Love You

by Stacy Finz

  Darcy didn’t bother arguing. Her mother had enough to contend with. The last thing she needed was to deal with her constant disappointment of a daughter.

  *

  After work Win decided to stop off at Colt and Delaney’s because it beat going home to his empty apartment. He’d tried to call Darcy a few times from the lake where he was giving a paddleboard lesson to four surly teenagers whose parents wanted to keep them busy. Paddleboard lessons weren’t usually his bag but the guide who was scheduled to do it had to fly to Texas because of a death in her family. He’d had an open slot, which this time of year—or any for that matter—was a rarity.

  Darcy didn’t answer and he wondered whether she was intentionally ignoring him because they’d had sex. Really good sex. What Darcy lacked in experience she made up for in enthusiasm. Or maybe it had been his six-month moratorium. In any event, it bugged him that she seemed totally unaffected by the whole thing, just running off to book club like nothing had happened between them. Women typically wanted more from him after he’d slept with them. And while it was a relief that Darcy was so chill, it also sort of pissed him off. There was something about her that got to him. Her snarky mouth for one. Her curves for another. And those baby blues of hers slayed him. But really, he just liked being with her. He didn’t have to pull out the exhausting Win bag of tricks of constant charm and humor with her. He could just be himself.

  He pulled up to his brother’s house and tried her again. Voice mail. “Darce, did aliens abduct you? Seriously, call me.” He didn’t give a shit if he sounded needy.

  He closed his Jeep door with a thud, his mood growing darker. Colt was sitting on the deck, strumming his guitar, staring at his new carport with a self-satisfied look on his face. Before he’d moved in with Delaney he’d lived next door and parking had been a bone of contention between the two of them. Now they had enough for both their cars and a guest.

  “You come to eat my cereal?” Colt put his guitar down.

  “That or whatever you’re making for dinner. Is Jack on night duty?”

  “Yep. Now that we have the new guy I actually get a regular weekend when TJ isn’t calling me in to take over someone’s tour.”

  “I got stuck today with giving paddleboard lessons to four kids who couldn’t put down their phones for even five seconds,” Win said. “Danielle’s aunt died.”

  “I heard. That’s too bad. But better you than me.” Win definitely had more patience than Colt.

  “Where’s Delaney?” Win peered through the window.

  “Working late. She’s getting ready for fashion week.”

  “Isn’t that in the fall?” Win didn’t know a lot about the world of couture but he’d picked up a few things having a sister-in-law who was a famous fashion designer.

  “Yep. But it takes months to prepare.” He pinched Win’s cheek. “Something you wouldn’t know about, Winifred.”

  This was the kind of bullshit he’d had to put up with his whole life. Winifred. It was a hell of a lot better than being named after malt liquor or a gun.

  “What’ve you got to eat?”

  “I could grill us some burgers.” Colt eyed his big-ass stainless-steel built-in barbecue, a last-minute add-on to the carport job.

  “Sounds good. You got salad fixings?”

  “Probably. You gonna put it in a blender and make one of your disgusting green drinks?”

  Win ignored the crack. So what if he tried to eat healthy? He went inside Colt and Delaney’s house and rummaged through the fridge. The house was one of those modern numbers everyone was building in Glory Junction. High on architectural doodads, low on personality and no yard to speak of. He much preferred Reggie’s log cabin.

  He pulled out one of those bagged salads, found a bowl, and dumped the baby greens in. There was a bottle of ranch in the door. Colt came in and grabbed a few frozen patties and soaked some oak chips in the sink.

  “What’s going on with that house you looked at?” Colt added hamburger buns to his pile.

  “I’m waiting for Reggie to work up a price. I doubt I can afford it. The place needs work but it’s awesome. Right on the river with a dock and gazebo. Gardens like you wouldn’t believe.”

  “Mom and Dad might help you.”

  Colt and TJ had bought their own places without their parents’ help. Hannah had inherited her and Josh’s house from her aunt Sabine. But even so, Josh could stand on his own two feet. There was no way Win would let himself be the only son who got a leg up.

  “Nah, I want to do it myself,” he said.

  “You were willing before … with Britney.”

  “That was different. I had a baby to think about.” At the time, he’d been in a panic to do everything right, even if it meant taking money from his parents. Thank God it had been a false alarm.

  Colt nodded in understanding. “Even if this one doesn’t work out, you’ll find one that does. It’s just good that you want to buy a place.”

  Win got the context of Colt’s words loud and clear: It’s good that Win was finally growing up. He didn’t take offense at it because it was simply the truth. At almost thirty-two it had been a long time in coming and had actually taken the unfortunate situation with Britney to kick him in the ass.

  “Now, if you could just stay out of bar fights we’d be getting somewhere,” Colt said, and Win gave him the finger.

  During the course of making dinner, Delaney showed up and Colt threw another burger on the grill. They ate out on the deck, enjoying the balmy Sierra evening, listening to the katydids, while the sweet smell of jasmine filled the air. Win loved spring in Glory Junction when all the flowers were blooming and the sunsets were the things of old Western landscape paintings with their brushstrokes of bright oranges, blues, and purples.

  He helped with the cleanup and headed out but was too restless to go home. Without thinking about it, he took the road to Hilde Wallace’s cottage. There was an expensive-looking Mercedes parked in front of Hilde’s garage and he wondered what that was about. Darcy had a Volkswagen and Hilde … well, she didn’t have a Mercedes like that. It was the kind of car he would’ve remembered her driving. He parked next to it and checked the time. It was eight o’clock and in his mind not too late to come calling.

  He rang the bell and Darcy opened the door, dressed like she was going to a Junior League tea.

  He bobbed his chin at her in a half greeting. “What’s up with the clothes?”

  She looked over her shoulder and whispered, “My mother’s here.”

  “Let me say hi.” He started to push his way in but she grabbed his arm.

  “Now’s not a good time.”

  “For you or for her?” Darcy was acting weird and he didn’t like it.

  She came outside and shut the door. “My father’s been having an affair.”

  “Ah, jeez.” He scrubbed his hand through his hair at a loss for what to say because it sucked. “Is that what the divorce is about?”

  “According to Mom, it is.” She shrugged.

  “Is that why you haven’t been returning my calls?” Yeah, because it’s all about you, asshole.

  Darcy huffed out a breath. “She showed up this morning, hysterical. We just got back from dinner.”

  Win noticed that she’d sidestepped the question but it sounded like she’d had her hands full. “You okay?”

  “To tell you the truth I’ve been better.”

  He pulled her in for a hug. Even though she was bantam-sized, she fit and he held on, running his lips over her hair. “Want to go for a drive?”

  She looked up at him. “Is that a euphemism for something else?”

  “Seriously? Just for once, can you drag your mind out of the gutter?” He grinned. “Nah, I thought we should talk.” He nudged his head at the house. “And it seems like you could use a break.”

  “Can I change first?”

  “Please do.” The suit she had on looked constrictive and… ugly. He preferred her in the floral sundresses she w
ore or jeans. “I’ll wait in the Jeep.”

  “I’d invite you in but my mother already thinks you’re crazy. And the last thing I need is for you to make up a story that we’re expecting.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Win could tell she wished she hadn’t said it. “Oh gosh, Win, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have told your mom we were married just like Britney shouldn’t have told me she was pregnant with my child.”

  “It’s different,” she said. “You didn’t hurt anyone, you were just goofing around. Give me five minutes.”

  He waited in the Jeep, playing Scrabble on his cell phone. Oddly enough, it was one of the board games he and his therapist used to play to help with his dyslexia. Being naturally competitive, it had been a good way to engage him. To this day, it was still difficult for him to make sense of certain words or stay focused on a task. That’s why it had always been easier for him to be out in the field, instead of doing the administrative work, like TJ.

  “I can’t be gone too long.” Darcy hopped in the passenger seat.

  “All right. Where do you want to go?”

  “I don’t know. It was your idea to go for a drive.”

  He took off with no destination in mind, winding up not far from Reggie’s cabin, on the river. He pulled into a viewpoint and shut off the engine. It was dark but there was a full moon and he could see light coming off the water. He had the Jeep’s top down and could hear an owl in the distance and smell pine from the surrounding forest.

  “Is this where you take girls to make out?” Darcy pulled her sweater tighter.

  “Why? You didn’t get enough of me yesterday and want more?” He put the top back up. “You want me to turn on the heat, too?”

  “This is fine.”

  The women he usually hung out with liked the top down, the doors off, and the music loud. Darcy wasn’t anything like them, yet he preferred her company. Lord knew why with that smart mouth of hers.

  “Your mom okay with you leaving?” It seemed like a silly question to ask a grown woman but under the circumstances maybe Geneva needed Darcy around.

  “She was in bed when I left.”

  “It’s not even nine.”

  “I think she took sleeping pills. Either that or she could no longer stand Nana’s and my company.”

  “Shocking,” Win said, and Darcy socked him in the arm. “Who’s the other woman, do you know her?”

  “Apparently, his receptionist. There have been so many, I’ve lost track.”

  “Of receptionists or women with whom he’s had affairs?”

  “Receptionists,” Darcy said. “As far as I know this is his first affair but the daughter is always the last to know. According to my mother, she’s short, fat, and not terribly attractive.”

  “Maybe she’s a nice person.”

  She looked at him strangely. “Are you saying my mother isn’t?” And then she laughed.

  “I didn’t like the way she talked to you. But I met her for all of what, fifteen minutes? I’m sure she’s got her strengths.”

  “She’s beautiful,” Darcy said wistfully.

  “You look a lot like her.” He held her gaze.

  “We have the same blue eyes and that’s about it.”

  He didn’t say anything because frankly it was a little creepy comparing a woman you’d slept with to her mother. Sort of a Mrs. Robinson situation. “You think maybe we should talk about yesterday?”

  “What about it?”

  So she was going to play coy. He didn’t respond, leaving her dangling in silence. Win could wait her out.

  She rested her forehead against the dashboard. “Is it going to be weird at work?”

  “It doesn’t have to be.”

  “No, why not?”

  “Because we’re adults, Darcy.”

  “I agree,” she said. “I’ve also been thinking that we should continue having sex. Nothing serious, mind you. Just a short-term affair where we each get what we want. My body for yours.”

  It was about the last thing he expected her to say and just thinking about being inside her again made him hard. “No can do.”

  She swallowed and her face turned fifty shades of red. “Was I a gigantic disappointment?”

  “Hell no. You were beyond fantastic. But I don’t do casual anymore. I told you that.”

  “Then I was a pity screw?”

  “A pity screw?” He lifted his brows. “It’s pity fuck. And no, because I don’t feel sorry for you. You married a lemon and you did what any sane person would do, you returned him. And from what I got a taste of last night, Lewis definitely needed returning. He’s an idiot.”

  “You’re contradicting yourself.” She folded her arms over her chest, no longer embarrassed, just angry as all get-out.

  “No, I’m not. Last night … well, it just happened. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen again. Find someone else to use.”

  “It would be mutually beneficial,” she argued.

  “Yeah, how’s that?” An hour ago, she wasn’t even returning his calls. She’d left his bed without so much as a good-bye kiss to go to a freaking book club meeting, no less. Mutually beneficial, his ass. There were women who would pay his mortgage just to sleep with him.

  He’d stumped her because she had no pithy comeback. No smart-aleck remark. Nothing. She didn’t even propose them trying their hand at a real relationship, not that he would’ve gone for it.

  “So the answer is still no?” she said.

  “Yep. Find some other stud.” He knew there was zero chance of that.

  “Fine. Maybe I will.”

  Jeez, how had they been reduced to children? This whole thing was bullshit. He wasn’t putting up with it anymore. He was trying to be a better person, get his life together, stop having meaningless hookups with women he barely knew. And Darcy wanted to pull him right back in again.

  “Go ahead,” he said.

  “What if I only want you?”

  That got him a little in the gut. “Just a minute ago you were ready to try it with someone else.”

  She let out a puff of air. “That was a bluff. I only want to do this with you.”

  He turned in his seat. “So, we’d like be exclusive?” What the hell was he asking? He didn’t do exclusive. Not even a little.

  “If you want.”

  Jeez, could she sound any less enthusiastic over the prospect?

  “I might,” he said, and pulled her over the console into his lap and started kissing her. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  Obviously shocked by his sudden change of heart, she slowly regained her equilibrium and kissed him back with the same frenzied fervor he’d initiated. His windows began to fog up and the Jeep was cramped but neither of them seemed to care.

  He dragged her T-shirt over her head and popped open the clasp of her bra, palming her breasts in his hands. She whimpered and her nipples puckered, begging for his mouth, which he gladly obliged. She tasted so good, sweet like ripened apricots, and he strained against the fly of his jeans.

  She muttered something nonsensical and straddled him, her perfect heart-shaped ass pressed against the windshield. Then she worked open his belt buckle.

  They were moving faster than he wanted to but he was so hot for her he couldn’t seem to slow things down.

  He unsnapped her jeans and scraped down her zipper. But when he tried to slide down her pants there wasn’t room to move.

  “Shit.” He tried to move his seat back but it was as far as it would go. “Outside!”

  She stopped kissing him. “What?”

  He opened the door, jumped out, and pulled her with him. Tugging her around to the passenger side where his Jeep would block them from the road, he pushed her against the door.

  “Win, I’m topless.” Yep, and the cool air was doing amazing things to her nipples.

  He covered her mouth before she could protest again and licked his way inside, exploring. She stuck her hand down the waistban
d of his jeans and stroked him. At this rate, he’d go off like a fire hydrant so he pushed her hand away.

  “I want you,” she said. “Please.”

  Win had a mind to make her beg but he didn’t have the willpower to wait any longer. Desperate, he pushed her pants and underwear down her legs, leaving them in a heap in the dirt, and lifted her onto the hood of his Jeep. Fumbling through his glove box, he searched for a condom and cursed. He remembered his backpack and emptied it on the back seat. Eureka!

  He slid down his zipper, rolled the condom down his length, and dragged her to the edge of the hood. Her head fell back and he tested her with his fingers. She was unbelievably wet.

  “Hurry.” Her voice came out breathless.

  He spread her legs and slid in home. “Hold on.”

  She clutched his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his hips as he drove deep inside of her. He gripped her ass, squeezing it, pulling her closer.

  She kissed him, twining her arms around his neck. In the background, he could hear the river rushing, a soft breeze rustling through the trees, and their heavy breathing. He whispered endearments in her ear as he pounded into her.

  “Oh, Win,” she cried out, and he felt her body tremble.

  She wasn’t quite there but he didn’t know how much longer he could hold on. He quickened his strokes and worked her with his fingers until he felt her climax. Then he took his own release, holding on to her under the moonlit sky, both of them trying to catch their breath.

  When he finally came up for air, he looked into her heated blue eyes and said, “I guess we could try it.” He couldn’t bring himself to say exclusive.

  “I guess so” was her only response.

  And without another word they got dressed and got back in the car.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Geneva went home on Friday and Darcy had a glorious drama-free three-day weekend with just Nana and Win. He dropped by every evening after showering from his day’s tour. Sometimes they’d go for a drive and other times back to his studio apartment.

  She tried hard to think of their nights together as nothing more than sexual adventure but it was getting increasingly difficult, even though wishing for anything more was the kiss of death. Win wasn’t built to last and she wasn’t looking for a full-time player.