“I’ll bet. It might have been nice if you’d let me in on the secret so I wouldn’t be scared if I heard you digging out here.”
Clay stabbed the shovel into the dirt next to the hole and dusted his hands against his jeans. “I’m sorry I woke you and ruined the surprise.”
She moved next to him to gaze into the hole, before lifting her eyes to his. “Were you here earlier?”
“Nope. Just started about thirty minutes ago.”
“Oh. I thought it might have been you I heard around nine.”
Even in the dark, she saw concern flash across Clay’s face. “There was someone out here earlier?” His voice stayed low, but turned urgent.
“No. No, I don’t think so.”
“What happened?” Clay demanded, a brittle edge tingeing his voice.
“When I headed toward bed, I heard a thud. I turned the floodlights on, but I didn’t see anything in the yard.” She gestured to the tool by the garage wall. “Mason’s shovel must have fallen over.”
“Pippa, you have to be careful. The Battalion is still active in the area. I’m worried that you’re on Dewey’s radar after the incident at the cemetery. I swear to God, I think that shithead is riding the Bipolar Express with stops scheduled at drunk, disorderly and devious.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “I’m on his list too, and by helping you, I’ve probably made you a bigger target. You could be a potential casualty of any action they might take. I don’t like it.”
“What did you do to get on his list?”
“We were stationed together at Fort Benning. Dewey was psycho even then. He got booted out of the Assessment course after he assaulted a woman working for The Bayonet, the base newspaper. I saw the incident and reported it to a superior officer. The MPs arrested Dewey but the victim refused to cooperate with officials, so criminal charges were never filed. He got dishonorably discharged under suspicion. Rumors circulated that he coerced her somehow.” Clay laid his shovel on the ground and released a heavy sigh. “She disappeared and a few months later Dewey went off the grid. Frankly, it surprised me to see him here the other day. He isn’t good people.”
“Oh my God,” Pippa breathed, unease crawling caterpillar-like across her shoulders. She rationalized her fear away. “It had to be an animal. When I turned on the light I didn’t see anything.”
“You’re sure? It wasn’t a person?”
“Yeah. Raccoons and squirrels are nightly visitors to my bird feeders. But I will be careful,” she answered. “This is such a nice thing to do. When they see this tomorrow morning, it will be like Christmas.”
Clay shrugged, then lifted the remaining tree into the hole he’d dug. The muscles in his forearms rippled from the strain. “It’s nothing, just a bit of fun.” He grabbed the shovel and scooped soil around the root ball. “I wish I could be here tomorrow to see their faces.”
When she said nothing, he continued, “Why’d you get so upset this afternoon? I can understand that you didn’t want to be discovered kissing me. Or was it because you wanted to kiss me?”
“No, that wasn’t it. Although I haven’t ever introduced my kids to any man, that way.” Pip took a deep breath and rushed on, “It’s just…you frowned at the twins.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did. You looked right at them and scowled.” Pippa couldn’t hide the defensive tone in her voice.
“I was not frowning at them. I frowned because I really, really wanted to kiss you and I would have, if we hadn’t been interrupted. Shit, the President of the United States could have crested that hill and gotten the same scowl if he’d stopped me from kissing you.” He shook his head and laughed softly. “I like you, in case you missed the memo. I like your kids too. They’re the greatest. I enjoy being around them. But I wanted to jam my tongue down your throat more than I wanted to play gentleman farmer with them.”
Pippa’s heart softened and beat faster. This frustrating man liked her kids and didn’t try to hide his love for his mother. He’d come to her house in the middle of the night with a plan to surprise and delight Mason and Mia. And her too. Oh yeah, he certainly had a soft, gooey center underneath that hard candy coating he hid behind. It was a sure path to a secure place in her good graces.
She continued to watch as he patted the dirt at the base of the tree and grabbed a bucket next to him. When he bent and poured water slowly, letting it soak into the ground, Pippa stood by, staring at the muscles shifting in his back and the way the denim stretched across his thighs. Her lips parted slightly when he righted himself and wiped his palms on the back pockets of his jeans.
When he turned to face her, she started guiltily. Oh fiddle, he’d caught her staring at his butt. Embarrassed heat flushed her face and her breath caught as she looked at his eyes.
His expression seared to her soul, lighting her up like a flame touched to dry pine needles. He still wanted to kiss her—as badly as she needed to kiss him.
She found herself suddenly wrapped in his arms, being inhaled by his lips. Her heart thudded like a bass drum as raw emotion swept through her. Clay jerked her closer. She raised her hands and fisted them against his chest. The heat of his hand through the thin flannel of her sleep pants, pressing her against his hips, felt…shocking.
He stooped and wrapped his arms more tightly around her. When he straightened, he held on, lifting her to her toes, settling her more intimately on the hard ridge straining the fly on his jeans. She wove her arms around his neck and locked her legs around his hips, returning his heated kisses, opening her mouth and her hips, granting him permission to enter.
Wherever he wanted.
His heart thumped against her breasts and between her legs. He planted one large hand firmly on her backside and moved the other until he found the bare skin revealed at her waist when she’d wrapped her arms around his neck. The light brush of his fingers seared her hips.
He deepened the kiss, pulling on her lips and tongue with his teeth, then thrusting into her mouth. The rasping slide of tongues and clash of teeth inflamed her, and she tightened her grip, pulling her body even closer to his. The stubble on his chin contrasted sharply with his soft lips and gentle fingers
He shifted again, chasing her mouth with his and angling his hand across her ribs toward her breast. At the first touch of his hot palm against the tender flesh there, Pippa moaned, drawing an answering groan from him.
Oh, God. The sensations he created with his lips, his tongue, his hand…with every part of his body that touched hers, left her battling for more. The needy whimper she heard when he kneaded her breast and squeezed the tightened areola between his fingers came from her. So did the sharp gasp as he flicked his thumb across her erect nipple. Clay’s lips left hers to trail down her cheek toward her collarbone. Another groan escaped as he lifted her higher, until her breast was level with his clever mouth. Calloused fingers raked her skin as he pushed her sweatshirt out of the way and sucked her nipple into his mouth, pulling the tingling from her lower body all the way up her spine with a shudder. He pushed down on her hips and nudged himself tighter into the spot between her thighs.
She moaned again and dropped her head back. Her eyes drifted open to gaze at the moonlit sky as his mouth scorched a path up her exposed throat. Lost in a world of sensation.
Oh God! What was she thinking?
Cold reality doused her and she shivered. She was in her back yard, her kids sleeping mere feet away, and so completely in the open all her neighbors could see her nearly making love to this man she’d known less than a week. A man whose mother was her client.
She struggled in Clay’s arms, pushing against his chest to gain her freedom. “Wait. Stop. I can’t do this. Stop, Clay!”
In spite of the shadows in her midnight back yard, she read surprise in his eyes when they locked on hers. And disappointment. He released her slowly, holding her close as she slid down his body to her feet. She moaned at the contact, barely drowning out his sharply drawn breath. A muscle pop
ped in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. He steadied her when she wobbled on legs too shaky to support her weight. Regret warred with confusion and apology on his face.
“I’m sorry.” Remorse tinged his gravelly voice. “I thought…you seemed to want… God knows I did. I forgot about you and Steve.”
That stopped her short. “Steve?”
“Yeah. Mom’s physical therapist? You guys are together, aren’t you?”
“Why would you think that?”
“You hugged him the other day. You guys seem kind of… I don’t know…tight.”
“That news might make his wife really angry.”
“He’s married?”
“Happily, with two kids and one more ready to make an appearance any day now,” she answered simply. “Steve and I have worked together for years. We’re friends.”
His sudden grin was sinful. In a matter of seconds his lips were locked to hers again. A smile curled her lips and she relished the slide of his tongue over them, demanding entry. His strong arms pulled her close again, holding her in just the right way to let her feel the hard evidence of his desire. His teeth joined the campaign his tongue had started, nibbling, nipping…soothing.
She pushed against his chest, breaking the contact between them reluctantly. He eased his hold but didn’t open his arms to let her step out of them. She drew a ragged breath and focused on the pulse pounding in Clay’s throat.
“You do want this.” His voice was languid and throaty when he’d spoken.
She couldn’t look him in the eye. “No. I did… I do. But… I’m at fault. It’s just…it’s unprofessional. I overstepped and I’m sorry. Seeley is my client and it would be a breach of professional ethics to get involved with you.”
“Fuck that!” Clay exploded. He looked away then back at her. When he spoke, he lowered his voice again. “Seeley’s your patient, not me. I love her and won’t do anything to jeopardize her chances to get well. But she loves me too. She’d want me, both of us, to take advantage of this attraction. She’d be the first to tell you a relationship with me would be exclusive of the patient-therapist rule.”
“It wouldn’t be in my eyes.”
“It is in mine. What I feel for you, what I’ve wanted from you from the moment I met you has nothing to do with my mom.”
“It doesn’t matter, Clay. I can’t be in this type of position with you.” She chanced a glance into his eyes and laughed at the impishness, colored by raw desire, she saw. “Don’t you dare say what you’re thinking.”
“I can think of several positions I want to be in with you.”
Pip dropped her forehead to his chest and groaned. “You just had to, didn’t you? Seriously, do you have any filters?”
Thank God he smirked at her attempt to lighten the situation up. Or maybe it was because he knew he’d put a picture in her mind that made her eyes cross and her breath hitch.
The strength of her reaction to him shook her. The continuous zinging in her stomach made it nearly impossible to speak. “I’m sorry, I got carried away.” She looked away from the heat in his eyes—afraid he’d see an answering desire in hers. Oh God, if she kissed him again she wouldn’t be able stop. And she had to. She pushed at his chest and this time he released her, letting her step back.
“You should go. I’m sorry.”
God, the tables had turned and now she couldn’t stop apologizing.
Clay put his finger under her chin, nudging her face up to capture her gaze. She struggled to pull in a breath when she caught sight of the steely determination in his eyes. Leaning forward until his lips just brushed hers, he whispered, “This will happen between us. You go right ahead and bet the kids’ college funds on that. You want me, as much as I need you. I’ll give you time to accept the idea of us together. But I want you remember something, spitfire. I’m an Army Ranger, a master strategist. The campaign begins now.”
He feathered his lips over hers, light, sweet, unbearably tender. She couldn’t help responding, letting her mouth cling to his, until he ended the kiss. Like the trees he’d just planted, she stood rooted to the spot. Her eyes stayed wide as he bent to pick up his shovel and bucket.
“You’ll need to water the trees tomorrow. Lay a hose next to the trunk and let it run slowly for at least thirty minutes on each tree. Would you do me a favor and get a picture of their faces tomorrow morning? I know you don’t want me here, but I would like to see their reaction.” He started toward the fence that separated the front from the back yard.
“Clay,” she called softly.
He paused and glanced over his shoulder at her. The breeze lifted the hair from his forehead and sang through the trees overhead. The gleam in his eyes even in the shadowy light at the corner of the house, was visible.
“Thank you…for the trees. Mason and Mia are going to love them.”
He hoisted the shovel over his shoulder, gave her a jaunty salute and walked through the gate, leaving her a quivering, needy mess.
9
The dart whistled as Jem sent it soaring toward the target. Spectators gathered nearby held their breath until the tip struck and seated itself in the bulls-eye. A loud cheer echoed in Big Red’s as Pippa whooped and shot a triumphant fist into the air. The toss earned enough points to win the match. Six matches down this month and the June Bugs remained undefeated.
Jem had just taken a sip from her beer when Pippa’s older brother sauntered over. Jack grabbed Jem, his fiancée, bent her backward in his arms and laid a juicy kiss across her lips. Both of them laughed while she tried to avoid sloshing her beer. When someone in the crowd hollered, “Get a room,” a pink stain colored Jem’s cheeks. Jack grinned suggestively and planted his lips on Jem’s again, burying his fingers in her curly hair.
Pippa smiled at the pair as she picked up the darts and arranged them on the tray below the target. Seeing her brother and his fiancée lip-locked brought memories of the kiss she and Clay had shared. The nerves in her shoulders tingled as her thoughts followed a path she knew they shouldn’t. Sighing, disgusted with herself, she stacked the darts in their bright pink case.
Rob, the drummer in Pointe of No Return, the band she occasionally sang with, approached her and offered her a frosty pilsner of beer.
“Thanks. Great game, huh?” Pip took a sip and sighed. The autumn blend from a local brewery slid down her throat, cold, delicious and easy.
“You ladies played real well tonight. Jem was on fire,” Rob agreed.
“She carries our team.”
“You’re no slouch.” Rob flashed a thumbs-up sign at her and changed the subject. “Hey, Red saw most of the band here tonight and asked if we’d do an impromptu set. Care to sit in?”
“Janelle isn’t here?”
“Nah, she had to visit her folks in Idaho this week. Big anniversary for them. So, what do ya think?”
“Yeah, I can sit in for one. Mom has the kids and isn’t expecting me ’til later.”
Rob flipped a hank of black hair out of his eyes and beamed at her. “Great, I’ll have the guys tune up. Five minutes?”
“I’ll be ready.” She took another sip and handed the pilsner back to Rob, who chugged the rest of the contents as he walked away.
“Jem told me the twin terrors got a big surprise earlier this week.”
“God, you should have seen their faces.” Turning at the sound of Jack’s voice, she grinned at the memory of her children’s excitement the morning after Clay’s late night visit. “You’d have thought the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Bill Nye, the Science Guy, had morphed into one person. They were speechless, for all of five seconds. Then, well, it was just craziness after that.”
“I wish I’d have thought of it. What a brilliant idea. The tree farm guy did that?”
Pip thought about her meeting with Clay in the backyard, remembering how his tongue danced on hers in the darkness. Stop it! She slapped the mental brakes on her thoughts and shifted uncomfortably as lingering sensations from Clay’s hands and
lips played tag all over her body. Her voice sounded raspy when she answered her brother. “Yeah. Clay Mathers. His mom is one of my clients and he… I guess he likes the work I’m doing with her. He’s a really nice guy.”
Jack’s brows lowered over cobalt blue eyes that looked so much like hers. “Pip, no man likes to be called really nice. Do you like this guy?”
“Yes. No! Not like that. Oh God, I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“Pipsqueak, it’s only complicated if you make it that way. It’s simple. You either like him, or you don’t.”
“It really isn’t simple, Jack. His mom is my client. There are professional ethics at play here.”
“He’s not the client, is he?” At her head-shake, Jack continued. “I don’t see what the problem is then. You’re both adults, and single. He is single isn’t he?”
“Yeah, he’s single.”
“I say go for it. If nothing else, amuse yourself. You need to have more fun. Doesn’t she, sugar?”
Jem had joined them and nodded vigorously as Jack slipped an arm around his fiancée’s shoulders.
“Maybe. But what about my kids? I don’t introduce them to the men I date.” Pip argued against her brother’s words and her own feelings.
“Then don’t. Let him be just the tree farm owner and family friend. Keeping it secret might spice it up for you. They don’t need to know that you’re interested in the guy. At least not yet.”
Jack’s words made sense, even though she couldn’t quite believe her older brother had suggested a secret liaison. God, it seemed so tawdry—and exciting. The kids had already met Clay and might not make the logical leap needed to see that their mom was dating him. It would be a big step for her. She’d only started going out again recently, and there hadn’t been anyone she had been tempted to introduce to her children. Clay had been the first man she’d even really thought of as having enough potential to even make it into her bed for more than just satisfying a physical need. And she’d have to keep it real and admit she wanted him that way too.
Hearts in Harmony Page 8
