* * *
Tripp Black was determined to destroy every last brain cell, ounce of composure, and any semblance of decorum that Beth possessed.
He was doing a pretty damn good job of it, too.
One second she’d been looking up into his scowling face and the next he’d been kissing the breath out of her, something that appeared to be becoming a bit of a habit. But Tripp had gone and upped his game this afternoon.
He’d done all that kissing very publicly.
It wasn’t that Beth had a problem with public displays of affection, not in the slightest. But gossip traveled fast around Mirabelle, and for him to have kissed her in front of so many witnesses said a lot…like he didn’t care who saw all of that kissing.
Okay, just one more thing to add to the long list of things she was learning when it came to whatever this was with him. It made her stomach flutter.
And as she was learning full well with this man, flutters could be dangerous.
Another thing she was adding to the list of things she was learning about him was Tripp’s reaction to her talking with Jameson. It was ridiculous for many, many reasons. The number one reason being that she and Jameson weren’t anything more than friends, something that had been true for over a decade and a half now.
That didn’t change the fact of the matter, though. Even if Tripp wanted to deny it, he’d been totally jealous. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think he was trying to make a claim on her or something. But that would be crazy…wouldn’t it? It was too soon for something like that.
Way too soon.
Way too freaking soon.
The conversation Beth had had with Mel the other day popped into her brain, the one about men going all caveman. The way Tripp was currently looking down at her definitely made her believe he wanted nothing more than to throw her over his shoulder and carry her off somewhere.
Well, she’d poked the bear with that last little move of hers, now hadn’t she? And she’d only just been able to hold on to the last vestiges of her self-restraint as she’d leaned up against his body and run her hands down his perfectly muscled chest a few seconds ago.
She was definitely playing with fire.
It took a force of will to take a step away from him now, but she had to do it for sanity’s sake. Because if she stood there looking up into those intensely warm brown eyes of his for one more moment—and with his hands more than possessively placed on her hips—her sanity was going to crumble. She was pretty damn close to letting him carry her off anywhere that he wanted…and she’d enjoy every single moment of it.
Nope. Nope. Nope. That was not going to happen. She needed to pull herself together, and it was only because someone was speaking again that she was able to do it. Finn was asking a question and it took everything in her to concentrate on his words.
“It’s becoming a bit of a pattern with me walking up while the two of you are making out. This going to become the new norm?”
She really wanted to know the answer to that question, too. She had absolutely no idea what this was…and she really wasn’t the type to stay in limbo over something like this. Answers; she needed answers.
But Tripp wasn’t giving any. Instead he asked Finn a question of his own. “What are you doing over here?”
“I came for sweets.” Finn clapped his hands together before he rubbed them excitedly. “Beth, you still have some of your cookies up for grabs?”
“I sure do.” She started moving back to the table, beyond grateful for the distraction. But before she could get behind it, a high-pitched squeal of glee echoed through the air. The instinct to turn toward it was automatic; she’d know that sound anywhere.
Penny came barreling through the crowd, a green triceratops about half the size of her tucked underneath her arm. “Aunt B! Look what I got!” she said excitedly. Though what she actually said was, wook what I got.
Her hair was pulled up into pigtails that bounced up and down as she ran full tilt. Beth crouched down, opening her arms wide as Penny ran right into them. She stood with her giggling niece in her arms, looking into those delighted green eyes.
“What did you win?” Beth asked.
“A dinosaur! I named him Flounder.”
“Like the fish?” Finn asked.
Beth looked over at him and couldn’t help but laugh at his look of utter confusion. “Like the character from The Little Mermaid,” she explained.
“Except my Flounder isn’t a fish. He’s a dinosaur,” Penny said, holding the stuffed animal out for everyone to get a better look.
“We can see that,” Tripp nodded. “How did you get him?”
“Papa! He knocked down all the bottles. He won Grant a bear!” She bounced in her aunt’s arms as she pointed behind them.
All heads turned as Wallace and Grant made their way through the crowd. They were hand in hand, and Grant’s other arm was wrapped around the neck of a fuzzy black bear. It was just slightly bigger than Penny’s dinosaur, the head popping up above his elbow.
Grant was looking around, taking in the commotion that surrounded him with open fascination. It wasn’t until he and his grandfather were twenty feet away that he saw Beth standing with Tripp and Finn. He stopped dead in his tracks.
The abrupt halt caught Wallace off guard. The man turned back to look at his grandson, saying something that had Grant shaking his head. Those big green eyes of his went wide as he looked back and forth between Beth and Tripp.
The look of fear that overtook Grant’s face was not foreign to Beth. As usual, it made her heart hurt. She reached out for Tripp, the palm of her hand sliding up his forearm. What did it say that she found his warmth a comfort?
It said something that she wasn’t going to analyze at the moment.
At her touch, Tripp turned to her, confusion in his eyes. “Why is Grant scared of me?”
“Because lately he’s scared of everyone. But I think he’s scared of you because of the whole thing with Duke.”
“Right then. Well, I’ll just have to take care of that, now won’t I.”
Before Beth could respond Tripp was moving toward Grant and her father.
“Pen, go show Dale and Hamilton Flounder.” Beth kissed her niece on the head before setting her down on the ground.
Penny immediately ran off behind the tables and toward the boys, squealing excitedly. “Hammy! Dale! I got a dinosaur! His name is Flounder.”
“Like the fish?” Hamilton asked.
Beth turned and followed Tripp, picking up her pace in order to catch up to his long stride.
When Tripp got to Wallace and Grant—the latter was now leaning against his grandfather’s legs, looking about ten times more terrified than he had a moment before—he stuck out his hand.
“Hi, Wallace,” he said as the two men shook hands.
“Tripp.” Wallace nodded. His blue eyes—the exact same color as Beth’s—twinkled as his mouth twitched into a smile, making his thick steely gray beard move.
Then Tripp focused entirely on Grant as he crouched down, getting on the little boy’s level in one easy move. “Hey, Grant.”
“Mr. Tripp,” he whispered, shuffling his feet.
“I understand that you and I need to get a few things straightened out.”
Grant nodded his head. “I-I was the one taking Duke from your yard. A-and bringing him over to our house. I’m sorry I took him. It-it was wrong.”
Beth couldn’t help but marvel at what a contradiction her nephew was, because even though he was clearly intimidated, he was still looking Tripp in the eyes.
Looking down at Tripp from her current position, Beth could see his scruffy jaw move as his mouth formed a grin. When he spoke, she could immediately tell that he was impressed with the boy. “You know, Grant, it takes a real man to look another man in the eye and admit he did something wrong.”
“It does?” Grant asked imploringly. When Tripp nodded, Grant pushed off his grandfather’s legs and stood up straight, squaring his
shoulders. “I’m sorry I made you and Aunt B hate each other, too.”
“We don’t hate each other. Well, at least I don’t hate your Aunt B,” he said, turning to Beth and shooting her that grin of his.
Beth forced herself to look away from Tripp and focus on her nephew. “Goose, I don’t hate Mr. Tripp, either.”
She actually liked him a little too much. Liked his hands on her body…liked his deep voice whispering things in her ear…liked the feel of his lips on hers. Yeah, all of those things would be permanently ingrained in her brain for the rest of her life.
“You know, Grant,” Tripp said, getting the little boy’s attention again, “I think that Duke has become attached to you, too. When you were out on the lake, he was sitting at my back door very anxious to get outside, very anxious to get to you. He knew you were in trouble.”
Well, that was news to Beth. She couldn’t have been more wrong about that dog, either.
“He did?” Grant asked, letting go of Wallace’s hand and taking a step closer to Tripp.
“Yeah, he did.” Tripp nodded. “And he was very upset about it. He’s bonded with you too, buddy, and I don’t think he’d like it if he didn’t get to see you anymore. So I’m going to make a deal with you. When I’m home and not busy with anything—and when you get permission from your aunt—you can come over and play with him.”
“I-I can?” Grant asked, his eyes going wide.
“Yes you can. But like I said, you have to get permission first.”
“I can do that! Can’t I, Aunt B?” he asked, looking up at her with a huge smile on his face.
Beth was left momentarily speechless. She hadn’t seen Grant’s face light up that much since before Kevin and Colleen had died. A wave of gratitude crashed through her, and she was lucky it didn’t knock her off her feet.
What was this man doing to her? Breaking down every last one of her defenses. That was what he was doing. For just a second her inability to speak was combined with an inability to breathe.
Was she ready for something like this? To be this vulnerable with a man again?
She forced herself to pull it together and nodded at Grant. “Yes, you can go over and play with Duke when all of those conditions are followed. And what do you say to Mr. Tripp?” she asked Grant.
“Thank you!” Grant was so excited now that he was bouncing on his feet.
“You’re welcome,” Tripp said as he stood back up.
“Hey Grant,” Hamilton called out. “Come over here and show us what you got.”
Grant glanced between Beth and Wallace, seeking permission. When they both nodded he shot off in that direction, the bottom of the bear bobbing up and down against the boy’s back as he ran full tilt to Hamilton and Dale.
“Well, that was mighty nice of you.” Wallace inclined his head in a small nod to Tripp.
“Yeah,” Beth agreed, turning to look at the man who’d just made her nephew’s day. She reached out and touched his arm…couldn’t stop herself. “That was really kind of you to do that for him. I was going to ask yesterday, but I-I got a little distracted…”
…by your mouth, she finished in her head.
Tripp’s warm brown eyes lit up, and she had absolutely no doubt that he knew exactly what she’d just been thinking. Nor did he leave her in any doubt that he was thinking the same thing when his gaze dipped to her lips for just a second.
“I see that the two of you have changed your tune about each other.”
Beth turned to look at her father.
“Or, I at least hope you wouldn’t be standing out here kissing some guy you didn’t like.” He nodded his head in the direction of Beth’s hand, still on Tripp’s arm.
She pulled her hand away as if she’d been burned, her eyes going wide in horror. “You saw that?”
Wallace reached up and ran a hand through his still very full head of hair, hair that was the exact same shade of dark gray as his beard. “I think very few people who are above four feet tall missed it.” He moved his hand down from his head as he focused on Tripp and frowned…or at least tried to. His mouth twitched again as he fought a smile. “I’ve got my eye on you, Black. Understand?”
“Yes sir,” Tripp nodded.
“Good,” Wallace said before he moved off to the bake sale table.
Her father’s words repeated in her mind as she watched him walk away: Very few people above four feet tall missed it. Meaning that Penny and Grant hadn’t seen it. There was more than a small amount of relief coursing through her body at that information, and a whole hell of a lot of confusion.
She hadn’t been over-exaggerating when she’d told her friends the night before that anything happening with Tripp (or anyone else, for that matter) would be complicated. And it was complicated for three very specific reasons: Nora, Grant, and Penny.
Beth had never been the type to fool around. She still wasn’t. She had relationships, not flings. And now? Well, now a relationship with her also involved the kids.
Would Tripp even want a relationship like that? Would any guy? And what exactly did she want?
Hands were suddenly on her hips; Tripp’s hands. They were such strong and firm hands. Steady. Sure. But why was it that when they were on her, she was unsure of everything?
He turned her to face him, and as she looked up into his eyes she decided she was sure of at least one thing: she wanted him.
But it wasn’t that simple. It was never that simple.
She opened her mouth. To say what? She had no idea. But before she could get her brain to construct even a single sentence, Tripp spoke.
“You and I need to have a conversation.”
“We do?”
“Yes.” His fingers tightened on her waist as he pulled her closer, the pressure sending a thrill through her body. “Are the kids with Wallace tonight, too?”
“Yes.” She nodded.
“And do you have plans? Because I’d like to make you dinner.”
Tonight…tonight she was…what was she doing?
Well, since she was supposed to be having a quiet evening with an empty house, she hadn’t had any plans that went further than a bubble bath and a bottle of wine. That had sounded absolutely glorious moments ago.
But with the way Tripp was looking at her, she had no doubt that an evening with him would be far more decadent…and dangerous…and would involve her ending up naked.
“I’m not doing anything. But…”
But…but what? Thoughts suddenly failed her as Tripp’s hands started to move up and down her sides. He obliterated her thought process, time and time again. Hadn’t she just come to the realization that she needed to be way more careful when it came to him, especially when she was around the kids?
What the hell was wrong with her?
She took a step back from Tripp’s grasp, glancing over her shoulder to where Grant and Penny’s attentions were being thoroughly occupied by Dale and Hamilton. She turned back to Tripp, shaking her head. “You don’t play fair. I can’t think straight when you put your hands on me.”
He raised his eyebrows while a smirk turned up the corner of his mouth. “Yeah? Well, that goes both ways, Beth. You haven’t exactly kept your hands to yourself, either.”
“I know that. And I’m just wondering how much talking we’re going to do if we’re alone.”
“What if I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself?” He held his right hand up in a three-finger salute. “Scout’s honor.”
“You were a boy scout?”
“Eagle Scout,” he told her as he dropped his hand to his side.
“Of course you were.”
“Beth, the ‘alone’ part is because I’d like to talk to you somewhere where we aren’t surrounded by a crowd of strangers…or interrupted by our nosey—but well meaning—friends. But,” he said as that smirk of his transformed slowly into a full-on sexy smile, “if you don’t think you can handle it, we can go out somewhere and get dinner.”
Ohhhhhhh, no. He did no
t just challenge her. “Your place works just fine. You can cook for me.”
“Perfect. It’s a date. Six sound good to you?”
“Yes.” She nodded.
“See you then. Now I’m going to buy some of your cookies.” And with that he turned and headed off to the booth, where Finn was perusing the baked goods.
She couldn’t take her eyes off his back, more than slightly overwhelmed by everything that had just happened. This man was a danger to her equilibrium, without a doubt. The path they were heading down was definitely, potentially, dangerous…but she couldn’t help herself around him. Case in point: her entire body had warmed and her stomach was all fluttery.
How could it not be? She was going on a date with Tripp Black.
And there was that fear again. Maybe that had a little to do with how long it had been since she’d actually been on a date…almost a year and a half ago.
That one had been when Mick had taken her to dinner and a movie, about six months before their relationship ended.
Huh, maybe there’d been a few signs after all.
Beth headed back behind the table just as another one of Penny’s high-pitched squeals rent the air. The little girl tore off again and ran straight to Nora, who was coming through the crowd.
“Nora! I gots a dinosaur!”
Nora scooped up her little sister and continued toward the tent, smiling as Penny went on and on about her new stuffed animal.
“What’s his name?” Nora asked.
“Flounder.”
“Like the fish?”
“Yes.” Penny’s little brow furrowed and she frowned. “Why does everyone keep asking me that?”
“Who else asked?”
“Mr. Finn and Hammy.” Penny stuck out her free hand and pointed to the tent.
And just that quickly Nora’s smile faltered, as well as her step. Her gaze came up and she looked in the direction that Penny indicated.
Hamilton was standing behind his post at the sign-up table, scowling as he looked at Nora. The expression on his face was very similar to the one Tripp had been wearing when he walked up to Beth not ten minutes ago. There was so much conflict in his eyes as he looked at Nora; sadness, mixed with a fair amount of anger.
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