“I wouldn’t say sucks.” He rested his hand across her stomach, and she immediately sucked in her gut.
She lay there fuming, embarrassed, and so freaking tired. Where was that damn nightgown? She sat up, groped blindly for it over the covers, got really cold, and lay down again. Dammit. She didn’t want to spend the night naked with this irritating man.
He laughed at her.
“Can you get that nightgown?” she asked.
“No.”
She debated getting out of bed to fetch it from wherever he’d tossed it, but it was so cold out of the covers, and it was really warm lying like this with Trav holding her. His chest warmed her back, his legs tucked against hers. She could do without the hard rod jabbing into her hip, but they were practically naked.
She exhaled sharply. “I just want to sleep.”
“Me too.”
A beat passed. His hand crept upward.
“Don’t touch my breasts.”
His hand stilled.
They lay there quietly in the dark. She took a deep breath, starting to relax again. His hand crept downward. She stilled.
“Pretend I’m not here,” he told her.
She giggled.
His hand crept a little lower.
A little lower.
She held her breath.
That’s the spot. She sighed. His fingers stroked and made lazy circles. He really did have magic fingers.
His voice rumbled low in her ear. “Open your legs.”
A tremor ran through her. She opened for him, and he took full advantage. His fingers became more demanding, massaging and circling her center, slipping inside her. She bucked, unable to stay still under the onslaught of sensation.
He just kept going, steady, relentless, pushing her closer and closer to the brink. She fought to keep from moaning out loud, moving now automatically with his hand, instinctively seeking more of his touch. She broke in a surge of sensation, crying out and shuddering against him. He slowed his hand, but didn’t stop, letting her ride out every wave of pleasure. Finally she quieted, rolled to her back, and reached for him.
He smiled down at her.
She smiled back. “You’re still here.”
He kissed her tenderly. “I am.”
She peeled off her thong, and he stripped off his briefs. He reached to the floor and snagged a condom. He must have stashed one in his jeans earlier. She had no time to decide if she was mad or thankful for that presumption because then he was back, pressing slowly inside her. Oh. My. God. It had been so damn long. And he was so thick and hot and hard.
She moaned, and he slid an inch further.
She bucked her hips, urging him on. He didn’t move.
“Trav, you’re making me crazy.”
“That’s the idea.” He slid in a little more, but not enough. Not nearly enough.
“Please.” She grabbed his ass and pulled. He slid an inch and stopped.
“I told you I’d make you beg.”
“Don’t fuck with a sex-deprived woman.” She wrapped her legs tight around him and pulled hard. That got him moving.
“That’s the perfect woman to fuck with,” he croaked.
She closed her eyes as they moved in a slow and steady rhythm, feeling the sensation build deliciously again. His lips met hers, his tongue thrusting in her mouth, matching the thrusts of his body.
She broke the kiss. “Faster,” she told him, digging her nails into his back.
“There’s no rush,” he told her, moving at his slow and steady pace.
He was making her crazed. She squeezed him internally as he thrust in, bringing them both intense pleasure. He groaned and slowly pulled out. She kept it up, watching him, the strain on his face from holding back, until he suddenly pumped hard and fast, just like she liked it. She hung on tight; moments later, she shuddered again, and he let go with her.
They lay there, panting, Trav still plastered on top of her.
“That didn’t suck,” she told him.
He groaned next to her ear.
She laughed.
Chapter Sixteen
Three a.m. came early, bringing with it Bryce’s wail, but Trav didn’t care that he had nighttime baby duty. It was all worth it for that night with Daisy. He tiptoed down the hallway and couldn’t help the goofy grin that spread across his face. Now that was a night he’d remember. No question that marrying Daisy was the right decision.
He slipped into Shane’s room, passed his snoring brother, and scooped up Bryce. “Let’s go,” he whispered.
He brought Bryce back to Daisy. She nursed him, half asleep, propped up on some pillows, and handed him back. “You have to burp him before you put him to bed,” she said before she flopped back under the blankets.
He patted Bryce’s back as he paced the hallway, hoping the boy kept it quiet. He glanced at the closed bedroom doors. He just had to get rid of husband number one, and he and Daisy would be golden.
A few minutes later, Bryce burped, and Trav settled him back in his crib. He shut the door quietly behind him and headed back to Daisy. If he didn’t know she was already so exhausted, he’d wake her for round two. Instead, he slipped under the covers and tucked her against his side, breathing in the scent of Daisy and sex, a potent combination. Things were finally on track for them, he thought just before he fell asleep.
Only a few hours later, as the sun began to rise, Trav slipped out of bed, knowing he had to get to work clearing out the snow. Daisy slept soundly, curled on her side. He grabbed the flannel nightgown from the floor and stuck it on the nightstand in front of her so she wouldn’t be cold when she got up. Even with the lack of sleep, he was practically whistling as he headed downstairs. He couldn’t wait to have Daisy again. It had been good. Better than good. Fucking phenomenal. He was a lucky man.
He stopped in the living room, where Rico was sleeping sprawled on the floor, one arm and leg sticking out of the blanket. He nudged him with his foot. “Wake up.”
Rico turned the other way.
Trav walked to his other side, squatted down, and sang in his friend’s ear in a near perfect impersonation of Rico’s mom. “Ri-co, mallorcas for breakfast.”
Rico’s eyes flew open. Seeing Trav, he groaned and gave him a shove, knocking him off his haunches. “You suck. I haven’t had good mallorca since I left Jersey. Whadda ya want?”
Trav chuckled. Mrs. del Toro liked to buy fresh mallorcas, a sweet bread pastry topped with confectioner’s sugar, every weekend. Least she used to before she moved back to Puerto Rico.
“Get up,” Trav said. “We’ve got plowing to do.”
Rico pushed to a sitting position and scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Looks like you didn’t get your beauty sleep.”
Rico eyed him. “What are you so fucking cheerful about? What time is it, six?”
“Six thirty.” He grinned. “And I’m just happy to see you.”
“Yeah, right.” Rico pushed a hand through his hair. “Wait a minute, I know that face. You got laid.”
Trav just smiled.
Rico stood and stretched. “I told you if you backed off, she’d come to you.”
Trav stood and smiled to himself. He helped her along, but, yeah, she came all right.
Rico lowered his voice and glanced toward the stairs. “Jessica paid me a visit in the middle of the night.”
Trav raised a brow. “Yeah, how was that?”
His friend shook his head. “She’s wearing that dress, commando. Then she lifts her dress to show me her bare ass, tells me she’s a very bad girl, and asks me to spank her.”
Trav barked out a laugh of surprise.
“Shhhh!”
“What’d you do?”
“You know I could never hit a woman.”
Trav knew it. That’s why it was so funny. He could just imagine the look on Rico’s face.
They headed to the front door and put their boots on.
“Even if a woman asked me to,” Rico added
. “You know my dear, sweet mama would stretch her arm all the way from Puerto Rico and smack me upside the head if I raised a hand to a woman.”
“You’re a mama’s boy.”
“Proud of it.”
They grabbed their coats and gear and headed across the street for his work truck.
“So now that you gave Daisy the milk, she’ll want to buy the cow,” Rico said. “Make an honest man out of you.”
Trav choked on a laugh. The cow had almost killed the whole thing last night.
“Let’s hope so,” Trav managed.
They plowed his and Gran’s driveway and dropped rock salt down to prevent ice from forming. Then they cleared the way down Catoonah Street, Elm Street, and onto Park Ave, where Ry lived. Main Street would be cleared by the town early this morning. He cleared Ry’s driveway, and then he and Rico got out and shoveled the sidewalk, tossing down some rock salt. They made their way to their clients in town, stopping for a few elderly people who weren’t clients but needed to be able to get out in case of emergency.
He circled back around to Ry’s house and stopped to check in. Liz had hot coffee and warm blueberry muffins waiting for them in the kitchen.
“You need any help with the emergency shelter?” Trav asked. He knew Ry would help out Chief Bailey with the town’s shelter at the high school and, as soon as he could, get over to Fieldridge, where he was a cop, and help out there too.
“Glenn and I are setting up the shelter just as soon as the roads are clear from Main Street back to High Ridge,” Ry said. “I’ve got the keys to the school. Generator’s already on-site. Supply closet is well stocked. I’ll stop by on the way there to get you guys. We could use extra hands. Then we can split up to check on the seniors and transport those that need it over to the shelter.”
Trav lifted his mug in a toast. “Sounds like a plan.”
Ry ran down the list of seniors that he knew needed help, and Trav filled him in on who they’d already seen on their morning plow run.
One of the crew guys came in. “Any more muffins?”
Ry looked over to the empty plate of muffins. “Nope. There’s chocolate chip cookies in the freezer.”
“That sounds like the breakfast of champions.” The guy pulled the plastic container from the freezer and headed back to the living room. The noise level rose as the crew dug into the cookies. It sounded like a party out there.
“This coffee is making me feel human again,” Rico said, getting up for a refill.
Ry lowered his voice. “Wasn’t today supposed to be the day you got married?”
“Yeah. We’ll have to wait. The justice of the peace can’t make it through this mess.”
“It’ll happen,” Ry said reassuringly. His bro always could read him like an open book.
Trav’s voice came out hoarse. “What if she backs out?”
“She won’t,” Liz said, walking into the kitchen with some empty coffee mugs. “Daisy never breaks a promise.”
“Good to know,” Trav said.
“The guys are getting a little rowdy from all that sugar,” Liz said, looking worried. “You should’ve given them some fruit instead.”
Ry shrugged. Liz scowled and took a deep breath in and out. A ghost of a smile crossed his brother’s face for some reason. He should know better than to mess with an angry woman.
“I’d better check on Daisy and Bryce,” Trav said. “Thanks for breakfast, Liz.”
“Yes, thank you,” Rico said.
Liz smiled. “You’re welcome. It’s the least we can do after you cleared all that snow for us.”
“Yeah, thanks, guys,” Ry said. “I’ll stop by in a bit.” He snagged Liz around the waist and pulled her close. “C’mere, you.”
Liz giggled.
Trav left before he could witness the seduction scene. Rico followed close behind.
“Your brother’s got it bad,” Rico said once they were back in the truck. He took a bite of cookie he must have snagged on the way out. “I’ve never seen him like that.”
It was true. Ry couldn’t get enough of Liz. Now that Trav had been with Daisy, he knew exactly how Ry felt. Funny how that worked out—two brothers with two sisters. Too bad there wasn’t a third sister for Shane.
Trav revved the truck and blasted the heat. “The love stick hit him hard.”
“I’d say it knocked him out cold,” Rico replied.
Trav snorted. “It had to. He’s got a really hard head.”
~ ~ ~
Daisy woke to an empty bed and heaved a huge sigh of relief that she didn’t have to face Trav this morning. Last night was an impulse, a matter of circumstances throwing them together, and she should know better by now than to act on impulse. Her whole life was a train wreck because of her impulsive nature. A surprise pregnancy, a talk show interview based on a fictional blog, sleeping with Trav (again!)—impulse, impulse, impulse.
She slipped into Shane’s room, surprised she hadn’t heard Bryce awake by now. Awww. Shane was sleeping with one arm outstretched, his fingers through the bars of the crib; Bryce was holding his finger. She quietly backed out of the room.
She’d just grab something for breakfast really quick. She was starving.
In the hallway she passed Jessica wrapped in a towel, with another towel wrapped around her wet hair turban style.
“Thank God you had hot water,” Jessica said. “The trains have to be running this morning. Any word on when the power’s coming back?”
“I have no idea,” Daisy said.
“You might want to wait on the shower,” Jessica said. “I ran out of hot water at the end.”
Daisy bit her tongue over the harsh retort waiting there. Jessica would use all the hot water during a power outage in a house full of six adults and a baby.
“Ciao!” Jessica breezed past, went into her room, and shut the door behind her.
Daisy headed downstairs and ran into Max in the kitchen. Her heart slammed into her throat. She did not want to be alone with him. On the other hand, she didn’t want him to think she was bolting because of him.
Max held up his cell phone. “Still no signal. Where’s Travis?”
She shrugged, then remembered she probably should know where her husband was. “He’s out…shoveling snow. Plowing. His landscape business plows in the winter.”
Good job, Daisy, you remembered what your husband does for a living.
She peeked in the refrigerator, grabbed some cheese and bread. Cheese sandwich for breakfast. She should probably offer him food. “Want a cheese sandwich?”
“Sure.”
She made the sandwiches and joined him at the table. She wondered how long it would take Jessica to make an appearance. She’d even take that woman in the morning over breakfast alone with Max.
“Do you remember when I shoplifted from FAO Schwarz?” Max asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Yes. If you had ended up in jail for that stupid—”
“Don’t turn me in!” He grinned. “I wonder what ever happened to Holiday Sparkle Tiffany.”
She took a sip of water. “You didn’t throw that ridiculous doll out?”
“I didn’t want anyone to see me with it. I left it in the bottom of the dresser when I left for the summer.”
She shook her head, reluctantly smiling at the image of Max stashing Tiffany in his college dorm dresser. “The cleaning crew probably tossed it when they cleaned your room.”
He met her eyes. “You wore the just-for-you matching sparkle ring on a necklace for a while.”
She lost her smile. It had been her engagement ring. Now she was a single mother with another man’s child, and that ring was long gone. She went back to her sandwich, trying to shake off the unwelcome memory.
“I just wanted you to feel special since I couldn’t afford a ring,” Max said.
He pulled something shiny from his pocket. She slowly set her sandwich down. Oh. My. God. The sparkle ring—a giant fake emerald set on a sparkly snowflake. She’d loved it
in all its gaudiness, until one day she hadn’t.
Her throat tightened. “You kept it,” she choked out.
“I did,” he said quietly. “When you threw it at me, I held onto it. I hoped one day our timing would be better.”
Dammit. Her eyes watered. She closed her eyes for a moment, lost in old memories again. The day he’d ended their marriage.
Bryce’s wail carried from upstairs. Reality hit again.
She exhaled sharply. “Max, your timing sucks.”
She started to leave, and he grabbed her arm. “It’s not too late for us. I meant what I said last night.”
Hello? She was married. Sort of. She didn’t want to talk about her and Max again. She didn’t want to be tempted with what might have been.
Shane arrived with Bryce in his arms. The boy looked calmly around. “He’s hungry,” Shane said, handing him over.
“Thanks for getting him,” Daisy said. “I hope he didn’t wake you last night.”
“Not at all. I’m a deep sleeper.”
“Lucky.” She turned to Max before she took Bryce upstairs. “I hope we can still work together.”
“Absolutely,” Max said. “Call me in a few days after things are back to normal, and we’ll do lunch.”
She nodded and left to take care of Bryce. After he nursed, she changed his diaper and dressed him in a spare outfit she kept in the diaper bag. She did an abbreviated infant massage session, keeping him in his clothes. At home, she would’ve done the massage with almond oil on his bare skin, but it was too chilly in the room to do the full treatment. Starting at his forehead, she rubbed in small circles, onto the longer strokes on his arms, down his tummy, and onto his legs. They’d taken a mommy/baby class a few months back, and it had made a world of difference with his colic, dramatically decreasing his crying sessions.
When she finished, she brushed her teeth with one finger while holding Bryce on her hip, then returned downstairs. She walked past Max sitting on the loveseat, staring at his cell, and headed to the kitchen to find some baby food for Bryce. Shane was out back. Steam billowed out from the grill.
Max walked in. She tensed. She didn’t know what to say in the face of his declaration of love. He’d put her in a really awkward position. The fact was Trav didn’t love her. He stupidly thought love was made up by corporations to sell more cards. Was she giving up on having love in her life?
Daisy Does It All (Clover Park, Book 2) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) Page 14