“Thanks, but why are you here?”
“Um, well, I tried to call your office because I know the calls forward to your cell.”
“Yes, which is how my clients contact me in an emergency. So, what’s up?”
“Ah, could we discuss this in private.”
“Is this business or personal?”
Shannon gave Owen a brilliant smile. “I wish it were personal, but I need your help with a legal matter.”
“Is this about Dale?”
“In a way, but I’d rather discuss it privately.” Shannon glanced in Claire’s direction.
“Can’t this wait until business hours on Monday?”
“It’s important. I’m here. Won’t you help me?”
“I need to see to Claire’s head and arm first.”
“Honey, I’m fine,” she assured him.
“No, you aren’t. You’re bleeding.”
“I’ll go in and wash up.”
“If you feel dizzy, or . . .”
“Honey, I’m fine,” she said, placing her hand on his chest. He covered it with his and held her close with his other arm.
“You’re sure?”
“Help Shannon. I’ll see you inside when you’re done.”
“Brody called and invited us to dinner tonight.”
“Sounds great. What did the girls ask us to bring?”
He smiled and shook his head. “They want your double chocolate-chunk brownies.”
She laughed and some of the tension in his gut let loose.
“Of course they do. We’ll have to stop by my place to make them. I don’t think your pantry has everything I’ll need.”
“Check. You made the last batch here, so we may have everything.”
“I’ll check.” She walked right out of his boots at the door. He had to pry them off, but her little feet barely filled them. He couldn’t explain the thrill in his gut at seeing her wearing his things. He loved finding her in the kitchen in the morning in nothing but one of his T-shirts or dress shirts. She said she liked the smell of him. Well, he loved everything about her. He needed to tell her. Soon.
Things between them moved so fast. Why the hell was he waiting? It wasn’t some big secret she didn’t know. They’d skirted the subject several times. He knew she loved him. She knew he loved her. So why the hell didn’t they say it to each other?
Because then it would be real, and they’d have to deal with it. Well, he didn’t think it required any great change in his life. He’d tell her. She’d stay with him. They’d build a life together.
Shit. They’d build a life together, which meant they’d get married. Is that what he really wanted? Hell yes. He hated the nights they spent apart. The best thing in his life was going to bed with her in his arms and waking up to her smiling face in the morning. He didn’t want to lose that. He wanted it every day and night. As it was, she barely spent any time at her place. Half her stuff was still in boxes. All they had to do was move them here and unpack them.
“Owen, I’m waiting,” Shannon said, letting her impatience show in her eyes and frown.
Owen shook off his thoughts of joining his life with Claire’s. Well, his life was already tied to hers in a profound way if the sight of her bleeding made him this upset and angry. He’d like to know how that rake got in Bo’s stall, but pushed those thoughts aside and focused on Shannon now that Claire had escaped into the house.
“Can we go inside and talk?”
“Let’s take a seat on the porch.” He held out his hand to indicate she precede him down the porch to the two rocking chairs set up by the windows with a table between. Normally, he’d have offered a glass of iced tea to a guest, but this was business and he intended to keep it that way. Here, on the porch, and not in his house that he now shared with Claire.
Like a gentleman, he waited for Shannon to take her seat before he took his own. He set his cell phone on his thigh and settled back to listen to whatever she found so important she’d come all the way out here looking for him.
“Tell me what’s going on, Shannon.”
“I’m being evicted.” She dug out a folded stack of papers from her denim tote bag.
He took the papers and read through the first letter from her landlord and the attached lease Dale signed and renewed each year.
“You’ve got thirty days to vacate. The lease is up and it is within the landlord’s right to ask you to leave without renewing the lease.”
“I see that, but she says it’s because of all the trouble Dale has caused. He’s gone now. I tried to tell her, but she won’t listen to me.”
“Let me ask you something. Do you really want to stay in that house after everything that’s happened? You could get an apartment in town, be closer to work and your friends. You’d save money on gas and probably pay less in rent each month.”
“Well, to tell you the truth, I hadn’t really thought of that. It would be expensive to move. I don’t have the first and last deposit.”
“According to this agreement, you’d get part if not all of the deposit back if the house is still in good shape and doesn’t need any repairs.”
“Well, Dale put a hole in the bedroom wall and busted the door handle on a couple of the other doors. I could probably patch the wall. There’s some leftover paint in the shed I could use to paint the bedroom. I could buy a couple of new doorknobs at the hardware store. Maybe you could help me put them in.”
A ripple of suspicion washed through him. She wanted to draw closer to him, but he wanted distance so he and Claire could live their life together free of all this drama and meddling. That’s why he didn’t want her in their house. This was their place, where they could be together, alone and happy. He didn’t like having Shannon intrude on their time together.
Where Dale was concerned, he’d help Shannon any way possible, but for this kind of stuff, she needed to learn to do things for herself. “The doorknobs come with simple instructions. All you’d need is a screwdriver. You can do it yourself,” he encouraged.
“Oh, well, I could probably do that.”
“Of course you can. A smart woman like you can do anything. You might even have fun, picking out a new place to live, finding something that suits you without having to consider anyone else’s opinion. If you move, maybe Dale won’t find you so easily.”
“He knows where I work. He could just follow me home.”
“Always be vigilant. Never stop looking over your shoulder. You don’t want him to catch you off guard.”
“I’m so tired of being afraid.”
“I know you are. I’m afraid Claire feels the same when she’s not with me.”
“Yes, well, she has you and I don’t. I’m alone.”
“No, you aren’t. I’ll help you any way I can. As your attorney,” he added to make things clear. “A change might be just what you need to close the chapter on Dale and start fresh.”
“I planned to start something new, but this isn’t what I’d thought to do. Still, it makes sense, and really, what choice do I have. She’s kicking me out.”
“Maybe you should look at this as an opportunity to change your life for the better.”
“Better is definitely what I want. You’re right. I’ll have to speed up my plans, but this could work. I’ll have to start planning what to do over the next couple of weeks to get ready to move into my new place.”
“Sounds like you’ve got some place in mind.”
“I do. I thought it’d be a little while longer before I could make it happen, but I’ll just have to adjust and make it happen sooner.”
“That’s the spirit. Make things happen. Don’t just sit back and let them. That’s a great way to think.”
“As always, thank you for your help. I’m sorry to bother you on a Sunday. What with you and Claire off to a family dinner and all.”
“I’m glad I could help. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to check on Claire and call my other client back.”
“Of course. A
gain, sorry to barge in on you.”
“Go home and start making those plans. Make sure you can afford your new place. Let me know if you need me to talk to your landlady about the deposit.”
He stood with her. Before he knew what she intended, she wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him.
“Thank you for always helping me.”
“You’re welcome.”
She leaned up to kiss him—on the lips or cheek, he couldn’t be sure—but he took her shoulders and set her away.
“I’m with Claire,” he said, gently reminding her and making it clear nothing was going to happen between them.
“I know. But friends can kiss goodbye, especially after everything we’ve been through together.”
“I don’t kiss my friends.”
“You kiss Rain,” she pointed out, not letting this go.
“Rain is closer to me than a friend. She’s family. While I appreciate your friendship, you are still my client.”
“Right. Need to keep a professional distance. I get it. Still, once they lock up Dale, I won’t need a lawyer anymore, and we can just be friends.”
The hug and almost kiss told him she wanted much more than friendship. He’d made it clear telling her he and Claire were a couple. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings by being any more direct that he didn’t want her. If she persisted, he’d make himself clear with a blunt refusal. If need be, he’d tell her to find another lawyer, too.
He put his hand to the small of her back to escort her off the porch and to her car. She leaned back into his hand, so he took it away and stopped at the bottom of the stairs.
“Drive safe. If you hear from Dale, call me and the police immediately.”
“I will. Have a nice evening.”
“You too.”
Owen didn’t wait for her to get to her car. Not when she’d invited herself to his home on the weekend with something that could so obviously have waited until Monday’s business hours. He’d given her enough of his time. Besides, he needed to check on Claire and see for himself that she was okay.
Chapter Thirty
* * *
OWEN FOUND CLAIRE sitting on the toilet in the bathroom, her shirt off, hair draped over her right shoulder, and Pumpkin sitting on her back, watching Claire clean the long gash on her arm.
“Honey, are you okay?”
She looked up at him, but didn’t smile. “Can you take the cat? She won’t leave me alone.”
Owen grabbed the redheaded beast and held her up. “Stop making a fuss. She’ll be okay.” He set the cat on the counter, but she jumped onto Claire’s back again. Luckily, she kept her claws sheathed, or Claire would have more cuts to contend with.
Pumpkin hissed at the cotton ball and head-bumped Claire.
“Yes, baby, you’re sweet and this stuff stings like hell. I don’t like it either.”
Owen grabbed the cat and set her in Claire’s lap. He took the cotton ball, wet with witch hazel, and cleaned the cut out for her.
“This will take down the swelling and help keep this from getting infected,” Owen said, dabbing at the cut and blowing on it to take away the sting.
“What did she want?”
“She’s being evicted.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing. She can start fresh somewhere else.”
“That’s what I told her.”
“She didn’t need to come here on a Sunday and speak to you privately about that.”
“No. She didn’t. I think she was embarrassed to say anything in front of you.”
“She wanted to be alone with you.”
He didn’t deny it. Over the last week, she’d shown up more than once out of the blue. At the grocery store. When he walked back to his office after going to Claire’s shop to see her in the afternoon. At the pet store, she’d trailed after him, supposedly to help him gather what he needed, but it wasn’t necessary. She didn’t do that for anyone else who came in to pick up supplies.
“I still don’t understand how this happened.”
“Neither do I. I’d already been into the stall to feed and water Bo.”
“Which I appreciate, by the way.”
“I never saw the rake. It’s not the one you use to clean the stalls. On my way back up to the house, I saw that one hanging in the tool area. You keep everything so neat and orderly. I don’t know how it got there.”
“Was Shannon there when it happened?”
“She’d just come in, looking for you. To her disappointment, she found me.”
He gave her neck a squeeze. “No one could be disappointed to find you, sweetheart.”
“Right.”
She handed him a gauze pad. He pressed it to her arm and took the strip of tape she tore for him, securing the pad at the top and again at the bottom with the other piece of tape she handed him. Finished, he kissed her shoulder above the bandage.
He scanned her face and grabbed another cotton ball and wet it with the witch hazel. He dabbed at the bruise and small cut.
“This hurt?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s your vision?”
“You’re still the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.”
He smiled and gave her a kiss. “This doesn’t need a bandage, though people are going to think I beat you.”
“No one would ever think that of you, honey.” She pet Pumpkin and sighed. “I’m tired. I think I’ll lay down for a little while. I’ll make the brownies later.”
“You sure you’re okay?”
“Fine. You kept me up late last night again. You woke me early when you left to feed the horses. Oh, you need to brush Bo. I didn’t get a chance to do it.”
“He’ll wait until tonight. I’m worried about you.”
“Don’t you have to call Tom back?”
“Trying to get rid of me isn’t going to change the fact I know something is upsetting you. Is it Shannon?”
“It’s the whole thing. When is it going to be just you and me?”
“It’s you and me right now. It’s going to be me and you always. I promise. I was thinking earlier about us and how we’ve been going back and forth between your place and mine. Maybe it doesn’t need to be like that.”
“I don’t understand. You don’t want me to stay here?”
“No. I want you to stay here all the time.”
“What are you saying?”
“Move in with me. Half your stuff is still in boxes. The rest we’ll toss in my truck and bring here.”
“You want me to give up my house?”
“Not if you don’t want to. I just thought you might want to be here with me.”
“I do.”
Well, that took a load off and made his thrashing heart slow down again. “It’s too soon for you. I get it. Forget I asked.”
“It’s just that I worked so hard to buy that place. It’s mine.”
“I get it. You’ve worked really hard to bounce back after what that asshole did to you. You don’t have to sell the place. Keep it, but move in with me. You could rent it and make some extra cash.”
“You really want me to move in with you.”
“I really do. The best part of my day is being with you.” He brushed his fingertips over her cheek and gave her a soft kiss. “You’re tired. Take a nap. Sleep on it. You don’t have to give me an answer right this minute. In fact, don’t answer me until it’s a yes.”
She laughed, stood, and cupped his face, bringing him down for a kiss. She held him off an inch from her face. “Yes.”
He crushed her to his chest and kissed her long and deep. Overwhelmed, he smoothed his hands down her bare back to her hips and over her bottom, pulling her closer, snug against him. His hard cock pressed to her belly. She went up on tiptoe and held him close, her arms locked around his neck. He slid his hands up her back and undid her bra, swiping his fingertips up her spine and making her arch into him. He put his hands under her arms and lifted her off her feet, breaking the kiss they shared in
favor of trailing kisses down her neck to her breasts when he raised her high enough. She wrapped her legs around his waist and held tight, giving him the perfect opportunity to walk her back into the bedroom, put one knee on the bed, and lay her out beneath him.
She reached over his back and pulled his shirt up and right over his head. He let go of her long enough to work his arms free and slide her bra off her arms.
“You know, it really works in my favor when you’re half-naked when I come up to see you.”
She laughed, then gasped when he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked hard, just the way she liked it. He cupped her other breast in his palm and molded it to his hand. He wanted more and trailed kisses down her flat belly. He circled her navel with his tongue and over her soft skin along the hem of her jeans. A quick tug on the button and zipper and he had them undone and his lips pressed to the new patch of exposed skin above her purple lace panties.
“I so love your taste in lingerie. Like a present to unwrap, I love the pretty packaging, but what lays beneath is what I truly want.”
He slid off the bed, taking her jeans and panties right off her long, toned legs. She smiled up at him and laughed when he reached down, spread his fingers wide, and traced a path from her ribs down her belly and deeper until he turned his hand and slid one finger into her slick heat.
“Owen.”
Just that, his name on her lips and he was lost. He’d do anything for her, and right now he wanted to hear her moan and feel her come apart at his lips. He leaned down to her and settled between her widespread legs. He kissed his way up her thigh to her hip and detoured to her center, his finger working in and out of her core. He slid his finger deep and licked the wet nub, and she went wild, tilting her hips to his marauding mouth. He liked her this way. So open and giving and lost in the moment with him. He liked it even more when he was riding that high with her, so he licked and laved and took her to the brink.
Ready for him. He was more than ready for her. He shoved his jeans and boxers down and kicked them off. He rose above her and entered her hard and fast. She shattered beneath him on a deep moan, arching off the bed, her breasts pressed to his chest. He kissed her, long and deep, seated in her heat, her body clenched around his. He held perfectly still, desperately trying to wait her out. His tongue swept over hers, and she melted back into the bed. He moved, pulling out and thrusting deep, taking her up again, but this time he’d reach paradise with her.
Falling for Owen Page 22
