“Jeez, doesn’t a woman get a little foreplay?”
“Thinking about it all night doesn’t count?” He snorted. “You are such a girl. I’ll kiss you first. How’s that?”
“You are such a guy.”
She did end up kicking off her boots and wiggling out of her jeans without foreplay, but only for logistical reasons. The cab was small and, instead of a bench seat, there were basically two captain’s chairs smooshed side by side. Trying to turn herself so she could get over to his lap without hitting her head or pressing any of the control buttons with her ass required a level of flexibility she didn’t have.
And the bastard was laughing at her.
“This is your fantasy,” she snapped. “How the hell did you picture this working?”
“I think you’re more flexible in my imagination.”
She would have hit him, but her arm being braced against the dash was all that was keeping her face from bouncing off the steering wheel. “Maybe you should imagine how you’re going to get that condom on after I’m in your lap.”
“This was a lot sexier when the real you wasn’t actually involved, just so you know.”
“I already took my jeans off, so we’re doing it.”
“If you leave an ass print on the inside of the windshield, I’m putting that in my report.”
She really wanted to flip him off. “If I wasn’t stuck right now, I’d get out and walk home.”
He finally took pity on her and gently rearranged her, supporting her when necessary, until she was straddling his lap. It was a tight squeeze, getting her knees on either side of his thighs, but they managed.
“Better?” he asked, amusement still making his eyes sparkle.
She was hot, flustered and was probably going to ache in a dozen places tomorrow, but she could feel the hard ridge of his erection through her panties and that made it worth the less-than-graceful effort. “Much.”
Especially when he kissed her, his hand sliding up into her hair to hold her close. He nipped at her bottom lip and she sighed against his mouth. When his other hand slid between her legs, she moaned and kissed him harder, sweeping her tongue across his.
She rocked against his hand, but it wasn’t enough. “How the hell are we supposed to get your pants off now?”
He smiled and reached between them to undo his fly and his zipper. “Raise up a little.”
When she did, he lifted his hips and slid his jeans down enough so he could roll on the condom he’d stuck in his sweatshirt pocket.
“Must be nice,” she muttered, wondering how she was supposed to get her jeans back on without getting out of the groomer.
“No, this is nice.” He slid his hand under the elastic of her panties and stroked her until she was panting and growled his name in frustration.
Only then did he pull the fabric to one side and slide into her. She braced her hands against his shoulders as she moved her hips, taking him in inch by inch. Finally she’d taken him all and Josh threw his head back with a groan as she started to rock.
“Is this how your fantasy went?” she asked, nipping at his jaw.
“This is better,” he said, his voice husky as he slid his hands under her shirt.
She quickened her pace as he ran his thumbs over her nipples, and his ragged breaths told her he was close to the edge. She rode him harder and he moved his hands to her hips, his fingertips pressing into her skin as he guided her.
The orgasm hit her fast and hard, and she gasped as he thrust hard upward, finding his own release. She moved against him, grinding, until the tremors faded.
“That was…a very nice fantasy,” she said when they’d finally caught their breath.
“One of my favorites. And I think, by the time the windows are defogged, we might have figured out how to get your jeans back on.”
In the end, it was easiest to get out of the groomer. She stood in the freezing cold and managed to pull her foot out of her boot, then shove it through the leg of the jeans and back into the boot without falling over. Then she had to repeat it for the other leg. By the time she ran around the groomer and climbed back into her seat, she was half-frozen.
Josh handed her one of her mom’s little apple pies with the foil already partially peeled back. “I think we’re going to have to act out this particular fantasy more often.”
“Yeah, we need the practice.”
He paused in the act of folding back the foil on his own pie to grin at her. “You know what would make it easier? If you wore that black dress.”
“I think you need a new fantasy.”
“You’re the fantasy, Katie. The rest is just the setting.”
Warmth curled through her insides, and she was smiling when she bit into the apple pie. Maybe they should go out in the groomer more often.
* * *
Rose snuggled closer to Andy and he squeezed her. “Cold?”
“Nope.” The down-alternative comforter Josh had bought her for Christmas several years back, and given to her wrapped around her yarn store gift certificate, was far too warm for her to get chilled in bed. That and the body heat.
An old black-and-white Western was playing on the television, but she wasn’t really watching it. The movie had been his choice, not hers, but she didn’t really care what they watched when he cuddled with her like this. She’d missed cuddling a lot.
“I hope the kids are doing okay,” she said during a commercial, because her mind had turned to them instead of focusing on the cowboys. “I always get nervous when they’re out in the groomer all night in the middle of the woods in the freezing cold. So many things could go wrong.”
“The club spares no expense when it comes to maintaining that equipment and I know Josh gives it a thorough inspection before he takes it out on the trail, because I’ve seen him do it. And they’re together.”
“It’s a good opportunity for them to talk.”
He laughed. “Not much else to do when you’re putting through the woods at eight miles an hour.”
“I hope they have enough food. And they’re going to drink too much coffee. It’s not good for their stomachs, especially since Katie’s only going to sleep for a couple of hours before she opens the barbershop.”
“You worry too much, Rose.”
“Do not. Besides, what else am I going to do?”
“You could talk to me instead.”
Rose knew he didn’t mean for her to talk to him about the kids. He wanted to talk about them. She’d known it was coming, but she was still trying to sort through just how she felt about Andy Miller.
“I don’t think what we have here is just casual anymore,” he continued.
“It may have started as casual, but this part—you being here with me right now—was never casual. I’m not a casual kind of woman.”
“I didn’t think you were. But you’re also not a woman who wears her emotions on her sleeve, either. It’s hard for me to know where I stand with you.”
She rolled onto her side so her head rested on his shoulder. “I’ve only ever told one man I loved him and I was married to him for a good part of my life. I’m not quite ready to say it again.”
“I’m a patient guy.” He kissed the top of her head. “All I need is a little encouragement that we’re headed in that direction.”
“Consider yourself encouraged, then. I like your company, Andy, and I’d like to have more of it. I know you rent your place, and it doesn’t really make sense for you to keep running back and forth between here and there. Unless you prefer it that way.”
“Are you asking me to move in with you, Rose Davis?”
She laughed, feeling a little bit scandalous. “I guess I am.”
“I’d like that.”
“I have to talk to Josh first,” she said
. “When push comes to shove, the kids own this house and I work for them.”
“Your relationship with them could never be described as just that.” He took his arm from around Rose so he could prop himself up on it and see her face. “Before you talk to him, though, I have a thought I’d like to run by you.”
She listened to what he had to say, then took a deep breath. “I need to think about that, Andy. I need to see how things are. Promise me you won’t say anything to him right away.”
“Not until you tell me it’s okay. Nobody knows those kids like you do.”
Chapter Seventeen
On Saturday morning, after making sure all his guests got out on the trails okay, Josh drove over to Mitch and Paige’s house. Mitch had business travel looming on his horizon and he wanted to finish the home office before he left so his time at home could be spent with his wife and not remodeling.
The rest of the house had been finished in a hurry so Paige could host Thanksgiving, but they’d been putting off the home office. Now, with the clock ticking, Mitch had asked Josh and Drew for help.
By the time he got there, Drew had already arrived. They were still in the kitchen when Josh walked in, and he held up his hands. “I thought there was work to be done.”
“Just waiting on you, as usual.” Mitch led the way down the hall and into a large room that had great windows looking out over the yard.
It also had fresh paint over new Sheetrock and trim, and new switches, outlets and plates. Even the light fixtures were in place. “I thought you needed help finishing this room.”
“Wait until you see the garage.”
“This can’t be good,” Drew muttered, but they both followed Mitch back through the house and out the side door into the garage.
There was an army of massive cardboard boxes in front of them, all with photos of a different piece of office furniture pasted on the sides.
“Oh, hell no,” Josh said. “This is above and beyond, Mitch. And you know it, too. That’s why you didn’t tell us up front.”
“You can’t put together furniture?” Mitch gestured at the boxes. “They all come with directions. And there are pictures even.”
“You couldn’t just go buy shit at the furniture store so they’d deliver it all put together?” Drew asked.
“Paige saw this stuff online and fell in love with it. It was less expensive than some of the stuff I looked at, so I told her to order it.”
Josh snorted. “It’s less expensive because it’ll take you three days and a bottle of Valium to put it all together.”
“Or three guys only one day.”
“Jesus, Mitch.” Josh hated this stuff. It was like doing a big, heavy 3-D jigsaw puzzle that required tools.
“I’ll beg if I have to,” Mitch told him. “When they started rolling these cartons off the delivery truck, I lost all my pride.”
“How do you start and build a successful business blowing up buildings and not know better than to order assemble-yourself office furniture. A small bookcase is okay in a pinch, but that big-ass box over there has a picture of a desk on it.”
“There are two,” Mitch admitted. “His and hers desks.”
Josh and Drew both stayed silent, staring at the line of boxes.
“It’s for my wife,” Mitch said. “If I don’t get these done, she might try to finish building them while I’m away and hurt herself.”
Josh laughed. “Really? That’s low, even for you.”
“I told you I’m not above begging.”
“Fine.” Josh threw up his hands in surrender. “Which one are we doing first?”
“The bookcases. They take up the most floor space to build, but the least amount of room space while building other stuff,” Drew said. They both looked at him and he shrugged. “Mallory loved this shit.”
Josh and Mitch each grabbed an end of a bookshelf box while Drew held the door. When Josh passed by him, he paused for a second. “How’s that going, anyway?”
“The divorce is final. I’m now officially a middle-aged guy with no wife, no kids and a killer loan so I could buy Mal’s half of the house.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
Their marriage had ended right around the time Mitch and Paige had gotten together and, looking back, it was hard to say which had created the bigger buzz around town.
Shortly after their tenth wedding anniversary, when Drew had pushed, Mallory had confessed she not only didn’t want children, but she never had. It had gone downhill from there.
Once they got started building Paige’s furniture, it wasn’t as bad as Josh had feared it would be. They got a good rhythm going, almost like an assembly line, and managed not to jab any fake wooden corners through her new walls.
They were about halfway done when Drew brought up the subject Josh had managed to go almost an entire half day without hearing about.
“I was glad to hear you decided against selling the lodge, Josh.”
Josh focused on setting the screw in his hand in the right place before he responded, so he had time to moderate his tone. He kept telling himself people were bound to get it out of their systems at some point. “Yeah. It was the right thing to do.”
“I’ve got a lot of memories of the Northern Star myself, since I was always running around with Mitch.”
Josh remembered. Sometimes it seemed like everybody had memories of the lodge, or at least a good reason for him not to sell it. Of course, none of them wanted to run it, but everybody was glad he’d be sticking around to take care of what was important to them.
“I saw one of the rooms down the hall is empty,” he said, because changing the subject was something he was becoming very good at. “If you buy assemble-at-home furniture for whatever that room’s going to be, it’ll be assemble-alone furniture.”
“That’s going to be the baby’s room.” Josh and Drew both stopped what they were doing to stare at him. “When she gets pregnant, which she’s not. Yet.”
“But soon, huh?” Drew asked.
“That’s up to Mother Nature.” Mitch grinned. “We’re certainly doing our part to make it happen.”
“I don’t want to hear anything about sex,” Drew muttered. “From either of you.”
Josh went back to what he was doing, which was trying to tell if he was holding the board he needed and the instructions in the same direction. He had to admit, sex was the one thing he had going for him.
Maybe it would snow again soon and they could make another groomer run. He’d take any perk of the job he could get.
* * *
Katie made a whooping sound and laid down her cards. “Gin!”
Muttering a curse, Josh threw his cards on the table and pushed more of his M&M’S across the table. She had almost all the chocolate now.
“You’re not really paying attention,” she said, since she’d been thinking it most of the evening.
“This isn’t the game I want to be playing with you right now.”
“If you’d come to my place instead of me coming here, we wouldn’t be playing gin rummy for M&M’S.”
“I might have, but the couple staying in room two are not only new to the trail system, but new to snowmobiles. I want to be here, where I can be reached and have easy access to my truck and trailer, just in case.” He gathered the cards and started shuffling them. “That’s how it is. Weekends I’m tied to the lodge and weekdays, when I have a little more freedom, everybody has to go to bed so they can work in the morning.”
This was one of those pissed-at-the-world days he’d told her about, she thought. And there wasn’t much she could do about it. “I heard you spent the day putting together Paige’s office furniture.”
He dealt the cards, scowling at the deck the whole time. “This town will talk about anything.”
“Always has.”
She was only a couple of cards away from taking the last of his M&M’S when the lodge phone rang. Frowning, Josh pushed back from the table to answer it just as Rose walked into the kitchen.
“I got it,” he told her.
Katie took advantage of the short reprieve from the game—and the fact her mom was there to guard her cards and chocolate—to head to the bathroom.
When she came back out, Josh was putting on his coat and boots. “I told you.”
“Room two? Are they okay?”
“Yeah. Just a little undereducated about important details like gas mileage. They’re not too far out, so I’m just going to meet them with the gas can.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No, I won’t be very long, so there’s no sense in getting all bundled up.” He grabbed his keys off the hook and opened the door. “Don’t touch my M&M’S.”
Once he was gone, she might have cast a sideways glance at his tiny pile of chocolate, but her mother gave her a look and she didn’t touch them.
“I hardly get to spend any time alone with you anymore,” Rose said, taking silverware out of the drying rack to put in the drawer.
“Where’s Andy?”
“Helping Butch Benoit work on the transmission in Fran’s car. He said he’d probably be late, so he was just going to go straight home from there. But I want to talk about you. How have you been doing?”
Katie laughed. “I’m here half the time, Mom. You can see how I am.”
“Are you happy?”
The question hit her like a sucker punch and she sat down hard in her chair. Was she happy? “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. Just checking. I’m your mother, remember, so I’m supposed to keep track of these things.”
She was happy enough, but she had a feeling that answer wouldn’t satisfy her mom. The barbershop was doing well and she had Josh. Granted, things had been a little touchier since he’d turned down the offer on the lodge, but emotional upheaval did that to people.
Until he put it behind him, though, their relationship was treading water. They weren’t sinking, but they weren’t making any progress toward distant shores, either.
All He Ever Dreamed (The Kowalskis) Page 19
