“I need to explain about Hugh,” she said, tearing her mouth from his.
Shaw had no interest—none—in discussing her ex. No way, no how did he want that to happen now. But Sunny stepped back as if she was going to insist on it.
“He’s an ass,” Shaw quickly volunteered, hoping that would suffice and cut off any further talk. It didn’t.
“I don’t want you to think I’m an idiot for getting involved with him,” she went on.
“I don’t,” he assured her quickly in the hopes of shortening this chat. “He owns bookstores, right?” He’d gotten the gist of that from the argument he’d had to sit through. The rest he’d gotten from Em and town gossip. Hugh was a widower who’d lost his wife over a decade ago. “I’m guessing that sort of lured you in since you’ve always loved books. Then, there’s Ryan. He would have been part of the lure, too.”
Her eyes widened, and she was obviously surprised that he could zoom in on it so fast. “I did love him,” she said. “I wouldn’t have agreed to marry him if I didn’t love him. But then things fell apart. It was as if once I accepted his proposal, he quit having anything to do with Ryan. It was as if he wanted to turn over everything to do with parenting to me.”
Shaw didn’t have any trouble seeing that about the guy, but he was betting Sunny hadn’t been aware of it until she was already in too deep.
“At least you ended things before you married him,” Shaw pointed out.
“Yes, there is that, but just getting involved with him was a mistake. With Eric, too.”
“Eric, your first fiancé?”
She nodded. “He’s a lot like Hugh in that he sort of ditched his daughter, Miranda, as well. I’m still fairly close with her.”
Shaw figured that Sunny had picked up on the pattern here so there was no need to point it out.
“Anyway, I just didn’t want you to think that I was an idiot,” she repeated.
“I’ve known you longer than either of those guys.” Something that gave him a smug sort of satisfaction. “And I know you’re not an idiot.”
She released her breath as if she’d been holding it, which made Shaw want to curse. Had she really thought he was going to bash her for trying to be a mother to two kids? Not a chance.
“Okay,” she said, and her smile wasn’t so small now, and it was tinged with relief. “That’s the conversation part of our date. Do you want to eat?” She tipped her head to the granola bars and water.
“Maybe later. What’s the next part of our date?” And he was smiling, too, because he could feel the heat starting to tingle and zap between them. Shaw sent the tingling and zapping up a notch when he pulled her back into his arms.
There was nothing tentative about this kiss, which meant she’d obviously cleared her mind so she could focus on this. Though Shaw wasn’t sure just how far this would go. After all, he was in his office, and while the door was locked and the house was empty, that didn’t mean Rowley wouldn’t come looking for him. It was also possible that Sunny had just come here for a good make-out session.
Or not.
Shaw got his first clue about where this was headed when she stopped again. “Hold on. I brought something else with me.” She hurried to her purse and came back with a condom.
So, she wanted more than making out, and his body thought that was a stellar idea. That’s why once again he hauled her back to him, and this time he intended to hang on for a while.
He got to work on that long, slow kiss quest, moving his mouth to her neck. Shaw experienced a moment of déjà vu when she went after the buttons of his shirt with a clumsiness that reminded him a little of their hayloft adventure. But after she bared his chest and put her hands on him, he wouldn’t have noticed clumsiness if it smacked him in the face.
Shaw had to stop kissing her neck when she dropped lower to kiss his chest. All in all, he thought that was a great trade-off, especially when she flicked her tongue over his nipple. He hadn’t especially needed anything to spur him to action, but that did it.
He caught onto the bottom of her dress, sliding it up, up, up. Until he reached the top of her thigh and the leg of her panties. They were just as skimpy as her other ones, and because the lights were on, he could see that these were red. His new favorite color.
Sunny had to stop kissing his chest when Shaw went closer to kiss his new favorite color. Right in the middle of that swatch of lace. Right in the center of Sunny’s heat. That tasted so good that he went in for more. He moved the swatch of lace to the side and put a better spin on the dinner date.
Her head dropped back and she moaned, fisting her hand in his hair. She was wet and ready, and Shaw was reasonably sure he could have finished her off with a nibble or two. But he wanted more. He wanted to put that condom to good use and be inside her. Still, he couldn’t help himself and he lingered a bit. Until Sunny was seriously pulling his hair and begging for more.
Shaw gave her more.
Sliding her dress up to her waist, he kept on kissing while he dropped back into his chair. Thankfully, Sunny fit right on his lap with her legs spread. Straddling him.
Her face was flushed, her breath gusting when she looked at him. “My clothes stay on, okay?”
He nodded, knowing he would have possibly agreed to a lobotomy at this point, but he didn’t like Sunny feeling the need to hide her scar from him. Still, fully clothed sex with Sunny was better than bare-assed naked with anybody else.
Of course, being clothed didn’t mean they didn’t have to make some adjustments. Adjustments that Sunny helped with when she leaned back and unzipped him. She freed his erection from his boxers and handed him the condom. Shaw took care of that and pushed the crotch of her panties to the side.
Pay dirt.
Everything was lined up just as it should be, and Sunny might have gone for impalement again if Shaw hadn’t caught onto her hips. Keeping his eyes locked with hers, he eased her down slowly. Slow enough to make him want to start begging. Slow enough to allow him to feel the gradual slippery slide into her. He felt her body stretch, adjust to take him in.
This was well past the pay dirt stage.
“You’re still huge,” she mumbled. He froze for a second and was about to ask her if she wanted to stop, but Sunny added, “That’s not a complaint.”
Shaw managed a chuckle and finished that slow, slippery slide.
Man, she felt good, and Shaw had to squeeze his eyes shut a moment to rein in what his body wanted to do to her. His dick wanted fast and furious. Now, now, now. But since it might be a while before he hit pay dirt again, Shaw went as slow as he could. He clamped his hands on her hips and started moving her forward. Deeper. Until she’d taken all of him.
Sunny didn’t have any trouble getting in sync with the rhythm. Probably because her own body didn’t give her much of a choice about it. That was the problem with good sex. It wasn’t meant to last. It was meant to feed that primal need and release the pressure cooker heat that the friction was building. Plain and simple. It was meant to make them mindless idiots seeking the ultimate thrill.
And the thrill came for Sunny first.
Just the way Shaw had planned it. That way, he got to watch her eyes glaze with the heat. He got to see her mouth open when the moan of pleasure slipped its way through. And he got to feel her wet muscles clamp around him. Not around his fingers this time, either, but a much more sensitive part of him. All that muscle clamping did what it was designed to do, and Shaw didn’t hold back.
It’d been fifteen years since the last time Sunny had gotten him off. And in that moment, Shaw decided the wait had been worth it. He dragged Sunny against him and let go.
“Do you hear bells ringing?” Sunny asked.
Because both their breaths were gusting, it took Shaw a moment to figure out what she’d said. “Yeah, I hear them.”
He’d never heard post-sex
bells before, so maybe it was a first. But then he heard the knock. Not on his office door. It sounded as if it was coming from the front of the house. And it wasn’t stopping. Whoever was out there just kept ringing and knocking.
Shit.
This was not an interruption he wanted seconds after “worth the wait” getting off, but it could be some kind of emergency. Maybe one of the hands had been hurt or, God forbid, maybe someone in his family had been in an accident.
Sunny must have realized that was a possibility, too, because she scrambled off his lap. Thankfully, there was a small half bath just off his office, and Shaw hurried there to clean up. By the time he’d managed that, the knocking and ringing had stopped, but he heard Rowley’s voice.
“Shaw, you here?” the hand called out.
“I’ll be right there.” He glanced over at Sunny, who was fixing her makeup with stuff she’d taken from her purse. She crammed everything back inside and followed him out of the office.
Rowley was already in the hall, and he wasn’t alone. There was a short older woman next to him.
“Uh, you’ve got a visitor,” Rowley said. He lifted his hand as if he was about to make introductions, but the woman beat him to it.
“I’m Maxine Marbury,” the woman said, her voice crisp and all business. She was barely five feet tall, but she had the attitude of a Doberman. Sort of snarly and “don’t mess with me” dust-gray eyes. “Are you Shaw Jameson?”
“I am. What do you want?”
She showed him some kind of credentials in a plastic covered sleeve that she wore on a chain around her neck. “I’m from Child Protective Services. There’s been a complaint against you, and I’m here to take custody of Kinsley Rubio. She needs to come with me right now.”
A couple of words snagged Shaw’s attention. Complaint against you and take custody of Kinsley.
“Who filed a complaint?” he asked. “And what’s it about?”
The woman’s mouth went tight. “I can’t and won’t disclose that. Just get Kinsley out here now.”
Shaw’s own mouth went tight, too. “She’s on her way to San Antonio with my sister and mother to attend a study group.” He doubted Ms. Marbury would appreciate it if he tried to lighten her tense face with a joke about polynomials. “She won’t be back for hours.”
“I’ll wait,” she insisted. “Call her. Get her back here ASAP because she’s coming with me.”
Shaw had known there was a chance that CPS would show up, but he didn’t like the way this was playing out. He took his phone from his pocket to call Cait and then Aurora. Before he could so, Sunny’s phone dinged with a text message. He didn’t think it was a good sign that Sunny muttered a profanity after she read it.
He wanted to mutter some, too, when she showed him the screen, and he saw the message there.
From Sunshine.
Tell Shaw that if he dicks around with me, I’ll dick around right back. I hope he has fun talking to CPS about the complaint I filed.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
IT WAS TOO bad that her mother’s name was Sunshine because Sunny was transferring some of the disgust she felt for the woman on the actual sunshine that was spearing through the windows of the Jameson living room. Judging from the way Shaw was scowling, he was doing some mental cursing, too.
What a mess.
Correction: what another mess. And like so many other times, this was her mother’s fault. Normally, Sunshine only ended up hurting Em, Sunny or her siblings; this time Kinsley had gotten caught up in it.
Sunny checked the time again. It’d been over a half hour since Shaw had tried, and failed, to get in touch with Aurora. He’d had better success with Cait, and he’d asked her to bring Kinsley back to the ranch. He’d added that they needed to get some things straightened out, but that wasn’t a straightening-out look in the social worker’s eyes. She clearly didn’t want to sit around in the living room with Shaw and Sunny. Ms. Marbury just wanted to take her charge and get the heck out of there. Obviously, the woman believed that Shaw had done something wrong, and they could thank Sunshine for getting that lie-snowball rolling.
“You’re sure I can’t get anyone coffee or tea?” Sunny asked, trying to stay pleasant.
And hopeful.
Maybe Shaw could indeed straighten this out and Kinsley wouldn’t have to leave. In the meantime, Sunny figured it would be smart to get on the social worker’s good side—hence the offer of coffee and tea despite this not being Sunny’s house. But judging from the woman’s scowl, she had no good side.
“No, thanks,” Shaw grumbled.
At the moment he didn’t have a good side, either. Well, not now, but he’d certainly been good when they’d been having sex in his office. Sunny had hoped to spend the rest of the afternoon with him, perhaps using the second condom she’d brought with her, but there was no way that was going to happen now. It would take some doing for Shaw to talk the social worker into allowing Kinsley to stay at the ranch.
If Shaw wanted Kinsley to stay, that is.
Shaw had to be fed up with Marty’s other kids showing up and disrupting his life, but Sunny thought that maybe he’d started to make a connection with Kinsley. Cait had, too. Which wouldn’t make things any easier for Kinsley if she got placed in the system. The girl could end up living far away from Lone Star Ridge.
“I suppose you’re here often?” Ms. Marbury asked, her voice cutting through the silence.
Sunny wished the woman had stayed quiet because that sounded like an accusation. Of course, maybe Sunny was reading into it because, after all, they had just had sex.
“Shaw and I are old friends,” Sunny said. “I come here sometimes.” She tried not to wince at her word choice of come. “I’m not a bad influence on Kinsley,” she added when the woman’s stare put her on the defensive. “Neither is Shaw.”
She needed to stop babbling because Sunny doubted there was anything she could say that would make this better. Thankfully, she didn’t have a chance to babble more because the doorbell rang. Sunny automatically steeled herself for Kinsley to come in before realizing the girl wouldn’t have rung the bell.
Shaw went to the door, throwing it open, and while she couldn’t see who was there, she did see the instant change in Shaw’s body language. He pulled back his shoulders, and his hands went to his hips.
“Dad,” Shaw said, and it wasn’t a friendly greeting.
That brought Sunny to her feet. She hurried to the door to see... Yes, it was Marty on the porch. The grin Marty gave them was definitely friendly even though there wasn’t a thing to smile about.
It’d been years since Sunny had seen Marty, but he hadn’t changed much. Looks-wise, he was an older version of Shaw, though Marty didn’t have his son’s seriousness. Nope. He carried himself exactly the way an aging country music star would in his well-worn “I don’t have to try too hard” jeans and the T-shirt from his Just Marty tour that he’d done shortly after he’d hit it big.
When he pulled off his Stetson, complete with—naturally—a snakeskin band, she saw that his long, nearly shoulder length hair was threaded with gray. But both that and the wrinkles around his eyes only seemed to add more character to his face. A face that needed no more of that. Simply put, Marty was a good-looking, cocky, irresponsible and charming fool.
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for two weeks,” Shaw snarled.
That didn’t cause Marty’s grin to fade. He stepped in and motioned as if to give Shaw a hug. However, Shaw’s “do it and die” expression must have put him off. Marty hugged her instead.
“Sunny,” Marty said, pulling her into his arms. “It’s good to see you, darlin’.”
She wasn’t flattered by the darlin’ because, coming from Marty, it wasn’t a term of endearment. It’s what he called most women, and she suspected that was easier for him than remembering the names of the st
ring of females who came and went in his life.
Still, Sunny didn’t balk at being lumped in with the rest of the women. She didn’t know why, but it had always felt good that Shaw’s father had been able to tell her apart from her sisters. Few people could do that, especially when they were kids and Sunshine had dressed them alike.
“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for two weeks,” Shaw repeated, the comment even more of a growl than it had been earlier.
Marty released her, nodded. “I got your messages. Leyton’s and Cait’s, too. That’s why I came.” He didn’t explain why it’d taken him so long to get there. Instead, Marty glanced around. “Is Kinsley here?”
If Sunny was doling out points, she would have given Marty half of one for at least knowing Kinsley’s name, but it was obvious Shaw wasn’t in a point-giving mood.
“She’s on her way,” Shaw supplied. He tipped his head to Ms. Marbury. “And this is the social worker who wants to take her.” Shaw muttered a single curse word under his breath. “The kid’s had a rough go of it, and you might have helped with that if you’d shown up sooner.”
Shaw couldn’t put much of a tongue-lashing tone on that last comment though because there were definitely no guarantees of Marty’s help even if he had been there.
“Hello, darlin’,” Marty greeted, making his charming-scoundrel way over to the social worker. “I’m Marty Jameson, Kinsley’s father.”
The social worker had no trouble with a tongue-lashing tone, and she aimed narrowed suspicious eyes at him. The woman likely would have launched into a question or two, challenging his fatherhood claim, perhaps objecting to the darlin’, too, but the sound of a car engine halted the conversation.
Since the front door was still open, Sunny saw Cait pull to a stop in front of the house. She wasn’t sure how much Shaw had told his sisters and mother, but it was obvious they were aware there was a problem because they hurried toward the house with Kinsley leading the pack. She had what appeared to be a textbook under her arm and a puzzled but determined look on her face. When the girl came to a skidding halt, Sunny knew Kinsley had recognized her father.
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