He took the staircase as if she weighed nothing. At the bottom, his azure eyes locked onto hers. He pressed his forehead against hers. Ragged, warm breaths puffed on her face.
“Don’t marry Drake.”
She licked her lips. “Mitch—”
“No. Don’t say anything.” He kissed her, working his lips to the corner of her mouth, along her cheek, up to her ear. “Don’t marry him, Livie.” He ran the tip of his tongue along the rim of her ear. “Don’t marry him.”
Her heart swelled until it filled her entire chest. Lust zinged through her blood as a set of shivers rolled down her spine. Her breath hitched. “Mitch…” She caught his face in her hands and kissed him. When his tongue ran along her lips, she opened her mouth. He thrust into her mouth, tasting and stroking everywhere. She groaned as the ache between her thighs grew.
Mitch walked forward until Olivia’s back slammed into a wall. He ate hungrily at her mouth, giving her deep kisses designed to inflame. They worked because she was sure she would explode into flames any moment.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he said against her lips.
She did. He shoved her skirt up to her waist and pressed the hard ridge of flesh behind his zipper into her sweet spot. A moan from deep inside rolled up her throat and out. He shoved her panties off to one side and thrust a finger into her.
“Oh, God. Mitch,” she gasped. “I—”
“Don’t speak. You want this as much as I do.”
Want was too weak a word for what she was feeling. Overwhelming desire. Craving need. Undeniable love. She licked his neck, then around the rim of his ear.
“I want this. I want you,” was all she said, but that was enough. He pulled at the elastic lace of her panties until it broke and then thrust a second firm broad finger into her. The strong fingers of his other hand massaged her bottom, the callused tips rough against her soft flesh.
“Unzip me.”
He didn’t have to ask. Her hands had already found their way to his jeans. She unfastened them and slipped her hand in. Her fingers wrapped around his thick length, her thumb sliding over the moisture at the tip.
“Damn it. I’m sorry, babe, but I don’t have a condom.”
“I don’t care,” she said against his neck. “Just keep doing what you’re doing. I’m about to come just with your fingers.”
A deep-throated chuckle turned into a deep-chested groan. “Really?” His thumb fondled the sensitive jewel of her sex. Her hips moved in time to his strokes and she found herself perched on the edge of release.
“Now, Mitch, now.”
He withdrew his fingers and thrust them in again and again, all the time his thumb continuing to massage her swollen nub. This time, she couldn’t wait. Her body quivered with the shocks and aftershocks of the waves of her climax as it rolled through her. As Mitch watched her come, he said with a groan, “I won’t allow you to marry Drake.”
Olivia’s legs snaked down his thighs until her toes touched the floor. Her skirt slid back into place. “Excuse me? You won’t allow me? This isn’t feudal England and you aren’t lord and master.” She pushed him, but she might as well be pushing the wall for as far as she could move him. “Move, damn it.”
“Wait. You’re driving me crazy, woman. That’s not what I meant.” After wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close. “That’s not what I meant,” he whispered into her ear. “Not what I meant. I…you…we…”
“Well, you’ve got all the pronouns covered.”
She felt his lips move into a smile against her cheek.
“You’ve got a smart mouth, woman.”
“You like my mouth.”
“That I do.” He leaned back until their gazes met. “Give me some time. Give us some time. Please. Don’t give up on us. I’m…I’m working through my…”
“Anger?” she supplied.
“In a way, yes. I understand why you kept me from learning about Adam. But understanding isn’t…”
“Forgiveness.”
“That wasn’t the word I was looking for, but yeah, it’ll work. I’m trying, Livie.”
She nodded. “Can you hand me my crutches? It’s late and I need to get to bed.”
“Nope. Can’t do that.”
“And why not?”
Sweeping her back into his arms, he said with a grin. “’Cause this is way more fun.”
He carried her to his bed in the master suite and didn’t leave.
Before dawn, Mitch’s internal alarm rattled him awake. A warm leg lay across his groin. A hot female body pressed snuggly to his side. For a brief second, confusion clouded his mind before memories of last night’s lovemaking flooded back. Gently, he slipped from under Olivia’s leg. As much as he hated to leave her, he needed to get moving if he wanted any coffee before his workday began.
Standing, he looked down on Olivia. Her blonde hair spread over his pillow. The top sheet twisted around her legs. Her arms were wrapped around his pillow as though holding a lover. Memories filled his mind and he couldn’t suppress the smile that broke on his face. She belonged in his bed. She belonged in his life. He’d waited a long time to find his way back to her.
His mom was right. It’s never too late to love. And never too late to forgive and find happiness.
They settled into a semi-routine over the next eight days. Every morning, the three of them would breakfast together before Mitch left for work somewhere on the ranch, more days than not he took Adam with him. The days that Mitch took Adam on a job that required riding a horse, Olivia would ride Lady Belle along the same route the cowboys were working. But she rode now for the sheer pleasure of it, an emotion she’d believed she’d never feel again. Unknowingly, Mitch had given her two of the most important things in her life…Adam six years ago and now her rediscovered love of riding.
She’d quit worrying about Adam under Mitch’s supervision. Mitch had a seemingly bottomless supply of patience with their son, never losing his temper or even raising his voice. No question from Adam was too insignificant or too inconvenient. Adam blossomed with Mitch in ways Olivia had never observed in his interactions with her family or with Drake. While Olivia was thrilled with Adam’s growing fondness for his biological father, she worried about the day she and Adam would go home to Dallas…and they would go home. So far nothing had happened that would change that.
Most nights, Mitch made it back to the house for dinner, although she realized he went back to work afterwards. As familiar with ranch life as she was, Olivia was sure he was finishing tasks he couldn’t get done during the day because of the time spent with Adam. Mitch’s dedication touched something deep in Olivia’s soul and produced feelings about him she’d never experienced. She’d loved Mitch for a long time, and now that love grew deeper and richer each day—and night—she stayed.
At night, after dinner, after Adam’s bath and bedtime, long after she had gone to bed, Mitch would come to her and stay with her until morning. Those nights were everything she’d ever wished for.
On Sundays, Mitch took Olivia and Adam to his parents’ house for the post-church lunch, a tradition that went back a generation to Sylvia’s mother-in-law, who believed Sundays were for families. When Sylvia married Robert Landry, she’d continued the tradition with her sons. After James’s death, Mitch and his brother, Caleb, rarely missed those Sunday lunches. Olivia looked forward to those dinners…the laughter, the stories, the look of sheer adoration on Adam’s face when he looked at Mitch.
The second Sunday Olivia and Adam accompanied Mitch to his parents’ house, Olivia stepped into the kitchen to give his mother a hand finishing up lunch.
“Hi, Sylvia. What can I do to help?”
Sylvia looked over her shoulder. “Check the biscuits in the oven, if you would. I think they’re about done.”
Olivia grabbed a pair of hot mitts and opened the oven. “Mitch said he’d had a talk with you and Robert last week about Adam.” She pulled a pan of hot, golden biscuits from the oven and set
it on a trivet to cool. She leaned against the counter. “He didn’t say, but I got the impression the talk went okay. Am I right?”
Sylvia brushed a loose curl off her damp forehead. “As well as I could have hoped. You are probably aware that he was here very late the night we talked.”
Olivia nodded.
“He wasn’t happy with either of us. But now that he’s met Adam and fallen so completely in love with the boy, he has a better understanding. He is crazy about his son, you know?”
Olivia laughed softly. “The feeling is mutual. Lately, everything out of Adam’s mouth starts with Mitch said.”
Sylvia’s smile was a little sad. “I remember when Caleb was just learning to talk. Everything was either James said or Mitch told me.” She sighed and turned back to the mashed potatoes she was beating. “I’m glad Mitch is excited about being part of Adam’s life and doesn’t hold any grudges against us.”
Olivia nodded and began slipping pats of butter inside each steaming biscuit.
Mitch’s feelings came as no shock, and she’d lost a couple of nights sleep trying to figure out how to make this work for Adam and for her. Adam was too young to understand the complexities of the adult world, but on the other hand, he was old enough to understand that Mitch loved him. Was Adam old enough to also understand that Mitch was more than a friend? More than his mother’s friend?
When the time was right, would he understand that Mitch was his father? Would Adam be happy to know that?
Olivia didn’t have a clue when or how to broach the subject with Adam. Every day she watched for a sign that today was the day, but as yet, nothing had convinced her to tell Adam that Mitch was his father.
Adam’s affection for Mitch appeared to double daily. If Mitch told him something, Adam took it as gospel. The hero worship in Adam’s eyes was evident with each glance toward Mitch. While she was glad Adam was getting to know his father, Olivia couldn’t be sure of a lifetime with Mitch…not yet.
Olivia loved Mitch. She was sure about that and was overjoyed he seemed to reciprocate her feelings, even if he’d never found the words to tell her. Of course, she never mentioned love to him either, trying to let her actions speak for her. Didn’t every poet say that actions spoke louder than words? If that was true, then she was screaming her feelings loud and clear. But was it enough to uproot Adam from Dallas, leaving her family and her business behind? Those would require major adjustments in her life. She wasn’t sure she was ready to make that commitment yet. This visit to Mitch’s ranch was beginning to build her trust in their future, but time would tell.
Mitch’s interactions with Adam had been heartening to watch. He was patient, answering any question, no matter how simple or complicated. He was protective, holding Adam tightly against him on horseback. He was caring, offering to help with nightly baths and story times whenever he’d finished work for the day. Olivia knew how exhausting ranch life was. Bathing a five-year-old and putting him to bed could be an ordeal, but Mitch never complained and never demurred. His love for Adam was evident with every act. No words were necessary when his actions spoke so loudly.
“Olivia.”
Olivia jerked to attention and looked about Sylvia’s kitchen and met Mitch’s gaze. “What? Sorry. I was just thinking.”
Mitch grinned and put his arm around her. “Those biscuits ain’t gonna serve themselves.”
Olivia answered his laugh with a playful push at his arm. “Har. Har.” She picked up the plate of hot bread she’d mindlessly moved from pan to plate. “Move it, buddy. I’m starving.”
He laughed and followed her into the dining room.
On the Thursday after she and Adam had been at the Lazy L for three weeks, Sylvia Landry called and invited all of them over for an old-fashioned cookout the next night. Friday afternoon, Adam was bouncing off the wall, thrilled to be seeing Nana SuSu and Papa Rob.
The table near the pool had been already set for dinner when the trio arrived. While Robert Landry grilled hamburgers, Mitch, Caleb and Adam played water tag. Olivia wasn’t sure who was having the best time as Mitch and Caleb both appeared to have regressed to age five, slapping the water, dunking each other and making Adam burst into gales of laughter.
“Y’all come eat.” Sylvia set a platter of hot French fries on the table. “I don’t want everything to get cold.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” came the reply from the pool.
Olivia caught Adam the minute he stepped out and wrapped him in a towel. Robert tossed towels to his sons.
“You two are getting dressed before we eat, right?” Robert asked as he piled the cooked burgers onto a large platter.
“C’mon, Adam. I brought you some dry clothes,” Olivia said, starting back toward the house.
Adam didn’t follow as she’d expected.
“Adam. C’mon.”
“Is Mitch changing clothes?” Adam asked, his gaze on Mitch.
Mitch stopped rubbing the towel through his hair and tied it around his waist. “Let’s eat beach style. Wet bathing suits and towels.”
“Yeah, Momma,” Adam said. “Beach style. I wanna eat beach style too.”
Caleb tied his towel the same fashion as Mitch. “Yeah, Momma,” he joked. “Beach style”
Olivia threw up her hands in surrender. “Fine, as long as it’s okay with Nana SuSu.”
Sylvia sat a pitcher of iced tea on the table. “Who am I to spoil the fun?”
“Yay!” Adam cried and rushed over to Mitch. “Sit by me, okay?”
“Sure, buddy.”
Mitch and Adam took the seats across the table from Olivia and Caleb, with Sylvia and Robert filling end chairs. After Robert said grace, bowls and platters of bread, meat and French fries made their way up and down the table.
Olivia kept her eye on Adam, making sure he didn’t get distracted and forget to eat. Under Mitch’s watchful eye, Adam cleaned his plate in record time, as though trying to eat at the same pace Mitch set.
“How long have the Landrys owned the Lazy L?” Olivia asked.
“Well, let’s see. My great-great grandfather, Adam Landry, settled here right after the civil war. It was a wild country then.” He glanced at Adam and said, “But that’s a long story. Another time maybe. So, Adam, have you been having fun at the Lazy L?”
Adam nodded.
“Don’t nod, Adam. Answer Papa Rob.”
Adam swallowed and said, “Yep. Me and Mitch been working every day.”
“I think you mean ‘yes, sir’,” Olivia said.
“Yes, sir,” Adam said. “I help Mitch every day.”
Rob Landry smiled. “So I hear.”
A puzzled look crossed Adam’s face. “You’re Mitch’s real daddy. And Caleb’s daddy, right?”
“That’s right.”
Olivia’s heart pounded in her ears. She’d never explained the relationship between Mitch and Nana SuSu and Papa Rob, but her son was putting together pieces of information. Was today the day? Was this the sign she’d been waiting for?
“Momma?” Adam said with a serious facial expression. “Do I have real daddy?”
A loud silence fell over the table. Even the tree frogs stopped their croaking to hear her answer.
Olivia stood and walked around the table. Mitch scooted his chair back and offered it to her. While her ankle and knee were making excellent healing progress, she wasn’t back to normal, so she took his chair with a smile of appreciation. Plus, sitting would put her at the same eyelevel as her son. She’d never liked talking down to people and knew she needed to be at Adam’s level to judge his response to her answer. She sat and Adam turned toward her.
“You have a real daddy.” Olivia’s voice quaked with fear. She silently prayed for strength. She drew in a deep breath. “Mitch is your real daddy.”
Adam looked at Mitch standing behind Olivia, his hand resting on her shoulder. “How come he doesn’t live with us?” His bottom lip began to quiver. “Didn’t he like me?”
Olivia’s heart broke
. She swallowed against the rising tears. Instead of jumping into the conversation as she’d expected, Mitch squeezed her shoulder and remained quiet. She sighed. “He didn’t know you, honey. Momma never told Mitch about you.”
“Why not?”
“You remember when you and Frankie had a fight over the red fire engine at school and you didn’t want to play with him anymore?”
Adam nodded.
“Well, adults get mad at each other too. Mitch and I…”
Mitch squatted alongside Olivia. “I did something that hurt your mom’s feelings, Adam. Really bad. It was my fault she never told me about you.”
“Is she still mad at you?”
Mitch thought about the previous night he’d shared with Olivia in the master suite and smiled. “No, I’m pretty sure she’s not.”
Olivia laid her hand on Mitch’s knee. “I’m not mad at him anymore, honey.”
Adam nodded. “Like me and Frankie?”
“Yes. Just like you and Frankie.”
He thought about that for a minute. “Okay. Can I call you daddy instead of Mitch?”
Mitch’s heart leapt into his throat in joy. “I’d like that very much, Adam, as long as your mother doesn’t mind.”
Olivia sniffed back a tear. “I think that would be great.”
“Nana SuSu? You have some dessert? We’re celebrating,” Mitch said as he rose.
Olivia saw Sylvia wipe a tear from the corner of her eye. “I sure do, Mitch. How about apple cobbler and ice cream?”
Mitch held up his hand and Adam slapped a high five.
Chapter Thirteen
Saturday started as every other ranch morning had started since she’d been there. Olivia was up before the sun getting Adam ready to ride the range, as he called it. She wondered if Adam had picked that up from Mitch or Hobbs. There were a number of new sayings in Adam’s vocabulary, but nothing she’d had to worry about…yet.
Adam had taken last night’s news that Mitch was his father much better than she’d feared. Adam had been thrilled with the news, but then again, he’d been thrilled when the cobbler and ice cream was served. Without doubt, he understood the fact of his parentage, but didn’t appear to be as worked up over it as the adults. Maybe grownups could learn a lot from kids on how to not overreact.
Texas Two Step: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 1 Page 18
