by Liz Crowe
She stayed awake all night wrapped in blankets and dogs, keeping a vigil on the side porch. But he didn’t emerge and in the morning he showed up ready to work, looking completely wrung out. They didn’t discuss it all day long, but at four o’clock, she walked out to where he’d just finished with the building inspection, tapped his shoulder and held out her phone.
“It’s him.” She handed over the device and walked away before she lost her nerve, leaving Dominic standing there, slack-jawed, with the tinny sound of Kent Lowery’s voice still ringing in her ears.
Chapter Eighteen
A week later, a solid three-and-a-half after their original scheduled opening, Diana woke at her usual 5 a.m. and came downstairs to find Jen sitting the kitchen, drinking coffee.
“What’re you doing here so early?” She reached for a mug, but Jen grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug.
“You did it! We did it, I mean. Come and see.”
Her sister shoved Diana out the door and toward what used to be their family’s barn. The past three weeks of inspections and finalizing idiotic details like switch plate colors had turned her into a raving bitch on wheels. She knew it. But the loans she and Jen had taken out to do this thing wouldn’t allow her to feel anything but a lowlying, ongoing, daily panic. Even though she’d let Dale convince her they owed it to themselves and to their parents’ slightly soiled legacy to have their own party venue that matched the top quality of their food and, now, their funky, fermented teas.
She took a long breath and opened her eyes. From the outside, the place looked more or less the same, spruced up with a fresh coat of red paint. But when she walked into what once served as the paddock and shoved open the huge door, she knew they’d made the right call.
“Surprise!” The sound of hundreds of tiny explosions brought a shriek of surprise to her lips, while tiny confetti fluttered in front of her, giving the whole scene the air of a New Year’s Eve party. The newly-hired staff were all in a line, wearing their Brantley Farms-branded red-and-white checked shirts and light blue jeans. The construction crew, with Dominic in front of them, was behind the staff, opening bottles of champagne. She took in the long tables, the huge new windows, the steps up to the smaller room that used to be the haymow, all of it.
Jen squeezed her shoulders. “You did this, you crazy bitch,” she said. “I never thought you’d make it happen.”
“We did it, Jen.” Diana swiped at her eyes and met Jen’s equally emotional gaze.
“All right, cut the waterworks. Jesus, you’ll have everybody crying. Here.” Dom shoved sloshing-over glasses at them and held his up. “To the Brantley sisters. I always did know you gals were something special.”
Diana tried to frown at him. Jen laughed and they all clinked. All six bottles were gone inside an hour. Once she sent the staff home with the two who’d agreed not to drink, telling them she’d see them tomorrow for their first big event—a bridal tea for fifty—she froze in the middle of the space she’d always felt the most comfortable in her entire life. Taking a deep breath, she caught the scents she remembered, lingering underneath the drywall, paint, varnish and sawdust.
When Dominic dropped his arm over her shoulders she hugged him, gripping his shirt. He held onto her, doing nothing more than soothing by his presence.
“So, um, I’m meeting him tomorrow,” he whispered. She held on tighter. “At my parents’ house.”
“I know. Your Mama told me.”
“I owe it to you.” He shook his head. “Don’t know whether to thank you or smack you, but…I’m shittin’ bricks-scared, I won’t kid you.”
“Over what? Meeting your son? Or seeing Kent again.” She felt him tense, so on ages-old reflex, she kissed him softly, with nothing more behind it than the urge to comfort.
He smiled at her. “Both, I guess.”
At the sound of the barn door sliding open and her fiancé’s voice, she cursed and jumped away from Dominic.
“Hey, honey…uh, I mean….” Lee stood there in dark jeans, cowboy boots and a crinkly dress shirt, holding the biggest bouquet of flowers she’d ever seen. He blinked at her, then at Dom, his expression unhappier by the second. She took another step away, horrified. “Sorry to interrupt.” Lee put the bouquet on the nearest table and walked back out the door.
“Wait, Lee!” she called, but her feet wouldn’t move.
“I’ve got this.” Dom ran out the door into the morning sunlight. She bit her lip, listened for the sounds of voices, heard them, then the distinct sound of flesh striking flesh. That unfroze her. By the time she got to him, Lee was staring down at the ground. She grabbed his arm as he hauled back to punch Dominic again.
“Stop.”
He whirled to face her. “Sounds like I should be saying that to you.” His words cut through her fog.
“If either of you honestly think I’m the kind of woman who wants to see two grown men fighting over her like cavemen, you’re both idiots.”
Dominic struggled to his feet and tried to lunge for Lee, but she held her ground between them, arms outstretched.
“I mean I knew you were a fool, Dominic. But you.” She turned to her fiancé, her heart pounding so fast it scared her. “You I had figured for the one grown-up in this bunch.”
Lee dropped his arms to his sides. “I’m over this, Diana.” His voice dipped low. “I put up with it for as a long as I could. I left you here, with him, for nearly four months, figuring I could trust you. I see now I was wrong about that.”
“What did he tell you?” She glared at Dom, who had his palm over his jaw.
“God, do you think I’m blind? Or maybe just stupid?” Lee moved her aside. But instead of pounding Dom again, he opened his truck door.
“You’ve got quite a punch,” Dom muttered.
“How do you think I tranquilize horses?” Lee sat gripping the steering wheel. Diana stepped to his open window. “I’m gonna go now. I have to think…about stuff. Get off the door, Diana.”
She stepped away, gripping her elbows, watching as he sprayed some of the newly poured driveway pebbles as he made his exit. Dom put an arm around her.
“We sure are good at fucking things up, aren’t we, Lady Di?”
“Go to hell.” She stomped into the barn to clean up the mess. “Oh wait, right, you’re already there. I forgot. Do me a favor and stop dragging me into it with you.”
He gave her a half-smile and they worked side by side for an hour, tidying up and readying the place for its debut event. Afterward they sat on the side porch in companionable silence, drinking coffee.
She bumped his shoulder. “Do you want me to be there tomorrow?”
“Yes, actually, I do.”
“All right. But I’m going to Lee’s now. I have to make it right with him if it’s not too late.” She twisted the ring on her finger, realizing she may very well have shed her Dominic addiction. The memory of Lee driving away, furious at her for catching them in nothing more than an innocent hug had clinched it for her. “I’m over you, I think.”
He kept his gaze out over the lawn. “Lucky you. I’m gonna go mow the grass.” He rose and pulled her up. “Go on, make things good with the horse whisperer. He’s probably better in bed than me anyway.”
She punched his shoulder. “Maybe he is.”
He winced. “Was doing a little compliment fishing there, hon. Ya missed your cue.”
“No, I didn’t. Go mow the grass. I’ll see you at your parents’ tomorrow.” She pushed open the screen door, anxious to be with Lee and so grateful for that fact she wanted to weep. Before getting into her truck, she glanced over her shoulder and spotted Dominic in the doorway, shoulders slumped. Instead of reverting to her own type, she got in the truck and drove away from him, toward her future.
Lee lived in a huge log cabin nearly forty miles west of town, closer to Louisville than Lexington. He had eight acres with a small lake, and twenty more behind the house and barns. He’d sold his thriving small animal prac
tice ten years ago and gone with his original love—farm animals, specializing in horses, and served as a consulting vet to the Kentucky Horse Park, Keeneland, and Churchill Downs. His reputation with horses had netted him several trips out west to huge ranches, and to the Santa Anita track.
Heart pounding, she pulled up his long, tree-lined drive, smiling at his rambunctious pack of mutts racing out to meet her car. She craned her neck, hoping to spot him on the long front porch waiting for her. The place seemed deserted, but his truck was parked in the garage. He’d forgotten to close the door. As she climbed out, she practiced a few explanations and apologies under her breath.
“Hey, hey, calm down.” She patted the swarming mass of canines. “Where’s Lee?” she asked, as she walked toward the house. The dogs broke from her and ran toward the barn. She followed them, and spotted Lee grooming his horse in the first barn stall.
They’d met under similar circumstances. She’d desperately needed to get his opinion on Pepper, who’d been acting up, gnawing on fence rows and flat out jumping over them to escape several times. His answering service indicated he only took new clients by referral, which had pissed her off. Who did he think he was? Freaking Sigmund Freud? So busy he couldn’t be bothered by problems regular people had with their animals versus the fancy animals at the track?
So she’d driven out to him, Pepper in the trailer, determined to at least get a diagnosis or a referral to someone slightly less important. “I’ll pay you,” she’d insisted, trying not to stare at his striking face after sneaking up on him and finding him here, grooming the huge black saddle bred.
“That’s okay,” he’d insisted, taking Pepper’s lead and setting him loose inside the huge paddock. “Let’s go get some lemonade.”
She’d been shocked. “I’m, uh, here for my horse.”
“I know, but he should acclimate. Besides, it’s not every day a beautiful woman drives up to my barn without an appointment to demand I diagnose her animal. C’mon, I make it from scratch.”
She smiled, reliving their first date the very next weekend, which had resulted in some pretty amazing sex. After shocking her with his age—forty-six, although he could easily pass for thirty-two—he’d plied her with expensive wine and seduced her in a slow, easygoing, utterly perfect way, right on the soft rug in front of his giant fireplace. The memory made her squeeze her eyes shut a split second, as real terror at the thought of losing him coated her nerve endings.
He stood, running his palms across the animal’s glistening coat.
“You’re gonna brush him bald you know.”
He didn’t acknowledge that she’d spoken.
She leaned against the doorjamb, admiring his butt, the spread of his shoulders, and wondering why she ever took him for granted even for a second, much less how she’d acted for the past months. After he checked all four hooves and gave the horse a final whack on the flank, he faced her.
“You can leave the ring inside.”
She started toward him. He took a corresponding three steps away from her. “I can’t do this anymore,” he insisted, picking up the bucket he’d been sitting on and heading farther into the darkened barn.
“I know. I’m…I won’t…I’ll make him leave.”
“It’s more than that, Diana.”
“No, actually, Lee, it’s not. It’s exactly that—it’s Dominic. But I’m done with him, I swear it.” Her temples pounded and her legs shook with anxiety. “Please, honey, I love you.”
He stepped out from a stall and glared at her through the gloom. She started to move closer but he stiff-armed her. “No, don’t. Just give me some space right now.”
She took a ragged breath. “I don’t want to give you space. I want to go inside, make love, fall asleep in your arms, wake up, have sex then eat dinner together. Then I want to stay here all night.”
“Well, I guess you’ll have to make other plans. I’m going inside. You should leave.”
“But….” She touched his arm, terrified she’d ruined something that had such potential for her future. She kept her grip on his biceps, sensing every bit of his tension through her fingertips. When he met her eyes, his gaze was midnight-dark with fury. She flinched, suddenly wary and unsure. He’d never looked at her like this, not that she didn’t deserve it. But this was what she wanted and she would not leave here without some kind of resolution.
“Oh,” she gasped when he yanked her to him, holding both her arms tight. She didn’t move, squirm or protest. He hovered over her, his lips pressed together. When he finally did speak, it came out a low, throaty growl and sent a shock of desire from her head to her toes.
“You’re mine, goddamn it. As much as you don’t want to be, you bloody well are.”
She closed her eyes, willing him to kiss her. “Open your eyes, Diana.” He walked her backward, shoving her none to gently up against the barn wall. She sucked in a breath when he pressed against her, releasing her ponytail and burying his fingers in her hair. “Mine,” he whispered before he forced her lips open with his and shoved his hand under her shirt.
She met him halfway, practically faint with relief. His mouth left hers and he grabbed her wrists, pinning them over her head, keeping his body pressed close, the only sound the loud rip of shirt and bra fabric.
He reached down to shove her jeans down and off, and unzipped his without a word. When he kissed her again, he grabbed one of her legs, hiked it up to his waist and shoved into her without preamble. But it didn’t matter. She was more than ready for him. She grabbed his ass and met every thrust of his with her own, eager and breathless, desperate and relieved.
“Yes,” she hissed in his ear, tasting his sweat and feeling every inch of him possessing her as he shoved harder and faster. Desperate to prove something, she let go of his ass and grabbed one of his arms he had propped on the wall beside her head, hanging on so she could shift her hips and take him deeper.
“Goddamn it.” He groaned. “You feel so…good.” His breathing came in short gasps as his thrusts took on a familiar urgency. She held on tight, clenching her muscles, getting the friction she required thanks to the angle.
“Diana,” he gasped, sweat beading on his forehead. “Diana…I…oh, God….” He groaned low and long, as she held onto him, determined not to cry anymore and ruin the moment.
They stayed connected, her hanging onto him with arms and legs up against the barn wall until they calmed. He kissed her softly and withdrew, holding her up until she got her feet under her. A horse whinnied and stomped its foot.
“Sorry, dude. Nature called.” He zipped up, but his expression stayed flat, scaring her. Then he shook his head. “I can’t not love you, you wanton witch.” He held out what remained of her shirt and bra. “Sorry. Ruined this one.”
“It’s all right.” She tossed them onto a stack of hay bales before tugging her jeans back up. “I’m not gonna need it.” She stood, naked from the waist up, delighting in the way he drank her in from head to toe. Then she went up on her tiptoes and put her palm against his rough jaw, feeling him tense, then relax at her touch. “I am yours Leland Tolliver the Third. Now take me inside and show me how bad you can be.”
His eyes twinkled. “Oh, I’m pretty bad when I wanna be, I assure you.”
“I know, baby. My butt has barn-wall burn.”
He brushed the tops of her breasts before kissing each of her exposed nipples. She shivered, wanting him all over again. “No more Dominic, right, Diana?” He thumbed her chin so she met his gaze. “I’m not putting up with that cocky son of a bitch sniffing around my woman anymore. Got it?”
She nodded, and despite all her efforts to the contrary, tears spilled down her cheeks. He kissed them away, moving his lips down her neck to her shoulders, ending at her bare boobs.
“Mmm….No more Dominic. I swear it.”
He picked her up and carried her into the house. Laying her down on his bed, he kissed every inch of her, sending her into orgasm-land in his perfect, so very Lee-lik
e way it made her wish she could stay here, in his bed, forgetting all that awaited her outside these four walls forever.
He rolled over and she propped up on her elbow, running her fingers across his slim, firm torso, loving every centimeter of him. “Get up here,” he whispered. “I wanna come, but I… I want to be inside you.”
She straddled him, letting her hair curtain them, her lips touching his as he angled up, bringing exhalations of pleasure from them both. She moved slowly, arching so he could suck her nipples. Digging his fingers into her ass, he let her take her pleasure again, then yanked her closer, his lips hovering near hers.
Shifting her hips, giving him the movement he required until he cried out and shivered all over, she loved him so much Diana honestly believed she might explode from it. He caught his breath and blinked up at the ceiling.
“Damn. I didn’t think I had a second one in me anymore, old dude like myself.” He yanked her down and kissed her, latching his leg across hers and rolling so he loomed over her, loving her with his lips and softly muttered words.
“Oh, I’ve been known to have that affect on men.” She buried her nose in his damp chest. “Don’t ever leave me, okay?”
“It’s gonna take a lot more than a punky, confused, old high school flame to make me do that. However, I am now officially faint from hunger. I hear my future wife is a hell of a chef. Wonder what she can rustle up in my humble kitchen?”
She giggled and shifted out from under him, headed for the bathroom to clean up, smiling at the concept of his humble, seventy-thousand dollar kitchen with its miles of rare granite, giant stainless island, six-burner cooktop and designer double ovens. “I may very well be marrying you for your kitchen, just so you know it up front.”
After washing her face, she spotted him in the mirror over her shoulder, standing in the doorway, his slim body still nude, his blue eyes full of emotion. “I’d do anything for you, you know that right?”
