* * *
Tripp held Sadie in his arms, his breathing still harsh and ragged against her neck. He’d buried his face there as he’d poured himself into her, holding her body tight against his.
They’d just had sex on his old, lumpy couch that had likely been constructed during the Kennedy administration and it was the best sex of his life.
No bed had ever been as comfortable and no woman had ever been as sweet. Or as utterly all-consuming as Sadie Colton.
She’d decimated him.
As he struggled to regain his breath, he was already thinking about when they could do it again. Because one taste of Sadie wasn’t enough. A lifetime of Sadie wouldn’t be enough.
And that was a sobering enough thought that he lifted his head from her neck and dropped it back against the couch.
He’d given in.
On some level, he supposed it was inevitable, but he’d believed himself strong enough to withstand her. Or, if not her, his maddening feelings for her, which he knew were misplaced. Because despite all evidence to the contrary, he and Sadie didn’t have a future.
Even if he could see past the lessons he’d learned with Lila’s death, he was still Sadie’s boss. She might not directly report to him but he was still a superior in the department.
And besides, he wasn’t past Lila.
He’d made a vow never to put another person’s life at risk for his job. If Sadie was harmed because of him…
He’d never survive.
Sadie still straddled his lap but she shot him a warm, satisfied smile—clearly oblivious to his thoughts—as she slipped off to sit beside him. Reaching behind them, she dragged a blanket off the back of the couch and covered them both.
“How are your stitches?”
“Fine.”
She gave him a dark side-eye as she settled the blanket into place. “Back to ‘fine’ again?”
Unwilling to pick a fight with the taste of her still on his tongue, he added, “Really, I’m good. The stitches are fine and I actually forgot they were there.” Tripp patted the bandage, pleased to find the area tender but no worse for wear.
“Good.”
He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her forehead, absurdly pleased when she snuggled into his side.
That, considering the direction of his thoughts, was the last thing he should be thinking. Yet there he went, lifting his arm to cradle her shoulders, snuggling her more tightly into the crook of his body. He felt himself fading lightly, the quiet rhythm of her breathing steadying his into the same cadence. His head nearly fell forward in sleep when she spoke once again.
“I’m glad we did that. And I’m counting the minutes until we can do it again.”
Tripp’s eyes popped open, his body immediately on full alert at the bold declaration. “You think we’re going to do that again?”
“I sure as hell hope so, because one time is most certainly not enough.”
He wanted to argue. Knew, really, that he should argue. But he felt too damn good to do anything but agree with her. “No, one time isn’t nearly enough.”
“Since I’m still smarting from the ‘ma’am,’ I’ll do you one better and tell you I told you so.”
Amused at the fact that sex had unleashed “chatty Sadie,” he shifted so he could look down at her. “When did you tell me so?”
“How about every day since the day you rescued me? I can’t believe you haven’t seen the come-here-big-boy looks I’ve been throwing or felt the longing glances that bore into your back every time you turned around.”
Come here, big boy? Maybe “chatty” wasn’t quite the right term.
“For the record, I felt no longing glances and I’m not dignifying the ‘big boy’ comment with an answer.”
“That doesn’t make it any less true.”
He supposed she was right, but he still wasn’t going there. That made her abrupt leap off the couch, fully naked as the blanket fell away, enough to steal his breath away. But it was when she turned, giving him a full view of her gorgeous body, that he knew he was lost.
He’d made love to Sadie Colton. And it had been better and even more amazing than he’d imagined. And he’d imagined often and in great detail.
So yes, he couldn’t wait to do it again.
Even if, somewhere in the recesses of his brain, he registered that she was talking to him.
“I’m glad we’re on the same page. I’ll make us a snack and then we can get to doing it again.”
A snack?
The same page?
What page?
She continued, oblivious to his confusion at the rapid change in direction. “After all, once we get back to Grand Rapids, we have to give all this up. So I plan on getting my fill every possible moment until we do.”
CHAPTER 15
Tripp hefted the ax and slammed it against the block of wood, Sadie’s words still rattling around in his mind like loose marbles.
After all, once we get back to Grand Rapids, we have to give all this up.
Give it up?
Hell, they’d barely started and she was already talking about giving it up? Not that it had stopped him from making love to her once again after their quick snack of peanut butter on crackers. Nor had it stopped him from taking full advantage of that lush body in the shower, either.
But now, out here in the freezing cold an hour later with a few split logs beside him, Tripp brought her words back in vivid detail.
I plan on getting my fill every possible moment until we do.
Get her fill? What was he, some stud pony here to do her bidding?
Even if you’ve been exactly that all afternoon, McKellar, an exceedingly unhelpful voice volleyed right back in his mind, you were the one who told her this couldn’t be real. Why are you so upset she recognizes that?
Because, damn it.
Because she matters.
“Damn it,” he muttered, sick of the circular argument.
And even more sick of arguing with himself.
“Tripp McKellar!” Sadie shouted his name as she marched toward him. She’d dragged on a pair of large fishing waders he kept in the cabin’s closet and the oversize boots had her high-stepping because they were made to fit him, not her. “What in the hell are you doing out here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” He hefted the ax once more, banging it down on a fresh, unsuspecting piece of wood.
“You’ve got stitches in your side, you jackass. You want to rip them all out?”
“I’m fine,” he muttered, well aware his use of that phrase had reached monumentally ridiculous proportions. He reached for another small log but she had already moved up beside him and kicked it out of range.
“You really are a jackass. And that’s plenty of wood. Especially since there’s already more than enough in the metal stand beside the fireplace. Get inside.”
“You’ve got no right to order me around.”
“And you’ve got even less right to test my crappy nursing skills when those stitches come loose.”
It was the hitch in her voice as she said that last part that stilled him.
He was being that exact jackass she accused him of being and there was no logic for it. But for some reason, three epic sessions of sex had left him emotionally raw instead of satiated and practically comatose.
That made even less sense than the anger that continued to roil and seethe at her dismissal of anything between them once they left the cabin.
Wasn’t that what he’d wanted? No strings attached. Someone who recognized and understood he wasn’t meant for a relationship.
Right?
Tripp tossed the ax back into the small shed alongside the house and followed Sadie back inside. His gaze alighted on the stack of wood beside the fireplace before quickly bumping away to stare at something else—a
nything else—that wouldn’t make a liar out of him.
Only, his gaze caught on Sadie’s lush body and the rounded curve of her ass and, once again, he was trapped.
Trapped with all these thoughts and feelings he had no business possessing. Worse, that he’d sworn would never be for him.
She whirled on him, unaware of his perusal. “Do you want to tell me why you were out there putting your health at risk?”
“My health is fine.”
“You know, I saw a nearly full bottle of whiskey in the pantry. I think I’m going to start a drinking game. Every time Tripp McKellar says the word fine, I’m going to take a shot.” She moved up right in his face, hers set in dark, dangerous lines. “I should be good and drunk by noon.”
“I am fine. And you sure as hell weren’t worrying about my stitches in the shower.”
Those gorgeous green eyes went wide about a half second before flames shot through them, lighting her up like the winning screen on a video game. “Don’t flatter yourself, baby cakes.”
Tripp had no idea where it came from. He’d never been one to even mention sex to a woman before and here he was taunting Sadie with what had transpired between them. And then had to stand there while she shot it all straight back at him like a little firecracker, more than able to hold her own.
That flickering anger that had gnawed at him every time she’d mentioned Tate Greer over the past week flamed to life, white-hot and pure. It had broken his heart to see how Greer had left her feeling less than.
But looking at her now, Tripp saw a new truth. The woman standing before him was empowered. Bold. And he still wanted her more than he’d ever thought possible.
Without knowing who shifted first—and in the end, maybe it never mattered anyway—they moved into each other. The light of battle winked out, floating away like a wisp of smoke as they came together. Nothing in the world but the two of them.
She welcomed him with her mouth, opening beneath him as his tongue sought hers. As his hands molded her skin, a masterpiece coming to life beneath his fingers. As their breaths met and mingled, growing heavy with need.
“I want you,” she whispered, half challenge, half plea, and he felt an answering response rise up deep from within. “Now.”
“Yes.” He reached for her, walking backward toward the bedroom as he held her against him. His hands were already at the hem of her sweatshirt, his fingers plying the warm skin at her waist. They’d barely reached the doorway when Sadie stumbled into him. His tight hold was the only reason they remained upright and he suddenly had an armful of woman as something cold and heavy brushed against his foot.
“Whoa.” Tripp steadied her, his mind still hazy from her kisses. “Are you—”
He never got the question out as laughter shook her shoulders. Even as he tried to catch up, she nearly doubled over with it, one hand reaching out for balance on the bedroom door frame.
He had a momentary flash of good, old-fashioned, red-blooded male fear that she was laughing at him.
And then he saw it.
The huge fishing waders still clung to her feet, the thick soles planted against the floor, extending her feet to nearly double their size.
“Where did you even find those?”
His question only had her laughing harder. “Hall closet.”
The catch-all box in the base of the closet drifted through his mind’s eye. “It’s a sexy look.”
Tripp bent to remove them, his hands roaming over one firm thigh as he dislodged the boot. He did the same with her other leg, lingering longer than absolutely necessary, his pinky finger flicking against the sensitive skin at the very top of her thigh. He heard her quick rush of breath, the laughter fading away as if it had never been.
And once the boots had been removed, kicked and discarded into the hall, Tripp returned his hands to her waist, his mouth lingering over hers. “Now. Where were we, baby cakes?”
He felt her lips widen into a broad smile against his own as her arms wrapped around his neck. The storm of one battle ended just as a new, more delicious one took its place.
* * *
Sadie contemplated the cool air against her naked backside and realized that, for as generous a lover as Tripp McKellar was, the man was a serious blanket hog. Like a conquer-and-gather-up-all-the-covers sort of guy. But since the large body that shielded her front was practically a heater, she snuggled in closer and decided in the moment that it didn’t matter.
Her thoughts were as lazy as the first rays of dawn filtering through the window, flitting from subject to subject with little effort. It wasn’t a time of day she usually saw and it was a novel idea to simply lie there for a bit, enjoying the moment. And being wrapped up in Tripp.
How had this happened?
Well, she knew how it had happened. But the bigger question was why? And an even bigger one than that—why now?
They’d gone from colleagues to friends to lovers in the span of a week. And while she was wildly happy with the outcome, she knew it couldn’t last.
Hadn’t that been the real root of their fight?
The pitched battle they’d waged from the wood stump outside, through the living room and on into the bedroom, may have changed tone and tenor along with location, but she was smart enough to know its cause.
This couldn’t last.
Hadn’t she tried to acknowledge that? To be mature and open and honest, proving to Tripp she didn’t have expectations about what was happening between them beyond these few days locked away from the world?
It had been rather broad-minded of me, really, she thought with no small measure of disgust. Until he’d picked a fight with her. And that only added to her confusion because wasn’t that what he’d wanted?
So how had saying it somehow pissed him off?
Much as she wanted to lean back on her inexperience and blame it for their argument, she knew his reaction had had nothing to do with how many men she’d slept with. Instead, it’d had everything to do with putting a timeline on how long she’d sleep with him.
He’d even used that stupid excuse about being her boss.
Suddenly restless, Sadie slipped out of bed. Tripp never moved, the thick covers still clenched in his arms as he slept. She found her clothes in a pile near the door and silently pulled them on before closing the bedroom door behind her and heading out to the living room.
The cabin wasn’t large but it had a spacious feel, with high beamed ceilings that gave a sense of openness in the main gathering area. She curled up on the couch, still restless with her thoughts as her gaze darted around the room. She could watch TV but she wasn’t in the mood for news or any of the old reruns to be found this early in the morning. It was only when her gaze alighted on the various computers Tripp had set up that she decided to email Kiely.
Her older sister was a badass private investigator, full of what her twin, Pippa, had always classified as vim, vigor and a solid dash of vixen. Kiely had never been a shy, retiring sort of woman and she’d be the perfect person to talk to about Tripp’s out-of-line response to Sadie’s magnanimous declaration of sexual freedom without strings.
Sadie loaded up her email, doing a quick scan of what had come in overnight. Pippa had sent the sisters a silly meme about Michigan winters and Sadie replied with a smile and a snowman emoji before opening a new window to type her note to Kiely. That made it all the more surprising when her video chat kicked in two minutes later, Kiely on the other side.
Her sister’s face came to light on the screen, a small boy wrapped in her arms. Similar to the big man Sadie had left sleeping in the bedroom, the little guy had his arms wrapped around a blanket, only his eyes were wide-open and blinking in that sweet, chubby little face.
Alfie.
“Hey there.” Sadie gave the camera a little wave. “Hi, Alfie.” She didn’t quite get a smile but she saw inte
rest light in that little face.
“I saw you were online,” Kiely said. “And since we were up, I thought we’d give our aunt Sadie a call.”
Something clenched in her heart at the use of the word aunt. It was still so new, her sister’s romance with Cooper bringing Alfie into their lives. She felt the same about Abigail and Griffin’s baby, Maya. In a matter of months, Sadie had gone from not even being an aunt to having two little ones in her life with Riley and Charlize’s baby on the way in the new year.
“I’m glad you did.”
They talked for a few minutes, Alfie growing more animated and involved in the conversation. He was already talking and, while she missed a few things, Sadie managed to get most of what he was saying. And what she’d missed, Kiely easily filled in.
“You’re getting good at this,” Sadie said, her heart full.
“Good at what?”
“Toddler speak. You understand everything he says.”
Kiely looked down at the baby as Alfie looked up and in that quiet glance, Sadie saw the truth. Her sister had, in a matter of a few short months, become a mother. She was changed—transformed, really—and it was beautiful to see.
Kiely beamed back, kissing the baby on the crown of his head. “That’s because Alfie’s so smart.”
The small boy settled in Kiely’s arms, his eyes blinking with tiredness.
“I can let you go.”
Kiely shook her head. “He’s a good sleeper and once he’s out, noise doesn’t bother him. Talk to me. I know something’s going on, especially since you’re never up at this hour unless you haven’t gone to bed.”
“That’s not true.”
“It’s completely true and you know it. Spill.”
Sadie let out a small sniff at being nailed so easily, but it was for show only. She desperately needed to talk and was beyond grateful Kiely was there to listen. And, just as her sister had promised, Alfie’s eyes had already closed, his little head nestled against her sister.
“I slept with Tripp.”
Kiely’s answering grin was immediate and tinged with those solid hints of the vixen Pippa had always accused her of being. “I knew it wouldn’t take long.”
Harlequin Romantic Suspense December 2020 Box Set Page 19