The Lemon Sisters

by Jill Shalvis

  Linc strode straight to Mindy, cupped her face and tilted it up. “You okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Good.” He dropped his hands and shoved them in his pockets. “Now maybe you can explain to me what the hell you guys were doing brawling at a kids’ birthday party.”

  “Hey, the clown was attacking her,” Brooke said.

  “You mean Michelle? Who Mindy’s hated since elementary school?”

  “She used to spit in my lunch!” Mindy said. Maybe yelled.

  “Yes, because you”—he used finger quotes here—“‘accidentally’ stuck your gum in her hair.”

  Mindy stared into the sexy, wonderful face of the man she loved and adored beyond all imagination, but she didn’t see love and adoration in return. Instead, she saw frustration. She bit her lower lip, then winced as she split it open again. “You’re mad at me.”

  “I’m not mad. What I am is trying very hard. And you’re not.”

  “Okay,” she started. “That’s not fair. I—”

  “Stop.” He grabbed some tissues from a box on the counter and carefully, with surprising gentleness, dabbed the blood dripping from her lip down her chin. “You’re the one who’s angry,” he said softly.

  “Hell yes, I’m angry!” she burst out. “My arch nemesis just went after my sister—”

  “You’re angry at me,” he said. “And you’re taking it out on everyone else.” He scooped her up into his arms.

  She gasped in shock. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking over. I thought I could wait you out, out-patience you and let you come to me in your own time. But I’m tired of waiting, Min. I’m taking action.”

  She threw her arms around his neck and stared up into his face. He’d never been as sexy to her as right in that moment. “What kind of action?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Whatever it takes to get it through your thick skull that you’re it for me, and that I love you. Now,” he said fiercely, staring down at her, “I’m prepared to do this slow and easy, or hard and fast. Which is it going to be?”

  She swallowed hard. “Linc?”

  His expression relaxed. “Yeah, babe?”

  She tightened her grip on him. “Can we do it both ways?”

  Some of the serious sternness left his face, softening his gaze and mouth. “Any way you want. All the ways you want.”

  Chapter 19

  By the time he was finished with her, she was a floppy rag doll, making contented purring noises.

  Brooke watched Linc carry Mindy out of the ER cubicle. “I can’t decide if I’m scared or happy for her,” she murmured, quickly swiping at any lingering tears so Garrett couldn’t see them. “And if you’re here to talk, you should know I’m not in the mood.”

  Not speaking, he came close and tilted her face up to his to study her, his eyes filled with concern.

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  “I will pay you to stop lying to me.”

  She sighed. “What does it matter, anyway, when you always know when I am? And how is it that you know? Because it’s really irritating.”

  “Same way I know when you’re not wearing a bra. God-given talent.” He gave her a small smile. “Linc gave me a blow-byblow of what happened at the party. How Michelle went after your sister and you went after her. Took her down, too, and she outweighs you by quite a bit.”

  “Don’t tell her that. She’ll kill you in your sleep.”

  “I’m proud as hell of you, Bee.” His smile turned into a very male grin. “And a little turned on, too.”

  She shook her head, even as her tummy quivered in a very good way. “Men are dumb.”

  This made him laugh. “No doubt. You’re both clear to leave, by the way.” He scooped her up just as Linc had Mindy, and her body melted into his.

  “Don’t get any ideas,” she said, wanting to put it out there so she didn’t forget. She couldn’t do this with him, knowing he was holding back as well as also holding on to old memories of when she’d shut him out. “I’m still mad.”

  “Makes two of us.”

  “So you’re mad at you, too?” she asked in a smart-ass tone.

  “Funny, but no. I’m mad at you.”

  He said this so calmly, it took a moment for the words to sink in. “Because of . . . last night?”

  Not answering, he took her outside, where the day had gone to night without her. Managing to hold on to her and unlock his truck at the same time, he slid her in, all without jostling any of her aches and pains. And there were a lot of those, just beginning to make themselves known.

  He angled in behind the steering wheel and started up the engine. When he found her staring at him, he flashed that killer smile of his, and she felt an answering tug deep inside her. “Why are you smiling at me? You’re mad, remember?”

  “More like frustrated,” he said. “You wear your past on your shoulder like a huge rock. It’s hard to see beyond it.”

  “Well, then stop looking at it.”

  He gave her a long look.

  Okay. So she was supposed to be a grown-up these days.

  “You won’t address it,” he said. “You won’t even look at it or acknowledge it, and yet it defines everything you do.”

  Wait. How was he turning this around on her? Probably because it was her, this whole problem was her doing. “Maybe I’m just a fiercely independent woman,” she said. “You ever think of that?”

  “Yes, and it’s sexy as hell. But you’re letting the past weigh you down, Bee.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” she said, even as her heart picked up the pace at the accuracy of his statement.

  “If that was true,” he said, “last night wouldn’t have ended the way it did, with you running out on me. Again.”

  She stared out the window as the night deepened. The shadows of the rolling hills conjured up a sense of home and pride and longing, and damn, she loved this place. “I’m trying,” she said softly. “But sometimes I just need a few minutes.”

  He nodded, accepting, and it wasn’t an act. He was incredibly patient and unfailingly loyal. Always had been. “So tell me something,” he said.

  “What?” she asked warily.

  “Why have you never told Mindy about us?”

  Oh boy.

  He took in her expression. “Am I your dirty secret, Brooke?”

  “No, of course not.” She paused. “Just today I told her about our past.”

  “But not our now.”

  She met his gaze. “No. But only because I’m never sure what the now is.”

  He gave a snort, but didn’t say anything more about it. And when he got to their street, he didn’t turn into Mindy’s driveway. Instead, he pulled into his own.

  “Is your dad still here?” she asked.

  “Last night after you took off on me, he got restless. He left me a note that he had something to do and vanished with Snoop. A fucking note,” he said in disgust.

  And then there was what he didn’t say. That once again he’d been left. How had she not connected the dots? She knew Garrett had abandonment issues, deep-seated ones, and he had every right to them. And she’d made them worse at every turn. Her heart actually hurt just thinking about it.

  “I’ve been looking everywhere for him,” Garrett said. “I left messages at the campgrounds, at the store . . . I even asked Mark Capriotti to keep an eye out for him.”

  “Mark Capriotti?” she asked in surprise.

  “Besides being one of the owners of the winery where you just brawled with Michelle,” he said dryly, “he’s a local sheriff.”

  There was a grim tone to his voice that had her looking at him. “You think your dad’s up to his old shenanigans,” she said.

  He shrugged. “Not sure what else I’m supposed to think.”

  Letting his dad move in had been a huge show of forgiveness and strength on his part. But more than that, his clear worry and concern made her chest tighten at the man he’d become. “Maybe he meant what he sa
id. That he simply had something to take care of. Or maybe . . . maybe he just needed a minute.”

  Garrett glanced over at her and then drove around the side yard to the back of his property and parked facing out to the valley below. He turned off the engine. “My dad and I . . .” He shook his head. “It’s complicated. We’re complicated. It’s hard for me to think about it. I’d rather shove it deep away and forget it.”

  They were on the edge of something here, and she knew it. In spite of what they had done in bed—and in the shower, and on the counter, and up against a wall—they were also friends. Or so she hoped. “Trust me,” she said. “Shoving things down deep isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

  He met her gaze. “For a long time, it was all I had. When I was a kid in the system, having visible emotions not only made me vulnerable, but it was actually dangerous.”

  She blew out a breath. It was hard to maintain any sort of distance from him at the best of times, but remembering and hearing what he’d been through in his childhood years was a sober reminder that life was too damn short to hold grudges. Scooting closer to him, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  With a rough male sound, he pulled her in and buried his face in her hair, reminding her that once upon a time, they’d been each other’s safe haven. It seemed that maybe some things never changed. “I hate that you grew up the way you did,” she whispered against his scruffy jaw.

  He tightened his arms and brushed a kiss on her cheek. “I turned out okay.”

  She snorted. “Define okay.”

  A very small smile curved his mouth. “My point is that I don’t need my dad around now,” he said. “It’s too late for us.”

  “I disagree,” she said softly. “Maybe you need each other.”

  He went still, not moving, maybe not breathing, and she knew she had to be careful here. Garrett hated pity with a passion, and considered empathy and sympathy—at least when they were aimed at him—just as bad. “Have you thought that maybe he’s really changed? Maybe he really does regret not being there for you and wants to try to right his wrongs. And I get that you don’t need that, but it’s possible he does.”

  “And it’s also possible that you should listen to your own advice.” And with that, he turned off the engine and exited the truck.

  It was a warm but dark evening. Low-lying clouds hid the stars and whatever moon there might’ve been. Ahead of her, Garrett stood, hands in his pockets, staring out at the barely visible valley below. She stopped at his side and adopted his stance. They stood there like that through a few heartbeats before she spoke. “I agree,” she said. “I should listen to my own advice. I came because I needed to clear the air with you and right some wrongs. But I stayed because I also needed to be here. Home. I needed to remember what I have here. And who.”

  He lost some of the tension in his shoulders at that, and his eyes warmed. But true to Garrett, he didn’t rush her. Instead he said, “The ER doc suggested a warm bath to keep your undoubtedly sore muscles loose.” He turned to the deck and hit the button to turn on the jets in the hot tub. “This’ll help you more than a shower.” He waited for her to make a move.

  She had to admit, the bubbling water drew her like a moth to a flame. Or like any warm-blooded female to Garrett. She stripped out of the scrubs the nurse had given her at the hospital. She stood there in her bra and panties and gestured at Garrett. “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “I’m not going to be the only one in my skivvies.”

  He toed off his boots and socks. He then tugged off his shirt and shoved down his jeans, kicking them away.

  He was commando.

  She took in his lean, hard body, lit only by the pale blue interior light of the hot tub, and felt her mouth water.

  “You’ve got choices here,” he said.

  “Such as?”

  “Such as, you put your clothes back on and go home to bed.”

  “Or?”

  “Or you get in the hot tub and let me make you feel better.”

  “Without talking?” she asked hopefully.

  “Definitely not without talking.”

  Walking next door was definitely the easier route, but the easy route had never really worked out for her. She started to climb into the hot tub, but Garrett stopped her, gesturing to her bra and panties.

  “I’m not going to fight with you naked,” she said.

  “Who says we’re going to fight?”

  “Isn’t that what we usually do?” She stared up into his dark eyes. There was something new to his expression now. Like he was testing her to see if she trusted him.

  Did she?

  Yeah, she decided. She did, and if that’s what he needed to see, she could absolutely give it to him. She unhooked her bra and let it hit the ground. Then she slid off her panties and tried to lift a leg to climb into the hot tub, stopping to gasp in pain. Shit, she was sore, big-time.

  Garrett scooped her up and saved her, easily stepping into the water with her and slowly lowering them down into the bubbles. Because she was on his lap, held close to his body, she could attest to the fact he was telling her the truth—he was not in a fighting mood, but another mood entirely.

  “You’re in the driver’s seat,” he said quietly, and gave a little smile.

  Turning so that her spine was to his chest, she leaned back on him, tilting her head against his shoulder and staring up into the night sky.

  His arms came around her, and she sighed with pleasure.

  “Comfortable?” he asked.

  “Yes. Your siding needs to be treated.”

  “This place needs a lot of things.”

  “I could help you.”

  He seemed surprised.

  “What?” she said. “I mean, granted, it’s been a while, but you and I oil-stained the siding years ago, for Ann. So it’s nothing we haven’t done before.”

  “Well, if that’s the rule today,” he teased.

  Heat flashed through her, but she shook it off with a laugh. “You have something to say,” she guessed. “Lay it on me.”

  “All right.” He didn’t hesitate. “I’ve been thinking about what happened to you. And how you lied to me at the time about how badly you were hurt.”

  She’d been out of it when she’d been airlifted off the mountain after the helicopter accident. Things had been complicated by a foreign hospital and her being of legal age. When she’d become lucid just before her first surgery, she’d told the doctors she didn’t want anyone to know the extent of her injuries. They’d obliged, not telling her family or Garrett a thing, which had enabled her to give them an abbreviated version of the truth. “I did,” she said quietly.

  “I want to know that you won’t do anything like that ever again.”

  “I couldn’t even if I wanted to,” she said. “You’re able to tell whenever I try.”

  He turned her so that she was straddling him, facing him. “I want you to stop trying. I want to be able to trust you with you.”

  His gaze held hers prisoner, searching, and she let out a long breath. “I’m getting there.”

  He cupped her face, letting a thumb gently glide just beneath her stitches. “Good.”

  “I’ve maybe even matured,” she said, lighter now, allowing a teasing tone to come into her voice. “But not mature mature. I mean, I still have to say ‘righty tighty, lefty loosey’ to open stuff. And then there’s the whole counting thing. Don’t get me started.”

  Garrett smiled as his hands skimmed down her body. “I was really into the girl you were,” he murmured. “You were such a feisty smart-ass who knew all my buttons and just how to push them. Every second with you was an adventure, a heart-thumping, adrenaline-rush adventure.” Very gently, he slid his fingers into her hair. “I was addicted to you.”

  Since she was no longer that girl, nothing even close to that girl, maybe only a shell of that person, she started to tense.

  “But the woman you’ve become . . .” he murmure
d.

  She closed her eyes, not wanting to hear how she no longer measured up. “Don’t—”

  “You’re smart instead of reckless. You think before you act or speak because you care about other people’s feelings. You’re still unpredictable as shit, but you’re thoughtful, caring, warm . . . still a feisty smart-ass, though.”

  She could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Love that part a lot,” he murmured.

  “An unpredictable, feisty smart-ass, huh?” she asked, unable to hide her own smile at his words and the meaning behind them. “I can’t help but notice you said nothing about being sexy and mysterious.”

  “Incredibly sexy,” he said. “And you’re more of a mystery than you know.” He pressed close, the heat of his body instantly enveloping her. “Brooke. Look at me.”

  She dragged her eyes open. His lashes were wet and spiky, his eyes almost black with intensity. “I’ve got something to say.”

  She licked her suddenly dry lips. “Garrett—”

  “I’m still addicted to you,” he said, and then kissed her, deep and hungry and powerful. The night, the moon, the stars all spun around her, and as it continued, she felt his warm hands brush her breasts. He raised his head and she arched her back, naked in the moonlight, begging without words for him to keep touching her, for him to find her irresistible, for him to want her, yearn for her, be unable to imagine his life without her, in spite of all her shortcomings and failings.

  And where that thought came from, she had no idea.

  He stood, easily boosting her in his arms, still kissing her as she wrapped her legs around him.

  “Thought the warm water was healing,” she managed.

  “I’ve got something better.” With both of them naked and dripping wet, he strode with her into his house, where they were met by three judging cats, eyes narrowed.

  “Scram,” Garrett said, heading straight up the stairs, still dripping water without a care.

  “Wow. You stained the stair railings and wood trim in here. It looks great.”

  Garrett stopped walking and looked at her. “When you said ‘wow,’ I thought you were talking about my manly prowess.”