Break On Through

by Ridgway, Christie

  She’d moved in that very afternoon. Mid-week. Today was Sunday and the family was having a get-together at one of the bigger houses. She’d resolved to give them their privacy.

  “We could go swimming later,” Eli said. “Remember how warm the pool is?”

  The pool was wonderfully warm. Heated year-round, she’d discovered, when the team that kept it clean paused to talk to her. Reed had apparently informed the landscapers of her presence as well, and every worker they’d encountered had been friendly.

  “I love swimming,” Obie said. “And I’m good at it.”

  “You are. And we’re lucky to be living here where the weather’s so nice in October.” Today it had to be more than eighty degrees. “But the people who belong to this compound are having a party this afternoon and we need to keep out from underfoot.”

  There was a mutinous light in both boys’ eyes.

  “Most of them are people we don’t know,” she continued. “Strangers. Men.”

  “So?” Eli asked.

  The question, slightly belligerent as it was, eased Cleo. She’d worried that her sons—particularly Eli, who was more savvy than his younger brother—might have developed an aversion to males. But it looked as if their unpredictable father might not have triggered instant distrust.

  “Reed will be there,” Obie said. “I like him. He likes us. I bet he’d be glad to see us again.”

  Cleo couldn’t agree. While he’d helped them settle in that first day, he’d avoided further contact. They’d exchanged cell numbers, but he’d only used hers to text her about the get-together of the Rock Royalty. Not that he’d used that name for himself and the other grown-up progeny of the Velvet Lemons, but upon running across an old article about them archived on the internet—okay, she’d been snooping—it had stuck in her head.

  “We’re not going to bother Reed or anyone else,” she said firmly. “Tomorrow is soon enough to swim again.” When Eli opened his mouth, Cleo spoke before he could. “Please. Let’s just enjoy our time here.”

  “We’re not staying forever, are we?” Obie asked. “Because it doesn’t seem like a good place to trick-or-treat. I can’t even see other houses from here.”

  He’d been obsessed with Halloween since the beginning of the month. “Let’s not worry about that right now.”

  “I don’t want you to worry, Mom,” Eli said, his voice quiet.

  Startled by the serious tone, Cleo dropped the cards in her hand. “Oh, Eli…” Tears stung the back of her eyes. At eight years old, he shouldn’t be taking on adult concerns. Damn Pete. Or maybe, damn herself for letting her lonely heart pick their father.

  But then, without Pete’s DNA half, Eli wouldn’t be Eli, and Obie wouldn’t be Obie.

  “You made her cry.” Obie shot an accusing look at his big brother.

  “It’s not me,” Eli said, proving again he knew way too much for his age.

  “No, it’s not him,” Cleo agreed. “Moms sometimes get sentimental when she realizes her babies are growing older.”

  “We’re not babies,” the boys said together.

  Cleo had to laugh. “Gather up the cards, will you? I’ll re-deal them as soon as I get you two some juice and cookies.”

  The distraction worked. As she bustled about the cheerful kitchen, they did as directed. Just as she put the plates and cups on the table, the doorbell rang.

  Both boys looked up, mouths full. She pointed at them. “You two stay right here. I don’t want crumbs throughout the house.”

  Then, her stomach tightening, she walked toward the entry. Had Reed come by to visit? She wiped her damp palms on her jeans. Until this moment she didn’t realize how much she wanted to see him.

  Liar.

  Over and over, she’d been recalling his touch, his words—Do you need to be filled, Cleo?—the heavy thrust of his shaft as it pierced her soft, wet tissue.

  At the door, she took a moment to compose herself. Then, on a deep breath, she pulled it open. Disappointment was more prick than pain, but still, she felt like a fool.

  Pasting a smile on her face, she stepped aside for the newcomers. “Alexa. Bing. Please come in.”

  Hand-in-hand, the two stepped inside. The brunette looked even more petite at the side of the lean, rangy man. Stepping out of his hold, she gave Cleo a warm hug. “How are you?”

  “Grateful.” She glanced from the woman to her fiancé. “Is it weird that I’m here?”

  Bing waved that away. “Not at all.”

  Alexa added, “I’m just sorry for the circumstances.”

  “Yes, well…” Awkwardness made her feel hot and clumsy.

  “But we’re not here to put you on the spot about that.” Alexa glanced over her shoulder at Bing. He was watching her, a private smile on his face. She frowned at him. “What?”

  His smiled deepened. “Just enjoying you, doll.”

  Alexa’s brows shot up. “I’m not doing anything.”

  “Don’t have to.” He reached out, grabbed a hank of her hair and used it to pull her back against him. The kiss he dropped to the top of her head was brief, but tender. Then he glanced at Cleo and shrugged. “We’re disgustingly in love.”

  Her lips twitched. “Looks like it.”

  “Disgusting?” Alexa turned on him in faux outrage. “You find my feelings disgusting?”

  Bing spoke to Cleo again. “She’s Italian. Any excuse for a fight.”

  “I’m right here,” Alexa said, narrowing her eyes. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not. And if you don’t knock it off, after this fight I won’t engage in any make-up sex.”

  Clearly amused, he looked down at her. “Yes, you will.”

  Her glare lasted for another five seconds, then she laughed. “Oh, fine. I will.”

  Bing grinned. “You’re so easy.”

  Watching their byplay made Cleo want to weep. Upon Pete’s return from his deployments, there’d never been any kind of easy teasing between them. No unspoken affirmations…or spoken ones either.

  No wonder she’d responded with such fire to Reed’s attentions. Her husband had never touched her after the birth of their younger son. Cleo had been craving simple human touch from an adult male for a long while.

  She told herself now that she could probably go another seven years without it.

  Bing was speaking to her now, and she had to refocus her attention. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “I heard about the job you left behind.”

  “Oh?” She wondered how and why he would care. “I worked at a construction company. Part-time when the boys were younger. Full-time since they both were in pre-school.”

  “What kind of tasks did you do, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  Still puzzled, she shrugged. “What didn’t I do, is more the question. Short of pounding nails, I took on whatever was necessary, from the phones and billing, to typing up bids and taking in designs for city and county approval.”

  “Would your former employer provide a reference?”

  Cleo nodded. “He promised glowing.” Hope kindled as she deduced where this conversation might be going. “Do you…do you know someone who could use a dedicated, hard-working employee?” She barely restrained herself from clasping her hands below her chin. Once she had a permanent job, she could really start rebuilding her life.

  “My brother and I have our own construction company,” Bing said. “We lost our office person and general dogsbody to a full-time degree program. We could use a replacement.”

  “How did you—” But of course she knew how. “Reed.”

  “He mentioned it. Are you interested?”

  She wanted to leap at the chance. “Very much so. But this situation with my ex…” Was she going to have to leave again, and this time find a way to truly disappear?

  “We’ll help with that,” Alexa said, so earnest it made Cleo want to cry again.

  “Your…family—” what else would you call them? “—are helping so much already.”

  The
other woman brushed off that sentiment. “Don’t worry about it, especially when I’m about to do you another favor.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Let us take the boys off your hands for a couple of hours.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t—”

  “You can join the adults over at the Colson’s OK Corral—that’s what I call that Western monstrosity—”

  “No.” Horn in on Reed’s afternoon when he hadn’t even stopped by for a hello? “No.”

  “Then you could use the alone time to consider Bing’s offer,” Alexa said.

  “I really—”

  “There’s a mechanical bull in the basement of the OK Corral. I have two of my young cousins with me today. We’re going to show it to them.”

  “It has a tenderfoot setting,” Bing said. “Even Alexa can keep her seat on it then.”

  The brunette shot her man a dark glance, but declined to verbally respond. “It’s truly safe and Joe and Danny would love to see your guys again.”

  And at least one of her guys deserved an afternoon of kid-centric fun. I don’t want you to worry, Mom. “Thanks,” Cleo said, because her throat was closing up as emotion welled again. “So much.”

  What she hadn’t considered was how restless the quiet would make her once the boys had skipped off with Alexa and Bing. She tidied the kitchen counters, then washed the kitchen counters, then cleaned the sink. After that, she tackled the clean bathroom.

  When the doorbell rang again, it was over the sound of the showerhead washing the suds down the drain of the bathtub. She glanced at herself in the mirror, grimaced at the droplets of water on her T-shirt, and then jogged to the door.

  Maybe it was the boys returning early.

  Maybe it was Reed.

  Her stomach jittered again as she pulled open the door. “Cilla. Hi,” she said.

  The blonde bopped in, smiling and full of energy. She glanced at the sponge Cleo had neglected to leave behind in the bathroom. “I’m here to take you to the ball, Cinderella,” she declared. “Well, really a barbecue.”

  “You’re so nice. All of you,” Cleo said. “But I’m just fine here.”

  “Oh, come on—”

  “What did Reed say?”

  “Not to bother you,” Cilla replied with an unrepentant grin. “But if I listened to everything the princes of Rock Royalty told me…”

  That cheeky smile was infectious. “Do you listen to anything the princes of Rock Royalty tell you?”

  Cilla appeared to consider. “Not if it’s the opposite of what I want. How else do you think I bagged Ren?”

  “He seems pretty content with being caught.”

  “We’re disgustingly in love.”

  Cleo had to laugh. “That’s exactly what Bing said about him and Alexa.”

  “We both got it from Payne. He tells us that all the time. I can’t wait until he falls.”

  Cleo sighed. “I like how close you all are.”

  “Not always, and not every one of us. Some strangely resist my powers of inclusion.” Her brows rose. “A little like you, Cleo.”

  “But I’m not part of your…”

  “Tribe, remember? That’s how we think of it.”

  “Your tribe, then.”

  “It’s just a barbecue, Cleo.”

  What if Reed was happy for the space the move to the canyon had put between them? He wouldn’t want to see her now…especially if he’d brought a date.

  “And I have bridal magazines,” Cilla said, as if they were wine and chocolate rolled into one. “Cami’s heard Lex and me go over wedding details ad nauseam. As the only other woman there besides the three of us, we would have a chance to bore a brand new person.”

  Meaning that Reed hadn’t brought a date.

  “But he’s done so much for me already,” she whispered, the words slipping out.

  A little smile curved Cilla’s mouth and she reached out, touching Cleo’s arm with a soft hand. “Have you thought about it this way?” she asked. “Have you considered maybe there’s something Reed needs from you?”

  Payne pushed a cold beer into Reed’s hand. “What the hell? Stop staring and just go over to her and say hello.”

  Reed forced his gaze away from Cleo, who was sitting on a picnic bench between Cilla and Alexa, her attention focused on some slick magazine. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “She’s probably uncomfortable, hanging around with people she hardly knows.”

  “Why do you say that?” Reed demanded, shifted his wandering gaze back to Payne. Cleo looked perfectly at ease with the other two women. Today, she was dressed in a pair of tight, low-cut jeans that made him think of her naked legs splayed open for his mouth, his dick. Her shirt had tiny sleeves and was loose at the hemline, so loose, that when she’d sat down for a moment he’d caught a glimpse of the skin at the small of her back.

  God, he wanted to do her on her knees, her ass in the air, her head down. He’d hold her hips, his thumbs brushing that sweet spot. Frowning, he glared at Payne. “And by the way, what’s with your one good fuck advice?”

  The other man took the beer away from his lips. “Huh?”

  “You told me that if I had her once, that would work her from under my skin.”

  Payne put his bottle to his mouth, took a long pull, swallowed. Then he looked at Reed, his lips quirking. “Do I seem like someone you should listen to when it comes to affairs of the heart?”

  Affairs of the heart? “This is no affair of the heart,” Reed retorted. “And I sure as hell should have known better than to listen to the guy who tried to kill me on that damn course last week.”

  “Hey, you’re talking to the guy who yesterday won on that damn course,” Payne said. “New speed record too.”

  Reed shook his head. “I don’t know whether to be glad or sorry for you. Wins and records have only got to be feeding your unhealthy adrenaline addiction.”

  The other man shrugged off the warning. Then he slid Reed a sidelong glance. “Really, though, what’s Cleo doing about the ex-situation?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t know the latest and he’d feel like a jackass admitting to it. “What can she do? The sighting of the guy was confirmed only by her eight-year-old. She called the ex’s parents right away, but they didn’t know his whereabouts. I guess she could look into a restraining order…”

  “Probably not if he hasn’t actually approached, and those can backfire anyway.”

  “Yeah.” Again, Reed rubbed his neck.

  “Onto a happier subject,” Payne began. “How’s the latest book going?”

  Yeah, talking about that would lighten him up. Not at all.

  The fact was, his place seemed too quiet without Cleo and her boys on the other side of the fence. Their absence ached like a sore tooth, distracting Reed from work. Meaning Jesse’s monsters were hovering and Reed hadn’t been able to do a damn thing about it.

  He was all too familiar with that helpless feeling.

  The exuberant shouts of children and the sound of running feet saved him from having to answer. Both he and Payne half-turned to see Eli and Obie, followed by two of Alexa’s young cousins, come running past, kicking a soccer ball ahead of them.

  “Looks like the kids are no worse for wear,” Payne said.

  Reed wondered. He pushed both hands through his hair. “You think?”

  “You could ask their mom,” Payne’s tone was sly.

  “I don’t know why you’re pushing like this.”

  “I don’t know why you’re working so hard to avoid her. Was she lousy in the sack?”

  Fuck, no. She was so good that he wanted to be with her over and over and over again. That was the problem. So he was keeping his distance and keeping clear of potential entanglements that a Velvet Lemons life had not prepared him for. That a year at Oceanview Army-Navy had proven it was better to keep away from. Knock it off.

  “Maybe we can get Walsh to do it,” Payne mused. “He looks pret
ty friendly with her.”

  “Do what? With whom?” Reed glanced around, saw his brother standing by the women, grinning down at them. Grinning at Cleo.

  “I’m thinking a man should stay at the compound. Your friend has got to be nervous here alone.”

  “She’s not my friend, at least not in that smarmy way you’re saying it. And she’s not…” Hell, was she nervous?

  Reed took another long look at her. Truly, she seemed relaxed. Her head was tilted back, her eyes on his brother. Her mouth curved.

  That kissable, tempting, luscious mouth.

  Hell. “You’re making me nuts,” Reed muttered, and stalked off.

  Toward the four boys, instead of toward Cleo and Walsh, like he wanted to.

  He ignored the caveman urge to yank his brother out of the range of her smile, but he couldn’t overlook his concern that she was uneasy living at the compound alone with just her children as company. Since he’d promised himself he’d keep his distance from her, he was going to see what he could ferret from her kids.

  He gestured them over and Alexa’s cousins didn’t seem to mind the temporary loss of their playmates. “Yeah?” Eli said, running up. Obie tailed him. They both had a healthy flush on their faces.

  “Just checking in,” Reed told him. “You guys doing all right?”

  “We rode the bull!” Obie said.

  “And the hot dogs were pretty good,” his brother added. “Ren burned ‘em, but he says eating the black parts will make us strong and mean like him.”

  Obie frowned. “I don’t think Mommy wants us to be mean.”

  “I want to be mean,” Eli muttered. “Then nobody can mess with me.”

  Reed rubbed at his chest. Christ, these two little kids plucked at heartstrings he’d thought were long atrophied. He cleared his throat. “I’m glad you’re having fun today. But I want to know how things are going, uh…in general. Over the last couple of days.” Is your mother pacing the floors? Constantly checking the windows and doors? Pining after me?