In the bathroom, he dispensed with the condom before turning on the water in the shower stall. He briefly considered the tub, instead, but the tiled stall appealed to him more. The curtain instead of a door gave easy access. When the water was nice and warm, he returned to the bedroom.
She glanced at him. “Why are you here when the water’s running in the shower?”
“Will you go in if I carry you?”
“I see where this is leading.” A gleam lit her dark eyes.
“Will you?”
“I’ve never been carried by a naked man. Could be fun.”
“I promise it will be.” Rounding the bed, he leaned down. “Put your arms around my neck.” Once she did, he slid both hands under her tush and picked her up. “Wind your legs around my hips.”
“I like this already.”
“Me, too. Sometime we should try it this way.” Since he’d likely be back here on other nights when Henri offered to babysit, he looked forward to more opportunities to make love.
Carrying her into the steamy bathroom, he nudged the curtain aside and stepped in, her back to the spray.
She giggled. “Kinky.”
“Never taken a shower with a guy before?”
“Never. You can put me down, now.”
“Maybe I don’t want to.” He turned around and propped her back against the tile. “Maybe I’d rather do this.” Leaning down, he licked drops of water from her breasts.
“Mm.” She let go of his shoulders and cupped her breasts, lifting them up to his mouth.
“Nice.” He tugged on one pert nipple with his teeth before taking it in and sucking as he squeezed her sweet behind.
He moved to her other breast, his cock rising as he indulged himself. Easing her feet to the tile, he kissed his way down her moist body and coaxed her thighs apart. On his knees, water pelting him, he revisited his favorite place, nibbling, licking and fondling her until… the best sound in the world echoed off the shower walls.
Holding her steady, he slowly stood and dropped damp kisses on her mouth and cheeks. “Like your shower so far?”
She gulped for air. “It’s had its moments.”
“Glad to hear it.” He nuzzled the hollow of her neck. He would never get enough of this woman.
“Now it’s my turn.” Her sultry voice telegraphed her intention a second before she took a firm grasp on the situation.
He gasped as the urge to come nearly undid him. “Easy. I’m close.”
“Then this won’t take long, will it?” She maintained her hold as she got to her knees.
When her lips closed over the tip of his cock, he gasped again. Where was the self-control he’d honed over the years? Gone, replaced with a hair-trigger response.
He tried to last. He really did. Hands braced against the tile, he gave in embarrassingly soon. He might have yelled. Probably had.
Rising to her feet, she came up between his braced arms and kissed him. He cupped the back of her head, sliding his hand over her water-slicked hair, and kissed her back. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Is it past midnight?”
“Yes, ma’am. Will you be my Valentine?”
“I will if you’ll be mine.”
“Love to.” He kept kissing her until the water turned cold.
As he twisted the handles to shut it off, a jaunty tune drifted down the hallway.
“Uh-oh.” Nudging him aside, she pushed the curtain open and raced naked down the hall. The tune stopped.
He grabbed a towel and hurried after her. “What—”
“It’s Georgie.” She tossed her phone aside and hurried to the dresser. “Earache. He’s spiking a fever, screaming and crying, wanting me. They’re bringing him over.”
“Now?”
“I’m afraid so. Henri’s driving as slow as she can. Do you think you can vamoose before they get here?”
“I’ll do my best.” He searched the floor for the clothes he’d flung off earlier. Henri’s house was a very short drive away.
“I’m so sorry. I should have anticipated—”
“How could you?”
“It’s winter. Kids get earaches this time of year.” She wrenched open a drawer, grabbed underwear and pulled on a pair of panties.
Locating his briefs and jeans, he quickly tugged them on. “But he was okay when you left him, right?”
“Yep. Doesn’t guarantee anything. Earaches can come on fast and often at night.” She pulled a shirt off a hanger, making the others clack and jangle. “I didn’t even think of it. Should have.” Popping the shirt over her head, she pushed her arms into the sleeves.
“It’s bad luck, that’s all.” He grabbed his shirt from the floor, put it on but didn’t button it. Leaned against the wall and yanked on his boots. “Everything could have gone smoothly. You couldn’t know—”
“Jeans. I need jeans.” She took the lid off a laundry hamper and jerked out a pair.
He put on his jacket and hoisted his duffle. “I’m outta here.”
“Thanks. Again, so sorry.” She stepped into one leg and hopped around trying to get the other leg in.
“It’s okay.” He’d almost made it to the front door when a truck pulled up outside. He turned back. “Anna, they’re here.”
She appeared in her bedroom doorway, her expression anxious.
He gazed at her. “What should I do?”
“Come back in here.”
He started toward her as the rumble of the truck’s engine ceased. “But won’t he see my truck?”
“Maybe he’ll be okay with it. Maybe—”
“Don’t want Grit!” Georgie’s frantic scream pierced the silence. “Don’t want Grit! Nooooo! Want Mama! Nooooo!”
Anna rushed toward the door, her face drained of color as the screams continued, growing louder and more hysterical by the second. “Go into my room.” Her breath came in gasps. “Stay there until I get him into his room.”
His gut clenched. “Right.” He lengthened his stride and ducked into her bedroom just as she flung open the door and raced outside without a coat. He stood in the middle of the room, breathing hard, those panicked screams tearing him to bits.
Georgie drowned out most everything else, except murmured words here and there. He identified Henri, Red and Claire. Yeah, he’d just stay here. He resisted the urge to put his hands over his ears.
Eventually Georgie’s protests became less strident and were punctuated by sobbing. Had Anna taken him into his bedroom? Couldn’t tell for sure.
Then Henri poked her head in. “Coast is clear.”
“Thanks.” Carrying his duffle, he followed her into the living room where Red stood with Claire. Everyone wore coats, but judging from their mussed hair and the combo of boots pulled over pajama pants, they’d all come directly from their warm beds. “I’m so sorry, ladies.”
“We’re sorry, too,” Henri said. “I’m going to stay and see if I can help Anna. If you’ll drop Red at my house and take Claire home, I’d be very appreciative.”
“Let’s go.” He gestured toward the door and followed them out, grabbing his hat off the coat tree as he went by. He managed to reach the truck in time to open both the front and back passenger doors. “Claire, if you’d please go in the back.”
“Gotcha, Uncle Garrett. Want me to take your duffle?”
“Thank you.” He helped her in and handed it to her.
“Oh, wait. Mine’s in Gramma Henri’s truck.”
“I’ll get it in a sec.” He handed Red up to the passenger seat, trotted around to the driver’s side and climbed in so he could start the engine and turn on the heater. “Should warm up in a minute. Be right back.”
When he returned with Claire’s duffle, the murmur of voices from inside the truck stopped. He opened the back door and gave it to her.
“Thank you, Uncle Garrett.” Her tone was soft, the kind she might use when talking to an invalid.
He got behind the wheel and put the truck in gear. “I appreciat
e what you all tried to do tonight. You did your best.”
“It was just tough luck.” Red sighed. “On Thursday night I debated offering you some of my crystals. They helped Rafe and Kate last fall. Now I wish I had given you some.”
“Me, too,” Claire said. “I never knew about those until you started talking about them tonight. I want to get some. Uncle Garrett, you should look into the crystal thing.”
“At this point I’d rub cow patties on my face if I thought it would help.”
“Eeuuww! Blech! Please don’t do that.”
“I’m kidding, sweetheart.” He drove up next to Henri’s walk and left the engine running. “Stay put, please, Red. I’ll walk you to the door.”
“I know you will, dear boy. I had no intention of jumping the gun.”
After exiting the truck, he went around, helped her down and escorted her to the porch.
She gave him a hug. “Don’t give up hope.”
“Did you hear him? He was terrified.”
“But he was sick and in pain. Keep that in mind.”
“I’ll try.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Goodnight.”
By the time he returned to the truck, Claire had claimed the front seat. She glanced over at him. “I didn’t think you’d mind if I switched.”
“Glad to have you.” He put the truck in gear.
“I don’t understand. I thought Georgie was doing better.”
“I thought so, too.”
“But did you have a good time, at least? I mean, until this happened.”
“Yes. I had a very good time.” Best ever.
“Don’t give up.”
“Oh, I won’t. But… there’s no getting around it. We’re back to square one.” Or worse, but he wouldn’t say that to his optimistic young friend.
“Daddy will be up when we get there.”
“He will?”
“Henri texted him to say you’d be bringing me home because Georgie got an earache. She didn’t want him to be startled.”
“Good thought. Did you have a good time? Before the earache thing?”
“I had a great time. I can’t wait to take Daddy to see those trains. Have you seen them?”
“Not yet. But I expect I will, soon.”
“That’s what Gramma Henri said. The Buckskin gang will have a train party one of these nights.”
“Sounds terrific.” He parked in front of the bunkhouse. “Time to get you to bed.”
“Guess so. It’s been quite a night.”
“Uh-huh.” No kidding.
Zeke met them at the door and hustled Claire off to bed.
Garrett hung up his coat and hat, left his duffle on his bunk and wandered into the kitchen. He should go to bed, too, but he doubted that he could sleep. After getting himself a glass of water, he leaned against the counter.
A moment later Zeke came in. “This sucks for you and Anna. But at least you had some time alone together before it all went to hell.”
“We did. Wish I didn’t have this feeling of impending doom, though.”
“Claire said he was screaming really loud.”
“He was. I’m afraid he thought I’d turned into the bad guy who was trying to separate him from his mother. That’s what his dad used to do.”
“Yeah, well, kids aren’t at their best when they don’t feel good.”
“You’re right. But—” His phone pinged with a text. “Excuse me a sec. That’s her.”
Georgie’s finally asleep and Henri’s gone home. You may be asleep, too. I hope so. I’m really sorry. It was just too much too fast. I need to give Georgie time, specifically all of my time, after this meltdown. I don’t know for how long. I want to help him overcome his fear, but for now, we need to take a break.
Garrett handed the phone to Zeke so he could read it.
He scanned the text and swore.
“My thoughts, exactly.” He met Zeke’s sympathetic gaze. “You know the worst part?”
“You’re in love with her?”
He swallowed. “Yeah. And that hurts like hell.”
Chapter Thirty-One
After two days of hell, Georgie’s ear infection was gone. Although Anna wasn’t in the habit of letting him sleep in her bed, she made an exception during their ordeal.
Jake insisted she take Tuesday off so she could get some sleep. She kept Georgie home from daycare and they slept the day away, ate some dinner and went to bed early.
The next morning, she returned to her normal routine, dropped Georgie at daycare and walked into the visitor center with a determined smile. Jake stood behind the desk, scrolling through messages on his phone. “Hey, Jake.”
He glanced up and returned her smile. “Hey, Anna.” His voice was subdued, though, not a typical mode for him. “How are you?”
“Better, now that Georgie’s recovered.”
“It’s gotta be hell when your kid’s sick.”
“It’s awful, especially when there’s not a whole lot you can do except wait it out, knowing they’re in pain. I put warm drops in his ears, gave him something to reduce the fever, but mostly I had to let his immune system do the work. Which it did, eventually.”
“Sounds exhausting.”
“It was. Thank you again for giving me another day off. I’ll be happy to make it up whenever you—”
“Not necessary. Happy to do it. Does he get earaches often?”
“No, thank goodness.”
“Rotten timing, though.”
She took a breath. “Not really.” She held his gaze. “It was a not-so-gentle reminder of where my priorities lie.”
He frowned and opened his mouth. Closed it again and sighed. “Right.”
“So what’s happened since I’ve been gone? Did Millie get you the snow blower for Valentine’s Day?”
“She did.” His expression lightened. “Also some chocolate body paint from Racy Lace.”
“Excellent.”
“Uh-huh.” His grin was more typical Jake.
Good. She didn’t want awkwardness between them. “How about the hawk? How’s she doing?”
“Almost ready to release her.”
“That’s awesome.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He picked up his hat from the desk. “I love it when we can fix ’em and send them back to the life they deserve.” He glanced past her to the parking lot. “We’ve got visitors and I have paperwork waiting. Glad Georgie’s better.” Touching two fingers to the brim of his hat, he headed down the hall to his office.
She walked behind the desk and prepared to greet the elderly couple coming through the door. Jake likely had been ready to challenge her statement about priorities. Good thing he hadn’t. She was hanging on by a thread as it was. The last thing she wanted to do was argue with her boss.
As the days dragged by, the pain of cutting off contact with Garrett didn’t go away, but it became bearable. Mostly. Except when she took a shower. Or made s’mores with Georgie. Or heard Shania Twain on the radio.
She’d worried about running into him accidentally, but that didn’t happen. It was as if they lived miles from each other. Her job at the visitor center and his as a wrangler didn’t create opportunities to meet. If her brakes hadn’t gone out, they might still be relative strangers.
Millie was as friendly as ever, and if she had opinions about the situation with Garrett, she kept them to herself. She gave Anna the date for the next Brotherhood sleepover, which would be coordinated with another girls’ night at Kate’s house.
Henri invited her to bring Georgie down to the barn again and he loved it even more the second time around. Henri made no reference to the night of the babysitting disaster other than to say she was happy Georgie was better.
When Georgie asked about Claire, Anna got Zeke’s number from Jake and arranged for Zeke to drop his daughter off for dinner and s’mores. Since Garrett wasn’t there, Georgie and Claire played Candyland in the living room and ate at the table. Georgie made s’mores minus his Spiderman suit.<
br />
Claire didn’t mention Garrett, either. That had to be intentional, as if she’d been given instructions not to. After all, she lived with the guy and mentioning him would have been a natural thing to do. Evidently the Buckskin gang had agreed not to interfere with Anna’s decision. Clearly she’d made the right one.
After Claire left, Georgie helped her put the dishes in the dishwasher and clean the toasting forks. She crouched down to give him a hug. “Did you have a nice time with Sissy?”
He nodded. Then he put his hands on her cheeks, his way of making sure he had her attention. “Where’s Grit, Mama?”
She almost fell over. “He’s… I imagine he’s at the bunkhouse.”
“Why didn’t he comed here with Sissy? She wouldn’t tell me.”
Her chest tightened. “I didn’t invite him.”
“Why?”
“Because he upsets you.”
“No, he doesn’t.”
Her breath hitched. “He doesn’t?”
Georgie pressed his hands to her cheeks and stared into her eyes. “He’s nice. He maked the fire. He maked ‘mores. He liked my boots.”
Her heart pounded. “Georgie…” She cleared her throat. “Do you miss Garrett?”
He nodded. “He’s nice, Mama. He’s quiet.”
“Would you like me to invite him over?”
He nodded again.
“When?”
“Now, Mama.”
Garrett had grown used to the constant ache of loss, but it was sharper tonight. Claire was over at Anna’s place. Zeke had dropped her off, returned to the bunkhouse and suggested playing checkers.
Checkers was as good a distraction as anything, but he’d lost every game. At least it had passed the time until Zeke left to pick her up. They were due back any minute. He’d forced himself to sit by the wood stove like a normal person and pretend to be reading a book.
When they came through the door, he glanced up. “How’d it go?” Keeping his tone casual took effort, but he was determined to hold it together for Claire’s sake. He laid his book aside.
She shrugged out of her coat. “Georgie misses you.”
“He what?” Something must be wrong with his hearing.
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