by Marie Harte
“Come sit by me on the couch, Gavin. Let’s chat.” Piper sat and patted the spot next to her.
Zoe sighed. “To what do I owe the honor of your untimely and unwelcome visit?”
“Is that any way to talk to your beloved aunt? I worry for you, being so alone on a Friday night. I was going to invite you out with me and a few friends. But you’re not alone, are you?”
Gavin grinned and sat by her. “So Zoe never dates, huh?”
“I wouldn’t say never, but it’s been a while. The men she works with are in love with her, but she’s too professional to ever make a move in that direction. And they’re doctors. Can you imagine?”
Gavin didn’t much like hearing that. “Doctors. Well, that’s some tough competition.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Let’s see those Guns of Steel.”
Zoe blew out a breath. “Piper, don’t—”
“It’s okay, Zoe.” Gavin flexed for them, mentally thanking Landon for the tight sweater. He did look more buff than usual. He offered his biceps for a squeeze, and Piper did it, delighting him while Zoe stood away from the sofa, looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. “It’s part and parcel of being a trainer. People want to know if you can back up what you’re selling. I sell fitness, so I should be fit. What do you think?”
Piper nodded, still squeezing. This woman was who Zoe would grow to be some day. Beautiful, confident, sexually powerful. Granted, Zoe seemed like that now. But add in not embarrassed about anything, and you had a real winner. Gavin liked Piper on sight.
Piper Andrews had dark hair with a cool streak of white, a youthful glow, and a killer skirt and designer top that emphasized her lithe frame, accented with heels no one should be able to walk in without dying. She had to be in her late forties or early fifties, but she seemed more like an older sister than Zoe’s aunt.
“I have to know. How old are you?” he asked.
Zoe gaped. “Oh my God. You’re as bad as she is.”
Piper, who had finally quit squeezing his arms, patted him on the thigh, then leaned back. “I’m forty-eight.”
“No kidding. You look amazing.”
“For forty-eight?” She raised a brow—one of Zoe’s mastered mannerisms.
“Aunt Piper.” Zoe gritted her teeth.
“For anyone,” Gavin said, and meant it. “You resemble Zoe enough to be her mom, but you don’t look old enough.”
“Oh, now I really like you.”
“See, Zoe? Your aunt likes me. Now we have to get married and have babies. But not in that order.”
Piper blinked, and Zoe’s lips curled into that smirk of a smile he’d grown addicted to seeing.
“Oh, I don’t know, Gavin. Netflix and chill seems off the table now that my aunt is here.”
“What?” Piper stared back and forth between them. “Did you really invite him over here for that?”
Zoe snorted. “No. Seriously? Do you think I’d be talking this to death if we meant to get crazy all over the house? And how do you know what that means, anyway?”
“How do you not?” Piper huffed. “Well, I can see you two are busy. Not babies-and-marriage busy,” she said to Gavin with a nod and a smile. “Good one. But you’re busy all the same. I’ll get out of your hair. Call me for Sunday brunch, sweetie. I’m heading to New York on Monday and won’t be back for a while.”
Zoe walked her aunt to the door.
“Bye, Piper.” Gavin waved. “When you get back, come to the gym. We can always use the eye candy.”
She blew him a kiss. “I really like him, Zoe.” She said something else he couldn’t make out, laughed, then left.
Zoe had just closed the door and leaned back against it when the bell chimed again. She turned to open it, only to have the pizza guy standing there.
“Ah, now this one I can handle.” Gavin hurried to the door to pay. “Milo?”
He made small talk with one of Theo’s friends before taking the pie and handing Milo his payment with a big tip. Gavin closed the door on the younger man’s thumbs-up in regards to Zoe.
“You know everyone in town, don’t you?” She took the box from him and headed into the kitchen.
“Just about, because at one time or another, they’ve all worked with my younger brother.”
“Landon’s the oldest, right?”
“Right.” Gavin stood with her at the counter while she divvied up slices and served a decent beer, still chilled and bottled. “Um, could I get some water or something else to drink?”
She nodded, not making a big deal of it. “How about a home-style root beer?”
“Outstanding. Thanks.”
“So, Landon?” she prodded. “And before you ask, I’m not interested in your brother except as how he pertains to molding you into that charming personality you have.”
“Okay then.” Good. “You know Landon. Bossy, big, and blond. Takes after Mom.”
She took a few bites and nodded, so he continued.
“Then there’s me. I’m like my dad—dark-haired, laid-back. But I have my mom’s focus. Linda Donnigan is sharp, let me tell you. Hope is my sister. Not sure if you met her or not, but we used her to demo some of the self-defense moves in class. Sometimes she comes by the gym. She’s three years younger. Then Theo. He’s the spitting image of Dad, a late addition to the family. Not sure, but maybe a mistake.”
“I’m sure you delighted in telling him that while growing up.”
“Well, yeah.”
She shook her head.
“I was twelve when he was born.”
“So he’s how old now?”
“Twenty. I’m thirty-two. You didn’t have to do the math. You only had to ask.”
“Whatever,” she said around a mouthful of cheese.
He liked that about her. She wasn’t trying too hard to impress him. Just being herself.
“Tell me more about the Donnigans. You were pretty close-mouthed yesterday.”
“Only because you wouldn’t stop talking about dirt.” He ate some pizza, disturbed to find his appetite off. Being so close to Zoe, all he could taste was the memory of her lips. Man, what a crock. Had he told Ava he didn’t want sex with Zoe? Right now he had a difficult time concentrating on anything but her fine, fine body. Her scent, the sound of her strong voice. The mouthwatering breasts pressed against the thin T-shirt she wore.
Zoe put the pizza back down on her plate. “Is that right? As I recall, you wouldn’t stop asking me stupid questions about what to do with that dirt. I mean, who doesn’t know what a trowel is?”
“It’s a mini shovel. Why make things complicated?”
“Because they just come that way.”
“Huh?”
“Complicated.” She shrugged and ate, so he continued talking before she blasted him for being ignorant about zone types.
“What about your family?”
“We’re not done with yours yet.”
“What else do you want to know?”
She crossed her eyes, and even purposefully looking goofy, she was beautiful. “Okay, it’s like this. Example: Well, Gavin, my family is pretty tight. My mom and dad live in Portland, and I see them once a month at least. Mom is an artist. Dad owns a natural foods shop. My mom and aunt are twins, which explains how Aubrey and I are twins. I mean, were twins.”
She swallowed but forced herself to look him straight in the eye. He could see so much pain in hers. “Aubrey was in a car accident back in January, and she didn’t make it.”
Hell. When she’d told him there had been a death in the family, he hadn’t made the connection to her twin. That seriously sucked.
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded, seemed to shake it off, and continued. “I work for a major medical group, where I train users on the software the medical staff uses. It’s fun. I’m good a
t it, and life is great.”
“Well. That was concise.”
She grinned, showing a lot of teeth. “Yes, it was.” She took a large swallow of beer, which physically hurt Gavin to see—her lips wrapped around a phallic-looking object.
He glanced down at his pizza and forced himself to take another bite.
“Now it’s your turn.”
He swallowed and chased the pizza with half his bottle of root beer. “Nice brew. Tastes great.”
“Thank you.”
“Now that I’ve been properly schooled in how to respond to your question—and see, I can totally tell you’re an educator—my family is filled with driven people. My mom is a real estate agent who hates to lose. She’s damn good at her job too. My dad works at a pharmaceutical company. Did twenty years in the Navy, retired, then went to work in the civilian sector and is a bigwig at his firm. I give it another five years until he retires, then spends all his time cooking or playing golf.”
“Cooking?”
“He’s an amazing cook. Always makes our dinners, or did when we were kids. He still dotes on my mom, which is nice. God knows Linda can be a handful.”
She stared, all that feminine energy focused on him, and it made him warm inside. Like, freakin’ hot. He reconsidered his option about bending her over the couch…
“Go on.”
Head out of the gutter, Gavin! “Landon you know. He works out to stay in shape. Medically retired from the Marine Corps after a bullet hit him in the knee and messed him up. Now he’s a manager at some logistics firm bossing people around.”
“That would suit him.”
He shared a grin with her. The kitchen felt intimate, just the two of them standing at the counter and eating. “Hope works for my cousin at his private finance company. Cam is smart and obnoxious, but he takes care of my baby sister. Plus he’s the easiest of my cousins to tolerate.”
“Your cousins?”
“Yeah, my mom’s sister and her husband live in town. She’s got four boys. I spent my childhood with Landon competing to be better than Aunt Beth’s crew. Well, technically only three are Aunt Beth’s, but they took Brody in when he was little. He’s just as annoying as the others. A real McCauley.”
“Wow. Big family.”
He nodded. “So where was I? Oh right. Theo. My poor baby brother isn’t sure what he wants to do now that he’s out of high school. I think he wants to join the Corps, but with Landon and me coming back kind of screwed up, he’s not sure.”
She studied him. “You’re screwed up?”
She had no idea. And he wanted to keep it that way. “I was shot and medically retired from the Marine Corps too. Saw some shit overseas. Not good. Anyhow, it’s done. So I’m back here, trying to figure out what to do. I work at the gym because it de-stresses me and I’m good at it. Being physical, I mean.”
Before he could fall into the memories, Zoe distracted him. “Oh, I bet you’re good at being physical. Or so I’ve heard from Michelle and Megan. And a few others.”
He flushed. “Yeah, well, I made some dumb choices when I first got back. I drank a little too much, so I don’t like to drink anymore.”
“Are you an alcoholic?”
“Didn’t you just minutes ago yell at me for asking your aunt blunt questions?”
“I didn’t yell.”
“It felt like it.”
“Yeah, but I’m mean and aggressive, remember?”
“There is that.” He took another swig of root beer, grinning. “No, I’m not an alcoholic. But the fact I was starting to drink too much scared the crap out of me. Now I stay away from it. I don’t want my thinking impaired. So yeah, no drugs either. And no cigarettes. I have no vices.”
“Except your poor taste in women.” She paused. “Present company excluded.”
“Oh, that was a nice add-on.”
“I thought so.” She smirked.
He couldn’t help it. He put down his root beer, took her beer from her hand, and caged her against the counter.
“Gavin, what are you doing?” she sounded breathy. Aroused.
Lord knew he was.
“I just need one kiss. Then we can go watch the movie. Okay?”
“O-one. I guess.” She licked her lips.
He leaned down, feathered his breath over her mouth, and kissed her. The taste of warm beer and woman went right to his head, making him drunk on her in a way he’d only ever felt with Zoe. The kiss last night hadn’t done them justice. This one just…
He slanted his mouth over hers, deepening the kiss when she put her hands on his waist and tugged him closer. She had to be feeling him hard and thick against her, but she only gripped his belt loops and refused to let go.
Zoe participated in everything. She followed his lead, stroked his tongue with hers, and shoved those amazing breasts against his chest. Nothing with her was tentative or half done. She gave him a full-body kiss that threatened to undo him the longer it lasted.
Gavin yanked his head back and leaned his forehead against hers, trying to regain his control. Right now, his body screamed at him to satisfy his needs by sinking inside her. She’d be hot, tight, wet.
But his brain warned him to slow down. To not rush or scare her, because they had so much more to share.
And his heart…the damn thing did nothing but race in his chest and ache for a woman he still barely knew. Except he felt like he knew everything about her. Which made no sense.
He pulled back and met her gaze. She seemed as bewildered and turned on as he was.
He had to do something, or he feared listening all too well to his baser instincts.
“So no sex tonight, right?” His thick voice attested to his desire. “Bending you over the couch is a no-no?”
She blinked, blushed, and scowled. Instead of berating him for being crude, she yanked him back for a kiss that about blew his mind—and his balls clean off. “Nope. Not even close.”
She was breathing hard, her eyes straying to his mouth time and again, her hands still clutching his sweater. She stroked his chest, brushing her hands over his tight nipples.
“Not even close,” he agreed. “Not thinking about it at all.”
“Not at all.”
And they both knew they were lying.
Chapter 7
“I’m so confused.” Gavin stared at the small boy at an ungodly hour Saturday morning. Colin McCauley, his cousin Mike’s son, had to be seven or eight now. The kid—his first cousin once removed, and yeah, he knew that because he’d gone through a genealogy phase as a teen—was cute and a handful. He’d even brought his monster of a dog, Jekyll, who turned out to be the same dog Gavin had met at the wedding. But why Colin stood at the base of Gavin’s bed, Gavin had no idea.
“This is our cousin,” Theo said slowly, having entered the room they shared. “His name is Colin. Colin McCauley. Remember him?”
The boy nodded. “Yep. I’m Colin. Dad said you were the smart one, Cousin Gavin. I’m not seeing it.”
Gavin glared, especially when he saw the seven thirty on the clock. “Theo, what the hell?”
Theo shrugged. “I told Flynn we’d watch him because the guys and their wives are out on some bonding camping trip or something.”
“Yeah, but Mike is his dad.” Gavin couldn’t quite wake up. A glance next to him showed the lavender cutting Zoe had given him last night, protected and cared for in a clay pot. Seeing the small plant made him happy.
A gift from Zoe. An amazing date. No sex but great root beer and a killer sci-fi movie next to a woman who fascinated him. His night had been magical.
And now…this.
Turning to Colin, he asked, “Isn’t Mike your dad? Why is that idiot Flynn involved?”
“I love Uncle Flynn.” Colin glared, and it was like looking at a pint-size version of Mike. “Jek
yll and I need to be watched. It’s a grown-ups-only trip.”
“Oh. Sorry, buddy.” And the McCauleys had no one better to watch the kid than Theo…wearing work clothes? “Theo, why are you dressed like that?”
Theo had been working at the coffee shop, or so Gavin thought. But his brother now wore a moving company’s collared shirt. “Not my fault, Gavin. I start today.” Theo sounded nervous. Gavin didn’t trust him. “I was supposed to start tomorrow, but well, schedules change. So you have Colin.”
“I what?” Gavin sat up, shocked awake, and the sheets bunched at his waist.
“Wow. You’re big, Cousin Gavin. A lot of big muscles, like Dad.”
“Dude, no one’s that big.” Except Del’s prison employees at the garage. “But thanks. I work out a lot at the gym. It’s my job.”
Colin nodded. “I know. Dad told me you train people to not brain themselves with weights.”
“That’s one way of describing it. But it’s not a permanent gig.”
Theo perked up. “You work temporary jobs. Like me.”
“No, not like you. I don’t get how you can go from job to job the way you do. Make a decision and stick with it, boy. You’d do fine in the Corps.”
“You didn’t” came out of Theo’s mouth with more rancor that he’d expected. His expression of surprise said as much.
Colin nodded. “Yeah. You got all squirrelly, which is funny because Jekyll loves squirrels.” The dog came to sit by Colin, appearing obedient and passive while vibrating with energy. “You probably don’t know what you want in life because the Marine Corps messed with your head. That’s what Dad said. Jacked you up. Cracked you up. So now all you can do is lift heavy weights while you get better. Del thinks you’re cute. Dad didn’t like that. Hey, are those bullet holes?” Colin pointed to Gavin’s chest.
Theo stared, not moving, no doubt waiting for Gavin to lose it over the mention of his time in the service. Granted, Gavin had been a little squirrelly when he’d first come back. But he was getting better. As long as he didn’t think too hard about the past.
Gavin sighed. “Your dad talks a lot.”
“I know,” Colin grumbled as he neared Gavin and traced the wound on Gavin’s chest, where an enemy round had torn into his left lung. “That’s so cool.”
