by Tess Oliver
“You needn’t worry, Dad. I’m fine. I’m just dealing with a little disappointment and, frankly, a touch of humiliation, but I’ll rally. I promise.” Twice I’d stepped out of my comfort zone to reach out to Barrett. While I was proud of myself for taking the risks, both times had ended in more heartbreak. The last phone call had really nailed shut the door on things, and I’d felt silly and a little desperate for having called him. I still wasn’t quite sure why I’d made the decision to do it. I’d finished the chores at the barn and was feeling satisfyingly exhausted. My head had been bleary from lack of sleep. I’d gotten into the Porsche and I’d envisioned Barrett sitting behind the wheel with a gleam in his eye as he threw the car into gear. And I realized how badly I wanted to see him again. But after a long, rambling speech where I’d laid myself open, he cut short my desire to see him by letting me know he’d been having a good time without me. He’d tried to call several times since, but I could see no reason to answer.
Dad leaned forward .”What are you reading, Fin? A farm catalogue?”
I lowered it to my lap. “Dad, I’ve realized something. I think a lot of my struggles with anxiety and depression came from me not having enough to do. I had no real purpose in life except to flit around our sprawling house and figure out how to keep myself entertained. Cole had the construction company and Jude had his art, but I didn’t have anything. It gave me far too much time to think and contemplate and get anxious. Once Lilly Belle arrived, I realized how much I enjoy looking after her. I’m never more content than when I’m working at the barn.”
“What are you working up to, Fin?”
“I want to start a non-profit animal rescue just like Mandy’s place. I want to put my money and my passion into something that matters to me.”
Dad leaned back and closed his eyes. “I don’t know, Finley. Seems like a lot of work for very little pay off.”
“Pay off? Are you kidding, Dad? I’d be helping animals, and I can’t think of a better pay off than that. Not everything is about profit and money, Dad.”
“You mean like the money that would be needed to pay for your non-profit rescue?” he asked without lifting his head.
“Yes, it would take money, but the rewards would be great. Dad, I think this is exactly what I need.”
He didn’t respond at first and it seemed that he’d drifted off to sleep. I relaxed back somewhat disappointed about how the conversation had gone.
“You get some figures together and some real estate prospects and we’ll talk about it,” he said.
I nearly jumped three feet off the lounge. “I will. I love you, Dad.”
“I’m always here for you, Fin-Fin.”
“I know, Dad.”
***
With thoughts about my own barn running through my head, I could no longer sit calmly by the pool. Mandy had texted that she’d found some properties to look at online, so I dressed and headed over to the rescue.
Gray clouds had settled on the surrounding mountains, and the temperature remained cooler from the lack of sunlight. Mandy’s two dogs galloped out of the barn to meet me, and she was close behind with one of her many medical boxes. “I think I’ve found some great pieces of land for you to look at. A few are fifty or so miles from the city, but I think they’d work. Especially if you found the right people to help you run it.”
“Great. Can’t wait to see them.”
She lifted her medical box. “I was just about to give the goats their shots. Joe is waiting over in the pen to help me. Do you think you could change the calf’s bedding? Then we can sit at the computer.”
“Of course.” The distinct sound of a hammer echoed through the main barn. “Did you find a carpenter?”
She smiled. “I did and he’s doing a great job. The animals seem to have gotten used to the noise already, so I’m sure the calf won’t be bothered by it. I left some shavings leaning against his stall.”
“All right.” The hammering continued as I walked into the barn. The sound was coming from one of the back stalls where a frightened horse had kicked a hole through the wall a few months back.
The calf jumped and kicked around when she saw me. She was a completely different animal than the one I’d first seen weeks ago, barely able to lift her head. “Hey, sweetie pie, we need to find you a name soon. How are you doing?” The hammering stopped for a second, and the barn inhabitants seemed to all sigh with relief. I stroked the calf’s muzzle. “It’s a little noisy in here today, isn’t it?”
“Sorry about that,” a deep voice called from the end of the barn. I grabbed the edge of the stall to steady myself. I took a deep breath and turned to look toward the end of the aisle. Everything around me disappeared, but the man standing at the end of the barn remained. He looked even more beautiful than usual dressed in a flannel shirt, work boots and with a hammer in his hand. I swallowed hard.
He walked closer. I could feel all of my earlier resolve to be done with him shred away.
“How did you get that cut on your face?” They were the first words I could string together in my spinning head.
He shrugged off the question and stepped closer. As the distance between us shortened, the energy between our bodies strengthened. Everything about him was familiar and intoxicating.
“What made you decide to work here?”
“Your brother posted the notice in the construction office, and I thought it would be good experience. . . and it was the only way I could think to see you again.” His breath rose and fell as he gazed at me in the cool shade of the barn. “Fin, that last phone call--”
Heat rose in my cheeks. “I probably sounded a little crazy. My dad had gotten home the night before, and I hadn’t had much sleep, and I’m not sure why I called. But I just realized I’m sounding a little crazy again.”
He smiled. “Then I must love crazy because I would do anything right now to have you in my arms.”
He dropped the hammer as I ran toward him and jumped into his arms. My feet left the ground as my arms went around his neck. He held me tightly as his mouth covered mine. The calf let out a long moo and it echoed through the barn. Rett smiled against my mouth. “I think she’s jealous that I have you.”
“How do you know it’s not the other way around? I mean, we girls know a good thing when we see it.”
His hands moved to my waist, and my body slid down against his as he lowered me to the ground. I reached up and lightly fingered the bruised skin running along the cut on his cheek. He closed his eyes as I touched him.
“Finley,” he said quietly. He opened his eyes and looked down at me. “I need you to be mine, completely.”
I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my faced against his chest. His heart beat was solid and fast beneath my cheek. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”
“Don’t ever shut me out again. I can’t stand the thought of you not needing me. Especially because I need you.”
“I’m yours, Rett.” I peered up at him. “Complete with all my moments of lunacy and my opinions and my obsessive compulsive shit and my crazy life as a rock star’s daughter and . . .”
He squeezed me. “O.K. stop. Saying all of it together is scaring me.”
“It is?”
He leaned down and kissed me. “Nah, I don’t scare easily. It’s one of my biggest problems, that and the fact that we are standing in the middle of a barn and not lying naked in my bed.”
“That does seem to be a problem.”
“I’ve still got about an hour of work, and it will be the longest fucking hour of my life, but please come home with me. My brother is out of town, and I can’t live another day without having you naked in my arms.”
“Will this be that make up sex I always hear so much about?”
“I believe so,” he said.
I was ecstatic at the mere thought of being in his bed. “Then, yes, this will be a long hour indeed.”
***
I followed behind the rusted, dented truck and de
cided that I’d never hated traffic so much as I had on that long ride to his house. Rett had the front door open before I’d set my boot on the driveway.
He grabbed me to him the second I stepped inside. “I lied,” he said, “that last hour on the freeway was the longest fucking hour of my life.” He kissed me with the heated desperation coming from not having touched each other in weeks.
My fingers clutched at his shirt to keep upright. “Is this where the wall banging sex happens?” I asked breathlessly.
He shook his head. “This is the time for pure and simple and completely naked and slow. I want to feel every minute of this.” A smile formed as he kissed me gently. “Besides, I’ve been hard for two hours, if we move too fast it’ll be over before you get your panties off.”
I laughed. “I think you’re supposed to head to the hospital after four hours.”
“I think I’d probably start heading to the ER after three.”
He kissed me mid-laugh and then gazed down at me. “I have missed you so damn much.”
“Nothing has felt right without you, Rett. Don’t leave me again.”
He took my hand and led me to the bedroom. His bed was still a tangled mess of sheets, and his clothes dotted the floor. “I wasn’t expecting visitors.” He pulled my t-shirt up and over my head and dropped it onto his pile of clothes.
“I would have been disappointed if it had been clean and organized.”
He smiled. “You really have set the bar low on your expectations when it comes to me.”
I slid off my boots. “Not at all.” I unzipped my jeans. “In fact, right now, the bar is really, really high.” I pushed the jeans to the ground, stepped out of them and reached for his fly. “Because I was spending time with this amazing guy and the sex was mindblowing.” I took off my bra. “But no pressure.”
He pulled me toward him. “Hmm, let me see if I can pick up where this amazing guy left off.” He lowered his mouth to my breasts. My nipples reacted to the feel of his tongue. He lifted his head and his mouth touched mine. “Shit, Finley, I haven’t stopped thinking you for one damn second.” He lifted me into his arms and lowered me onto the bed.
He undressed quickly, and I reached up and ran my fingers over the tattoos on his abdomen just to make sure he was real. He rolled on a condom and lowered himself over me. His knees pushed my legs apart as my mouth met his. His hands smoothed over my naked skin, leaving a trail of heat as he went. He pressed his palm against the side of my face, and his long lashes curtained his blue eyes as he kissed me again, gently at first and then with an urgency that made me arch against his body. His hand slid down beneath my bottom, and he pushed me up against his long, hard erection.
“Open your eyes, Baby. I want to look at you,” his voice was deep and hoarse.
I gazed up at him. My fingers dug into his arms as he slid deep inside of me. He leaned down and dragged his tongue across my bottom lip as he moved slowly against me. My legs wrapped around his waist, and I held him tightly inside of me. His gaze never left my face as he filled me completely, each thrust going deeper and harder.
His movements quickened and I squeezed my legs harder around him, never wanting him to stop. He kissed my mouth and then stared down at me again, his blue eyes dark with desire. “Tell me you’re mine, Finley. Tell me you belong to me and no one else.”
I lifted my legs higher. I wanted him to go harder and faster. My fingers dug into skin.
“Say it, Baby. Please say it.”
“I belong to you, Rett Mason. I am yours, forever.” I screamed out as my pussy clenched around him. His hips moved faster and my fingers dug deeper into his flesh as each thrust sent waves of ecstasy through me.
His head dropped back and he groaned with release.
He dropped down next to me and pulled me into his arms.
“I can still feel the agony of not being with you, and yet, it feels like I’ve never left your arms.” I rubbed my cheek against his chest.
His fingers trailed softly up my back. “I’ve been stumbling half-assed through each day, feeling as if something I desperately needed was missing. I knew it was you, but it was hard admitting it to myself. I didn’t think you’d come back to me.”
“Well, I’m back.” I kissed his neck. “And this time, you’re getting the whole damn package.”
“I think I handle it.” He squeezed me. “Especially because the whole damn package is so fucking hot that I can’t stop thinking about it.”
Snuggled against him and in the warmth of his protective arms, I fell asleep.
CHAPTER 28
Rett
Finley slept soundly in my arms. If it hadn’t been for her candy sweet scent, silky soft skin and her luscious little body pressed against me, I would have had a hard time believing she was really there. She wriggled against me, and a moan caught in my throat. I couldn’t get enough of her, and I never wanted to lose her again. For so long I’d told myself that I didn’t need to commit to one girl, but I just hadn’t found the right girl.
I peered down at her pretty face, and she crinkled her nose in her sleep. I couldn’t resist touching it. At first, she took a clumsy swipe at my finger but her eyes stayed closed. I touched her nose again and she opened them. She looked around the room for a second and then she smiled and moved closer to me. “I thought one of the dogs was sniffing my nose.” She sighed and her warm breath caressed my skin. “I should get going. My dad will worry.”
I held her tightly. “Sorry, I’m not ready to share you with anyone else just yet.”
She looked up at me and ran her fingers along the stubble on my jaw. Every touch went straight into my heart. “Well, you could get dressed and come with me to meet my dad.”
“Uh, I’m definitely not ready for that yet.”
“He’s just a dad like any other dad.”
“Yeah, just like any dad who happens to be a world famous rock star.”
“Nonsense. If I like you then he’ll like you.”
I kissed her forehead. “O.K. Fin, if this is what ‘like’ feels like then I’m terrified to feel love.”
“I might have used the wrong wording there.” She kissed my mouth briefly and slid her legs out of bed. I propped myself up on one elbow to watch her hunt for her clothes through the maze of crap on my floor. She bent over and picked up her jeans. There wasn’t one inch of her that I didn’t find completely sensual.
She held her clothes and looked back at me with that smile that made me want to touch her. “I guess I’m never going to experience that wall slamming sex I’ve read so much about. Maybe it’s overrated any—”
My arms were around her before she could finish. Her arms went around my neck and her legs circled my waist as I lifted her into my arms. A tiny squeak escaped her as I pressed her none too gently up against the wall. Before she could take another breath I slid inside her. I gazed down at her perfect face. Her lips parted and her long lashes drifted down as I moved inside of her. “Will this wall do?”
“Uh huh,” she said softly. “Not overrated,” the words came out on an unsteady breath.
“Good, because there will be other walls.” My mouth covered hers.
CHAPTER 29
Rett
The house looked even bigger than I remembered. Dray and Cassie pulled up behind us, and we all piled out of the cars together. When Finley had suggested that it might be less nerve-wracking for me if I brought my brother and friends for a get together, it had sounded like a good idea. Now that we were all walking up to the house, and I was about to meet her dad face to face, I wasn’t feeling too sure.
I jumped as Dray slapped my shoulder. “Relax, Bro, you’re just meeting her dad. Of course, her dad is Nicky King.” He laughed. “Shit, I wouldn’t be in your shoes for a truckload of gold right now.”
“Leave him alone, Dray.” Cassie stepped in front of me and combed some of the long strands of hair off my face. “You look perfect and don’t worry.”
Scotlyn walked up and str
aightened the collar on my shirt. “Besides, I’m sure he saw all those pictures of you on the internet when you came to Finley’s rescue. That’s got to be worth some dad points.”
“Are you two done primping him?” Jimmy asked.
We headed across the front courtyard. The massive front doors loomed over us. We stopped and stared up at the expanse of house.
“I don’t think I could ever live in anything this big,” Cassie said.
“I could,” Jimmy said confidently.
Scotlyn glanced around the yard.”I don’t know if I could stand to have so much money that you had to work hard just to spend it.”
“I could,” Jimmy repeated.
We all looked at him. Nix shrugged. “ You have to give him credit for always staying true to himself.”
Taylor grabbed Jimmy’s hand. “I, for one, am glad because I like to spend money.”
Finley came out on the front steps, and just seeing her eased my nerves some. “I thought you might be having trouble getting Rett up these steps.”
Dray had a good laugh. He gave me a push from behind. “Come on, Buddy, let’s go make a good impression.”
I glanced back at him. “You’re such an asshole.” I took a deep breath and walked up the steps with my own personal entourage. But in my case they were less of an entourage and more of a support system. I needed every single one of them. And the girl who had swept in and added the perfect finishing touch on my life was peering down at me with her round blue eyes.
The nervous tension in my body vanished the second she took my hand. “Dad’s inside. I’m so glad you all came. My dad had the chef prepare food for a small army.”
“Works for me,” Jimmy said.
I was sure I didn’t imagine the gasps coming from behind me as we stepped through the door and into the cavernous, marble entry.
Cassie stared up at the gigantic chandelier above our heads. “Not too shabby. I’m rethinking my earlier statement. I just might be able to live in a place like this.”
