by A. M. Mahler
“So, is he why you and Jackie took shooting lessons?”
“Yeah,” Ryan nodded. “I didn’t know what the guy was capable of, but I knew he really rubbed me the wrong way after that. Something in him just snapped. Obviously, we weren’t allowed to have the guns on campus, but our rooms weren’t searched. I had them locked up right, and I was able to smuggle them in and out. That’s the perk of going to a school for rich kids, right? No metal detectors.”
“But you reconnected with him recently?”
“Yeah, he came to see us in New York, but you could cut the tension with a knife. There was nothing there anymore. Thankfully, Jackie was so busy she didn’t have time for more than a quick drink with us. Her apartment building there was pretty tight on security, so I didn’t have to worry about him getting in, and she always took cabs to and from work. She doesn’t like crowds, so she was never comfortable walking around. Quite frankly, I’m surprised she lasted there as long as she did.”
The conversation broke off when they heard the back door open and Jackie returning from the hospital. She went immediately into the kitchen, which wasn’t her usual routine. Typically, she went upstairs to shower and change first.
“Jacks?” Danny called.
“Yeah, I’ll be in in a minute,” she called.
“You’re home later than usual,” Danny said, moving to the kitchen doorway.
“Did I worry you?” She moved over to the sink and turned the light above it on.
“Not too much,” he shrugged. “Are you hungry?”
“I had a sandwich at the hospital. Did you eat?”
“Not yet, but I’ll put something together for us.”
“Ryan made it up okay?”
“He’s in the living room.”
“I just have to fix this,” she said. She pulled up the sleeve of her shirt and winced as she took a look at her forearm.
“What the hell happened to you?” Danny demanded, immediately moving to her and holding her arm out under the light.
Ryan appeared in the doorway shortly after Danny’s exclamation.
“It’s those stupid chickens,” Jackie sighed.
“Chickens? These are chicken bites?”
“I think they’re more like pecks. I don’t think they liked the ride over here.”
Danny took a deep breath and counted to ten. He wasn’t going to ask…he wasn’t going to ask…he wasn’t…
“Aw, fuck it, I’ll bite. What do you mean, they didn’t like the ride over here?”
“They’re out in my car.” She scrubbed the little wounds out with soap and water and gently patted them dry. They’d be okay soon, but right now they stung like crazy.
“You have chickens in an Aston Martin? How many?”
“Five.”
“What the—”
“Not everyone can afford to pay the doctor,” she explained. “This is a poor, agricultural town. Tonight, I got paid in chickens. Another patient is coming by tomorrow to build the coop.”
“This ain’t a fucking farm, Jacks!” Danny took a step back.
“Well, it was, actually. It’s got two barns,” Ryan put in.
Danny shot him a glare indicating he was neither needed nor wanted in this conversation.
Then he turned back to Jackie. He blew out a breath and ran a hand down his face. “So, someone’s building a coop? How are they going to keep the bears out?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure he knows what to do for that. At least, I hope so. Can you open the barn doors? I’m going to drive my car in and try to shoo them out. They can stay in the barn tonight. They should be all right there.”
“You go take a shower and cover those bites. Your brother and I will take care of getting the chickens out of the car.”
She rose up on her toes and kissed him quick on the lips, and his blood immediately began to boil.
“Here you go, Ry!” Jackie tossed her brother the keys. “You always said you wanted to drive my car.”
She scurried out of the kitchen and upstairs on Ryan’s oath.
He glared at Danny and shook his head. “Little sisters are fucking annoying sometimes,” he grumbled as they made their way out the back door.
DANNY CLIMBED INTO bed and immediately drew Jackie into his arms. She snuggled down into his chest and sighed. This was her favorite part of the day: coming home to him after being on her feet so long. Crawling into the shelter of his arms was better than she’d ever imagined. Doctors lived long hours and seldom had downtime. But small-town doctoring was different. She could afford moments like this. The rush of the city ER was gone. She had been called out of bed here a time or two, but it was a rarity.
Danny began to trickle kisses down her neck and along her collarbone. She tipped her head back in response. Then she sighed, realizing that for the first time in a long time, she was absolutely content with her life. She had the man she loved back, and they were beginning to build a life together.
His hand slid underneath the hem of her shirt and he lightly ran his hands over her stomach. She shifted her position and began to kiss the side of his neck, heading for the sensitive spot behind his ear. Before she knew it, her shirt was gone. In her rational mind, she might have remembered that she hadn’t yet cleared Danny for sex, but in that moment, she didn’t think of it. She couldn’t find a single reason to stop him.
She groaned as he kissed the swell of her breasts and every inch around them. She gasped as he took one peak into his mouth and sucked gently. Her nipples seemed directly connected to her very center, and everything in her body started tingling. She wasn’t even conscious of her hands coming up and clasping his head, holding him there with a moan.
She felt the heat begin to rise around and within her—a pleasant, gentle rise in temperature—warming her slowly like an oven. The lower Danny went, the warmer she glowed. He pressed a soft kiss on the inside of each of her thighs and her breathing began to speed up even more. She thought she would explode with the first flick of his tongue. Her fingers dug into the sheets and she chanted his name over and over. Her vision blurred as the orgasm hit her so hard she thought she might go temporarily blind.
She smiled as she drifted in that wonderful place between sex and slumber.
Not remotely finished, Danny continued to kiss, nip and lick his way back up her body, stopping to spend time with each of her breasts. When he was above her again, his fingers fanned out to push the hair from her face. His lips moved along her jaw to her lips, murmuring all the while.
Whatever he was saying sounded beautiful. She felt beautiful. And cherished.
How had she gotten so lucky? How could this beautiful man be meant for her? It never seemed real, and yet each day she woke up, he was still there.
“Home,” he whispered.
She turned her head and met his eyes as he pushed inside her.
Her legs locked around his waist as she took him as deep as she could. She surrounded him and held tight as he started to move inside her. Over and over, she felt his thrusts as her heart beat right along with them.
The burn started slowly, deep inside, and rolled its way out, picking up speed until it spun out of control. Her eyes slammed shut, her fingers dug into his shoulders, and she screamed his name. But he didn’t stop. He was not finished taking, so she wasn’t finished giving.
They rolled over and she sat up with a gasp. She moved to hold onto the headboard, but he grabbed her hands instead. She pushed against him and rode the fury out.
She could feel the tension in him building, too. She was drawn to it and couldn’t turn away. When he sat up, she linked her arms and legs behind him and rode on. She dropped her face to his shoulder as another orgasm spun its way out.
He fell back onto the bed and she sat frozen where she was as the energy slowly seeped out of her. Her head was thrown back and her eyes were closed. She let the sensations trickle through her body. And when they finally simmered down, she could feel him inside her yet again.
&nbs
p; SHE WAS THE most beautiful thing Danny had ever seen. Even more lovely than the day they’d met. He watched as she sat above him, steeped in her own release. Her skin glowed, her breasts heaved, and she was even more breathtaking than all the fantasies he’d had about her.
He hadn’t thought she would be so uninhibited, but he loved it. He watched as her head fell forward and she opened her eyes. Her lids were heavy and her lips were swollen. Her skin seemed to glow, and her eyes were filled with love.
“Look at you,” he whispered. He reached up and pulled her down to his chest, nuzzling her neck. “God, I love you. I never stopped.”
She lifted her head to look at him and he brushed away the tears from her eyes with his thumbs.
“You’re not actually surprised, are you? After all this time, and these last few months together?”
“No,” Jackie shook her head. “It’s just nice to actually hear the words. I love you, too.”
“I know,” he smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Sixteen
RYAN SPREAD THE blueprints out on the table and studied them. The barn renovation was going to be quite costly. It would have been cheaper to bulldoze it down and start fresh, but he knew it would break Jackie’s heart. She loved the charm of the old farm. The size would work to his benefit, though. He’d have plenty of room for multiple cars and all his equipment.
The plans showed a second floor with office space, conference rooms, and classrooms. He’d need to figure out parking. He had some employees, and most of them were willing to relocate. He could move the parking closer to his house, though, so Jackie wouldn’t be put out. He didn’t want to disturb the farm land in case she decided to use it.
He spread the plans for his house out and studied them. The design didn’t sit right with him for some reason. It was farmhouse-style with three bedrooms upstairs, an office downstairs, and a wraparound porch. It seemed charming enough and fit the feel of the town, but he didn’t know if it was him.
The only house he’d ever lived in was his father’s, which was a sprawling mass of a bachelor pad in upstate New York. It fit his dad, but there weren’t really any qualities about it that Ryan would put into his own house. After he’d graduated college, he’d always lived in apartments. This was the first time he’d thought about a house.
What did one guy need three bedrooms for? He never really had sleepover guests except his dad and the occasional college buddy. Certainly not women. So, shouldn’t two bedrooms and an office suffice? Jackie used a spare bedroom for a gym, but he imagined she’d repurpose it when she and Danny had kids. They were obviously headed for marriage, and his sister had always said that she’d wanted kids.
Ryan stopped and frowned at the blueprints. Maybe that was his problem. A house—a home—was a long-term investment. While he’d never given much thought to getting married and starting a family, he had always assumed that he would at some point. Wouldn’t his future wife want a say in their house? What kinds of things did wives want in their houses? Four bedrooms meant three kids, or they’d have to double up.
Wait a minute.
He was thinking of having more than three kids?
He was thinking of—planning for—kids?
He needed a drink. He didn’t even know he was getting married.
He walked into the kitchen to retrieve a beer, then headed back to the dining room table. He stood before the plans and looked at them, but he didn’t really see them.
He couldn’t plan a house for a family without a partner. He needed someone to make that family with first.
On the other hand, he couldn’t live with Jackie indefinitely, either. He was pretty sure her relationship with Danny had moved into a more intimate realm last night, and there was only so long he could live in the same house his sister was having sex in. His body gave an involuntary shudder as the doorbell rang.
Jackie was still at the hospital and Danny was out back starting the grill and setting up the patio furniture, so Ryan moved to open the door. He swung it open and froze.
There was Sophie. Sweet Lord, he’d forgot she was coming over tonight.
She stood on the front porch looking just as wide-eyed as he probably did. Her curls fell around her face and down her back. She wore a form-fitting, pink V-neck T-shirt, short cutoff jeans shorts, and flip-flops. Her toes were painted cotton-candy pink to match her shirt. She looked so utterly feminine and beautiful that he lost all coherent thought.
Had it really been twelve years since he’d last seen her? He felt his stomach turn over and his breathing grow slightly heavier. So, she still had that effect on him. If she only knew how much he’d wanted her back then…
“Your hair’s darker,” she said.
He continued to stare at her.
“Ryan?”
He couldn’t move from the spot he was in; he just drank her in.
Had she always smelled like lavender?
“Who’s that at the door?” Danny called, coming in from the back of the house.
Still, Ryan didn’t move.
“Oh, hey, Soph!” Danny stopped next to Ryan and smiled at Sophie.
She returned his smile. God, Ryan loved her smile. It was always so friendly, warm, and welcoming. When Sophie smiled at you, you just knew everything was going to be okay.
“Dude,” Danny nudged him. “Are you okay?”
“What?” Ryan shook his head and finally processed the situation. “Sophie! Yes! You look amazing. God, has it really been twelve years?”
He stepped back to let her inside the house and she handed Danny a bottle of wine she was carrying.
“It’s a great steak wine,” she told him.
Danny grunted and turned toward the kitchen.
Sophie turned back to Ryan and smiled. “You look really great. I remember your hair being a lighter blond. It’s almost brown now.”
“Yeah,” he said, running his hand over his head. “It’s gotten darker with age, I guess. I’m not out in the sun as much as I used to be.”
He stepped back a little further as she looked around the house. He took advantage of her distraction to continue to look at her without her noticing. He had always found her pretty, but she had really blossomed into a beautiful woman.
“Oh, are these the plans for the house you’re building?” she asked, moving to the table with the blueprints.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m not really sure what I think.”
“A white farmhouse-style with black shutters,” she noted. “Well, that’ll fit, I suppose. If I could build a house, I’d go for mountain chic. One of those bigger houses that mix stone and wood, with that nice dark green paint for the siding. Something that really blends in with its environment. A wooden front door, a three-car garage, cathedral ceilings inside—kind of like this house—and a timber-framed interior. Wow! Listen to me go on. I’ve got all my money sunk into my business right now, so I doubt I’ll see anything bigger than the little two-bedroom rental I’ve got for quite some time.”
Not if I can help it, he thought to himself.
Whoa! Where had that come from?
But as he listened to her describe her dream home in that wistful tone, with just a hint of her Southern drawl left, he found himself wanting to live in that house, in that dream, with her.
Suddenly, he knew exactly what he wanted.
After a few minutes, Danny came back in carrying a glass of wine for Sophie and two beers. He handed one to Ryan and motioned them to follow him out back. The patio was set up with a sitting area under a gazebo on one side. An eating area and large grilling station on the other end looked like it came right out of Outside Magazine.
“Oh, I’d have this in my backyard, too!” Sophie sighed, as she sat down on the couch and sipped her wine.
“Cat got your tongue?” Danny asked quietly, next to him.
“Hmm?”
“What the hell’s the matter with you? You’re acting star struck or something. Since when don’t you know how t
o talk to a woman?”
“I’m fine,” Ryan glowered at him.
“Or maybe you just don’t know how to talk to this woman?”
“Fuck off, McKenzie.”
“Doc’s running late,” Danny announced. “We’re supposed to start without her, but I’m not going to. Anyone need a snack?”
“You called her ‘Doc.’” Sophie smiled. “Isn’t that sweet? Still smitten after all these years apart. How’d you make out at the police station, by the way?”
“Somehow, I agreed to take over for the retiring Chief Millhouse. I’m not quite sure how it all came about, but it looks like I’ll be giving small-town police work a try after all.”
“Is there even any crime around here?” Ryan asked. “Or will you have to get a lot of kittens out of trees?”
“There’s some,” Danny shrugged. “I came up here knowing it was life in the slow lane. All part of the package, I suppose.”
Ryan couldn’t agree more. He’d been pretty blasé about the move before Jackie had left the city. He didn’t have any real friends in New York. He didn’t have a woman. So, why not move his operation?
He hadn’t even known that Sophie lived here. But he’d bet money that Jackie knew it and hadn’t said anything to him. He wondered why. An old classmate living in the same town would be noteworthy to him. He’d have certainly have told her if he found out before she did.
He’d been planning on taking his time with the move, but now that he was sitting here with Sophie, the very last thing he wanted to do was go back to New York.
