The Last Resort

by Ember Leigh

  Rose handed Garrett his coffee as he drove. He’d offered to take the second half shift, and she obliged, more than happy to relax and enjoy the view. Once Emmy had drifted off and the radio volume turned down to a distant murmur, Rose thought it time to probe again.

  “So, Garrett. Tell me. What are your plans for the future?”

  “You mean, like, when I grow up?”

  She laughed. “Yes.”

  “Well, I’m doing something I love already, and I want to continue it. It’s such a cool job. I get to live everywhere for long enough to hate it and then move away.”

  “That’s kind of how I live, too. Or at least how I think about Pennsylvania now.”

  “For the record, when we got here in the fall, it was gorgeous. I would come back in any non-winter times.” He skipped a beat. “Maybe to be funny we can come here for the honeymoon.”

  She swatted his shoulder. “But I already made reservations for Alaska in January next year.”

  “Yeah, that’s a better idea. Much more snow and ice there.”

  They shared a warm glance, and Rose snuggled up to him over the middle console.

  “So where do you see yourself? Alone and drifting the world with your bachelor brother forever?”

  He rubbed the back of his neck, contemplating the headlights of oncoming traffic. “I’m not sure. I guess…part of me thought I might never find someone. Not with my lifestyle.”

  “I can relate.” Her heart beat heavy in her chest, unsurprised by the sting in the words.

  She’d never been pestered by her family to get married and settle down. Her own mother and sister must have already decided her a spinster. There were no insinuations a “woman like her” might need to marry or have children. Something must have told them, since Rose’s childhood, she would not be a regular daughter and sister.

  Not even Rose’s own friends teased her about finding Mr. Right.

  She’d been with a man, years ago, who she thought might fit the bill. He’d been industrious, moderately attractive, and accepting of her masculine nature, something most men ran straight away from. But after the first two or three gigs, he called it quits. Couldn’t handle the distance and didn’t like her spending so much time away from him.

  Her job won, which left her convinced any hope for a professional and romantic life mixture was mere fantasy. While plenty of things remained to be seen, the simple fact her heart could spasm like this with Garrett gave her hope.

  Love might be possible for the loner queen after all.

  “Don’t you ever get tired of being on the road all the time? Do you guys even have a home base?”

  He shook his head. “No home base, not unless you count my mom’s house. I’m looking to change that, though. Both Wes and I have been talking about making this more of a one-on, one-off thing…”

  “So like, getting your own place and actually living in it half the year?”

  “Exactly. So most of our renovations gigs take anywhere from four to six months. I figure, one big job a year, or two small jobs per year, would allow both of us to not live up each other’s assholes one hundred percent of the time.” He sighed, squeezing the steering wheel. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother. But I think he’s ready to find a girlfriend. And maybe get a bit more into stocks.”

  Rose tried to imagine what his girlfriend might look like. “Does he go for brainy girls?”

  Garrett tipped his head as he thought. “His type is definitely nerdish and sort of quiet.”

  “I can see that.”

  “Which is good for him, but I prefer my type.” His warm hand appeared at her knee and squeezed it gently. She shivered, looking over at him with delight.

  “I didn’t know I was anyone’s type,” she said quietly.

  He let an exaggerated noise of bewilderment. “Are you blind? Have you looked at yourself recently, or heard the things coming out of your mouth?”

  She laughed. “That’s not what I meant…I wanted to say, all executive summaries aside, I’m not a very…romantic person.” She paused, watching the unmoving dots of light in the distance. “I think I told myself a long time ago I would never be compatible with anyone, so I stopped looking.”

  “Hey, everyone’s got at least one partner out there, right?” He reached for her hand in the darkness. She relished his rough skin against hers. “That’s a strictly statistical point of view, because I’ve always felt the same as you.”

  The car ride continued with equal parts intimate conversation and lighthearted banter. Emmy snored lightly in the backseat, and without any potty breaks or stops for gas or food, they made record time to the small town at the Delaware state line.

  Rose called Emmy’s mother from the agreed-upon mile marker. By the time they pulled into the appropriate gas station, a pair of headlights blinked eagerly at them.

  “I can’t believe it’s time to pass you off to Mommy.” Rose looked back at Emmy. “We’ve had a pretty fun time together.”

  “I think I like kids more now, thanks to you,” Garrett added.

  Emmy didn’t reply. She stirred as Garrett eased into a parking space and shut off the engine.

  Two spots down, a woman exited an SUV, eyes wild and eager as she scanned Rose’s car for signs it might be the right one. Rose opened her door and stepped out, waving toward the woman.

  “Are you Rose?” She approached cautiously.

  “I am.” She smiled warmly. “I have Emmy here.”

  The look on the mother’s face as she absorbed her words wavered between disbelief and crippling joy. She shook slightly as she stumbled closer. Rose opened the back door, ready at her side in case she should faint as others had in the past.

  “She’s all yours,” Rose said softly as the mother reached into the car.

  “My baby.” Emmy giggled and cried at the same time as her mother scooped her into her arms. She leaned against the side of the car, rocking Emmy back in forth in her arms and whispering into her daughter’s ear.

  “Thank you so much,” the mother croaked out, her voice watery and distant. “Thank you. I’ve been too long without my baby.”

  She walked slowly back toward her SUV. Curiosity swirled, wanting to know why her father had run off, what had gone wrong between them, what would happen now? But she bit back the questions as she always did. Her job was to deliver, not to probe.

  “And sorry, again, for the confusion with the storm,” Rose called out as the mother snapped Emmy into a car seat in the back of the SUV. “I really appreciate you clearing up that whole mess today.”

  The mother sniffed, wiping at some tears. “I’m sorry I put out the alert, but I panicked. I should have talked to your boss before I did, but he helped me get you out today. I’m so thankful to see my baby again.”

  “Do you mind if we say good-bye to her? This is the man that rescued us. He and his brother pulled us out of my car that day, and let us stay at their hotel.” Rose nodded toward Garrett, who stood by the rental, hands buried in his pockets. “If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be here.”

  Without warning, Emmy’s mother flung herself at Garrett, enveloping him in a bear hug. She wept openly into his jacket. He looked both delighted and confused, and patted her back as she cried.

  “Thank you,” she said finally, looking up at him. “Thanks to both of you.”

  Rose and Garrett leaned into the SUV and said a good-bye to Emmy. Rose placed a small kiss on her forehead and said, “I liked being your fake mommy for a few days. You really taught me a lot.”

  Emmy blinked at her curiously, furrowed her brows, and then shouted, “EMMY.”

  Rose laughed and smooth her hair back, surprised to find tears welling in her eyes. “Good job, Emmy. You can say your name now.”

  She kissed her forehand one last time, and then closed the door and offered her hand to Emmy’s mother.

  “I wish you all the best, ma’am,” she said, squeezing her smooth hand. In response, Emmy’s mother wrapped her in a
tight hug. Rose returned the hug gladly, catching the vanilla scent of her shampoo, and the pleasing softness of her bosom against her own. When they parted, Emmy’s mother smiled, tears shimmering in her eyes, and clambered into the SUV.

  Rose and Garrett waited until she’d pulled away before they got back into the car. As with all these gigs, the emotion of the reunion weighed heavy on her chest. Looking over at Garrett, he’d felt it too.

  “Intense,” he said at last.

  “It always is.”

  They sat for a few moments in comfortable silence in the car. Garrett reached for her hand and squeezed it before easing the car onto the road.

  “All right, Miss Savior. You’ve worked a couple miracles today so far. Why not one last one and find us a motel for the night?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Garrett lost count of how many times he’d pinched himself tonight. He figured this had to be a dream—could he actually be in Delaware right now with Rose, a baby bounty hunter? —but prayed to all the gods above and below when morning came, he’d still be in the dingy motel room with this force of a woman.

  The motel was the nearest and seemingly only option in the small town near the state line. With six unoccupied rooms and a neon sign that lit up an incomprehensible half of the motel name with garish, buzzing light, Garrett figured this the perfect place to round off the already strange day.

  “This place might have been in a horror movie,” Garrett whispered, testing the mattress. Solid enough. Not a brick, yet not a sponge. It would do.

  “Didn’t you know? It was in a horror movie. The one made about my life. I always bring the men that find out about my operations to this exact place to murder them.” She cast a spooky look to him. “You found me out, buddy. Your time is up.”

  He hooked her by the waist as she tried to saunter past. Giggling, she fell into his arms.

  “Good luck,” he said. “Little do you know I am a Rose bounty hunter, and I’ve actually been sent to capture you. Looks like my mission is fulfilled, and the cops will be here any minute.”

  They shared a sparkling smile, and then she kissed him, so hard it sucked the breath out of his lungs and left him dizzy. He swallowed, fingering a wisp of hair that had escaped from her military bun.

  “Why do you think we met each other, Rose?”

  She blinked a few times, watching him intensely. He couldn’t read her expression but likewise couldn’t keep the question from rolling off his tongue.

  “I don’t know, Garrett. I’ve been asking myself the same question. Why did you come looking for me after Wes turned me in?”

  “Because I knew you weren’t a criminal,” he said. “I mean, I hoped you weren’t. And…it confused me. So I wanted answers.”

  “But it mattered you might never see me again.” Her voice barely came out above a whisper.

  “Yes. A lot.” His heart tightened in his chest and he studied her clavicle, observing the tiny freckles on her skin there.

  “Thank you, Garrett.” She guided his chin up so their eyes locked again. “I told you I’m not a romantic person, but that was the most romantic thing somebody’s ever done for me.”

  He cracked a grin, heart thudding a little faster. “Really?”

  “That and coming on this trip with me.” She brushed her lips against his, sending a milky wave of warm happiness through him.

  “Well, I’m scoring all the points, aren’t I?”

  She nodded, dragging her fingertips down his arm. Goosebumps prickled in their wake. They shared a heavy gaze, Garrett’s breath catching in his mouth for fear of disturbing the pristine moment between them.

  His eyes darted all over her face as he absorbed her, struggling to note every detail of this woman before their paths diverged once more.

  Already, the thought of losing her weighed heavy. Maybe he should memorialize their time together in any way he could. Tons of pictures? A video? Her signature on the motel’s business card? There existed no real way, other than to continue to drink in her scent and savor every moment. So he might have a hope of remembering the smooth brush of her skin against his, her scent, a mixture of her body and his hotel, the way her blue eyes sparkled as she got lost in this gaze.

  Rose pressed her lips to his in a kiss so tender he wanted to crumple to the ground. She eased herself into his lap, their lips never parting, and he welcomed her small frame into his arms. Resting her feet on the bed beside him, he half-cradled her as their kisses grew more passionate, more urgent.

  When they broke for air, Rose let a soft moan. She rested her forehead against his. “Kiss me like this forever.”

  “It would be my pleasure.” He grabbed her chin and let their lips meet once more, feathery and faint at first, but growing deeper and more intricate. They found a rhythm that made his cock jump and his heart melt, kisses so deep and satisfying he could sense the actual route they took inside his body like an electrified map. His mind somersaulted for the millionth time over the fact he’d just met this woman, yet he felt like he’d known her for eons. They sure kissed like they’d known each other for more than week.

  They kissed like they’d been practicing with each other for years.

  When they broke apart this time, Garrett guided her to lie back on the bed. She looked up at him, eyes twinkling, already sidling out of her pants.

  “Hey, whoa there, take it easy.” He held up his hands in mock defense. “I don’t know what plans you have for tonight, but I wanted to watch a movie and call it a night.”

  She laughed, hooking a foot around his waist and pulling at him to join her. “Naked movie viewing, right?”

  “I’ve only known you for five days, I couldn’t possibly be nude in front of you yet.” He lay on the bed beside her, propped up on an elbow, and let his hand drift over the exposed sliver of skin near her belly.

  She let out a sharp laugh. “Though we’ve already technically lived together and you helped rear my pretend child in those five days.”

  “I wouldn’t say ‘rear.’ But I did hold her a few times, and I didn’t harm her.”

  “Close enough.”

  He leaned in for another kiss, both of them still smiling. His hands continued lazy patterns near her belly button, venturing downward as the kiss deepened.

  “It’s time for these to come off.” He sat up and tugged at the skinny jeans. “Turns out five days is plenty of time to see someone nude.”

  “With us, one day was enough.” She crossed her hands behind her head and watched as Garrett struggled to remove the jeans. He got them down to her knees before Rose had to intervene.

  “These are mostly spray paint, right? Though I do love them. Especially when you wear them.”

  Once the offending pants had been thrown to the side, Garrett smoothed his hands over her low belly, dancing around the flimsy green fabric of her underwear.

  “I would love to sit here and take my sweet time with you, Rose,” Garrett said, his thumb slipping between fabric and skin, “but I’m afraid I won’t be able to do anything slow now that I’ve got you to myself again.”

  She grinned and fidgeted beneath him, urging his hands along with her hips. “I can’t say I mind.”

  Garrett pressed his lips to her low belly, placing a feathery kiss between her navel and the line of her underwear. He peeled back the fabric, shrugged her underwear down over her hips toward her ankles, and finally flung them across the room. She looked down at him, her expression a reflection of his insides: delighted, but also more than questioning whether or not this was a dream after all.

  He couldn’t pretend like he wouldn’t milk this experience for all the sweet juices inside, pun more than intended. Rose might never be within his reach again, though his mind had been working overtime to figure out ways to combine their paths at least a few times a year for the foreseeable future. Maybe their hotel could be her home base while she worked her gigs? Maybe she could…move in?

  Crazy ideas. But something about this woman made th
ose ideas seem like they had a chance at life.

  Finding Rose counted as bizarre enough. So why couldn’t they set up some sort of relationship where they managed to see each other a few times a year?

  It made his head spin—Rose, the future, and more immediately, her spread legs in front of his eyes offering him a view worthy of all the explosions, saliva, and heart implosions across the globe. She propped herself up on her elbows to look at him, and he dove in, pressing soft kisses at the crease of her leg and then going inward, until his lips made contact with the tight, expectant nub.

  Rose sucked in a deep breath, her head lolling to the side. He pressed his tongue over her clit, and then again, loving the gasps and moans this elicited from her. He sucked on it, flicking his tongue fast and light over top. Her pelvis arched, and he wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

  Garrett’s mind spun as he consumed her, loving the heady rush of eating her out coupled with the most intimate scent of Rose that would plague him for the rest of his life. As her gasps and moans escalated, he knew the foreplay would be cut extra short according to his tastes. No matter how long he’d like to keep his head buried between her legs, his cock demanded attention.

  He reached between his own legs to unbutton his jeans as he continued his sloppy sucking and nipping at her clit. He pushed the jeans down as far as he could and palmed his cock through his briefs, relishing the jolt of pleasure that shock-waved through his bent knees up to his ears. Slipping it out of his underwear, he fisted his rock-hard dick, loving the way her moans and gasps provoked his excitement to a new level. He could almost come there, kneeling on the floor in front of the bed, from listening to her.

  But there would be nothing slow and drawn out about this. He had been ready to blow since the second they’d gotten to the motel room.

  He gave his cock one last tug and then pulled away, looking up at her with a devilish grin. Garrett stepped out of his underwear and tugged off his work shirt. He stood nude before her, loving the view of a half-delirious Rose splayed on the bedspread.