by Cora Brent
“I’m not.” She pushed her panties down and reached for my belt. Then she froze. “But what about Brecken? He’s right in the next room.”
“He’s got his music on,” I said, freeing my cock and then rolling on top of her. “Just don’t shriek like a banshee every time you come the way you did last night.”
Cassie giggled and opened her legs. “I seem to remember that you weren’t exactly quiet and controlled yourself.”
I grinded my hips against her and she opened her legs wider, her face already flushed with desire. Fuck, she excited the hell out of me.
“It’s not easy to control myself with you,” I said, taking hold of her arms and pinning them above her head. “But I’ll try not to let the neighborhood know about it.”
“Curtis,” she moaned, writhing underneath me because I was teasing her now, rocking back and forth to the rhythm, making sure she felt me but not pushing my way in.
“Cassidy,” I whispered before I entered her body. I still didn’t know how I’d managed to deserve her but I was finished questioning it. She was mine.
“You’re everything,” I whispered when I was inside of her. “You’re everything.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The sight of his smile did something to me every single time.
Curtis looked up when I paused in the doorway of the small room we called the workshop and his grin was immediate. My breath caught in my chest. He was gorgeous, he was incredible and I was so completely in love with him.
“What do you think?” he asked, holding up a brilliantly embellished women’s tank top. The Scratch logo my dad had designed was prominently centered and showed up beautifully on the black material while rhinestones dotted the neckline. It was definitely a little loud for my tastes but there was already a big demand for the shirts so my dad and Curtis had been working on different designs. College kids who didn’t even have any ink had started coming in all the time in search of the shirts because it seemed like a local trend had been kicked off.
“I like it,” I said, closing the door to the workshop behind me.
Curtis’s expression changed and my heart pounded as his eyes swept over me. “Maybe you should try it on.”
I looked down. “But I’m already wearing one of your shirts.”
He leaned back in his chair a little and I saw his hand brush across the front of his pants. “I won’t complain if you take it off.”
The door didn’t have a lock on it. I took a second to listen for the sound of anyone approaching but all I heard were distant echoes. Over the past two weeks Curtis and I had been pretty faithful to our own rule of not fooling around while at work but sometimes when he looked at me the way he was looking at me now my legs felt weak and I forgot all about rules.
Curtis kept his eyes on me as I slowly pulled my shirt off. The bra I wore underneath was black lace and I saw him swallow hard.
“Throw it,” I said, holding my hand out to catch the new shirt.
“I have a better idea,” Curtis said, hopping off the workbench and closing the short distance between us. “You know how hard it is to keep my mind on work today?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me.
I smiled sweetly and let my hand travel low, cupping him in my hand. “No, how hard is it?”
Curtis looked at me seriously. “Say it again.”
“Hard.”
“Wiseass. You know what I mean.”
I did. I slipped my arms up around his shoulders and stared up into his eyes. “I love you.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you too, baby.”
I said the words first. This morning we were the first ones to pull into the Scratch parking lot and I had a sudden flashback of the first time I encountered Curtis Mulligan. It happened right there. But in that moment he was just some sullen hot stranger who I’d never see again. That wasn’t so long ago, less than the length of a season. Yet in terms of the heart it was ancient history.
There were no doubts. I loved him and I told him so. He said nothing at first, then he exited the car, walked around to the passenger side, pulled me out and while our arms were wrapped around each other he told me he loved me too. We probably would have stood there making out for the next hour if Uncle Deck hadn’t pulled into the spot beside us and glared behind his sunglasses.
“I should get back to the front desk,” I said as Curtis started kissing my neck. But even as I said it I was angling to give him better access.
“You can’t,” he said, breaking away and looking down at me solemnly.
“I can’t?”
He shook his head. “No. Look at you. You’re not dressed properly.” He unhooked my bra with an expert flick of the wrist. “Look at that. Now you’re practically naked.”
“If only somebody would give me a shirt,” I giggled, then had to stifle a moan because his mouth had found my right nipple. My back was against the door now and Curtis wasn’t content to play with one nipple. He wanted the other one. Then he wanted to get on his knees, run his tongue over my belly, pull my skirt down and torment me with his tongue while I moved eagerly against his mouth.
Then all the fun came to a screeching halt because someone was trying to open the door to the workshop.
“What the hell? Is something blocking the door?”
I breathed a small sigh of relief because it was only Freya but there was still the problem of my nudity to solve. Curtis helped me hook my bra and handed me the shirt after I pulled up my skirt to a decent position.
Freya raised an eyebrow when we finally opened the door but she also smiled. My father would not have been so amused. It went without saying that we were expected to refrain from having sex in the workplace.
“You’re a bad influence,” I whispered to Curtis when Freya was gone.
He grinned. “I think you love being badly influenced.”
I kissed his cheek. “I love you.”
“Then have lunch with me in a little while.”
“Okay. I guess I can ask Freya to take the front desk for half an hour.”
“Just enough time to run out and grab some burritos from the gas station.”
I made a face. “Can’t we opt for hamburgers instead?”
He winked. “Whatever you say, princess.”
“Are you trying to provoke me, Mulligan?”
“Of course.”
I stuck my tongue out and then left the room. I got about two steps before I noticed my father was standing ten feet away outside his office. He had his arms crossed and a stern look on his face.
“Hi, Dad,” I said brightly. “I was just, um, checking on something and…”
He held up a hand. “I don’t want to know,” he said. “But you told me earlier you wanted to talk when I had a moment. Now I have a moment.” He gestured to his office. “So come on in.”
He was surprised by what I had to say. I assured him I still planned to accept the offer of admission I’d just received from ASU. But when I wasn’t taking classes I would very much like to remain on staff here at Scratch. It wasn’t just because I wanted to be close to Curtis. I liked being here. I liked working with family. This felt like the place where I belonged.
“If you say yes,” I told him, “I’ll call the bookstore today and let them know I won’t be coming back.”
He was amused. “Do you really think there’s a chance in hell I’m going to say no?”
It was nice to hear him say that but I didn’t want him to think he owed me any special favors. “I promise I’ll always pull my weight here and work hard no matter what you decide to throw my way.”
My dad smiled. “Of course you will. You’re my daughter.”
I smiled back. “Thanks, Dad.”
I got up to leave but he called me back before I reached the door.
“Cassie, one more thing,” he said. “Don’t make me see anything that’s going to give me more gray hair than I already have. You get my meaning?”
“I do,” I said, blushi
ng.
My dad raised an eyebrow. “That boy treats you like a queen, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, Daddy. He does.”
He nodded. “Good. That’s as it should be.”
When Curtis returned with a bag of hamburgers we sat down in the break room together.
“Anymore updates on your mom?” I asked as I squirted ketchup on my fries. A few days after Renee Mulligan made a promise to her eldest son she turned herself in at the United States border. The story was all over the local media; fugitive returns to face fraud trial. She’d obviously proved she was a flight risk so she was sitting in a jail cell while the legal details were worked out.
“Nothing new that I’ve heard,” Curtis said, frowning. “She’ll plead guilty so there won’t be a trial. As far as sentencing goes, we’ll have to wait and see.”
“Brecken’s been asking when he can visit her.”
“I know. Soon I hope.”
I reached for his hand. “I hope so too.”
He threaded his fingers through mine and kissed my hand. We’d had more than our fair share of legal drama over the past few weeks. Not only had Curtis’s mother returned but the whole Parker Neely horror show was nearing a swift conclusion. He was pleading no contest to the assault charges, meaning he wouldn’t admit guilt but wouldn’t deny it either. The judge would likely offer him probation since he had a fancy lawyer and it was his first offense on the record but I was still glad I’d pressed charges. Cami had urged the newspaper to run several short articles on the case. Plus Debra had told me the news was all over social media among the old high school crowd and this time people definitely weren’t on his side. The more information was out there about Parker Neely the higher the likelihood that the next girl wouldn’t make the mistake of trusting him.
Parker wrote me a letter even though he’d been ordered to have no contact with me. I tore it up without reading it. I wasn’t interested in his phony apologies anymore. I knew what he was and I knew he’d never change.
Curtis was watching me. “What are you thinking?” he asked gently.
I pushed aside all thoughts of Parker Neely. “I’m thinking maybe we should take Brecken out to Game and Grill tonight.”
“You want to spend the evening listening to video games beep while eating greasy chicken wings?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then it’s a plan.”
I unlaced our hands and seductively ran my fingertip along his pulse point. “And afterwards we can make some different plans.”
Curtis was interested. “Tell me what you had in mind.”
“I’ll send you some dirty texts when I return to my desk.”
“Don’t hold back on details.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be very explicit.”
He let out a low groan. “I can’t wait.”
I remembered something. “Oh, remind me to grab some more clothes when we stop by my folks’ house to pick up Brecken.”
In fact half my wardrobe had already landed at Curtis’s apartment over the past few weeks. I was serious when I told him yesterday that I’d been spending so much time there that I ought to chip in for rent. I wasn’t trying to take over his apartment but I knew he didn’t have a lot of wiggle room where money was concerned and since I was taking up space there all the time it seemed I should help. Curtis refused to take a dime from me though. I understood it was a point of pride with him so I didn’t push the issue.
“Now what are you thinking?” I asked after he was quiet for a few minutes and I saw how he kept watching me.
Curtis swallowed the bite of hamburger he was chewing. His expression was serious now. “I was thinking that I’ll never get tired of looking at you, of being with you, of hearing every word you say.”
He wasn’t shy about giving me compliments. Curtis was always telling me how beautiful I was, how lucky he felt. I never doubted that he meant the things he said. But right now he’d caught me off guard so I blushed.
“Sometimes you leave me at a loss for words, Curtis Mulligan.”
Curtis leaned forward across the table. “You know I only want to hear one thing.” He reached out and lightly traced my lips.
“Say it, Cassidy,” he whispered.
I said it. Loud and clear.
“I love you.”
EPILOGUE
Christmas Day
I had almost all of their names straight by now.
The Gentry family frequently gathered for one event or another so over the past six months I’d had plenty of opportunities to get to know them. Chase’s teenage boys still mixed me up on occasion because the eldest two looked so much alike. Then there were the young sons of Stone and Conway. They were cousins but close in age and they ran around together so often and looked so similar it would be easy to mistake them for twins. At least none of the girls looked alike so I didn’t make any mistakes there.
“Curtis, be an angel and make yourself useful,” announced Cassie’s younger sister, Cadence, before she deposited a tray of food in my hands. She was home from college for the holidays.
“Where am I supposed to put this?” I asked her but she was already being swallowed up by a crowd of Gentry cousins.
“Find a place,” she shouted and disappeared back into the kitchen.
I looked around but didn’t see any immediate options. The food tables that had been set up in the living room were already pretty crowded. I’d have to displace something else to set the tray down.
“What have you got there?” inquired a voice. The hungry teenager it belonged to sniffed at the tray.
“Maybe meatballs,” I guessed. “Maybe something else. You feel like being a guinea pig, Kellan?”
I hoped I had used the right name. His older brother was a little more square-jawed and muscular but they were cut from the same cloth and anyone would be able to tell they were Gentry boys. Their father, Chase, was laughing about something with Cord on the other side of the room.
The kid who might be named Kellan didn’t correct me so I figured I’d identified him correctly. He plucked a meatball off the tray and popped it in his mouth. He took a moment to chew and then offered the thumbs up sign.
“What’s that?” asked another voice, this one belonging to Kellan’s older brother.
“Get lost, Derek,” Kellan growled, blocking the food tray. “I’m claiming dibs.”
“You can’t claim dibs here,” Derek argued. “It’s a Christmas party.”
Kellan wouldn’t step aside. “Don’t be such a greedy bastard. Go find something else to eat.”
Derek slapped his brother on the back of the head. “Stop being a dick.”
“Stop trying to steal my snacks.”
Derek tried to reach around his brother and grab some of the meatballs with his bare hand.
Kellan blocked him with an elbow to the gut.
I really just wanted to put the damn tray down somewhere.
“Guys, knock it off,” complained their younger brother, Thomas. His name was one I always remembered because at fourteen he seemed a lot more mature than either of his big brothers.
But the boys weren’t finished making a scene.
Derek shoved his brother.
Kellan stepped on Derek’s foot.
And then someone’s flailing arm knocked the tray right out of my hands. It landed in an unfortunate place. Right in the lap of fourteen-year-old Isabella Gentry, Deck’s beloved only daughter.
Isabella gazed down at her fancy red Christmas dress in horror. Creed and Truly’s daughter was sitting beside her and gasped.
Isabella stood up and glared furiously at her careless cousins, her face turning nearly as red as her hair.
“You JERKS!” she shouted and stomped away.
“Sorry, Izzy,” said Kellan.
“Sorry, Izzy,” echoed Derek.
Meanwhile, all the festivities had stopped and everyone in the room stared at the scene. Cassie emerged from the kitchen with her mother and sisters. Even old
Angus the Dog nosed his way forward to see what the commotion was about.
“What the hell?” yelled Chase, who had crossed the room in record time to discover what kind of damage his sons had done now.
The two boys looked at each other. Then they looked at their father.
“I don’t want to hear excuses,” Chase warned, holding up a hand before they could say a word. “Go see what your Aunt Saylor has on hand to clean up your mess. And then offer your services to do whatever cleanup there is in the kitchen. Also, apologize to your cousin again.”
“We will,” said Kellan. “Just don’t tell Mom.”
“Uh, I’m right over here, boys,” waved Stephanie, Chase’s wife. “And by the way, I can both see and hear.”
“Great,” mumbled Derek as he trudged off to the kitchen after his brother.
Cord stood beside Chase and clapped a hand on his shoulder as he began chuckling.
“Karma, my brothers,” he said, raising his glass to both Chase and the third triplet in the set, Creed.
“Karma,” agreed Creed with a smirk.
Brecken had been having a serious discussion about baseball with Cami’s boyfriend, Dalton. Now he made his way over to me.
“Did you see what happened?” he asked.
“I kind of got caught in the middle of it,” I said, bending over to retrieve the food tray that Izzy Gentry had thrown on the floor two seconds after it landed in her lap and spoiled her Christmas dress. I didn’t really know what to do with it so I set it on a nearby end table and turned my attention back to Brecken.
The year had been a tough one for all of us, but perhaps most of all for him. He’d lost his home and the only parent he had left. Our mother had finally been sentenced to serve two years and had been moved to a federal detention facility three hours north of here. Once a month we made the drive to go see her and Brecken faithfully wrote letters twice a week, which she always answered. I was grateful she’d come back. Apparently even an incarcerated mother was better than none.
“You having a nice Christmas?” I asked Brecken. He’d grown at least three inches since the summer and filled out quite a bit. He didn’t look so much like a little kid anymore. He looked more like a teenager inching toward manhood.
