by Mari Carr
“I didn’t hear any complaining. Grab that towel and help me dry the dishes,” she said. For the next ten minutes, she washed as he dried, and then they put everything away. And just like that, she’d somehow managed to clean his dining room and his kitchen.
“Things are always easier with help,” she said when they were done.
“Vonnie!” Vince called from the bedroom. “We’re finished. Can we have our cookies now?”
The two of them went to the boys’ bedroom and Leo watched as Yvonne—true to her word—checked Vince’s cleaning, helping him make his bed properly. Then showing Clint how to fold the shirts he’d merely stuffed in his dresser drawer.
The bedroom looked better than it had in years. Literally years. Leo was tempted to take a picture of it to text to Ryder, who wouldn’t believe it. Instead, they all returned to the dining room and Yvonne pulled out a huge tub of cookies. Once again, he and the boys plowed through them, helping themselves to three giant cookies each, along with milk.
Vince wasn’t the only one who was sick of pizza.
“I swear you all act like you haven’t eaten in a month.”
“All we ever have is pizza,” Vince said, using that sullen tween tone that drove Leo crazy.
“Most boys like pizza,” Yvonne mused.
Vince shrugged. “Not every night. Can you bring us dinner again tomorrow?”
“Well—” Yvonne started.
Leo stepped closer and put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “No. She can’t. She’s already gone out of her way to feed us tonight. Come on. You two go get your showers, and then you can watch TV in your room for an hour before bed, okay? We gotta head out to the farm early tomorrow.”
“Aww,” Vince groaned. “We’re going out there again? I wanted to go to the pool with my friends.”
“Maybe one day next week,” Leo said, trying to figure out where he’d squeeze that in.
Both boys started to head out of the room, but they stopped at the doorway, turning back to hug and thank Yvonne for the dinner and the cookies.
Leo smiled. As much as they frustrated him sometimes, there was no denying they were good boys, and he was very proud of the polite young men they were growing up to become.
“Okay. One more thing,” she said, starting down the hall, clearly intent on tackling the laundry.
Leo reached for her hand, tugging her back. “I’m drawing the line there. You’ve already done enough, Vonnie. I can handle the rest.”
“I swear you are the most thickheaded man I’ve ever met. Didn’t we just go over this? You don’t have to do everything alone.”
“Seriously?” he teased. “You’re calling me thickheaded? Let’s face it. When God was handing out stubbornness, the Collins family got in line twice.”
She laughed and corrected him. “Three times. But that’s okay because we also tripled up on the lines where they hand out fun, humor and good looks, so it evens out in the end.”
Leo rolled his eyes, perfectly accustomed to her silliness, and not completely disagreeing. He’d spent countless hours hanging out with her and her cousins in high school, and even in the years since. There was no denying they were a fun family, a direct contrast to his very quiet, very solemn one. Not that his family wasn’t loving, they just didn’t laugh much. Hell, they rarely talked except to discuss work.
Lochlan and Yvonne had been the first friends he’d made at school. Up until sophomore year, his mom had homeschooled him, his sister, and his brother because they’d needed help with the farm. However, when Leo—the baby of the family—hit fifteen, he’d decided he wanted to go to a real high school, and he had put his foot down. After much pleading, his parents had given in to his request.
Lochlan and Yvonne had found him wandering around the cafeteria with his lunch tray on the first day of school, regretting his insistence at attending public school when faced with finding somewhere to sit. He figured there was nothing more intimidating on the planet than a high school cafeteria full of teenagers. Fortunately for Leo, Lochlan had waved him over to their table, and Yvonne had started asking him a bunch of questions about himself. By the time lunch had ended, both Collins kids felt like old friends.
And before Leo knew it, they—and their entire family—were.
“So we’re doing laundry,” she said.
“You’re incorrigible, Yvonne.”
“What?” she asked, pretending to misunderstand him. “Adorable, you say?”
She bent over and picked up a piece of paper that had fallen from the pocket of Vince’s jeans, then grinned. “Uh-oh, Dad. I’m not sure if you’ve had ‘the talk’ with Vince yet, but it appears he’s caught the attention of a little girl named Delaney.”
Leo took the paper from her and skimmed the love letter. “Shit. I’m not ready for this part of parenting.”
“He’s still young. I suspect you have a couple years before it gets really serious. Of course, once he hits high school, all bets are off.”
Leo looked back down at the paper. “I don’t know. Delaney has professed her undying love here. Sounds like wedding bells might be ringing in his near future.”
Yvonne laughed. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Girls fall in and out of love all the time. In fact, I was madly in love with you when I was a freshman.”
That tidbit took him aback. “Seriously?”
She nodded earnestly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Yvonne rolled her eyes. “For one thing, I was fourteen, and nowhere near as confident and mature as I am these days.”
Leo reached out and ruffled her hair playfully. “Not sure ‘mature’ is a word I’d use to describe you even now.”
She knocked his hand away, feigning a scowl. “And for another reason, you only had eyes for Denise.”
She was right about that. He’d been head over heels in love with Denise Flynn, his first love, his first time, his first broken heart. Sometimes he found it hard to remember the boy he’d been before her.
“You could have told me about it since then. I think it’s kind of sweet.”
She crinkled her nose. “It’s kind of an embarrassing thing to admit no matter how old you are, especially since you’ve aged so horribly. Wrinkles, spare tire, dwindling hairline.”
Leo lifted his shirt to show her his very muscular stomach. “Point to the spare tire, you wench.”
She laughed and pretended to punch him. “Besides, we’re really good friends, and in a lot of ways, that’s better.”
When he looked back, he realized she was right. She’d been there for him through literally all the good and bad times. There was no denying how much her friendship had meant to him throughout his life.
But knowing she’d had feelings for him…it suddenly opened a door he didn’t even realize had been closed.
He’d always treated her like a friend because that was all she’d ever indicated wanting from him. He had been blinded by love for Denise during high school, which suddenly felt like a big mistake…or wasted time…or...
Damn. If he hadn’t been such an idiot, he might have seen Yvonne back then as something more than just another buddy.
Yvonne leaned over again and started picking up the clothing that hadn’t quite made it to the laundry room, so he reached for her arm.
“I mean it, Vonnie. You don’t have to do that.”
She twisted to face him, turning faster than he’d expected. Her face was angled up toward his—and suddenly they were so close, he could practically count the freckles on her nose.
Leo didn’t move away, something he could see confused her…until she tilted her head curiously and moved half an inch closer. It didn’t take a genius to know she was inviting him to kiss her.
Actually, she was a Collins, so that invitation felt more like a dare.
None of that was shocking. This was Yvonne after all. She was the queen of calling his bluff.
No. What was surprising was that he was tempted to take her up o
n the offer.
Seriously tempted.
And Yvonne knew it.
In fact, she confirmed it when she whispered his name, almost breathlessly, then licked her lips. “Leo.”
“Yvonne,” he murmured, drifting toward her slowly, until he could feel the heat from her breath on his face, could smell the chocolate from their dessert.
What would it feel like to push her against the wall roughly, grasp her wrists and pin them to it? To kiss her senseless, then strip her naked, carry her to his bedroom and tie her to his bed, where he would—
“Dad!”
Chapter Three
Yvonne pulled away as Vince called out his name from his bedroom.
“Dad!” Vince yelled again. “Can Vonnie watch SpongeBob with us?”
She laughed lightly, pretending as if whatever had passed between them had never happened. Leo wished he could push it aside as easily, but he’d already let the fantasy play out too far in his mind, and now he was struggling to keep his thickening dick from becoming too evident.
“The boys and I sort of have a bedtime routine whenever I watch them for the night,” she explained.
Leo wanted to say something to her, wanted to explain—though God only knew what he’d say.
What excuse could he offer for nearly kissing her? No—for nearly ravishing her? Because that was exactly what he would have done if they’d crossed that first line and kissed.
Shit. The damn woman had shown up armed with fried chicken and chocolate chip cookies, cleaned a few rooms, revealed an old secret crush, and now…all he could think with was his cock.
Obviously, he was stressed to the limit and not thinking clearly. Or maybe it was the fact he was weary to the bone from too much work and not enough sleep. Or perhaps it had everything to do with him being fucking sick and tired of jerking himself off in the shower whenever the loneliness grew unbearable.
Then he realized he didn’t want to talk to her at all. Even now, he was struggling not to draw her into his arms and give her a long, deep, open-mouthed kiss.
Hell, he was fighting like the devil not to drag her to his bedroom.
That realization washed over him like ice-cold water. This was Yvonne, not some stranger in a bar, not some woman on an online dating site.
Not that he’d hooked up with anyone in either way lately. He hadn’t been with a woman in a very long time. Not since before Denise’s death. Three years of celibacy.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with a woman. It was more a combination of a lack of opportunity and the unshakable fact that he was now mother and father to his son. Taking a chance on dating a woman who might not love his son as much as he did had become a barrier in his mind, something he was struggling to overcome.
He wasn’t sure what Yvonne saw in his face, but he’d never been particularly good at hiding anything from her.
She rose up on tiptoe and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. It took everything he had not to turn his head, changing the kiss from platonic and friendly to something full of a lot more lust. His dick twitched, and there was no way he was going to keep this erection at bay.
Until she said, “You do need my wisdom. So here’s my first secret to a happy life, Leo. Don’t overthink everything. Sometimes you can do something just because you want to, even if it doesn’t make sense or feel practical.”
Unfortunately, before he had time to let that secret sink in, she’d started down the hall toward the boys’ bedroom. She turned at the doorway and gave him a sexy smile that nearly brought him to his knees. “And for future reference, I’m a hell of a kisser.”
He barked out a laugh of surprise as she entered the kids’ bedroom.
While she watched SpongeBob with the boys, he tried to distract himself from the need to drag her to his bedroom to see if she was telling the truth by tackling some of the chores. With her entertaining the kids, he didn’t have to break up fights or keep Vince—who was eating them out of house and home—from hitting the kitchen for snacks he didn’t need.
He’d just switched the first load of laundry to the dryer and refilled the washer when she left the boys’ bedroom.
“Are they asleep?”
She shook her head. “Not quite, but I suspect it won’t be long.” She pointed to the laundry. “Sure you don’t want help with that?”
“No. I can’t ask you to do one more thing. You showed up just in the nick of time tonight. I swear I was about three minutes away from leaving all this behind, shaving my head and joining a monastery.”
She laughed. “Wow. I’m not sure you could pull off bald. You have a lumpy head.”
While he knew it was tempting fate to touch her again, he wrapped his arm around her neck, playfully messing up her hair. “Is that right? You really don’t think too much of me, do you, Miss Collins?”
She tried to fight him off, giggling. He intended to make her work for her freedom, but her hip brushed his reemerging erection. He’d managed to will it away while he did the laundry, but it reared its head again the moment he saw her.
That was…problematic.
He released her quickly, not wanting her to see her effect on him tonight.
He’d take care of business later in the shower, and the next time he saw her, things would be back to normal, their friendship firmly intact, and this sudden, unfamiliar, overwhelming desire gone.
Hopefully.
“Want a glass of wine?” he asked, turning away from her to head to the kitchen.
“That would be great.”
He pulled a bottle of white from the refrigerator and filled two glasses. Then the two of them walked to the living room and sat on the couch, Boomer curling up on the floor at their feet.
“Seriously, Vonnie. I can’t thank you enough for dinner and helping me with the dishes and cleaning up all those rooms.”
“Don’t mention it,” she said. “Tonight was just the beginning. I have a lot more secrets to impart.”
Leo chuckled. “I don’t need your secrets to being happy. I’m doing just fine.”
She looked at him like he’d grown another head. “You’re barely squeaking by, Watson. I’m going to teach you how to approach life like a Collins. It’s a lot more fun than what you’re doing now.”
If she’d worded it any other way, he probably would have persisted in his argument that he was fine, but there was a lot to be said for how her family approached life. It was the first thing that had drawn him to her and Lochlan and Colm and Padraig.
For one thing, none of them seemed to know a stranger. After growing up fairly sequestered on the farm with just his parents and siblings, Leo had been starving for friends, and Yvonne and her cousins had been there, absorbing him into their circle.
When he looked back, it occurred to him some of his best times had been spent with them, either hitting the local bars or at the over-the-top theme parties they liked to throw at the Collins Dorm.
“And the first secret is don’t overthink things?” he asked.
She nodded. “Let’s face it, Leo. You’ve always tended to live in your head a little too much. Worrying about things you can’t change and overanalyzing past mistakes. Sometimes it’s good to be impulsive.”
There were a few impulsive things he wanted to do to her at the moment. Of course, the fact he was thinking about them rather than acting on them sort of proved her point. He didn’t have a spontaneous bone in his body.
“That could be tough for me,” he admitted.
She considered that. “Yeah. I think you’re going to struggle with a few of these secrets.”
“Jesus. How many are there?”
“Have you met yourself? About a million! I’ve got a shit-ton of work to do to fix you,” she teased. “The impulsiveness is actually an easy one. I think the hardest thing for you is going to be finding a way to be the truest version of yourself.”
He thought about that for a minute. He’d spent a lifetime defining himself the way others saw him. A son, a boy
friend, a friend, a father, a farmer. He wasn’t sure any of those descriptors defined him…not completely. Rather, they felt more like titles, roles he’d assumed for the people he cared about.
“That one might be impossible.”
“Did I ever tell you about how my mom and dad got together?” she asked, her question surprising him. Yvonne wasn’t the type to ever let anyone off the hook easily.
Leo shook his head. “No. I assumed they’d just met at the pub.”
“Actually, my mom was a successful photographer with her own studio on the West Coast. She was doing a shoot where she followed my uncle Sky around, doing one of those behind-the-scenes biopics with a superstar, and that was how she ended up in Baltimore. Sky and Aunt Teagan were touring together by that point.”
Yvonne had extremely famous relatives. Her uncle Sky was part of The Universe, a band that was often compared to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. When Sky left the band and joined forces with Yvonne’s aunt, singer/songwriter Teagan Collins, his star flew even higher.
“I swear my mom still can’t believe I know Sky Mitchell and Teagan Collins. She shows off that autograph they signed for me to give her at Christmas all the time. The damn thing is framed and hanging in the living room.”
Yvonne laughed. “They’ve always been Aunt Teagan and Uncle Sky to me, but I’ve seen the star-struck reaction everyone has whenever they see them, so I get it.”
“So your mom was taking pictures of Sky,” he prompted, sorry he’d interrupted her story.
Yvonne picked the tale back up. “Yep. They’d been friends for a long time, so Sky trusted her. Anyway, they were in Baltimore at the pub, and as my dad tells it, he’d had his eye on ‘pretty Miss Nat’ for quite a while.”
“And he asked her out?”
“Sort of.”
“How do you sort of ask someone out?” he asked.
“Mom was a bit prickly at the time—her words, not mine—and my dad is eight years younger than her. So she rebuffed him. Then Dad called her out for her grumpiness, and that was when she confessed she was tired of always being behind the camera, tired of being a spectator behind the lens while others were getting married, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, new babies, that kind of stuff.”