All For You: Halfway ThereBuckhorn Ever AfterThe One You WantOne Perfect Night

by Susan Mallery

  Shohn moaned.

  Nadine wanted to moan, too, but she couldn’t find the breath or energy to manage it.

  Untangling his hand from her hair, Shohn stroked her shoulder, down her side to her rump. “Should I let him in?”

  The way he watched her with so much tenderness made her tongue-tied. She drew one more necessary breath, and nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

  Neither of them moved.

  Louie was not amused. Nadine heard a funny noise and turned her head. One white paw was extended under the door, claws up as he felt around.

  Nadine snickered.

  Shoving up to his elbows, Shohn smiled at her. “Are you laughing at poor Louie?”

  “Ha.” She pushed at him. “He’s going to destroy my doors.”

  Shohn eyed that groping paw, and agreed. “Yeah, sorry. I guess I better get him.”

  When he stood, Nadine scooted up in the bed to look at him. Mmm, mmm, mmm. She should have brought her camera to bed with her. Not that she really needed a photograph; if she lived to be a hundred, the image of Shohn Hudson naked in her bedroom would be forever emblazoned on her brain.

  Shohn glanced back at her, but his gaze caught on the repellent. He frowned. “You didn’t want me to...I mean...”

  “No.” She found the sheet and pulled it over her. “That was just in case he interrupted at the wrong time. Since we’re done—”

  “Done? Speak for yourself, woman.” Before she could figure out what that meant, Shohn opened the door and walked out to the bathroom. Louie chased after him.

  When he returned a minute later, it was sans condom. He stopped by the side of the bed, Louie following like a shadow, and stepped into his boxers.

  Nadine wondered what to do. Should she get up and get her panties? They were way over there, on the other side of the bed by Shohn. But it seemed very inhospitable to stay in bed as he dressed to leave.

  Grinning, Shohn slid in beside her.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting comfortable.” He rested on his side, his arm folded under the side of his face.

  Louie jumped up into the bed, searched around and, after a level look of disdain at Nadine, curled up around Shohn’s head.

  Going still, Shohn lost his smile. “What the hell, Louie?”

  Nadine watched the cat paw Shohn’s hair, yawn and snuggle in. He looked like a cat hat, and she had to snicker again. “I think he’s going to sleep.”

  Shohn closed his eyes. “Damn.”

  Hoping Shohn wouldn’t object to the delay, she suggested, “Let him sleep for a little while before you go.”

  “Go?”

  Pride, she reminded herself. Shohn would leave, so better that she arranged things on her own terms instead of waiting for him to make the first move.

  She tried out a bright smile. “That was...well...as I said, Wow with a capital W.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You think so, huh?”

  Oh, no. Her stomach dipped with apprehension. “You were disappointed?”

  “What? No.” He started to raise his head, then remembered Louie and went still again. “Damn it, don’t put words in my mouth.”

  Still unsure, Nadine asked, “So you were...satisfied?”

  “Very.”

  Her pulse slowed again. “Good.” Though, honestly, he didn’t look very happy about it. There were storm clouds in his eyes and his jaw jutted with challenge. Unfamiliar with the protocol, Nadine hoped to brazen her way through. “I’m glad we could get that out of our systems.”

  “Out of my system? No way, lady.”

  “No?” So he wanted her still? Again? “You don’t mean tonight, do you?”

  Through his teeth, he asked, “Are you kicking me out?”

  Not how she would have put it, but... “I assumed you’d leave, yes.”

  “I have a cat on my head!”

  There was that. Louie opened one eye, blinked at her then snuggled a little tighter and went back to sleep. His tail curled around Shohn’s face, over one eye and under his nose.

  Grousing, Shohn gently rearranged the bent tail so that it was up on his forehead instead. Then he scowled at her some more.

  Huh. If Nadine didn’t know better, she might think Shohn had feelings for her, that maybe he wanted more with her than just casual sex. But she did know better. She had the evidence of a lifetime and his reputation for serial hookups to help her keep her head and her heart grounded in reality.

  Most likely, Shohn was used to women begging him to stay, but damned if she would.

  “Nadine,” he said in warning.

  One thing was certain. “You can’t very well be here when everyone shows up tomorrow.”

  “Everyone being who?” He scoffed. “Roxi and Fred?”

  “And the people who will be picking up and dropping off their pets.” Her pride demanded that she keep things private. She could bear the idea of being a fling, but that didn’t mean she wanted the rest of the world to know about it. Or at least, the world of Buckhorn County. It was the type of community that spread gossip fast, and rumor even faster. “Besides, if you ever expect Louie to get acclimated, he needs to be in your home, not mine.”

  Shohn didn’t look happy about it, but he said, “I guess.” Reaching over his head, he stroked the cat and the loud gravelly purring started. “Can you continue to watch him for me when I work?”

  “Sure.”

  That lifted his frown. Instead of petting Louie, he started petting her, her shoulder, down to her waist then her hip. He dragged the sheet along with him as he went and pretty soon she was exposed again.

  She had always considered herself too plump, but the way Shohn looked at her made her feel perfect.

  With his big hand on her belly, he asked, “You don’t want people to know we’re seeing each other?”

  It wasn’t as if they were dating, so... “I’m a private person, Shohn. You know that.”

  For a minute, he said nothing, just took his time exploring her body. When his gaze finally lifted to hers, it was sharp with resolve. “Come over to my place tomorrow after work.”

  Oh, so tempting. Did he ask because he, too, felt the special connection? Nadine couldn’t keep her heart from filling with hope. Her stubborn pride, however, warned her to proceed with caution. “I don’t know...”

  “I’ll convince you,” Shohn murmured. He left the bed amid Louie’s protests, going out of the room to retrieve the shirt and catnip. He set up a bed for the cat on the floor, and even managed to coax Louie to it.

  Then he coaxed Nadine out to the hall, and up against the wall.

  It was another two hours before he and Louie left—with the promise that she’d spend the night with him tomorrow.

  * * *

  NADINE’S AGREEMENT TO spend the night with Shohn set the tone for the next two weeks. The hours, even the days, passed in a blur of swelling contentment. She stayed over with him and Louie, and left for work in the morning. At her job, they kept things platonic.

  But alone in his apartment, Shohn dedicated himself to showing her new ways of making love.

  And it was making love, at least for her. With Shohn, well, he was incredibly wonderful to her. But didn’t everyone say that about him?

  “A chip off the old block,” she’d heard many times, referring back to his father, Dr. Sawyer Hudson, who was much loved and respected by everyone in Buckhorn. “Just like his uncle Gabe,” many noted, meaning Shohn was a charming seducer, though the Gabe she knew was a dedicated family man who watched over his three beautiful daughters with unwavering determination.

  “He does the family proud” was the favored compliment, and Nadine had to agree. Shohn was the real deal, a gentleman through and through, considerate and caring, protective and sexy to boot.<
br />
  So maybe he treated her just the same as he treated everyone: kindly and with lots of attention.

  Oh, how that man doled out the attention, especially in bed.

  The evening sun sent crimson and purple across the horizon. Nadine loved sunsets, more so now that it meant she’d soon be seeing Shohn.

  She was so sunk. Hopelessly, as Amber had claimed.

  Sighing, Nadine finished scooping the backyard after the dogs had run and played. It was one of her least favorite jobs, of course, which was why she did it herself instead of pawning it off on Roxi or Fred. She owned the place, so the dirtiest jobs were hers to deal with.

  Louie came to walk with her. Though he still doted on Shohn, he no longer freaked out when he couldn’t reach him. He now had the run of Animal House, too. Both she and Shohn trusted Louie to stay close and out of trouble.

  At Shohn’s apartment, the cat preferred his bed in front of the patio doors because that’s where the sun usually poured in. He no longer felt the desperate need to spend every moment with Shohn.

  But Nadine did.

  She missed him horribly when they were apart, and rarely did an entire minute pass without her thinking of him. He was just such a heartbreaker...

  “Hey, Nadine.”

  Looking up from her bag of doggy doo, Nadine shaded her eyes and found Amber’s brother, Garrett Hudson, striding toward her. Talk about a heartbreaker. But unlike Shohn, Garrett didn’t even seem to realize it.

  Tall, strong and with the fitness required to be a fireman, Garrett was another fine example of Buckhorn’s leading family. He wore casual attire of a sleeveless blue shirt, well-worn jeans and scruffy lace-up work boots. He had black hair like his cousin Shohn, but though he sported mirrored sunglasses now, she knew his eyes were the same piercing blue as his father’s.

  His smile should have been one of welcome, but seemed more like an invitation to every woman who saw it.

  Nadine straightened. “Hey, Garrett.” Maybe because he was only one year older than her and they’d more or less grown up together, she could be more objective in his company than other females. The fact that she’d been in love with Shohn forever might factor in, too. “What’s up?”

  He pushed the sunglasses up to the top of his head. Sinfully long dark lashes framed those bright blue eyes, and offered even more impact for the weak of heart. “Is that Shohn’s cat?” He nodded at Louie.

  Louie sat down next to Nadine’s foot and leveled his yellow-eyed stare at Garrett.

  “Yes, isn’t he beautiful?”

  “Not really, no.” Crouching down, Garrett offered a hand to the cat. “But he has a lot of character.”

  “Character?”

  “Sure.” Now that Louie seemed more receptive, Garrett tickled under his chin. “He’s like an antique. You can see the life he’s led through his imperfections.” He looked up at her. “Perfection is overrated.”

  Being that he was so physically perfect, maybe he knew something she didn’t. “Okay.”

  “You ever look at an older building and compare it to something new?”

  “Not really.”

  “The older homes,” Garrett mused, “even if they’re a little beat-up, always have more character.”

  Nadine didn’t know what to say about that, so she went back to talking about Louie. “He’s a wonderful cat, and very smart.”

  Garrett scooped him up and stood with Louie held to his chest. The cat rumbled his delight and leaned his head back on Garrett’s tanned shoulder.

  That cat had more luck with hunks...

  “Shohn wanted me to stop by to tell you he’ll be late.”

  “Oh?” Had Shohn told his cousin that they were seeing each other? Sexually involved? Burning up the sheets on a nightly basis?

  They weren’t dating, so that wouldn’t qualify as a description for their relationship. So far they’d both opted to spend their time alone together instead of in crowds.

  She assumed Amber knew, though Nadine hadn’t seen her lately. But she doubted Shohn had shared with any of his other relatives.

  “Shohn asked me to pick up Louie for him. He said he wrote Amber as an alternate, but she’s still at the bookstore doing inventory or something, and she didn’t answer. I was already out this way checking on a fire hazard at the local strip mall.”

  Why didn’t Shohn want her to keep the cat? “Where is he?”

  Garrett gave a very male-inspired look of amusement. “At the moment, not sure, but last I saw him he was saving some maidens in distress.”

  Nadine tucked in her chin. “What does that mean exactly?”

  “A camper and her girlfriends got stranded in the park when they lost a pack up in the hills. It had the car keys, wallets, cell phones, whatever women carry.”

  “And Shohn was helping them?” Since that was his job, no reason for her to be jealous. Except for the way Garrett grinned about it...

  “Shohn was doing what he does best—making ladies happy.”

  Nadine ground her teeth together. “How?”

  “He promised the sexiest one that they’d find the stuff.”

  Worse and worse. “The sexiest one?” Weren’t campers supposed to be roughing it, like without makeup and toiletries and such? How sexy could they be?

  “They were all pretty hot, but the tall blonde was something to see.”

  “You saw her?”

  “Yeah. I had a missed call from Shohn, so I stopped by the rangers’ station on my way home. Usually when he calls it means someone needs a lecture on campfires, but not this time. They were all there—three ladies and Shohn—and the blonde was all over him, anxious to...” Garrett lifted a brow, saying with emphasis, “Show her gratitude.”

  A fist clenched around Nadine’s heart. She had to force herself to stand there, to keep her expression impassive when inside, she died a little. “Where are you taking Louie?”

  “Amber’s going to keep him overnight.”

  Overnight. Meaning Shohn would be otherwise occupied until morning? She swallowed her misery and lifted her chin. “I’ll need to call Shohn. I have to have his permission before I can hand over the cat.”

  Garrett frowned. “Shohn said you’re a stickler about that stuff.”

  And that was all he’d told Garrett, not that they’d been involved in...what? It had been hard enough to define their relationship when Shohn was still interested, but now? She had no idea what to call it except “too brief.”

  “Yes.” Nadine did not want to call Shohn. “I’m a stickler.”

  “You’re serious?” Teasing, Garrett leaned down to see her set face. “I mean, you know me, right? You know Shohn and I are cousins.”

  “I heard the same thing from Shohn when he came to get Amber’s dog.” She stepped around Garrett, hauling the bag of doggy dung in her right hand. “Why can’t you people just write down the whole flipping family when you fill out the paperwork?”

  Garrett drew himself up. “You people?”

  Nadine kept walking. She needed to wrap this up and she needed Garrett to leave so she could suffer in her wretchedness alone. Damn you, Shohn Hudson. On the way in, she dropped the bag in the trash can.

  Trying to convince her, Garrett said, “I save cats from burning buildings. You know that, right?”

  “Yeah, sure.” Garrett had made front-page news the time he managed to find a cat in a burning apartment building. He was labeled a hero, and now, a year later, the term stuck.

  Carrying Louie, Garrett followed her into the office. “You won’t be able to reach Shohn.”

  “Why not?” She went behind the front desk and sat on the stool. “Will he be busy?”

  “Yeah, he is.” Garrett eyed her with uncertainty. “He was heading back up in the hills with those ladies when I left.
No cell reception.”

  Great, they’d be alone in the dark woods together. He could play hero for them and probably gain more appreciation. Drumming her fingertips on the desktop, Nadine snarled, “There has to be a way to reach him.”

  “For an emergency, sure.” Garrett tipped his head. “Nadine, this is not an emergency.”

  Not unless a broken heart qualified.

  No. She would not be a victim. So it was over? So what? She’d had a great time, and now she had some wonderful memories. Shohn would never know that he’d hurt her, because she refused to be hurt.

  Decision made, she squared off with Garrett. “Tell you what. I’ll keep the cat tonight and take him to Amber in the morning.”

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Garrett considered things. “I guess that’d work, if you really don’t mind being put out.”

  “It’s no problem at all.” And this way, she could avoid calling Shohn.

  “The thing is,” Garrett said, “Amber was going to spend the night with our folks. Think you can take Louie out to the lake?”

  “Sure.” More than anything, she wanted Garrett gone so she could give up the brave front. “That’s only another fifteen minutes away, since she lives close.”

  “Can you be there around ten?”

  She didn’t have any new pets due to arrive, so why not? “Ten. I’ll be there.”

  “Then I guess it’ll be fine.” Garrett looked at Louie. “That all right with you, boy?”

  Louie closed his eyes and purred louder.

  Traitor, Nadine thought. “Here, I’ll take him now. You probably want to get home to...do whatever you do after work.”

  “Shower, eat and, if luck is with me, I might rustle up some female company for the night.” He winked.

  Well, that was rather blatant. “You don’t need luck and you know it.” Hoping Garrett would follow Nadine took Louie from him and started for the door.

  “Don’t let the family rep fool you. I know the guys all like to tell it otherwise, but we have to work at it like anyone else.”

  “Yeah, right.” She pulled open the door and waited. “I suppose you have a bridge you’d like to sell me next?”

  “Someone’s got you snookered.” Amused, he tweaked a hank of her hair on his way out. “See you tomorrow.”