by Norah Wilson
Spiders. How random was that?
“You never know when a category will come up. I bet you if I study a whole bunch of stuff, someday I’ll be as good as Faye and Arden.”
“They’ve been playing a long time.”
“I’m in no hurry.”
April loved to see her enthusiasm, but damn. Looked like she’d have to raise the temporariness of their Harkness stay after all.
“Sidney, don’t get too…comfortable.” She practically cringed at the way that sounded. “Um, what I mean is…we’re only here for a few months.”
“Oh, you never know.”
“Yeah, Sid, I do know. We’re here just until Christmas. Period. End of story.” God, she hated to do this—hated to say this. Don’t like your teacher too much. Don’t love that dog. Don’t expect forever. Scott will not be your dad.
“You know what would be fun?” Sid said, changing the subject. “If we had, like, a way to keep a record of the wins, then had a trophy or a plaque or something! Like at the end of the season.”
April sighed. She’d have to work on this with Sid, but not tonight. Not at bedtime. But there was something else that needed raising. “Honey, Ember won’t be home tonight, so you’ve got the room to yourself.”
“How come?”
“She’s staying with a friend.”
“Cool. Could I leave the closet light on? Do you think Ember would mind?
April smiled. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. But you have to do something for me?”
“What?”
“You’ve got to promise me—no sneaking out.”
The smile dropped from Sid’s face. “I said I was sorry.”
“I don’t doubt it. But Sidney, while I’m out in the barn, getting it decorated for Halloween, I need to know you’re safe in here. Get it—in here.”
She smiled. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll stay put.”
“Thank you.” April bent and kissed Sidney on the forehead. “If there’s anything you need, Arden and Faye will be right downstairs, okay?”
“’Kay.”
“Goodnight, sweetie.”
“’Night, Mom.”
With another quick kiss, April got up. Leaving the closet light on, she left the bedroom, pulling the door closed behind her.
There was something she needed herself…and that was her arms around that man out there in the barn.
Chapter 13
“HAND ME that other staple gun, would you please?” Scott called down. “This one’s not getting the job done. I need the heavier one.”
April complied, grabbing the tool from the work table, reaching up as far as she could while he reached down from his perch on the ladder.
“Thanks. You know you really don’t have to hold onto the ladder, I’ve done this a few times.”
There it was again, the slight jarring vibration as she resumed her place at the base of the extension ladder. One foot on the floor, the other jacked up on the lowest rung.
“Just being cautious,” she said.
“Overcautious.”
“Well, that’s too bad. You’re not going to fall while I’m around.”
Scott grinned as he turned back to his task.
Ka-thunk. The heavier gun worked perfectly.
He’d already gotten a good start on attaching the first set of pumpkin lights when April arrived.
She looked beautiful tonight. She’d walked into the well-lit barn, her cheeks rosy from the cold, a happy smile at the ready. Earlier her hair had been tied back in a ponytail—her norm for when she worked in the kitchen. Now it was down, flowing loosely around her shoulders. She’d put on lipstick too. Or what passed for lipstick for her. More like a barely-tinted gloss, he suspected. But just the fact that she’d put it on…
God, how that aroused him.
He forced his attention back to the job. Having done this before, he knew there were enough lights to go all the way around the perimeter of the barn. When he’d told April that, she’d taken one look at the remaining strands of lights neatly coiled on the floor, glanced around the barn, and said, “I don’t think so.”
Now, half an hour and countless ladder moves later, here they were, working on the last section of the final beam.
Ka-thunk, ka-thunk, ka-thunk, and the last string was tacked. Sweet.
“Okay, so you were right,” she acknowledged. “There was enough to go around with what?—a whole six inches to spare?”
“Hey, six inches is more than enough, or so I’ve been told.”
She snorted at the innuendo. Thank God. He hadn’t meant to say that. Had intended, in fact, to avoid the topic of sex altogether.
“Ready for the extension cord?” she asked.
“Yes, please.”
She retrieved the heavy duty orange cord from the floor and handed it up. He plugged the last string into the cord, then looked down. “Can you step back a little? I want to let the cord down.”
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”
He grinned. “Yeah, my long, orange, indoor/outdoor hair. I always wondered what it’d be like to be a ginger.”
She giggled. The sound made him want to do it again, make her laugh. It wasn’t a side of April Morgan that many people saw. With that laughter on her lips and crinkles around her eyes, she was the most beautiful, most desirable woman on earth.
And off limits for so many reasons.
Damn you, Titus Standish, and you’re sage advice.
Except that really wasn’t fair to his brother. Long before Titus had laid eyes on April, Scott had mentally put her in the off-limits category. He did not want to line up with those guys who’d hurt her. Starting with the asshat who’d abandoned her when she got pregnant at seventeen and ending with those few jerks who’d tried to rush her into bed. It seemed some men—including some of her bosses—thought her single mother status translated into easy. She’d corrected that assumption, and each time, the guy’s interest had evaporated once he realized casual sex was off the table.
No small wonder she’d sworn off dating. He totally got it, the reluctance to have a succession of men rotate in and out of her daughter’s life. And for the most part, he’d managed to leave her alone.
Except when he hadn’t.
But that had to stop. The flirting, the kissing…
She stepped back as requested. “Drop away.”
He released the coiled extension cord. The pronged end and a few feet of cord hit the floor.
Hands free now, he climbed down the ladder. April had picked up the cord and now stood beside the receptacle, poised to plug it in.
“Okay, plug that puppy in and let’s see the big light show.”
“On the count of three—one, two…oh, wait!” She put the cord down, darted over to the light switch, and turned off three of the four overhead lights. “That's better.” She went back and picked up the extension cord again. “Ready?”
He laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”
She plugged the cord in and the strings of small, grinning pumpkins leaped to orange life from the rafters.
“Wow.” She stood up, her luscious lips curving in a delighted smile. “Just…wow.”
“I take it you approve?”
“Very much.”
For reasons he didn’t care to analyze, her pleasure made him feel way happier than it had any right to. “I’m glad.”
“What about the little ones, though?” She dropped her gaze from the lights to his face. “Do they ever get spooked by the lights?”
“We leave the bright overhead lights on for the wee ones who come right after supper. Then as the older kids come and the little ones have gone, we start dimming them.” He moved to his left and hit the dimmer switch. The room’s one remaining light dimmed in response. “Like this.”
“Cool.”
“It’s an every-hour-on-the-hour sort of thing. The kids love it. By the time the teenagers are dancing at the end of the party, its orange lights only.”
“Ah,
the teen dance.”
Her eyes took on a faraway look, as though she might be remembering some dimly lit gymnasium. Instantly, his mind supplied a picture of a younger April with some guy’s arms around her, slow dancing to Aerosmith’s I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing. The guy’s hand sliding down her back to rest on the top of her buttocks…
“How long does it go?”
He blinked. “Sorry, what?”
“The dance. How long does it go on?”
“About an hour,” he said. “Everything wraps up with the last waltz.”
“With the overhead lights off?”
“Yup.”
“Turn them off now so I can see the effect.”
He hit the switch to kill the last overhead light.
“Wow,” April breathed. “You guys must have been the most popular family in the region. Safe fun for all age levels.” She tilted her head. “I’m guessing everyone knew enough to behave?”
He brought the lights back up to their lowest setting. “You bet they did. No one under the influence permitted. No exceptions.”
“Anyone ever try to defy that rule?”
“Once in a while. Most notably, Terry Picard.” His gut tightened at the thought of that jerk. How he’d tried to get his hands on their land. Their homestead.
“Picard? Any relation to Ember’s boyfriend, Jace?”
“Brother. Stepbrother, actually. But Jace is nothing like Terry, thank God.”
“So what did he do? This Terry guy?”
“You know Ember and Jace were high school sweethearts, right?”
April nodded. “So you told me.”
“They’d just started going out. Grade ten, I think. Jace was fine. He knew the rules about no alcohol, and I don’t think he was much of a drinker anyway. Couldn’t have been if he was dating Ember. Anyway, this particular Halloween, Terry decided he would crash the party. Made a total ass of himself. Honestly, I think he was always jealous of Ember dating Jace. Couldn’t stand the fact that the most beautiful girl in town didn’t have the time of day for him.” He let his gaze linger on April’s face, those intelligent brown eyes, those full, kissable lips glistening with that touch of lip gloss. “Well, she used to be the prettiest girl in the region.”
“Used to be?”
“Yeah. Until you came to town.”
Her gaze flew to meet his, desire leaping to instant life in her eyes.
Dammit, there he went again. He wasn’t supposed to be stirring things up with her. He needed to pull back, right damned now.
Her lips parted on a sigh. Suddenly, she was closer. A lot closer. She put her hand on his chest, no doubt feeling the hard pounding of his heart.
He closed his hand over hers, intending to remove it. Intending to step back.
But then she spoke. “Scott…”
The way she said his name, as though it were something wondrous, sent a tidal wave of yearning through him. His puny resistance evaporated like a puff of vapor.
Releasing her hand, he pulled her into his arms and captured her mouth.
Her lips were full and lush beneath his and tasted faintly of vanilla. And when her arms went around his neck, he pulled her even closer. She pressed herself eagerly against him, her breasts soft against his chest, her hands clutching at his shoulders.
He kissed her until he was drunk on her taste, her smell, the warm solidity of her body. He kissed her until she sagged weakly against him. Only then did he release her mouth. Reddened and swollen from his kisses, her lips looked lusher than ever.
Then those lips started moving.
“Make love to me, Scott.”
Chapter 14
ONE MINUTE she was in his arms and the next she was standing there by herself. He couldn’t have backed away any faster if she said she had the plague.
“Scott?”
He ran a hand over the back of his neck. “We can’t have sex.”
“Why not?”
“It wouldn’t be…prudent.”
Prudent?
“Scott Standish, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you’d been talking to Titus.” No disrespect to Scott’s older brother, but even in the short while she’d been there, she could see he was a bit of a stiff. Not even Ocean—who was madly in love with the guy—would deny that he was a stickler for rules. The kind of guy who’d use the word prudent. “Is this because I’m working for you?”
“Of course not!”
She crossed her arms in front of her. “Really?”
He hesitated. “Okay, yes, it is because I’m your employer. But only partly. Mostly it’s because I’d be bad for you April.”
“Why?”
“You know why. I can’t seem to stay in one place for long.” He shrugged. “I just can’t seem to do…close.”
In that moment, she felt his pain. If things could be different—if he could be different—he would. She put a finger to his lips “Don’t say another word. I’m not trying to pin you down, Scott.”
“Never thought you were. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know. I just…” She combed her hair back with her fingers, buying time. How could she couch this delicately? Or at least so he’d understand. “I’ve never wanted any man like I’ve wanted you. You know that, right?”
His eyes darkened. “April…”
“I don’t know when or if I’ll ever want a man again the way I want you.”
“And if I was a different man, I’d grab you up so quick.” The anguish in his words tore at her heart. “You are the most amazing woman, and you know I adore Sid. But—”
“That’s not what I’m asking for, Scott. This time here in Harkness, it’s like a little bubble for me and Sid, between where we came from and where we’re going. Soon enough, we’ll be off to the new job. A new life. Once we leave after Christmas, we won’t see you again.”
“April. I’m—”
“Hear me out.” She held up a hand to stop him. “I look back, and I see years and years of celibacy. I look forward and see more of the same, until Sidney is older, and until I’m better established financially. And I’ve never minded. Well, not much. Not until you.”
“I’m not a good choice, April. I…I’m not good for anyone.”
“Ah, but you’re the one I want.” She gave him a gentle smile. “Chemistry like this is such a rarity, at least for me, and I think for you too.”
“You’re right about the attraction,” he said, his voice gruff. “I swear, there are times I want to kiss you more than I want to breathe.”
Desire flared in her eyes. “And that’s why we’ve never been able to stop this back-and-forth dance, no matter how many times we tried.” She tilted her head. “What do you say? Don’t you want to finish the dance?”
“God, yes! But—”
“I know.” She stepped closer, put a hand on his chest. “I know you’re not going to stay. Not here, not anywhere. Well, guess what? I’m not staying either. But I’m hoping that when I drive away, I’m going to have some memories that are mine alone.”
“What about Sid? Isn’t it…dangerous?”
“Believe me, I’ve thought about that. But I think that ship has already sailed. No matter what happens or doesn’t happen between you and me, leaving here—driving away from you, your family, Axl—is going to be desperately hard for Sid. I knew that when I agreed to take the job.”
“You’re right.” His brows drew together in a frown. “I didn’t really think about that before I strong-armed you into staying.”
“Nobody strong-armed me,” she said quickly. “The decision was mine. And I made it because even though leaving will hurt, I have to believe this time in Harkness is going to be good for her. Lord knows something had to change. For God’s sake, Scott, she ran away from home. Ran away from me. Sid and I obviously have to work on our relationship, and this is a great environment to do that.”
He took her hand from where it rested on his chest, running the pad of his thumb over her knuckles. Just tha
t small contact sent sparklers of excitement zinging through her.
“If we do this, Sid can’t know about it.”
Yes! He was going to accept her proposal. She knew it. “Agreed,” she said. “It would just set up unrealistic expectations. You know Sidney. She still believes in magic, believes that wishes come true if only you wish hard enough.”
“And you? What do you believe?”
“I believe wishes are a luxury grownups can’t afford.”
“Maybe you’re not wishing right.”
She smiled up at him. “You know what I wish, Scott Standish?” She moved closer. “I wish you’d stop talking and kiss me.”
Desire blazed from his eyes, but he grasped her arms to keep her from closing the distance between them. “This…us. This physical relationship. I don’t want you to think…”
“That you’re coercing your new employee? Trading on sexual favors?” She smiled, noting the way his gaze dropped to her lips. “I’ll say it again: this isn’t part of the deal. It’s completely outside the working relationship. It’s just…us, here.”
The hands that held her at bay suddenly yanked her against him. His kiss was hard and demanding and positively thrilling. Hooking her fingers in his belt loops, she urged him closer, exulting in the growing swell of his erection.
He lifted his head. “God, I can’t believe we’re doing this. I’ve wanted you so long.”
Her answer was to pull his face back down and kiss him as fiercely as he’d just kissed her.
Then he was backing her up. She went with it, letting his hands on her hips guide her. Was he thinking about the sideboard? The one he’d deposited her on that first day? Would he lift her up there, strip her pants off and spread her legs… Her insides went liquid with need.
Then she felt something hard against her butt and shoulders. Something that definitely was not the sideboard. She broke the kiss to see that he’d backed her up against the ladder to what used to be a hayloft. Of course! That’s where he often slept, even when no one was occupying his bedroom in the house. To be closer to the stars, he’d said, but she knew it was to escape the claustrophobia of being there in Harkness.
