by Nadia Lee
“Ginger,” Fraser said.
“It’s true.” Ginger looked down at her apple pie. She’d eaten only half of it. “May I be excused? I’m tired. I think I’ll go to bed early.”
Zoe glanced at Fraser, then nodded. Ginger stood up with her plate and left.
“Same here if you don’t mind,” Shane said. “The flight from Thailand was long and exhausting.”
“Yeah, me too,” Trevor said.
Zoe shook her head. “You didn’t have a long flight from Thailand too, did you? You said you were in Mexico.”
Trevor made a face. “I can still be tired.”
“Just finish your pie before you go,” Zoe said.
The muscles bunched in his jaw, and Shane gave Zoe a grateful glance. Then he took off after Ginger.
* * *
Ginger slipped out through the backdoor. The final dying sunshine colored the farm a deep orange.
Soon she heard another person follow her. She didn’t have to turn around to know it was Shane. Nobody else would’ve made her skin prickle with awareness. “What are you doing here?”
He stood next to her. His gaze settled over her like silk. “I wanted to apologize.”
She kept her eyes on the horizon. “Don’t.”
“Why not? It was wrong of me to leave last night.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because.” She looked up at him. Exhaustion had deepened the lines bracketing his mouth. “I’d rather you be honest. Don’t stay if you want to be somewhere else.”
“Ginger…”
“You used to tell me about how you thought your parents should divorce because they didn’t belong together. You were convinced your mother stayed with your father for the money, and your father stayed because he wanted to be able to have affairs without giving his mistresses any false hope about becoming his missus. Well, I don’t want that.”
She looked away. Brave words, but she’d be lying if she told herself she wanted him to go. Why was she even with somebody who hurt her the way Shane did?
Because when things are good, they’re really, really good. And she wanted to make things work between them so badly. She wanted what her own parents had, with him.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Shane reached out and held her hand. She didn’t pull away. Tingling warmth spread from his skin to hers. I must be a glutton for punishment, she thought.
“I got a call from Dane,” he said. “He told me you were dating somebody else.”
She glared at him and tried to yank her hand away, but he held on. “You couldn’t ask me?”
“In front of my family? Not without making a scene, and I didn’t want to do that. Especially with Vanessa acting so hostile.”
“She saw me with Robert. That’s why she was like that at the dinner. I never got a chance to tell her we broke up.”
“I know that now. But at the time I was just…furious with you. And myself.” He raked his hair. “Even when Dane told me you were with another man, I wanted you. I wanted to fuck you until you forgot him…until I could take you away and make you mine.” His jaw clenched. “I never wanted to be like my dad, who doesn’t care about anything except screwing the women he wants. Even if they’re married. So I couldn’t…” He let out a rough breath. “I just had to get away…and I messed up.”
“Shane…” She squeezed his hand, her heart aching for him. “You are nothing like your dad. I would’ve never stayed with you for so long if you were.”
His laugh was hollow, self-deprecating. “Debbie was really pissed off.”
Ginger’s eyes widened. “What did she do?”
“Called me some names. Threatened a few things. I don’t really remember, because I was, uh, a little hung over.”
“Jeez. I told her not to do stuff like that.”
He shrugged. “She’s your best friend. You really should expect more from the people around you. Speaking of which…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. “I had Mark mail your original engagement ring to me in Thailand. I was going to give it to you there, but then I thought I should make the second proposal at least as memorable as the first, even if I couldn’t remember exactly how it had gone before. I was going to do it last night, but everything got derailed when my family decided to drag us out to dinner. But I can’t wait any more,” he said, going down on one knee. “I’ve screwed up everything since the first time I saw you after the accident. But I want you to give me another chance.”
His words rushed out in a torrent, and Ginger felt her heart soften. He got wordy and spoke fast whenever he felt nervous, which was rare. His mouth set in a firm line and his gaze unblinking, he was doing a good job of looking cool, but there were taut lines around his eyes as he waited.
Her heart pounded unsteadily. A part of her wanted to run. A big part. If things went bad again, she wasn’t sure she could ever deal with it. But another part of her urged her to say yes. Most people never got a second chance. She should seize this one and make it count.
“Will you take my ring?” he asked.
With a slow smile, she extended her left hand. “Put it on me.”
He pulled out the ring and pushed it onto her ring finger. She knelt down opposite him and he rested his forehead on hers. “You’re mine.”
“Right back at you.” She tilted her mouth up for a kiss.
His lips were so soft, so gentle. His tongue darted out, licking and taunting her with teasing strokes. He tasted like Shane and happiness and apple pie, and her heart sang—he’s mine. Her core went liquid, and she tilted her head for some deeper contact, thrusting her tongue boldly into his mouth.
With a low groan, he pulled her closer, his powerful hands on her hips, fitting her body against his until she could feel his erection pressing against her belly. She rocked slowly as she put her hands behind his neck. He felt like everything she’d dreamed of, every fantasy she’d ever had about her fut—.
“What the fuck?”
Ginger jerked back at Trevor’s outraged voice. Her cheeks heated. “What are you doing here?”
“I finished my pie!” His gaze swung to Shane. “Dude, what the fuck? This is our parents’ house!”
“Calm down,” Shane said.
“Would you be calm if it was your sister?”
Ginger pinched the skin on her forehead. Now thanks to Trevor’s yelling, probably everyone within a mile radius knew what she and Shane had been doing.
“Yeah,” Shane said at the same time Ginger stood up, tugged on Trevor’s arm and said, “Come with me. Now!”
“I’m not finished with—”
“Yes, you are. And if you don’t come with me right now I’m not going to talk to you for the next half a decade.” She turned to Shane. “You stay here.”
Shane had started to get up, but stopped with one knee still on the ground. “Yes, ma’am.”
She dragged Trevor away to the barn. Cows stared at them, then flicked their tails and turned away. “Even the cows have better sense,” she muttered, then rounded on her brother once they were in the barn. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you so nasty to Shane?”
“Because he hurt you. You think I don’t know what’s going on?”
“That’s exactly what I think, unless you’ve been stalking and spying on me.”
“I don’t have to do either of those things to know what he’s doing. I’ve seen guys like that. He takes women for granted, uses them…and he sweet talks them or seduces them to get out of anything. You’re making a huge mistake if you take him back.”
“Jeez, what’s up with you? He’s not like that.”
Trevor stared up at the loft and she actually heard his teeth grinding. “I’m starting to think you’re the one with amnesia.” He stuck out a meaty hand and started using his fingers to tick off points. “He dated you, strung you along for over ten years, then finally proposed when it looked like you migh
t ditch him, and then refused to set a date for your wedding!”
Her jaw dropped. “Are you crazy? That’s totally not how it went. We dated in high school and he followed me to college despite his parents’ opposition. His mother was absolutely livid that he chose to go to Berkeley rather than some Ivy League school. She threatened to cut off his allowance, then when that didn’t work, tried to get him to choose Stanford if he wanted to be close to me. But he insisted on Berkeley because he didn’t even want to be that far apart. You know this.
“And there was no ‘stringing along.’ I stayed with him because I wanted to, not because he tricked me. I’m not that stupid, Trevor. And just because we got engaged didn’t mean we had to set a date immediately just to please you, okay? We wanted to take our time looking at venues and their availability and go from there.”
Trevor made a frustrated sound deep in his throat. “Ever heard the saying that you only need to look at a man’s father to know how the son’s going to treat a woman? He’s emulating Salazar. Everyone knows what a womanizer that old geezer is, and I’m sure he’s thrilled to be getting divorced now so he can pursue his hobby without worrying about a wife or children.”
“Shane’s nothing like Salazar!” Ginger clenched her hands, barely restraining herself from punching Trevor. She’d never felt such a violent urge before, but her brother was infuriating. “You’ve never even met his father, or seen how Shane strives to be better than him. While we were dating, he never even looked at other women, even when they were virtually naked and throwing themselves at him. He always made me feel like I was the center of his universe. The only thing that changed all that was whatever it was that made him go to South Africa. And I still don’t know what that is because he can’t remember. And that makes me feel just…awful, like there’s a bomb in my life. I can hear it ticking, but can’t do anything about it.”
Trevor paled, flinching.
“You don’t know what that did to me,” she said. “You don’t know what it’s like to lose someone you love like that because you’ve never loved anybody the way I love Shane. He gave me my engagement ring—again—and I know he loves me. So I’m going to grab this chance and make sure we can work the problem out—whatever it is. I don’t want to be alone again. If you can’t be supportive of my decision, you can at least not sabotage it.” She let out a shuddering breath and blinked as her eyes prickled with unshed tears.
“Damn, Ginger.” He reached out and hugged her stiff body. “I’m sorry. I had no idea you felt that way.”
“Now that you know, what are you going to do?”
“I can’t promise I’m going to like the guy, but I’ll butt out. And try my damnedest to look the other way when I see you guys sucking face.”
She laughed, finally relieved. She would’ve hated to be at odds with Trevor over anything, much less Shane. “Thanks.” She unbent and hugged him back. “You’re the best brother any woman could ask for.”
* * *
Shane waited until Ginger came back. He hoped whatever talk she needed to have with Trevor hadn’t gone too poorly. Her brother seemed juuuuuust a trifle overprotective. Shane would’ve approved of that if Trevor hadn’t thought he needed to protect Ginger from him as well.
Soon they emerged from the barn. Trevor shot him a glance and went off, while Ginger came toward Shane. She looked so sweet and sexy, her hips sashaying. The movement was even more provocative because she wasn’t doing it on purpose.
“So… Everybody still alive?” he said.
“Barely, but he’ll behave. It’ll mean the world to me if you can be gracious to him in return.”
“Hey. Gracious is my middle name.”
She chuckled. “Sure, SLAP-y.”
He cringed. “You know about that?”
“Yup.” She peered up at him. “Do you remember mine?”
“No.” He frowned. “That puts me at a disadvantage. What is it?”
“Grant.”
“Seriously? That’s it?”
She nodded. “After Ginger Grant from Gilligan’s Island.”
He felt completely lost. “Is that in the Caribbean?”
“Nope. An old TV show and Dad was a fan. Do you feel advantaged now?”
He snorted and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We should get going.”
“Where?”
“Back to the city. Trevor’s right. We can’t be doing the things I want to do to you at your parents’ house. I don’t want your father shooting at me or your mother poisoning my food.”
“I can’t go yet.”
“Why not?”
“I told them I was staying for a few days, and they were so excited. I don’t take a lot of time off or visit often.”
“How come?”
“Well. For holidays, we split our time at your family’s and mine.”
He stared at her, aghast. “Is it nice at my family’s?”
“Honestly? Not always.” She chewed on her lower lip. “The dinner last night was pretty decent since your dad wasn’t there. It can get pretty tense when your parents are together. Oh, and Dane.”
“That I can believe.”
“But you know…your parents live in L.A. Mine don’t. So I don’t see them as often as I’d like.” She put a hand over his chest. “Pretty please?”
“Okay. I’ll stay here with you too then.”
“Really? But—”
He kissed her. She opened up to him instantly, as though she’d been dying for his touch. He groaned into her mouth. “No buts,” he said firmly as he traced the delicate line of her smooth jaw.
“Okay,” she whimpered.
He pressed little kisses all along her neck. She shivered, and her grip on his shoulders tightened. Damn she was responsive. She probably wasn’t even aware of the tiny rocking movements of her hips that were driving him insane. He wanted to strip her and take her in the grass…except…
He pulled back. “We have to go inside.”
“But—”
“Lusty wench. Behave.” He slapped her lightly on the ass and took her elbow, starting them back to the house.
She ran her teeth across her lower lip and gave him a dark look that promised retribution. Shane shook his head. He didn’t care. His ring was back on her finger, and that was all that mattered.
Chapter Fourteen
Ginger had laid out a new toothbrush and razor for Shane to use. She giggled behind a hand at the baggy, old pajamas Trevor had lent him.
“You should’ve told me you didn’t pack,” she said. “I would’ve driven you to the store so you could pick up some stuff.”
“Wasn’t thinking very clearly this morning. I just had this overwhelming urge to come out here and get you back.”
She grinned, stupidly happy. “Well, this’s your room.” She gestured around. It was the absolute smallest room in the house, but it had a bed. Her mom had put a set of fresh sheets over the mattress.
“At the opposite end of the hall from your room,” Shane mused, looking around. There was a tiny desk by the window, which overlooked the barn. He rapped the desk with a knuckle. “And quite fragrant, if you leave the window open.”
She chuckled. “Should’ve expected that when you barged onto a farm.”
He kissed her. “Well then. Good night.”
“Night.” She closed the door behind her.
Everyone seemed to go to bed early on the farm, but Fraser explained everyone also got up early. Like five thirty, before sunrise early.
Shane lay on the small bed and stared at the ceiling. He supposed that wouldn’t be too bad if he could get himself to fall asleep soon.
The night before he’d dreamed about his parents. Probably flashbacks. His memories seemed to be coming back as he spent time with the people who’d been in his life before the accident.
So far most of the dreams had been pretty shitty. Had he had any good ones?
Probably he had, and they probably had featured Ginger. He wished he could remember
them. He wished he could remember what Ginger’s favorite colors were, her favorite food, the sound of her voice when she sang—if she sang at all—and their first date and first dance and first kiss and first sex…
His mind drifted, and the tension slowly seeped out of his body. He fell asleep…
…then a hand roaming over his chest and belly woke him up. “What—?”
“Shh…” Ginger put a finger over his lips. “Trevor’s a light sleeper.”
“What are you doing?”
“Finishing what we started earlier.”
“You naughty girl.” Even as he mock scolded her, his body came to life, his cock hardening.
She slipped her hand lower and grasped it. “Ah-hah. Somebody’s happy to see me.”
“Damn, Ginger…”
“Don’t make any noise. Somebody’s going to hear.” She kissed him then, her mouth open and carnal. She licked his tongue, teasing and taunting him to thrust inside her, and he groaned against her and pulled her down over his body.
Ahh, yes.
Without breaking the kiss, she squirmed until she was straddling him. She rocked, her flesh hot even through the layers of clothes between them. She was absolutely shameless as she sought her pleasure. And it was so damn hot it was all he could do to stop himself from pounding into her now.
He pulled her nightgown up until it was bunched under her armpits. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath, and the moonlight gave her a silvery otherworldly glow. She was so beautiful, it made him shake.
She was his.
He buried his face between her gorgeous breasts and inhaled her orchids and butter cream scent. He brought a nipple toward his mouth, and flicked his tongue over the tip, liking the way it beaded. She tightened her hands in his hair, and with a grunt, he took the whole nipple into his mouth and sucked hard.
She bucked, her back arching. She pushed her torso into his face, and he cupped her ass in his hands, squeezing and fondling as he tormented her breast. The other one trembled, its exposed nipple beading like it could vicariously experience what he was doing to the one in his mouth.
He pulled back, dragging the extended nipple between his teeth. Ginger muffled a moan with her hand. He took the other one into his mouth. He wasn’t tender anymore, rough with his teeth and lips and tongue. She writhed against him, wrapping her arms around him tighter and silently begging for more.