by Lori Foster
“Yeah,” Lexie said, egging them on. “Give it to her.”
Sullivan squeezed her for the innuendo, but he fought a smile.
“Not happening,” Hogan said.
“Yes,” Violet countered, her grill abandoned as she worked on him. “It’s happening.”
Leaving his brother to sort that one out on his own, Jason led Honor to the tableful of sides.
“That was intense,” Honor whispered.
“Only because both of them are trying to deny the obvious.”
She quirked a brow. “That they’re interested?”
He shrugged. “At least in sex.”
That had her frowning as she looked over the selection.
Others joined them, so she didn’t mention Hogan again. Instead she chatted with the neighbors, her usual friendly self. But as Sullivan had said, she was different now. More...carefree.
With their plates filled, they headed to the blanket Honor and Lexie had spread out nearby. The sun had shifted and they no longer had as much shade.
Lexie stretched out her long bare legs and Honor turned her face up to the sun. It was peaceful, being here with Honor like this, sharing the moment with their friends.
As part of a local garage band, Nathan and his group fired up some music on a makeshift stage.
Stunned, Honor came to her knees to see. “Nathan plays the guitar?”
“And sings,” Sullivan said.
He no sooner said it than Nathan began a fast-paced country song.
“Wow, he’s really good!” Impressed, Honor moved so she could watch them while she ate. “I had no idea.”
“Usually you’d hear them practicing on Tuesday evenings,” Jason said, “since they mostly use Nathan’s garage. But he was revamping the space to be better lit and more comfortable, so they’ve been going to Sam’s basement instead.”
“Do they have a name?” Lexie asked.
“Drunken Monkeys,” Sullivan said.
Lexie loved it. “That’s perfect!”
“The band’s been around awhile, but when their lead singer retired and moved away, they were all ready to quit.” Jason used one finger to ease a wayward lock of hair away from Honor’s face. “Then Nathan moved in, and now the band has new life.”
“I’m so impressed.” She swayed to the music. “This town gets more interesting by the day.”
Jason liked the sound of that.
In between serving others, Hogan and Violet sat with them, still debating whether Violet could have the recipe—and what she’d have to do for it.
Half an hour later their plates were empty and the music died as the band took a break so they could eat, too.
Honor heard a bark and searched the area for Colt. Surrounded by girls, Colt threw a ball and Diesel chased after it. The dog wallowed in the added attention.
Honor glanced at Hogan. “Shouldn’t he come eat, too?”
Grinning, Hogan shook his head. “I’d say right now he has other things on his mind besides food.”
Jason liked seeing Colt accepting the future as much as he enjoyed it with Honor. “He’ll eat when he’s hungry.”
“He’s far too much like his father and uncle,” Violet said.
Hogan frowned at her. “Are you insulting my son?”
That made Violet and Lexie burst out laughing.
Honor smiled. “I believe she meant that Colt attracts women the same way.”
Her smile mean, Violet said to Hogan, “But he’s such a nice boy, I’m sure he’s less of a reprobate than you.”
“No doubt,” Hogan replied with ironic pride.
Still insistent, Violet said, “Give me the recipe.”
“Nope.”
Groaning, Lexie tossed up her hands. “Know what I think?”
Hogan said, “Don’t care,” and he started to rise.
Grabbing for his arm, Lexie stated, “You should work for Violet.”
He immediately choked.
Pretending to be helpful, Violet thwacked him on the back until he got away from her.
“It’s not a bad idea,” Violet said.
Hogan wheezed. “I just got a job as an accountant!”
“That’s morning work, right?”
He glared. “Nine to five.”
“So work for me on weekends.” She stroked his shoulder. “You can be my official barbecue chef.”
Eyes widening, Hogan looked at her hand with hot suspicion. “For what? Jollies?”
Lexie shoved him. “I’m trying to do you a solid here, you dolt. I watched you grill, I’ve eaten your food and seen your pride. You need to feed your passion.”
“Will you two stop...manhandling me?”
Biting her lip, Lexie snickered. “Sorry.”
Violet held up her hands. “Feed your passion, Hogan.”
Harassed, Hogan growled, “I feed my passion on a regular basis.”
Jason snorted over that. Sullivan pinched his mouth to keep from laughing. Lexie groaned.
Violet scooted closer. “Afraid of working for a woman?”
“Determined to make a living.”
“I’ll pay you well,” she promised.
His smile taunted. “You know how I’d like to be paid.”
Violet appeared ready to flatten him—until Honor snickered.
When everyone looked at her, she covered her mouth. “Sorry. Don’t meant to interrupt. Carry on.” But another strange, repressed giggling sound escaped. She tried biting her lips.
Lexie grinned at her. “It is pretty funny, isn’t it?”
Nodding, Honor choked out another laugh, then completely lost it. She fell into Jason, laughing so hard she couldn’t stay upright.
Jason caught her to him, his own smile flickering.
Robust friends surrounded her, bickering, teasing, harassing and heckling each other. She’d spent so much time shut off from the world, rejecting care and attention, and now she had it in spades. He wanted her to accept him, to accept them—because he didn’t come alone. He was a package deal, all the chaos, insanity and fun included.
Once Lexie joined in with Honor’s amusement, the hilarity proved infectious, and soon he was chuckling, too. Then Sullivan. Hogan shook his head, but he grinned ear to ear.
And finally Violet gave up and smiled. “Okay, what’s so funny?”
In a loud stage whisper, Hogan said, “I think we pushed her over the edge.”
Sullivan disagreed. “I think she knows you’re both fighting the inevitable.”
“Possibly.” Thrusting out her small hand to Hogan, Violet said, “Let’s make a date to discuss a working arrangement.”
Skepticism narrowed his eyes. “For my ribs?”
“To start with.”
Not being a dummy, Hogan accepted her offer with alacrity. “I get to pick the place.”
She shrugged. “I get to pick the time.”
They were all nuts, but it was days like this that Jason cherished. Family, friends, community...he wanted Honor to know that she belonged.
With two fingers under her chin, Jason tipped up her face. Her hair was caked with dried mud, her clothes limp and wrinkled from her swim. She’d laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes. And she was absolutely beautiful. “You done being hysterical?”
“I don’t know.” Another fit of giggles took her before she sucked in a shaky breath and nodded. Looking around at each of their friends crowded on the blanket with them, she said, “You’re all pretty wonderful.”
“At the very least,” Hogan said, “we’re entertaining.”
“You’re so much more than that. All of you.” She grinned. “Thank you for showing me such a great time.”
People often shared polite platitudes without really meaning them. Honor gave gratitude from the heart.
“Stick around.” As he stood, Hogan squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll have a repeat real soon.”
“Next weekend at Screwy Louie’s.” Sullivan turned to Violet. “Nathan’s playing, isn’t he?�
�
“He is. We’re making it a luau.” She winked at Honor. “Bring your grass skirt.”
“Fun!” Lexie floundered. “That is—”
Sullivan brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “I’m already looking forward to seeing your hula dance.”
Buoyed by that, her smile returned. “You’re on.”
Sullivan brought her to her feet with him. “I’m going to get all the garbage together. Want to help?”
“Happy to.”
Honor started to stand. “I’ll lend a hand.”
“Afraid not.” Hogan stayed her with a pat on the shoulder. “No first-timers are allowed to do cleanup. Just relax.”
“Next time,” Violet promised her.
Together, debating the finer details of their deal, Hogan and Violet went off to close down the grills.
“Lexie is a first-timer, too.”
“But Sullivan isn’t, and he wants to keep her close.” Like I want to keep you close.
Instead of arguing as Jason expected her to do, Honor went flat to her back, her arms folded behind her head. She looked up at the sky, her gaze wistful. “It was such a beautiful day.”
So the heat and humidity hadn’t fazed her?
By rights, given the life she’d led and her recent loss, the boisterous crowds should have thrown her off her axis. Instead she’d joined in the fun and activity wholeheartedly.
Stretching out on his side next to her, Jason propped up on an elbow. He wanted to kiss her. He flat-out wanted her. But that could wait until tonight.
He lightly tugged at a lock of her hair. “You’re going to need a shower to get rid of the rest of the mud.”
Her mouth lifted in a secret smile. “You, too.”
His shower was bigger—but by silent agreement, they’d kept all intimate activities to her house. It wasn’t that Hogan or Colt would judge, but Honor was private, Colt still a minor and Jason didn’t mind adjusting a little to be with her.
The way she rested, her T-shirt had pulled up and he could see a smooth strip of flesh between the hem of the shirt and the waistband of her shorts. Using just his fingertips, he touched her.
“It’s strange,” she said in a thoughtful way, turning her head to see him. “Not having my phone on me, I mean.”
She’d left it in a pocket of their soft-sided cooler. With her grandfather gone, there was no urgency, no reason to be constantly alert.
For years she’d gotten pulled into every conflict, every health issue, every family squabble, all while knowing one of those calls could be the one telling her that her grandfather had died. He couldn’t imagine how awful that must have been, the stress it had carved into her everyday life.
“I hope, eventually, you’ll be able to forget about your phone completely.”
Sadness shaded her gaze, but she blinked it away and chose to tease him instead. “With you right next door, you never call, you just walk over. So forgetting the phone is possible.”
Was that her way of telling him he was important to her? Jason hoped so.
Abruptly she turned to her side so that they faced each other. Wrapped up in her thoughts, her feelings, he still noticed the silhouette of her body, the dip of her waist, the flare of her hip, the shapely length of her thighs. Emotional and physical needs warred for attention.
Honor picked at a thread in the blanket. “I’d gotten into the habit of staying superbusy so I wouldn’t dwell on it.”
That helped explain the long hours she kept, except... “I don’t think it worked.” This was the first time he’d really seen her completely relaxed. Before her grandfather’s death, she’d always been so subtly alert, almost vigilant. He hadn’t understood...until now.
“He was fading away,” she whispered. “It tormented me.”
He laced his fingers with hers. Such small, soft hands, but also so incredibly capable. “When you care for people, they’re never far from your thoughts, no matter what you do.” He knew that, because Honor was always in the forefront of his brain.
He liked it that way.
All around them people talked, played, worked. The music from the band thrummed in his heart; he noticed Honor’s foot moving to the tune. Little by little she learned to let go.
He wanted to help her with that.
She went flat to her back again, her fingers laced in his so that their hands rested over her midriff. “Today I realized that fun has the same distracting effect. Maybe even better than work.”
Hoping to be further enlightened, Jason gave her a verbal nudge. “Yeah? How so?”
Lashes swept down to hide her eyes, but he knew it was in peace, not embarrassment, because the corners of her mouth tipped up. “At first I was worried about sucking at volleyball.”
“In the mud? Everyone sucks. That’s the point.”
“Ha!” She swiveled her head toward him with teasing accusation. “You guys were rabid, sliding around, diving in to get the ball. Even Lexie. I worried about disappointing the rest of you. But then I got so into it I forgot everything except winning.” Pride brightened her eyes, and her smile further warmed. “Winning was a huge adrenaline rush.”
He felt her acceptance in his heart. “We’ve created a competitive monster.”
“Maybe.” Different emotions passed over her face, then eased into contentment. “Granddad always wanted me to get more involved. So many times he encouraged me to join a club or sign up for a sport at school. But I never even went to a dance.”
Which was a testament to how her deadbeat parents had affected her. “I bet he’s happy now, knowing you took part.”
“Yes.” She again closed her eyes. “I think he is.”
They fell into a comfortable silence. Jason didn’t mind because he realized that her being like this, totally at ease, unworried, spoke volumes, telling him more than words could.
Mired in thoughts of a future with Honor, he didn’t notice Diesel running toward them, wet from the creek, his tail swinging with joy, until he leaped into the middle of the blanket with a happy bark.
Honor squealed and ducked, Jason rolled to the side and still Diesel got them both with sloppy wet kisses and muddy paws.
Laughing, Honor held his furry face, saying, “What in the world?”
As Jason caught his leash, he saw Colt jogging toward them.
“Sorry! He got away from me.”
Colt, too, was wet and shirtless. A pretty, dark-haired girl trailed him. Clearly they’d all just come from a swim.
Her gaze bouncing back and forth from Colt to the girl, Honor said, “We’ve got him now. Why don’t you and your friend grab some food while you still can? They’re putting things away right now.”
Colt hesitated, but not for long. “You sure?”
More than ready to play Cupid, she nodded fast. “Positive.”
When the girl reached his side, Colt brought her forward with a hand at the small of her back. “This is Charish. She only lives a few blocks away.”
Honor beamed at her.
Jason stood and offered his hand.
Anyone could see the girl was smitten, given the way she gazed adoringly at Colt. And since she wore only miniscule cutoffs with a bathing suit top, and had a real cute figure, Colt was more than appreciative of the attention.
After introductions, the young adults wandered off hand in hand, leaving Honor with an engaging grin.
Soon as they were far enough away, she grabbed Jason’s arm. “Did you see her? She’s so pretty!”
Pretty—and stacked. Jason patted the dog absently. “I believe Colt noticed that, as well.”
“I’m so happy for him.” She gazed toward a small group of high school kids now joining Colt and Charish in the line to steal the last of the food. “This could be the start of things.”
“Don’t marry him off yet, honey. He’s got another year of high school.”
Going bright red, Honor sputtered, caught his grin and gave him a light push. “You know what I meant. The start of frie
ndship and fitting in and...and being happy here.”
“I hope so.” Jason wanted that for both of them. “Clearbrook is a nice town. Over time it’s changed and grown, gotten bad and now better again.” Much better with Honor around. Drawing her attention away from Colt, he tipped up her chin. “It’s a great place to put down roots.”
“Today has been so amazing.” More mellow, she smiled. “I woke with you. Then you gave me those amazing shutters.”
“I’m glad you like them.”
“Love them,” she corrected. “Then I not only played volleyball for the first time, I played in the mud—and our team won.”
“Twice. But we also lost.”
“Another wonderful first. Swimming in the creek was great, too.”
“You didn’t use the rope swing yet.”
Eyes mischievous, she said, “Next time.”
Meaning she planned to come back with him? He liked that plan. “Deal.”
“I loved hearing Nathan play, and eating Hogan’s ribs, and meeting some of the other neighbors and...” She hugged him. “I especially liked doing all those things with you.”
Not kissing her was impossible, but Jason tried to keep it brief. “Me, too,” he whispered.
“If Colt could find some happiness, that’d be the perfect ending to a most perfect day.”
And speaking of endings... “You ready to head home?” He needed her. Now. But he made up other excuses to sway her. “Diesel could probably use a rest, and I’d rather he eat his dog food than all the scraps he keeps finding on the ground.”
“I’m actually a little tuckered out, too.” Covering her mouth with a hand, she yawned, then said sleepily, “But not too tired, just so you know.”
He had to be the luckiest man around. Because she’d had a full day, he’d wait until tomorrow to tell her so—and hope she felt the same.
16
HAPPINESS, TRUE HAPPINESS, had always seemed such an elusive thing. Honor thought she’d known it, but until Jason, she hadn’t even scratched the surface. He’d brought so much amazing depth to her life that now hope was easier, joy richer, passion so much hotter. Contentment, once so elusive, warmed her like a sunny day.
She needed to tell him how she felt. It was possible that for him, their relationship wasn’t anything special. He might have shared the same with Violet or some other woman. Even many women. She wasn’t experienced enough to know if, for him, it was only mutual respect, sexual attraction and...convenience.