I nodded.
“Sheriff?” Mac’s voice called from our side. There was an alert look on his face.
“Hey,” Trent acknowledged. He waved an arm toward the vehicle. “I have a German Shepherd I need kenneled. He’s a good dog according to my handlers, strong nerves, but with Josh and Olivia staying here, you think it’d be a good idea?” His gaze shifted to me. “He also nearly took a bite out of Kate.”
“Is that why your arm black and blue?” Josh asked.
“Yes.”
Mac grinned. “Let’s take a look at him.”
“Uh,” I mumbled. “Should I go indoors?”
“Nah,” the ranch manager replied. “Is he in a crate, Sheriff?”
“Yes. And he’s got a muzzle on. Name’s Sarge.”
“Let me see!” Olivia flew down the steps, but I caught her around the waist. “Whoa, there, missy.” I laughed. “I’m taking the kids inside.”
Mac nodded in understanding. “Good idea. I’ll assess Sarge. If he does stay, it would be best to introduce the kids first in a neutral environment and observe how he reacts from a sensory standpoint before he sees them.”
“Gotcha,” I replied, hauling a squirming Olivia indoors. “Come on, Josh.”
“Kate,” Trent called. “I’ll message you about tonight.”
I didn’t look back, but waved my arm in an acknowledgement.
12
Kate
“That’s wild,” Cassie said beside me.
“Right?” I answered.
We were watching Olivia and Josh talk to Grace—Matt’s wife who was eight months pregnant. My brother was hovering around her, looking bemusedly at the twins. He was a few weeks away from becoming a father and I was surprised how well he was adapting to the idea.
Trent had set up this meeting at Millie’s Diner. This was not unusual. The diner was a popular venue for discussing town business. Aside from Cassie, Matt and his wife, Lucas and Trent were present. Millie and John—her partner and the owner of the Crowder’s General Store that was adjacent to the diner—were also in attendance. And of course, there was Colt. He was busy throwing back a beer with Lucas and Trent.
I told them exactly what Porter revealed to us including the threat from Alex, but I left out the proposed marriage between the rancher and me.
“Colt seems more than fine with this shared guardianship of the twins,” Cassie said. “He’s a good man, Kate.”
“So everyone says.”
My sarcasm didn’t escape my sister. Apparently, I’d irritated her. “What do you have against Colt? Were you hoping he’d be some kind of asshole so there’d be a reason for you not to like him?”
“I like him fine,” I retorted. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed to a date with him.”
Cassie laughed. “Fine? Have you ever really looked at Colt? That man could have any woman from the county, but he’s crazy about you.”
I sighed. “Sorry about my sarcasm. I’m projecting, really. Colt’s not the problem. I am. I fear if this shared guardianship doesn’t work, I will have no say with the twins.”
“Oh, Kate,” Cassie whispered finally understanding my fears. “You’re viewing him as a threat? That man wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. I hope you know that.”
“It makes it hard, you know? To give myself over completely to love those kids. What if I don’t get to keep them anyway?”
“This is a weird situation,” Cassie agreed. “Do you want to keep them?”
“I want to.”
“But?”
“But do I want to keep them for the right reasons? Would they thrive better with me or would a couple with more stability be a better option?”
“Well, you could marry Colt.”
I burst out laughing, a bit chagrined as well at how close Cassie was to hitting home. Colt and Trent glanced at us, the rancher stood and excused himself from his huddle and headed our direction.
“What are you ladies laughing about?” Colt asked.
“I was suggesting to Kate that marrying you would solve a lot of problems,” Cassie said, chuckling.
“Great idea,” Colt agreed as he wrapped an arm around my waist and hauled me dramatically against him. “How about it, babe? Marry me?”
He asked the questions loud enough for the entire diner to hear. I rolled my eyes as cheering erupted from our spectators.
John raised his hand. “I can officiate.” The general store owner was an ordained minister certified to perform weddings.
I felt my cheeks burn and glared daggers at Colt.
“Cassie, can I talk to my woman for a minute?” he said.
My woman. While the part of me that craved my independence balked at those words, another part of me was thrilled to hear them.
I was a walking disaster of conflicted emotions.
Colt took my hand and led me to Millie’s office. I was aware of how our arms brushed against each other and how the heat of his body kindled the aching pulse between my legs. The prior night’s teasing didn’t help either, although I considered myself the winner of that round.
We entered the office and I turned to Colt, ready to berate him for his proprietary behavior and words. His lips slammed down on mine. I gasped and his tongue invaded my mouth and he stole my breath away. Backed against the wall, my arms were trapped between us and all I could do was fist his shirt. He molded my body to his hardness, not letting up as the crushing possessiveness of his kiss sent fire racing through my veins and a surge of wetness in my panties.
He broke the kiss and rested his forehead on mine. I was strangely gratified that I wasn’t the only one panting. Our eyes clashed and smoldered.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” he murmured. “I’m finding I’m not the nice guy people think I am when it comes to you.”
“Oh, what would a nice guy do?”
“Ask for permission to kiss you.”
I laughed quietly. “I eat nice guys for breakfast.”
He smirked. “I know. That’s why I had to change tactics.”
My eyes narrowed. “I didn’t miss you calling me your woman.”
“You are. If it weren’t for the people outside, I wouldn’t stop kissing you and fuck knows where this would lead.” He pressed his lower half against me and I could feel his erection against my belly.
“I don’t know either,” I whispered. My right hand released his shirt and skated down his abs to his jutting hardness. Our warm breaths mingled as my palm stroked up and down his cock. I wanted to unzip him and take him into my mouth. To taste him.
“Fuck, Kate,” he growled. His hand gripped my wrist that was on his dick. “Stop or I’d say fuck it to those people outside and take you against this wall.”
The thought of our friends and family on the other side of this room dampened my mood, but I was still the owner of soaked panties.
“Sorry.” I huffed a laugh.
He chuckled, wincing slightly as he adjusted himself. “You’ll be the death of me, Goldilocks.” He tugged me toward him. “C’mere.”
He backed into Millie’s desk, leaned against it then caged me between his legs, facing him. “We can’t send mixed signals to those kids. And before you react and say that I’m using them as an excuse, maybe I am. I’m not holding back any longer. I would have given you more time to recover from Piper’s death, but time is a luxury we no longer have. Josh and Olivia need us.”
“Wouldn’t it complicate things if we get involved?”
“It’d be worse if we didn’t. Are you suggesting we put whatever’s going on between us on hold? Can you imagine the tension that’s going to cause? Do you honestly think I can simply shut down what I feel for you? Josh is an empath. No way can we fake our way through this.”
With each question, his voice was measured, and every one hit me right where I needed to hear it. The last shred of my resistance broke.
“I get it,” I sighed in resignation.
“They will come firs
t, all right?” he assured me. “But we’re not forgetting what has started between us.”
I nodded.
“That’s settled then.” His eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “We’re happening.”
* * *
All eyes were on us when we rejoined everyone at the dining area.
The varying degrees of humor on their faces made me thankful that children were around. Otherwise, we wouldn’t hear the end to their ribbing.
Still, Lucas got up and whispered some words to Colt on his way to the men’s room. “That was fast—even for a quickie.”
“Fucker,” he muttered.
I angled my eyes at Colt. “Serves you right.”
He grinned.
I shook my head. He just didn’t care what other people thought. We left the diner soon after. Olivia was nodding off to sleep at one corner, so Colt leaned over and picked her up and held her against his chest, her blond curls fell over his shoulder.
Cassie grasped my arm and squeezed it. I glanced at her questioningly, but her eyes were riveted on Colt with a tender expression.
“Come on, kiddo.” I put my arm around Josh and followed them out the door, keenly aware of all the eyes focused on our quartet.
Colt, Josh, and I exchanged trivial conversation in the SUV with Olivia piping in sleepily every few minutes. When we arrived at the ranch house, she was in zombie-mode again, so Colt carried her directly to their room. I shooed him out after that while I instructed the kids to get ready for bed. The twins had milkshakes and pecan pie at the diner, so neither was skipping brushing their teeth. Mumbled protests broke out, but they didn’t last long, which was good, since that lessened my consternation when I saw the state of their bathroom.
Josh wasn’t sleepy and asked if he could read on his tablet. I told him he had an hour then it was lights out. His sister fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
I quietly closed the door and made my way to the kitchen. Colt was rounding the counter with a glass of amber liquid. Without saying a word, I took it from him and helped myself to a gulp.
Whiskey burned down my throat as my body welcomed it.
Colt chuckled. “What happened?”
“Children are messy creatures,” I announced.
He quirked a brow. “Okay …?” A puzzled smile formed on his lips.
“Toothpaste everywhere,” I blurted out. “How can they miss the sink? It’s on the faucet, the glass, the floor … and how does toilet paper end up on the floor when there’s a wastebasket right there.”
“They’re eight,” he explained. “I know of adults who can turn a bathroom into a hazmat zone.”
I frowned. “Who?”
He grinned. “My roommates in college.” Staring at me intently, he asked, “Do we need a bottle of whiskey for this?”
I nodded.
Still chuckling, he disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a bottle of Jameson and an extra glass. He nodded to the living room, so I walked over to one of the couches and settled in. Colt sat beside me and added some liquor to my glass, before pouring himself two fingers and then setting the bottle on the coffee table. This time, I sipped. ES had high alcohol tolerances and it took a lot to get us drunk, but that wasn’t a green light to abuse our livers.
“Weren’t Cassie and Lucas bad at that age?” Colt asked. The man couldn’t keep the smile from his voice. He was enjoying my descent into motherhood hell.
“I was fourteen when they were eight.” I leaned back and propped my feet on the coffee table. “Cubby and Piper were two at that time, but they had a nanny. They didn’t even interact with us until they were six.”
“Cassie mentioned you lived in a section of an underground lab.”
“Chrysalis was like a bunker, except more spacious,” I explained. “Imagine going into a mouth of a cave only to realize it was a network of tunnels. I believe it had been an old emerald mine.”
“Didn’t you ever get claustrophobic?”
“We trained in the forest a lot. Most of our instructors were former military.” I angled my eyes at Colt. “That explained why we’ve grown up with military discipline like tidiness and order in our rooms and our grooming habits.”
The man beside me looked thoughtful. “I guess you should be. If it’s anything like training for the SEALs, you would require economy of movements and making sure you don’t leave any evidence behind.”
“Exactly,” I replied, taking a sip of my drink and noting how easy it was to talk to Colt. “That’s why I was shocked at the mess in their bathroom.”
“Didn’t you and Millie put them to bed yesterday?”
“Well, they’re eight. We didn’t exactly put them to bed. More like chatted with them until they got sleepy.”
“Are you telling me they didn’t brush their teeth last night?”
I scowled into my drink. “So, I’m not gonna make mother-of-the-year. Big deal. They brushed tonight.”
He bumped his shoulder against mine. “Teasing you, babe.”
Laughing, I nudged him back. “I know.”
It was a mistake to glance at him. The specter of longing in his warm whiskey eyes morphed into a scorching appraisal and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. Our easy conversation was gone as heat flushed my face, zinging down my body into a need that pulsed at my core. I squeezed my thighs together.
Colt’s gaze momentarily caught the movement before slowly returning to my face, taking in the rise and fall of my chest. A prickly awareness sucked out the oxygen between us. I could barely breathe as he leaned in closer.
I didn’t retreat.
“Uh … what’s the plan tomorrow?” I squeaked, as my heart thudded in my ears.
“Shut up,” he whispered before his mouth claimed mine. Unlike the scene in Millie’s office, this kiss was gentle, but it gradually deepened into a voracious one. His tongue slipped between my lips and demanded a response and I yielded and my nipples hardened as I shamelessly pressed against him. My back lowered to the couch, our bodies never separating and I wantonly parted my thighs and cradled his hips. His chest was a welcome weight, but in my greed, I needed to feel his skin. My hands found their way under his shirt and touched the warm ridges of muscle and, when my fingers played with the band of his jeans, a sexy growl vibrated in his throat.
His mouth left mine and traveled to my neck, nibbling there. His hand slid to my butt, drawing me closer to increase pressure against his erection. He was hard and he wanted me to know it.
I couldn’t believe Colt was dry humping me into the couch.
The delicious rhythm continued and I felt a clamoring need rising low in my belly. His mouth returned to my lips as he expertly coaxed the response he wanted. Just as I was about to peak, Colt suddenly pulled me up to a sitting position, the warmth of his body leaving mine, and he had scooted to the end of the couch.
“What?” I blurted out, dazed.
His face was ruddy, elbow resting on the arm of the couch, head bent with forefinger and thumb rubbing against his right temple.
I was about to ask him if he was okay when I heard it—a shuffle of feet and then I saw Josh emerge from the hallway. He looked at us and said, “I’m thirsty.”
Judging from how hot I was feeling, I could just imagine how red my face was.
Colt was in no position to get him a glass of water. I was sure the shirt I pulled out from his jeans was covering an erection. I inspected myself for wardrobe malfunctions and finding none, I pushed up from the couch and headed to the kitchen. Grabbing a glass from the cabinet above, I handed it to Josh and leaned against the counter.
“Did you do okay at the diner today?” I asked.
Josh shrugged as he pressed his glass against the water dispenser without saying a word. I wondered if shrugging was some kind of kid lingo I was supposed to understand.
“Josh?”
“It wasn’t too bad.”
“But?” My peripheral vision registered Colt getting up from the couch and walking towar
d us.
“It was a bit overwhelming,” Josh admitted. “But not in a freak-out kind of way. Uncle Matt was a bit intense.”
I quirked a brow. “Toward you?”
“Not really. I think he was worried about Ms. Grace talking to us.”
“Worried?”
“It was like he wasn’t sure about us. That we could hurt her.”
“I’m sorry. I hope he didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m used to it.” Josh stared at the floor.
A wave of outrage suddenly shot through me as well as a feeling that I’d let him down. “No one should make you feel that way.” I stepped closer to him and put my hands on his shoulders. “I’ll fix this.”
“We, Kate,” Colt corrected. “We’re in this together.” He glanced at Josh. “Got that, buddy?”
The child looked up and gave a tight nod.
“I’m going to have a talk with Matt,” I declared, still annoyed with my brother even if I somewhat understood him.
“Please don’t,” Josh said in a rush. “I don’t want him to feel bad.”
“Well, better him than you,” I retorted, to which Josh smiled widely. I suddenly felt less of a failure.
“Leave it alone for now,” Colt said. “The news caught Matt unaware. He’s got a very pregnant wife who’s about to give birth to the first ES baby and he’s feeling extra protective.”
“They’re just children,” I argued.
“I’ve read your files.” Colt looked at me. “Need I remind you how strong you were at eight?”
I rolled my eyes, distinctly remembering taking down a grown man as big as Colt.
“How strong?” Josh’s eyes were bright with interest.
“She was as big as your sister and she kicked the ass of a man my size.”
Josh’s eyes grew round. “Wow! And you’re my mom.”
The boy didn’t realize he called me mom. It still sounded weird but it wasn’t as cringe-worthy as yesterday.
“You better head off to bed, kiddo,” I said. “No more reading.”
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