This time she kissed him, allowing herself the incredible pleasure of those warm lips opening for her, his hard body all but fused to hers. He pulled her more firmly against him, cradling her against his hips, drawing out a low moan. Her hands brushed warm skin where the edge of his shirt had come un-tucked from his waistband, and she gave a hum of pure pleasure when muscle rippled under her stroking fingers. The tumbling river of emotions threatened to swamp her as she gave herself over to the glorious sensations.
A solid bump against her back jostled them both and Eli loosened his hold. Gwen turned to find herself looking into Queenie’s liquid brown eyes. The horse reached out again, this time to nibble at the sleeve of her hoodie. Gwen drew in a shuddering breath and dared a glance up at Eli.
Gray eyes had warmed to melted steel, his expression thoughtful. “Looks like there’s something to add to the equation when you’re trying to figure me out.”
“Right.” The horse nudged her again and Gwen bent to gather the reins.
Shaken, and still vibrating with want, she mounted Queenie as Eli got on Beau. They retraced the route down the trail to the road, riding in silence until finally reaching the barn. She swung her leg over the saddle and dropped to the ground, then tied Queenie to the hitching post. She glanced at Eli’s closed expression and wondered if he was as distracted by that kiss as she was. Figure him out? That wasn’t happening soon.
Eli dismounted and put a hand on her shoulder when she would have walked past him. “You promised me before that you wouldn’t leave. I expect you to keep that promise.”
“What I promised was that I wouldn’t leave without telling you.”
“And you’ll keep that promise.”
“Yes.”
“Aunt Gwenny.” Thankful for the distraction, Gwen turned as Cameron raced out of the barn ahead of the slower moving Whit, the little dog Oreo at Cam’s heels. Before he could run up to her, Eli caught him by the shoulder. “Slow down, son. See those hooves there?” He pointed to the rear hooves on the gelding and Cameron nodded, looking uncertain. “You go making loud noises and running behind a horse, you’re libel to spook him. When a horse is spooked, he’ll kick. Point is, horses are unpredictable when they’re scared and you or he could get hurt. So it’s up to you to act calm, not give them anything to get spooked about.” He paused, and Cameron scooped Oreo up in his arms, eying Beau with caution.
Seeming to realize the boy might end up frightened by the big animals, Eli put an arm around his shoulder. “Never approach a horse from behind. Walk up to horses from the side or front where they can see you. Talk to them in a quiet voice.” With Cameron in front of him and a hand on his shoulder, Eli spoke softly to Beau and moved to the rail where he was tied. “Now that he sees you, reach out a hand and pet him. Cameron stroked the bay’s neck and when Beau turned to look at him, Cam rubbed his nose.
Cameron turned his face up to look at Eli. “Can I ride him, Uncle Eli? Please? I’ll be careful.” Gwen paused, struck by the changes in the boy. While he was still grieving over the death of his mother, and no doubt would for months and years to come, he was embracing life on the ranch.
Eli glanced at Gwen, and when she nodded, turned back to the boy. “Sure.” Cameron passed Oreo into Gwen’s arms. “Hold him so he doesn’t spook a horse, Aunt Gwenny.”
Gwen stroked the small dog’s head as Eli went through instructions until finally helping Cameron into the saddle. Eli grabbed the reins and swung up behind him and then gently nudged Beau into a walk.
Cameron flashed Gwen a wide smile as he sat in front of his uncle and they circled the barnyard. It struck Gwen what a contrast this was from Cameron’s former life. The experiences he was having were giving him purpose and confidence. She remembered too many times visiting Chloe and finding Cameron in his room playing video games. There hadn’t been other children in their neighborhood. Chloe had always been worried if Cameron went outside by himself, and she hadn’t enjoyed doing things outdoors with him. Gwen had taken him on excursions, and she’d signed him up for Little League, and had taken him to practice and games. But on the ranch, Cameron spent most of his time outside. He had Robby and Christy to play with, he was learning about caring for the land and the animals, and for the first time in his life, he had a positive male role model in his uncle.
Gwen set Oreo on the ground so she could put Queenie’s tack away and bring out the grooming tools. She applied the currycomb along the horse’s hide, loosening any dirt, then followed it with a stiff brush. Doing the chore, thinking about Cameron, only partially distracted her from thoughts of Eli and those incredibly hot kisses.
How could they go back to any kind of normal interaction with that between them? And she hadn’t been kidding when she’d told Eli that he confused her. One thing was certain, however. The dislike and resentment she’d held onto for so long had disappeared. In their place was a growing understanding and appreciation for the man. Add that to his basic appeal, the strong attraction whenever she was near him, she had to admit, her heart was in big-time trouble.
Chapter Thirteen
Disgusted, Eli stuck the phone in his pocket as he climbed the stairs then rubbed his temple where a low-grade headache brewed. The call from his brother-in-law made him wish he could reach through the connection and grab the bastard by the throat. Justin Bennett deserved to spend the rest of his life in an eight by ten cell.
Hearing a low murmur, he stopped in the darkened hallway outside Cameron’s bedroom. The sheer rightness of the scene calmed him, helped ease some of the anger. Gwen and Cameron sat on the bed, Gwen leaning back against the headboard with her arm around the boy, the soft light from the lamp bathing them in a warm glow. A book sat propped in front of them and she read in a quiet voice, Cameron’s head resting on her shoulder as he followed along. Eli recognized the copy of Where the Red Fern Grows Gwen had asked to borrow from his bookshelf the night before.
Cameron’s eyes were beginning to droop and Gwen paused, kissing him on the forehead. “Time for lights out, bub.”
For a moment, the desire to walk in and join them almost overwhelmed his good sense. He wondered how they’d react if he were to join their circle, if they would open it to include him. He crossed to his room as Cameron got busy trying to negotiate another ten minutes. Eli gathered flannel pants and a shirt and headed for the shower.
Letting hot water sluice over his head and beat against the aching muscles in his shoulders, he determinedly channeled his thoughts away from his conversation with Justin. Thinking about Gwen was more difficult to resist. Gwen making him dinner. Riding Queenie with the sun gilding her hair to gold. Hugging Cameron, reading to him, being his mother. He’d never understood why his sister had so willingly allowed Gwen to take on the mother role, but maybe it was that Gwen had taken on the role because Chloe would not. Regardless, the past week had shown him that Cameron and Gwen should not be separated.
That realization left him in a deep quandary over what to do about Cameron. He was convinced the best environment for him was right here on the Broken Arrow. Eli could provide him with a stable home and he thought being raised on a ranch was a heck of a lot better for a kid than living in a city. Eli didn’t think he’d have to fight his mother for custody of her grandson. She’d readily enough relinquished Eli to his father to raise, and now in her late fifties, he doubted she’d want to take on an active child. But what part Gwen would play was the question. He wouldn’t fight her for custody, and Cameron had already told him he wanted to stay with her. Hell, he knew in his gut the kid was better off with Gwen. Considering that, the obvious solution couldn’t be ignored.
Turning off the taps, Eli toweled off. His mind turned to their stream-side kisses. He could admit to himself that getting his hands on her had been occupying his mind more and more of late. If he were honest, he’d been attracted all along, ever since that first time he’d seen her in his mother’s house. Gwen talking to that guy in the sunny kitchen, all curly hair and golden eyes. He
r features were quietly pretty, and then she’d laughed at something the boy had said, and it was like the warmth of a thousand candles. Her eyes had glowed, her smile beamed, and Eli had felt like he’d been bucked off a horse. But then she had spied him staring from across the room and the radiance had fled from her face. He’d wondered at the transformation, and throughout that Thanksgiving weekend, why she so obviously avoided him.
The first time he’d kissed her after he’d carried her upstairs had been an impulse, something to see if he could get the doing of it off his mind. But all it had done was whet his appetite. He’d kissed her again, and when he’d broken off that initial connection, she’d pulled him back with the demand for more. Her heart-stopping responsiveness had made him want to find a sunny spot in the grass to finish what they’d started.
Pulling socks on his feet and a thermal shirt over his head, Eli walked out into the hall. The lights were off in Cameron’s room, the door ajar. He glanced in and saw the dark head nestled on the down pillow, a quilt pulled up to his chin. Gwen’s room was empty, so he went in search of her downstairs.
He found her on the couch in the living room, hair coming loose from its ponytail. Curled up with her feet under her, she tapped the screen of the iPad. White teeth worrying her bottom lip brought a knee-jerk hit of desire and almost had him making a U-turn in retreat. Damn it. He didn’t need this. The pull every time he saw her. The distraction of sexual frustration. He should have gone into his office, dealt with some of the paperwork. Instead he’d been compelled to find her. Sit with her, talk with her. Be near her. The want was edging toward need, and that worried him.
“Eli?”
“What?” He focused to find her frowning at him, a furrow between her brows.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“You sure? You look a little off. Maybe I should check your forehead for fever. You might have caught what I had.”
“No.” No way in hell could he let her lay those soft hands on his face. If she did he’d probably have her under him and horizontal on the couch before either one of them knew what was happening.
“Hmm. Okay, but if you still look out of it in the morning, I’m checking you for fever whether you like it or not.”
She uncurled her legs and let her feet rest on the coffee table. A pair of those suede boots women liked to wear sat on the floor. Her long legs were encased in some stretchy black material and she wore green socks with tiny yellow penguins bunched around her ankles. Why the hell that struck him as sexy he didn’t have a clue.
She leaned over to hand him the iPad. “There is something I would like to buy, if you wouldn’t mind.”
For someone who seemed not to want to accept, much less ask for anything, he was surprised. He looked at the screen.
“It’s a book on astronomy for kids and it comes with a star chart. It’s for Cameron. Like I told you, his birthday is at the end of next week. I’ll pay you in cash if you’ll order it for me. Remember, my credit card is a no-go.”
“Okay. Nothing more?”
She shrugged. “No.”
“Is there anything you need? Warmer clothes?”
“Nope.”
He handed her back the iPad with a sigh. “Put in the information, I’ll get my wallet.” He returned a minute later and handed her his card.
She had propped the iPad on the coffee table and set the card next to it. “I put in your address but I need your zip code and phone number.” She keyed in the information when he told her, then picked up the credit card and tapped in the number. When done, she handed him the card and stood. “Thanks. I’ll run upstairs and get the cash.”
“Sit down, Gwen.”
“I want to get the money.”
“It’s not like I don’t know where you live.” He ran his hand through his damp hair. “We need to talk.”
She eyed him warily but sat. He noticed her chewing her bottom lip again. Any other woman? Not sexy. Her? Insanely sexy.
“About what?”
About why the hell his attraction to her had ratcheted up about a thousand-fold. He cleared his throat. “About you, Chloe, and Cameron. I want to understand.”
“It doesn’t matter. Let it go.”
“It matters, damn it.”
“Don’t swear at me, Elijah MacElvoy.”
Eli massaged his forehead, trying to ease the headache that was starting to pound like a cattle stampede. “‘Damn’ is hardly swearing.”
“It is too swearing. Swearing is a bad habit. It might take some effort, but you could break it if you wanted to.”
She looked so prim sitting there lecturing him for saying “damn” with all the earnestness of, well, a kindergarten teacher. The urge to scoop her up and kiss her senseless had him stifling a groan. Now that he’d had a sample of what that would be like, he was less and less inclined to fight the impulse. He sat back in the chair and took a fortifying breath. “I don’t have a swearing problem.”
“A lot of people don’t realize they have a problem until someone points it out to them. So you’re welcome.”
“For what?” Following the conversation with the craving to kiss her vying for attention with the steadily building headache was a challenge.
“For pointing out your swearing issue. Honestly, Eli, keep up.”
“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that? Christ.”
She lifted a perfectly arched brow. “My point exactly. ‘Ass’ is a swear word the way you used it, and ‘Christ’ is like a half swear. You need to be mindful if you’re trying to break the habit.”
“Which I’m not.” He held up a hand when she looked ready to argue the point. “Okay, okay. I’ll try not to swear in front of you.”
“Or in front of Cameron.”
“Jesus. Okay, not in front of Cameron either. Happy?”
She smiled. “Yes, I’m happy. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?”
As always, the smile transformed her face from understated prettiness to something warm and radiant that hit him like a punch in the gut. He struggled to bring back his focus. Since she was rubbing her arms under the lightweight sweatshirt, he rose and crossed to the fireplace and threw a log onto the glowing embers.
He sat again, resting his forearms on his knees, hands clasped in front of him. “First, Justin called.”
She sat up abruptly. “What did he want?”
“To tell me the date and location of Chloe’s funeral. And to ask some probing questions about you.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That I hadn’t seen or heard from you in years. He knows you’re here, so he’s fishing.”
She leaned back against the cushions, pressing her fingers into her eyes. “Cameron should be able to go to his mother’s funeral.”
“Maybe Justin thinks Chloe’s funeral will lure you out.” He studied her face. “We’ll take Cam to visit her grave once Justin is arrested.”
She lowered her hands and he was relieved to see her eyes were dry. “We should have our own tribute. Cam needs to know we remember her.”
“Okay.” He drummed his fingers on his knee. “I’m still trying to make sense of a couple of things.”
“Like what?”
“Like your relationship with Chloe.”
Her expression turned wary. “Why?”
“Because it ticks me off that I was wrong.”
“About what, exactly?”
“My assumption that you were in the way of Chloe and Cameron bonding. I’m getting the idea the kid needed a mother and you stepped in because Chloe wasn’t doing a good job of it.”
“I wasn’t more of a mother than Chloe, but I had a part in raising him.” She paused, and he wished he hadn’t brought on the sadness he saw in her expression. “Chloe and I had gotten an apartment together in our junior year of college after she learned she was pregnant. The biological father wasn’t in the picture, and Chloe asked me to be her birth coach. I went to the classes and OB appointme
nts with her. I was there when Cameron was born, and we lived together until Chloe and Justin got married when Cam was seven.”
“You were a parent to him.”
“I’d say a co-parent.”
“With Chloe dead, that makes you his mother.”
“Let’s not confuse the issue. Chloe was Cameron’s mother. He’s always called me Aunt Gwenny, and that works for me.”
“You were never an irresponsible, wild party girl, were you?”
“No.”
“Why did you let me think you were?”
She gave a shrug. “You made me mad. That Thanksgiving when we first met? I heard you telling Chloe that I was an indiscriminate flirt and she should get better friends. You put my back up and I didn’t feel I should have to defend myself.”
“I’m sorry I misjudged you.”
Her eyes searched his. “I’m not sure why it matters now.”
“Because you matter now,” he admitted.
***
Max Simcoe drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while his idiot partner tried to figure out the GPS. The truck idled on the side of the road where not a single car had passed since they’d pulled over. Cell coverage had crapped out miles ago. And this job hadn’t even come with a new enough vehicle to warrant an in-dash unit, so instead they had a handheld device, which was apparently much too complicated for the shithead Dwayne Tellier to figure out. He stared out the window of the truck and wished desperately for a cigarette. If they weren’t in the goddamn fucking middle of nowhere where it was so fucking cold in the morning you just about froze your ass off, he’d be able to get out of his car, walk into a store and buy a pack of cigs, and get a cup of coffee, too. And behind the store he could probably meet up with a dealer and buy a hit of smack. But they were stuck in hillbilly land until the job was finished. He leaned over and grabbed the GPS out of Tellier’s hands.
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