The Somerset Girls

by Lori Foster

  If Ember would give him tonight, she’d have her own juicy details to share tomorrow. But, damn it, he knew how close they were, and this was definitely a big deal for Autumn, which made it a big deal for Ember.

  He felt beyond stoic when he offered, “If you’d rather wait—”

  “Not on your life.” She finished her text, waited a few seconds and got a reply from Autumn. Grinning, she turned the screen so he could see. “She gives her blessing.”

  He first read Ember’s message: I’m dying for details, but I’m here with Mike so...tomorrow?

  And then Autumn’s reply: It was blissful & I’m zonked. We’ll talk tomorrow for sure. Go get him!

  She cocked an eyebrow. “I think Tash has set the standard.”

  They were so amusing together. Mike tipped up Ember’s face to put a gentle kiss to her mouth. “Blissful is a tall order, but I’ll do my best.”

  She gave him a slow smile. “I’ll help.”

  On the way up the stairs to his rooms, she kept glancing at him. “I want to know all about you, Mike Brewer. Everything. All the nitty-gritty.”

  “All right.” He’d never been hiding his past but neither had he been interested in sharing it. Now everything was different...because of Ember.

  Opening the door, he gestured for her to enter. While he locked up, she looked around. Yes, she’d built the rooms per Autumn’s design, but he couldn’t recall Ember ever being here after he’d moved in.

  He assumed Autumn and Ember both respected his private space, despite the fact he lived literally over the barn. Plenty of insulation kept out the sounds of a restless cow or sleepless goat, but wasn’t soundproof enough that he ever missed an animal in distress...or the rooster they’d once had, abandoned because he liked to wake everyone extra early with his relentless crowing. Mike had heard that dude every time. Luckily, a friendly farmer had been happy to take him and the rooster now ruled his own roost.

  The loft apartment was no more than a cozy sitting area that flowed into a small kitchen with a bar big enough for two stools, a bachelor-size bathroom and a comfortable bedroom.

  “Wow, this is...nice.” Genuine surprise kept her gaze roaming.

  Because he wasn’t a slob? Because his furniture matched? Mostly, anyway... “You expected something else?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, yeah. I guess.” She took in the blinds on the windows, the end tables, the area rug on the floor. Even the shelf where he kept her mother’s risqué artwork, given to him as gifts. “You’re such a guy.”

  “True,” he agreed, grinning. “You need to work on those insults, hon.”

  “You know what I mean.” She trailed her fingers along the back of his brown leather couch. “I love this.”

  That couch was his favorite purchase since starting over. It had the look of a catcher’s mitt while being butter-soft. Fitting perfectly into the space along the wall, it faced his large-screen TV.

  Glancing at him, Ember explained, “You’re more rugged and...macho?” She shook her head. “You are that, but what I’m saying is you’re earthy. At home doing the old-fashioned job. I guess...not urbane? Does that make sense?”

  While opening two beers, he watched her over the divider bar, where he usually had his meals. She drifted around his small living space, soaking up every detail and looking both confused and impressed.

  “You’re having a hard time pegging me, and that’s okay. God knows I’ve had a hell of a time pegging you.” Getting there, though. When she looked at his coffee table, he walked over to her and, handed her the bottle, then urged her down to the couch.

  Making a beeline for the bedroom would suit him, but she said they needed to talk, so he’d talk. With Ember, he wanted to do this right.

  Holding the longneck in both hands, she asked, “How did you know I like beer?”

  “I pay attention.” He especially paid attention to her. “I used to be very urbane.” Her word choice, but it suited. “I was completely citified, polished and what you’d call suave.”

  She snorted. “Sure, and you want to sell me a bridge next?”

  Grinning at her disbelief, which he completely understood, he set aside his beer. “Shiny black Mercedes that I traded up for a new model every year. Custom-tailored suits—so many of them, they’d never have fit in my closet space here. I had a stylist who trimmed my hair every week.” He held up his left hand, now rough with calluses, and examined his clipped nails. “Manicures, too.”

  “No way.” Fascination brightened her eyes. She put her beer, only half-finished, on the handmade coffee table.

  That table was one of his first efforts, a therapeutic endeavor in using his hands and body, doing for himself instead of paying others to do for him. It turned out more rustic than he’d ever intended, mostly from trial and error. But it served its purpose, so he kept it—as a functional piece of furniture, and a reminder that this was what he was meant to do, where he was meant to be, and the past no longer mattered.

  “Manicures?” She, too, looked at his hands. “You?”

  Moving past that with a shrug, Mike asked, “What do you think of the coffee table?”

  “The table?”

  He nodded at it. “You can tell that I made it.”

  “Really?” She looked more closely. “I just assumed you got it at one of the craft fairs or from a local furniture maker or something.”

  “With all the flaws?” Leaning forward, he ran his thumb over an uneven corner seam, then a dent where he’d dropped a tool on it. “I’d spent my entire adult life climbing the ladder of success. I’m good with money, know how to invest and know how to reap the rewards. It was a no-brainer for me to go into real estate.”

  “You sold houses?”

  Settling back beside her, he smiled. “I sold high-end real estate in New York City. Deals that ran twenty million plus. Every day was a rush, from six in the morning until the last dinner party of the night. I played racquetball with clients, visited them on their yachts and constantly expanded my business contacts.”

  Wide-eyed, Ember stared at him.

  “At the time I loved it—the energy, the high-level stakes, the flash and glamour.”

  She scrunched up her face. “Trying to picture you as glamorous...but no can do. And FYI, I like you like this. When I said rugged, it wasn’t a complaint.”

  “Good to know.” Especially since he liked this life a lot more than the old one. T-shirts over dress shirts? Trucks and trailers on a field over a Mercedes in bumper-to-bumper traffic? Sunshine on his back instead of club lights in his face?

  Some might not see it his way, but he’d moved up in the world, and he never wanted it to change.

  Ember took a swig of her beer, then studied him. “So what happened?”

  “At my fiancée’s request, I took on a partner. A younger, hungrier version of me.”

  “Whoa!” Going rigid, she scooted away from him. “Fiancée?”

  “A woman I had planned to marry?” he offered helpfully. Then gently explained, “It never happened.”

  Silent, her jaw working, Ember searched his gaze and finally came to some inner decision. “Go on.”

  Since he’d expected that reaction from her, it didn’t slow him down. “Having a partner freed up some of my time. I still handled the biggest deals, but he did a lot of the legwork...” He reached for Ember’s hand, lacing her fingers with his and casually bringing her closer again. Her hands were small but strong, and oh-so capable. “Two years ago, right before I moved here, I got home early from a trip and found them in bed together. In my bed, actually.”

  Her jaw loosened, then her mouth dropped open. A second later she snapped it shut. “That has to be a joke. She cheated on you?”

  Liking her incredulity, he quipped, “Hard to fathom, I know.”

  “It is.” Her brows scrunched together. “Wh
at a bitch.”

  He almost choked on his beer, the laugh taking him by surprise. “She claimed that was the only time, but only a fool would believe her. Talk about fury... I’d have burned the damn mattress, but being on the thirty-second floor of a high-rise makes that a little tough.”

  “Wait a minute.” Her scowl darkened even more. “You stayed with her?”

  “No!” God no. How had she gotten that impression? “Trust was gone, and that made the relationship pointless. Even though it was my place, I left that night knowing things were over.”

  “So if you left, why did you care about the bed?”

  “I had to go home several times to get all my stuff.” At the time it had been so incredibly personal. He’d felt stripped raw. Vulnerable. “Every time I was there, I wondered if I’d slept where another man had touched my future wife. Had I shared those same sheets? The same pillow?”

  Ember made a face. “Yeah, that would suck.”

  “It’s demoralizing. One day I’d felt on top of the world, and the next I felt like a blind fool.” Breathing in her warm unique scent, Mike marveled that what had once been so horrific no longer bothered him at all. “Let’s just say it was life-altering.”

  Softening again, Ember hugged him. “I’m sorry you went through that.”

  “I’m not. Not anymore.” He toyed with a long purple lock of her hair. Bright, bold, unique and pretty—just like Ember Somerset. “Because of what she did, I reevaluated my life...and that brought me here. I have a very different perspective these days, thanks to the work we do.” Even that, thinking in terms of “we” instead of challenging the world alone, added to his inner peace. What he did now he didn’t do only for himself. It was for the greater good. It helped, and it made a difference. “I like seeing the sunrise. I love the fresh air. Here—” with you “—I feel more useful. What I do day to day really matters.”

  Her smile warmed even more. “You’ve been a true godsend to Autumn and me, and to all those sweet, innocent animals who wouldn’t have a chance without us.”

  Ember was great at summing it up, but she wasn’t yet letting him off the hook.

  “We appreciate you so much, but why’d you leave it all? I mean, a breakup is one thing, right? Changing your whole life is altogether different.”

  “I didn’t start out with that intent. Obviously I couldn’t be partners with the guy, and I wasn’t interested in making his life easy, so I cashed out. That left him scrambling...and I was glad.”

  “Me, too.”

  “She wanted to keep the condo, and I agreed. After getting my name off the lease and all the utilities, I started looking for something new to do, somewhere new to live. Things snowballed and next thing I knew, I was changing it all. I wanted to start fresh, so I traveled south, stopping in different little towns, seeing if anything clicked.”

  “And you saw our ad.”

  “I saw your ad.” He smiled, knowing that day had forever changed him. “I’d tested my wits, so I wanted to test my endurance—and not on a treadmill at a fancy gym.”

  Ember looked him over. “You were always fit, but, yeah, your physique is different from all the manual labor.” Leaning in, she whispered, “You’re a total stud muffin now.”

  He kissed her for that nice compliment. “I’m stronger. I’m useful. I sleep better.” And there’s you.

  “An honest day’s work is good for everyone.” She tipped her head. “So what happened with the cheating exes? Please don’t tell me they married and are living happily ever after.”

  No, definitely not that. “They tried to keep the business afloat without me, but they fell flat pretty quickly. That led to them losing the condo, too.”

  “Ha!” She held up her palm, demanding her requisite high five for all good news.

  Barely hiding his grin, Mike complied.

  “Just what they deserved, right? Let them rot.”

  He did love her killer attitude. “Once the business failed, so did their relationship.”

  Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “How do you know that since you’ve been living here and she’s been living there?”

  It didn’t matter to him, so he shrugged. “She’s contacted me a few times.” Saying she still loved him. Asking him to take her back. “Just last week, in fact.”

  Turbulent emotion swirled in Ember’s gaze. She tried to sit forward, but his arm around her kept her close.

  Two inches from his nose, she demanded, “What did she want?”

  “Me.” His gaze dropped to her mouth. God, that mouth. He felt more than saw her deep inhalation, and brought his gaze back up to her eyes. “I told her I was involved with someone else now and wished her well.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You wished her well?”

  “There’s no anger left, Ember. Not since you.”

  Something flickered over her expression. Uncertainty? Curiosity? Her chin hitched up. “Sounds to me like you want me pretty bad.”

  Mike tunneled his fingers into her hair, cradling her skull to keep her close enough to kiss. “At first I told myself I was on the rebound, so any pretty face would be appealing.”

  “Dick,” she said without a lot of heat.

  “Over the following year, when I couldn’t stop noticing you with other men—”

  She winced, then kissed him quickly and said softly, “Sorry.”

  “—I told myself that it was your sexy little bod, not you as a woman, that had me primed.”

  Her brows came together. “Apology rescinded.”

  His heart softened while other parts went rock-hard. “After that day in the lake, I think I knew one time with you wouldn’t be enough. Not near enough.” He drew her in for another kiss, using it as an example, leaving them both breathless. “Now I’m not sure a lifetime would be enough.”

  With a very satisfied, smug smile on her face, Ember whispered, “Sounds to me like you’ve fallen hard.”

  “So fucking hard.”

  She stilled, but then whispered, “Me, too. I wasn’t looking to fall in love but—”

  Love? In a flash he levered her back, his eyes searching hers, his heart off to the races. “Love?” She drew a shaky breath but before she could answer he asked, “You love me?” And again, before she could say anything, he said sternly, “Don’t you dare screw around, Ember Somerset. No jokes, no sarcasm. It’s a simple question and you better—”

  “I love you.”

  His heart went into his throat, then dropped to his stomach before launching back into his chest with a furious cadence. “You love me?”

  “Yes,” she said with a growing threat that he saw in her eyes and heard in her tone, “and if you don’t love me back you better start ducking, because I swear, I will be so pissed—”

  He kissed her—a different kiss, just as hot, just as full of lust, but headier now with emotion, too.

  Ember Somerset.

  Love.

  Happy ever after?

  He felt it in his grasp, felt her in his grasp, and never wanted to let go.

  Given how she cooperated, they ended up sprawled on the couch, him over her, her legs opening to his hips, her fingers tangled almost painfully in his hair.

  He shoved up her shirt, and she helped.

  He peeled off his shirt, and she groaned.

  “Bed,” he muttered, thinking they’d have more room there.

  “Can’t,” she replied, trying to wedge a hand down the back of his shorts to cop a feel of his ass.

  “Wait, let’s slow down—”

  “Nope,” she said before kissing him again.

  Mike almost laughed. God love the lady, he should have known she’d be just as bossy, just as take-charge in this as she was in every other aspect of her life. The difference? He wasn’t Autumn and wouldn’t let her steamroll him. If he had to guess, that part of
his plan had been successful, at least in making him different from the pack of other men who all showed their admiration by bending over backward to lavish her with compliments.

  Being easily twice her size and far bulkier, he had no problem disengaging and, before she could start complaining, scooping her up to head to the bedroom, where he’d have more room to enjoy her.

  For a second she was silent, then seemed to give a mental shrug. “This is romantic.”

  “Yeah?” With both of them shirtless, he could think of better descriptions. Her purple-streaked hair hung over his arm, a unique tease that, when accompanied with her naked breasts, did a lot to keep his blood sizzling.

  “Is it odd that Autumn and Tash got together the same day you and I will?”

  “Give me one minute,” he said, lowering her to his unmade bed, “and you’ll forget about your sister, Tash and all other men.”

  “I will never forget about Autumn,” she warned, unsnapping her shorts before he could and shoving them down in haste, “but I’ll happily put her on the back burner for a few minutes.”

  “Few minutes?” Following her lead, he went about shedding his shorts, too. “You wound me, woman.” He took his boxers with his shorts and then stood before her naked.

  Still in her panties, balanced on one elbow, she breathed harder, faster, and seared him with her gaze. “Autumn,” she whispered, making a check mark in the air, “forgotten.”

  His smile spread, slow and triumphant. “Yeah?”

  “All other men,” she added, with another make-believe check, “nonexistent.” She made grasping gestures with her fingers. “Now gimme.”

  Mike had to laugh even as he fetched a condom from his nightstand drawer and rolled it on. With that done, he sprawled out beside her, taking her mouth, one hand going over her body to discover each soft curve, every toned hollow. For years he’d imagined exploring the length of her legs and the weight of her breasts.