Chapter 11
Eleven
Eliot
I finished the dishes left from lunch. There weren’t many, but after we ate, Lily and I listened as Weston rehashed everything we knew about the last will and trust of Annie Duke. Lily’s aunt was in charge of it all, but she and Weston had the authority to determine if we were a real couple or not. They both had to agree and sign off. Weird stipulation, but Annie Duke must’ve been in love with the idea of love. Then we’d had to rush to the recital. There hadn’t been time to introduce Lily’s family to mine before everyone had to return to Billings. From there, they’d travel to their respective homes. Jasper would come out to the ranch in September.
After the recital, the rest of Lily’s family cleared out of town.
Lily leaned against the counter. “Did you offer Jasper a job?”
It was close to ten, and the kids were already sleeping. Usually, I was sending her to bed first, but we had some time to ourselves. The house was quiet around us. My place was always quiet, but this was different. This was a home.
I hung up the dish towel. “Technically, Alder made a joke, not joking, about Jasper’s lack of a job, and I happen to have a legit opening.”
“Jasper used to love helping Grandma and Grandpa. He spent summers working for them.”
I rested a hand on the counter. We were facing each other, and I wasn’t inclined to move away from her. “He’ll fit right in.” I had a sense about the guy. The way his interest took over when he realized I was serious was a good sign. “Until he gets married and claims his own slice of heaven.”
“And there’s the kicker. You might only have him for six years.”
“That’s a good stretch for this kind of work. He also might get married earlier.”
Mirth danced in her eyes. “I’m going to have so much fun watching them scramble.”
An easy silence fell between us. I dug in my pocket, and my nerves fired up in my stomach. I retrieved the two little silicone bands I’d been carrying around all day.
“I thought we might need these.” I handed her the smaller band, and my heart scooted right into my throat. Both my boots were planted on the floor, but I felt like I was proposing. I wasn’t, but suddenly the bands were too cheap, too flimsy, too plain. Lily might not wear a lot of jewelry, but she deserved nice things. Did she like diamonds? Emeralds? Plain gold bands? Platinum?
My heart rate increased, and I had a hard time drawing in a breath.
She frowned at it like she didn’t know what she was looking at. “Is that a ring?”
“Yeah. So creeps leave you alone. Like that fucking Dr. Jake.” I’d heard too much about the veterinarian over the years. He’d been the lone vet in town until Sutton opened her clinic.
She laughed, then grimaced. “His reputation precedes him. Don’t worry, if I need a house call, I’ll phone Sutton’s Animal Care.”
“You’d better,” I growled. Jealousy clawed its way into my chest. I did not want that man around Lily. He was too much like her ex.
She put her ring on. “It fits. How’d you know the size?”
“I just did.” I slid my ring in place. The weight was light but noticeable. I’d never worn anything other than a watch. I flexed my hand. It felt good.
She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. My fingers itched to do the same. “I think the kids were worn out.” She smirked. “I’m going to need your family to have a dance recital and party every weekend.”
“We love recital weekends. Too bad you’re missing the street dance. We usually go to that afterward.”
“Oh.” Her expression went blank. “You can still go. I highly doubt my aunt does street dances. You shouldn’t have to worry about her seeing you.”
I drew back. I’d given her the impression I was missing out. “I’m not going to a dance and leaving you here.”
“Your brothers and sisters are there?”
I nodded.
“Then…” She swallowed. “Married guys still go to street dances without their wives.”
Not this married guy. I dug my phone out. “I’ve socialized all day. Believe me. I’m peopled out.” I clicked on my music and a slow country song filled the silence. I held my arms out. “Care to dance?”
“Eliot. You don’t have to.”
I tugged her into my arms and started a slow two-step. She fit perfectly in my hold. Her hand was dainty in mine and her other hand was warm on my shoulder. “If you don’t know how to dance, just say so.”
“I do!” She dropped her gaze. “It’s been a long time. And most of those days were in a college bar. Or a right-after-college bar. Okay, it was line dancing.”
I laughed. “I’m just as guilty of being able to line dance to ‘Cotton Eye Joe.’” I twirled us around, and she held on tighter.
“I don’t look like it now, but I had my share of wild bar nights.” She screwed her face up. “I’m not sure if I should admit that, much less sound proud.”
“I’m sure I’ve got a story to match each of yours.” Mine probably outnumbered hers. “There’s not much else to do in Buffalo Gully.” The more members of my family left, the less there was to do. “It’s barely a map dot.”
“I think towns that are barely map dots are the best,” she said softly.
The song ended and switched to another slow country ballad. I had a playlist for the quiet times when I just needed to not think of the future and how monotonous it was. The times I was stuck carrying out the obligations required of a Knight so my family could have some freedom. Having her in my arms certainly accomplished the same thing.
“Why aren’t you married, Eliot?” When I lifted a brow, she rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“‘Barely a map dot’ towns don’t have a lot of options. I mean, there are plenty of decent women there.” Plenty might be stretching it. Buffalo Gully was small. “But none who wanted to give up civilization to live in the middle of nowhere around a bunch of cattle and horses and strange men.”
“You breed strange men too?”
I chuckled. “Some days, it feels like it. I have a high turnover. Between the pay, which is competitive in an overall low-paying field, and the isolation, guys move on. They go to different ranches, they find their piece of heaven to buy, they settle down and want to be closer to a larger community. Mostly, I get guys who want to learn the ropes but have their own aspirations.”
“They don’t want to work forever for the guy with the aspirations.”
The bleakness rose in my chest, creating that gaping cavity I toed dirt into. Someday, it’d fill. “Exactly.”
“No. Not exactly.” She peered into my eyes, hers jumping back and forth. “I said something not quite right.”
I steered us around the table. How’d she guess? My family never did. I made comments, they ignored them, we got on with our lives. That was how it worked. I wasn’t used to being heard. “Aspirations is a strong word. I prefer to think of myself as the guy with the obligations.”
We danced and she waited, her gaze warm on my face.
Damn, she wanted me to continue. “I guess when I was a kid, I would’ve said I wanted to be a cowboy when I grew up, but I also wanted other experiences.”
“Like what?”
“I dunno. I mean, I travel for horse shows, but we never go that far.” And I’d backed off those. Our Arabians were so established by now I didn’t have to do a lot of ground-roots marketing. It was word of mouth and online advertising these days.
“Where would you go?”
“Hell, anywhere.” Again, she waited. I wasn’t getting out of this conversation. Maybe I should’ve gone to the street dance. But then I’d miss having her in my arms. “Some of the guys who come out to intern with me, or even to work for a few seasons, are from the East Coast. I’ve never been out there. I can’t get away for that long. I do these weekends, but I’m close to home in case anything happens.”
“Boston? DC?”
“It’s not the place, it’s the ability.” I ground my molars together. In the time of one song, she’d dug into the heart of my frustrations. Barns’s words streamed through my head. What are you fucking whining about now? “I just get a little wistful. I’m not like my mama.”
“How was that?”
I clenched my jaw again.
She tipped her head. “You don’t have to talk about her.”
“No, it’s only fair.” I didn’t usually like to discuss Mama. I’d been less to that woman than I was to Barns, and that was saying a lot. “She felt like she missed out on life. She resented us. And when she had a chance, she left. I’m not like her. I might want to travel, but it’s not a compulsion. I’m not a prisoner.” Those words rang empty. “I have a good life.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s wrong to want something different. Something you chose.”
“Sometimes being forced into things makes life interesting.”
She blinked. Shit.
“I’m so sorry.” She stopped and horror dawned in her expression. I kept my arms around her. “You can’t leave your home or your career, and now you can’t leave this marriage.”
I grinned. “Not for eleven months.”
A flash of hurt ran through her gaze so fast I should’ve missed it.
“I trapped you, I know I did. I promise that as soon as the time is up, I’ll have divorce papers drafted.”
My stomach clenched. The thought of those papers landing on my desk as just another task to finish left a thick, oily feeling in my gut. “It’s fine.”
“I can even get them done earlier, and you can sign on the day of. Aunt Linda doesn’t have to know right away. By then, it won’t be your business.”
“I’m not talking about?—”
“If we find a loophole, I’ll definitely let you know. Alder and Violet won’t let up?—”
I pressed my lips against hers. Lust rose like a flame on a dry day. I couldn’t blame my long stretch of solo nights. My desire was on a constant and inappropriate smolder around Lily. She was curvy in a way that gave a guy ideas, thoughts about how soft she’d feel under me or how those tits of hers would overflow in my hands. She was oblivious to her sex appeal.
I was not. She dug her fingers into me. She wasn’t pushing me away but pulling me closer. I continued kissing her, licking along her plump lower lip. Her mouth would’ve held me rapt for weeks if I was weaker, but I’d been determined not to pant around her like a stud ready to mount.
I lost that battle. I tightened my hold. She whimpered in a way that made me think of naked bodies and rumpled sheets.
Being taller than her made it harder to palm her ass, but when she twined herself around me, she fit perfectly. I could bend over her, keep my mouth on hers, and get a good grip on those ripe cheeks. When she opened her mouth for me, I groaned. Hot and wet. My mind filled with other areas of her I could explore, but I was content for now. She answered each stroke of my tongue with her own. Then she tunneled her hands through my hair, and fuck, that was my kryptonite. She massaged my scalp. If my eyes weren’t closed, they’d roll.
I brushed a hand over her jeans and up her shirt. When my fingertips touched skin, electricity sizzled between us. Christ, we’d light the sheets on fire.
I tasted her as I trailed my fingers higher to her breast. Her bra was lacy but lined. Thick. A warning bell went off in my brain. There was a reason why I shouldn’t do this, but I didn’t stop. She was responsive. Her greedy tongue licked against mine, her demanding hands tilted my head at just the right angle, and her body?—
Kellan’s cry echoed from down the hall.
Lily stiffened, and I jerked my head up. Fuck . She was a mom. I was supposed to be helping her, not feeling her up.
“Oh god.” She pushed her fingertips against her forehead. “Eliot, you don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?”
Kellan let out another cry. She rushed around me. Her face was as red as a cherry, and her bouncing butt cheeks didn’t help temper my arousal. My erection strained against my jeans. I pushed at it, trying to make it less obnoxious.
Did I go after her?
Did she think I gave her a pity kiss?
I huffed out a breath and planted my hands on my hips. Staring at the floor, I slowly gained control of myself. It was getting late, and I couldn’t have her hiding in her bedroom and going to sleep thinking I only kissed her because I felt sorry for her.
The bedroom door was closed, but Kellan was still fussing. She might be changing his diaper before she fed him. I knocked lightly.
A few tense seconds ticked by before I heard, “Yeah?”
I squeaked the door open. Her hair was hanging over her face as she changed him on the bed. Kellan glanced over at me, stopped crying, and gave me a two-toothed grin. I smiled back at him before zeroing in on his mom.
“Let the record state that kiss was not out of pity.”
She faltered snapping his onesie. “You don’t have to worry about it.”
“But I do. I’m here to help you. I’m not here to maul you. You don’t need that pressure.”
Finally, she turned her head enough that her curtain of hair fell back. “You feel like you’re pressuring me?”
I lifted a shoulder. “You’ve got a man in your house who you don’t know well. You’re in a tight spot.”
“You’re right.” She snapped more buttons together. “I was forced to kiss the impossibly handsome cowboy who reads books to my daughter and takes the baby so I can sleep. Oh, and he dances.”
I leaned against the door frame. “Impossibly handsome?”
She scowled at me, her mouth twisted like she was holding back a smile. “You’re the best-looking brother.”
“Dang. You’re making me blush. Can I record you saying that?”
Her lips twitched. “No, because you’ll play it back for them.”
“A few times.” I pushed a hand through my hair. My body was buzzing with the memory of her against it, her mouth on mine. She was soft and the way she’d opened for me—damn. I would not get a wink of sleep tonight while trying to keep my erection under control. “It’s getting late, and that little guy doesn’t believe in sleeping in. I’m not going to come onto you anymore, but it’s not because I don’t find you attractive. I’ve always thought you were cute, but I put you so far in the off-limits category I can’t just change the label and have it be okay. It’s important to me that you trust me.”
Her eyes had narrowed at the word cute. Did I fuck up trying to make things right? “Okay. Thank you.”
Goddammit. If I kept trying to make her see that I would fuck her in a heartbeat, I’d delve into creeper territory. She already couldn’t get rid of me for eleven months. I’d go to her grandma’s old bedroom, now my room, and try not to stroke one out on a floral quilt with a snake as a witness. “Night, Lily pad.”
“Night, Eliot.”
Lily
I was in the middle of cleaning out the dresser and closet from Cali’s room when I heard laughing and splashing. I pushed off the floor and peered out the window.
Could that guy get any more perfect?
I held out my left hand. A ring. Unnecessary and practical. I squeezed my hand into a fist. I loved it. More laughter filtered in.
Eliot had found an old plastic pool in the shop. My grandparents had probably used it for watering some of their animals, but Eliot had scrubbed it out and filled it with water from the spigot, thanks to the hose he’d also found in the shed. He’d already mowed the lawn, which took him all morning, and then he’d trimmed the weeds. Since he was doing the outdoor chores, I’d taken advantage of the time to make headway clearing out Grandma’s things.
Neither of us mentioned last night. Kellan had only gotten up once to nurse after the time he cockblocked me.
Would Eliot and I have gone that far? I feared I would’ve stripped my clothes off and told him to call me a lineman because I had been ready to climb him like a telephone pole.
The hot wave of embarrassment swept through me, only it left behind a steady beat between my thighs. Nope, that wasn’t embarrassment. That emotion didn’t make my nipples hard.
Oh god, I was so turned on. My hormones had made a big return in the last month. I felt like I could get pregnant by looking at Eliot.
I tied my hair up to get it off my neck, but I continued to spy out the window. Eliot had come in after he cleaned and sanitized the pool. He took Kellan back out with him. I thought he was kidding when he said he’d fill it, but he squatted by the pool and held Kellan up so only his legs could whack at the water. Cali was on her belly, bodysurfing.
Glancing behind me, I assessed the room. Cali now had space for more clothing when we could get to the store, and her closet was emptied out of old shoes, belts, and Sunday dresses Grandma hadn’t been able to get rid of and had stored in the guest closet. Cali’s new bedding was almost done in the wash. Tonight, she could go to sleep with the room feeling like hers. I owed Eliot just for getting her over the obstacle of sleeping in her own room.
Grandma’s room was next. I had made room in the closet. He said he hung a few shirts and pants up. I’d do the same in case we got inspected, or however Linda wanted to validate our marriage.
That was enough for today. The lure of outdoorsy fun trumped cleaning.
I went to the kitchen and made some lemonade. I found three big plastic cups that were probably older than me and poured them full. Then I shouldered the door open to go outside.
Eliot’s deep laughter carried through the yard. When he looked up, his eyes filled with heat, and he trailed his gaze down my legs. I was in old pink shorts and an even older college T-shirt. “I thought you could use some refreshment.”
He rose. Kellan kicked his legs, searching for the water. “Thanks.”
He downed his glass, his throat working. With his arm bent, his biceps bulged. Yeah. I’d have shed every stitch of clothing if he’d been into it last night. But he hadn’t. Despite what he claimed, I latched on to what he’d said before the kiss. He was a man who did the right thing for everyone else. Not for him. He didn’t want me to feel bad about rooking him into marrying me.
But hey, he thought I was cute.
Men had thought less of me, and I hadn’t been fazed. Carter had called me gorgeous, but then he called everything with boobs the same thing. When I heard him call Petunia the potbellied pig his gorgeous girl, I’d quit pretending that the endearment was special to me.
“Want a refill?” I asked when I took the cup from him.
“I’d better not, or I’ll be stopping every few miles to pee.” He smiled at the way Cali giggled and splashed around. “I told her we’d have to drain this in an hour before I leave.”
Cali popped her head up. “Can’t have a mosquitoes beading ground!”
“No beading grounds,” Eliot said solemnly and winked at Cali. “I breed enough animals. Mosquitoes don’t need any help.”
He was leaving in an hour? My good mood from the day dipped. I’d survived my family swarming the place. This weekend had turned into exactly what I wanted. A quiet day at home where I wasn’t drooping with fatigue. I’d been productive, and the kids were having fun.
I’d have to keep up after Eliot left. I couldn’t rely on him. He might sense it and feel like it was his duty to provide the life I wanted.
It wasn’t. Even if I was starting to want him in my life for more than a random weekend.