His Little Lanie

by Keri Ford

  Tommy, her oldest brother, held up paper plates. “Got that covered smarty-pants.”

  “You can be taught!” She stuck a finger in the air.

  Tristian caught her up from behind and swung her around with ease until she faced the room upside down. “Where’s that smart mouth now?”

  Luke wiggled his fingers at her and aimed for her belly. “I bet I can find it.”

  “Don’t you dare!” She pointed at him. “Daddy!”

  Tristian had her upright and feet back on the ground in an instant. “Tattletale.”

  Luke tugged her hair. “You know I wouldn’t have really tickled you.”

  “Liar.” She poked his side as she went by.

  He just grinned as Dad leaned in. “Is the table set yet?”

  “On it!” Sounded out in a chorus of male voices.

  She crossed the room and hugged him, leaving a kiss on his cheek. “Hi.”

  “I was starting to wonder if you’d make it.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Torrance drew something for me to build, and he had questions about it.” That was after she’d sat and stared into her bedroom mirror for twenty minutes lost in an Eriksen daydream. No sense in sharing that with her father though.

  His worried features softened. “You should have brought the kids.”

  “They were already expected to go to Jacob’s parents’ house.” That was the most awesome part of her family. When Violet had moved back home alone with a toddler on each hip, her family wasted no time in wrapping them into the fold. When there had been no daddy in the picture, the twins had six male figures who taught every daddy thing in the world. Lanie had always been proud of her family, but in those years it had really hit home for her that she was one very lucky girl.

  As she moved between the boys, remembering how they’d managed this around the twins and Violet too, what would it be like with Eriksen in the mix? He was nearly as large as they were. Not as tall and a little leaner, but he held his own space. Probably wouldn’t be much different than when one of the guys had a friend over. She bumped into Tommy as she grabbed a can opener. “Sorry.”

  Then again, bumping into Eriksen wasn’t such a terrible thing to think about. It was hard to get close to him when she was in the water and he in the boat, but how could she change that? Last time she tried talking to him on land, her mind had shut off. Being in the water gave them this… oh heck. She didn’t know what to call it. Safe corner to be in. She mixed the fruit cocktail with whipped cream and set it on the table.

  She knocked into Jeff on the way back to the sink and chuckled. “Sorry!”

  Safe was boring. And lonely. Living dangerous sounded so thrilling. Not like life-in-peril kind of danger, but kissing sounded nice. A shiver tickled through her by the thought. She could practically feel the pressure of his lips to hers. It would be a tingle that would sweep her away into a cloud-nine, all-consuming life experience she’d never be able to forget. She just knew it would be that way.

  She reached for silverware and jabbed Mike in the side. He grunted and spun around, brows pulled together as he stared over her, then dropped his gaze to her. “Lanie, I was about to knock one of these dorks’ heads off.”

  “You could try.” Luke gave a good-natured slug to Mike’s arm.

  “Sorry.” She dipped around them both and grabbed a handful of forks. It would start with a kiss. Then a caress. A tickle slipped in her belly, and it took all she had not to spin in the middle of the kitchen on the way to the table. What was even the matter with her?

  She didn’t think about guys like this. She grabbed the bowl of salad. She didn’t live every minute thinking of them either. She wasn’t that silly-giggling-girl type. She was Lanie. Lanie Lange. She was tough and fierce. And when she wanted to be, forgettable. She had her own drum she liked to pound. She just sort of wanted to bring Eriksen along with her now.

  Something plowed into the back of her, flung her forward, and lettuce went flying through the kitchen along with curse words from Mike. She tripped, catching herself on a chair. Salad splattered across the table and floor. “What the heck?”

  Mike gaped at her. “Me? You just fucking stopped moving in the middle of the room.”

  “I’m taking food to the table.” She held up her empty salad bowl. “Or I was.”

  “That may have been your plan, but you gave it up halfway through.”

  Dad leaned in. “Can you kids just get the table ready? Y’all are in your thirties and forties. You sound like a herd of teenagers in here.” Then Dad was back outside, and Lanie ducked her head with shame and started to pick up.

  She didn’t make it far when Tristian caught her wrist. “Is there something you need to tell us?”

  She froze, caught in the gaze of her five brothers. Not that she was afraid, but her mind was as empty as a dry fish tank, and they were looking at her like she’d gotten home ten minutes past curfew. “About?”

  “You know.”

  She searched her mind for what they could possibly want. There was nothing new at work, nothing new with her friends. It couldn’t be possible that they’d caught her with Eriksen. She’d barely got herself caught with him, and nobody else had been around. She hadn’t wrecked her truck, forgotten anything—that she could think of it. Still they stared on. “Not that I know of.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She glanced them all over. “Yes. Positive.”

  Mike eyed her a moment longer, then backed off. “All right.”

  They all got back to what they were doing and left her standing there in the middle of vegetables on the floor. “What in the world was that about?”

  Mike didn’t look her way, but pulled cups from the cabinet. “Just a feeling.”

  “Are you physic now?”

  He swung around on her. “Are you admitting you’re hiding something?”

  Crap. She struggled and finally pulled something together. “I meant about the future. It was a joke.”

  He didn’t comment and returned to emptying the refrigerator of cheese and bacon bits for potatoes. The air was charged with an uncomfortable energy that left her skin itching. All through lunch the boys talked like nothing was different, but there was no missing the looks they shot her way.

  Either Dad didn’t notice or he was staying out of it. It could go either way. She racked her brain for what they could want. Every excuse was quickly dismissed, and she mentally returned to Eriksen. There was just no way they could know about him.

  Impossible. She’d only seen him three times recently. Since only one of those times was in their shop at a public place, that just simply couldn’t be it. Besides, he owned part of the building. There was nothing suspicious about it even if her brothers had heard something. Plus Cindy and Violet had been there that day too. Nothing at all to see there. None. And when she’d seen him at the lake, there was barely enough light for her to see anything.

  Her dad caught her gaze. “Lanie, have you been to the cabin lately?”

  Oh God. Had it suddenly gotten hotter in here, or was her chair attached to a heater? All her brothers stared at her, and the heat intensified until it was so hot flames were surely threatening to burst from her cheeks. She’d never in her life discussed boys and dating with her family. She was not some teenager, living under their roof, but, goodness, as they all looked at her, she might as well be. “I was out there earlier this week.”

  “Everything look okay?”

  Oh my. A thought smashed into her head. Had Dad put in a string of closed-circuit cameras out there? The security equipment was all over the junkyard and especially in the mechanic shop with all the tools. Had Dad put something out there to keep an eye on things and they had seen Eriksen with her at the lake? She sipped a drink of water and cleared her throat. She didn’t want to share him, not yet—maybe not even at all. An old memory flashed of her poor Ken doll’s broken legs. She hedged to be safe. If growing up with brothers taught her one thing, it was never tattle on yours
elf by saying too much. “Everything looked like usual.”

  He nodded and returned to his lunch. “That’s good. I figure you’ll be up there more the closer it is to summer. You usually are.”

  “Probably.”

  “Let me know if something needs repaired.”

  “Okay.” The conversation moved on to something about a truck needing a new motor, but the sinking feeling in her gut and the assessing eyes from her brothers stayed put. As the lunch dishes were put away, the feeling never left. The clock ticked forever. She practically counted seconds off until she could leave without drawing a scene. She needed out of there. She was making a mountain out of nothing. So what if they knew she talked to Eriksen. That was nothing. It was fine. It wasn’t like they were doing all the things she’d been imaging. And if they were, that was fine too. She glanced at the men surrounding her and nearly said as much, but found it clogged in her throat. There was zero purpose in announcing to her family she wanted to get naked with Eriksen.

  Some fresh air would do her good. Checking the cabin to see if Dad had mounted some cameras would do her even better.

  She made her hugs and got away, only to find she hadn’t slipped off as well as she thought.

  Luke leaned against her truck, thumbs hooked in his pants.

  She sighed. “What now? You going to throw me in the back and haul me off for interrogation?”

  “You bumped into us.”

  Looked like the vagueness was going to continue. “What are you talking about? I wish whatever is going on, someone would just say it, because I don’t know.”

  “In the kitchen, before lunch. You bumped into us. Into all of us. Several times, like you were distracted.” Luke pushed off the side of the truck and closed in on her.

  Heat crept to her cheeks. She put her hands over her face and rubbed to hide evidence of the blush. “So what?”

  “I guess nothing, but you’ve never bumped into us like that. Seems like something is on your mind.”

  Some light began to shed on the situation, and she’d rather it all stay under a rock. It was exactly as she’d feared before getting out of the truck. So she side-stepped. “I have a job, you know, that can be stressful.”

  He cocked his brow at her, and dang it, she was a terrible liar. “You love your job. It’s fun and not in the least stressful because you’re lucky as hell.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you.” There, not a lie.

  He paused by her. “You could tell me what you’re hiding.”

  “I’m not hiding anything.” Nothing more than usual. Eriksen didn’t really count too much. In comparison to sneaking out to swim at night since she was sixteen, having three conversations with Eriksen was really not a thing at all.

  He nodded. “That’s what you keep saying.”

  He walked off, leaving her by her truck and feeling like crap. Of all her brothers, he would be the one she could talk to about Eriksen the most. Only problem was there were no secrets in a house of six siblings. She climbed into her truck and kept her thoughts to herself. She couldn’t possibly tell them she was just talking to Eriksen and he had her thinking about things. Not even harmless things like, well, there really wasn’t anything harmless about her thoughts. He made her think about things she didn’t know.

  Made her want things she’d never had but read about.

  Yes. That was a dangerous road to be on with her brothers. Just thinking about them would have her brothers seeking him out to threaten his life to the last inch if he dared to hurt her. They called it loved. She called it a bit much, but there wasn’t a lot she could do about them and their overprotective selves. She drove to the end of the driveway when her phone chimed. She stopped at the turnoff and found a tickle working all over her at seeing Eriksen’s name across the screen.

  I know what I want to do.

  She responded, asking where. She should drive on. If her brothers caught her at the end of the road giddy in the front seat, they wouldn’t let her off the property. She shifted into gear when her phone trilled.

  I’d rather show you. Where to meet and what time?

  Good question. She drummed on her lips. Did she dare meet him at the cabin? Where they would be virtually alone, on the ground? A shudder racked through her nerves and left goosebumps across her skin. She wanted that. But only until she could ensure it was actually private. She texted back that she’d let him know soon.

  Chapter Six

  Never in a million years would Eriksen have thought he’d be preparing to sneak around his parents’ house at night, but here he was, leaned over a saw, planning to do that very thing. For three days he’d pulled at his hair, trying to figure out something to do with Lanie for his turn at leaving a tail. For reasons he wasn’t interested in trying to explain to himself, he wanted it to be something to impress Lanie.

  Which he got was completely not the point of her adventure, but seeing her pleased was all that mattered to Eriksen. Whoever benefited in the process was a nonissue, though in this case that person was his mom and by extension—Dad. He picked up his final cedar board, snipped it to the length he’d marked, and added it to his full pile when finally his phone vibrated in his back pocket.

  My cabin? Whenever. I’m here now.

  Eriksen didn’t waste any more time. He could finish the bit of assembly here or do it with her at his mom’s house when they put it together. The answer was a no-brainer. He put his saw away, grabbed his drill, nails, and headed for her cabin. He hadn’t been to the place by road, but because it was along the stretch near the ones Hank was repairing, he knew where the driveway was to take him in.

  As he rounded the final bend, he was struck by how much bigger it was than it appeared from the water. That wasn’t usually the way it worked. Most of the homes situated on the water wanted to show off their best angle from the lakeside. Not the drive in. A wide, covered porch extended across the front, the makings of a thick rock fireplace stuck off the end. The roof pitched to a high point at the center, and windows covered every surface that was either a second story or high ceilings that offered light into the first floor below.

  The front door opened and Lanie walked out. He didn’t really give a shit about much of the house after that. She wore soft-looking pants that hung loose, like she had just rolled out of bed, and a wide-neck shirt clinging off a shoulder that had him swallowing his tongue. He got out of his truck and put actual thought into walking so he wouldn’t fall on his face.

  Sure he’d seen her in her swimsuit. It showed skin and all her curves, but it wasn’t even close to the same as sunlight pouring all over her with her hair loose to her elbows. If she looked like this more often, she’d have never been able to disappear beneath everyone’s noses. Hell, she wouldn’t be able to walk down the fucking sidewalk without causing a pileup in the street. He suddenly had more appreciation for her normal don’t-care-about-your-shit attire of baggy jeans and long button-down welding shirts. He shook off the caveman thoughts.

  Possessiveness wasn’t him. That said, as he looked at her while he walked up the steps to the porch, an urge to write his name across her flew all over him. Maybe he was picking up a new trait because damned if he didn’t want to mark her as his. He’d like to spend the whole afternoon making sure she understood he wanted her for himself in every physical way possible. The outright desire to do so was so animalistic and shocking that he rocked back a step and edged around her. If he put his hands on her, he may not want to take them off. He doubted that’s what he and Lanie were, but there were better ways to find out than just suddenly pinning her to the wall. He put his hand to the raw wood of the porch post and swallowed to maintain the nearly uncontrollable intensity.

  She eased past him and sat in a rocking chair and tucked a foot under her as she did. “What are your plans? You’ve kept me in suspense all day.”

  His plans beyond putting her over his shoulder? He stared at his truck and thought about his mother. It didn’t do much to sway the turn of hi
s thoughts. He shouldn’t, but this was the moment he’d been waiting on for days, so he spun around and leaned against that railing so he could watch Lanie. Would she be pleased by his idea? Disappointed he hadn’t picked a random stranger? “I want to sneak some raised garden beds in Mom’s backyard.”

  “I like that.” The corner of her mouth pulled into a smile he’d like to trace with his tongue.

  He cleared his throat. “I was trying to figure out what to do, and I saw your handiwork at the library when I thought of it. It’s something she’s wanted for a while, but honestly I don’t know that she’ll keep it up. It’s why Dad hasn’t broken down and built them for her yet. She tends to have good intentions with all these ideas but doesn’t follow them through. She’ll be surprised by their appearance though.”

  “With it being a surprise, she might keep up a garden.”

  “I thought that too. She would not want to disappoint a potential neighbor.”

  Before doing something like getting on his knees at Lanie’s feet and walking his fingers up her thighs, he gripped the porch railing. “You practically have a house here. From the water, I thought it was more a rustic cabin.”

  “It was a house.”

  He glanced at her. “It’s not anymore?”

  She flicked her wrist. “It’s where Mom and Dad lived before she died. Dad moved closer to town after that, and it’s mostly been left to sit.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “She died when I was a baby. Heartattack. I don’t remember her.” She shrugged and pushed out of her chair and walked back through the front door.

  She left the door open like he was supposed to follow, and he was unwilling to do anything but float along behind her. “But your dad held on to this place after all these years?”

  “Yeah.” She kicked her flip-flops off at the door. “They still come out here in the summer. They usually fish, but sometimes we all make a day of it and swim and cookout.”

  He toed his boots off too and followed her in. The entrance opened up to a wide living room that was bracketed by windows facing the water off the back and stairs up to a second floor to the left. He followed Lanie to the right, rounded a corner, and walked into a kitchen. Everything was old. The cabinets a light wood with thin doors on them. The floor was faded and peeling. Even the appliances were just worn down like they’d been there for decades.