by Brenda Novak
Her phone chimed, so she dug it out of her purse.
She’d received a text from Dallas.
What are you doing?
Wishing I was with you.
She told herself not to send that, but did it anyway. It was true, and she needed truth right now.
He responded:
Want to go out and see the Christmas lights?
She knew the answer should be no. The way she was craving his touch, she’d end up back in his bed before the night was through.
Her thumbs hesitated over her phone before she finally typed her answer.
* * *
“How’d it go?” Cal murmured.
Aiyana knew he’d been dying to ask ever since she met with Robert, but this had been his first opportunity. She’d played off her early departure from the ranch by acting as though she’d simply gone to start the tacos she’d just served for dinner, and it had worked beautifully. No one had questioned her absence.
Now they’d all eaten, but the boys were still hanging around the kitchen table, talking and laughing while she cleaned up. “I’ll tell you later,” she mouthed so she wouldn’t draw their attention.
“They’re caught up in their own conversation,” Cal said. “Just tell me if he’s leaving.”
She nodded.
“That’s a relief. How much did it cost you?”
“A thousand dollars.”
His scraggy eyebrows shot up to indicate he was shocked by the amount.
“I know it’s a lot, but I needed some reassurance that he wouldn’t come back until January. This is really important to me. Now he will have no excuse.”
“Mom, where’s Emery tonight?” Bentley asked, breaking into their conversation.
Cal opened the cupboard closest to the sink and got out a toothpick as though that had been his purpose in going over near Aiyana in the first place.
“Still at work, I guess,” she said as she glanced back at her son.
He didn’t seem convinced. “It’s nearly nine o’clock. I don’t think the cookie store stays open that late on a Sunday. Not in the winter.”
She added more hot water to the suds in the sink. “Then I don’t know.”
“Do you know, Dallas?” Bentley asked.
Dallas glanced up from his phone. “Haven’t talked to her.”
“That’s bull,” he cried. “Who have you been texting if not Emery?” He tried to grab Dallas’s phone out of his hand, but Dallas snatched it away.
“No one,” he said with a scowl designed, no doubt, to warn his brother off.
“It has to be a woman,” Bentley insisted. “Or you wouldn’t have freaked out a minute ago when Liam wanted to use your phone so he could download that game he’s been telling you about.”
“That has nothing to do with it,” Dallas said, but he didn’t sound very convincing, even to Aiyana.
She told the two younger boys that it was time to go up and do their homework—she knew they both had plenty of studying to do with finals this week—and waited until they were gone to ask Dallas, “Is Emery okay?”
He grinned. “I never could hide anything from you.”
She hoped the reverse wasn’t true. Now that she’d done what she’d done, it would be even worse for Dallas to find out about Robert. He might get angry that she’d talked to his father on her own instead of giving him a chance to decide for himself, angry that she’d spend so much to get rid of him for only three weeks or just angry that his father was out of prison despite what Robert had done. “When is she coming home?”
“She’s on her way. But she won’t be staying. We’re going out to look at the lights.”
“The Christmas lights?” she asked in surprise.
He looked confused. “We wouldn’t be going out to look at the traffic lights.”
She ignored his sarcasm. “I’ve just never known you to pay much attention to holiday decorations.”
“I like them as much as most other guys,” he said, but she knew what he liked was Emery.
“Sure you do,” she said, and she and Cal started laughing.
* * *
As soon as Dallas saw Emery’s headlights, he went outside to meet her. He didn’t want her to come in. Then his brothers would hear her and realize she was home—and that she was going back out with him.
“Where have you been?” he asked when she turned off her engine and opened her car door. He was curious since she was so reluctant to go out in public.
“On a date, apparently.”
He hadn’t expected that response. She’d been out with someone else? There was nothing official between them, but it felt like someone had punched him in the gut. “With who?”
“Cain Brennan. Do you know him?”
He struggled not to reveal the jealousy that was burning through his veins, but his jaw suddenly felt too stiff to move properly. “Never heard of him.”
“He went to my high school.”
“So his parents are rich?”
“His mother owns a window covering business that’s been around for years and years. I think she’s somewhat of a busybody in town—at least that was the impression he gave me. His father’s a dentist and does quite well.”
They sounded like an ordinary family—the type of family he’d always envied, since his had been so screwed up. “How’d this...date come about? Did he hear you were in town and call you, or—”
“He came into the cookie store earlier. It was just supposed to be dinner with an old friend, but he sort of pulled a bait and switch on me.”
A spark of hope did battle with the negative emotions that seemed determined to strangle him. “A bait and switch?”
“He painted it as one thing but showed up with other ideas.”
She sounded so annoyed that Dallas suddenly felt better, good enough to joke it off. “At least you got a free meal.”
“No, I insisted on paying my half and left right after we ate, even though he was intent on getting me to go to the movies with him.”
“You didn’t want to go?”
“No. I didn’t want to be with him—I wanted to be with you.”
He let his eyes slide down, taking in her long eyelashes, the lips he’d kissed, the breasts he’d touched. “So is this a date?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I just hope it ends with you inside me.”
“How about if we start that way?” He jerked his head toward his vehicle. “Let’s go.”
18
They didn’t speak as Dallas started the van and drove them out of town. The radio was playing, but Emery could still hear her heart pounding in her ears. Her mouth watered in anticipation of once again tasting him, and she looked forward to running her nose over his smooth, warm skin and smelling that unique and wonderful scent she associated with him.
As soon as he found a private spot in a grove of trees, he pulled off the highway, out of sight, and parked. He left the music playing as they got in back, where there was a bed, and yanked anxiously at each other’s clothes, trying to get them off as fast as possible.
It didn’t take long, but when Emery felt Dallas’s bare chest come against hers, she couldn’t wait for him to get even closer.
They were kissing so deeply they were breathless within minutes. “Nobody kisses as good as you do,” she told him when he pulled away to run his mouth down her neck. She didn’t say so, but nobody felt as good as he did, either. Her hands moved along the muscles that rippled across his back as he lifted her and twisted so that she was beneath him.
“Keep talking like that and this won’t last long.” He was joking, but the ragged edge to his voice lent truth to those words, and she found his level of arousal as intoxicating as everything else about him. How was it that while her life was in the midst of a complete meltdown, she was having the best
sex she’d ever experienced?
“I’m just glad you decided to come home for Christmas,” she whispered as she outlined his ear with her tongue.
“So am I,” he told her gruffly, eagerly, and brought her knees up as he pushed inside her.
* * *
When it was over, Dallas dropped onto the mattress beside Emery. The way they’d made love was far more intense than it had been before, but Emery didn’t care to examine the reason.
“That was amazing,” he said.
She had to agree. For whatever reason, they were perfect sex partners. She’d never felt such raw desire for anyone else and was a little rattled by it. What was happening to her? She seemed to be a completely different person than she’d been before—a far more reckless and passionate person—and that frightened her. Where would it all end? And would she be able to get back to the woman she’d been before?
“Sorry. I would’ve waited until after I’d shown you the lights,” he said as he nipped at her shoulder. “But I kept thinking of the silkiness of your hair and the softness of your skin and the fullness of your breasts. And then you showed up looking like a wet dream in that dress, and said what you said, and I lost all control,” he added with a laugh.
She pressed her lips to his neck, still luxuriating in how much he appealed to every one of her senses. “It’s not too late to drive around and enjoy all the holiday cheer, is it?”
“Absolutely not. Maybe we can get some ice cream while we’re out, too.”
She ran her fingers down his arm, struck by the sheer masculine beauty of it. “Sugar Mama is closed.”
“Another ice cream store has opened up not far from the main part of town. It doesn’t offer fresh-baked cookies or ice cream sandwiches—it’s more of an old-time parlor with giant creations doused in caramel and chocolate sauce—but I’m definitely in the mood for something indulgent, aren’t you?”
“We’ve been pretty indulgent already,” she said. “But I could go for some ice cream.”
“Then we’d better hurry, before it closes.”
She sat up and started putting on her clothes—but became slightly self-conscious when he didn’t follow suit. He lay back, locked his fingers behind his head and simply watched her. “You’re not getting dressed?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“I like what I’m seeing. You’re beautiful, Emery. I’ve always thought you were beautiful.”
She felt herself flush as she flipped her hair out from under her dress and started looking for her panties. “You remember me that well from high school?” Although she remembered him, she couldn’t recall much about him, except that he attended “that” school, the one with all the troubled kids.
He plucked her panties out of the bedding and handed them to her. “Yeah,” he said with a mysterious smile that led her to believe there was more to his answer than it might seem.
She hesitated before taking her panties from him. “Why are you smiling as though you have a secret?”
“No reason,” he replied, but he pulled her back into the bed, rolled her onto her back and, as one hand curved possessively around her bare ass, kissed her so powerfully she told herself she shouldn’t like it.
But she did. A lot.
“I had a thing for you in high school,” he admitted.
“You did?”
“I almost asked you to the senior dance.”
“No way!”
“It’s true.” He got up and started to dress, and this time she made it a point to watch him. “What are you looking at?” he joked.
“You,” she said, playing along.
His lips quirked into a sexy grin. “Because...”
“I like what I see,” she said, and sat up, grabbed him by the shirtfront and hauled him in for just as possessive and powerful a kiss.
* * *
Emery felt inexplicably happy as she and Dallas sat in a corner booth at Blake’s Ice Cream Spot. Decorated like a 1950s soda fountain in red, white and chrome, it served hamburgers, hot dogs, homemade chili and French fries, as well as gigantic ice cream creations.
“Wow, this place is packed,” she said to Dallas as the waitress wove through the crowd to bring them water. “I wouldn’t have expected this on a Sunday night.”
“Eli, Gavin and I came here last time I was home,” he said. “They serve great garlic fries.”
“I thought I smelled garlic.”
“Should we get some?”
“Why not?” she said with a shrug.
“There are benefits to making love before eating,” he joked. “We should do it more often.”
She laughed and they ordered a large garlic fry to share, agreeing that ice cream would come later.
The waitress had left, and they were talking about the Saturday Night Live skit Dallas had just shown her on his phone, when Emery felt the weight of someone’s stare. She’d been so caught up in Dallas—so content just to be with him—she hadn’t scoped out the place for people who might recognize her, as she’d made a habit of doing since she came to town.
“Something wrong?” Dallas asked when she straightened.
A prickle ran down her spine as she scanned the faces that surrounded them, searching—until she found what she was looking for. “Oh my God,” she whispered, jerking her gaze away from the person she’d just seen.
“What is it?”
“Don’t look now, but that’s Cain Brennan over by the jukebox.”
“The guy you had dinner with earlier?”
“Yes. I never dreamed we’d run into him. What could be the chances?”
“In such a small town? Not too bad—if you’re both looking for a place to hang out on a Sunday night. Very few businesses are open.”
From what Emery could tell, Cain was with a male friend or relative. It wasn’t as though he’d been following her. But she was embarrassed for him to catch her out and about, especially with Dallas. She’d told him she was too tired to go to the movies—and he’d warned her against getting involved with Dallas.
Was it apparent that she and Dallas were a little more than friends?
She tried to imagine what Cain might’ve seen when they walked in. How would an onlooker have interpreted their body language? They’d been having a great time, but they hadn’t been holding hands or anything. They’d agreed not to touch in public. It wouldn’t be wise to start tongues wagging. But the sheer magnetism of their attraction could be more apparent than she realized.
“He won’t quit staring at me,” she complained. “Should I go over and say something? Apologize?”
“Apologize for what?”
“For not wanting to go to the movie with him?”
“No. I don’t think an apology would make him feel any better. It might only embarrass him. I’d just let it go. It is what it is, you know?”
“You’re probably right.”
Their ice cream came, and Emery tried to enjoy it, but with Cain there, watching her so closely, she was too uncomfortable. She waited for Dallas to eat as much as he wanted. Then she said, “Let’s get out of here.”
“You got it,” he said, but just as he tossed twenty-five dollars on the table to cover the bill, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and realized that Cain was walking toward them.
“Here he comes,” she muttered.
Dallas squeezed her leg under the table. “It’ll be okay. Just smile and act like there’s nothing wrong. There shouldn’t be anything wrong. You have the right to say no if you don’t want to go out with a guy.”
“But I said I was too tired!”
“Because you were attempting to salvage his feelings. That it didn’t work out isn’t your fault.”
“Hey,” Cain said as he reached the table.
She forced a smile. “Hi.”
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“Looks like you got your second wind.” His own smile appeared brittle, and his voice sounded more high-pitched than she remembered it being at dinner.
“Yeah. I’m feeling better,” she said lamely.
“Have we met?” Dallas asked.
Emery got the impression he’d inserted himself to draw Cain’s attention, so that she could feel more comfortable with the situation and was grateful to him for taking the lead.
“No.” He held out his hand. “I’m Cain Brennan.”
Dallas shook with him. “Dallas Turner.”
“I know.”
Emery could feel Dallas’s surprise. “I thought you said we haven’t met.”
“We haven’t, but most people in this town are familiar with you and your situation.”
Emery could tell he’d surprised Dallas again. “My situation?”
“With your father just getting out of prison, it sort of brings it all up again.” He clicked his tongue in apparent disgust. “You’d think a man who killed his wife and one of his children would spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
Dallas went rigid beside her. “What are you talking about?”
Cain’s eyebrows knitted. “You don’t know?”
“How is it that you know?” Emery asked, mortified for Dallas. She was shocked to hear this history with his father, but now she could see why he might be reluctant to talk about his past.
“When I saw Dallas walk in, I was curious, so I did a Google search. With just a few keywords, I found this.” He flashed his phone at them. “It’s only a short article—what your father did is hardly news after so long—but I figured you, of all people, would be keeping track of him,” he said to Dallas. “I sure as hell would be. He tried to shoot you, too, right? Tried to kill you when you were just a kid? I’d be afraid he might come back to finish the job.”
“Cain, that’s enough,” Emery said, but it was too late. The news that his father had been released from prison had hit Dallas like a bombshell. Her, too. His father had killed his mother and his sister—and had tried to kill him? And she’d thought her own situation was bad. She’d gone on and on about it, soliciting his help. She felt awful now.