With that, Cassie gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “If you need someone to go with you to the asshole place, just let me know. You’d never know it to look at me, but I’m pretty good at kicking demon balls.”
Cassie walked out just as Garrett walked in. Nicky wasn’t sure if he’d heard any of the conversation, but judging from his bunched up forehead, he had. Or maybe he was just looking at the tub of crabs she’d set on the floor.
“Sorry about those,” he said, tipping his head to the tub. “My mother doesn’t always think things through. You want me to take them back to the house and find some fridge space there?”
It was a generous offer, but Nicky wanted to rearrange some things and try to fit them here first. She started to do just that when her phone dinged. A text from Gina to let her know she was taking Kaylee to her tutor appointment. Nicky considered going with them, but it was obvious Garrett had something on his mind.
“Cassie was just giving me advice on how to handle some of the memories and nightmares,” she admitted.
He shook his head. “I didn’t know you had nightmares.”
Oh, mercy. She hadn’t wanted to drag him down with her. “Hey, I have good dreams, too.” She shoved aside some plastic bags of veggies and picked up the tub. It wasn’t heavy, but the crabs were making a loud rattling sound against the metal. “Recently, those dreams have included you.”
That had the intended effect. He smiled a little, brushed a kiss on her mouth. It would have been a much nicer kiss if there hadn’t been snapping crabs between them. She hoped that wasn’t some kind of metaphor for her life.
“By the way, Candy did call my mother,” Garrett went on. “And yes, she asked her for money to keep things quiet. My mother tried to record the conversation, but she had the sound muted on her phone. Not to worry, though. Clay said the call is enough for him to alert Houston PD, and they’ll set up a sting operation for extortion. That way, they can arrest Candy.”
Good. That was something at least. If the woman got jail time, maybe she wouldn’t try to do this to anyone else.
“Did you get all the paperwork done for Clay?” Garrett asked.
Her heart skipped a beat or two, but then she remembered telling Garrett that she had paperwork to fill out for the police. And she had. That wasn’t a lie. What she’d omitted was that the paperwork included a restraining order.
One that she needed to tell Garrett about.
But maybe not right now. She had several demons to exorcise, and she had to work her way up to that one.
Nicky pushed the tub in the fridge, but she didn’t quite get all the crabs inside. One plopped out, landing on the floor. This was the one that’d managed to get out of the rubber bands, and it scurried beneath the wooden prep table that was anchored against the wall. Garrett went after it while Nicky managed to prevent other escapees. She shut the door with a hard shove.
“It’s way the hell underneath there,” Garrett said, getting back to an upright position. “If you get me a broom, I’ll try to get it out.”
“No need.” She went to him, leaned in and kissed Garrett, hoping that he wouldn’t insist on talking. He didn’t. Garrett cooperated and kissed her right back.
Nicky caught his hand, leading him toward the stairs. “Come on. I want to show you something.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
IN THEORY THIS had been a good idea, but Nicky had lost some of her confidence by the time Garrett and she made it to her bedroom. No way to hide in the daylight. It helped when Garrett kissed her.
A lot.
It gave her a reminder of why she’d wanted to get naked. And with Kaylee out for her tutoring session, Garrett and she might be able to fit in sex along with some soul-baring. Of course, he might not want the sex once he’d seen her without her clothes. He’d gotten a glimpse of the scar. But only a glimpse. It wasn’t exactly a turn-on to see it up close.
He kept kissing her. Touching her, too. A reminder that their notion of foreplay was short but potent. She wanted the potency, wanted every part of this, but Nicky eased back from him. She caught his hand, led him to the bed and had him sit. She stepped back before he could pull her onto the bed with him.
“Just watch,” she instructed.
She was wearing her usual jeans, top and flip-flops so she pulled off the top, sending it sailing to the floor. He got that look in his eyes. The lust look. But what she wanted him to see was the scar, so Nicky took off her bra, dropped it and kicked it aside.
His lust-look only intensified, and when he reached for her again, Nicky let him inch her closer to him. Now, he’d see the scar and he would know that her body was damaged goods. He would look at her the way Patrick had.
And Garrett did stare at it, all the while bringing her closer and closer until he touched his mouth to that awful word. But he didn’t just touch. He kissed her there.
Nicky had never thought of that part of her body as a hot spot, but she certainly had to consider it now.
Garrett didn’t say anything. He just kept kissing her. He used his tongue. And his hands. He unzipped her jeans, slid both them and her panties off and eased her onto the bed next to him.
Now she couldn’t hide behind her clothes, and Garrett took full advantage of that. He slid his gaze over her. Head to toe, lingering a bit in her midsection. But if he was lingering on the scar, it didn’t show in his expression.
He took her hand, put it on the front of his jeans. “If you want me naked, you need to get busy.”
It was the perfect thing to do and say. And she did want him naked. She suddenly wanted that in the worst way.
He didn’t help with his clothes. He just continued to kiss her, thereby making it tricky because it was hard to undress a guy when he was kissing his way down her body. Still, she managed it and would have tossed his jeans if Garrett hadn’t stopped her and taken a condom from the pocket.
Great day.
Here, she’d nearly forgotten about safe sex. Thankfully, he had remembered. And also thankfully, he knew how to get the condom on fast so they could get to the best part. For a quickie, though, he certainly didn’t move very fast. Garrett took his time, kissing his way back up her body before gathering her into his arms.
Long, slow strokes. Holding her as if she were fine, precious crystal that might shatter in his hands. There was no urgency, no demands. Just this need that she felt all the way to the soles of her feet.
Maybe in her soul, as well.
There were no demons now. No scars. Just Garrett as he moved inside her and made her feel only the good.
* * *
SEX.
Gina could sense it in the air. No doubt sex between Garrett and Nicky, and that’s why she tiptoed upstairs when she went to put an already sleeping Kaylee down for her nap. If Garrett was in there with Nicky, Gina didn’t want to disturb them.
Nicky would probably think Gina had used her ESP to come up with that sex theory. But this was a no-ESP-required observation. Nicky was falling hard for Garrett. Whether that was good or bad was yet to be determined, but falling hard for a guy meant sex.
For most people anyway.
There were the sisters and their various penis phobias. And there was her. No phobias, but as long as she still felt married, sex was out. That thought was right at the forefront of her mind when she came out of Kaylee’s room and saw Jake standing there in the hall.
“Nicky told me that she saw you headed up this way,” Jake greeted.
Gina looked back at Nicky’s closed bedroom door. Maybe she’d been wrong about the sex after all.
“Nicky said she saw you from the window and that you were carrying Kaylee to put her down for her nap,” he went on. “She didn’t come out to help because she has a crab cornered in the kitchen. But she said I was to tell you that she’d check on Kaylee in
a half hour or so. In the meantime, no one should wear open-toed shoes in the kitchen because the crab is really pissed off.”
Gina just nodded. She got what he was saying, but it was a little hard to think because her mind was sharing his explanation with her thoughts of sex. Thoughts of her body’s reaction to seeing him, too.
Her girl part, which she’d recently named Sissy, came to life.
She quickly tried to rein it in, but Sissy seemed to know what she wanted. Gina, however, wasn’t convinced, and that’s why she tried to do some damage control. She said the first thing that came to mind.
“I’m a widow.” Not her best effort, but sadly it was not her worst, either. “And we haven’t even gone on that date yet.”
“There’ll be plenty of time for dates. Heck, we could even consider this one. And as for the widow part, yes you are one. A widow with a great ass. Great smile, too.” How could he make that sound so sizzling hot? “I dream about your smile.”
Best to keep this on the light side. “Really? Because I dream about your ass.” It just happened to be the truth.
He chuckled. “Better than dreaming that I am an ass. Which I’m not, by the way.” He paused. “I told Nicky I was coming up here to have some mindless sex with you, and she wished us luck.”
Gina wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not. Probably not. Nicky would have indeed said that. Now that Nicky was getting laid, it was likely her wish that her friends get laid, too.
“Before you say no or think about saying no, just let me kiss you,” Jake offered.
She couldn’t object to that, especially since Gina really wanted him to kiss her. And he gave her one all right. He slipped his arm around the back of her neck, drew her to him, and French-kissed her. She would no longer need an eyelash curler because Jake had managed to curl them for her.
It wasn’t an ordinary kiss. The man probably wasn’t capable of anything that fell into the ordinary category. It lasted a long time. Maybe days. And even though Gina could no longer breathe, she didn’t care. Nor did she put up a fuss when he stepped into her bedroom, taking her with him.
No objection, either, when he shut the door.
Best for them not to be making out in the hall in case someone came upstairs. And there was no doubt about it—they were making out. Gina certainly wasn’t stopping him. After several more kisses, she knew something else.
They were going to have sex.
It didn’t matter that she could be making a mistake. She’d rather make a mistake with him than make what could be a bigger blunder by turning him down and regretting it for the rest of her life. Of course, that was the need and lust talking.
Gina slipped off her ring, putting it in her dress pocket just seconds before Jake started ridding her of her clothes. It’d been a while since she’d undressed a man, but since this was a quickie, that didn’t matter. They got off all the clothes. And that’s when Jake put on the condom.
He took her right there against the door. A first for her. And he didn’t treat her like a widow. Nope. He treated her like a lover.
A needy one who was desperate for an orgasm.
Which she was.
Apparently worse than desperate because it only took a couple of thrusts before Gina felt herself soar and then shatter into all those lovely orgasmic pieces. Just the way she preferred to shatter.
Jake smiled, kissed her, and then got to work on his own shattering. It didn’t take long for him, either, maybe because her own muscles helped him out. He buried his face against her neck, kissing her there, too, and let himself finish what he’d started.
Gina waited, letting herself ease back down to the real world. She figured it wouldn’t take Jake long before his legs gave out. After all, he had hoisted her up for the door sex and was carrying all of her weight. He moved all right but not to put her down on the floor. He carried her to the bed.
“How was that for some mindless sex?” he asked.
“Not bad.” Again, she kept it light. Easy to do now that her body was slack and boneless. “You earned your place on the sisters’ overly endowed list.”
He chuckled. “We could go for a round of mindful sex if you like.”
She nearly laughed. Then, hesitated. “What’s the difference?”
“This.”
Jake eased her onto the bed, kissing her again. This time, it was slow and easy. This time, he was letting her savor the feel and taste of him.
“Too much?” Jake asked, pulling back and meeting her gaze.
She should probably say yes, should probably give herself a week or two to catch her breath. But she didn’t. Gina eased him back to her and added some mindful of her own to their next quickie.
* * *
GARRETT WAS PROBABLY going to get kicked out of the man club for this, but that round of sex with Nicky had left him feeling, well, confused. Normally, he wouldn’t mind much of anything after sex, but he’d gotten the feeling that Nicky had wanted to do a whole lot more than show him her scar.
She hadn’t, though. She hadn’t exactly kicked him out of her room after sex, but it’d been close to that. Maybe because she had party food preparations on her mind. Or it was possible she didn’t want Gina and Kaylee returning to find them naked and in bed. Either way, he wished there’d been more time.
He needed to tell her that the scar didn’t bother him. Well, it did. But not in the way she probably thought it did. He wasn’t grossed out by it or anything. However, it riled him that she’d gone through such hell that this had seemed like a solution. He didn’t want her ever having to rely on that kind of fix again.
His phone rang as he drove back up the ranch trail to his house. It wasn’t Nicky but rather Sophie. Garrett answered and put the call on speaker.
“Candy called Mom again,” Sophie said right off. “That horrible woman is at the diner in Wrangler’s Creek.”
“She’s here in town? Why?”
“My guess is she thought it would get her the money faster. She told Mom to bring her twenty grand.”
It wasn’t much by Granger standards, but he was betting Candy planned on milking his mom for a whole lot more. Heck, this might have gone on for years if his mother had indeed done something wrong. But she hadn’t.
“Mom and I are headed to the diner now,” Sophie went on. “So is Clay.”
He cursed, then realized this was a good thing. It would finally put an end to this part of the investigation. “I can be there in less than ten minutes.” Seven if he didn’t hit too many potholes on the trail.
“No need. In fact, it’s probably best if you don’t come. Clay will go through the back of the diner so he can watch what’s going on. He’ll have one of the deputies with him. Mom and I are supposed to go in as if we plan to pay her and then record Candy demanding money. After that happens, Clay will come out and arrest her. If Candy sees you, she might chicken out. You can be scary sometimes.”
“I’m not fucking scary,” he snarled, which only proved his sister’s point. Candy might run if she saw the scowl that was on his face right now, and he wasn’t sure he could rein that in. Candy would definitely feel less threatened by two women.
But there was a problem.
“Does Clay think this is safe?” Garrett asked. “What if Candy has a gun or something?”
“He wouldn’t let us do this if it weren’t safe.”
True. Clay was both a cop and in love with Sophie. He would do anything to protect her.
“And he’ll be right there, watching us,” she added. “Gotta go. We just arrived at the diner. I’ll call you back as soon as it’s over.”
She hung up, not giving him a chance to continue arguing about this. Not that he had an argument he hadn’t already voiced, but it didn’t matter. Despite everything his sister had just said, he would drive to the diner
, keeping out of sight so he could be there if something went wrong.
That plan came to a halt, though, when Garrett started to drive past his house and spotted the woman on the porch.
Hell.
His first thought was this was Candy, that she’d come here rather than the diner. Some kind of bait and switch. His second thought was to get his phone ready to record her in case she demanded the money from him instead of his mother.
But it wasn’t Candy.
Garrett saw that as he pulled into the driveway and the woman stood. She had graying brown hair, was probably in her late forties or early fifties and had a sturdy build. She was also tall. Even though she was wearing flats, she was probably close to his six-two.
She was dressed well in a blue skirt and matching top. Definitely not a derelict who’d wandered onto the property. She also didn’t look like a politician or like she was trying to sell something. However, despite the nice appearance, there was a hard look in her eyes. Maybe she was a widow looking for Nicky. Nicky hadn’t mentioned any new arrivals, but with Meredith’s departure, that meant there was a room open.
“Are you one of the Grangers?” she asked the moment he stepped from his truck.
He nodded. “Garrett. And you are?” He didn’t bother to sound friendly, mainly because he didn’t like the vibe he was getting from her. She was scowling as much as he was.
And then he got a bad thought. This woman could be working with Candy. Maybe Candy had sent her here to get money while she was doing the same to his mother at the diner. Just in case that was the plan, Garrett hit the record button on his phone and slipped it into his shirt pocket.
“I’m Doris Stokes,” she said.
The name meant nothing to him but neither had Candy’s until a couple of days ago.
“Can I come in?” the woman asked. But it wasn’t really a request. More like a demand. “Because we need to talk.”
“We can talk out here.” No way did he want her in his home. “What’s this about anyway?”
Her mouth tightened a little, probably because he wasn’t being very hospitable—if she turned out to be one of his mom’s long lost friends, then he’d apologize.
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