by Wendy Warren
He was doing it again. Sounding innocent, but giving her a look that sent her blood pressure through the roof. She narrowed her eyes. This was definitely a game meant for two.
While Gilberto constructed yet another s’more, she took advantage of the unwitnessed moment. Scooting closer to Derek, she nudged his arm with her shoulder and reached for his hand. Instead of linking fingers, however, she drew her forefinger along his palm...his wrist... Then she curled her fingers under the sleeve of his sweater and explored his arm, loving the strength of it. When she felt his muscles tense and goose bumps cover his arm, she let a satisfied smile crease her face.
Now we’re talkin’. She could feel the energy filling Derek’s body and recognized the victorious sensation of her own sexual power. It had been ages.
“I don’t want this s’more,” Gilberto announced from his position in front of the fireplace. He plopped back on his heels. “I don’t even know why I made it. I already ate, like, six.”
“Uh oh.” Willa sat up, pulling her hand away from Derek, but he refused to let go, sitting up with her. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Me, either.” Derek thoughtfully studied the boy. “On the other hand, I don’t think we have much to worry about. At least two of them are still on your face.”
Gilberto probed the area around his mouth with his tongue.
“Why don’t you head on upstairs and jump into the shower, since it’s already past your bedtime. I’ll be up to say good-night when you’re done, okay?”
“Okay. What should I do with this?” Gilberto offered his latest creation to Derek. “Do you want it?”
“Nope. I can’t eat another bite. It’ll be too hard to eat by morning. You can toss it in the fire,” he advised.
Gilberto looked affronted. “No, I don’t want to burn it up. It’s one of my best ones. This marshmallow is perfect. Look, Willa.” He held it up for her to admire one last time. “Can I give it to Captain instead?
Derek shook his head. “Sorry. Chocolate is bad for Captain.”
“It is?” Gilberto’s brow creased with worry. “Why?”
Willa nodded. “Unfortunately, chocolate is poison to dogs.”
Alarmed, Gilberto gasped. “Chocolate is poison?”
Derek chuckled. “Not to humans, bud.” Having heard his name, Captain limped in from the kitchen to nose his master’s outstretched hand. “Hey, Captain. Did you hear us talking about you?” With happy grunts, the old dog curled up by Derek’s side.
Gilberto watched his s’more go up in flames then leaned over to embrace the dog before he hugged Derek and Willa. “’Night, Captain. ’Night, Willa.”
“Good night, buddy.”
“Don’t forget to brush your teeth,” Derek ordered, “so they don’t fall out after all that sugar.”
“If they fall out, you’ve got to put money under my pillow, dude, so I’ll believe in the tooth fairy. You don’t want to, like, destroy my innocence or nothing.”
Willa and Derek started laughing so hard, neither of them bothered to correct his grammar.
Clearly pleased to have received this reaction, Gilberto got to his feet, beaming. “You’re both weird,” he said contentedly, heading to a staircase constructed from split logs that had been polished to a soft golden sheen. Trailing his hand along the bannister, he called, “’Night, weirdos,” from the landing and disappeared toward the room Derek had given him.
Turning to the man who still held her hand, Willa observed, “Considering he hasn’t been here that long, Gilberto seems to have made himself right at home. You’re good at this.”
The muscles worked in Derek’s jaw. “I suppose anything’s better than bunking with Roddy and his idiot posse.”
“Maybe, but don’t sell yourself short. I barely recognize that boy from the one who was lurking in the bakery, trying to figure out how to steal. I wonder if Roddy wants him back?”
Derek’s hand tightened on hers—unconsciously, Willa guessed. “I don’t know,” he responded. “Gilberto doesn’t talk about him much, but he’s shared a couple of incidences that make me suspect longstanding neglect.” His expression clouded. “Unfortunately family can become territorial. They may fight for their right to raise one of their own even when they’re not committed to doing a good job of it.”
Willa watched Derek’s free hand gently stroke Captain’s face and head. “If you had the option, would you be interested in becoming his foster parent?” she asked.
Derek thought for a long moment as on the other side of the wall of windows, the snow continued to fall. Occasional flurries swirled before being swept away by the whistling wind. Anticipating Derek’s answer made Willa’s stomach feel like those flurries. He was a born family man; anyone watching him with Gilberto would be able to see that. Of course, being good at something and being willing to do it every day, possibly for the rest of your life, were two different things. Did Derek have any idea what raising a child involved, far beyond the daily needs?
He inhaled long and deep, slowly exhaling before he answered her. “I try not to get too emotionally involved.”
Unbidden, Willa’s snort of laughter made Captain’s tail thump on the floor. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re already emotionally involved.”
Derek appeared to be about to deny that, but his shoulders sagged. “Is it that obvious?”
Empathy welled as she smiled. “It’s who you are. Caring. Sweet. Optimistic.”
He tugged her close. “I’m no boy scout.”
“In some ways you are. You’re such a boy scout, you’re a...a...man scout. People trust you. They’re attracted to you.”
“Right now, I’m only interested in whether one person is attracted to me.”
She could feel the warmth from his skin. “Isn’t it obvious?” she breathed. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t attracted. Very.”
They shared a kiss, each of them struggling with the self-control to make it last...and last. Willa expected to be interrupted by Gilberto, calling down that he was ready for bed, but, instead, Captain became the culprit. Hefting himself to his feet, he walked around until he was between her and Derek, forcing them to break apart. The old shepherd nosed Willa’s hand until she reached out, weaving her fingers into the surprisingly soft fur.
Derek groaned in frustration. “I should have found you a different home when I had the chance.”
“How could you say such a thing? Don’t listen,” Willa crooned in the old boy’s ear. “He’s just jealous.”
“Damn straight.”
As Willa scratched the dog’s back, Captain lay down, swishing his tail across the floor.
“You like Willa, too, hmm?” Derek asked, and the dog crooned in delight, making her laugh. “He rarely trusts anyone this quickly.”
“Really?” From upstairs, they could hear the sounds of Gilberto getting ready for bed. “What happened to Captain’s paw?” she asked, referring to the strange-looking boot the dog wore below his right knee.
“He lost it in a trap.”
“No!” She leaned in for a closer inspection of the Velcro and ripstop fabric sheath that secured a springy metal J-hook to his leg. “How horrible. Was it recently?”
“No, no. It happened about the same time Walt passed, so I guess it’s getting close to a decade ago now. I was out one day, exercising one of the horses on an old forest-access logging trail up behind where we went sledding, and Stark, who has always been a pretty mellow horse, started acting real skittish. At first I thought maybe he’d picked up the scent of a bobcat or a bear, because we have plenty of those around here.”
Willa watched his handsome face process the past in the firelight.
“After I got him settled down, I took a look around with my binoculars. Didn’t see anything, but after a while, I heard a sort of hig
h-pitched whine. Sounded like an animal was in pain.”
“Captain.” Willa murmured.
“Yeah.”
You have a sad story, too, Willa thought as she gently stroked the intelligent face.
“Since I wasn’t able to convince Stark to head toward the sound, I had to tether him and head into the woods on foot. Took me a while to locate him. I think he stopped moaning now and then as he heard me coming closer. Probably pretty afraid of me, too, right old man?” Derek’s expression softened. He scratched a sweet spot just above the dog’s tail.
“Anyway, I found him cowering on the ground, his paw caught in an illegal small-game trap. He was half starved to death and in obvious pain. He was real sweet as I released the trap, and let me tell you, trying to get that thing off him without doing more damage was tough. He whined more than once, but never tried to bite me.”
Willa winced at the image of big-hearted Captain in a sawtooth trap.
“I took him into the local vet, but he couldn’t save the paw. Together, though, we came up with a pretty cool prosthetic for him. We’ve refined it a few times over the years, but even in the beginning it wasn’t too long before he was fat and sassy and off running around again, just like a pup.”
“Wow. You are a lucky dog,” Willa said to Captain. Again, Willa was struck by how deeply Derek cared. Not only about Captain. About any underdog. “It’s going to be so hard when he goes,” she said, then realized how tactless that sounded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s nothing I haven’t already thought of. Or had to deal with before. I had another dog, back when I was in the police academy. When I adopted her, she followed me everywhere. People would laugh at me because I’d talk baby talk to her.”
“Baby talk? Like?”
“You know. Things to build up her self-esteem.”
“Ah. And she understood you?”
“Of course.” Derek grinned.
“Adorable,” Willa murmured. Like the man telling the story. “What were her favorite affirmations?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. All the stuff a woman likes to hear.” Both she and Derek were lying on their sides now, gazing at each other over Captain, who had lapsed into a soft snore. Derek ran the back of his finger ever-so-gently down Willa’s cheek. “I’d tell her she was beautiful. And that failing puppy class did not make her a loser. She worried about that.”
He has the softest, sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen. “Did she?”
“In weak moments. So I’d remind her that her struggles didn’t define her.” He spoke softly. “They made her stronger. More beautiful.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she whispered back.
“No. Only to the strong, beautiful ones.”
Willa felt as if she’d been in the desert for years, and Derek was a tall, cold glass of water. Every cell in her body drank him in. Thirsty for his touch, his kiss, she inched forward...
“I’m ready!”
Gilberto jumped down the stairs, swinging himself with both hands on the bannisters then crash landing three steps below where he’d started. “You can come up now.”
As self-conscious as if she’d been caught buck naked, Willa sprang back.
Derek put a calming hand on her arm. “I’ll be right up.” To her, he said, “Can you hang tight? I won’t be long.”
She nodded. At least, she thought she nodded. Her heart was pounding so hard, she felt faint. And it wasn’t pounding because they’d been caught off guard, either. Oh, no. It was pounding, because she realized she was starting to need this man’s touch and his gazes and his words the way she needed food and water and sleep. They breathed life into her.
She watched him jog up the stairs to join Gilberto, ruffling the boy’s hair as they walked companionably side by side the rest of the way.
Rousing from his brief nap, Captain lifted his head, looked for his master, and, when he saw that Derek was leaving without him, let out a whimper of protest.
“Yeah, me, too.” Willa rubbed his tummy, settling him down so he wouldn’t have to tax his elderly joints by getting up to follow. With a sigh, the dog flopped back to the floor, allowing Willa’s touch to mollify him.
If only she could be appeased that easily. For her, however, one thing was clear. No man’s touch, no man’s presence but Derek’s was going to suffice. For the first time in forever she knew exactly what she wanted: more. More kisses, more whispers in the night. More of the feeling she had when he looked at her, his eyes heavy with desire.
Lifting Captain’s ear, she murmured, “Can you keep a secret? Tonight’s the night. I’m going to seduce the sheriff. And defeat is not an option. Okay with you?”
Captain swished his feathery tail. His tongue lolled out of a doggy grin as he panted.
She patted his belly. “Good doggy. I’ll take that as a yes.”
Chapter Eleven
It took Derek longer to put Gilberto to bed than he’d intended. The kid had never had a bedtime routine before, and he loved to review his day—in detail. They were also reading the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid together, a very big deal since Gilberto previously thought he hated to read. Being read to for the first time in his life had proved to be the game changer for him, and Derek didn’t want to break the spell. Try as he had to shorten their routine tonight, it had still consumed thirty minutes.
He’d come back downstairs concerned that Willa might have gotten bored or annoyed because yet another moment rightfully belonging to her had been handed over to Gilberto. He was being the kind of date most single women he knew would lambaste, unless they were parents. Or wanted to be.
As he reached the living room, he saw Willa curled up on the floor pillows with Captain. She’d tucked an afghan around the old dog, and her hand rested on his side. Silhouetted against the firelight, the curve of her waist and hip made his fingers tingle with the desire to trace them. Her hair glowed with red and gold flames.
He paused on the last step, unsure of his next move, which had happened more since he’d met Willa than at any other time in his life. Knowing what he wanted did not translate easily, however, into knowing how to get it. He’d spent a day and an evening so close to the life he wanted, he could taste it.
When she turned her head and smiled dreamily, he knew he couldn’t trust himself to walk over and kiss her; the night would end up very quickly in his bed. And as much as he wanted that, he refused to settle for it. He wouldn’t accept anything less than everything she had to give.
So instead of joining her, he walked to the kitchen, grimly holding himself in check and returning a few moments later with a mug of hot cider, which he handed to her.
Resettling herself on the sofa, she accepted the mug, inhaled the aroma of apple and spices, and peeked up at him. “This smells incredible.”
“I buy it from Springer Sisters. Have you been out there?” Willa shook her head. “It’s an orchard on Highway 35. Four sisters run it. They have a store and a restaurant, too.” He gave his stomach a pat. “I ate a lot of their pies before you showed up.”
“You wouldn’t know it,” she complimented, and he felt his ab muscles flex involuntarily.
There was something different in her manner tonight. Her tone bordered on flirtatious. Her gaze was bolder. When she patted the sofa cushion next to her, his self-control became a bad joke.
Taking the mug from her hands, he set it on the table and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her in for a kiss. Warm and pillow-soft, her lips tasted of apples and cinnamon. When he nudged them apart, she complied eagerly, turning the teasing nibbles into something deeper and more urgent. Oh, man, the woman knows how to kiss.
Clinging to Derek’s shoulders, Willa pulled back and glanced toward the top of the stairs. “Is Gilberto all settled in
?” she asked breathlessly.
“Asleep before I left the room.”
Her forehead against Derek’s, she nodded slightly. “It’s getting late.”
His gut clenched as he tried to stem the tide of desire rolling through him. “I didn’t expect the night to go so long. I can’t leave Gilberto. How am I going to drive you home?”
“Hmm.” Brow furrowed in a mock frown, she murmured, “That is a problem. Let me think. I suppose, if necessary, I could stay the night. Just to help you out.” Her eyes were large and bright.
“I appreciate that more than I can say.” Derek’s breath felt labored, and he was sitting still. As far as his libido was concerned, all systems were go. There was a guest bedroom on the first floor, far away from the child sleeping upstairs. Perfect.
As his body prepped for a touchdown dance, however, his brain slapped him upside the head. He’d learned a long time ago that dreams required time and patience, two things in short supply when he wanted Willa with every fiber of his being.
Reaching for her hand, he got to his feet and pulled her with him toward the stairs. He was about to take a calculated risk.
When they reached the second-floor landing, he said, “I always have an extra toothbrush on hand.”
“For all your women friends?” she teased.
“I have only one.” He planted a swift, hard kiss on her upturned lips.
The flush of pleasure that filled her cheeks made it nearly impossible to do what he knew he had to.
At the end of the hall, two broad double doors led to his master suite. Inviting her into the most intimate space in his home, he watched her reaction. Would she view it the way he had the day the ranch had become his? More than any other room in the house, this one beckoned him to picture a future here with a partner to share it.
Slowly, Willa turned to take in his California king-sized bed and the puffy comforter in an earth-toned Aztec print. The walls were made up of the flat side of split logs, sanded and polished with white chinking in between, giving the room a lodge-resort feel. But his favorite part was the wall of windows facing the now-dark Thunder Ridge range.