Sweet Summer Sunset

by Delores Fossen

  And maybe it would have been.

  Eden could see that. Now. Maybe she had wanted to prove she was still desirable, and thankfully Nico had answered that question for her. She was. Better yet, she had some strong desires of her own. She couldn’t wait to get her hands, and the rest of her, back on Nico.

  He’d already told her that he didn’t see her climaxing issue as a problem, and she hoped that was true. If not, then it was something she intended to ask him to help her with. Damien had never seemed interested in prolonging sex with her and had in fact become quite a “quick draw” himself. But she wanted better with Nico. She wanted longer.

  Heck, she just wanted.

  Soon, she would have him, too. Along with repairing the cabin’s roof, he’d had business meetings all day and was scheduled to make a quick trip to Austin to deal with some rodeo where he’d be supplying the bulls. But once he was home and she was off from work, they were having a date.

  “Raring to Go in Dallas, pretend that you’re the car and he’s tinkering with you,” she jotted down on her notepad.

  Go with a head-to-toe inspection where he touches and pleases.

  Pleasure yourself while he watches, and just when you’re ready to climax, let him finish things for you in any way that he wants.

  Give him a surprise hand job when he’s talking on the phone. While he continues the phone conversation, stroke away, and it’ll be a hot thrill that only you two will know about.

  Eden read through her notes and realized something. She wanted to do all those things with Nico. In fact, she wanted to give him a sex quiz that she’d come up with for a blog special about a year ago. Sort of a sexual show-and-tell.

  She went bold and texted him her first idea with the question:

  Can you give me some car repair lingo that will work with this?

  She hadn’t expected him to answer right away, but he did.

  Nico texted:

  Have her play with his dipstick while he aligns her chassis.

  Oh my. He had really gotten into the spirit of this and given her a very strong reminder that she wouldn’t mind playing that particular game with Nico. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for her to take her own blog advice.

  How about this one? She then texted him her idea about the surprise hand job while the woman’s boyfriend was on the phone.

  A few moments passed, and she saw the little dots indicating he was typing. Maybe he was smiling, too. And getting as aroused as she was.

  Nico’s message read:

  If she’s doing the hand job right, no way would he be able to keep up that phone conversation. Will talk with you more about this later. About to leave Austin. Would be nice if you were at my house when I got there.

  She fanned herself and glanced around to cool herself down. If she were a guy, she’d have an erection right now and be unable to walk. Since she wasn’t, she did some walking to the window so she could rein in some heat. If she didn’t, she was going to have an orgasm the moment Nico looked at her.

  “Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,” Eden mumbled as she made her way to the window, and she saw something that did nothing to cool her down.

  Nico’s brother Callen was in the doorway of his office building, his back against the jamb. His wife, Shelby, was across from him, and they were looking at each other. Not talking. Just looking, gazing into each other’s eyes and smiling. Eden was betting there was a nonverbal naughty conversation going on between the two, and a moment later, she got confirmation of that. Callen pulled Shelby to him and covered her mouth with his.

  Eden turned so as not to watch, but she turned right back and watched anyway. Callen made the kiss something extra by pressing his body to hers. Talk about scorching. And intimate. The kind of intimacy that could only happen between two extremely horny people or a couple in love. In their case, Eden suspected it was both.

  God, she wanted that. And wondered if she’d ever had it.

  She supposed that years ago, Damien had looked at her and kissed her that way. With so much need that it came off in thick, hot waves. Then again, maybe that’s what had been missing from their relationship, from their marriage. Eden had never needed him to gobble her up in the doorway of his office because he’d been taking small bites off her for years. Familiarity had become the thick waves.

  Screw familiarity.

  She wanted the heat.

  Callen and Shelby finally eased away from each other and shared a smile that was somehow just as sizzling as that kiss. After Shelby gave him a quick wave, she turned and made a beeline for the law office. Eden nearly gasped at being caught gawking, though she was certain plenty of other folks on Main Street had seen it, too.

  “Yes, I know,” Shelby said when she walked in. “I have zero control when it comes to Callen.” She was still smiling.

  Eden eyed her, then glanced at Callen, who was making his way back into the building. “You two just had a quickie in your husband’s office, didn’t you?”

  Shelby just kept on smiling. “Maybe. And maybe it wasn’t the first time that’s happened. In fact, it’s possible that I have such fond memories of his desk that I want all our future children to be conceived there.”

  It was good to see her old friend so happy. Shelby had gone years lusting after Callen, and now they had finally snagged each other.

  Shelby glanced at Roy’s closed office door before she walked closer to Eden’s desk. “I want us to have another girls’ night out. It’s been way too long since the last one.”

  It had been a little over six months ago, shortly after Eden’s divorce had become final and around the time that Shelby and Callen had become hot-to-trot lovers. Shelby had gathered up a group of friends at her place for some Jell-O shots, jalapeno poppers and a Fifty Shades movie marathon. There’d been plenty of sex talk and a debate over the rating for Christian Grey’s ass. The final consensus had been a 9.2.

  “This time, it’ll be you, me, Cleo, Rosy and Piper,” Shelby went on. “I’ll send Callen over to play poker with his brothers.”

  Piper. Eden certainly hadn’t forgotten about the girl, but hearing her name was a reminder that she needed to call her and make sure she was okay. She probably hadn’t gotten back any results yet from her lab work, but Eden needed to make sure Piper wasn’t worrying about it.

  Or worrying about Jax.

  Eden didn’t mind the two teens getting back together, but she didn’t want Piper going through another emotional upheaval without feeling that she had someone to talk to about it.

  “We’ll have this one at the ranch,” Shelby explained.

  The ranch as in her dad, Buck, and Rosy’s place. It was on the edge of town and had been a haven for foster kids over the years. Home for Nico, too, since Buck was the only father he’d ever known since his own dad had run out on the boys when Nico was a kid. Now it was also home for Cleo, Judd and their three foster sons.

  “And yes, I’ll have to invite Rayelle so she doesn’t think we’re trying to pull something sneaky and amoral that will scar Piper for life. I’ll write down the date and time for you so you won’t have the excuse of forgetting,” Shelby added, reaching for the notepad, but her eyeballs froze on what was already written there. “A surprise hand job while he’s talking on the phone?”

  Eden snatched back the notepad, closed down the screen on the computer, too, but clearly she had gotten Shelby’s attention. Eden tried to shift that attention back to something else because no way did she want to explain the blog to Shelby.

  “You’re sure you want to get rid of your guy even for a few hours for a girls’ night out?” Eden asked her. “I saw your kiss.”

  Shelby didn’t even blush. “You have to admit, Callen’s hot stuff.” She tipped her head to the notepad that Eden now had clutched like a lover to her chest. “You’ve got hot stuff on your mind, too.”

  “Yes,” Eden adm
itted, because she had no idea what else to say.

  “With Nico?” Shelby pressed.

  “Yes,” Eden answered cautiously. “Are you okay with that?”

  “Duh, of course.” There was no caution or hesitation in Shelby’s response. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I don’t know. It changes the dynamics of things. I mean, you won’t be able to joke about the women he’s having sex with.” Or as Shelby had once called it, bedpost notches. “In fact, I’m the bedpost notch now.”

  A thought that had Eden frowning. Technically, she wasn’t a complete notch since there hadn’t been actual sex. So, her clock hadn’t started with Nico. But it would start. She had no doubts about that. She wasn’t even going to try to resist him, which meant that one day he would be finished with her. Soon, too, if his track record held up.

  “Does that bother you, that things might not last long between you two?” Shelby asked.

  “It probably should bother me,” Eden admitted. “But right now I’m swept away in that hormone tidal wave of lust.”

  Shelby patted her arm. “That’s the best kind of tidal wave. Just enjoy the ride.”

  Eden figured that enjoyment was the one thing guaranteed in all of this. That and a broken heart, but Eden wouldn’t go there yet, either.

  “Girls’ night, be there.” Shelby did another head tip to the notepad. “I think I’ll go across the street and see if my husband’s talking on the phone.” She added a wink before she headed out.

  Of course, Eden would go to girls’ night, not only so she could hang out with Cleo and Shelby but also to spend some time with Piper. Being around Rayelle wouldn’t be much fun, but maybe she would leave her stick-in-the-mud attitude in the cabin.

  Eden went back to her desk to combine her suggestions with Nico’s for the blog answer, but she’d barely gotten started when the front door opened again. Not Shelby.

  But Mimi.

  This time, Eden not only closed down the blog file, she also put her notepad in her bottom drawer. Even though Mimi knew about the blog, Eden didn’t want the woman seeing anything connected to Naughty Cowgirl.

  Actually, she didn’t want to see Mimi, either, though it would have been impossible to miss her. The woman was wearing a red above-the-knee dress that clung to her like a sunburn. It was an identical shade to her lipstick and the polish on her fingers and toes.

  Very matchy-matchy.

  Eden wanted to give her a snarky greeting. Something like “I hope you appreciated all the sex advice I gave you when you were boinking my husband.” But Mimi beat her to the punch.

  “Are you having sex with my fiancé?” Mimi demanded. Her hands went on her hips, causing those perky breasts to jut out even more than usual.

  Eden was certain there was nothing perky about her expression and that she just looked confused. “What?” she managed.

  “Sex with Damien,” Mimi spelled out. “Are you?”

  “Uh, no.” Eden stood, but that was mainly so she would be eye level with the woman. “Trouble in paradise?” she asked.

  That question caused Mimi’s eyes to narrow, and Eden wondered if those baby blues would soon be that same sunburn red as her outfit.

  “The only trouble is what you’re causing,” Mimi insisted. She hadn’t exactly whispered that, either. It was loud enough for Roy to open his door and look out at them.

  “Everything okay?” Roy slid glances between Mimi and her.

  “Apparently not,” Eden provided. She figured it was probably low of her to delight in Mimi’s unhappiness, but the woman certainly hadn’t thought of her or her marriage when she’d started an affair with Damien.

  “This is private business,” Mimi informed Roy.

  “Then, perhaps you should be taking care of it in a private place since this is my law office and I’m with a client,” Roy answered without missing a beat. “Eden, would you like for me to show our visitor out?”

  “No, thanks. I can do that just fine, and if she stays, she’ll just have to use her inside voice. And perhaps tone down her insulting, ludicrous accusations.”

  Oh, Eden was enjoying this a little too much.

  Mimi’s face tightened. Her nostrils flared. And Eden was surprised little puffs of smoke didn’t spew out of her ears.

  “I’ll be brief and quiet,” Mimi assured Roy.

  Roy still didn’t budge. He looked at Eden. “My appointment’s running longer than planned, but you can leave for the day if you like.”

  Eden nodded. The timing was perfect. She could hurry home, change, put on some makeup and get to Nico’s house so she’d be there when he arrived. She thanked her boss and then gave him a second reassuring nod. Only then did the man give Mimi a reminder glare before he went back into his office and shut the door.

  Mimi quickly shifted her attention back to Eden. “I know Damien’s been calling you, and he went to see you.”

  Eden shrugged. “Yes, he did visit, and there were calls and texts.”

  Annoying calls and texts that she hadn’t answered, but Eden decided that fell into the TMI category. She didn’t want to get into discussing her feelings for her ex, even when those feelings would have confirmed there was nothing going on between Damien and her. Still, it was a bit of a karma bite on Mimi’s perky butt for the woman to think that the man she’d cheated with was now cheating on her.

  How original.

  “Well?” Mimi added a huff to that demand, but she had stuck to using a much quieter voice. Amazing though how the mean, bitter tone could still manage to be heard even in a near whisper. “Are you having sex with him?” Mimi snarled. “And before you say no, you should know that I’ve read your recent blog posts, and they’re different. Hotter. I can tell that something worked you up, and I think Damien’s responsible.”

  Hotter? If so, Eden could thank Nico for that since she’d been running her suggestions past him. His ideas were a lot better than Damien’s ever had been. And as for Damien being responsible for this new tone. Uh, no. Just no. It had been a while since Damien had worked her up. Well, unless you counted anger and frustration.

  Eden took her purse and her notepad from her drawer. “Look, Mimi, I don’t want Damien. In fact, I’m having a hard time remembering why I ever wanted him in the first place.”

  That was TMI that Mimi clearly wasn’t buying because she huffed. “You can’t make me believe you no longer have feelings for him, that you wouldn’t want to lure him away from me.”

  Eden looked her straight in the eyes. “Believe it.”

  It felt so good to say that, but what felt even better was that it was true. Not some fudged truth so people wouldn’t know she was still hurting. The genuine truth. Anything she’d ever felt for Damien was gone. She no longer loved, wanted or respected him. But the best part was that she had a whole lot of want for someone else.

  Nico.

  Eden closed down her computer and hooked her purse over her shoulder. She also locked the desk drawers just in case Mimi took to snooping to find “proof” of her honey’s infidelity. The computer would be fine since it was password protected. A password she’d changed after Damien had admitted to seeing her appointment calendar.

  And that reminder caused Eden to pause and look at Mimi again.

  “The blog,” Eden said under her breath.

  She steeled herself up in case she saw an aha/gotcha expression on Mimi’s face. After all, the woman not only knew about the blog, Mimi could also tell others about it. She could blow Eden’s secret life to smithereens. Worse, Mimi was obviously mad enough to do something like that.

  So, why hadn’t she?

  Mimi must have worked herself up into this snit, and during the working up, she could have sent a few texts or dropped a word or two to gossips who would quickly spread it around. If the woman had indeed done that, Eden would have already heard about it so th
at led her to one puzzling possibility.

  “Did Damien tell you to keep quiet about the blog?” Eden came out and asked.

  Mimi’s mouth tightened—which confirmed that’s exactly what had happened. “He said he would be very angry with me if it leaked that you have a smut blog. He thought if that happened, you’d mention that he and I were seeing each other before his divorce was final.”

  “Seeing each other while Damien was still married to me,” Eden automatically corrected.

  Mimi gave an indignant wobble of her head. “He didn’t want something like that getting back to his folks.”

  Nope. He wouldn’t. So, this was sort of like a standoff. Mimi would keep the blog quiet, and Eden wouldn’t rat the bastard out for having an affair. She mentally shrugged. It seemed like a good arrangement for her, especially since Eden had her own new life going on. One that she was betting was better than Damien’s, which clearly included dealing with a jealous fiancée.

  “Just where are you going?” Mimi demanded when Eden started to walk away from her.

  Eden flashed her a smile. It was genuine, too. “I have an appointment for a chassis alignment and a dipstick check.”

  And Eden headed for the door.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  NICO PULLED INTO the driveway in front of his house and groaned when he spotted the boy sitting on his front porch and obviously waiting for him.

  Great.

  Nico knew he had to talk to the kid. Maybe chew him out for some yet-to-be determined reason, but what he really wanted to do was get inside and grab a shower before Eden arrived.

  Would be nice if you were at my house when I got there, he had texted her earlier, and she’d likely be arriving any minute now. He was going to hold on to the hope that he could solve whatever problem Jax had in that short period of time.

  Nico wasn’t sure it was the smartest idea for him to be with Eden, especially not smart to have sex with her, but he wasn’t even going to look for a way to stop it from happening.

  “Where’s your motorcycle?” Nico asked as he unlocked the door to his house and went in. He hung his cowboy hat on the peg next to the door.