by SJ McCoy
“Good. You go talk to them then.”
Shane nodded. “As soon as I’ve packed.”
As he made his way up to the main house, Shane had to wonder what his parents would think. They knew and liked Cassidy, but still. Even he knew this was pretty fast for him to be moving in with her. Especially considering he’d always said he stayed here on the ranch so he could be on hand for anything he was needed for at the guest ranch. Nothing ever came up, and he knew he didn’t need to be here, but he liked living here and had used that as his excuse to not ever go off and buy or build a place of his own.
His mom was in the kitchen when he let himself in. She smiled. “Did you smell cookies already? I was only just thinking about baking some.”
He smiled and went to give her a hug. “No, Mom. Though you know I’ll take some when they’re done. Is Dad around? I wanted to talk to you both.”
She nodded. “He’ll be back in a minute. Is everything all right?”
“Everything is great. I want to tell you both how great.”
She raised her eyebrows and picked up her cell phone. “Dave? Come up to the kitchen a minute?”
A few seconds later, footsteps came up the stairs from the basement and his dad appeared. He looked from Shane to his mom and back again. “What’s going on?”
“Shane wants to talk to us.”
Shane grinned at his dad. “Nothing bad. There’s nothing wrong. In fact something is going so right I wanted to tell you both about it.”
His dad’s grin surprised him. “Cassidy?”
His mom went and stood by him and he put an arm around her shoulders. “We have been wondering,” she said.
“Wondering what?” asked Shane. “Can’t a guy spring a surprise around here?”
His mom laughed. “You’ve got no surprises left, Shane. Not after Cassidy had you baring your all to half the townswomen.”
Shane smiled through pursed lips. “Yeah, she got me with that one.”
His dad nodded. “She’s well and truly got you with everything hasn’t she?” They were both smiling at him expectantly.
“She has. So much so, that I’m going to be moving in with her.”
His mom’s face fell. His dad raised an inquiring eyebrow. “And?”
“And what?” Shane was a little disappointed they weren’t more enthusiastic.
“Nothing, dear.” His mom shot his dad a warning look. “We’re very happy for you.” She didn’t sound it.
Shane gave them a puzzled look. “Will someone tell me what’s going on? At first I was nervous. Then I thought you were going to be pleased. Now I feel like you’re disappointed in me, and I don’t get it.”
His mom came and put a hand on his shoulder. “Not disappointed in you, Shane. Not that at all. You’ll have to forgive us.”
That confused him. “For what?”
His dad smiled. “For getting carried away. We’ve both seen how you are with Cassidy and how she is with you. We’re getting ahead of ourselves. And things were different in our day, you have to understand that.”
He hadn’t thought about that. “Oh. You don’t think we should live together?”
“We do. We want to see you live together. We just thought that you’d be married when you did.”
Married? He stared at them as if they’d both gone nuts. “Married?” he asked.
His dad nodded. “Forget we said anything. We were getting ahead of ourselves, that’s all. We’re very happy for you.”
“We are,” said his mom. “And we’ll look forward to being invited over soon?”
Shane nodded. He looked forward to it. But married? That hadn’t even occurred to him—ever! But everything about Cassidy was different—why shouldn’t that be different too? He certainly didn’t hate the idea. In fact, it made him smile!
He was still thinking about it when he pulled up at Cassidy’s later that evening. He looked at his bags in the back of the truck—should he leave them there for now? He shook his head with a grin. Start as you mean to go on! He pulled them out and ran up the steps. He tried the front door, he didn’t know if she kept it locked. She didn’t. He let himself in and strode into the living room holding his bags up in the air. “Hi, honey. I’m home!”
She was sitting at her easel by the window. She looked so beautiful as she threw her head back and laughed. “And here I was wondering if you’d gone and chickened out on me.”
He dumped his bags and pulled her to her feet so he could wrap his arms around her while he kissed her. He loved the way she kissed him, she certainly wasn’t passive like most women he’d known. Oh no, not his Cassidy. She kissed him back, her tongue dueling with his, her fingers tangling in his hair, her soft breasts pushing at his chest. He loved it.
When he lifted his head, he smiled. “You thought I’d chickened out, did you? Well, nuh-oh. I’m a little later because I had to take time out at lunchtime to pack my bags.” He held her gaze. “And to go tell my folks.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You told your parents?”
He grinned. “I did. I want to tell the whole world. Don’t you? You don’t want to keep me as your dirty little secret, do you?”
She laughed and slapped his arm. “No, I don’t and you know it. It’s just, well, it’s all a bit sudden us doing this—even we know it is. What did your parents think?”
“Actually, they were disappointed.” He was pleased to see that she looked at little upset at that.
“Why?” she asked. Now he felt bad. He knew she liked his parents.
“Oh, don’t worry. They love you. They think we’re great together. They were disappointed that…” He hesitated. He’d been all gung ho to tease her and tell her about it a minute ago. Now he wasn’t so sure he wanted to. What if she dismissed it as completely ridiculous?
“That what?”
He had to tell her; she looked so concerned. “They’re disappointed that we’re moving in together before we get married.”
He’d never seen her speechless before. It made him smile. She sputtered for a moment before she could find any words. “Married?” was the only word she could muster. She was stunned, but she wasn’t shooting the idea down as total lunacy.
He nodded. “So what to do you say? Do you think we should up the stakes even more and just go ahead and tie the knot?”
She searched his face, trying to figure out if he was serious.
He wanted to think that she might be giving it some consideration, but as the silence lengthened his confidence wavered. It really was ridiculous. He winked to let her off the hook. “I had you going for a minute there, huh?”
She blew out a big sigh. “You certainly did.”
He brushed her hair away from her cheek and looked into her eyes. “It’d be way too soon right?”
She met his gaze, her honey-colored eyes soft and searching. “Yeah. Too soon.”
Wow! There was hope then?
“Come on. I cleared out a closet for you. You can unpack your things while I fix dinner.”
Up in the huge master bedroom, Shane looked around. For the first time he realized how real this was. Whenever he’d been in her bedroom before, all he’d noticed was Cassidy. She was so beautiful. And he usually had just one thing on his mind. Now he looked around. It was quite a room, with big picture windows and a fireplace in the corner. She said she’d cleared him out a closet. It was a huge walk-in deal that was as big as his bedroom back at the cabin. Even when he’d hung everything he’d brought, two rails remained empty.
He wandered through to the bathroom and unpacked his washbag. The double vanity ran the length of the room. Cassidy’s makeup and girl stuff strewn around one sink clearly told him which one was his. He stood back and looked at his toothbrush standing solitary guard by the faucet. He smiled. That was just the difference between men and women.
When he was done in the bathroom he looked around. He’d get used to it. He noticed that he’d left the toilet seat up so he went back. When he turned,
she was standing in the doorway watching him.
He gave her a sheepish grin, for some reason he felt embarrassed to be caught in the act of putting the seat back down for her. “You’re not one of those kinky types who likes to watch bathroom stuff are you?”
“Eww! I am not,” she said with a laugh. “She jerked her chin toward the toilet. “And I’m not a hypocrite either.”
He didn’t know what she meant by that.
“I’ve never understood why women make such a fuss about the seat. Why are you supposed to leave it down for us, but we’re not supposed to leave it up for you?”
Shane laughed. “I’ve never questioned it before. It’s just one of those things you learn. It’s like saying please and thank you. It becomes engrained as a habit, you know you have to do it, even before you wonder as to the why.”
“Well, just so you know. If you leave it up it’s not a problem.”
“Thanks. And I in the spirit of equality, if you leave it down that’s not a problem either.”
She smiled. “Glad we’ve got that straight then. Are you ready to eat?”
He nodded. “Umm.” He looked at the toilet and then at her. “I think I’ll just wash my hands first.”
After they’d eaten, they sat out on the deck above the river. Shane toasted marshmallows in the little tabletop fire pit and handed her one. “You’ve got the perfect spot here you know.”
“I do know. I love it,” she said as she squished the warm marshmallow between her fingers. He watched her with a smile on his face.
“What?” she asked as she popped it into her mouth.
“Nothing, you’re just so cute.”
She rolled her eyes. “I am many things, Shane, but cute is not one of them.”
“You are to me.” He held her gaze. “I want to make this work, Cassidy.”
Her expression turned serious for a moment. “It scares the shit out of me, but so do I. Can we make a pact though, here and now, that if we don’t, if we can’t for whatever reason, we’ll part as friends?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want us to part at all.” He realized what he meant as he said it.
Cassidy didn’t seem to though. She just stuck to her point. “I know, but if we do. Please?”
He nodded. “I promise. If we do, we’ll stay friends.” The thought of going back to being her friend made his stomach churn. He didn’t want that. But the enormity of what he did want from her was only just dawning on him.
Chapter Eighteen
Cassidy closed up the cash register with a grin. She hadn’t had much foot traffic come through the gallery in the winter. She was pleasantly surprised by how many tourists were coming in almost every day now. She was glad that she’d taken the risk and had cards and smaller prints made up from her and Gina’s Montana line. They were selling well. It wasn’t as though they’d add to the bottom line in a big way, but they were samples of their work that were making their way out into the world. She had it in the back of her mind that at some point she and Gina might make a deal with Home Décor—the company who had bought up to the rights to much of the work she’d done in Florida. That deal had taken her from modestly successful, to…well… loaded was the word for it. She had boatloads of money, more than she knew what to do with, more than she even wanted. It had never been a primary motivator for her. However, feeling successful was a big motivator, and she wanted to know that she could repeat the success. Plus, she wanted to share it with Gina. Gina was far from loaded right now, and Cassidy was determined to help her change that situation.
She looked up at the sound of the door. Shane stood there. Damn he was gorgeous. He filled the doorway. His hat almost touching the frame above his head, his broad shoulders blocking the daylight behind him. His eyes shone, and that infuriating smile of his seemed a lot less infuriating today.
“Hey, beautiful. Do you want to come have lunch with me?”
She laughed. “We had breakfast together, we’re going to have dinner together. You want to have lunch, too? Aren’t you worried we’ll get sick of each other?”
He shook his head and came inside. He made his way around the counter and planted a kiss on her lips. “You would think that’d be the case, wouldn’t you? But it’s not. You’re like some addiction. The more time I spend with you, the more I want.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. “Aww, listen to you. I would never have guessed you could be such a sweet talker.”
He gave her a hurt look. “It’s not just talk. It’s true. I would never have guessed I’d be like this either, but I can’t help it. When I’m not around you, I miss you.”
She smiled. She felt the same way. Instead of teasing him, she wanted to let him know. “I miss you, too. I don’t know what you’re doing to me, but, whatever it is, it’s working.” She nestled against his chest, loving the feel of him. She hated to admit it, but snuggled into him like that, she did feel all small and sweet. She smiled up at him. “So take me out to lunch, take me to bed, do whatever you want with me.”
He grinned. “I like the sounds of that, but we don’t have long enough to do what I want. We’ll have to save it until tonight. We’ll have to make do with lunch for now.”
As they joined the line in the coffee shop, Shane grinned at her. “No chocolate mousse for me today?”
She laughed. “I thought I was the sweet something you crave?”
He cupped the back of her neck with his hand. “You are sweet, but also strong and smart. That’s what has me addicted to you. I don’t know why you ever thought I’d feel threatened by that.”
She looked up at him. “You really mean that don’t you?”
He nodded. “I do. And I think most men would feel the same way.”
She had to laugh. “You couldn’t be more wrong about that. You’re just strange.”
He pouted at her. “Here I am telling you that you’re special and different and you tell me I’m just strange.”
“And much as you put it on, it doesn’t bother you at all, does it?”
“Not one bit. I know you love me really.”
She stopped breathing as she looked up at him. “That’s a strong word.”
He grinned at her, but didn’t reply as they reached the head of the line and he ordered their sandwiches.”
Cassidy watched him as he ordered. Did she love him? Would she have asked him to move in with her if she didn’t at least think it was a possibility?
They found a corner table and started to eat in silence. Cassidy thought it best to stay away from the L-word for now. She needed time to think about it.
Shane grinned at her as he picked at his chips. It seemed he wasn’t ready to leave it alone. “What’s up? Did I scare you?”
“Don’t start down that road. That one’s a bit too important to get into a war over.”
“A war?”
“Yes, a bragging war. You’re braver than me, so you’ll tell me first.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want me to tell you?”
Her heart hammered in her chest. Was he about to say he loved her? “Do you want to tell me?”
He shrugged. “Not if you’re not ready to hear it. Not if you think it’s just some game.” He held her gaze for a long moment, then winked. “It isn’t.” He took a big bite of his sandwich.
Cassidy just stared at him. She didn’t know what to say. Love was such a big word. It was an even bigger commitment. Moving in with each other was one thing. Loving each other was a whole different proposition. But now she thought about it….She looked up as someone approached their table. Oh no, it was the girl who kept following Shane around. What was her name? Katie.
She stood next to the table and smiled at them. It was a tight, false smile. “How’ve you been, Shane? I’ve missed you.”
He looked up at her. “I’m good. Thanks, Katie. I hope you are too, but right now I’m having lunch with my girlfriend.” He shot Cassidy an apologetic look.
Katie
looked at her; there wasn’t even the pretense of a smile on her face anymore. “I thought you said you weren’t interested in him?”
“I wasn’t at the time.” She smiled at Shane as he gave her a hurt look.
Katie scowled at her. “It won’t last you know. You don’t know him like I do. He fucks around, you’re just the latest challenge. The novelty will wear off soon enough and he’ll come back to me, he always does.”
Cassidy took a deep breath. She did not want to lose it. Katie wasn’t worth it, but her words grated. “Well, I guess I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts then.” She smiled sweetly. “If you’ll excuse us, we’re eating lunch. Don’t worry, I’ll send him on back to you when I’m done with him.”
Katie glared at her, then at Shane. Then she turned on her heel and stalked out.
Shane looked at her. “You’ll send me back when you’re done with me, huh?”
“Well, it sounds as though you regularly find your way back into her bed.”
He shrugged. “I used to for a while. As you’ve seen, she doesn’t like to take no for an answer.”
Cassidy let out a short laugh. “And poor little Shane is ever so obliging.”
His smile faded. “Don’t, Cassidy. I’m sorry, okay? She’s persistent, but I just want her to leave us alone. I don’t want you sending me away anywhere, and if you do, I sure as hell won’t be going to her bed.”
Cassidy felt bad, she’d snapped at him because she was jealous! That wasn’t his fault. “I’m sorry. It just caught me off guard.” She decided she may as well say it, since Katie’s little appearance had made it very clear for her. “I was just building up to telling you that I love you, so I’m a bit pissed that she spoiled the moment, that’s all.
~ ~ ~
Shane felt his jaw drop, but was powerless to stop it. He stared at her open mouthed for a moment before he could gather his wits. Part of him wanted to come back at her with something witty. All he could do though was reach across the table and take her hand. “I love you, Cassidy.”
For a moment the world around them disappeared. All he knew was this beautiful woman was squeezing his hand, smiling at him, looking happier than he would have believed his words could make her.
