by Lindsey Hart
It was just white-hot passion, thrusting, grinding, writhing, moaning. She worked hard, bucked and ground and swiveled her hips. She broke away from kissing Hector and threw back her head. She thrust her chest out and he suckled her breast, nipping and biting at her nipple until she was mewling and sweating and aching.
His hands gripped her waist and he helped her ride him. He drove her hard and she loved it. She knew that if she’d dropped her own hands to his, she could have moderated the pace, but she wasn’t in the mood for moderate. She wanted him, hard and fast and breathless, aching and painful and sweating and groaning.
They came like that, together, her hips doing all the work. It was so incredibly sexy, being the one on top, the one to pull his climax from him. Hector didn’t even thrust, not even at the end. He let her take what she needed, he let her fulfill her pleasure. He let her use him, ride him, do what it took to bring herself to another screaming climax. And that time she did cry out his name. He came inside of her in hot bursts and even after he was done, even after their sweat cooled and their breathing regulated, he remained hard and thick inside of her.
“You know that shower you were talking about,” she panted.
Hector cracked an eye and looked at her. “Yes,” he said carefully, guardedly.
“Well, it’s clear you probably need one. Uh- but if you make it not so ice cold, I could definitely join you. There’s more than one way of using it to get rid of a hard-on.”
“Oh really?” His other eye opened and he stared at her. Finally, he lost the battle to keep his face straight and he laughed, a hard short burst that warmed her just the same.
“Really.”
“You know, if I didn’t know better, I would think you came back just for this. That you started a fight just so it could be better to make up this way.”
“Make up? That would imply we were something before, which we certainly weren’t.” Laney grinned even while her insides jumped and squirmed all over. “Besides, I didn’t come over just for this. I was hoping for a cup of coffee, remember? Maybe a little snuggling after? Although I could be convinced to go a few more rounds if you’re not ready for that.”
Hector groaned. “So, you absolutely don’t care that I am no use to you at all? That I am the last person on earth who would be good for you?” He was serious, despite their lighter tone.
“I’m dead serious.” She bent her head and kissed him hard, nipping his bottom lip on the way back up for breath. He stared back at her, his eyes darkening with desire all over again. “No, I really don’t care. Because I think you’re wrong and I’m going to prove it to you. If you give me time. Also, it should be clear, based on what we’ve done that you are good for something.” She rocked her hips, grinding herself into him and another hard growl tore loose from his throat.
“Alright,” he capitulated. “Alright. You win.”
Maybe it was because her hormones were currently a hazy, dazed, sex-crazed mess or maybe it was so much more than that, but Laney felt close to tears. Hector was a mystery. She would never have guessed, based on their first meeting, that he’d have a sense of humor at all. She didn’t know the first thing about him, not really, but she wanted to. She was going to. Because he’d finally given her permission. For once, she wasn’t running either.
This was what she’d waited her whole life to find. She couldn’t say how she knew, especially after a few short days, but she did. She’d never felt it before. Her problem wasn’t that she thought every guy was the one. She’d never thought anyone she was with was right and that was the problem when it came right down to it.
With Hector, it was different. All of it. The way he looked at her, the way she felt in his presence, the way they connected, physically and otherwise.
“Good,” she whispered, blinking hard, determined not to let her tears fall. “Now, show me where this promised shower awaits.”
CHAPTER 16
Laney
Toying with an idea didn’t turn it into reality. Laney had been debating for a few weeks about asking Charlotte and Rayvn for help. She’d kept it at that, an idea forming in her mind, but when Hector went through with listing the farm, she knew she had to do something. It cut her up inside that he was going to lose everything he’d worked so hard for, everything his family worked for.
Laney waited for a low-key afternoon when Rayvn and Charlotte were both in the back working on refinishing projects. The store hadn’t been busy and even though it was her shift to watch the front, she slipped into the back for a few minutes.
Her heart leaped into her throat and for a second all she could do was make a sharp throat clearing sound. Both Rayvn and Charlotte spun around. Rayvn’s brush dripped a few drops of red paint onto the floor before she set it down on the upturned paint lid.
“Hey, what’s up?” Charlotte put down her piece of sandpaper and stripped off the gloves she wore when she worked.
“Yeah. You look like- I don’t know. Like you have something you need to spit out.” Rayvn raised a dark brow expectantly.
Laney glanced quickly towards the cameras that displayed the front of the store. They also had a bell on the door so that they’d hear if anyone entered. She figured that she’d have enough time to discuss what she needed to say.
“Yeah, I do have something I need to talk to you guys about. So- you know that I’ve been seeing Hector for a couple weeks?” Rayvn and Charlotte both nodded. “I know that you’re both waiting for it to go south. So are we…” Laney laughed and Charlotte and Rayvn couldn’t help but offer slightly guilty smiles. “It’s alright. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. I just don’t have much hope of things ever working out with anyone, even if it feels right and we got all these weird signs at the beginning.”
“That whole dresser thing was pretty crazy,” Rayvn admitted.
“I’m still waiting for my invitation over to meet him.” Charlotte sniffed, pretending to be offended.
“Well, that’s the thing. Kind of. I would invite you both over, and Ben and Shane, but my place is just so small. I don’t even have a table. I think Hector would have invited other people over to the farm, although maybe not. He’s kind of a loner and is so uncomfortable around strangers. He just clams up and comes across as really unfriendly.”
“Okay…”
“So, you feel bad about us not meeting him yet?” Rayvn asked.
“Not exactly. I- I didn’t tell you that Hector is selling his farm. It’s been really hard on him. He’s done a lot of work to get it ready. That’s the reason he called us in the first place. He wanted to sell off the furniture that was in the barn he had to tear down. He’s already been planning on how to downsize more. I can tell it’s killing him to even consider selling his grandparent’s things out of the house.”
Charlotte’s mouth dropped open. “Why is he selling the farm then?”
“He doesn’t think he has a choice. I don’t really understand where he’s at because he would never talk to me about it. I don’t know anything about his finances. Really, it’s not any of my business. He just says that running it isn’t a viable option. He doesn’t have enough money to rebuild, buy cattle and hire people. He can’t rent out his land since it’s mostly for grazing cattle I guess. I don’t know. I’m from the city. I don’t understand any of that.”
“Well, I can see why you feel bad for him. That would be really hard. I couldn’t imagine losing something that had been in my family for generations.”
“Yeah. I’d feel like a failure,” Charlotte tagged on.
“I think that’s exactly how he feels.”
“What’s he going to do after the farm sells then?”
Laney’s eyes flickered to Rayvn’s face. It warmed her heart that she saw genuine concern there. “I don’t know. He doesn’t know. That’s what worries me the most. He just seems- really aimless.”
“It sounds like you came into his life at the worst time.” Charlotte hurried to tack on, “sorry. I didn’t mean for
that to sound as bad as it did.”
“No, it’s alright,” Laney assured her. “We’ve both said that to each other. It’s different with Hector. He’s honest. I’m honest. I think we’re both too old for the games and the drama and all that bullshit that other people seem to really enjoy. He tried to warn me off. I tried to push him away. Neither worked.”
“I couldn’t really imagine starting my life over.” Rayvn shuddered. “I’m so happy where I am. If someone told me I had to sell my house and my business and just uproot everything I knew- it would be really hard.”
“That’s why I wanted to talk to you guys.” Laney glanced again at the cameras, but she hadn’t missed hearing the bell on the door. No one was in the store. “I had this idea a few nights ago. I didn’t say anything about it, because I was kind of just waiting to make sure Hector really was going to go through with listing the farm. The realtor was back there last week, since he finished tearing the barn down.”
“I know. That wood you brought- it’s amazing. I’ve had a lot of my clients already come and buy it for projects.”
“I think that was slightly comforting to Hector, the fact that nothing is going to go to waste. I’ve sold a bunch too to various people I know. The rest is stored in one of the sheds and I’ll take it somewhere else before the farm sells.”
“So, you had this idea…” Rayvn’s face remained calm, but her eyes burned with curiosity.
“Right. I- I’ve been thinking. So, people do this crowd funding stuff all the time. Or maybe that’s not the right word. They just raise money online. I was thinking maybe we could do that, but also have a BBQ or something. We could invite all our clients. I was also going to put up a huge amount of that furniture I bought from him for sale without even refinishing it, just to get it out the door. I know I could probably make at least three or four grand off of it even as it is.”
“But won’t raising money just stave off the inevitable?”
“Maybe.” Laney shrugged. “But it would be a start. At least he could look at trying to go back into business, buy a few livestock or something or even if he did have to sell, he’d have some money to go find somewhere after.”
“Why don’t you just let him move in with you,” Charlotte suggested wryly.
Laney stuck out her tongue. “Oh, god. Don’t start with that. It’s way too soon for that. Even if we did want that, I don’t think he would. He doesn’t like being in the city.”
“But driving all that way to see you and for you to see him is crazy.”
“I know. I hope he could just get something or some work closer. Even just like half an hour away would be a nice change. So that would be the first part of the plan.” Laney got herself back on track. “The second part is, I had this idea that since we’re so busy with the store, we should hire Hector to do picks for us. He has the muscle. It would be nice. I think we all loved that part of the job, but we all know that we’re just so busy all the time. We could still go on them with him, but he would be there to do most of the heavy lifting. Which would still be fun and save us all the hard work. He’s also really artistic. I was maybe considering even teaching him how to refinish some stuff. He’s very hands on. I think he could do some good work to the pieces that we get that pretty much need to be rebuilt, not just repainted or sanded down and stained.”
Rayvn didn’t even have to think about her response. “I would be okay with that. I was dreading having to hire someone.”
“Me too,” Charlotte agreed. “I just would worry that if we did hire him and something happened with you guys that he’d quit on us.”
“I would find someone else,” Laney promised. “I would deal with it. It would also be nice to have him find the picks for us in the first place, since that takes a lot of time too that we don’t always have. He could later transition into doing some of the inventory and stocking and stuff we hate, if it works out. It would just give us a break and I feel like we badly need one.”
“I know,” Rayvn said quietly. “You guys know that Shane and I are trying to get pregnant. If it does happen, I really want to scale back. I was so exhausted and sick last time that it was even worse having to be here every single day. I felt so guilty when I wasn’t, even if I wasn’t physically able. We’ve put off hiring someone all these years because I love it being just us, but we have the money now.”
“Yeah, I like the idea. I like it a lot.” Charlotte’s eyes glowed and she beamed as she looked from Laney to Rayvn. “I actually have some news. I was- waiting to tell you. I hope it’s alright, Rayvn… I- Ben and I are also going to have a family now.”
It took Rayvn and Laney both a second to process what Charlotte was saying. When they did, they both let out an excited squeal and rushed over.
“Oh my god!” Laney wrapped her arms around Charlotte. Rayvn joined them. She threw her arms around them both.
“That’s amazing news,” she said softly. “Don’t worry about me. I know that sometimes these things just take time. We already have the most beautiful daughter in the world. If that’s all I can ever have, she’s so much more than enough. I’m so thankful, every single minute of the day, that I have both of them. And you guys. I am nothing but excited for you.”
Charlotte let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh, thank goodness. I was worried you’d be mad at me.”
“Me?” Rayvn grinned. “Never. You shouldn’t have even worried.”
“When?” Laney gasped.
“Six months. I’m three months along already. Ben and I both agreed we wouldn’t tell anyone until the three-month mark. I wanted to tell you guys, but fair is fair. We said last night that it was okay to tell people. I haven’t even told my mom and dad yet. You guys are the first.”
“Awww.” Laney blinked back tears. Rayvn wasn’t able to. When Charlotte saw that, she started up with tears of her own. “I can’t believe it. I’m going to be an auntie all over again. That’s awesome. I didn’t even know that you and Ben wanted kids yet.”
“We didn’t exactly.” Charlotte blushed. “It wasn’t planned. It was a real surprise, but we weren’t against it. We’ve been together for a long time. It’s okay with me that it happened now.”
“We definitely need someone for the shop then.” Rayvn stepped back and nodded. “Okay. We’ll get this online thing together, have a BBQ, do whatever you need, and get our butts into gear for hiring.”
“For once, I think it’s all going to work out,” Laney whispered softly.
She was pulled into another tight hug a second later. As she clung to her friends, the two women who were closer than sisters, certainly closer than her own sister was, closer than her mom and dad, she couldn’t help but feel just a little bit empty.
Laney told herself that it was just biology. She’d never felt that clock ticking before, but she knew it was there. She didn’t even really want kids, but a part of her envied Charlotte. And Rayvn. Despite her confidant reassurance to her best friends, she wasn’t sure at all that it was going to work out with Hector or with anyone else. Just when she’d finally got the point where she was happy alone, he’d come into her life and turned all that upside down.
She knew if he ever wasn’t there, she’d miss the hell out of him. No matter what warnings they’d given each other, how real they were about it, about them not working out, it still hurt like hell to think about it.
CHAPTER 17
Hector
Waiting. Hector felt like his entire life had been reduced to waiting. He hated that people now just had to make an appointment and they could walk through his house. They could wonder his property as they willed. And he couldn’t stop them. He felt sick after every showing. He hated the fact that people had been in his house, touching whatever they pleased, passing judgment and condemnation as they willed.
He put on a brave face for Laney. As soon as he heard the front door open and close, he pulled his features into a mask so she wouldn’t know just how badly it hurt.
“Hey…” Laney str
olled into the kitchen. Even after a full day of work and the long drive out to the farm, she looked like a vision. Her hair hung down, as usual. She wore a light sweater, beige with fringes at the bottom. She’d paired it with black leggings and a tank top. They both clung to her body, outlining her curves. They might be slight, but they were beautiful.
Hector momentarily forgot all about the farm and the intruders and the bullshit. He took himself out of that and just focused on Laney. He didn’t mean to use her as a distraction or an escape, but he had the feeling if he confessed it to her, she’d tell him to go right ahead.
“How was your day?” Hector stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Laney. She melted against him. He bent his head and breathed in the gentle fragrance of what he now knew was her shampoo. She didn’t wear perfume.
“Long. But good.” She twined her arms around his neck. “It would be better if you kissed me.”
He smiled softly. “I guess I’ll make it better then.” He claimed her lips in a kiss that was as hot and passionate as all the kisses before it. How many times will I have to kiss her before it’s not that way?
Laney’s eyes sparkled when he lifted his head. She inhaled deeply. “What’s that you’re cooking? It smells really good.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“It does!”
“We both know that the things I cook are barely edible. I tried making a roast. I think it’s going to be dry as a bone.”
Laney shrugged. She never lost her smile. I love that about her. How nothing ever gets her down. She just bounces right back. He wished he could do the same. For him, it wasn’t a matter of bouncing back. It was learning to stuff down the sick feeling into his gut and paste a mask on his face.
“I can make gravy. Doesn’t that fix everything?”
“I don’t know. The chicken was pretty bad.”