by Cat Johnson
“Listen, Mandy. I was there and sober the entire time. None of the boys so much as touched any one of those girls. I give you my word on that.” The calm, soothing tenor of Hank’s voice cut short any further ranting on Mandy’s part, and the expression of gratitude on Jared’s face at Hank’s support was clear. But the man’s deep, slow words did the opposite of calming Lois.
Hank set her pulse to pounding.
Mandy let out an angry sigh and crossed her arms, but she seemed to be out of ammunition, for now anyway. Lois took advantage of the moment of silence. “You two go upstairs and get some sleep. Tomorrow’s a big day. No more fighting tonight. Jared’s had too much to drink to hear what you’re saying to him anyway, darlin’.”
After a moment, Mandy nodded. “All right.” After one more deadly glare at Jared, she spun on one expensive-looking high-heeled pump and headed for the hallway.
“Thanks, Mama.” Jared kissed Lois on the cheek and then glanced at Hank. “And thank you.”
Hank responded with a nod.
Jared followed the path his angry girlfriend had taken, up the stairs leading to the bedroom where they would hopefully go to sleep, or make up. Lois didn’t care which as long as they didn’t argue all night long.
As the sound of Jared’s boots faded, Lois turned to Hank. “Thank you for bringing him home and for keeping an eye on my boys.”
“Not a problem. Two of the three are mine to take care of anyway. I left Deputy Barton with the team. He’s the one who deserves thanks.”
“I’ll make sure to bake him something special and drop it off for him and his girlfriend.”
“I’m sure that would be appreciated.” Hank glanced around the kitchen. “Looks like you’re pretty much cleaned up here. Anything I can help you with?”
“I was just fixin’ to bring the last bag of trash from the living room out to the bins when I heard Mandy squawking.” Lois tilted her head toward the doorway.
“I can take it out for you.” Hank moved toward the hall. Lois jumped to follow. It was strange having a man around to do things like take out the trash. Jared was here, but he was so busy with the horses she handled the little things around the house herself.
She was sure there were a lot of things Hank could do for her—to her. Things no man had done in a very long time, and she wasn’t thinking about his cleaning the ashes out of the fireplace or anything like that.
Hank and his long legs reached the living room first. By the time Lois passed through the doorway after him, he was standing over the cardboard box in the center of the room, peering down into the contents.
Oops. She’d forgotten all about that.
He looked up as she entered. “What kind of party was this?”
“Just your average bridal shower/bachelorette party.” She bit her lip and almost laughed at his expression when faced with a box filled with sex toys. “One of the women in my book club sells personal pleasure devices at home parties. Those there are her samples. She’ll be by to pick them up in the morning. She had to leave the party early tonight to babysit her grandchild.”
“Her grandchild.” Hank looked a little horrified. “Okay.”
“Watch it. I’m about to be a grandmother now too, you know.” Like it or not. Lois moved closer to Hank and the box. She picked up the plastic package her friend had given her as a thank you. “A grandmother who now owns a vibrator, apparently. This was my hostess gift from her for having the party.”
Hank’s eyes narrowed as he focused on the object in Lois’s hand. He swallowed, sending his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. His gaze moved to her lips, then his steely eyes met hers. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen any grandmother, much less such an attractive one, holding a vibrator before.”
Lois’s heart pounded, sending her blood rushing through her veins until she got lightheaded. They were standing close enough for her to see the beginnings of stubble on Hank’s chin. Then her gaze moved to his mouth. She bit her bottom lip before bringing her gaze back to meet his.
Leaning in, Hank brushed his hand against her cheek, hovering his lips temptingly close to hers. “Lois, if I’m about to make a fool of myself, stop me now.”
She shook her head. “You are many things, Hank Miller. But a fool is not one of them.”
He thrust his hand beneath the hair at the nape of her neck, cradling her head as he crashed his lips into hers.
Blindly, Lois dropped the vibrator back into the box and freed her hands so she could touch Hank. She ran her hands over the bulging back muscles beneath his shirt. It’s what she’d wanted to do since first seeing him get out of the car earlier that day.
Hank backed her up until her knees buckled at the edge of the sofa. She sat heavily and he followed her down, pressing her back into the cushions. God, how she’d missed a man’s weight on top of her and the feel of big, rough hands against her skin.
“Tell me to stop. If that’s what you want you have to say it, because I’m not going to do it on my own.” His voice sounded gruff and as breathless as she was. His eyes mere slits as he looked at her, Lois could only imagine how she looked herself.
She felt the heat in her cheeks. She hoped he saw the desire in her eyes. “Don’t you dare stop.”
Hank groaned as he took possession of her mouth again. When he slid his tongue between her lips, she welcomed him, invited him in deeper. A need long neglected surfaced as Hank thrust his tongue against hers.
When he broke away long enough for her to drag in a breath, she said, “I haven’t done this in a very long time.”
They were tangled together like two teenagers necking in a car, and she couldn’t care if she wasn’t acting her age. It felt too good.
“Done what?” Breathless, Hank asked the question between kisses.
“Made out on the sofa. Tried to be quiet so not to wake anyone upstairs.”
He moved his hands over her body. Every place he touched made her crave more. There were so many places she imagined his hands, his mouth…other parts of him.
Lois reached up and pulled him down onto her again. While he latched his mouth onto her throat, he ran one large palm up her ribcage to cup her breast. She pressed back against the pillow, concentrating on every sensation his touch sent through her.
Hank moved to brace himself on one knee between her thighs and connected with a place that had her drawing in a shuddering breath. He leaned closer, pressed harder against her and she gasped. He pulled back enough she could see his face. His unfocused eyes. His short, quick breaths. As he watched her, he slid a hand between them and rubbed. The seam of her jeans pushed against parts long neglected, and Lois’s mouth opened on a gasp.
He covered her mouth with his as he worked faster, harder with his hand. Her hips rose beneath him, angling toward the man who had torn down her long-held reserve. The climax broke over Lois, and she was grateful for his mouth over hers, blocking the cry that remained strangled in her throat. Hank broke the kiss and panted above her.
The sound of the screen door in the kitchen slamming had Lois’s eyes flying open wide. She heard the distant murmur of voices and her eyes opened wide. “Jimmy and Jack are home.”
With one hand against Hank’s chest, she shoved him away just as Jimmy called out, “Mama? Where you at?”
All the lights on the first floor were on. It would be obvious to her boys she was around somewhere. They knew she wasn’t the type to leave the lights lit and go to bed. She had to answer, but she preferred to be standing upright and not under Hank when she did. While wiping one hand over his mouth, Hank shoved off the sofa and stood so she could too.
Panicked and still trembling from what they’d just done, Lois moved toward the doorway. “I’m in the living room.”
Lois tried to smooth her hair enough so both boys wouldn’t know that she and Hank had spent the last quarter of an hour tangling with each other.
The boys looked good and drunk when they stumbled down the hallway and into the living room. Tha
t was fortunate. Maybe they wouldn’t realize what they’d interrupted.
“Commander. You’re here,” Jimmy said.
Jack backhanded his brother’s arm. “Told you I saw the vehicle parked outside.”
“Yeah, I was just helping your mother finish straightening up around here.” Hank bent and grabbed the trash bag.
“We can do that, Commander.” Jack stepped forward to take it from him.
“I got it, Gordon.” Hank held tight. “I promised your mom I’d take this out. It’s the least I can do to thank her for the hospitality this weekend.”
More likely it was because the stuffed black plastic bag provided much needed camouflage for the telltale bulge she knew firsthand was in Hank’s trousers. Lois felt her cheeks heat at the knowledge she’d caused that reaction in this man.
“Thank you, Hank. I’ll show you where the bin is.” Ridiculous, but the thought of one more stolen moment with Hank for a private goodbye sent a flutter through Lois’s stomach.
“See you in the morning, Commander.” Jimmy nodded.
“Yes, you will. Goodnight, Jack. Jimmy.” Hank returned the nod to both boys. His promise had Lois’s heart soaring. She and he had tomorrow…and tomorrow night.
Very aware of his presence close behind her, Lois led Hank out the back door and into the night. The moon hung just over the treetops and, miracle of miracles, a cool breeze stirred in the summer heat. It ruffled Lois’s hair and carried the scent of jasmine. She breathed deeply and took a second to absorb all the magic of this night.
The gravel on the driveway crunched beneath their shoes as they picked their way through the darkness, moving farther from the light on the corner of the house and toward the bins along the driveway. Hank dropped the bag inside one then secured the cover before he turned toward her. The moonlight fell across his face and her heartbeat kicked up a notch.
“I enjoyed tonight.”
Lois smiled, feeling sexy for the first time in a decade…and scared. “So did I.”
That was an understatement. She’d more than enjoyed it. She craved more.
Hank stepped forward and reached out to cup her face between his hands. Her eyes drifted closed as he planted the briefest of kisses on her lips. Groaning, he dropped his hold on her. “I have to go, or I’ll never want to. Good night, Lois.”
“Good night, Hank.”
“Oh, and make sure you get your hostess gift out of that box before your friend comes to take it.” With that statement, he turned and disappeared into the night, leaving Lois with her pulse pounding and counting the hours until tomorrow.
Hank parked the team SUV in front of his room at the Hideaway. He glanced at the bar next door but didn’t have it in him to walk over and make sure his men were safely in their beds. That Deputy Barton had thought it safe to leave the bar to drive Jack and Jimmy to the farm made Hank assume the rest of his men had gone to their rooms.
With the taste of Lois so fresh in Hank’s mind, he couldn’t care too much about anything. That was a dangerous thing. Lois wasn’t the kind of woman a man could be with for one night. Besides her being the mother of two of his team, she was also a lady.
That’s not to say he wouldn’t take anything she was willing to give. Selfish man that he was, he wouldn’t deny himself whatever time alone with her he could get. However much that was, he had a feeling it wouldn’t be enough. He sighed and struggled to get his key into the lock in the dark.
Hank flipped on the light inside his room. It wasn’t bad, just empty. Very empty, and he wasn’t talking about the sparse furnishings.
Trey and Carly occupied the room next door. Hank could hear voices through the paper-thin wall. If they started having sex and he had to listen to it after what had just happened with Lois, he’d lose his mind.
After stripping out of the day’s clothes, Hank made his way across the small bedroom, around the king-size bed and into the tiny bathroom. He turned on the hot water in the shower full blast. The pounding of the spray on the tiles drowned out all other sound. Maybe by the time he got finished, his neighbors would be asleep. He could only hope.
Eyes closed, he braced one arm on the tile wall and let the scalding water beat against his back. He’d wanted to plunge into Lois so badly tonight it hurt.
Hank could still see her in his mind, breathless and wanting. He pictured her striding up to the box of sex toys and picking up the dildo, and he was hard as a rock with no hope of sleeping tonight if he didn’t do something about it. Hank reached for the soap and lathered his hand. He wrapped his fingers around himself and stroked hard and fast.
He imagined it was Lois’s hand on him. Then her mouth as he tangled his hands in her thick, silky hair and plunged between her waiting lips. That image did it, had his muscles clenching and his bare toes curling. Hank gripped his length harder and sped his stroke until he groaned with the release he sought.
Opening his eyes, he stared at the mint-green tile on the wall in front of him. He would give just about anything to have seen Lois instead.
He washed his short-cropped hair with the tiny bottle of shampoo provided, soaped and rinsed the rest of his body and shut off the water. He’d shave in the morning before the ceremony. One more day and night in Pigeon Hollow. No matter what did or didn’t happen tomorrow, he still would have to go back to the base and his routine and forget all about Lois Gordon.
While sliding between the cool sheets and imagining how soft Lois’s skin would have felt had he had the nerve to slip beneath her clothes and touch her tonight, Hank had a bad feeling she wasn’t going to be easy to forget.
Ignoring the renewed arousal between his legs, he flipped over onto his stomach. He punched the pillow into shape and then heard the rhythmic banging and soft moans through the wall. Hank groaned himself, for a very different reason. He covered his head with the pillow to drown out the torturous sounds, but the pillow couldn’t smother his thoughts. He tossed and turned for hours before he finally fell asleep.
Chapter Five
The string quartet, Lia’s father’s influence, began the first strains of Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” as the groomsmen rolled the white satin runner down the aisle between the rows of chairs.
The country band, Jimmy’s choice, was set up under the tent for the reception later. The disparity in the music choices pretty much summed up the differences between the two families.
To further illustrate the dichotomy, on Lia’s side of the aisle sat politicians, including the state senator and his wife, rich businessmen and the patriarchs of old Southern families whose names graced the state map for the towns named after them.
On Jimmy’s side sat local townspeople, including the deputy sheriff and his family and girlfriend, Jimmy’s teammates’ dates and a few Gordon family relations and close friends.
There were close to seventy-five guests in all. Keeping the list even at that number had been a battle of epic proportions. The governor had wanted to invite every political connection he had to the wedding. Lois suspected the only reason he’d given in and cut the list was because Jimmy and Lia had chosen to have it at the farm. Couldn’t impress folks with a backyard tent wedding when the yard was attached to a working farm rather than a mansion.
Lois saw the expression on Jimmy’s face as he watched the aisle for Lia’s arrival and realized all the dissimilarity in the world didn’t matter. He loved Lia and she loved him, and that was enough. For Jimmy’s sake and the sake of his new child, she prayed it would be enough.
From her position on the aisle of the front row, Lois was aware of the caterers setting out the hors d’oeuvres for after the ceremony. It was very unnerving having strangers in her kitchen. It was all she could do to stay out of their way when they very politely suggested they could handle things and she should go outside and enjoy herself. Judging from the trays of tiny food she could see from her seat, she still wasn’t convinced there would be enough to eat for all the guests.
The sun shone brightly as the unifo
rm-clad groomsmen lined up next to Jimmy.
“That’s one handsome group of men,” Lizzie Barton Ryan whispered in the row behind Lois.
“There’s just something about a man in uniform,” Christy, Bobby Barton’s girlfriend, agreed with his sister.
Lois had to concur with the girls. The sight of the men, all in their various military dress uniforms, was breathtaking—BB and Trey in their Navy summer dress-white uniform, Matt, Bull and Hank in their Army service-blue uniform, and Jack and Jimmy in their USMC dress blues. Jared, the only civilian, was in a navy-blue suit but held his own amid the others in the good-looks department.
Her gaze strayed to Hank once again. He was a fine-looking man in uniform—probably out of it too. That thought had her feeling warm, and it had nothing to do with the sun overhead.
Lois tore her gaze away from the tempting man before he caught her staring. About to be a grandmother and Lois was standing at her son’s wedding mentally undressing his commander. She was sure her mother, God rest her soul, would be properly appalled.
She caught Jimmy’s eye and gave him an encouraging smile. He beamed back at her, happier than she’d seen him in a long time. His expression softened as he stared past Lois, and she knew Lia had come into view.
The music changed to the “Wedding March” and Lois turned to face the aisle. Lia stood behind the maid of honor. Holding onto her father’s arm and gazing ahead to her groom and her future, Lia looked more beautiful than ever.
That was the last thing Lois saw clearly. Her eyes filled with tears, and they continued right through the preacher saying, “You may kiss the bride.”
The bride and groom did just that to the cheer led by the groomsmen and echoed, if more sedately, by the guests. Then they led the way back down the aisle, although Lois was far too busy wiping her eyes to see. She was searching for another tissue in her purse when she felt a hand on her arm.
“May I escort the mother of the groom to the reception?”
