by Vivian Arend
Trevor placed a hand on either side of her shoulders and leaned in over her. His lips took hers with a kiss that kick-started all of the earlier sensations back to high gear.
He kept kissing her, one hand rising to cup the side of her cheek as he turned up the heat. Owning her mouth, his tongue and teeth surprising her at every turn. He gentled the kiss to let her breathe, then went and stole her breath away the next second by sliding his hand down her neck and under the surface of the water.
He couldn’t see under the layers of bubbles, but he didn’t seem to need visuals to get where he wanted to go.
A gentle touch. A ghostly caress, barely using his fingertips over her skin, but every second the connection grew more intense. He scooped his hand to one side, brushing over her nipple, and a low moan escaped her, captured by his continuing kiss.
She had no idea what he would do next, but she had no complaints so far. His kisses continued to tease and entice as his fingers lay briefly over her ribs. His wide grip briefly circled her waist before dropping lower to tease her hip.
His thumb rested on the fold between her thigh and torso, the narrow crease that led down between her legs. She gasped for air as he broke away, staring into her eyes as he slowly followed the line. A gentle touch, but unwavering. Becky did everything she could to keep her face and body language showing him she was completely on board with what he was doing.
And what he was doing was cupping her, his big hand settling intimately over her sex.
“You okay, Rodeo?”
“Don’t stop,” she begged, not sure what she was begging for. All she knew was this was right. So right, and so long in coming.
It was as if she’d never been cold in her life. Never hurt or been afraid. Not with the lava bubbling inside her, burning away all sorts of bad memories and any ice that had lingered in her soul.
And then he moved his fingers higher, slipping between her folds to brush against the sweetest spot.
“You should see your face,” he whispered. “So much pleasure. Relax, and let me make you see stars.”
She was already halfway to the heavens, a delicious tension growing in her core as he caressed, slowly increasing the pressure. Becky let one hand fall into the water, brushing along his arm and the moving tendons of his forearm until her hand settled over his as he stroked her. It was magical, and perfect, and exactly the something more she never would’ve imagined to ask for.
“Relax,” he ordered again.
“How do I relax when I’m about to explode?” she asked on an exhale, because there was no way she could take a breath to speak normally.
Trevor growled. Seriously, growled. This deep, rumbling noise escaped him that touched her inside in a caress as potent as his fingers on her sex.
Pleasure swamped her rapidly, like the cold water had surrounded her when she’d slipped, only now heat and intense arousal took her under as she climaxed. Core tightening under his touch as his strokes grew softer, slower.
The wide, dark centers of his eyes were the first things she saw as she opened her eyes, shocked to discover sometime in the last few seconds she’d clutched his wrist, holding him tightly to her. As if she was scared he’d run away.
As if she was scared this wasn’t really happening…only it was. The languid satisfaction in her limbs made that clear.
So did the satisfaction on his face.
Becky found her voice. “You look like you were the one who just got something more in the tub.”
“I did.” His gaze drifted over her, lips curling upward, his breathing as unsteady as hers. “I got to put that expression on your face, and trust me, Rodeo, it might be our first, but no fucking way will it be the last. I had just as much fun as you.”
He rocked forward on his heels and kissed her again, and it was like dessert, and a bow on top of a present, and the most beautiful sunset sky. All the things that made a day end perfectly.
Right before he stood and pretended to tip his hat at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams.”
The water was still hot, and the scent of ginger-and-peach bubble bath lingered in the air, but the most vivid detail filling her mind was the image of a sweet, incredible, sexy man who’d rocked her world and never asked for a single thing in return.
He’d said he’d make her see stars. Holy moly.
Trevor Coleman delivered on his promises.
Chapter Fifteen
By now the low rumble of Trevor’s truck had grown familiar enough she could recognize it without turning. Becky kept walking, but it was difficult to consider refusing the man anything after the magic he’d performed a few days ago.
Life being what it was, she hadn’t seen him since her day off, although she’d spotted him in the fields at a distance. And that was fine. She didn’t expect him to be around all the time.
If he were around more often, she’d never get anything done.
As the truck closed in, she turned to greet him, confusion rushing in. That wasn’t his familiar face smiling at her through the driver’s window. Instead an older woman rolled down the window and offered a greeting.
“Hi, Becky. I’m Kate Coleman—Trevor’s mom. Can I give you a ride? I’m headed into town to the quilt shop.”
“Thanks.” She wasn’t about to argue with Trevor’s mom about how she was just fine walking. Still, she wished she knew how much he’d shared with his family. “We’re going be there before it opens,” she warned as she crawled into the passenger seat. “I was giving myself enough time to make it on foot.”
Mrs. Coleman waved off her concern. “We’ll grab a coffee first.” She glanced quickly at Becky before fixing her eyes on the road ahead of them. “Are you enjoying working in Rocky?”
“It’s been wonderful,” Becky said honestly. “Hope has an amazing shop, and everyone has been so nice.”
“All the quilts I made when I was growing up were from scrap fabric and old clothes. Sometimes I feel scandalized buying a piece of material and chopping it up.”
That was exactly how Becky felt. “Almost all my previous projects have been the same. You use what you can get, I suppose.”
“Speaking of which, Trevor mentioned you might be interested in some extra canning. I didn’t want to stop by with anything before I checked to see what you needed.”
She might be a little embarrassed at the offer, but Becky wasn’t going to turn it down. Everything would be a huge help at this point. “I would appreciate anything you have extra of, but can I offer a trade? If there’s anything you need help with, let me know.”
“I’ll take you up on that,” Kate said. “We try to get the whole Coleman family together a couple times a year, and we alternate where we meet. Dana—that’s the Angel Coleman family—asked if I’d mind hosting the family Canada Day picnic again this year.”
“And you need help?”
Kate nodded. “I wasn’t expecting it, and there’s a lot to get ready before next weekend. It’s too short notice for my daughter Anna to take time off, and the other girls will help when they can, but even with Melody and Rachel coming over, I could use another set of hands.”
That Rachel would be there was the icing on the cake. “I’ll help. Just let me know when you need me.”
“I’ll talk to them, and if it works out, why don’t you come over tomorrow night for dinner? We can work for a couple hours, and when we’re done, you can raid the pantry for some canning and one of the girls can drive you home.” She was turning into the drive-through of Tim Hortons. “What do you want?”
“A coffee would be great. Thank you.”
“Cream? Sugar? Or are you one of those tough types who takes it black?”
She was the type who rarely got coffee from a coffee shop. Coffee was a treat in the first place, these days. “A little cream and sugar, please.”
Kate put in an order for two single-singles, and a dozen donuts, smiling as she passed over Becky’s drink. “I know you didn’t ask for any, but help yoursel
f to the donuts. I’ll take the rest home, and the boys will devour them like a hoard of locusts, so we may as well enjoy our favourites while we have a chance.”
It was still too early to suggest Kate drop her off, especially since the woman had bought her a treat. So Becky sat firm and struggled to think of something to add to the conversation.
The only thing that leapt to mind was to rave about Trevor, and she didn’t know if either he or his mom would appreciate that.
Except Kate was the one to bring him up. She’d pulled off to the side of the road beside a park area, taking a long drink of her steaming-hot coffee before selecting a chocolate-covered doughnut out of the box. “I heard Trevor and Lee were out a few days ago giving you a hand.”
“Rachel, as well,” Becky said. “You raised some very hard workers, Mrs. Coleman. And very giving sons.”
“That they are, although I don’t know that I should take credit for them. After kids reach a certain age, it’s a lot less about how you raised them, and more about the choices they make all on their own. And what their nature is like, I suppose.” She gave Becky a quick glance before focusing out the front window. “Lee has always been the one to think things through before he started a task. He’d figure out the best and easiest solution to any problem. Anna would dig in her heels and fight until she got the job done.”
This had to be leading to some kind of warning. Bells were going off in her head as Becky nibbled on her doughnut and waited for the other shoe to fall.
“Steve and Trevor—they were my easygoing kids. Steve’s grown up a lot over the past year, but Trevor?” Mrs. Coleman shook her head, an indulgent smile on her lips. “That boy has always been willing to give the shirt off his back to anyone, at any time.”
Becky swallowed hard. She didn’t feel bad being on the receiving end of this conversation. She got it. Kate was making sure she didn’t have any underhanded plans for her son.
Only she didn’t think Trevor was the type to let his mom make his decisions for him. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and Trevor was a grownup.
In some ways, though, Becky was a little jealous she didn’t have anyone in her life keeping an eye out for her like Kate was watching out for her son.
This conversation was going under the heading of things she simply wasn’t going to think about too hard, or dwell on.
Good thing she had a lot of experience with changing topics when there were things she didn’t want to discuss anymore. “Trevor doesn’t want to give the shirt off his back,” Becky said with a completely straight face. “He just wants to give his truck to everybody.”
Kate jerked her coffee cup back from her lips, covering her mouth with her hand as she caught a laugh. “I guess you do know him well enough if you’re making that kind of comment.” She offered a smile that seemed a lot more welcoming. “Trevor went riding with his father this morning, and he parked the big beast blocking the garage. Either I did a vehicle shuffle, or took his.”
“Obviously Trevor doesn’t mind other people driving his truck.” Becky focused forward. “When I come over, will we be cleaning or cooking?”
“A bit of both? We’ll play it by ear. You know how to get to our place?”
She shook her head. Kate gave directions, and Becky paused, her thoughts whirling.
Trevor’s place was to the north of her, and there were a few other Coleman homes accessible from that direction, but not his parents’ house. The Moonshine Coleman place was nowhere on the road that it made sense for Kate to be casually driving past Becky’s. “You went out of your way to pick me up this morning.”
Kate nodded cheerfully as she got the truck into gear and headed toward the quilt shop. “I wanted to meet you.”
Oh boy. Becky took the bull by the reins, not sure where she was finding all this attitude. “And? Do I pass muster?”
Laughter rang out, then Kate reached over and patted her shoulder. “You’ll do fine, Becky. The interrogation is over. I can see why Trevor likes you.”
Maybe the conversation should have been uncomfortable or awkward, but in some ways it felt very freeing. “Thank you.”
“By the way,” Kate added, “I expect you to come to the party, as well. On Canada Day.”
Becky didn’t get a chance to say if she could or not. Kate didn’t give her an opening, just assumed her answer was yes.
“Here we are,” Kate announced, parking outside the Stitching Post.
“Are you coming into the shop?” Becky asked, not sure if that part had been an excuse to give her a ride.
“I am most definitely coming in,” Kate answered, joining her on the sidewalk. “I haven’t seen Hope for a while, and even with her visiting next week, I find we can never have a really good conversation with everybody else around.”
Hope answered Becky’s knock at the door with a smile, and she seemed pleased that her aunt-in-law had stopped in to visit in the brief time before the store opened.
Kate exclaimed over the growing size of Hope’s belly. “You’ve popped since the last time I saw you,” she teased.
“Ultrasound last week said there’s only one kid in there,” Hope assured her. “I double-checked, because that would’ve been just my luck that Matt would get the Coleman genes as well.” She glanced at Becky to explain. “There’s been a set of twins every generation. Matt’s got twin brothers, and his oldest brother and his wife have twins. I wasn’t looking to add to the legacy.”
“My sister married into a family with twins,” Kate said. “She wanted so badly to have two at once. I think one at a time was more than enough.”
“One will be enough for me to start with.” Hope led her aunt toward the notions she needed, leaving Becky to deal with another wave of nostalgia and sadness.
Talk of babies and family made her sister’s absence worse. She wondered what Sarah was doing, and how the children were. Becky missed being around them, finding ways to make them smile.
Everything else she didn’t miss still tipped the scales way over in favour of her new life. Lingering sadness was worth the intoxicating freedom she had now, especially the positive things she’d gained by making friends with the Colemans, and Trevor.
But some day…
“I’ve got what I need, so I’ll head out and let you girls get to work.” Kate turned to Becky. “I’ll send word with Trevor if things change. Otherwise, I’ll see you tomorrow night at six.”
Hope waited until the bell had finished swaying as the door closed behind Kate before whirling on Becky. “Holy moly, you had to do the meet-the-parents thing already?”
“She didn’t ask what my intentions were,” Becky said with a laugh, although Kate had come pretty close.
“Kate is cool, although I love my mother-in-law even more. All of the moms in the Coleman family are great.”
“I’ll get to meet them next week,” Becky shared, suddenly feeling a little awkward. “Is it okay with you that Mrs. Coleman invited me to the family thing on Canada Day?”
Hope looked confused. “Why would it not be okay?”
Becky shrugged. “Just wasn’t sure if you minded mixing work with non-work company.”
Her boss came over and laid both hands on her shoulders, looking Becky straight in the eye. “Trust me, I have no objections to spending time with you here at work, or out there when it’s play time. So stop that nonsense.”
It was good to know. “I feel the same.”
“You know, if you get a ride with a different member of the family every day, you really won’t need a car,” Hope teased.
“I should post a sign-up schedule,” Becky said with mock brightness.
The other woman laughed. “Don’t do it unless you honestly want all of us up in your business all the time.”
“Colemans? Into other people’s business? Really?”
Hope snickered, and they both headed off to their tasks. Something very satisfying glowed inside as Becky moved through her day.
No, she might miss her si
ster and the kids, but this was all being done with the intention that someday she could offer them freedom as well. Until then, there was nothing about her current situation that wasn’t amazing.
She took down another bolt of fabric and went to work.
It wasn’t until after lunch Trevor felt the time was right to lead the conversation where it needed to go.
They’d had a glorious morning, from the fresh sunrise slowly breaking over the dew-drenched land to the slow easy stride of the horses as they’d worked their way toward the northeast corner of the Moonshine land. All their fences butted up against other Coleman land, but it was still important to make sure none of the cattle could dance from range to range unsupervised.
There was something satisfying about tugging wires into place, or pounding a post a little straighter. Years ago when he’d done this task with his father, Randy had been the one to do the heavy labour while Trevor braced the post, determined not to flinch as the heavy sledge whistled by, far too close.
He’d trusted his dad, but it’d still been an exercise in restraint to keep from fidgeting.
Now they’d turned it around, and Randy was the one bracing the post. Sometimes with an arm, sometimes a knee as Trevor lifted and swung, his motions sure and steady, just the way his father had taught him.
They hadn’t talked much. They hadn’t needed to as they’d let the horses move at a steady pace along the fence line, the shared tasks a sort of communication all of their own.
Randy finally broke the silence. “It’s good to have this time with you,” he said. “I think back to what I dreamed of when you boys were little tykes. About how nice it would be to have your help when that meant more than pretending to get things done while you were getting in the way.”
Trevor laughed. “You never let on that we were a pain in the butt.”
“Of course not,” Randy said. “Because while you were, you were also so pleased to be out doing things with your old man, and there’s something to be said for the ego-stroking that hero worship provides.”
They grinned at each other before Trevor turned and led their horses in a shortcut around a pond. “I can’t believe you and your brothers managed to ranch all the Coleman land by yourselves back when you were young. There are so many more of us now, and at times it seems we can barely keep up.”
