More Than Pancakes (The Maple Leaf Series Book 1)

by Christine DePetrillo

  But there was Lily. Walking right beside him. Her fragrance made the woods smell like a drink that would be fun to consume, but leave you with one hell of a headache in the morning. Showing Lily around the sugarhouse had made talking to her easy. His throat was actually a little scratchy from explaining how everything worked. He never talked this much. He glanced at his watch and was amazed he’d managed a full month’s worth of conversation before 10:00 a.m. A new record since being out of the city for sure.

  He opened his front door and stood to the side to let Lily enter. He liked how she hesitated a moment every time he let her go ahead of him. As if she wasn’t used to the simple courtesy. Didn’t Californian men have manners?

  He stepped into the house after Lily, and her cell phone rang in her purse. She let out a grumble as she rummaged around and extracted the phone.

  After looking at the little blue screen, she said, “Not now,” and tossed the phone back into her purse. A semi-scowl marched onto her face. “Drew. I talked to him this morning. Twice. I told him I was working on new designs. That I didn’t think the deal was going to happen here. That a resort would ruin the landscape.” She puffed out a breath and wandered a little deeper into the house. “He’s not happy. Called me an environmentalist.” She shrugged as she dumped her purse on the couch and sat next to it.

  Rick liked the look of her in his living room. She made it appear cozy. “That’s not a bad thing. Being an environmentalist.” He sat in the recliner next to the couch.

  “It is in the world I live in.” She flopped back, letting her head rest on the back of the couch.

  A week ago, Rick had considered that couch a prison while he had to stay off his ankle. Now he wanted nothing more than to sidle up next to Lily with one of his favorite books. He wanted her feet in his lap as he read her poetry by a blazing fire.

  He wanted things he shouldn’t.

  She was so not in his league. No woman was. He’d chosen a life of uncomplicated solitude for a reason. That life had been working for him so far.

  Lily’s phone rang again in her purse. “I’m really pissing Drew off.”

  Rick was held captive by the slight smile on her lips. “Why do you look as if that pleases you?”

  She gave him an innocent look he didn’t buy for a second. “Maybe he deserves this treatment. He’s always got everything under his control. I’m like this big wildcard right now.” She waved her hands over her head. “We’ve done every project together. Now, I’m over here without him, suggesting a change in plans, and it’s making him nervous. He should trust my professional judgment by now.”

  Lily leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. The movement caused the ruffled shirt under the red sweater to hang away from her chest. A tantalizing bit of cleavage exposed itself, and Rick had to quickly think of something else.

  Of course, nothing else would come to mind but the tops of what had to be amazing breasts under that shirt.

  Maybe they’re fake. Californians were always making enhancements, weren’t they?

  Nothing else about Lily looked fake though. Her hair fell in natural curls about a face not hidden by tons of makeup. Her clothes were fashionable and probably expensive, but not flamboyant. No, Lily wasn’t enhanced. She was simply the product of some marvelous DNA.

  Her phone rang again, and Rick wanted to drop the damn thing into the pond on his property. How did people live with cell phones that constantly rang? His own was usually stuffed in a coat pocket but never on. Who would call him?

  “I’m so going to get fired,” Lily said.

  “No,” he said. “We’re not going to let that happen, but just in case it does, what else are you good at?” Driving men wild, perhaps?

  “Not much. I design hotels and watch movies. Lots of them. I suppose I could be a professional movie watcher.” She sat back and took the magnificent view with her. “Do you do something else in the off season? Besides read.” She got up to peruse the shelves. “Holy shit, there are a lot of books in here.”

  “When I’m not reading, I build barns.” He limped to the shelves and pulled a photo album out. He handed it to Lily and deliberately sat on the couch instead of the recliner. He put his foot up on the chest in front of the couch and waited to see where Lily would sit to look at the album.

  She opened it while standing at the bookshelves, and his experiment was foiled.

  “Oh, my. These are gorgeous.” Lily meandered back to the couch and sat so her back leaned against the armrest. She bent her left leg up onto the cushion that separated her from Rick and rested the album on that leg.

  Interesting. She’d chosen the couch, but had put up a barrier between them. How hard would it be to remove that barrier? And why the hell do I want to?

  “Did you study architecture?” Lily asked as she paged through the album. She ran slender fingers over the photos, and Rick loved the way she tapped a fingertip on certain aspects of some of the barns. The doors on one. The windows on another.

  “Not formally,” Rick said. “I took a few courses on building and design, but never went any further.”

  “You’ve got a real talent. These are amazing.” She leaned over one picture—a barn he’d done in New Hampshire. The doors and windows had elaborate ironwork detailing around them. He’d enjoyed welding that design, and the customer had been thrilled with the finished look. “Maybe you want to give me your land and work for Utopia Resorts? They’d take one look at these and offer you a job on the spot.”

  “I just do barns. That’s it.” The mere thought of having to pump out hotels, assembly-line style, made Rick’s hands sweat. He could take his time on the barns he built in the off-seasons and could say no to jobs if he felt like it. That eliminated a great deal of the stress. He also could work by himself, which allowed him to do things the way he wanted to.

  “You have to make this difficult, don’t you?” Lily said with a grin.

  “You wouldn’t respect me if I caved now.” Rick returned the grin. He liked exchanging quips with her in his living room. Though they were still talking about taking his land away, the conversation had another layer now. Something he couldn’t quite put a finger on simmered beneath their words.

  “I would respect you. I promise.” Lily held up her palm as if taking an oath then used that hand to turn the page of the album. Her blue-green eyes widened at the series of photos she found there. “Oh, this one is my favorite.”

  Rick slid a little closer, his thigh touching her knee on the cushion between them. He angled his head so he could see which barn she was viewing.

  “That one is on Gail’s property,” he said.

  “My grandmother’s land has a barn?” Lily’s brows furrowed above those dazzling eyes.

  “Haven’t you explored at all over there?” Why wouldn’t she want to know all there is to know about that piece of paradise her grandmother had owned?

  “No. I came here on a mission. A mission I’m failing at miserably.”

  But you’re succeeding in other areas. Rick studied his hands, trying to ignore the tightening of… things… in his body as he sat this close to Lily.

  “Where is the barn?” She studied the photos again, turning the album this way and that to see the barn from all angles.

  “You know the path to the left of the house as you drive up?” Rick asked.

  “Okay.” Lily shook her head and shrugged.

  “Jeez, Lily. Phase Two of your intervention. I’ll show you the barn—and the path apparently—later.”

  “It has to be still light out. I’m not traipsing around outside in the dark.” Lily’s cheeks paled a bit, and her gaze cut into Rick. Man, she was so terrified of something out there.

  “You ready to tell me why you don’t like the woods or animals?” Rick couldn’t explain this crazy need to help her get over her fears whatever the reason for them.

  “You ready to tell me why you don’t ever leave this place? Why you don’t travel?” Lily asked.

&nbs
p; “Guess we’re still at an impasse,” he said. “Okay, shall we strategize then?” He took the album from Lily’s lap, closed it, and set it on the chest.

  Some of the color had returned to Lily’s cheeks as she dug out her laptop and her phone. “Can I ask you some business-related questions? I want to paint a picture of how much this land means to your livelihood.”

  He nodded. This land meant everything to his livelihood and not just in the financial sense.

  “How long have you owned this land?” Lily’s fingers sat poised over her laptop keyboard.

  “It’s been in the Stannard family for generations, but it’s only been used for sugaring for the past ten years.”

  “That’s it?”

  “What were you expecting?”

  “I don’t know. That you came from a long line of maple syrup makers.”

  “No.” Rick shifted away from Lily. He couldn’t think clearly sitting that close. “My father was a mason, and my mother was a florist. They both died when I was eleven, so I didn’t get a good look at either of those careers.”

  “Wow, eleven is young to lose both your parents. I’m sorry.” Lily looked up from her laptop, an expression on her face as if she were picturing a parentless eleven-year old boy.

  “Thanks. Plane crash. Took my uncle too. My father’s brother, who was Aunt Joy’s husband.”

  “Did Joy raise you?” Lily abandoned her laptop now, and her leg slid off the couch cushion. Her hand rested on that cushion instead, and dammit, Rick wanted to reach for it.

  “Raised me right alongside Hope and Sage. Don’t know where I’d be without Aunt Joy.” Probably in a psychiatric ward or six feet under the ground. He bristled at those thoughts.

  “You’re lucky to have her. I can tell she still looks out for you.”

  “Maybe too much sometimes.” He gestured to his ankle. “She was all over me about staying off this for the first week. I was ready to kill her.”

  Lily laughed, and Rick wanted to hear that sound again and again. “What about your family? What’s it like growing up around famous people?”

  “It’s a blast,” she said. “My parents divorced when I was ten. My mom lives in Rhode Island, my dad in California. I opted to stay with him.”

  “Because Hollywood life suited you.”

  “That and because my mom didn’t want me.” Lily studied a chunky sapphire ring on the middle finger of her left hand. She wiggled it one way then twisted it back.

  Rick imagined that rejection was almost worse than losing a parent to death. Knowing your mother preferred a life without you had to sting.

  “Her loss,” Rick said.

  “Thanks.” Lily drummed her fingers on the cushion. “Anyway, I stayed with my dad, and after about three years of him deciding being divorced wasn’t the end of the world, he started seeing the actress Jeri Kappen.”

  “Also one of Aunt Joy’s favorites. She stars in a lot of stuff with your father, right?” Good thing Aunt Joy loved Robert Hinsdale movies or else Rick wouldn’t be able to hold up his end of the conversation. He never watched TV or movies. He’d rather get lost in one of his books.

  “They met while filming Forever Rose and have been together ever since. They’re not married though. Dad says he’s afraid it’ll turn Jeri crazy and she’ll leave him, but he knows she’s around for good. They’re a perfect match.”

  “And you spent time with Gail no doubt? I’ll bet she adored you if she left you that masterpiece over there.” Rick motioned out his living room window in the direction of Gail’s property.

  “I spent a ton of time with Grandma Gail, especially when Dad and Jeri were filming. She had her regular show, but that usually taped in the mornings. In the summer when I wasn’t in school, I’d watch her tape, get to meet all the celebs, have lunch with them sometimes, then Grandma and I would ‘do Hollywood’ as she termed it.”

  Lily untied the belt at her waist and took off her red sweater. Rick fell instantly in love with the soft shirt she had on underneath. The ruffles around the neckline made him think of the past, very Pride and Prejudice.

  “We’d shop on Rodeo Drive, meet friends for dinner, go to movie premieres. We had a ball.”

  She fell quiet for a moment, and when the first tear hit her jeans, Lily rubbed at it absently. When the others followed, Rick found himself putting an arm around her shoulders. She shook with crying, but didn’t make any noise. Neither did he. This was the closest he’d been to a woman in forever. He’d never told any woman he’d dated in New York about his parents’ death, and he’d certainly never asked a woman about her family.

  But he wanted to know Lily. He wanted to comfort her.

  She leaned into him as the tears continued to fall. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  “Don’t be.” Rick brought a hand up and brushed her hair aside so he could see her face. “You’re allowed to miss her, Lily.”

  “She used to call me Clone.”

  “I can see why.” He let his thumb slide across her smooth cheek. “Though…”

  Lily’s eyes were bluer behind the unshed tears. “Though what?”

  “You’re prettier.” Rick let his hand fall from her face, and her curls bounced back into position to rest at her cheek. “Yes, definitely prettier.”

  She sniffled and before Rick had time to realize it, he was leaning forward. Pressing his lips to Lily’s. She didn’t try to stop him. Didn’t run away. Instead, she slid her hand up to his shoulder and pulled him closer. The heat of her lips reached every molecule of Rick’s body. Chaste pecks turned to a deeper sampling of one another until he wasn’t conscious of anything else but Lily.

  Her other hand rested on his thigh and tightened as they continued to kiss. A small part of his brain cautioned that this could all be a tactic. A smooth ploy to get him to give up his land, but wasn’t he the one who initiated the kiss? He admitted he didn’t know Lily well, but something in the way she kissed him told him this wasn’t a game.

  But if it wasn’t a game, what the hell was it?

  Chapter Nine

  Lily had no idea what she was doing, but damn, it felt right. Rick’s kiss was gentle, but a silent demand played under the surface. She wanted to supply that demand. Give more. Take more.

  Her hand slid up into his hair, and Rick pressed his lips against hers a little harder, more possessively. When his hand ran up her arm and rested in the curve of her neck, his skin all hot against her own, she caught his bottom lip between her teeth and tugged. This sent them both into another round of deep kissing. So deep. Lips, tongues, hands, all moving to a choreographed rhythm Lily didn’t have to think about. Natural, instinctual. Magical.

  Rick lowered her so her head was cradled by the couch’s armrest. He pulled her legs into his lap with a quick sweep of his hands. After putting his arms to either side of her body, he rested his palms beside her shoulders on the cushion below her and looked at her for a moment. Instead of saying something as Lily thought he was going to, he bent his elbows and leaned over her. His lips grazed her jaw, and he paused between tentative nibbles to look her in the eye, to gauge her reaction. When she wrapped her arms around him, pressed him closer, he forged a more confident path from her chin down her throat.

  Lily arched her body so more of it touched Rick’s. She snaked her hands under his flannel shirt and traced her fingers along the muscles of his back, wanting the thermal shirt he wore to disintegrate so she could touch bare skin. Feel him. Know him.

  Rick made a noise deep in his throat, and Lily’s inner dragon spiraled into the sky, fully awake and hungry. So hungry. It had never been this way with anyone. Certainly not Drew. He was a great kisser. Skilled. Creative. But Rick’s kiss lit a fire inside her. Wild and sizzling.

  She angled her head to the side when Rick went exploring around the rim of her ear. Her eyes were closed, and when she opened them, two golden eyes encased in fur stared back at her. Poe’s nose was mere inches from Lily’s as the coyote sniffed
the air between them. A short bark had Lily jumping and Rick pulling away.

  “Jealous, Poe?” He pushed the coyote back, and Lily was able to breathe again. The coyote looked as if it were mere seconds away from deciding she didn’t like what Rick was doing. Lily’s mind wasted no time sketching in the gruesome details of the animal’s retaliation to this offense.

  Rick sat up and ran a hand through his tousled hair as he held Poe back with his leg. He peered down at Lily who wasn’t quite sure if she should sit up or stay still. Which wouldn’t unleash the coyote’s fury?

  “She’s just curious,” he said. “It’s not every day Poe walks into the living room to find me kissing a beautiful woman.”

  “She looks like she wants me to leave.” Lily gripped the back of the couch and slowly pushed to sitting, trying to move as little as possible, always keeping her gaze on the coyote.

  “No, she doesn’t want you to leave,” Rick said. “Neither do I.” He pointed to the rug in front of the fireplace and gave Poe a nudge. “Down.”

  Poe licked Rick’s hand, evaluated Lily again then trotted to the rug. She lowered to the floor, sinking her head onto her paws. Golden eyes disappeared into a face of fur.

  “I’m sorry if she startled you.” Rick rubbed his hands down his thighs as he chewed on his bottom lip. “I forgot everything else but kissing you.”

  “Me too.” Lily relaxed now that the coyote wasn’t staring her down. “That ever happen to you before?”

  “No. I don’t ever let go enough to forget. You?” He swept his gaze over her face and settled on her lips. Did he want another taste? Lily sure as hell did.

  “No one’s ever been able to make me forget. I’m always thinking of a hundred other things, but just now there was only… only you.”

  Rick smiled. “Only us.” He pulled on one of Lily’s curls until it uncoiled and sprung back into place. “Why don’t we get those pancakes going? I’m suddenly ravenous.”