Soft Sounds of Pleasure

by Eden Connor

  "Well, duh." Lila snorted. "Everybody knows that." She pointed to a ragged dresser made of dark wood. "Dammit, why did I let you talk me into letting you drive?"

  Amy blew out an exasperated breath as she looked at the woman who saw potential in a ratty old chest of drawers with mildew creeping up the side like some sort of toxic vine but couldn't see something as plain to Amy as the orchid on Lila's kitchen table. "Because I'm into probabilities and I'm too young to die. Dammit yourself, pay attention, Lila. This is one math lesson you need."

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  "How's Jonah's arm?" Dan inquired as he began the chore of squaring away the week's accumulated paperwork and opening the mail. Colton looked like one sad puppy as he sprawled in the cracked vinyl chair in front of Dan's desk. Jonah was out in the shop, and Dan could hear the shop vac going strong.

  "He's miserable. He has a tear in his rotator cuff."

  "Wow, how serious is that?" Dan asked, amazed Colton had made the kid come in to work.

  "The doctor said his injury could be repaired with some exercises. He can do most things just fine, but he can't throw a ball or swing a bat for a few weeks. He gave Jonah a shot of cortisone to help the inflammation, some elastic bands to work out with, and some pills. By the time his arm gets better, though, the season will be over."

  "What did Lila say?" Dan asked. Lila had a way with the kid none of the De Marcos did. Dan chalked it up to her experience as a mother.

  "Lila wasn't there by the time we got the diagnosis, D. She's mad at me. She tried to get me to pull him off the mound last night and I wouldn't. Jonah might not even be hurt if I'd read the information she gave me weeks ago." Colton looked across the desk, misery etched all over his face. "She hasn't answered her phone all day either," he added. "Jonah's more upset about Lila leaving last night than he is about his arm. We're going over there after the shop closes. But he asked to come and work today, so here we are."

  Dan sat silent, his brows cocked. He didn't think Colton was done talking. Colton opened and closed his mouth several times. "I fucking love her, D. I'm crazy in love with the woman," he finally burst out.

  Dan grinned broadly. "I knew that."

  "You stupid bastard."

  Dan and Colton both stared at Eric who was suddenly standing in the doorway, his face twisted with anger.

  "How could you?" he yelled at Colton. "How could you let that kid get attached to her? To her, of all people? Miss High-and-Mighty Walker would never really consider a life with you, little brother. We aren't good enough for the likes of her. She's used to a guy that wears a suit to work, not one that comes home with grease on his clothes. Lila's just slumming with you because of the size of your dick."

  Colton jumped out of the chair, rushing Eric. The pair slammed out of the doorway and landed against the hallway wall, already throwing punches.

  Dan thought about breaking up the fight, but this one had been coming for some time, so he kept opening the mail. He'd throw a bucket of water on them when he finished, if they were still going at it.

  "You don't know a damn thing about her," Colton grunted as he planted his fist in Eric's solar plexus.

  Eric countered with a hard left to Colton's jaw. "I don't need to know her, C. I know her friends. She runs with Sharon at the bank and with Pam Taylor, has for years. Those women both have sisters I've dated, and they're all just slumming. They'll fuck a mechanic, but they want a bank executive to marry."

  Colton stopped dead in his tracks, rubbing his jaw while he stared at his brother. "What? When did this become about marriage?"

  "I see your face when you talk about her," Eric yelled. "But I see the kid's face too, and you keep forgetting that if you fall for her and she doesn't return the favor, you'll survive, but how about Jonah? Hasn't he lost enough? Lila's gonna end up with some rich asshole like Van Westbrook, who by the way turned down my loan application, not that you bothered to take your head out of Lila's ass long enough to ask me about that."

  Dan stepped out into the hall, wedging his body between the pissed-off pair. Slapping an envelope against Colton's chest, he growled, "This ain't something I'm gonna deal with." He slapped Eric in the chest with another envelope. "Eric, you keep your mouth off his woman. It's none of your business."

  "I don't want him to get hurt," Eric argued hotly.

  Dan shook his head sadly. "He's already hurt, fuck up. He loves her, can't you see that? He's hurt every damn time you say something mean to her or about her."

  "What about the kid?" Eric demanded belligerently.

  "If we're talking about the same Lila, she'd cut off her hands before she made that kid feel she didn't care about him, dumbass." Dan rubbed his chin as he narrowed his eyes at Eric. "So you get the hell off her, E. I don't know if you're trying to protect Colton from being hurt, or if you're afraid he might be happy while you're miserable, but I do know it's your fucking day to go drop off the bank deposit. Hurry up, they close at noon."

  Colton looked at the envelope Dan had given him, then unfolded the contents with a snap. "I'm gonna fucking spank her ass," he growled, glaring at the papers. "I'm gonna turn her right over my knee and spank her."

  Eric snatched the papers from Colton's hand. "Wow," he finally uttered. "She's worried that you fixing her truck took money out of my and Dan's pockets?" Dan saw the disbelief on E's face as he looked at the check Lila had mailed and read her brief note. "It's not true, but hey, at least she's not needy."

  "It's fucked up, is what it is," Colton growled with exasperation. "She won't let me do a damn thing for her. Drives me up a fucking wall. The woman's too independent."

  The anger melted from Eric's face as he stared in surprise at Colton while Dan chuckled silently. Colton hadn't picked a quiet, easy woman, that was for sure. He based his opinion on the way she'd gutted Reggie the night before.

  "You and the kid want a burger or tacos?" E asked, finally.

  "We want burgers from Ike's." Jonah stood at the end of the hallway, his chin leading the way as he glared at Eric. "And we're gonna eat ours with Lila. Come on, Uncle C, I'm all done here, let's go wash Lila's truck."

  Dan laughed loudly. "That's a helluva job, kid. Y'all call me if you need some help. I'll bring my pressure washer over." He gave Eric a final glare, daring him to say another negative thing about the woman his brother and nephew so clearly adored.

  "With cheese or without?" Eric muttered, shoving the deposit envelope in his back pocket.

  "You get some of everything they got. You get some for Lila too." Jonah's voice cracked, and Eric cracked up, throwing an arm around Colton, scrubbing his knuckles against his head.

  * * * *

  Her garage looked oddly bare without the huge cabinet, Colton thought as he walked through the unlocked garage door and into her house, calling for her as he placed the two containers of night crawlers beside the tub of margarine in her refrigerator. He wasn't really expecting an answer. He'd been calling her ever since he and Jonah had slept off their hospital hangovers, but the sight of her truck in the driveway had given him hope she was home. After glancing into all the downstairs rooms, he took the back steps to her den two at a time, but a fast trip through her house showed he had his hopes up for nothing. Still, her doors were typically unlocked and he hoped that meant she was at least still in the county even as he gritted his teeth at her carelessness over her own safety. The delicious aroma coming from her oven said she wasn't far away.

  If he hadn't been coming down her front stairs, he'd probably never have considered answering her front door, but he responded like Pavlov's dogs to the sound of the bell, automatically reaching out to turn the knob and jerk open the recalcitrant door.

  A woman wearing Sunday clothes on Saturday stood on the front porch, clutching an envelope in one hand and an ink pen in the other. Colton suppressed a groan, prepared to tell the strange lady he wasn't interested in attending her church.

  "Oh, hello there," the well-dressed woman said, inspecting him avidly
. The gold band on her left hand gleamed dully as she dropped her gaze to his package, and then brought it slowly back to his face. Why was it always the sinners that tried to convince you they were the saints? "Are you Lila's… son?" the woman asked.

  Colton knew damn well he didn't look that young; he had almost a decade on Charlie. He narrowed his gaze at the would-be-missionary, crossed his arms, and moved his head slowly from left to right. "No, but if I'm a real good boy, Lila lets me sleep with her," he informed the nosy wench, delighted when her face turned the shade of the fuchsia crepe myrtles beginning to bloom along the side of Lila's house.

  "Ah, my apologies, she, um… well, she mentioned a son… I had no idea," the woman tripped over her tongue, to Colton's not-so-secret delight. "Anyway, is Lila home?"

  Again, he moved his head from left to right silently.

  Pulling herself together, the woman drove her pen into the light brown hair above her ear and stuck out a hand. "I'm Mina Richards, Lila's realtor. I brought her listing contract back, and if you could please ask her to sign it in the places with the bright red arrows, I'd sure appreciate it. It's kind of important, I already have people scheduled to come and view the house."

  Realtor. Colton blinked.

  Oh, shit.

  His heart hit the hardwood in her foyer as he realized Lila was selling her house, and he had just been unbelievably rude to her sales agent.

  He tried to repair the damage. "I'm Colton De Marco. It's a pleasure to meet you." He shook the proffered hand. "I'll be sure she gets the contract, Mrs. Richards." Mina didn't offer to budge from the porch and he knew he should try to make some kind of amends. "Sorry to be so blunt, sometimes Lila complains of the solicitations she gets to go to church, and—" He was now as flustered as Mina had been moments before.

  "No problem," Mina laughed, still holding onto the envelope, "it was a stupid thing to say. You're too old to be her son, of course." Her smile became wide and genuine. "And no need to apologize, if I was sleeping with a guy as good-looking as you, I might rent a billboard. It would be faster than telling the world one person at a time."

  Colton had to laugh as he tugged the envelope from her hand, thinking of the old joke his dad used to make about the three fastest ways to tell the word something, telegraph, telephone, and tell a woman.

  People could go straight to hell if they thought Lila hadn't grieved for Pete long enough, but he was through waiting. She was his and today, he planned to make sure she knew that. He'd be delighted to tell the world they were together one person at a time.

  Mina Richards turned to leave, but she stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked back at him. "Remind her she promised to get that ramp dismantled as soon as possible. Is there any chance it could be gone before tomorrow?"

  "There's every chance," he assured Mina, whipping his cell phone out of his pocket and hitting the speed dial on his phone. He needed to get in Lila's good graces before she heard this story, never mind the damage control he had to do from the night before. Her check was in his back pocket, and while they were gonna have words about that, there was no way she could object to him and his brothers doing some manual labor.

  Before he closed the front door, he returned Mina's friendly wave as she finished planting the "For Sale" sign in the center of Lila's front yard. "Get hold of Eric, have him meet us here at Lila's and bring a couple of drills and a socket set along with that pressure washer," he barked at Dan.

  He hadn't gotten to the kitchen before the doorbell rang again.

  He was laughing as he jerked open the door, wondering what Mina had forgotten to say, but his smile faded. The man in the three-piece suit held a dozen roses. He checked out Colton's jeans, boots, and white tank top with a disdainful look while Colton tried to place the familiar face. "Oh, I see the rent boy is here."

  Colton never thought twice as he drove his fist solidly into the face of the smug bastard who'd turned down Eric's loan application. "We're changing banks first thing Monday morning," he grimly assured Van Westbrook as he drove his shoulder into the man's generous middle. They rolled into the grass and Colton straddled his chest, driving his fist into the banker's face again as Mina's sedan came to a full stop in the road in front of the house. Another punch, this one to the gut, powered with his pent-up frustration from not being able to hit Reggie, with his anger about judgmental people who felt a blue-collar guy like him wasn't good enough for Lila, with all those who dared judge Lila for the length of time she grieved over Pete. "For your information, Lila would rather have pink roses, you fat fuck." He rolled off the banker and stood up, glaring angrily as the man spat blood and threatened to sue as he doubled up and got to his knees. "Get the hell off Lila's property before I have you arrested for trespassing."

  "Yep, we're changing banks, all right." Colton whirled to see Eric planted like an oak tree in the grass beside him, anger painting his brother's expression into a dangerous landscape. "C, you need some help taking out the trash?"

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Lila's heart began to beat hard as she recognized the trucks lining her driveway. Flinging open the car door before Amy came to a full stop, she struggled to grab her flea market goodies from under her feet. "The red one is Colton's," she answered Amy's quizzical look, grinning broadly as Amy crowed her "I-told-you-so's." The black one with the dark tint on the windows and the camper cover belonged to Daniel. The sporty silver four-wheel drive backed up on the grass behind her house was Eric's, but she had no idea why they were here. Music blared from Eric's truck. Lila dodged the wide assortment of side mirrors as she wound her way through the frozen traffic in her driveway, while Amy popped her trunk to get the watermelon.

  Lila stepped down onto the back walk, eager to find out whether Colton had brought his brothers fishing or perhaps had decided to organize a barbeque. She was equally anxious to hear what Dr. Ellis had said about Jonah's arm. Turning the corner, she skidded to a stop, her eyes rounding more with shock than surprise behind her sunglasses.

  Daniel knelt at the top of the ramp, shirtless in the late-May heat, a sheen of sweat highlighting his sculpted frame. His upper arms were huge and corded as he efficiently worked a drill that looked like a toy against his massive chest. Eric had his back to her but had ditched his shirt also. A drill dangled from his right hand as he tilted a beer can to his lips with the other.

  "Dear Lord, what a view." She heard Amy sigh lustily as she felt the watermelon hit her in the back, but not as hard as the sight of what Colton and his brothers were doing.

  Colton's lips moved as he mouthed the words to the song that was playing. He too, was bare-chested. A chrome-plated ratchet flashed in his hands as he worked on the bolts that held the handrail onto the ramp. Jonah stood in the back of Eric's truck, stacking the boards against the truck cab as they were handed to him.

  This was wrong.

  Lila raised her voice to be heard over the music and the drill. "Stop! Please, everybody stop. I can't let you do this."

  Colton's expression was as dark as the storm clouds beginning to gather over the pond as he sat back on his heels in the grass, but the drill in Dan's hand fell mercifully silent. Eric stood closest to her at the foot of the ramp. Lila glared down at the bright orange cooler on the sidewalk even though she felt Colton's angry gaze as he rose to his feet.

  "It's bad enough I have this damn check in my pocket we need to discuss, but now you're telling me you don't need my help to take this ramp apart?" Colton's anger lifted his voice so she had no trouble hearing him above the blaring country music.

  "Gonna put the watermelon right here on the sidewalk," Amy said hastily. "Call me later."

  "It's not some party. You're ripping apart something of Pete's."

  Lila knew this was bad, to tell the man she'd just realized she loved he couldn't help her. But he couldn't help her. She had to do this alone. Easing the bag with her flea market finds to the ground beside the melon, she muttered a good-bye to Amy. Jerking open the door to Eric's t
ruck, she leaned inside to turn off the music, trying to figure out how to make him understand.

  She straightened and had eyes only for Colton as she began to speak.

  "I picked out Pete's casket and the suit he was buried in, and I stood in the cemetery until the last wreath was placed over his grave, regretting I wasn't in the ground by his side. I agonized over what to put on his marker and which one to buy, and months later, as I knelt to brush the dirt from the bronze the day it was installed, and I wished it was my name engraved instead of his. A month after that, I gave away his clothes, but I inhaled his scent and I cried as I drove them all the way to Greenville to donate, so I wouldn't be blindsided by some strange man wearing one of Pete's suits or one of his ties, because by then, I thought I just might survive his loss, but only if I didn't have too many unexpected reminders of him."

  She swallowed hard as she noted the way his jaw was working. "I've done it all, in the name of moving on, but taking apart this ramp feels like the last step I have to make in order to take apart my life with Pete. I don't know if that makes any sense to you, but this is important to me." And, before she chickened out, she added, "I love you for wanting to help me, but I have to do this alone." She dared to say more, begging him with her eyes to understand as she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. "I can't let you do this. My hand to God, Colton, I'd do the same if it were something of yours, if the worst happens and you—"

  The broad chest she was suddenly pressed against wasn't Colton's. How could Eric look so much like him and yet smell so different? She wondered inanely as he squeezed the breath out of her.

  "After Dad died, I must have punched out every mechanic we hired and put in his bay, for no reason. And for months I yelled at these guys if one of them so much as dropped one of his tools," he muttered into her ear. "Lila, I hear what you're saying, but ask yourself this. If taking down this ramp is a part of burying him for you, well, we liked Pete, to the last man, every one of us did. Can't you think of us as pallbearers? Making your back ache won't ease the one in your heart, honey."