Chapter Fourteen #2
Shauna thought about it. “That’s as good an explanation as any, because for the life of me, I can’t think why else she would do it. Other than for the shock value, of course.”
“Your mother doesn’t seem like the type of woman who’s easily shocked.”
“She isn’t,” Shauna said. “That ship sailed right after Taryn turned twelve.” She wondered where he was going with this.
“Do you think it worked?” Nix asked. “I mean, Taryn making her like me?”
“I think Taryn wasted her money buying hair dye, because our mother was going to like you no matter what,” Shauna said. “She likes younger men.” She threw that last bit in to tease him.
He didn’t bite. “Even though I’m divorced, I lost all my money, and I work on a ranch?”
“She could only know about two of those things if you told her. And I’m sure she prefers you be divorced as opposed to married, considering you’re sleeping with her daughter.” Shauna sat up. He was too serious. This wasn’t like him. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Forget it.”
She tried to bring things back on track. “If you’re thinking about making a play for my mother, I have objections.”
Nix bent his head and snagged her lips in a kiss. “I’m not making a play for your mother. I’m not done playing with you.”
He wasn’t done playing with her. That was one worry gone.
“I’m going to take a wild guess and say she asked you what your intentions are toward me,” she said.
“No. She thanked me for taking you off her hands.”
If her mother had done something to scare or offend him, she and Shauna were going to have words.
“That sounds like something she’d say,” she said cautiously.
“Do you want me to take you off her hands?”
So that was what he was uptight about. “Relax, Nix. I didn’t give her any reason to think we’re headed toward marriage. No commitments other than office parties and family dinners, remember?”
“I remember. But for my part, only because I’m not in a place yet where I can make that kind of commitment.”
Shauna’s heart beat a little bit faster. He was being honest with her. That was worth something. She’d meet him halfway. “I understand. We’ve got a good thing going between us right now and there’s no need to ruin it.”
“You’re okay with that?” he asked.
“Of course I’m okay with it.”
The tension went out of his body. “That’s good. That’s really good. Because there’s something I want to tell you, but I don’t want you to take it the wrong way.”
“I am not into threesomes,” she said.
Nix chuckled softly. “There goes my big surprise.” He shifted, drawing her onto his lap. She put her arms around his neck. “I love you,” he said. “For now, I’m happy for us to spend time together. But you have to be happy with that arrangement, too. Is it enough? That I love you?”
“I’m happy,” she said. Relief rippled through her in waves, followed by pleasure, warm and intense. “It’s enough. We’ll take things one day at a time. I love you, too.”
A cell phone went off. It wasn’t her ringtone, and Taryn wouldn’t be caught dead without her phone on her, so it had to be Nix’s. He’d left his coat draped over the back of a kitchen chair. Since she was sitting on him, she scrambled to get it.
“Leave it,” he said. “This is my weekend off. Whatever it is, they can find someone else.”
But Shauna already had the phone in her hand. It continued to ring.
“Why don’t you have voicemail set up?” She tossed it to him. “You might as well answer. They’ll keep calling back.”
She could tell by the expression on his face as soon as he answered that it wasn’t the ranch.
His mouth hardened. His eyes lost their warmth. “Who gave you this number?”
The mystery was explained. Shauna held out her hand. “ Give me the phone ,” she mouthed to him.
He passed it over.
“Shauna Morris,” she said crisply. “Mr. McCray’s lawyer. May I ask who’s calling?”
A few seconds of silence stretched for a long beat. Then, “Put Nix back on the line.”
A woman. She sounded impatient. Controlled. Maybe annoyed, as if she still had a right.
What a bitch.
Shauna disliked her based on her tone alone.
“Mr. McCray is no longer available at this number,” she said. “If you have a message for him, I’d be happy to relay it for you.”
The call disconnected. Shauna set the phone on a side table. Amusement warmed Nix’s eyes when she turned. Thank heavens. She hadn’t been sure how he’d react, but she’d been sure of one thing. His ex-wife knew how to play him as surely as Taryn knew how to play her.
She rejoined him on the sofa. “It’s not that I don’t believe you can handle your own baggage,” she began, a little anxious that she might have overstepped a boundary again. “It’s just that I already told you I’m not into threesomes, and I thought she should know.”
“Too Good,” he drawled, going hot Texas cowboy on her. “You can handle my baggage any day of the week. For what it’s worth, I’m not a big fan of threesomes either.”
He hadn’t stopped smiling, so she smiled in return. She touched his lips with hers. “There’s a small matter of the fee for my legal services. I’m afraid I can’t accept cash.”
His hand stroked her cheek. “Oh no. Whatever am I going to do now? I should have read the fine print.” He kissed her. His voice deepened and he dropped the Southern drawl. “Love you, Too Good.”
“Love you, too,” she said, liking the way the words felt leaving her mouth. “I might be too good to be true, but I’ll never be too good for a cowboy.”