Can't Help Falling in Love

by Samantha Chase

Inside, she grabbed some plates while he poured them each a glass of wine because…well…it seemed like there should be wine. Hunter handed her a glass and lifted his in a toast. “To little Benjamin Kristoff,” he said. “It’s a night I will always remember, and I’m glad I was a part of it.”

  Violet lifted her glass. “To Benjamin.”

  They were about to touch glasses when he paused. “And to you, Violet. You did a great job tonight. I know I said it earlier, but…it bears repeating. You were an excellent labor coach.”

  Blushing, she tapped her glass to his. “Thank you.”

  They drank and then essentially dove into the pizza. He swore he’d only eat one slice, but one led to two, and two somehow led to four. Violet only ate two before she had her hand on her stomach and was leaning away from the table. “I know I could eat more, but I’m choosing not to,” she said. “But feel free to finish what’s left.”

  “How about we save them for later?” he suggested as he came to his feet.

  “All two slices?” she teased.

  “One for you, one for me,” he reasoned.

  Violet stood and started to clean off the table, but he stopped her. “Later. Right now, I want to take you to my room and then…take you.”

  “Oh, my,” she replied breathlessly. “I like the sound of that.”

  “Yeah?”

  She nodded. “But…I wouldn’t mind if you did a little taking right here in the kitchen too.”

  That took him a little off guard.

  But not much.

  Reaching out, Hunter hauled her into his arms and lifted her. With her legs banded around his waist, he claimed her mouth in a kiss that was full of promise. Maneuvering them across the room, he sat her down on the countertop and realized this was something he’d never done before, and it was more than a little exciting.

  Violet pulled back suddenly–effectively ending the kiss–and he watched as she took her top off and tossed it onto a nearby chair. Her bra was black and lacey and looked so delicate he was afraid to touch it.

  As if reading his mind, she leaned forward. “Go ahead. You can buy me a new one if you like.”

  It was all the motivation he needed.

  But rather than use his hands, he bent and kissed his way along the edge–over each glorious swell of her breasts–before using his teeth to get to the skin underneath.

  Violet cried out his name as her hands anchored into his hair. Her breath hitched as she moved against him and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that he was not only buying her some new lingerie, but they also weren’t going to the bedroom any time soon.

  And for once, he embraced the chaos.

  Eleven

  The sun was just starting to come up and Violet was sitting out on the back deck with one-week-old baby Benjamin.

  This had sort of become their routine the last few days because poor Katie wasn’t getting enough sleep. Violet would get up with the baby at five a.m., feed him from a bottle Katie prepared the night before, and they’d sit and enjoy the sunrise together. The temperature was already warm at this time of day, and still she kept him swaddled up tight so he wouldn’t get any kind of chill.

  It was amazing how much she was embracing this crazy new schedule. There was something to be said about the peacefulness of the early morning and she was seriously in love with this precious baby. He had a sweet temperament and even though she’d never say it to Katie, she thought he cried less for her.

  “But we’re not going to tell your mommy that, are we?” she said softly, caressing his cheek. “You and I know the truth. Aunt Violet has the magic touch, but it will be our little secret, right?”

  Yeah, she even loved talking to him. They’d had more than one heart-to-heart talk during the morning bottle. She found it made her feel a little less crazy to be speaking out loud to herself when there was a baby in her arms. He had no idea what she was saying, but she kept her tone soothing, and it was helping her work through some of her…issues.

  Mainly where Hunter was concerned.

  Not that they really had issues, but…she was going to be heading back to Nashville soon, and it wasn’t as appealing as she once thought it would be.

  Of course, there wasn’t any real rush for her to leave Magnolia Sound. Brian was coming home, and she had a feeling he and Katie would appreciate not having a houseguest, but…she didn’t have to stay with them. Last night she had gone online to look at some weekly rentals here in town. Since it was tourist season, there weren’t any available, but there was a bed-and-breakfast she found had availability for at least a week.

  Ideally, she wished she could just stay with Hunter, but she didn’t want to even suggest it. Eli might only be three, but she felt weird about moving herself in–even temporarily.

  So where did that leave her?

  “I wish I knew, Ben,” she said, taking the bottle from his mouth and positioning him over her shoulder to rub his tiny back. “Of all the times for me to not want to pick up and go, why did it have to be now?”

  Yeah, it didn’t matter how many times she said it–either out loud or in her head–Violet had never felt the pull to stay put someplace. Traveling had filled a void in her life and given her a sense of purpose while also keeping so many of her demons at bay. Picking up and moving on to the next travel destination or planning another trip gave her control of her destiny–or, in a less dramatic sense, simply gave her control over her own life. Since meeting Hunter, however, a little of that wanderlust had vanished.

  She realized she never did look up any more details for the California road trip and didn’t feel like it was something she wanted to do.

  Especially by herself.

  Now if Hunter were up to it, she would love driving all over California with him. Or anywhere, for that matter. The need to experience a romantic getaway with him was so strong she knew it would be the only trip she’d be able to focus on.

  Maybe if she planned something, he’d be open to it. Eli could stay with his grandfather, or one of Hunter’s siblings, right? It shouldn’t be too hard for him to get away for a week. He had time off coming to him while Katie was on maternity leave, so…why not book them someplace romantic to go?

  Benjamin let out a rather noisy little burp, and she maneuvered him until he was cradled in her arms again. “For such a tiny boy, you let out very loud burps, little man. Good gracious.” He was already falling back to sleep, but she was content to stay where she was for a little longer. Katie would be up in another hour or so, but for now, all was right with her world.

  While everything was still quiet, Violet thought about potential getaways for her and Hunter. They could go down to Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach if he didn’t want to go too far. Although she was pretty sure she’d have the same challenges finding a hotel at a coastal resort as she had trying to find a room here in Magnolia.

  “We could get on a plane and go someplace,” she mused. “But where?” From everything Hunter had ever told her, traveling was not his thing, but she figured it was mainly because of his circumstances with his ex. Under the right conditions, she didn’t have a doubt he’d enjoy getting away for at least a few days.

  “Maybe the mountains.” Looking down at Benjamin, she smiled as his little lips puckered like he was still sucking on his bottle. “What do you think, baby boy? You think a trip to the mountains at one of those fancy resorts might be appealing to Hunter?”

  She almost laughed at how ridiculous she was being. There was a part of her that really couldn’t picture Hunter at a fancy spa-type resort. He would probably be more at ease at something more rustic.

  “Options,” she said quietly. “I’ll have to have a few options for him to choose from.” Holding Benjamin a little closer, she kissed him softly on his head and decided to go inside and pull out her laptop.

  “Look at me getting stuff done while holding you, baby boy. You should be seriously impressed. I wasn’t nearly this competent when your sister was born.” Then she paused. “Then a
gain, I wasn’t living with your parents and helping out nearly as much, but still, yay us!” And with another kiss on his head, she got comfortable and began looking at some of the most romantic vacation spots that weren’t the beach or a cruise or anything too over the top that Hunter immediately wouldn’t like.

  “Sort of eliminates a lot of stuff, but I am up for the challenge.” Then, for the next several minutes, she read descriptions of hotels and destinations out loud to Benjamin. Some of them sounded fantastic–so much so she wished she could get in her car today and take them there.

  “Listen to this,” she said quietly. “Private, rustic cabins perfect for lovers. King-sized bed, fireplace, private hot tub, and a view of the mountains. Where do I sign up?”

  “If you happen to find out, let me know,” Katie said before yawning loudly.

  “You looking for a getaway to the mountains too?”

  “In different circumstances, I would be all over that. But somehow, a romantic cabin wouldn’t be quite so romantic with an infant and a four-year-old.”

  “You may have a point.”

  “Trust me. I do.” She walked over and carefully took her son from Violet’s arms and kissed him. “Was he okay for you?”

  “Are you kidding? He is perfect.” And as she watched Katie walk around cooing to the baby, Violet felt a little…envious.

  Okay, a lot envious.

  What is going on with me?

  “I know I’m biased,” Katie said, interrupting her thoughts, “but he really is. Kira wasn’t nearly this agreeable.”

  “Oh, stop. She was a good baby too. I just think you and Brian were a little more uptight because she was your first.”

  “Maybe, but other than being a bit of a night owl, this little guy is just…”

  “You can say it. He’s perfect.”

  Katie grinned. “Yeah, he is.”

  Violet closed her laptop and got up to stretch. “Did I hear you talking to Brian late last night?”

  “Five days,” she said excitedly and immediately cringed when Benjamin startled in her arms. “He’ll be home in five days!”

  “Oh, my goodness! That’s amazing!”

  “I know! It’s a whole week sooner than we were expecting, so…”

  “So…?” And then it hit her. “So five’s a crowd, huh?”

  “What? No! Oh, my gosh, no! I was going to say it’s not a lot of time to prepare.”

  “Prepare? Like how? This is his house, and you just had a baby. What could you possibly have to prepare for?”

  “Just…give me a minute,” Katie said before going and placing Benjamin in his crib. When she came back into the living room two minutes later, she looked a little frazzled. “I need to make sure all his favorite foods are here, the whole place needs a good cleaning, and…and…his car could use a tune-up since it’s been sitting so long and…”

  It would be wrong to give her a good shake and tell her to relax, so Violet opted to walk over and gently grasp her friend by the shoulders.

  “Kate? Relax. I am sure we can get most of that stuff done, but if we can’t, it’s still going to be okay. Brian’s not going to be expecting perfection when he gets home. He’s just going to be so happy to see you and Kira and to meet his son.” She smiled. “It’s going to be amazing.”

  And just when she thought she had said all the right things, Katie’s face scrunched up, and she started to cry.

  Hard.

  “Oh, crap! Oh, Katie, I’m sorry! I just thought…” But she never got to finish because she found herself in her friend’s fierce embrace.

  And it wasn’t a bad place to be.

  So she hugged her back, knew in her mind this was just hormones, and came to the realization she wasn’t going to have a moment’s peace until Brian was home.

  “Eli, let’s go!” Hunter called out with more snap than he meant to.

  “You okay, Hunt?” It wasn’t the first time his father had asked him that this week and more than likely wasn’t going to be the last.

  “It’s just been a long day, Dad, and I still have a shit-ton of stuff to do.”

  “Today was your last day of work for a few weeks, right?”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “So then what’s the hurry? You’re going to have plenty of time on your hands to do anything you want or need to do,” his father stated simply.

  If only…

  He hadn’t seen Violet since she left his house the morning after the baby was born. They talked and texted every day, but it wasn’t enough.

  And it was making him more than a little irritable.

  “Hey, Dad!” his brother Kyle called out as he walked through the front door with a couple of pizzas. “I brought dinner!” He grinned on his way to the kitchen. “You and Eli staying?”

  “Uh…no. I didn’t know you were bringing dinner,” he murmured and looked for where Eli was.

  “So, stay,” Kyle said. “There’s plenty here and I’m sure you don’t feel like going home and putting on your apron.”

  “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” he demanded.

  His brother stared at him blandly before shrugging. “Still in a pissy mood, huh?”

  “What the hell…”

  “Dude, you seriously sound like a broken record. Get a new phrase, for crying out loud. And while you’re at it, maybe find a way to get Violet to come out and help you get out of this mood you’re in.”

  “I’m not in a mood…” But even he knew he was lying.

  “Trust me, you are so in a mood,” his brother countered.

  “Okay, fine. I’m in a mood. Happy?”

  “Always,” Kyle said with a big grin. “Life is good. Why be depressed or pissed off?” He shrugged. “Life is all how you look at it.”

  Yeah, easy for him to say, Hunter thought. His brother had no real responsibilities–he only had himself to worry about. No doubt, if he were a single father who was suddenly thrust into the role of sole parenting while trying to work a full-time job while his daycare provider was on maternity leave, maybe he’d understand.

  And all of those things combined hadn’t put him in the foul mood he was in.

  He missed Violet.

  Needed her.

  Craved her.

  Knew he was going slowly insane without her.

  None of these things were good signs. If anything, this week should have been precisely what he needed to get his head on straight. Now that Katie had given birth and Brian was coming home, he knew Violet was leaving. So why wasn’t he taking advantage of this time to work on making a break from her?

  Because I don’t want a break from her. I want her to stay.

  Oh, right. That.

  It’s like they both knew it was coming, but neither wanted to bring it up. And the fact that they hadn’t had any alone time together all week wasn’t helping. Violet was busy helping Katie with the baby and getting everything ready for when Brian came home, and he was working all kinds of crazy hours before taking his leave of absence that it was helping them both avoid the one thing they needed to talk about the most.

  At least…he did.

  “Uncle Kyle!” Eli called out as he ran into the room and jumped into Kyle’s arms. And that’s when Hunter realized maybe it would be a good thing for them to stay and hang out and have dinner together. It was better than the two of them home alone–especially since he knew he was a little short-tempered.

  As if reading his mind, his father walked by and said, “I’ll set two more plates at the table.” And just like that, Hunter felt like he could breathe a little easier.

  For the next hour, he talked about his plans to go through all the boxes of Eli’s stuff they had gotten from Melissa while he was home for the next several weeks and the possibility of doing some work in his yard–expanding the deck and building a jungle gym for Eli.

  “Why expand the deck?” Kyle asked. “You ask me, the two of you are going to outgrow that house. You should look into adding another room or t
wo. You know I could help you with it.”

  “It’s not like it’s something we could do, just the two of us,” he countered. “We’d need engineers and architects and…”

  “Yeah, and I work for a construction company, so you’d have access to all of it,” Kyle reasoned. “You know it was something you talked about when you bought the place.”

  It had been something he planned on, but…life had other plans for him.

  “It’s fine for us for now. And there’s no harm in making the yard someplace a little more enjoyable for us. I know when everyone comes over that it would be nice to eat outside and have more furniture out there–maybe add a firepit with some seating around it…”

  “I guess. But wouldn’t you love to have a second story with a real master suite for you with your own bathroom?”

  Would he? Hell yes! But it wasn’t practical. “I wouldn’t be comfortable sleeping upstairs and Eli being downstairs.” He shuddered at the thought of it. “Maybe when he’s older, but…”

  “Maybe by then you could move to a bigger place,” his father chimed in. “You know the house was just a starter house for you, Hunter. And there are a lot of great places available in the area. We’re still a little untapped here–the tourists aren’t moving here full-time yet. You’d be smart to think about selling and getting something with more room before more people realize what a great place Magnolia Sound is.”

  After that, Kyle shared news on what he was working on with Coleman Construction and how much he was hoping to get promoted to a foreman position. There wasn’t a doubt in Hunter’s mind that his brother could handle the position, but Kyle tended to be a little impatient and impulsive. Hopefully, his bosses would start him out on a small job if they did promote him.

  There was never a lull in the conversation, but by the time they were done eating, Hunter realized his son had fallen asleep–his head resting on the table.

  “Okay, I think that’s my cue to get going,” he said as he stood. “You must have really worn him out today, Dad.”

  “Well, we worked in the yard. He helped me plant some vegetables and seemed to enjoy digging.”