“Hiya, handsome,” she said.
Ian shifted his weight from one foot to the other in his excitement. “Did you make cookies for me, Sage? Did you?” He pointed to the basket.
Sage bent offering a bonus view down her tank top that made Orion’s knees buckle. He gripped the work bench to keep from dropping to the ground.
“I did. As promised.” She picked up the basket and removed a red-and-white checkered linen.
Ian inhaled deeply then said, “Sixty-nine cookies. Three are missing.”
“Wow. That’s right. How did you know three were missing?”
“I know. I know, Sage.” He took the basket from her and ran to the workshop. “Look, Orion. Sixty-nine cookies. Three are missing.”
Sage followed Ian. “My sister, my mother, and I each ate one. Quality control. I don’t give out what I don’t sample first. How did he know right away three were missing?”
“Part of his charm,” Orion said. “He used to be able to tell how many fish he and his buddies caught in their nets before they even got dumped.”
“I was a fisherman, Sage.” Ian stood taller for a moment, then he turned to Orion. “Can I eat some cookies?”
“Sure. Go inside the house and ask Wendie if she wants some too.”
“Wendie likes to eat cookies with me,” Ian said to Sage.
“Who wouldn’t like to eat cookies with you?” She smiled and Ian studied his shoes in a display of bashfulness that made Orion laugh. “Enjoy them.”
“Thank you, Sage.” He set the basket down and awkwardly—maybe a little roughly—threw his arms around her.
Not a bad idea, Dad. Not a bad idea.
Orion was a little jealous his father could get away with impulsive behavior like that. He wanted nothing more than to do the same, but a large portion of his brain was working overtime to keep him in the socially-appropriate zone.
Ian scooted up to the house leaving Sage and Orion alone in the workshop. Very alone. Quietly alone.
Say something, idiot.
But his mind couldn’t form any words while his eyes glued themselves to Sage’s outstanding legs.
“Smells wonderful in here,” she said. “I love the scent of fresh pine.”
“Me too.” Brilliant. God, he was so bad at this.
“So, I’ve officially moved into Cressen’s place.” She brushed sawdust off another stool and sat.
“Guess I’ll have to start calling it Stannard’s place now,” Orion said. Okay, that was clever.
“Guess so. Had the moving guys take out the bloody couch and torch it though.”
“All my blood. Wasted. Great.”
She grinned and the color of her eyes darkened to a rich hunter green. “Sorry, but I don’t want to have to explain the bloody splotches to my friends, you know?” She pointed to his leg. “How’s that doing? You sure you should be working?”
Her concern touched him. “I’m fine. Plus, I have a deadline here I’ve got to make. The customer is counting on me.”
“Well, don’t overdo it. No sense in reinjuring yourself. Not when there’s a little girl counting on you too.” She angled her head at him.
“Yeah, a little girl who I’m probably going to end up disappointing.”
“You have to think positively, Orion.”
“Okay, I’m positive I’m going to end up disappointing her. You met Adriana.”
“Witchy Ex-wife?”
“That is so a better name for her.”
“I just call ’em like I see ’em.” Sage reached into a pocket on her skirt and held out a yellow piece of paper. “This might help you slay the dragon.”
Orion pushed off the work bench and took the paper. “What’s this?” He unfolded it while Sage wandered deeper into his workshop. She hummed as she looked at things and the sound of the melody calmed him. Focusing on the paper, he read the words, “Attorney Jack Benson is expecting your call.” A phone number was below that.
“Lily, my cousin-in-law, lived in California and knows this guy. Said he’s the best when it comes to custody cases. He’s flying in…” She looked at the digital clock on the wall, “in another hour. He’ll be staying as long as it takes to get Myah home to you.”
Orion stared at the paper then at Sage. “I can’t… I can’t accept this kind of help from you, Sage. It’s too much. You don’t—”
“Even know you. I know, but the thought of Myah being with Witchy Ex-wife is keeping me up at night. I love my sleep, Orion. Nothing should be keeping me awake. So, really, you’d be doing me a huge favor if you accepted Jack’s help and got your daughter back.”
She circled back to him after checking out his progress on the first bear. “When you get an appointment, I’ll go with you.” She hooked some of her long blonde hair behind her ear. “If you want.”
Good-bye socially-appropriate zone.
Orion reached out his hands and grabbed Sage around the waist. She let out a little squeak, but when his lips came crashing down on hers, her body melted against his. She tasted how she smelled. Maple and peanut butter. Delicious. So goddamned delicious.
Her lips were soft and capable and when they parted slightly, Orion took the opportunity to explore her more deeply. Her hands traveled up his arms to his shoulders then hooked on the back of his neck as if she didn’t want to let him go. Her hips pressed against his, and he nearly lost himself right then and there.
He moved one of his hands up to her cheek. So smooth. His fingers flitted around in her silky hair, and he had just a moment to think he could kiss her forever when he heard Ian.
“Come on, Wendie. You have to see Sage.”
Sage must have heard him too, because she ripped herself free as Orion dropped his hands. She combed her fingers through her hair and pulled down the tank top he’d pulled up while groping her.
“I’m sorry,” he started. “I shouldn’t have—”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” she said, making his head lower in shame, “but… I’m glad you did.”
When he raised his head and looked at her, she grinned and licked her lips.
“Stay for dinner,” he said without thinking twice about it.
“Okay.”
Orion had no idea what he was doing or what was happening. He only knew he wanted more Sage Stannard.
Much more.
****
She hadn’t been looking to get kissed. She hadn’t been looking to get anything from Orion. She’d meant only to drop off the cookies, make sure Orion’s wound was mending, and give him the lawyer’s number.
She in no way expected to have every one of her nerve endings stimulated at once.
Holy shit, Orion can kiss.
Sage had been kissed many times. Kissing was often her favorite part of a relationship. And she was a tough judge when it came to this particular skill. A man could get disqualified in several ways based solely on his kissing. Too soft. Too hard. Too wet. Too dry. Too short. Too long. Too smoky. Too minty. Too I-ate-tuna-for-lunch.
Orion’s kiss, however, had been… heavenly. Just the right amount of pressure, moisture, duration, and taste. And his hands—even that imperfect pinkie finger. The way he’d grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in close. God, she’d wanted to climb inside him. Better yet, she’d wanted to peel his clothes off right there in the workshop, throw him down on the sawdust—which smelled amazing—and feast on him until she was full.
She had a feeling she’d never be full.
If Ian hadn’t come back to introduce his nurse friend, Wendie, Sage had no idea how far she and Orion would have gone. It was a little scary. It was also a lot exciting.
Even now, as she walked beside Orion and behind Ian and Wendie up to the rustic farmhouse across from the workshop, her heart hammered in her chest.
Get it together.
She was Sage Stannard, Master Flirt and Man Charmer. Her nerves didn’t get rattled. She didn’t get thrown off balance by a silly kiss.
Oh, but that kiss was
far from silly.
She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from sighing aloud thinking about that kiss.
“We’re having barbecued chicken, Sage. Do you like barbecued chicken?” Ian asked as he opened the back porch door and held it open for Wendie and Sage. He let it go for Orion, but then turned around abruptly and stepped back outside to hold it again. “Sorry, Orion.”
“That’s okay, Dad.” Orion put an arm around his father’s shoulders, and Sage instantly felt all the love he had for the old man.
Good kisser and good guy. When would she find something wrong with Orion Finley? Because there had to be something wrong with him, didn’t there? She was always attracted to men who seemed nice then acted like a jerks at about date three or four. There was no denying she was attracted to Orion either. The spark was there. He’d lit it in the workshop with that firecracker of a kiss.
“So you’re Adam’s sister?” Sage asked Wendie, who was a pretty woman maybe in her early forties with short, curly brown hair and compassionate green eyes.
“If I must admit relation to him, then yes, Adam is my little brother. Pain in my ass most of the time.” She said this with a smile in her eyes.
“He’s a pain in my ass most of the time too,” Orion said, “but this time he really came through for me.”
“He came through for you?” Wendie put her hands on her hips then shot a glance around the kitchen. “Is he here right now, cooking your dinner, cleaning your house, caring for your father?”
Orion stepped behind Sage. “My mistake. I meant to say you have come through for us, Wendie. You’re amazing and awesome and… please, don’t hurt me.”
Sage looked at him over her shoulder. “You’re afraid of Wendie?”
“Hey, I’ve known her since I was ten years old and yes, she’s hit me before.”
“Damn straight. I’d hit you again too.” She pointed a finger at him, but the left side of her mouth was turned up in a smile. She looked at Sage and said, “Sometimes men need to be smacked around, you know?”
“I’ll have to remember that.”
“Don’t hit my son.” Ian came to stand directly in front of Sage. He was her height, but outweighed her by at least fifty pounds.
Sage backed up a few steps while Orion said, “Sage isn’t going to hit me, Dad. We’re joking around.”
Ian narrowed a blue eye at her. “Not funny, Sage. No jokes.”
“Don’t worry about him,” Orion said guiding Ian to the dining room next to the kitchen. “But just to be on the safe side, don’t hit me.”
“I promise not to… while your dad’s around anyway.”
He smiled at her and her legs got wobbly as she followed him into the dining room where Wendie had the table set already, but she quickly added a place setting for Sage. A long, rectangular table made from dark, barnwood planks and surrounded by black ladder-backed chairs filled most of the room. A black iron light fixture hung from the ceiling with lantern style lights dangling from it. Along one wall was a skinny serving table made of a single, wide plank with black, tapered legs. Above that table was a stunning picture of a huge black bear framed in burgundy-stained wood.
“This is a great room,” Sage said as she took the seat Wendie had indicated was for her.
Orion settled Ian with a napkin on his lap and poured water into his father’s glass before sitting beside her. “Thanks.”
“Orion made everything in this room,” Ian said proudly.
“You did?” Sage surveyed the room again. “Everything?”
Orion nodded.
“Even the bear picture?” She pointed to the wall where it hung.
“Bears are his favorite.” Ian munched on a roll Wendie had given him. “He used to draw them all over the place as a kid.”
Orion shrugged his left shoulder. “Bears are my spirit animal or some such nonsense.”
“Not nonsense,” Sage said. “My cousin Rick has a coyote he saved as a pup and he has a way with animals. They like flock to him. Men who have a connection to animals are… special.”
The flush on Orion’s cheeks was lovely, and Sage didn’t care what was for dinner. She was suddenly hungry for something else entirely.
“We used to have a dog,” Ian said. “But he’s gone now.”
“I’m sorry,” Sage said. “Did he pass away?”
Ian shook his head, but didn’t say more because Wendie filled his plate with food that had caught his total attention.
“Ranger didn’t die,” Orion said. “He, like Myah, is being held hostage.”
“Witchy Ex-wife has your dog too?” Sage’s dislike for this chick grew tenfold. “After dinner, let’s call Jack Benson, okay? There’s not a moment to lose.” She rested her hand atop Orion’s on the table, her thumb grazing the shortened pinkie. She felt a little dizzy at having contact with him.
He stared at her hand but didn’t pull his free. “Are you sure you want to get involved in this, Sage? Adriana is my problem, not yours.”
She raised her hand and tipped his chin so he had to look at her. The hope she saw in those lovely blue eyes was all she needed to see.
“I’m sure.”
“I have no way to pay for this fancy lawyer.”
“He owes Lily a favor which she is kindly letting me collect. No payment necessary.” Sage held up a finger. “On second thought, I’ll think of a creative way you can pay me. How does that sound?”
“It sounds like trouble,” Orion said, but his gaze had lowered to her lips.
“You have no idea, Mr. Chainsaw. No idea.”
Chapter Seven
Dinner with Sage at his dining room table had been an experience. She had an appetite Orion hadn’t expected. For such a slender woman, she packed away chicken like someone three times her size. He’d always thought he and his father had a gift when it came to chowing down, but Sage put them both to shame.
He should have been repulsed.
He found it fucking adorable instead.
Add in the fact that her maple peanut butter cookies were a sugary wet dream and Sage Stannard was well on her way to being The Perfect Woman.
If such a thing existed.
Right before he’d gotten shot, he would have sworn no woman was perfect. They were all flawed. Some hid it better than others. Some knew when to spring their evil sides on an unsuspecting male.
Surprise!
But Sage. Something was different about her. Very different.
Alone now in his bedroom after having settled Ian in his bed, Orion studied Sage’s handwriting on the paper with the attorney’s number on it. She was left handed and for some reason that turned him on. The words Tomorrow at 2:30 she’d written on the paper after setting up their appointment were slanted to the left, a little extra flair added to the T, and the colon in the time was actually circles instead of dots.
I’ve spent way too much time looking at this.
He tossed the paper onto his nightstand and leaned back on the headboard. His eyes focused on the shadows the small lamp to his right made on the white ceiling above him. He always saw shapes in those plaster swirls. Birds, elephants, and all manner of other critters. He’d taken to counting them to fall asleep, but he didn’t think that was going to help tonight. He was too wound up. Too anxious about meeting with the lawyer. Too hopeful the lawyer could actually help him. Too heartbroken without Myah. Too pissed off with Adriana. Too lonely without his best buddy, Ranger.
Too horny with Sage still fresh in his mind.
Orion flicked off the lamp and slid down into the cool sheets of his bed. He had both of the bedroom windows open and the sounds of the brook that meandered through his property made him think about how that brook cut across Cressen’s place next door as well. Cressen’s place that was no longer Cressen’s place. Cressen’s place that now had the pleasure of calling Sage its owner.
Was it possible to be jealous of a house?
Rolling to his left side, Orion adjusted until his right leg didn’t throb
. He’d showered earlier and inspected the angry red line across his thigh, held closed with staples. If he thought about it too much, his stomach got a little unsure of itself.
I was shot.
He recalled the burn when the bullet had entered his leg. The police had visited him in the hospital to tell him they hadn’t found any evidence of hunters and asking around town hadn’t turned up any names either. Not a big deal. He didn’t plan on pressing charges. Accidents happened. Luckily, Myah hadn’t been with him.
He would definitely need to be more careful if he won custody of her.
And I might actually win.
Now that he had Sage and this top-notch lawyer on his side, anything was possible. Myah could be back in his life for good. He almost couldn’t stay still thinking about having her all the time. God, he loved her so much. She was everything.
How Adriana could use Myah as a way to get back at him for offenses he wasn’t even sure he’d committed was beyond his comprehension. Sweet, innocent, precious Myah. She deserved better. She deserved the best of everything. He didn’t claim to be the best, but he was certain he was better for Myah than Adriana. His ex-wife was poison, and he was determined to keep her toxic attitude away from his daughter.
“Orion?” his father asked from the other side of the door.
“What, Dad? Do you need something?” Orion climbed back out of bed and limped to the bedroom door. When he opened it, Ian stood on the other side, the T-shirt and cotton shorts he used as pajamas a little askew as if he’d wrestled with the sheets to come to Orion’s door.
“I was thinking.”
Orion waited for Ian to finish, but a long moment passed without him saying anything.
“What were you thinking about, Dad?” He leaned against the doorway to take the weight off his leg and folded his arms across his chest. Sometimes Ian stalled before bedtime, not at all like Myah who went to sleep with the same quiet obedience she used for everything.
“Dinner was nice tonight,” Ian finally said.
“Yes, it was.” Orion had to admit Sage’s presence made things feel more… homey.
More Than Cookies (The Maple Leaf Series) Page 6