by Amy Andrews
“That’s probably best.”
Wyatt scrambled up the ladder with practiced ease, quickly turning back for her when he reached the top, holding out his hand as she stepped on the last rung. She smiled at him as she placed her hand in his, and he helped her onto the loft platform. For a few seconds she leaned into him. Coconut filled his nostrils, and Wyatt got a little dizzy.
How could just the smell of her make his dick harder than the wooden boards beneath his feet?
She pulled away and looked up at him, her gaze drifting to his mouth, and Wyatt’s heart beat so fast it was fit to explode out of his chest. He wanted to kiss her—badly. And the way she was looking at his lips, he thought maybe she did, too. But was it too soon? Too forthright? What if he went for it and he’d misinterpreted her look? It had only been one week.
He didn’t want to rush things and frighten her away. He wanted Jenny to stay in Credence. He wanted her to come and live with him on the farm. He wanted to put a ring on her finger and babies in her belly.
He wanted the whole nine yards.
Fuck…it was scary how much he wanted.
A knot of confusion and indecision had him stepping back. “So…” He cleared his voice. “This is the hayloft.”
“Yes.” She smiled at him. If he’d blown it just now, she didn’t seem to mind. “So I see.”
She glanced around her, taking in the bales of hay stacked in neat piles almost to the rafters on either side and the pitchfork tossed on top of the nearby mound of loose hay on the floor.
“Just a sec.” Wyatt strode to the window.
The loft was deep with afternoon shadows as he rolled back first one large wooden shutter and then the other. Sunlight poured into the space, capturing the dust motes in its path.
“Oh, Wyatt…”
Jenny’s breathy gasp filled Wyatt with delight. “It’s pretty as a picture, isn’t it?” But he wasn’t talking about the flaming sky and the golden burnish of the landscape.
She crossed to his side, coming to a stop close to the edge. “It sure is.” She gazed out at the vista. “Is this all Carter land?”
Wyatt pointed out the boundaries, pride in the farm swelling in his chest. Hogs took advantage of the last rays of sunlight to graze on the flower-speckled fields, and the tin roofs of the hog shelters glowed in the setting sun. The late summer afternoon still had some warmth to it, but a light breeze blew in from the fields, making the loft a very pleasant place to sit a while.
“You want to watch the sunset?”
“Yeah.” Jenny nodded. “I’d like that.”
He held out his hand, helping her down, and when he shoved his legs out the window and dangled them over the edge she followed suit. They sat close—not touching, but almost. Wyatt was aware of her every breath, though, and the way the breeze fluttered the hem of her skirt, lifting it periodically, flashing glimpses of her knees and higher.
“It so beautiful up here,” she said as she swung her legs back and forth. “You’re so lucky, Wyatt.”
“Yeah. I know.” The breeze blew her hair back, the sun picking out the golden highlights amidst the faded red tresses. Right now, he was the luckiest sonofabitch in the world.
They talked about the farm for a bit. About the hogs and Wyatt’s plans for expansion. “I like an ambitious man,” she teased, and Wyatt blushed, dismissing himself as merely practical before asking her about the grant application his mother had helped her with for the coffee place she wanted to open.
“All done. I should know in a month. Bob has offered one of the shopfronts in main street he owns rent-free until the business is making money. There’s even a small apartment above it where I can live.”
Wyatt’s breath hitched to hear Jenny talking long-term. He hadn’t wanted to hope too much. “So…you’re really staying? Really putting down roots here in Credence.”
“Yes.” She pulled her gaze away from the sunset and captured his. “Would you like that?”
“I would. Very much. I…” Wyatt swallowed and fought against the rising pressure in his chest as the words he’d never said to a woman before tumbled out. “I like you. Very much.”
Wyatt already knew, in his heart of hearts, it was more than that, but he’d have probably needed Xanax to use the capital L word. And even he knew you didn’t tell a woman you’d not long met that you loved her.
Not if you wanted to keep seeing her.
She smiled and held out her hand. “I like you, too.”
Wyatt almost passed out at the rush of blood to his head. He returned her smile and took her hand, sliding his fingers into hers, entwining them. “And our age difference…?” The fact he was almost fifteen years older than Jenny had been a cause of anxiety.
She shook her head. “It has never entered my mind.”
Maybe he should press her more. Insist she seriously think about it. But she seemed so dang certain, holding his gaze without wavering, wrapping him up in her conviction, and he believed her.
“You still planning on staying at the boardinghouse until you can move in over the shop?”
Wyatt wanted to ask her to move in here with him, but that was also way too fast. A ridiculous thing to do after only one week, and if she said no, it might gut his confidence with women for life.
“Ummm…no, actually. I was thinking I might go back to Pittsburgh for a month or so.”
A hot slug punched Wyatt right in the center of his chest. A month? But…she’d been so gung ho about staying.
He should have known it was too good to be true.
“Oh. Right.” Just the thought of her leaving, even temporarily, made him sick to his stomach.
She broke eye contact, turning back to the rapidly setting sun. “I need to pack and stuff.”
“It takes a month to pack?”
Wyatt blinked at the words that tumbled unchecked from his mouth. They’d been knee-jerk but rude nonetheless, and he opened his mouth to apologize, but Jenny’s hand wriggled out of his as she faced him again and she was so damn serious the words got stuck in his throat.
“I have a confession to make.”
Wyatt swallowed. Crap. Here it came.
“I’m telling you this because I do like you a lot, but I haven’t been entirely honest and I think… I hope you and I might be starting something here, and I don’t want to lie to you anymore. You deserve the truth, and if we can’t be honest from the start, then what hope do we have? I understand perfectly if it changes the way you feel about me, though. If you want nothing to do with me.”
The edges of Wyatt’s vision darkened a little, and he realized he hadn’t taken a breath. “Oh God.” He sucked in some air. “You’re married, aren’t you?”
It was Jenny’s turn to blink then. “What?” She shook her head. “No. God no.” She put both her hands over the top of his and squeezed, saying “No” another time, more firmly. “But…”
She removed her hands. “I did lie when I said I didn’t have a man in my life. I do. His name is Henry, he’s my son, and he’s five years old.”
Wyatt stared at Jenny as the news sunk in on a wave of relief that finally filled his lungs with sweet, sweet oxygen. His vision cleared. Jenny had a son.
Not a husband, not a boyfriend, not a lover.
A son.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t upfront with you about it. In my experience, men tend to run when they find out about him, and I really like you and didn’t want to scare you off, but I should have told you that first day.”
Wyatt couldn’t believe men could be such assholes. Sure, a child was a big responsibility, another man’s child even more so. But he’d take Jenny even if she’d had a tribe of kids.
“And that’s why I have to go back to Pittsburgh. I thought I could leave him with my great aunt for a few months, while I got settled here, but…I was wrong. I miss him so mu
ch, Wyatt, and he cries on the phone when I call him every night, and it’s killing me to be away from him.”
Tears shimmered in her eyes, and Wyatt could see how much it was breaking her heart to be away from her son. He could only imagine how tough that had been. Just the thought of Jenny leaving him was torture, and he wasn’t a five-year-old child.
“Oh God, Wyatt…” She turned imploring eyes on him. “Please say something.”
Wyatt didn’t say anything. Instead he pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry,” she whispered and melted against him, and Wyatt knew he’d do anything for this woman.
“Of course you have to go to him,” he said, his voice gruff as he pulled back, his hands sliding to her upper arms. “Go to him tomorrow. But don’t wait a month in Pittsburgh. Go and get Henry and bring him back to Credence straightaway. Bring him back here, to the farm, there’s plenty of things around this place for a little boy to be getting into, and I can’t wait to meet him.”
Her eyes got shiny. “Wyatt…you need to be sure about this. I come as a package deal, and taking on another man’s child is big.”
Wyatt smiled. “He’s yours, that’s all that matters.”
“I…” Jenny shook her head. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.” And she melted into him again.
Wyatt eased back after a beat or two. “Can I ask? Henry’s father…?”
If he had to deal with another man he would, but he needed to be prepared.
“Is not on the scene. Never has been. He never wanted Henry and split when he found out I was pregnant.”
Surprisingly, there was no heat to her words. No anger or even contempt in her voice. Had there been, Wyatt would have worried about the depth of Jenny’s feelings. But there was just acceptance, as if she’d moved on from it a long time ago.
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “We’ve done okay by ourselves.”
Sure, but Jenny had had it tough, he’d known that from the first day. “You don’t have to do it alone anymore.”
He smiled at her then, slipping his arm around her shoulder, tucking her into his side, and they sat in silence, watching the sun slowly slip behind the horizon, casting a golden halo over the landscape. She sighed, her hand sliding onto his thigh as the sun disappeared completely.
Wyatt was conscious of that hand, of their legs so close. Of her body warm against his and the press of her breast into his ribs. Of the coconut in her hair and the play of fading light on her skin. He was conscious of everything about this woman, and that was when he knew that he had to fess up also.
He hated that Wade was right, but Jenny’s bravery had shamed him. His biggest secret seemed like small fries compared to what she’d been holding back, and she was right, if they couldn’t be honest with each other from the start, then what kind of a relationship would they build?
“I have a confession, too.”
Wyatt was conscious of her body going very still in his, and he winced at the tremulous sound of his voice. Just when the touch of her hand had caused enough testosterone to kill a dinosaur, he had to go all squeaky.
“Okay.” She eased away from him, her gaze hot on his profile. But he couldn’t look at her. Hell, he wished he could retract what he’d said. “Tell me.”
Her voice had the grim determination of someone who was used to preparing for the worst. Wyatt swallowed as the familiar sensation of panic spread through his chest. He forced himself to breathe. A minute ago this had seemed like a good idea. Damn Wade to Hell. He was going to feed him to the hogs the second he stepped foot back on the farm.
“Wyatt?”
He forced himself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out.
“Wyatt?” Jenny’s voice had risen a little at the end. She placed her hand on his arm. “Look at me.”
There was just the right level of command in her voice to cut through Wyatt’s panic. He turned his face, and their gazes locked.
“You don’t have a secret child, do you?”
Her humor, even in this awkward moment, was refreshing, and he smiled despite the jangling bells inside his head. “No.”
“You’re not married or gay or a vegan, are you?”
Wyatt laughed this time. “No.”
“So you can tell me. Anything.” She squeezed his arm. “Trust me, I won’t—”
“I’m a virgin.”
There. He’d said it. The words had risen in his throat like a tidal wave, and it was blurt them out or swallow them down and never say them until it became obvious at the worst possible time. His heart was beating like a drum and his face was burning, but the feeling he was going to drop dead receded quickly.
She stared for a moment or two, her hand sliding off his arm to press against the center of her chest. “God…is that all?”
Wyatt blinked. Is that all? He was almost forty and had never been with a woman. That was a big deal. Wasn’t it?
“You were looking so serious, I started to think you were going to tell me you were a serial killer and there were a hundred bodies buried out there among all those pretty flowers.”
Wyatt laughed, feeling less embarrassed the more relief he saw in her eyes. “No, not a serial killer.”
“Good. Virgin I can handle, serial killer not so much.”
“Really?”
“Of course.” She slipped her hand on his leg and squeezed. Sensation shot straight to his groin, hot as buckshot.
“I’m just…surprised more than anything. A good-looking guy like you? I’d have thought you wouldn’t have made it out of high school with your virginity.” She smiled at him then. “I’d have done you for sure.”
Wyatt laughed. “I’d have let you.” They smiled at each other, and it felt like his heart doubled in size. “So…it doesn’t freak you out? Because it’s been freaking me out for about twenty years.”
“Wyatt, I just told you I had a kid, which you took completely in stride. What kind of a person would I be if I cared about how many women you’ve been with?”
“Or haven’t been with. As the case may be.”
“You do know how to kiss a girl, right?”
“Sure.” But it’d been a while. Wyatt swallowed at the way her gaze was lingering on his mouth again. “I’m probably a little rusty, though.”
“Well now.” She moved a little closer, her gaze still locked on his lips, and Wyatt’s breath caught in his throat. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”
Her lips pressed against his then and stole his breath. He’d dreamed of this moment since he’d first laid eyes on her, and it didn’t disappoint. She sighed against his mouth and leaned into him, and she tasted sweet and felt soft, and his pulse raced as a groan rumbled from deep in his throat at the perfection of it all.
She pulled away on another little sigh. “Nope.” Jenny shook her head and smiled up at him, her eyes a little unfocused. “Not even a little bit rusty,” she whispered, and she kissed him once more.
He groaned again as she leaned into him, harder this time, one of his hands sinking into the hair at the nape of her neck, the other sliding around her waist, pulling her nearer still, reveling in the feel of her breasts squashed against his chest, the brush of her knees against his.
She was right, this didn’t feel rusty. It felt like—for the first time in his life—he knew what he was doing with a woman. That he was made to do exactly this with this woman. That he’d been born with the blueprints to their joining.
She pulled away again, and it was gratifying to see two fat, dilated pupils, to hear the roughness to her voice. “I have a suggestion.”
Her words poured cold water over his ardor, and Wyatt’s heart skipped a beat. God…was she about to give him pointers?
Only slightly mortifying…
“I think we should get this virginity thing out of the way, huh?”
Okay. That he hadn’t been expecting. Wyatt swallowed. “Uh…sure?” His heart boomed in his chest and hammered at his neck. Hell, if it beat any harder he’d die on the spot.
He’d die a fucking virgin.
She quirked an eyebrow. “Now?”
“Now?” Wyatt repeated like an idiot.
“Yes. Now.” She smiled at him. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve been wanting this since the minute I saw you, and your virginity is obviously a thing for you, so let’s take care of it so it’s not a thing any longer.”
She clambered to her feet and held out her hand. “Care to join me?” She tipped her chin toward the mound of loose hay.
Wyatt looked up, following the line of her body, gilded by the last glow of sun reaching across the sky, and his heart just about flowed over. He didn’t need to be asked twice, scrambling to his feet, reaching for her, pulling her in for a long, deep, drugging kiss until she backed away, grabbing his hand as she did, a smile on her face as she led him to the hay.
Chapter Twenty-One
“So, that’s it then.” Ronnie closed her notebook. They’d chosen to meet at Annie’s for their last planning meeting before the next—and last—arrivals. “Looks like everything’s on track.”
CC nodded. It was hard to believe it had been two weeks since she’d returned from Nebraska. In some ways, it was like she’d never left. Credence had embraced her return, and she’d fallen back in the same routine—working on the Grow Credence project during the morning with Wade’s mother, and helping Wade in the afternoon with his book and trying to find him a new PA.
Which, of course, he was being picky as hell about.
She hadn’t wanted to advertise, preferring to work her contacts, which were extensive after a decade in this field of employment. Wade’s lifestyle took a lot of getting used to, and being his PA wasn’t like any other job she’d had. It was a full on twenty-four seven caper and required a particular type of person. She’d brought him several prospects, but he was being a difficult asshole about all of them.
