Her smile warmed his heart. The kiss she laid on him had him thinking of his own to-do list for when he had her naked and in his bed where he’d be thinking of nothing but her and figuring out all the ways she liked to be pleased.
When she called to check on her mother, he gave her some privacy and went inside to put the finish on the hardwood floors. Sonya planned to get the living room done tonight. He started at the back rooms and worked his way through the two bedrooms, office, hallway, and the entire living room. Might as well get it done while the rooms were empty. They’d be dry and ready for the painters to come in and do their job tomorrow.
He walked out of the house only to find Sonya asleep on the porch. She’d moved the air mattress out of the back of her truck along with some of her bags and placed them next to his cot.
She’d fallen asleep with a pen in her hand, several pages and lists scattered across her stomach, and her cell on her chest. He’d heard her listening to the recorded reminders she made herself throughout the day so she could make notes for tomorrow.
He leaned down and gathered everything up and set it aside on the floor. Tired, his back sore and throbbing, he brushed his hand over her hair. He wanted to kiss her good-night, but couldn’t bend over that far after mopping the floors with the refinishing stuff that left them gleaming and him aching.
The beautiful sleeping woman in front of him gave him a different kind of ache.
He didn’t want to disturb her, but he’d give anything to lie down beside her.
With a heavy heart, he went to his narrow cot, sat, pulled off his boots, stood and swapped his jeans for comfy sweats, and laid himself down, careful of his tight muscles. Every little movement seemed to send them into spasm.
He should have taken a couple ibuprofen, but they were in the bathroom on the opposite side of the room he’d backed out of as he mopped his way to the door. The floor wouldn’t be dry enough to walk on for at least an hour.
He punched up his pillow and tried to get more comfortable, but his big frame didn’t exactly fit the short, slim cot. He wanted to plant his foot on the floor to keep him from rolling over and off the cot in the middle of the night, but Sonya had stuffed her bed between the cot and porch railing.
He shifted again and involuntarily let out a moan when his back protested.
Sonya rolled over and touched his arm. “Your back?”
“Is screaming at me,” he confirmed.
“Come down here. Share the air mattress with me. You’ll be more comfortable.”
I doubt that. Lying beside her would be a whole other kind of torture, but he’d take that over another uncomfortable night on the cot. He could go and sleep in a sleeping bag in the hay in the barn, but he didn’t want to leave her alone out here. Not after his father had come by and threatened them. Not that he really thought his father would do anything besides issue more threats and say nasty things, but he didn’t want to take the chance.
And he wouldn’t give up an opportunity to be close to Sonya.
It took some maneuvering to roll off the cot and settle in next to Sonya when the air mattress dipped with his weight and Sonya slid into his side.
“You take up almost the whole damn thing,” Sonya complained, trying to get comfortable beside him.
He stopped trying not to touch her and give her some space. She’d offered him a comfortable place to sleep, nothing else. But this was ridiculous. The full-size mattress barely fit the both of them.
“Stop squirming and come here.” He rolled to his side, hooked his arm around her waist, drew her backside to him, stretched his other arm out beneath her neck, and nuzzled his nose in her soft hair. “Better?”
She snuggled back, then instead of remaining facing away from him, she shifted over so she lay mostly on his chest and in the crook of his shoulder. It made it easier for him to stay on his back and ease the tension in his abused muscles.
“Is this okay?”
He kissed her temple. “It works for now. Go to sleep, sweetheart. You’ve got an early flight tomorrow.”
She relaxed next to him. He listened to her breathing even out and marveled at how quickly she fell into sleep with him this close.
She trusted him.
He liked having her beside him in the quiet cool night.
He kissed her head, rested his face against her soft hair, and closed his eyes and slept like the dead.
He woke up to the smell of sugary pastries, Sonya saying, “God, that’s good,” and Roxy leaning over his face, her golden eyes dark with a threat he didn’t understand until she said, “Get your hand off my sister.”
Chapter Ten
Austin turned his head to Sonya lying beside him, chewing a mouthful of chocolate-glazed doughnut, her eyes wide with surprise and a spark of heat. Sure enough, he had a handful of Sonya’s breast. His fingers contracted just a fraction with the knowledge of exactly where his hand ended up while they slept last night.
Just to rile Roxy and give him an extra few seconds to feel Sonya’s soft flesh and erratic heartbeat, he looked back at Roxy and said, “Only if you’ve got coffee to go with those doughnuts.”
Noah came into view above Roxy and held out a take-out coffee cup.
“Well, damn, that ruins my morning.” Austin ignored Noah’s narrowed gaze and reluctantly reached for the coffee. He glanced over at Sonya, who stopped chewing. “Sorry. I was sleeping. My hand had a mind of its own.”
Sonya didn’t say anything, but leaned her head way back over his arm to stare up at Roxy and Noah standing on the porch behind them. “What are you doing here so early?”
Roxy handed Sonya a cup of coffee. “Austin texted last night and said you needed to go home to see your mom. He needs the truck, so I came to take you to the airport. What happened with June?”
Sonya sat up, giving his arm a chance to let the blood flow to his fingers again. They tingled back to life, but he barely noticed. Sonya avoided looking at Roxy. Instead she turned to him, her eyes sad. “Why did you tell her?”
“You were so upset last night. I thought you’d like to talk to your sister. I wanted to do something for you, so I asked her to bring you something sweet for breakfast before you left. You, sweetheart, have a major sweet tooth.” He couldn’t talk to her lying on his back, so he sat up and faced her. “I’m sorry if you wanted me to keep it quiet. If it helps, I didn’t tell her about you holding a shotgun on my dad.”
“What?” Outrage mixed with fear in Roxy’s voice.
Austin smiled at Sonya, who rolled her eyes. “There. I changed the subject.”
She planted her hand over his face and shoved him back down onto the mattress. Thank God his coffee had a lid, or he’d be scalded.
“What happened with your dad?” Noah asked.
Austin sat up again, shifted, and leaned his back against the porch railing. “He stopped by to issue more threats and insist I do what he wants. Or else.” He took a sip of the coffee and tried not to stare at the woman he’d slept beside all night and wanted to sleep with again tonight.
“I take it he backed down.”
Austin smiled at Sonya. “She was fantastic. And sexy as hell when she’s pissed and armed.”
“Are you sleeping with my sister?” Roxy demanded to know, her gaze darting back and forth between them as Sonya quietly finished off her doughnut.
Austin didn’t miss a beat. “Well, that’s none of your business, but since you asked . . . we’re taking our time getting to know each other. She’s fierce and sweet. She had mercy on my poor back last night and let me share her soft bed. Best sleep I’ve ever had.” He sipped his coffee again, but didn’t miss Sonya’s surprised gaze. Her eyes softened as he continued to stare at her, letting her know he meant it. They may not have made love last night, but sleeping with her had strengthened the connection between them. Maybe even more than if they had had sex last night. He’d never really been a patient man, but he found taking his time with Sonya heightened the anticipation and made him
want to know more about her all at the same time.
Roxy and Noah didn’t miss the sexual tension crackling between them. Austin certainly couldn’t ignore it. Not when it made every nerve in his body spark to life.
Sonya turned to Roxy and held out her hand. “Let it go.”
Roxy pulled Sonya up to her feet, which made Austin sink deeper into the squishy bed.
“Fine. What happened to June? Austin said she got hurt but is okay. Big Mama didn’t call me about anyone getting hurt last night.”
“It didn’t happen at the Ranch. Roger and Fred rolled into town and squeezed another five grand from Mom.”
Roxy planted her hands on her hips. “How the hell did that happen? She’s not allowed to leave the property alone.”
“Is that true for all the women who work there?” Austin honestly wanted to know, because it didn’t seem right.
“No,” Roxy snapped, her eyes filled with distress that something happened to June.
“So June went out alone. What’s the big deal?” Austin wanted to understand.
Sonya raked her fingers through her long hair and held it away from her face. “While my uncles are a danger to her, they don’t often leave Kentucky unless they’re broker than broke. They can make that five grand last.” Frustration and rage tinted Sonya’s face red. “It’s more that my mother is easily taken advantage of and flighty. She loses track of time and likes to go exploring and the next thing you know, she’s lost. She can leave whenever she wants, I just prefer she takes someone with her to keep her grounded and make sure she gets back okay.”
Roxy laid her hand on Sonya’s arm. “So your uncles came to town and took her from the mansion? Where the hell was security?”
“They know they’re banned from that place after what happened the last time.”
“What happened last time?” Austin asked, concerned this happened at all, let alone more than once.
Sonya ignored his question and focused on Roxy. “She went shopping alone. Usually she takes one of the bodyguards. My uncles must have been watching the place, waiting for their chance, and followed her.”
Roxy frowned. “How long did they hold her?”
Sonya’s gaze held Roxy’s. “Long enough to do what they do.” Her voice shook with those words. “I need to see her.”
Roxy pulled Sonya into a tight hug. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Sonya stepped back. “You’re coming with me?”
“You’re my sister. She’s your mom and my responsibility now, too.”
Sonya’s lips scrunched. “This doesn’t have to do with the Ranch.”
Roxy brushed her hand over Sonya’s head and grabbed a lock of her hair and held on to her head. “It has to do with you. Adria and Juliana are with her now. They’re waiting for us.”
A single tear traced its way down Sonya’s cheek to her jaw, then dripped onto her bare skin above her T-shirt. She didn’t wipe it away or even acknowledge it was there. She simply stared into Roxy’s eyes, a thousand words said between them without a word spoken.
Austin felt left out. He wanted to know all the details Sonya held back and didn’t have to say because Roxy knew Sonya’s life the way he didn’t.
Austin glanced up at Noah, wondering if he knew what they were so carefully not saying.
Noah shook his head, oblivious like him.
Sonya turned to the front door and pushed it open. She gasped and looked back at him. “It’s gorgeous.”
He smiled up at her. “You were right. They look brand-new.”
Roxy stared past Sonya. “I can’t believe what you guys have accomplished in just a few days.”
Austin rolled up to his feet and groaned as he stretched. “My back sure feels it.”
“It’s better than being hungover, right?” Roxy studied his eyes, looking for any sign he’d been drinking. After she found him in the same bed with Sonya, he didn’t blame her for sizing him up to see if he’d keep his shit together and treat her friend right.
Sonya deserved a good guy. Someone who could take care of her.
“She works me so hard I’m too sore and tired to lift a bottle. Besides, thanks to you, I’ve got better things to do with my time.” He looked at Sonya. “And a reason to stay sober.”
Sonya shared a look with him filled with the awareness of the building attraction and connection between them.
Roxy eyed her, then him.
Sonya lightened things up. “Yeah, because if I catch you passed out again, I’ll dump another pitcher of water on you.”
Roxy laughed. “You didn’t.”
Sonya nodded, her own bright smile lighting her eyes. “I did. Then I put him to work. He was green most of that first day, but he got through it without complaining. Well, about the hangover, not about the mess in the house.”
“The smell alone had to have made you sick.” Roxy showed the first sign of sympathy for him.
“I puked twice in the bushes.” He gestured with his thumb to the clump of brush by a nearby tree.
“Oh God, why didn’t you say anything?” Regret filled Sonya’s soft voice.
“Because I deserved it.” He didn’t want to dwell on the past anymore. He wanted to move forward. “Go on, sweetheart, you can walk on the floors. Get ready before you miss your flight.”
Sonya grabbed the bag she left on the porch and headed inside to the bathroom. Later today, both bathrooms would be gutted.
“The place really does look a thousand times better.”
Austin nodded in acknowledgment but pushed Roxy to tell him more about Sonya. “What isn’t she telling me about her mother? Is it worse than she said?”
Roxy pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, glanced at Noah, then back to him. “We don’t talk about our mothers with other people.”
“I’m other people.” He glanced over at Noah.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know anything.”
He pinned Roxy with a glare. “Is it safe for her to go back to the Ranch?”
Roxy reached out immediately and put her hand on his shoulder. “Oh God, yes. It’s fine. Yes, her uncles hurt her mother, but they never stick around long enough to get caught.”
“She said her mother wouldn’t go to the cops because June was too ashamed to tell what happened. It’s not her fault those bastards roughed her up and stole her money, so why keep it a secret?”
Roxy’s gaze fell to the floor. “I can’t tell you that.”
“And you expect me to just let Sonya go, not knowing if something might happen to her.”
Roxy cocked her head and studied him. “You really are worried about her.”
“Hell yes, I’m worried. I saw the way she looked when she spoke to her mom last night. I don’t know what she said to put that devastated look in Sonya’s eyes, but I saw how it broke her heart.”
Roxy placed her hand on her chest like knowing Sonya hurt broke her heart, too.
“Tell me what she left out about what happened.”
Roxy shook her head. “I can’t.” She glanced into the house and at the closed bathroom door. “You’re asking me to reveal something deeply personal and traumatic. If she didn’t tell you, it’s because she doesn’t want you to know and think less of her.”
“Are you kidding me? She’s amazing. Everything about her blows my mind.”
“Who are you talking about?” Sonya stepped back out onto the porch wearing black jeans and ankle boots and a pink top that draped softly around her hips in a feminine flutter.
Damn, she looked fantastic.
“You,” he admitted.
“Ready to go?” Roxy held her hand out toward the truck. “We need to get on the road.”
Which meant he wasn’t going to get an answer.
Roxy went into Noah’s arms and kissed him several beats longer than a simple kiss goodbye.
Austin envied his friend’s close deep relationship. Austin had been living alone with nothing and no one.
The sting of Kelly leaving h
im after his father kicked him out didn’t hurt as much as it should have because he hadn’t felt about her the way Noah felt about Roxy. She’d only be gone a few days tops, but Noah kissed her like he’d never see her again and it killed him.
Austin stared at Sonya and wondered that after only a couple days he could relate.
Uncomfortable with his steady stare, she fell back on work. “Cabinet guys should be here in half an hour.”
“Got it.”
“Contractors and painters are scheduled three hours after that.” Nerves infused her words. “Make sure the contractor starts on opening up the kitchen archway while the painters do the back rooms.”
“Got it.”
“I left the paint swatch details for you on the clipboard with this week’s schedule. Make sure they don’t mix up the colors for the inside and outside.”
He cupped her face and kissed her hard to shut her up because he loved her help but he wasn’t a complete idiot. Not that his little control freak thought that. Not like his father did. “I’ve got this.”
Her hands clamped around his wrists. The dazed look in her eyes made him smile. “If you need anything, just call me. I’ll have my cell.”
He brushed his thumbs over her cheeks, amused that she couldn’t let go of control of the project. “Everything will be fine. Go. Take care of your mother. I’ll take care of my house.”
She gasped. “The hay and feed delivery will be here day after next. There’s that big space at the back of the stables. We can organize bins along the wall.”
He rolled his eyes and smiled because her kind of crazy made him chuckle. They’d already discussed this in detail. “What would I do without you?”
Her gaze softened. “I know, you know, it’s just that I hate to leave in the middle of things. Especially when all the contractors are finally coming.”
“I used to run a mining operation. I think I can manage a renovation.”
Her mouth scrunched into an adorable pout.
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