Chapter 10 Off The Charts
OFF THE CHARTS
“And that will be my mother,” he said. Right when they finished with breakfast.
He had his laptop open on the island but got up to get it and move to the living room and sit down.
“I’m going to take a shower and then I’ll clean the kitchen. Enjoy the talk with your family.”
He watched Saylor make a dash for the stairs and up them. Her tits were bouncing enough that he knew they were free under his T-shirt that was hanging on her.
It had been a struggle to not stare after their kiss when he’d felt them hard and poking into his chest.
“Merry Christmas,” he said when he hit the button to answer.
“Merry Christmas,” his mother and several others shouted.
His mother held the laptop up and swiveled it around the room for him to see his family sitting in the living room.
Jamie’s daughter, Penelope, was on the floor playing with toys, but everyone else was relaxing with coffee or juice in their hands.
His mother most likely took a break from cooking to make this call, then she would feed everyone.
West popped his head into view. “Everything okay up there? I saw on the news you’re in the middle of a blizzard right now. Good thing you got back to the cabin in time.”
“It’s all good. The power is still on, but not sure how long it will last. I thought for sure we’d lose it with the ice, but things are holding strong.”
His brother made sure this cabin could withstand almost anything thrown its way short of the mountain crumbling or being struck by lightning.
“That’s good,” West said. “There is plenty of food there. At least if you’re stuck for a few days.”
“I’m not worried,” he said.
“Boredom is liable to get him over anything else,” Nelson shouted and moved into view. “Wish I was there with you.”
Rowan snorted. He liked the person he had with him much better than his brother.
And when his mother swatted Nelson’s arm, he laughed.
“I don’t miss that,” he said.
“Don’t be a brat,” his mother said. “I feel bad you’re there and we are all here. Did I wake you? It looks like you just got up.”
It was close to seven at this point. Nine at his mother’s.
“I’ve been up since six and had breakfast,” he said. “I don’t get enough chances to chill and put things from my mind. This will do me well.”
“You chill daily on your board,” Elias said. “If you could get on your snowboard right now, I’m sure you would.”
He grinned. “I had thought of it.”
He preferred snowboarding to skiing, but loved them both.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” his mother said. “I’m already a nervous wreck with you stranded up there. What if something happens and you can’t call for help?”
“I told you I had a nurse with me.”
His mother rolled her eyes. “Stop goofing off.”
“How is everyone’s holiday?” he asked. “No engagements or anything? Surprise babies or weddings?”
“I heard that,” Talia shouted. He saw her get up and move toward the computer, then stick her tongue out.
“It wasn’t really intended for you, but sure.”
“Everyone is engaged or married or planning a wedding. All but you and Nelson,” his mother said.
The two rogue guys in the family. Or so they’d always been told.
He thought of the woman upstairs naked under the spray.
The connection he’d felt for her in the short period they’d been together was off the charts.
He supposed he knew what his siblings all felt when they met someone and fell quickly.
If he had more time with Saylor, he was positive his name would hit that category.
The blizzard outside was only helping his cause.
Maybe he could convince her to stay for the rest of her vacation before she flew back to Iowa. She had a few weeks left, then was relocating but didn’t know where yet.
California sounded good to him.
“You should be happy your family is all falling into place the way you want,” he said.
Foster was getting married in the spring, Elias in the summer. In between those two weddings, Talia would give birth to his niece, Laken to his nephew.
His mother’s life was full so he was hoping she’d cut him some slack.
He was pretty sure Nelson felt the same way.
“I’m very blessed,” his mother said.
Rowan turned his head when he heard Saylor coming down the stairs. More like feeling her presence than heard her.
She pointed to the kitchen and he nodded his head.
“Who are you talking to?” Nelson asked. He hadn’t realized his brother was still close by but should have figured.
“I told Mom I wasn’t alone and had a nurse here if I got hurt,” he said.
Saylor’s jaw dropped and he laughed.
Her hands were on her hips, she clenched her lips, and her finger pointed.
“Rowan Michael. I thought you were joking. Do you seriously have a woman there that you picked up at the airport?”
The smile left his face. The last thing he wanted was his family to think of Saylor that way.
“I told you I helped someone at the airport. You didn’t believe me. She was stranded on her way to Arizona.”
“Bring her over and let me meet her,” his mother demanded. “Otherwise I’m going to think you’re yanking my chain.”
He lifted his hand and waved Saylor over. She shook her head.
“She’s shy,” he said.
“Then get off your ass and go to her,” his mother said in the same tone she used when one of them was in trouble.
Saylor’s eyes grew large, but he stood up and walked into the kitchen.
She wore casual comfy clothes, hair brushed and falling around her shoulders.
“Mom, this is Saylor Beach. She’s a nurse like I said. A traveling nurse. Tell my mother hi, Saylor.”
He pulled her under his arm, close to him, and she waved to the monitor. “Hi. Merry Christmas. Thank you for raising such a considerate man. I’d be lost right now if he didn’t help me out.”
There was some laughter in the background and lots of his family members moving closer to get a view of the woman who had captivated his heart already.
“Damn,” Nelson said. “Leave it to you to land on your feet in the middle of a blizzard.”
“Dick,” he said.
Saylor nudged his arm. “Hey. Be nice to your family on the holiday.”
“I like you already,” his mother said. “Tell me about yourself.”
Oh boy. He started something he should have put more thought into.
“Not much to say,” she said. “I was heading home to Arizona, but they diverted my plane because of mechanical issues. I had to get off before I could get my carry on. I’m a diabetic and my supplies were in that bag. Rowan knew someone working and got staff back on to grab it for me.”
“Damn,” Foster said. “Never thought I’d see you stepping up like the rest of us.”
“Asshole,” he said. Foster was laughing. He knew what that comment meant and he’d have to explain it. When he got off the call.
“Don’t be mean,” she said, jamming her finger into his stomach. He flinched. Not from pain, but from her touching him. And wanting more of it.
“You tell him,” his mother said, her fist up in a cheer.
“I tried to get a flight out, but they were all canceled. No cars to be rented or hotels to be found. I thought for sure I’d be spending the night in the airport.
A couple of nights by the looks of it. It was that, or accept Rowan’s offer.
” She put her hand to the side of her mouth.
“Please don’t think I do this with strangers, but your son has been a gentleman.
I didn’t know who he was until I got here, but he’s been a wonderful host.”
“That’s Rowan for you,” Braylon said. “Always finding a way.”
He rolled his eyes. “If you’re all done busting my ass, you have a great Christmas. I’m not letting Saylor clean up breakfast alone.”
“That’s right,” his mother said, nodding. “Those duties get shared.”
He sighed. “Yes, Mother.”
He disconnected the call with Saylor trying to move away, but he held her close to him. “That was unexpected. Why did you do it?”
How did he explain he wanted to use any leverage he could to not have her vanish from his life?
Would she even believe him after his siblings’ comments?
“I don’t make it a habit of lying to my family. I had told my mother last night I wasn’t alone. She thought I was joking when I said I had a nurse here with me.”
“Because you’re always one to joke?” she asked.
“Yes. But I was honest.”
“Can I ask what some of those comments were they said?”
“I figured you would. The comment by Foster about stepping up was that my brothers have a history of intervening or saving the women they ended up with.”
“Oh, really?” she asked. “This I’ve got to hear. If you trust me.”
He had no reason not to. Which surprised him when he was always doubting women’s intentions.
“I do. Abby was getting hit on in a bar and West went over to be her pretend boyfriend.”
“Awww, that’s so sweet.”
“Braylon did the same for Lily, except, Lily was wearing a fake engagement ring to keep people away, so it was a fake fiancé.”
“Wow, that’s taking chivalry far.”
“It worked out for them. Laken and Jamie met through work. West partnered with Jamie for his company and it was Laken’s job to get it up and going.
Charlotte bought the house next to Foster.
He saw her fall carrying a ladder and stopped to help.
Then helped her with a lot of other things she was trying to do as a new homeowner. ”
“Okay, so it seems this is a natural thing for the men in your family.”
He shrugged. “My mother raised us well.”
His father had too. From the memories he had of him.
“Who is next?”
“Elias. Phoebe’s car slid into his truck after a snowstorm. He might have needed to save himself there, though it was just a tiny tap.”
“That’s cute.”
“We are all cute,” he said. “Next is Talia. She came home from a flight and turned the oven on to heat to make cookies, then went to her basement apartment to shower. My mother had a package of chicken thawing in the oven that Talia hadn’t known.”
“Oh no,” she said.
“Did I tell you her husband, Jace, is a fireman?”
“No,” she said. “Get out.” She shoved his arm and laughed.
“The house filled with smoke. No fire. Talia had no clue. She was downstairs in the shower with the music going for over ten minutes. She gets out, hears the alarms, races upstairs in a towel to a kitchen full of firemen.”
“Now that is embarrassing. I don’t feel so bad over my meltdown at the airport.”
He pulled her into his arms. “How many times do I have to tell you that wasn’t a meltdown?”
“I’ll stop saying it. But I guess you do come from a long line of heroes. I should have thanked your mom again.”
If he had anything to say about it, Saylor would have another chance to do it.