her teens while you’re a broken down, world-weary dad closing in on forty. The girl deserves better than your twisted cravings.
But no matter how I tried to douse the raging lust burning through my veins, images of Emma’s ample breasts straining against that soaked dress material wouldn’t stop replaying in my head. Christ, I was already half-hard at the thought of suckling those ripe, perky peaks while she writhed and whimpered beneath me.
This morning’s cold shower was about to get the night’s encore performance, that’s for damn sure. I needed to drown these sinful urges in an icy deluge before they consumed me completely. Emma was the epitome of elegant, refined beauty—a porcelain angel utterly undeserving of the depraved cravings roiling within the depths of my calloused soul.
Get it together, you pathetic bastard. She probably writes you off as that crotchety rancher prick next door as it is. Don’t make things even more uncomfortable for her by openly gawking like a damned tongue-tied creep.
I had to get a handle on these turbulent desires, these intrusive fantasies of bending Emma over the nearest surface to make her mine. Because there’s no way in hell someone as radiant and pure as her would ever entertain the sinful whims of a broken, unworthy soul like myself.
Deep, steadying breaths slowly leaked the furious pounding from my skull. One agonizing inhalation after another until the visions began to recede, peeling away in smoky tendrils to reveal the fractured man beneath—the one too haunted and damaged to submit to such earthly temptations.
The ragged sigh that escaped me then sounded like the dying gasp of something primal and hopeless.
With a bone-deep lethargy, I pushed away from the door and headed toward the back stairs, boots scuffing against the polished hardwood in a rhythm as weary as my soul. After bathing Avery and strapping her to the portable swing in my bedroom, I went to shower myself. I placed the baby monitor on the sink and before stepping through the partition into my shower, slowly peeling off the sticky layers of my clothes, I let my mind blank out.
I made quick work of rinsing myself clean. Now, I just have to get through dinner with her and her family.