Unraveling Him: A Small Town Family Romance (The Bailey Brothers Book 3)

by Claire Kingsley

  “Hey,” I said as I came in. I walked over to Gram and kissed the top of her head.

  “There’s the Lone Wolf.” She turned and eyed me up and down, her forehead creasing. “Well?”

  “Well, what?”

  “Where is she?”

  “Where’s who?”

  The kitchen quieted.

  “The girl who’s staying with you,” she said.

  “Fiona,” Gavin offered.

  I shot him a glare. “How do they know about that?”

  He put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t know.”

  “Right.”

  “I didn’t say a word. But seriously, where is she?”

  “She’s working on her car, where else would she be?”

  “But it’s dinnertime,” Gram said.

  “Wait, Evan, you really have a girl staying with you?” Grace asked. “I figured that was just a rumor.”

  Groaning, I briefly closed my eyes in frustration. “Rumors already? She’s been here less than twenty-four hours.”

  “Do you remember where you live?” Grace asked. “Jessie Montgomery and Kaitlyn Peterson were talking about it in the café today. Kaitlyn said she heard you got a mail-order bride.”

  “What?” I asked, my voice flat.

  “But Jessie insisted that wasn’t true, that she’s a hitchhiker you picked up outside Ellensburg. They asked me to clear it up, but I had to tell them I didn’t know anything. Except I was pretty sure you didn’t get a mail-order bride.”

  “Pretty sure?” I asked.

  Grace just shrugged while Asher stifled a laugh.

  Gram folded her arms. “I don’t care what the busybodies in town are saying. You still haven’t answered my question.”

  “Gram, she’s working.”

  “Why are you making that poor girl work through dinner?”

  “No, that’s not…” I paused, letting out a frustrated breath. “She’s not working for me. She’s on her way to her mom’s in Iowa or something and needed a place to replace her clutch. I’m letting her use my shop.”

  “What does that have to do with why she’s not here for dinner?” Gram asked.

  “Why would I have brought her? She’s just some girl who’s passing through town.”

  Gram gave me the look—the one that, as a kid, would have sent me running for cover. As a grown man, it still made me mildly uncomfortable.

  “You might act like a wolf, but you weren’t raised by one. I’ll pack up her dinner and you can bring it to her.”

  “You don’t have to—”

  She cut me off with a swift arch of her eyebrow.

  “Thanks, Gram.”

  “How was your road trip?” Gavin asked. “Was Fiona with you? Is that why you wouldn’t let me come?”

  “Whoa,” Logan said. “Brofoot, you went on a road trip with her and now she’s staying at your place, and we’re supposed to believe this isn’t a thing?”

  “It’s not a thing.”

  Logan turned to Levi. “Don’t you think?”

  Levi nodded. “Definitely.”

  “Definitely what?” I asked.

  They just nodded to each other.

  I hated it when they did that.

  “There’s no thing. She needed a place to replace her clutch, so she offered to help me get my hands on a rare project car. She had an in, since she knew the guy who owned it. But we had to go to northern Arizona to get it. So yes, I was on the road with her for a few days. She helped me get the car and now I’m letting her use my shop so she doesn’t have to pay someone to replace her clutch.”

  “So she’s like a lady mechanic?” Logan asked. “That’s hot.”

  Fuck yeah, it was hot.

  Damn it. No it wasn’t. She wasn’t. She was just some girl.

  “What’s the project car?” Asher asked.

  Grateful for the subject change, I told them about the Pontiac.

  It didn’t take long before the conversation turned away from cars, and random girls staying at my house, and me in general. Grace updated Gram on their wedding plans. After Asher had proposed last fall, they’d thought about getting married right away. But they’d decided they wanted an outdoor wedding and didn’t mind waiting for summer so they had good weather.

  I was quiet through dinner, half-listening while my mind drifted to the Pontiac. Now that I had a better idea of what it needed, I could start hunting down parts.

  Was Fiona having any trouble with her car?

  God, why was I thinking about her again?

  The meal wound down and I helped clean up the kitchen. I knew that the rest of them would stay longer. An hour, maybe two. Gram would declare she was ready for bed and the last person out needed to turn off the lights and lock up. Then Asher and Grace would go home, and my younger brothers would go to their place, which happened to be next door to Asher.

  It was the weirdest thing. Some small-town families scattered when children reached adulthood, the kids leaving in search of opportunities, or maybe love. Not us. Four out of the five of us lived on the same block, walking distance from where we’d grown up.

  I only lived a couple of miles outside town, but like always, I was the odd man out.

  But that was just who I was. Gram had called me Lone Wolf since I was a kid. And I lived up to the name. Always had.

  They were my pack, but it had been years since I’d felt like I was truly a part of theirs.

  Maybe I never really had.

  Gram handed me one of her reusable shopping bags. “Dinner for your friend and more for you. Don’t you go eating all of it. There’s plenty for two.”

  “Thanks, Gram.”

  Her eyes told me so much. I was cutting out early. Again. And she didn’t like it. She wanted me to stay. To sit around with everyone. Talk and laugh and be a part of whatever it was they all had. Even Asher, who’d been gone for so long, seemed to have reconnected with the family in ways I couldn’t.

  But her eyes also told me she wasn’t going to guilt me over it.

  “I love you,” I said quietly and kissed her on the head.

  “I love you too, Wolf,” she said, patting me on the arm.

  I turned to go, but she touched my arm again.

  “If something changes, and your friend is here next week, she’s welcome.”

  I gave her a short nod. “Okay. Thanks.”

  Gram smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Goodnight, Wolf. Drive safe.”

  “I will.”

  Taking the leftovers Gram had packed, I went out to my bike. Fiona wouldn’t be here next week. I was sure of that. She’d probably need some help getting the transmission back in her car, but that wouldn’t take long. And then she’d be on her way to Iowa, or wherever the hell she was going. And that would be it.

  Which was how it should be.

  15

  Fiona

  “Myra, I’m positively delighted with your color. The mountain air is obviously good for you.” I tipped the watering can and gave her just enough to moisten the soil. “Blanche, you’re also looking very sprightly.”

  My plants were currently living on a small table near the front window in Evan’s living room. A temporary situation, of course, but they were thriving.

  “This place has much better juju. Not a single crappy so-called best friend in sight. Just a big grumpy man, but we don’t mind him, do we?”

  Evan was out in the shop. Although it was only my second day here, I’d already figured out Evan’s favorite pastimes: working, growling at things that annoyed him, and talking to his dog.

  The last one was awfully cute.

  If he had any other hobbies, it was hard to tell. His house was spartan, like he hadn’t bothered to get himself anything beyond the basics. Total bachelor pad. Not just a bachelor pad—a solitary, reclusive one. He didn’t strike me as a man who had guy friends over for beers. And there wasn’t even the barest hint of a woman’s touch anywhere. If he’d ever shared this space with a gir
l, he’d purged every sign of her.

  Although I had a feeling he’d always lived here alone.

  My clutch replacement was taking longer than I’d hoped. I knew my way around a car, but I wasn’t an expert. And despite the fact that I had an actual expert working just feet away from me, I didn’t want to bother him. I was doing my best to stay out of his way.

  And not stare at him too much.

  That wasn’t easy.

  Everything Evan did was effortlessly sexy. The way he held his tools in those huge hands. The way he moved, his muscles rippling and flexing against his clothes. He’d casually adjusted himself when he thought I wasn’t looking and the rush of tingles down my spine had made me shiver.

  Even that perpetual brow furrow was hot. He always looked mad, but it was impossible not to picture him making that face for a very different reason—preferably accompanied by grunts and growls.

  I didn’t want to be attracted to him—it would only complicate things—but resisting his appeal was like trying to hold back the tide. Impossible.

  Not that he was ever going to know about all the dirty fantasies I’d had about him while I watched him work. No way.

  Those were my little secrets to keep.

  And why not indulge in a little daydream here and there? It had been over a year since my ex and I had broken up, and I hadn’t been on even a casual date since. Obviously now wasn’t the time to jump back into dating. I needed to get to Iowa and get settled first. But enjoying the view while I was here? Didn’t seem to be any harm in it.

  I put my watering can back in the kitchen. It was one of the few things, other than my bag of clothes, that I’d brought in from my car. The rest was still in the trunk or stuffed in the back seat.

  I’d slept another night on Evan’s couch. When I’d mentioned finding a place to stay, he’d shot me a look that seemed to say, do we really need to have this conversation? I was grateful not to have to spend money on a motel room, so I was happy to take him up on it. And if all went well, I wouldn’t be here much longer.

  I felt gross from working all day, so I decided to take a quick shower while Evan was still in the shop. His bathroom was small and plain, but clean. I set my phone on the counter and turned on some music so I could sing along while I showered.

  Singing in the shower, or while driving, was truly one of life’s greatest joys.

  When I finished, I dried off, then peeked out the door. It was so cramped in here, it was kind of a pain to get dressed. It looked like Evan was still in the shop, and his bedroom door was wide open. I figured he wouldn’t mind if I ducked in there for a minute to put my clothes on.

  Pausing just outside his room, I glanced at a closed door on the other side of the hall. I was pretty sure it was a second bedroom, but clearly he didn’t use it as a guest room. Probably not an office, either, since he had one out in the shop. I was mildly curious as to what was inside, mostly because Evan himself was so intriguing. What did a guy like him keep in his second bedroom?

  It was probably empty. His house and everything in it—from the steep bumpy road to get here, to the minimal furniture and kitchen supplies—seemed to be designed to discourage visitors.

  I went into his room and set my clothes on the edge of his bed, still singing—which was to say, murmuring the lines I didn’t know, then coming in strong for the chorus. I gathered my hair over one shoulder, pulled off the towel, and squeezed it along my still-wet hair.

  A whisper of air brushed my skin, making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I froze in place, still gripping my hair with the towel, and slowly glanced over my shoulder.

  Evan stood in the doorway, his eyes wide.

  “I thought you were working,” I said, fumbling with the towel.

  “Why are you in my room?”

  “Where else am I supposed to change?”

  “The fucking bathroom.”

  I rolled my eyes and managed to wrap the towel around myself. Of course he’d walked in on me while I was naked. He’d already seen at least one of my boobs, probably both. Might as well add my ass to the list.

  With the towel secure, I turned to face him. “Your bathroom is tiny and also, have you heard of knocking?”

  “I didn’t know you were in here. And it’s my room.”

  He had a dark smudge on one cheek and I had the craziest urge to reach out and rub it away. See what would happen if I got close to him like this, wrapped in nothing but a towel. He was dirty from working, and I’d just showered, but really that seemed like a win-win.

  His eyes smoldered, flicking up and down, like he was taking me in. A flush crept across my cheeks and the tension in the room skyrocketed. It was like a sauna in here, heat and pheromones permeating the air.

  “I’m going to take a shower,” he said, shattering the silence. He whipped around.

  “I’ll be out of your way before you get out,” I said to his back.

  He grunted something. It might have been a word, or maybe just an acknowledgment that he’d heard me. It was hard to tell.

  I smacked my palm against my forehead. How many awkward encounters was I going to have with this guy?

  But then, we were living and working in close quarters. Maybe it was inevitable.

  I quickly got dressed and vacated his room.

  Note to self, change in the bathroom even though it’s a pain.

  My cheeks were still warm, either from the shower or that tense moment with Evan, so I went outside for some fresh air.

  The weather was pleasant, the spring air fresh. A light breeze blew through the pines surrounding Evan’s house and shop, and I caught a hint of honeysuckle in the air. Sasquatch came out through the open door and sat down beside me.

  “Hey, buddy. Why is your daddy so grumpy all the time?”

  His fluffy tail beat against the ground.

  “I bet he’s told you all about it. You’re a good boy for listening and making him feel better.”

  Sasquatch bolted to his feet and barked once.

  “What’s out there?” I didn’t see anything. He barked again and I saw movement near the trees. “I think it’s just a squirrel.”

  Sure enough, a little gray squirrel skittered out from behind a tree. It paused, sitting on its hind legs, its bushy tail swishing.

  “Aw, look at the little guy. See, it’s just a squirrel. You don’t need to bark, he won’t hurt you.”

  Sasquatch looked at me like he wasn’t so sure.

  “Come on, buddy.”

  I led Sasquatch back inside and went in search of something to tempt the squirrel closer. It was so cute, I wanted to see if it would get near the house. Evan had a can of mixed nuts in the cupboard, so I grabbed a handful and went back outside—alone this time, so Sasquatch wouldn’t scare it off, the silly dog.

  The squirrel was still sitting near the trees on the other side of the wide clearing. I crouched down and held my hand out, trying to show it that I had treats. Curiosity seemed to take hold, and it darted closer. It stopped and another squirrel appeared behind it.

  “That’s it, guys,” I said softly. “Come a little closer.”

  I tossed the nuts a few feet in front of me, since I didn’t want to actually hand-feed them.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “The big scary dog is inside. Here’s a peace offering. Come get it.”

  I stood and backed up toward the door. The second squirrel was bolder than the first, scampering past his friend and making straight for the nuts. The first one seemed to realize he was going to miss out, so he ran up to gather his share.

  “I’m going to call you Peek and Boo.”

  They were so adorable, with their quick, jerky movements and bushy tails. When they’d grabbed all the nuts I’d scattered, they both turned and disappeared into the woods.

  “Bye, Peek. Bye, Boo.”

  I was pretty sure we were friends now.

  Brushing my hands off, I went back inside. Sasquatch looked skeptical, so I patted him on the head
.

  My hair was still wet, but Evan was in the shower, so I’d just wait to blow dry it. Or maybe I’d just put it up wet. It wasn’t like I was going anywhere.

  Contemplating my wet hair made me realize I’d left my towel in Evan’s room. Oops. Glad I’d remembered before he got out, I went to his bedroom to get it.

  As I walked by the bathroom, my eyes fixated on a sliver of light. The door wasn’t latched. I’d noticed you had to pull on the doorknob to get it to close all the way—something Evan obviously hadn’t done. The air displacement when I’d gone outside might have made the door open a little more.

  I wouldn’t look. Nope. Just keep walking right on by.

  Okay, fine. I slowed down.

  That’s a big fat lie. I stopped.

  I crept toward the little gap, ready to bolt like one of those squirrels outside as soon as he turned off the water. From this angle, I couldn’t see the shower, but I could see the reflection of it in the mirror.

  The glass shower. With a clear glass door.

  I was only going to take a quick peek—he’d seen me naked ten minutes ago, so why not—but as soon as my eyes landed on that glorious specimen of a man, I couldn’t tear myself away. He faced into the spray, water cascading down his huge, muscular frame.

  He was sheer masculine perfection.

  And oh dear god, he was hard.

  Look away, Fiona. Don’t be hypnotized by the majesty of Evan’s cock.

  Too late.

  Every bit of Evan was big, and his cock was no exception. Huge and thick, standing up straight, swollen with need.

  The things I could do with that bad boy.

  I needed to stop staring. And I was going to. Until he reached down, wrapped his hand around himself, and started to stroke.

  My eyes widened and every muscle in my body froze. I couldn’t move. An army of zombie squirrels could have been taking over the house, and I wouldn’t have noticed a thing.

  He braced himself with one hand against the shower wall and pumped his hard length with the other. This was so bad. I should not be watching. I needed to tear my gaze away from the hypnotic sight of Evan jerking off in the shower, but I couldn’t make myself do it.