While she kissed and Brody touched—the man used his fingers where his mouth had just been—Janessa tackled his belt and zipper. She was about to free him from his boxers when she realized something.
“Please tell me you put another condom in your wallet,” she managed to say.
“Two of them.” Wiggling and pressing against her, he worked his wallet out of his back pocket.
She grinned because she might get both the quickie and the follow-up right here. Then again, she wouldn’t mind having Brody in bed, especially since she could stay the whole night.
He did some amazing multitasking by French kissing her while he worked on the condom. Since they were smushed right against each other, that involved lots and lots of touching. So much so that Janessa nearly climaxed before he could even get inside her. But once he made that thrust into her, she was so glad she’d managed to wait. Because this was the kind of orgasm that racked through her whole body.
One long stroke and she was a willing, ready and able goner.
She took hold of Brody, matching his strokes until he was a goner right along with her.
* * *
JANESSA STRETCHED LIKE a lazy, sated cat. One with a hot naked cowboy next to her in his bed and a clock on the nightstand that told her it was a little past seven in the morning. That meant she still had another hour with him before she’d need to make her way back to the ranch house.
She blew off the idea of getting up so she could do some work stuff before it was time for her to take over baby duty. Some of the work stuff might be important, but right now, waking up next to Brody was something she wanted to savor a little longer.
He was still asleep on his stomach, and while the sheet covered his butt, the rest of him was right there for her viewing pleasure. So, she viewed. And recalled exactly what he’d managed to do to her with that amazing body of his.
Outside, the rain pattered and pinged on the tin roof. The vents from the heater stirred the gauzy white curtains, and the air brushed over her skin like a lover’s touch. Well, some lovers anyway. Brody’s touch was more masterful at stirring her up rather that brushing her like air.
He didn’t move, but since she was watching him, she saw his eyes open. Unlike her waking up, there was no indication that he was puzzled as to why she was there. Of course, he was waking up in his own bed, and it was entirely possible that he often woke up to see a lover looking at him.
Smiling a lazy smile, he took hold of her arm, pulling her down to him for a kiss. “Morning,” he drawled, and then he cursed when his gaze shifted to the clock. “I don’t usually sleep in.”
Apparently, they had entirely different notions as to what constituted sleeping in. “It’s Saturday,” she reminded him. “You have work?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” He cursed again, and sitting up, he scrubbed his hand over his face. Then kissed her long and hard enough to scramble her mind. “I got a text last night right before you got here. I have a meeting in my office at eight.”
Crud. That meant there’d be no time for a quickie, especially since he’d need to get dressed.
“Any chance you can come back tonight?” he asked, getting out of bed and giving her a prime peep show. It was a reminder that she still had plans to tongue kiss him from head to toe.
“Possibly. I need to check the baby schedule and see what’s going on at Bright Hope.”
“You want to grab a shower with me?” he asked. “It’d have to be a fast one.”
She was about to take him up on that offer, but there was a knock at the door. “Janessa, it’s me,” she heard her mother call out. “I really need to talk to you.”
Well, heck. This couldn’t be good, and Janessa prayed nothing had happened with the baby.
“Go ahead and take your shower,” she told Brody as she threw back the covers and got out of bed. “I’ll deal with Sophia.”
“No, I want to see why she’s here.” He began pulling on his jeans.
Janessa spotted her dress on the floor, but she didn’t see her panties and bra. They had to be somewhere in Brody’s house, though. After their incredible hammock sex, she had slipped back on her dress, gathered her underwear and boots, and they’d kissed and groped their way across the pasture to his house. The kissing and groping had been a serious and delicious distraction so she wasn’t sure where the bra and panties had ended up.
Because Sophia knocked and called out to her again, Janessa skipped the underwear search, threw on the dress and hurried out of the bedroom and through the house. Brody was right behind her, and he managed to get his jeans zipped up just as Janessa opened the door. She immediately got hit with some of the icy rain that was slanting onto the porch.
“Is the baby okay?” Janessa blurted out.
“She’s fine,” Sophia insisted. “There’s nothing wrong with her.”
Janessa’s breath swooshed out, and that’s when she realized Sophia wasn’t alone. Curt was with her, and Janessa didn’t miss that both he and her mother looked as if they’d also hastily thrown on their clothes.
“It’s about Riggs. It’s all taken care of,” Sophia quickly added. “Since I was almost positive you’d be here with Brody, I decided to come over and tell you myself. I just didn’t want you to hear about it from Dallas PD or Kyle.”
Oh, mercy. The cops were involved in this. “What happened?”
“Kyle called to tell me that Riggs showed up at Bright Hope about an hour ago, and he set off the security alarms when he tried to get in. Riggs never got in,” Sophia emphasized. “The cops got there fast. So did Kyle. And Riggs was arrested for violating the restraining order.”
Janessa shook her head. She was beyond relieved that Riggs hadn’t gotten into the house, but there was something here that didn’t make sense. “Why did Kyle call you and not me?”
“Because that’s what I told him to do. He and I were talking yesterday since it’s time to get another extension on the restraining order. The judge had issued the last extension for only fourteen more days, and it was set to expire today. But with this stunt Riggs just pulled, we can go for something much longer. I’m pressing for a year. I told Kyle to hold off calling you so I could come and tell you in person.”
Blowing out a long breath, Janessa leaned against the doorframe and let it all sink in. Sophia would have known she would be upset, and she was, but being upset was a drop in the bucket to how Teagan must be feeling.
“I’ll call Teagan and Kyle in a couple of minutes,” Janessa muttered. Then she looked up at Brody. “Go ahead and get ready for your meeting. I don’t want you to be late.”
She saw the quick debate in his eyes. “I’ll reschedule it,” he said. “Let me grab that quick shower and get dressed. Then I’ll beef up the security detail around the ranch.” He shifted his attention to Sophia. “Because I’m guessing Riggs will soon be out on bail if he isn’t already.”
Sophia sighed, nodded. “He’ll probably be out by this afternoon.”
Brody sighed as well, stepped back and motioned for them to come. “Make yourselves some coffee. I won’t be long.”
Janessa figured with the news about Riggs delivered, her mother and Curt would leave. They didn’t. They both stepped inside, and Curt headed to the kitchen, no doubt to get that coffee. Sophia, however, glanced around.
“This is a nice place,” Sophia said. After she’d finished the sweeping glance, her gaze settled back on Janessa. Her mother didn’t say anything else, but she was clearly waiting for some kind of details.
“Don’t ask me about my night with Brody,” Janessa advised her, “and I won’t ask about yours with Curt.”
“I don’t mind telling you about Curt.” Sophia flashed a Cheshire cat smile while she went to the fireplace to run her fingers along the smooth stones.
Janessa ignored both the smile, the offer to tell and her mother’s inspection
of Brody’s house. Instead, Janessa fired off a text to Kyle, asking him to call her so they could discuss what’d happened with Riggs. After they talked, she’d get in touch with Teagan.
She then headed into the kitchen with Curt. Janessa wasn’t sure if Curt had ever been here, but the man certainly had no trouble finding his way around the kitchen. He grabbed four mugs from a cupboard and popped the first pod into the single-serving coffee maker.
“I’m guessing you need the first cup more than the rest of us,” Sophia said, joining them. “It appears you didn’t get much sleep last night. Oh, by the way, I saw something on the grass between here and the pond. Definitely a bra with perhaps matching panties. If you and Brody tried to have sex in a hammock, you’ve probably got some bruises.”
Janessa had no intention of confirming the hammock sex, but they did indeed have bruises. A few scrapes, too. Any and all injuries were totally worth it, though.
Curt thrust the first cup of coffee at Sophia and kissed her. Not a sweet little peck, either. It was a lover’s kiss that Janessa in no way wanted to see. That’s why she took the coffee from her mother and stepped away.
“There,” Curt said when he pulled back from Sophia to get another cup brewing.
His there seemed to be the start of some kind of lecture, maybe even a scolding for her to back off teasing her daughter, but Curt didn’t add more. A lawyer who was also a man of few words. Even more surprising was that his there/kiss combo had worked. Sophia looked chastised, smug and satisfied all at once.
“I’ve asked the judge to extend the TRO so that Riggs can’t get near Sweet Pea,” Sophia said once Curt had given her the coffee. “It’s just a precaution. I don’t think Riggs will come back here, but—”
“Thank you,” Janessa interrupted. She held gazes with her mother for a moment to let her know the thank-you was not only genuine but very much appreciated. Sophia had certainly stepped up when it came to the baby.
And that’s the reason Janessa needed to tell her about Char.
No time like the present. But before Janessa could even get started, Sophia’s phone rang. “I have to take this,” she said, glancing at the screen. “It’s another client who’s got some issues going on.” As she hit Answer, Sophia headed into the living room, no doubt so she’d have some privacy.
“Thank you, too, for the interference,” Janessa told Curt.
He smiled, added some sugar to the coffee that he’d just brewed, and he started another cup. “Sophia’s worried about you. Apparently, she has strong memories of you falling apart after your last encounter with Brody.” Janessa opened her mouth to argue that she hadn’t fallen apart and to defend Brody, but Curt continued before she could speak. “Sophia’s wrong. People reconnect, and it all turns out just fine. Take Sophia and me, for instance.”
Janessa stared at him from over the rim of her cup. “You and my mother...connected?” Because there must have been a connection for the re to occur. “When?”
“When she was madly in love with Abe. She was about twenty-four, and I was ten.” He smiled again. “I had a crazy crush on her and thought she was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen.”
“Uh, you were a child,” she pointed out.
“A child with eyes and apparently wisdom beyond my years. I was both thrilled and heartbroken when she left Abe. I was glad she was no longer married to my cousin, but I missed seeing her. I took many riding lessons at the ranch just so I could see her.”
“Did my mother know?” Janessa asked. Relaxing a little, she leaned back against the edge of the counter.
“She did. Surprised the heck out of me. I thought when I confessed all to her about a month ago that she’d be shocked, but she apparently knew about my crush and riding ploy.” He paused, sipped his coffee. “And now the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and I are lovers. I hope we’ll keep seeing each other after Abe’s will is settled.”
Janessa had no intention of dashing his hopes, but Sophia went through relationships darn fast. That probably stemmed from being hurt by Abe, but her mother’s love-’em-and-leave-’em-before-they-leave-you pattern didn’t bode well for Curt. Too bad because he seemed like a nice guy.
Sophia finished her call, and when she joined them in the kitchen, Curt handed her the coffee he’d made for her. “Everything okay with your client?” he asked.
Her mother made a sound of agreement and looked at Janessa. “That was Jimmy on the phone.”
Janessa groaned. She’d hoped they’d heard the last of him.
“Jimmy?” Brody said as he came out of his bedroom. He was all showered and dressed and clearly wanted to know why his father had called.
“Your father has agreed to back off and not cause any more trouble for anyone, including your mother,” Sophia explained.
“And you believe him?” Brody fired back.
Sophia lifted her shoulder. “I believe he understands that I’ll help Darcia sue his sorry ass for harassment and stalking if he pulls another stunt like sending her a photo of your late sister. You’d have to help with that,” she added to Curt. “It’d be a conflict of interest for me to actually go after him, but you could do it for me.”
“No worries,” Curt assured her. “It’s been a while since I’ve arranged to sue a sorry ass. Hope that doesn’t offend you,” he told Brody.
“Believe me, it doesn’t. I don’t want him ever doing anything like that to her again.” Brody shook his head, checked the time. “I have to go. I rescheduled my meeting, but I want to draw up a new security-watch schedule.”
Janessa nodded, and pushing aside any remarks it might cause Sophia to make, she kissed him. It wasn’t hammock-sex foreplay kissing, but it was solid enough.
“Stay as long as you want,” Brody told them. “There’s bacon and eggs in the fridge if you’re hungry.”
They all murmured their thanks as he left, and Janessa motioned toward the pond. “I’d better collect my underwear, get dressed and go to the house to check on the baby.”
“You should turn the house into Bright Hope Two,” Sophia said, stopping Janessa in her tracks. She’d already headed toward the door, but she stopped and stared. Or rather, she goggled.
“Bright Hope Two?” Janessa questioned. “Are you suggesting I stay in Last Ride?”
“No.” Sophia was plenty fast with that response. “But you could set it all up, and someone else could run it.”
“Uh, like who?” Janessa considered everything Curt had just told her. “You?”
Sophia laughed as if that were the most absurd thing she’d ever heard. “No. I was thinking more along the lines of Darcia and Margo. Darcia’s already certified as a foster parent, and she obviously loves kids.”
“And she has a job along with being the mother of a teenager,” Janessa pointed out.
“A home for troubled teens could appeal to her, and Margo obviously has plenty of time on her hands. Or she will have after Sweet Pea’s adoption. I could do the legal work for it, of course, but I could do that from Dallas.” She paused, smiled and lifted her coffee cup as if making a toast. “You could call it All Abe’s Exes Making Up for His Bad Karma. Or AAEMUFHBK,” she added slowly as she obviously went through the first letter of each of those words.
Janessa wanted to mimic Sophia’s laugh to note the absurdity, but that seed of thought had been planted in her head. And other than the name, it wasn’t a totally stupid idea. She could add it to the list of possibilities of what would happen to the house and the ranch in six weeks.
First, though, she needed to deal with what was happening now.
“I don’t want to say anything about this to Teagan yet,” Janessa started, “but her sister, Char, recently found out she’s pregnant with twins.”
Janessa watched her mother process that, but Sophia didn’t say anything.
“Char’s had some complications,” Janess
a went on, “and I’ve stayed in contact with her through texts.” She paused. “It’s possible that Char will decide not to adopt Teagan’s daughter.”
“Well,” Sophia finally said. She set her cup on the counter and then stared at it for several seconds before she lifted her gaze to meet Janessa’s. “Well,” she repeated, “you can tell Teagan that no way Sweet Pea’s going into foster care. If Char doesn’t adopt the baby, then you’ll have to do it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
BRODY KNEW HE had put off this visit long enough. Along with it being Christmas Eve, it’d been a little over two weeks since Rowan had told him about the private investigator’s visit to see Darcia. Two weeks of Brody hoping that his mother would come to him and volunteer what the visit had been all about.
But she hadn’t.
That’s why he pulled to a stop in front of her house and, steeling himself up, Brody walked toward her porch. The air was cold and heavy, the clouds thick and gray, which meant there was talk about the rare possibility of a white Christmas. It was more likely to be an icy one, but he supposed that still qualified as white.
Brody knew his mother was home because he’d already checked. Earlier, he’d texted her to see if he could drop by, and she’d said that was fine, that she didn’t have any plans for the day. Well, he had plenty of plans. Plenty to do. But this was the first thing he had to deal with. Then he’d have to handle a whole pile of fallout if this visit didn’t go well.
Because it was entirely possible he was going to hear something he didn’t want to hear.
He caught the scent of cinnamon and sugar before he even knocked. The scent got stronger when his mother opened the door.
“I just took a fresh batch of Christmas cookies out of the oven,” she greeted with a huge smile. Motioning for him to follow her to the kitchen, they walked past the sprawling tree by the fireplace. “I’ve already dropped Rowan off at Colts Creek so I figured you and I could have a late breakfast. I made cinnamon rolls.”
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