“I hope that’s okay,” Stevie added. “He didn’t exactly give me any details.”
“Is that so?” Star’s lips curled into a mischievous smile that suddenly had me reconsidering my plan for the day. “Interesting.”
“What is?” Stevie asked, anger underlying those two simple words.
“Nothing,” Star said quickly. “Shall we go check on the animals?” Before anyone could object or ask questions, she herded us toward the pens, starting with the three horses in the pasture and then a couple of rescue pigs before moving on to two old goats.
“What kind of farm is this?”
Star laughed. “It’s a regular vegetable and fruit farm, though Andre is experimenting with vegan cheese at the moment. The animals are part of our rescue program and soon, hopefully, Scott will start up the sister program.”
I groaned at her not-so-subtle reminder. “Things like that take time, Star. You know that better than anybody.”
“And without your help, I might not ever have gotten it to where it is today, which is why I’m pushing you now. Is it money you need?”
That was a nice start. “What I need is twelve more hours in the day.” And more money, I had to admit, to rehab the structures to house the animals properly. And to hire staff to oversee everything. “A topic we can talk about later.”
Stevie’s ebony brows rose at my harsh tone, but Star laughed it off with a dismissive wave of her hands. “Fine. We have a newbie, an overbred mini horse named D’Artagnan with a limp. Let me know what you think?” I nodded and she smiled. “Excellent. Stevie can help me in the kitchen while I tell her all about my farm diet.”
I shook my head as the women headed off, taking comfort in the silence and the company of the animals. It was one of the reasons I enjoyed coming here, and why I’d needed to come this weekend. These were all rescue animals, yet despite the cruelty and neglect they’d suffered, they were all loving and sweet, eagerly offering up hugs and kisses, sometimes in hopes of a treat. Star had hired me to help when no one was interested in an inexperienced vet fresh out of school, and I tried to make it out here at least once a month to look at the animals and catch up with everyone.
As I checked on my charges, I wondered what secrets Star had managed to get out of Stevie—and wondered how I could bribe her to share them with me.
Stevie
“So, how long have you and Scott been together?” Star asked the question so casually, she’d almost gotten me to relax. Almost.
“Together? We’re not—at least, not how you mean. I’m his assistant,” I told her and gave her a quick rundown of our crazy meeting. “I’m new to town and he’s being a good southern boy.”
Star’s laugh came out melodic and feminine, which only made the sibling vibe she and Scott gave off all the more baffling. “I don’t know you well, but even I can tell you don’t believe that. I think you could be good for Scott—and he thinks so, too, or else you wouldn’t be here.”
I shrugged, ignoring that feeling in my chest that felt a little like hope. “I didn’t have anything else to do today and I was bribed. With pastries.”
“What did Scott tell you about this place?”
“Almost nothing,” I admitted, just to prove how uninvolved Scott and I were. “Just that he was coming out to a friend’s farm.”
“I was desperate for cheap vet help when I started this place, and Scott was fresh out of school. He worked hard, long hours, too, but he never said no to any of the animals—to the point that other people started bringing their animals here for treatment.” She laughed at the memory. “Finally, I told him it was time to go out into the world. Kicked him off the ranch and gave him a nice retainer, just in case he got too busy for an old friend.”
I ignored the relief I felt at hearing they were never lovers. It wasn’t my business or my problem, even if they had been. “You’re a good friend.”
“I am, and he’s been a good friend to me, too, but he hasn’t been by for one of our Saturday lunches in quite some time. I’m guessing you have something to do with that.”
I didn’t know what Star meant, so I shrugged. Scott was a grown man who did what he wanted; I didn’t factor into that at all. “Doubtful. I assist him in the field, so it makes sense he’d want me close by.”
Star stared at me for so long I started to squirm in discomfort, then she shook her head with a small smile on her lips, shaped like a cupid’s bow. “I can’t tell if you’re just in denial or if you really don’t see what I saw in just a few minutes.”
“That’s sexual tension, nothing more.”
“If you say so. Mash these potatoes for me, will ya?” Star hefted a pot that was half my height onto the counter and turned away, returning moments later with butter, salt, pepper, herbs, and a potato masher. “Thanks.”
I got quite the upper-body workout mashing and seasoning the potatoes while Star danced around the kitchen preparing at least half a dozen dishes. An hour or more later, we sat down to eat with nearly a dozen people. “All of you live here?”
They all nodded. “Some have their own homes on the property, but most of us live here. There’s plenty of room and this place is ninety percent off-grid,” Star informed me proudly.
“Ninety? Last time I was here, it was only eighty,” Scott said, awe in his voice.
“You’ve been gone a long time,” the man named Andre said to him, sounding none too happy about it.
“Setting up a new practice is a lot of work.” The tension between the men was thick and threatened to derail all the hard work Star and the others had put into the feast currently laid out on the table.
“Made harder when you refuse to hire an assistant,” I grumbled and looked at Scott with wide eyes, hoping he got my message.
Andre laughed. “Heaven forbid he ask anyone for help.”
I turned accusing eyes on Scott. “I guess that was more than just a little bit of projection.”
He laughed and shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” At his words, the table erupted in laughter and I kept a smile on my face while I ate and listened to their stories, watching the way they interacted.
I envied their easy camaraderie; it was something I hadn’t really bothered stopping to make time for since I’d left the family ranch behind, always working and saving for a rainy day. Connections and friendships had been the first thing to go when I left, and it didn’t seem like a priority since I never knew how long I’d stick in one place. They were loud and colorful and all up in each other’s business, but they were a family.
It was nice.
“Don’t let them fool you, they’re all crazy,” Scott whispered in my ear.
I gave him a sideways glance and a smile. “Seems to me that you like crazy more than you let on.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he agreed ominously and dug into his second, or maybe it was his third pile of mashed potatoes.
The afternoon passed in a blur of food and wine for me, soda for Scott, and so much conversation I’d be happy to sit in silence for the next week or two. It was nice, though, more than nice. Too bad it had me thinking of Scott as something more than my stick-in-the-mud boss. Hell, I was even thinking of him as more than a sex object. Dammit.
“You’re awful quiet over there. Something on your mind?” Scott’s voice came out on a loud echo inside the silent vehicle.
“Just thinking. Are you satisfied with your payments?” Unbelievably, Scott had accepted a variety of artisan products ranging from pickles, vegan cheese, preserves, blueberry wine, and strawberry liqueur—all organic and healthy as hell—in lieu of cold, hard cash. It was amazing, really, and only served to reveal more of his human side to me.
“Damn happy, especially with the banana bread. That stuff is perfect for breakfast and dessert. I’ll even give you one, for keeping Andre off my case.” He shook his head. “They always come up with the best stuff.”
“Why did you invite me today?”
He shrugged. “I wanted you to
see another side of me, I guess.”
Mission accomplished, but it still didn’t make any sense. “Why?”
He let out a loud, barking laugh. “Now who’s being suspicious?”
Me. And rightly so. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
He battled his eyelashes at me. “Don’t you mean my pretty little head?”
Somehow, he managed to tease another smile out of me. “You need me to tell you that you’re pretty, Scott?” I leaned in, batting my eyelashes until they fluttered. “You’re very pretty, Scotty.”
“You ruined it,” he groaned and shouldered me away, tugging another laugh out of me.
“Sorry,” I told him, sounding about as apologetic as I felt, which was not at all.
“Right,” he snorted and fell silent once again. He was hard to read—flirty and friendly one moment, and cool and aloof the next. It was a game I didn’t enjoy, no matter how much I wanted him.
Which was just further confirmation that I needed to keep ignoring whatever this thing was between us. I turned to look out the passenger window, watching the Texas countryside fly by in a beautiful flash of colors.
“Remember that woman I told you I was interested in?”
I nodded, sure he was about to reveal it was Star all along.
“Well, it’s you.” Scott said the words simply, like it was news I should have expected to hear. Which was crazy since he had Clara chasing him down, and he’d made it clear how he felt when he ran from my bed. “Feel free to say something. Anything.”
I wanted to, but I couldn’t. What could I possibly say, when a hot doctor tells me he wants me? “Why me?” was the only question that came to mind. We didn’t have anything in common, and sophisticated women like Clara were more up his alley, not mouthy assistants with too many tattoos. “It doesn’t make sense.”
But Scott only laughed, like it was all some joke. “I’ve already made these same arguments to myself over the past few weeks. They aren’t working.”
I sighed, cursing him for voicing my concerns. “And?”
“And I’m done fighting it. I want you and you want me, apparently that’s all that matters, so…”
“So, what?”
“So, I’m in. I’m willing to do this. Me and you.” The words sounded even more dramatic when the car came to a stop and he shifted into park. The instant silence engulfed us as the engine died in front of his house. “What do you say?”
What did I say? I had no words yet, so I stepped out of the car and started down the paved path to the guest house. “I don’t know.”
Scott fell into step beside me and shrugged. “You know, but you don’t want to say it.”
He was right, I was being a coward—and I was no damn coward. “We’re not right for each other. I’m not sure you really even like me half the time, and I’m not changing who I am for anyone.”
He sighed, a smile playing around his lips. “Good, because I’m not asking you to, Stevie. All I’m asking you to do is give us a shot. We’ll go on a few dates, talking late while drinking too much, and see what happens. What do you say?”
I sighed and turned to Scott, my back against the door—I was literally caught between a rock of a chest, and a hard place. And I couldn’t think of anywhere else I wanted to be. Or anyone else I wanted to be with. “I say, what the hell,” I told him and flung my body into his, smashing my lips against his until he caught on and wrapped his arms around me.
At some point, somehow, we made it inside before our clothes came off, and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in bed.
Scott
There was nothing better in the whole wide world than waking up with a soft, willing woman in your arms. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t quite morning yet, or that the soft, willing woman was still asleep with her ass pressed against my growing erection, her back flush against my chest and her thick black waves covering my face. Her hair smelled like honey, and her skin smelled like sweat and sex. And vanilla.
I had to have a taste.
Leaning forward until the warmth of her body heated my lips, I wrapped one arm around her waist as the other hand closed around the closest breast before I started peppering the back of her neck with kisses. A soft groan escaped but she wasn’t fully awake, not yet. Slowly, as if I had the time in the world, I kissed my way down her spine until she shivered and moaned.
It was that moan that was like a bow of lust straight to my cock. Heat surged through me, filling my veins with fire, as her back arched into me and I knew the moment she woke up because it was the moment my tongue slipped inside her wet heat and a low, strangled moan escaped from her pouty lips. One hand gripped the bed sheets and the other reached around and found a handful of my hair.
Stevie didn’t say much, she just moaned and cried out her pleasure, nothing more than brief commands, like “More,” and “Yes,” and my personal favorite, “Please.”
I lapped her up, sliding one finger deep as I tasted every part of her until she begged me, with her body, to stop. Only then did I tease her a little more until she crawled to get away from me, moaning as I held her still and sucked her clit until a second, more powerful orgasm burst out of her on a long, keening wail.
The sound kept me hard and aching as I slowly kissed my way up her body. “Good morning.” Her lips split into a smile that I couldn’t help but steal a taste of and when Stevie moaned into me, I pressed against where she was soaking wet and throbbing.
When I pulled back, she let out a husky laugh. “Best way to wake up. Ever.”
“Can’t argue with that,” I groaned when her legs slipped around my waist, pulling me even closer. “More importantly, I don’t want to.” Her hand snaked between our overheated bodies and wrapped around my cock, putting me exactly where she wanted me.
“Finally, something you won’t argue with me about.”
I laughed but it was the last coherent sound I made for a good long while, because slipping inside of her tight heat once again was like heaven. She was so hot, her pale skin flushed with desire as she tossed her head back and arched into me, putting rosy red nipples within tasting distance. My tongue flicked against her nipple before I pulled it into my mouth, sucking hard as her body clamped hard around mine, the aftershocks of her last orgasm still sending electricity through her body. It was a damn sight to behold.
“Scott,” she moaned, digging her nails into my shoulders. “More, please.”
“Greedy,” I grunted out and sat up, gripping her hips hard and pulling her close until the angle was perfect to send her out of her mind. Stevie gripped my wrists, her violet gaze focused on nothing but me as I pounded into her body like I was the center of her world. Heat continued to surge through me at the desire in her eyes, at the way her lips were shiny and swollen from my kisses.
“Scott,” she moaned again and again, each time the word came out lower, deeper, more desperate. “Scott,” she growled and her fingers dug deeper into my flesh but I didn’t give a damn because watching her fall apart first thing in the morning, as the first rays of sun filtered in, was worth a few battle scars. Stevie let out a strangled cry as her body clamped down hard around my cock, pulsing until she pulled my orgasm out to dance with hers.
My body shook and trembled, vibrated with too much energy as pleasure coursed through my veins and sweat dripped from my forehead. It was a powerful orgasm, explosive enough to blur my vision. “Oh… fuck!”
Even as shivers wracked her body, Stevie was still a smart ass. “Okay, so maybe three orgasms is the best way to wake up.” Laughter shook her body and mine as her legs tightened around my waist like she wasn’t eager to let me go. Suddenly, her expression went serious and her fingers threaded through my hair, then her lips were on mine in a hungry, intense kiss that set me on fire all over again.
“Happy to help.” The words came out breathless but I didn’t give a damn; Stevie’s smiling lips somehow tasted sweetest of all.
“Good, because I could use a
little bit more help.” Her smiling lips touched mine once again and we sat like that for I didn’t know how long, bodies meshed together, lips fused, and we kissed like horny teenagers until the sun lit up the whole room. The whole damn guest house. Stevie was as hot as a flame, licking my lips and sucking my tongue like a woman possessed.
I was already growing hard again, grinding up against her as we kissed and kissed.
“He didn’t answer his door, but maybe she will.” That voice was too familiar—and not one I wanted to hear when I was rocking a semi-chub.
“Or maybe he didn’t answer because she was in there with him. Or he’s in there with her,” said Janey, the ironic voice of reason.
“If they’re together, then maybe we shouldn’t disturb them at all.” Gotta love Eddy, always with her eye on the prize.
Stevie and I looked at each other, barely able to hold in the laughter. “If we’re really quiet, maybe they’ll go away,” I whispered in her ear and nibbled on the lobe.
Stevie gasped and wrapped an arm around my neck, threading her fingers through my hair and tugging harder than I expected. “Or maybe, if we’re really loud, they’ll go away.” To punctuate her point, she reached between us and pressed me against her opening.
A loud, continuous knock sounded on the cottage’s front door and we both groaned. “Guess not.”
“I’ll go talk to them.” She fell against the bed and let out a long sigh, but I couldn’t look away from the beautiful jiggle of her breasts. “In a minute.”
“No, stay here,” I whispered and leaned forward, pulling her nipple into my mouth and rolling it around between my lips and tongue. The knocking sounded again, louder this time.
“If I stay any longer, we’ll be putting on a show. For your grandmother.”
I rolled off her easily. “Fine. Hurry back.” I reached out and smacked her ass just before she was out of reach, and my gaze stayed glued to it until she covered it up with a silky kimono-style robe.
When Stevie was gone, I fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what in the hell I was doing. Having fun was the first answer that came to mind, but even I knew it was more than that. I wouldn’t mess around with an employee for a few nights between the sheets. Nothing could come of this, not really. Stevie and I were too different, despite the fact that we couldn’t seem to stay away from each other. Then again, maybe some good, hot fun was exactly what we both needed.
Misters of Love: A Small Town Romance Boxset Page 41
