by L. J. Stock
“And?”
“It worked out. I have a great staff, amazing regulars, and a steady stream of customers the rest of the time.”
“Did the legalization of marijuana affect your business?” My directions had obviously been impeccable.
Laughing, I shook my head. “Not even a little bit.”
“That’s good.” He glanced up at me again and used his index finger to push his ball cap out of the way. “What’s your name?”
“You can call me, Kay,” I said, crouching next to him and handing him another lug nut. “You are?”
“You can call me Garrett.” His tone was teasing as he fed my words back to me, but I rolled my eyes in feigned annoyance. “How long are you in town for?”
“I have no idea. A week, maybe two?” More? Less? I wasn’t even sure. How long did it take to decide what to do with your father’s estate and will? I wasn’t certain what was expected of me now. All I knew for sure was that I couldn’t keep Holly out of school for too long. I would have to make choices, and then eventually deal with things from a distance.
“Enough time for me to take you out to dinner then?”
I laughed aloud, my head falling back. “You don’t give up easily.”
“Is that a yes?” he asked, flashing that oddly familiar smile at me again.
“No. It’s not a yes.”
“Is it a no?”
“Not a no,” I admitted, drawing in a breath. “It’s a maybe.”
“Better than a no, not a yes, ” he said, double checking his work and standing to release the jack. “I can work with that.”
I watched him gather the tools along with my flat and put them away then I followed him around to the back of my SUV. He put everything back where it had come from and left the tire in the back so I could get the damn thing fixed.
“How about I take you to dinner as a thank you?” I asked quietly, stunned that the words had come from my mouth.
Garrett turned with a full watt smile curling his lips, and my eyes met his. Something in the depths of them relaxed me enough to return the gesture and stop the slew of expletives I’d been slinging at myself the moment I’d given the invitation. I was here for a week at least. What would it hurt to go out to dinner with him once?
“You have something against tradition, Kay?”
“Nope. You just did me a favor, and I want to thank you for it. It doesn’t mean I’m going to take you to bed.”
“Now, that’s a shame.”
I laughed again. “You never quit, do you?”
“Ain’t in my vocabulary.”
“Just dinner,” I said. “And I’m paying.”
“Just dinner—and I’ll pay,” he countered, closing the back door and wiping his hands on his jeans. “And if you’re having fun, maybe a drink.”
I groaned in a tentative agreement and headed to the front of my SUV.
“I need your number, darlin’.”
“No, you don’t,” I replied, swinging the door open. “We’ll meet at the bar at seven tomorrow night.”
“I still need your number.”
“Nope.” I popped the P and pulled the door closed behind me. Starting the car, I turned up the radio and drowned him out as I put it in gear. He was watching me in the wing mirror, his broad smile lighting his face as he started to shake his head. I hung one arm out of the window in a goodbye gesture and pulled back onto the road, unable to contain my own smile as I glanced back at him in my rearview mirror.
My smile stayed with me until I pulled off the road and toward the familiar copse of trees standing together, looking more forlorn than I ever remembered them being. The arms of the oak were twisted and low, spreading out wide as the drapes of willows brushed over them dancing in the light breeze. They were wilder than they had been, messier than I remembered them ever been, but they were still there, and they were still mine.
Dustin’s and mine, anyway.
I could see more memories form like ghosts over the weak winter light, images flickering containing that first day and flipping all the way through to the last. His smiles… that look of adoration when I caught him watching me while I was reading or dozing as the music played.
I pulled in carefully under the cover of the trees, and a strange combination of laughter and a sob fell from my lips as my hands gripped the steering wheel and my knuckles went white. Dustin was everywhere. From our initials carved into one of the tree trunks to a dirty, half-buried cooler he’d left in the cover of some crossed branches, the white top now stained brown from the dirt and sap that had gathered over the years. Around the blue of the base were years worth of dead leaves and anything else that had blown against the plastic since we’d deserted it here.
I was lost in my own head. In the flood of memories that came fast and hard and assaulted me without apology, that a knock on my back window made me jump almost violently as a squeal of fright cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter.
“Shit. Sorry,” Garrett said through my open window, baring his teeth in regret when I glared at him in reprimand. This was a look I’d perfected as a mother. “I saw you pull off the road I was worried the tire didn’t hold.”
“You were following me?” I accused a hint of humor in my tone.
“As much as I would like to admit to having the idea of being a stalker, I was actually heading toward the feed store. The same place I was headed before I stopped to help with your tire.”
“Oh, right.”
Garrett’s face lit with amusement, and he crossed his arms over my open window, his shoulders taking up the open space as he ducked his head to meet my glance. “Well, hell, you look disappointed.”
“I’ve never had a stalker before. The prospect was an exciting one.” I reached over to turn down the music, which had been influencing the memories I’d been so lost in, and the small distraction gave me an excuse to put some distance between us. “Admit it. You missed me, didn’t you?”
“Fine,” he said with exaggeration and a roll of his eyes. “You fascinate me, Kay, and I like looking at you.”
I laughed and shook my head, almost glad that he’d seen me pull in. Having him here was strange, but he was also a good distraction from the strangling emotions that I wouldn’t have been able to escape had he not been there. I brushed a surreptitious hand under my eye to make sure I wasn’t crying, while Garrett looked around the small space curiously.
“What is this place?”
“A grove of trees. I spent a lot of time here as a kid.”
“Smart ass,” he mused, glancing at me, his warm eyes giving me a once over. “How’d you find it?”
“I lived close by,” I said, nodding in the general direction of my closest neighbor. I didn’t want to admit I was Jeffrey Quinten’s daughter just yet. It made everything too complicated. “I ran away from home and here is where I ended up. No one ever came by so I claimed it as my own.”
Garrett studied me for a moment and nodded in understanding, but never elaborated on the thought. He seemed to be taking everything in, including me when I glanced away from him. The heat of his gaze brushed against my skin and warmed me, even as a stirring of discomfort and excitement settled inside me.
“You’re staring, Garrett.”
“I’m aware of that.” He chuckled, his eyes lighting up when I turned my head to glance at him. “Would you like to know what I’m thinking?”
I shrugged in response—the most casual retort I could think of at that moment. Rolling his eyes, Garrett crooked a finger at me, calling me closer. I’m not really sure why I moved toward him. His call was like gravity and had taken over, and I’d moved before I so much as allowed myself to think about his request for too long.
Reaching out, Garrett curled his large, warm, calloused hand around the nape of my neck and pulled me to him so quickly I couldn’t think, his lips pressing against mine for a long, heated moment. The silky heat of his lips and the roughness of his facial hair surprised me so much
I gasped, and not wasting the opportunity, Garrett’s tongue dipped inside my mouth to explore until he was the only thing I could focus on. He was gentle, yet commanding, firm but attentive, and all of the sensations came together with such a demanding force that I started to kiss him back. A new kind of hunger, filling my body until I was pushed against the door of my vehicle by him, needing to get closer. Both of his hands moved to my cheeks, the heels of his hands cradling my jaw as he took from me unapologetically.
When he finally eased back, I stayed where I was, leaning toward him, eyes closed, tongue running over my lips in absolute wonder as the heat in my body pooled low and twisted into need.
Damn.
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot since the first time I saw you,” he growled huskily, his hands dropping and leaving my cheeks cold. “Figured it was best to show you than to try to explain.”
My eyes fluttered open and found his, filled with a heat I felt to my very toes. “I’m not sure I understand. Wanna try that again?”
“See me tonight,” he said, grinning. “I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
“You think…”
“Not sex,” he chuckled heartily. “As nice and good as that would be, I‘m not an animal. I do have some self-control.”
Unfortunately, after that kiss, I wasn’t sure I could say the same. If he kissed me like that again, there was no way in hell I could stop myself from taking that step further. Then again, we were two consenting adults.
“Tonight then,” I said, nodding.
“Can I have your number?”
I shook my head and smiled. “Maybe later. See you at eight?”
He drummed the frame of my window and forced himself back from my car, smiling like the cat that got the cream. Pointing his right index finger at me, he tipped his head to the side in agreement. He looked like a starving man staring at his first meal in months.
“Don’t be late,” he finally said.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
One last smile and he shook his head in wonder as he headed to his truck. I watched him climb in, my body still leaning out of the window, locked in shock as he winked and turned over the large diesel engine.
As he pulled out, I only had a single lucid thought swimming through my head.
I was screwed.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
You look really pretty, Momma,” Holly said pleasantly, her ankles crossed as she lay on her stomach in the center of my bed, watching me get ready for a date I was beginning to second guess.
I’d spent a while longer in my trees that afternoon, feeling better about being there after my interactions with Garrett. He’d distracted me enough from my memories that even the surreal feeling of my morning in the lawyer’s office had eased. The panic was still there lingering under the surface and sitting like a ball of dread in the center of me, but that wasn’t my sole focus now, and even Megan seemed disinclined to destroy my new calm with the questions I knew she had to have about my father’s estate. I would answer them in time, but for now, I needed the distraction more.
“Thank you, baby. It’s not too much?” I’d borrowed one of Megan’s dresses because when I’d packed to come to Childress for a couple of days, a date hadn’t been on the agenda and certainly hadn’t been a consideration.
“No. Not even a little bit,” she said with a large grin. “Give me a twirl, just to be sure.”
I did as she asked, smiling when she giggled at the skirt of the dress fanning out around me. When I stopped, the material wrapped around my legs before falling back into place, leaving me wearing a smile that matched hers.
“Yep, I’m even surer now.”
I crossed the room and crouched in front of the bed, my palms cupping her deliciously warm cheeks as I leaned in to rub my nose against hers. She may have been fourteen, but she was still my baby, and I would take these moments while she still allowed them.
“I love you, kid.”
“More,” was all she gave me in response, but we grinned at one another again. I knew how lucky I was to have this perfect little girl in my life, and I never once took her for granted. Not for a second.
Pushing back to my feet, I grabbed my leather jacket and slipped the small wallet and my phone into each of the pockets before zipping them up and fidgeting with my hands, suddenly feeling nervous. I was taking Holly over to the main house before I left. She was spending the night there, no matter what time I returned, and they were probably waiting for her, to start their dinner.
“You have your toothbrush?” I asked, brushing out my hair.
“Mom, I have it. Along with a book, and anything else I couldn’t possibly use while I’m sleeping. I’m only going to be across the yard.”
I shrugged unapologetically and smiled, before picking up her coat and holding it out for her to slip into. Rolling from the bed, she found her feet and stepped into the open jacket without complaint, her arms wrapping around my waist as they filled the sleeves. There were days I hoped she never grew up too much to give me hugs like this. They healed my soul and welded another piece of me back together. She was the reminder that everything would work out in the end, no matter how scared I was when I looked into my future.
We headed to the main house together, dashing through the wind-chilled yard on our toes and hopping up on the deck of Megan’s house with laughter when the wind picked up my skirt, and I was forced to fight the material back down again. It dropped around my legs the moment we were inside the house again, and I grinned at my best friend with my arms spread wide.
“Second approval?” I asked, spinning.
“You’ve so got it,” Megan said, wiping her hands on the dishtowel tucked into her apron strings. She’d done that since we’d been kids. Taking my arms, she spread them wide and looked down. “This is the first time I’ve seen you in a dress this fancy since prom.”
“I wear dresses,” I argued, squeezing her hands.
“You wear summer dresses. This is a dancing dress. This is a dress that says: come get me, handsome.”
I felt the blush rise to my cheeks. After the kiss I’d shared with Garrett that afternoon, I’d have been lying if I’d said the thought of taking things further hadn’t crossed my mind. We were both consenting adults. We were attracted to one another, and it had been so long since I’d had any kind of intimacy with a man that I couldn’t find it in me to care what that nonchalance said about me. I just wanted to lose myself in something and enjoy the moment. If the opportunity arose… I was willing to take it.
I waved a farewell to everyone as they settled around the table to eat, and blew a kiss to Holly as I pulled open the door and backed out, pushing the screen out of the way with my ass as the butterflies started to swell in my stomach. I hadn’t been this nervous about a date since high school, and those unruly nerves stayed with me on the drive to the bar where I found Garrett leaning against his truck on the parking lot.
His face lit up when I pulled in next to him, his eyes sparkling as he pushed away and stepped around my vehicle to open the door for me. He looked good–really good. He was wearing a dress shirt and jeans that fit him well. He hadn’t shaved since I’d seen him last, so the stubble on his cheeks blended with his beard, and I liked the way it looked on him… especially with the shaggy ends of his dark hair peeking from under his ball cap.
“You look very handsome,” I said, sliding my hand into his and hopping from the driver’s seat, a small laugh falling from my lips as he pulled me against his chest the moment my feet hit the stones in the parking lot. I steadied myself with my free hand on his shoulder and breathed him in. If I could have bottled the scent, I would have called it masculinity. It was clean, fresh, and warm, surrounded by hints of his hard work and the cool winter breeze.
“You look beautiful,” he countered in response, pulling another laugh from me as I shook my head at him.
“You haven’t even seen all of me yet.”
“Don’t really need to, darlin’,�
�� he whispered, bending his knees so his lips brushed against mine. “I have a real good imagination.”
He kept the kiss light for a moment, but that lightness didn’t last long. Before I could fully draw in a breath, he was pressing me against the car, his mouth covering mine as he took and demanded more all at the same time. Taking and taking with heat and passion until my hands pushed his hat from his head and fisted the hair under it. My tongue slipped between his lips this time, and Garrett pushed against me, his chest pressing with need as his bent knee found its way between my legs, rubbing against the bare flesh of my thighs.
Garrett broke the kiss almost as suddenly as he’d started it, and lifted me easily with an arm around my waist, turning to set me on my feet behind him as he breathed out on a whistle. I knew the damn feeling. Running one hand around to the nape of my neck, he spread his fingers and pushed them up into my hair. The act was so erotic and sensual, every hair stood to attention and demanded more of everything, but Garrett didn’t kiss me again. Instead, his lips brushed against the shell of my ear as he inhaled.
“I’m trying to be a gentleman, but you’re making it fucking impossible.”
Leaning into his touch, I smiled up at him, letting every ounce of hunger and arousal shine from my eyes. “Well, you promised me a drink.”
“You promised me a dance.”
“I did no such thing.”
“But you’re going to give it to me,” he said, his confidence making my thighs press together, the movement hidden by the dress.
“You’re very presumptuous.”
“I already told you, darlin’, I know what I want.”
“And you want a dance?” I asked innocently, twirling out of his touch like he’d just made a decision he hadn’t known was on the table.
“I want a lot of things.” His voice was so deep and hoarse now I wondered how on earth we would make it inside the damn bar. Sexual tension like this wasn’t one of those things you found just anywhere, and I found that denying the urge to act on that tension was getting harder and harder. I barely knew this guy, but I was drawn to him in a way I couldn’t fully explain. I wanted just a little bit more when I was in his presence, and that need made me playful—something I wasn’t accustomed to being.