“Would anyone like some after dinner tea or coffee?” she asked as she pushed out of her chair.
“Only if you bring this cake with you,” Richard said, scooping the last of the cheesecake off his plate and into his mouth.
“Will do.”
“Let me help you!” Laura rose quickly and began gathering the plates and cutlery from around her.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that!”
Laura waved Addy’s protest away. “Why don’t you men head into the parlor? We’ll bring the drinks there.”
“I think we’re being dismissed,” Toby remarked.
Grunting, Richard pushed back his seat. “I believe you’re right.”
The two left and Laura helped Addy drag everything into the kitchen, and stayed while Addy made the coffee.
“You don’t have to stay with me,” Addy said as Laura took a seat at the island.
“Oh, you’re doing me the favor,” Laura murmured. “Richard’s just been miserable since that call this morning. I need some space before I kill him in his sleep.”
Wiping her hands on a rag, Addy turned to the woman. “Is everything all right?”
Laura sighed heavily. “Robbie, our son, has been getting in and out of trouble since he was a teenager and it seems the older he gets, the deeper he seems to get.”
“Oh, Laura, I am so sorry…”
The older woman waved away the apology. “It’s our own fault. We spoiled him, gave him no boundaries and let him get away with just about anything.”
Addy set her hands on the island between them. “Is there anything I can do?”
Blue eyes lifted and met hers. “No, but thank you.” She forced a tight smile. “Besides, you’ve already given us one of the best vacations we’ve ever had. This town is gorgeous and our time here with you has been incredible. I’m almost tempted to move here just so I can come by every day and get fed by you.”
“You are welcome anytime,” Addy promised with a laugh. “I am really sad to see you go.”
Softness relaxed the wrinkles around Laura’s mouth and eyes. “Well, at least you won’t be alone. You’ll have that very handsome young man all to yourself.”
Crimson waves rushed up Addy’s face, turning it a hot red that had Laura laughing.
“Toby?” she blurted. “Oh, no, there is nothing—”
“Oh, but there should be!” Laura drawled with a wiggle of her eyebrow. “I would not let that one get away if I were you.”
Feeling the heat only increase until tears filmed her eyes, Addy shook her head and quickly turned away. “I’m just not in a place for that.”
“Well, if you ever change your mind, I am fairly confident that the feeling is mutual.”
Addy glanced back. “What do you mean?”
Laura grinned mischievously. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. It’s very inappropriate.”
Gasping, partially in horror, partially in amusement, Addy pitched her dishrag at the woman, who burst out laughing and caught it.
Laura and Richard turned in as soon as their cups were empty. Addy left the room long enough to help Hanna with her shower and got the girl in bed before returning to clean up, only to find the dishes all put in the dishwasher and the counters scrubbed clean. Even the dining room was put back in order and the cushion on the sofa in the sitting room fluffed. She would have accused Laura of sneaking down, but she’d heard the woman talking with Richard up in their room. Sean was sleeping and Hanna could barely keep her room clean on a good day. That only left one other person.
She found Toby standing on the back porch, staring across the yard in the direction of the stables. He didn’t have a coat on, but he seemed unperturbed by the evening chill. Nevertheless, Addy grabbed her jacket and his and joined him.
Toby glanced back when she opened the backdoor.
“Hey,” she whispered. “I thought you might be cold.”
“Thanks.” He accepted the coat she offered him, but didn’t put it on. “Kids in bed?”
“Yes.” She eased into her own jacket. “And the Charleston’s have turned in. They want to leave early and we still need to go through the checkout.” She sighed and folded her arms. “Thank you for cleaning up.”
He draped the coat over the railing and propped his injured hip against it. She wondered just how badly it actually hurt him and if he would tell her if she asked. She doubted it. Most likely to keep her from worrying or fussing, which she would; the last thing she wanted was for him to agitate his injury beyond repair.
“Is it bothering you?” she asked, gesturing with a nod to his leg.
The freckles bunched with his wrinkling nose. “It has good days and bad days. The cold only seems to make it hurt more than it should. Doctor said that was normal and I should get used to it.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, not sure why. It wasn’t like it was her fault.
His chin tilted in her direction. Shadows played chase across that beautifully defined lines of his face from the kitchen lights breaking through the windows. They glimmered off the velvety surface of his breathtaking eyes and collected in dark pools in the hollows of his cheeks and temples. She stared hypnotized as he studied her.
“What are you doing, Addy?”
Having not been doing anything, Addy gave a start at the gruff demand. Her thought scattered as she tried to think.
“I’m not—”
Surprisingly warm fingers cut through the space between them and ghosted lightly along the side of her cheek. The feather light caress rocked her all the way to her toes.
“Toby…”
The light shifted and she could just make out the slow curl of his lips. “You just can’t seem to make up your mind which one to call me, can you?” The fingers drifted back and curled around the nape of her neck. She was dragged to him and positioned with her hips cradled between hard thighs. “If it makes any difference, the way you breathe my name, the way you say it with just a hint of pleading, makes me all kinds of crazy with the need to devour you.”
Shit.
His fingers tightened in her hair, locking her in place, helpless to do anything more than allow it when he pulled her closer. Her hands flew to his shoulders.
“Kiss me, Addy.”
She should have said no. Commonsense demanded it. Logic and rationality insisted. But his mouth was right there, a delicious, taunting sin begging her for just one taste.
Her fingers curled into the material of his sweater, gripping him like a life preserver even as he was the one pulling her under. Her body dipped into his, no longer under her control. His heady scent of man, soap, and cheesecake consumed what little sense she had remaining.
She kissed him. It wasn’t the soul shattering viciousness his had been, but it still plowed through her with a ferocity that made her gasp. Beneath the gentle coaxing of her lips, Toby groaned. His hand slid along the curve of her spine to settle at her waist. He clasped her closer and took long, liquid sips of her in a way that had her head reeling.
“You have absolutely no idea what you do to me, do you?” He drew away first, just far enough to graze her lips with every husky murmur.
A smile broke across her face. “No, but I like hearing you tell me.”
Her own boldness stunned her. She thanked the heavens it was too dark for him to see the blush stinging her cheeks.
His growl tickled her mouth. “You enthrall me, enchant me, absolutely mesmerize and infuriate me.” He nipped lightly at her bottom lip. “I am so lost in you I can’t even think straight.”
She kissed him without being told this time. It was harder, deeper, and snapping with the powerful surge of electric desire that pulsed through her. The vicious drive pushed her to claim, to mark and devour the man wrecking her in all the ways that could destroy her forever. The primal need terrified her, it was too much and quickly veering completely out of control, but she couldn’t stop. Her body was on fire. The pressure was unquenchable and foreign. It built deep inside
her in a place that had never felt anything like it. Against the cotton material of her bra, her nipples were throbbing. Her breasts were swollen and tender to the point of agony.
“Toby!” Her sob was desperate, but then so was she.
“Fuck!” His snarl broke against her gasping mouth. His hand shot away from her waist and plunged through the opening in her coat. He located the snaps on her jeans and tugged the button free. Then the zipper. “Hold on, baby. Hold on.”
Addy shrugged out of her coat and let it fall to the porch floor. Her temperature had risen to a boiling point and she was sure she was about to suffocate.
He jerked up her sweater with his free hand to expose her abdomen. The cold evening licked at sweat dampened skin. A shiver worked through her that had her hands tightening on his shoulders.
Then he was littering her ribs with open mouthed kisses, working his way up to the underside of her bra while his hands tugged and fumbled with the waistband of her pants. The material eased down her hips, revealing the thin elastic of her panties.
He stopped. He gave a low groan of misery and settled his forehead against her abdomen.
“What—?”
“I can’t do this.”
Devastated and confused, Addy pulled away. Her hands worked with impressive speed to cover everything he’d uncovered.
“Is it me?”
She couldn’t help the prickle to her self-esteem. After two kids, her body wasn’t exactly that of an eighteen year old’s. It held the lines and curves of motherhood, marks that had never bothered her until he was pulling away after seeing them.
“God, no!” He reached for her hand and pulled her back to him. “You’re perfect, Addy. Everything about you makes my blood hot. But I’m not going to fuck you on the goddamn porch. For one, it’s cold out here. For another…” With his free hand, he cupped her cheek. “You don’t really want this. It kills me to say it, but I know you’ll wake up in the morning and you’ll regret it.” He blew out a breath that rang with frustration. “I don’t want that.”
It shamed her that he was right. Twice in one day, she had let her hormones take control of her body and both times, she had come that much closer to losing herself all over again. The realization was mortifying.
“I’m sorry—”
“Hey.” He pushed awkwardly to his feet without releasing his hold on her or putting weight on his leg. “Don’t do that. Don’t be sorry. It’s my job to make sure you’re comfortable. I’m fine with cold showers until you’re ready. I actually prefer them to a woman’s warm, willing body anyway.”
Against her resolve, Addy snorted a miserable laugh and hugged herself against the cold that had begun to suck greedily at her heat. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll think about us.” He pushed back a wisp of her hair off her cheek and back behind her ear. “Say you’ll at least consider the possibility and that you’ll give me a shot to make you happy.”
She raised her eyes to his stunning face and drew in a breath at the exposed and vulnerable look barely concealed in the shadows. The openness captured her heart.
“What’s wrong with you?” she whispered so quietly, she had to pause to make sure she’d spoken out loud. “How … no one is this perfect.”
The tension that had appeared along his jaw softened. His mouth bowed.
“I wear my socks to bed and scratch myself at the dinner table.”
Amused, Addy wrinkled her nose. “I’ve had dinner with you. You do not.”
“Well, I’ll start to, just to make you feel better.”
Addy laughed. It broke off into a gasp as a shiver passed along her spine. She started to bend down to grab her coat, but a heavier one dropped around her shoulders. The soft leather cocooned her all the way to her thighs in a bulky, black weight. Toned fingers reached up and unhooked her hair from the collar, and another shiver stole through her. This one had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with the whisper of his fingertips brushing along the sensitive bit of skin on her neck.
“Come on,” he murmured, reaching for his cane. “I’m getting you inside before you get sick.”
She scooped her coat off the ground and let him take her hand. Together, they stepped into the warmth of the kitchen. He took her coat from her and hooked it up next to the door. She passed him back his and watched him repeat the motion.
“Are you tired?” she asked him once there was nothing left to do.
He shook his head. “No, painfully awake.”
She tried not to let her gaze roam down to the front of his jeans, to the bulge she’d felt pressing against her thigh only moments earlier.
“I could make us some tea and we could…” she abruptly broke off at the idea of sitting alone watching TV with another person. The memories of pain and fear suffocated her and she had to turn away.
“Addy?”
A gentle hand settled on her arm and she flinched. She physically recoiled as though his palm had burst into flames. Her skin crawled and it had nothing to do with him.
“I’m sorry,” she choked out. “Just … give me a second. Please.”
She moved away from him quickly and barricaded herself on the other side of the island. She kept her back to him as she clung to the oven door and tried to regulate her breathing.
Slow breaths. Slow, easy breaths.
“What did he do to you?”
Addy blanched at the quiet question. Her eyes squeezed closed and she lowered her chin.
“Do you want tea or … or coffee?”
“Addy!” The warning in his tone lashed through her, tightening the pit of her stomach. “What did he do?”
She should tell him. In therapy, her therapist used to tell her that in order to have a positive and trusting relationship with another person in the future, she would need to open herself to them. The idea had always been ridiculous to her. Who in their right mind would want a relationship after what she’d gone through?
Then Toby waltzed into her life and … he had a right to know, didn’t he? A man needed to be made aware before he put money on a cow that he was getting a damaged one. Her therapist would be appalled if she heard Addy say that out loud. She’d tell her that she wasn’t damaged and anyone who didn’t accept her for all that she was, didn’t belong in her life.
But she wanted Toby to belong. She wanted him to stay. She wanted him to accept her without question and never have to find out.
“I think I’m tired,” she lied instead. “I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
She ran out of the kitchen as though the place were on fire.
Chapter 9 ~ Toby
Toby arrived the next morning to the familiar sights and sounds of Addy bustling around the kitchen. The air was fraught with a tangle of scents and thick with heat. He half expected to be able to take a bite out of it. His strides slowed as he reached the open doorway and peered in.
Beautiful in tights and a lavender sweater, Addy stood fresh faced and alert at the stove, gingerly stirring a pot. Her dark hair shone in the harsh light. It spilled down her back from the ponytail at the top of her head. Wisps curled around her ears and framed her face.
She was breathtaking. Not a supermodel, but natural. The girl next door. Soft, sweet, and incredibly inviting. She was the sort he would have definitely fallen for hard in high school.
“Morning.”
Her head jerked up and around to him. Her surprise dissolved into a hesitant smile.
“Hi!” She returned her focus on the pot. “I’ll get coffee in two minutes.”
Moving away from the doorway, he made his way forward. “I got it.”
She didn’t argue, but continued to watch the thick, tawny substance bubbling at the bottom of the pot. Her spoon moved in slow, even circles.
“What’s that?”
“Caramel,” she answered without looking up. “It’s for the twisted donuts.”
He flicked the switch on the coffee pot. The machine came to life w
ith a gurgle. Toby turned to the woman two feet away from him.
“We need to talk, Addy.”
Her reaction was instantaneous. Her spine went rigid. The muscle in her jaw clenched. Her spoon hand slashed across, cutting through the circle. Even her breathing quickened. She stared intently at the glaze with a look of such steely determination it broke his heart.
“Okay,” she whispered.
Toby propped a hip against the counter. “We’ve got a problem on our hands. It’s been almost four weeks and I have yet to see any cookies.” Her head shot up and snapped around. The look of shock and confusion, and relief made him think maybe he’d done the right thing. “That was our deal wasn’t it?” he murmured.
She nodded mutely.
“Well, I haven’t seen a single cookie since that last batch you gave me the first day,” he mused evenly. “Seems to me like you’re trying to wiggle out of our arrangement.”
The spoon struck the side of the metal rim with a resounding clang and before he knew it, she had thrown herself at him. Her arms were steel bands encircling his throat, choking and suffocating as she clung with a fierceness that took him completely by surprise. But he held her back, crushing her middle with both arms and nuzzling her neck.
“Thank you,” she whispered into his ear.
He didn’t ask for what. He knew.
“Don’t think this excuses you from baking me cookies,” he whispered back, and was rewarded with her giggle. He drew back and kissed her lightly. “Late payment fee.”
She smiled before pulling away and hurrying to her caramel. She dragged the pot off the element and quickly took it over to the eight large pans of unglazed twisted donuts lined across the island.
The coffee pot finished brewing and Toby made them both a cup. Added two scoops of sugar to hers and brought it over.
“It’s Friday,” he murmured as he set the mugs down on either side of her and slipped up behind her. His arms slid with unnatural ease around her middle and locked at the hands over her abdomen. He nuzzled the back of her neck. “I have to meet Damon and Jared for man time.”
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