He could picture sitting out back by the campfire, Charlie in his arms, the mountain silhouetted by streaks of the red, orange, and purple sky. Like the beauty of the sunsets, making love to Charlie would never get old.
Summer fling.
“That’s why I want to knock down the wall in the living room. Add more windows here in the kitchen as well. Put on a back deck.”
“I see why you bought the place. It’s going to be amazing when it’s all fixed up.”
She was worth getting his heart broken. For the few moments he got to spend with her, to see the light in her eyes, hear her encouraging words, and even to comfort the sadness in her heart. In the end, the old cliche` was true. It was better to have loved and lost...
Nope. Not love. Major lust topped with some serious liking.
“Show me more.” The excitement in her voice stirred something deep in him.
The same something she’d been stirring up all summer. He followed her down the hall and past a small bathroom and into Liv’s bedroom.
“This is beautiful.” She spun around in the center of the room her arms outstretched as if the room was meant for her.
As soon as Owen had the keys to the house he started on the Livy’s room, making sure it was safe for an infant. Assuming the paint in the house was full of lead, he’d replaced all the trim and repainted the room, picking a pale yellow. At the time, he didn’t know if he’d be getting a little sister or brother, so he opted for neutral.
He’d stripped the floors and stained them with a dark cherry poly. In the center of the room, he’d put an oversized throw rug with traces of greens, blues, and yellows in it. Again, keeping it neutral.
The crib was now being stored in one of the empty bedrooms upstairs, replaced by a full size bed. He’d let Liv pick out new bedding when she was nine. The lavender polka dot comforter came with matching throw pillows, and for Christmas that year he’d bought her a matching overstuffed bean bag and built a reading nook.
She had the same view of the mountains as the kitchen and a sliding glass door which led to nowhere. Something that still made him nervous.
“I see why a deck is in order.” Charlie pushed back the sheer curtains and stood in front of the doors.
“Until I get it built, this door doesn’t open.” He pointed to the two deadbolts he’d installed on either end of the door.
The bolts served two purposes: to keep Liv safe inside, and to keep her safe from those who may be outside.
“You, Owen McDougall,” she sidled up to him and rested her wrists on his shoulders, “are the sweetest, most loving older brother a girl could have. I hope Olivia appreciates all you do and sacrifice for her.”
“Some days. Others she’s got this preteen attitude going on. I’ll take colicky baby over a teenage girl any day. I’ve been on the receiving end of a pretty harsh attitude since I pulled her away from your chicken pot pie.”
Instead of bringing up their argument, her chocolate eyes darkened, and she licked her lips, letting her tongue linger at the corner of her mouth. “Will you show me your bedroom?”
“Sure. It’s not much. I haven’t had a chance to fix the—” This time she shushed him with her lips.
“Shut up and show me to your bed,” she said against his lips.
ONCE AGAIN, OWEN SURPRISED her, which shouldn’t be a surprise by now. The insecurities she read in his eyes as he led her up the stairs and to his room, and then again in his reluctance to take her clothes off touched her.
Instead of a frenzied tangle of limbs and steamy kisses, they stood in the middle of his room and kissed, his hands keeping to her waist. Charlie made the next move, backing him to the bed, then gently giving his chest a shove until he fell on the mattress.
Not even bothering to restrain herself, she straddled him and gripped the bottom of his shirt, yanking it up his chest and over his head. “Damn, you’re sexy,” she purred as she ran her fingers across his chest. The man was a chiseled specimen. Part Thor, part Superman, and one hundred percent at her disposal, Charlie almost didn’t know what to do with so much man. Almost. “You are sexy as sin naked.”
Owen reached for the hem of her shirt and lifted it. “I don’t remember how you look naked. Why don’t you take off all your clothes so I can see if you’re as sexy as I remember?”
“Hm. It was pretty dark in the cabin.”
“Exactly. Now, let’s get rid of this.” Once he had her shirt off, he flipped her on to her back and slipped his hand between their bodies to work on the button of her shorts.
“I’m not the only one over-dressed for this party.” She worked on his zipper while he worked on hers, their mouths fused together in frantic kisses.
When all the clothing was stripped and tossed aside, they lay facing each other on their sides. Owen traced her jawline with the pad of his finger. “You’re beautiful, Charlie.”
Pillow talk was new to her. If they did too much of it, she was afraid she would fall even deeper for him. Leaving him in ten days was going to be hard enough as it was.
“Just curious.” She lowered her hand between them and stroked his erection. “Did you bring me up to your room to tell me how sexy I am or to actually have sex?”
Owen did a terrible job hiding his grin. “I didn’t say you were sexy, I said you were beautiful.”
She couldn’t help the snort that escaped her. “I stand corrected. Tell me then, did you bring me to your lair to tell me how beautiful I am or to have sex?”
“Both.” He braced himself on his elbows above her and sucked her bottom lip between his.
She squeezed his erection again, and he moaned into her mouth.
“Too soon. You can’t touch me like that. Not yet.” Owen released her lips from his and peppered a trail of kisses across her neck and down her chest, bypassing her breasts and going right to her naval.
“You forgot something.” She arched her breasts into the air for him.
“I know. I’m working on it now.” He splayed one hand on her hip and the other between her legs, nudging them apart with his shoulders. Before she had time to register what he was doing, his mouth was on her.
“Oh.” It had been a long time—like, forever—since a man brought her to orgasm with his mouth.
His tongue. His fingers. His everything brought her to the highest peak she’d ever been on. She gripped the sheets under her and thrust her core to Owen as he nipped and lavished her over and over again until her aftershocks subsided.
Sweat coated her body, and before she had time to recover, Owen hovered over her. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” Somehow, she found the energy to lift her arms and drape them over his massive shoulders. “I’m still...” she panted and closed her eyes with a smile, “...recovering.”
“Last time you didn’t need long to recover.”
She locked her fingers behind his neck and drew his mouth to hers. “Last time you didn’t take me so high.”
“Complaining?” He winked and kissed her nose.
“Variety is the spice of life.”
“And if anyone likes spices, it’s you.”
“Hell, yeah. Keeps life interesting. What do you have in store for me now?”
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to lead the show.”
Charlie wrapped her ankles around his waist. “Show me what you got, cowboy, and I’ll do my best to keep up.”
COMPLETELY SATED, CHARLIE curled into Owen’s side and wove her finger across his chest. “Tell me your plans for this room.”
It was small, about half the size of Olivia’s downstairs. Other than the full-size bed with no head or footboard, it boasted nothing else. The closet door was partially open, and she could see a few shirts on hangers and a stack of jeans neatly folded in crates which were stacked on each other.
“It’ll be a guest room.” His torso moved as if he was laughing at himself. “Not that I’m anticipating many guests.”
“Is it where I’ll stay wh
en I come visit?” Better to keep reminding herself their fling was coming to an end.
“It depends.”
“On if you’re seeing anyone at the moment?”
He rolled on top of her, his face inches away from hers. “Like I’ve said all along, I don’t have time for dating or... relationships.”
“Right. Me either.” She squeezed his naked butt and gave him a quick pat.
The ringing of a cell phone—not hers—broke what promised to be an awkward moment.
“It could be Liv.” He kissed her quickly before rolling off her and reaching for his jeans. Sighing, he tapped his cell. “Hi Liv. Everything okay?”
Charlie skimmed her hand across the back of his wide shoulders. They tensed under her touch and he leaped from the bed.
“She what? I’m on my way.” He tossed his cell on the bed while he struggled with his jeans. “I’m sorry. I have to go. Liv’s... alone again.”
“Is she okay?” Charlie crawled across the bed and found her bra.
“She says she is. Our mother left three hours ago and hasn’t been home yet. I’m assuming she won’t be back until late tonight, if at all.”
“Poor thing.”
When they were both dressed, they rushed down the stairs and into his truck. “I’ll drop you off first.”
“Isn’t that a little out of the way? You’d be going ten miles in the opposite direction.”
Owen avoided eye contact and rubbed his eyes.
“Oh, don’t even insult me this way.”
“You don’t need to be bothered with our family drama.”
“Excuse me?” She unbuckled and climbed up on her knees so she could see him better. The damn center console making it impossible to get right where she wanted to. In his face.
“After what we shared, from you witnessing my family drama, to your opening up about your dad, you’re now going to pull this shit? And by the way, you’re not totally out of the woods yet. You owe me more than what you already gave me. I want to know why your shitty childhood still has such a stronghold on you. You owe me for the mean things you said to me last week.”
It may have been a low blow, but she didn’t care. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, it helped him to open up to her. She could read it in his eyes, see it in his body language. He needed someone to unload on, and now he wanted to take it all back.
Not a chance in hell would she let him.
“We grew up in a trailer behind the diner.”
“I know. I saw it.”
“You did?” Embarrassed shock filled his eyes.
“I did. And you know what? I still wanted to sleep with you. In fact, I still wanted to hang out with you. Talk with you. Even after I saw your childhood home, met your mom, worked in the diner, after you reamed me out and then told me about your upbringing, I still wanted to be with you.” She poked at his chest. “What does that tell you, dumbass?”
“That I’m still an ass who has no idea how to handle a woman.”
“Oh, cowboy, you know how to handle a woman.” She settled in her seat again. “However, the only handling I want done is in the bedroom. What you don’t know how to do is read a woman.”
“I’ve never been an avid reader.”
“You have a lot to learn, I agree.” She fastened her seatbelt and banged on the dash. “Now let’s go get your sister and then make a trip to the grocery store. I’m going to attempt to make you guys dinner in that place you call a kitchen.”
He leaned across the console and touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “We can always eat out.”
“Too easy. I want you to work for this apology of yours. We’re spending time in your rundown house and your crappy kitchen with your sister and we’re going to enjoy every freaking moment of it.”
Owen picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. “If anyone can make it happen, it would be you.”
It was the sweetest thing he’d said to her. She tried not to swoon too hard for the man who had her in knots and failed. Miserably.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“Don’t make me go back to the diner, please Owen?” Olivia whined while helping clean up after dinner.
Charlie had managed to cook a pretty decent meal of roasted chicken and potatoes in his shitty kitchen. The three of them went for a walk around the property while the food cooked, but Owen had been afraid his oven would explode or something, so they weren’t gone long.
His sister had been more than pleased to find Charlie in the truck, and simply ecstatic to help her make dinner. Dishes were the lowlight of the evening. She hated them, as did Olivia.
“You said you liked helping out,” Charlie teased Olivia, handing Owen a dish to dry.
“I do when Al and June are there. I can’t keep up, and Mom is always yelling at me, and then she leaves me alone telling me I’m useless.”
“She what?” Owen nearly dropped the plate in hand. He set it down harder than he should have not seeming to care if it broke. “Why the hell would she...” He took a deep breath and reached back to claw at his neck.
“It’s true.” Olivia sniffed back her tears. “She’s meaner than usual. I don’t like the man she goes out with either. He’s creepy.”
“What?” Owen crouched down in front of her. “You’ve met him? When? Where? Has he...”
Charlie saw the rage fill Owen’s face. Any second he was going to erupt. She put her hands on Liv’s shoulders and steered her back to the table, gently nudging her to a chair.
“It’s okay, honey. You’ve done nothing wrong. Why don’t you tell us what’s been going on?” Boundaries or not, Olivia’s safety and well-being were the number one priority, and right now Owen didn’t seem in his right mind to comfort his sister.
“I don’t know.” She wiped her nose on the sleeve of her shirt. “She’s been gone a lot. She’s happy when she goes out, so I don’t care. Sometimes when she comes home, she’s happy too. Other times she’s mad.”
“Mad how?” Owen asked, taking the seat across from her.
“Like I’m in her way. But then she makes me come to the diner and do the work June usually does. I don’t want to do that anymore. I’m so tired. And bored. Can’t I stay at your camp, Charlie, and play in the water all day?”
Charlie hugged her and kissed the top of her head. “We’ll figure something out. But first, tell your brother about the man your mom has been dating.” She eyed Owen across the top of Olivia’s head, giving him a stern warning to keep it under control.
“I only met him once. I don’t think he likes me.”
“What makes you think that, peanut?” Owen reached out and rubbed her knee in a tender, brotherly fashion.
“He made a face like this.” She scrunched her face in a sneer. “And then made Mom leave even though she wasn’t done getting ready. He said he wouldn’t wait forever, and she had some decisions to make.”
Charlie saw the tic in Owen’s jaw, his tight shoulders. He took a few breaths then patted Olivia’s knee again. “Anytime you don’t feel... right, you call me, okay?”
“Or me,” Charlie said. The gesture would have been better if she wasn’t leaving in ten days. Owen raised an eyebrow and she continued. “Or Gina or Brooke. You have a lot of adults who care about you.”
“Sure. Whatever. I’m tired. Can I go to bed now?”
“Shower first, peanut.”
“Do I have to?”
“Do you want your beautiful bed to smell like diner food?” Charlie sniffed at her neck and waved a hand in front of her face in a playful gesture. “I like to shower after being around food all day.”
Olivia giggled and dashed off toward the bathroom.
“I’m sorry if I overstepped.”
“I scared her.” He did. If Charlie wasn’t there to intervene the night would’ve ended differently. With Olivia crying in her bed and him punching holes in his walls.
“You’re worried. Is it your father? Do you think your mom’s been seeing him?”
It was what he didn’t say that led her to believe he feared his father had worked his way back into his mother’s life. Instead of responding, he stood, bringing Charlie to her feet as well.
“You spent a lot of time in my kitchen today.”
“Yeah. You owe me.” She gave him a sultry stare.
“You said you like to shower after cooking. I can help you with that one.”
“I’ve seen your shower. It has much to be desired.” Again, the playful jest.
“Maybe if I take one with you it’ll distract you from the aging tile and stained grout.”
“It could help.” She looped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes, reading him well. “If that’ll make you feel better, I’m game.”
They stayed quiet for a moment, gazing into each other’s eyes, and then the shadow fell again. She brushed at the short hairs that fell across his forehead. “Hey, it’ll be okay.”
“I don’t know.” He closed his eyes with a heavy sigh.
While she didn’t want to cross the line, she wanted to help. Needed to help. Not only for his sake but for Olivia’s as well.
“Before you say no, promise me you’ll listen to what I’m about to say and that you’ll think about it.”
He opened his eyes, skepticism and doubt arched his eyebrow. He didn’t say anything, so she continued.
“Why doesn’t Olivia spend time at the camp this week? Gina and Brooke will be around, and I know they wouldn’t mind hanging out with her. Our next set of campers don’t arrive until Friday afternoon. In fact, it’s a camp for children of single parents. She’ll fit right in, maybe make some new friends.”
“Gina and Brooke will watch her. So where will you be?”
This would be the harder sell. She lifted to her toes and kissed him. Not a hard, fest peck, and not a slow, sultry kiss either. Something in between. A kiss asking for him to trust her.
She lowered herself and stroked the back of his neck. “Your mom is shorthanded at the diner. I have cooking and waitressing experience and I’ve already volunteered there before.”
A Thousand Sunsets (Band of Sisters) Page 20
