perched a hip there, leaning in. The pulse at the base of her neck was fluttering, and her skin seemed dewy. “I have to know,” he murmured, “what the hell you’re listening to.”
With a screech, she jumped up, her eyes flying open. She gaped at him, then tore the ear buds out of her ears. “Adam.”
“Me,” he said. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’m working. I—” She drew in a deep breath and smoothed the front of her dress.
Her nipples were hard.
“I’m really busy,” she said.
“I can see that.”
“I was just listening to an audio book,” she said, sounding breathless. “For my book club. I’m behind on the book. I didn’t hear you come.”
No, but he had the feeling he’d almost heard her come. “You were listening to your book club read?” He knew that Jade and Lilah belonged to the same book club, and they’d both been complaining about this month’s read, which was supposedly pretentious, boring, and had a sucky ending.
Her eyes slid to the iPod on her desk, still on play. “Um. Well, actually…”
He picked up a forgotten ear bud and pressed it to his ear.
A sultry, sexy female voice was narrating, her voice low and suggestive: “He worked his way to her nipple, giving the tight tip a long, leisurely lick before sucking it hard into his mouth. Satisfied with her shaky moan, he slid his hands to her hips, catching the sides of her panties, dragging them down her long, luscious legs. His lips followed, her hips jerking as he got close to the promised land…”
Adam grinned up at Holly. “I didn’t know you guys read porn at your book club. No wonder Lilah’s in it.”
Holly made a grab for the ear bud, but he held it out of her reach.
“Fine,” she said. “So it’s not a sanctioned book club read.”
“No?”
“No, the book club reads are boring.”
Adam stuck the ear bud back into his ear and wasn’t disappointed.
“She writhed beneath him,” the sexy narrator continued, “while he deeply inhaled her rich scent. Bending low, he nuzzled her waxed mound and said…Trust me.”
Adam snorted and looked at Holly. “FYI—never trust a man who says, ‘Trust me.’”
She snatched the iPod, practically climbing up his body to do so, not that he minded one little bit. “What are you doing here?” she snapped.
“Dropping off your dad.” He stroked a damp tendril off her forehead. “You look like you need a man, Holly.”
She raised her chin and looked him in the eye. “I’ve discovered I don’t need a man to be happy.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes,” she said. “And besides, you’ve made it perfectly clear that you don’t need me, either, so…” She moved to walk around him but he caught her wrist.
“You’re right. I don’t need you,” he said. “I don’t need anyone.” He pulled the struggling, pissed-off woman in between his legs, waiting until her flashing eyes met his. “But I want you, Holly. Always have, always will.”
She went still, staring at him as his cell phone rang, with the tone that told him it was an emergency. Still holding her gaze, he pulled his phone from his hip and glanced at the screen. Shit. Reluctantly, he let go of her.
She fisted her hand in his shirt. “Wait a minute. You’re just going to say that and then leave me? In this state?”
He looked down at his own erection. “If it makes you feel better, you’re not the only one.” He pressed a hard, fast kiss to her very kissable mouth. “Have to go.”
“But—”
He slid the ear bud back into her ear. “This seemed to be taking you where you need to go,” he said. “Finish listening to it. I’m going to like thinking of you, here, getting off on it.”
She blushed and bit down on her lower lip. He groaned and leaned in for one more kiss and then forced himself out the door.
The emergency call from Kel turned out to be a countywide drill. A fucking drill. But it was mandatory, and it kept him out at Bear Lake for the rest of the long hours of the night: cold, icy, miserable.
Well, except for the one thought that warmed him every time it crossed his mind, which was constantly—Holly at her desk, hot and bothered, listening to that book.
Two days later Holly was in the Reid Ranching offices, neck deep into quarterlies, when Grif called her on Skype. She answered with a huge smile, waiting as her brother’s pixelated image swam into view. He was in army cammies and dark wraparound sunglasses that he pulled off at the sight of her.
As always, she studied him carefully, heart in her throat, but he looked good, she decided. Then again, he usually did. Unlike Holly, he’d taken the best from his ancestral gene pool: their dad’s height, dark good looks, and quick smile and quicker wit, plus their mom’s unusual gray eyes and ability to see right through any and all bullshit. He’d gone into the military about the same time as Adam, choosing army. It hadn’t been trouble that Grif had been running from, though; it had been Sunshine itself—and ranching.
And their father.
This life here in the Idaho mountains might seem idyllic and slow and perfect to her, but the very thing she loved about it was exactly what Grif had never wanted. Unfortunately, as the only son of a ranching icon, he’d faced a lot of pressure to stay.
But he’d gone, and though he’d come back on leave whenever possible, he never remained in Sunshine for more than a week or two without going batshit crazy. Though Holly would never push him to stick around when he clearly didn’t want to, she missed him. A lot.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” she said.
“Same goes.” His usual fast smile faded. “Been trying to get you for a few days.”
She’d missed his call yesterday. “Dad’s okay.”
“He had a fucking heart attack?”
Dammit. “You’ve talked to Adam.”
“Yes, but only because he answers his phone.” Grif blew out a breath. “I heard it from a friend of a friend who works at the hospital. When I couldn’t get you, I called Adam—who didn’t want to tell me, either, by the way. You’re all on my shit list.”
She winced. “You called at three in the morning. I’m sorry, I had my ringer off.”
“It was the only time I could get through. Tell me, Holly.”
She sighed. She’d like to wring Adam’s neck, except then she’d have to see him again. And after the other day and her most embarrassing moment, her current plan was to lie low. “Apparently he had a mild heart attack three months ago. I was in New York and you were…well, somewhere. He managed to hide it because his hospital stay was only a few days. He says he’s been following doctor’s orders and doing everything he’s supposed to. But from what I can gather, Deanna dumped him because his mortality scared her.”
“Or because it reminded her that he was an old son of a bitch.”
“Or that,” she said dryly. “In any case, he was suddenly alone, and depressed. Or was, anyway.”
“Was?”
“Well, once we got him back, news sort of spread that he was a free agent. Now he’s got both Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Rodriguez visiting all the time, cooking for him.”
“Mrs. Graham, the hot forty-something redhead mayor?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
Grif shook his head, looking both appalled and impressed. “Go, Dad.”
“I guess…”
Grif let out a breath. “Now tell me about you.”
“What about me?”
“Your divorce.”
“Dammit! Adam has a big mouth.”
“What is all this, Hol?”
“Well, let’s see. You and Adam have been gossiping like a pair of little girls, so it must be middle school recess!”
He smiled and immediately looked younger, softer than the hardened soldier he’d turned himself into.
“It’s not funny,” she said, but seeing him smile made her smile, too.
Her off
ice door opened and Kate strode in carrying two lunch boxes—one Star Wars, the other Transformers—and a drink carrier of two steaming coffees. “I’ve only got a half hour,” she said, not looking up, concentrating on keeping the drinks balanced. “Kyle Wu dunked Emily Carter’s ponytail into the finger paints this morning, taking her from blond to green in zero point two. So now I’ve got a parent conference at one thirty to get yelled at by Emily’s dad. Good thing he’s totally hot.” She glanced over at Holly’s opened laptop, caught sight of Grif, and jumped.
The coffees clattered together and spilled down her front. She sucked in a breath and dropped everything. “Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit.” She pulled her blouse away from her skin. “And ow.”
Holly rushed forward. “Are you burned?”
Sucking in air through her teeth, Kate did the hot-coffee-on-her-chest dance, and then ripped her blouse off. She sighed in relief for the briefest of seconds before remembering Grif. Squeaking in embarrassment, she covered her boobs with her hands and ducked behind Holly’s desk.
From her crouched position, Kate grimaced up at Holly and mouthed, Oh. My. God. Did he see me?
Holly shook her head no. A little white mercy lie between best friends, because of course Grif had seen her, from her pretty leopard print bra to her very full 36Ds bursting from the seams.
They were hard to miss.
“Hey, Kate,” Grif said from the desk.
Kate dropped her head to her knees. “Hey, Grif.”
Grif stretched his neck and tried to look down. “You okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Sure? Because all I can see are your ears, which are twitching.”
“Only one-third of the population can twitch their ears,” she muttered, face still averted. “And only one-third of those people can twitch one ear at a time,” Kate said. Still out of sight of Grif, she smacked herself in the head.
Grif laughed softly, amused by the stats Kate always spouted when she was nervous. “Good to know.”
Kate ducked even lower and shot Holly a pleading save-me glance.
“Okay, well, I’m glad you called,” Holly said to Grif. “It was good to talk to you. Be careful out there, it’s a full moon tonight.”
“And because of the earth’s rotation, we’re even closer to the moon and its pull,” Kate said, lifting her head. “Also, Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.” Then she covered her own mouth with her hand, closed her eyes, and shook her head.
Grif grinned. “Maybe you should stand up and let me look at you. And make sure you weren’t burned.”
Holly rolled her eyes. “Say good-bye, Grif.”
“No, really, I’m a trained medic. I should check out—”
“Uh-huh. Love you.” Holly shut her laptop.
Kate slowly rose, her very pretty breasts quivering. “Oh my God. Griffin Reid saw my boobs.”
“You’re no longer the invisible high school geek, you know. You’re all grown-up and pretty.”
“Pretty much a mess, you mean.”
“I’m not kidding. If I was a guy, I’d totally want to do you.”
Kate beamed. “Really?”
“Really! Honey, you’re the swan now, why do you still get so nervous around guys?”
“I’m only hot without my clothes, and no one ever sees me without my clothes. Just my ob-gyn, and now Griffin Reid.”
Holly handed her a wad of napkins, which Kate used to mop up the coffee. “Would you stop referring to my brother by his full name? He’s just a regular guy.”
“Yeah, a really, really good-looking guy.”
Holly grimaced. “Nice bra, by the way. And what happened with that online dating service you joined?” She pulled her sweater from the back of her chair and handed it to Kate to put on.
“All the guys I’d want to date live in Coeur d’Alene.” She slipped into the sweater, looking far better in it than Holly had. “I don’t have time to drive hours for my nookie.”
“Seriously. Is that all you think about lately?”
“You don’t get to ask me that. You got lucky this week.”
“I…what?” Holly went still, the proverbial deer in the headlights. “How did you know? Who told you?”
“You. Just now.”
Holly dropped into her chair. “That’s a good trick.”
“I’m a teacher. I know all the tricks. Well, except how to get myself some nookie.” She picked up the lunch boxes and handed Holly one. “And I can’t believe you were going to try to keep such vital information from me.”
Holly searched for a different topic. “So how is it your fault that Kyle ruined Emily’s hair?”
“Oh, it’s not. But Emily’s mom was a high school beauty queen and she pays big money for her blond hair every three weeks. Her daughter’s a natural, and they’d just had their hair blown out and done up. Green wasn’t in the cards. Nice change of subject, by the way.”
“Dammit, you really are good.”
“Don’t you know it.” Kate opened her lunch box.
The two of them met every week for lunch, taking turns providing the meal. On Holly’s week, she’d run into town and pick something up, usually from the deli.
When it was Kate’s turn, she cooked. Today’s lunch was carefully and lovingly packed chicken enchiladas, and Holly’s mouth watered at the scent. “You’re a domestic goddess.” She sank her teeth into her first bite and moaned as pleasure exploded across her taste buds.
“Yeah?” Kate asked.
“Oh my God, yeah. Now be quiet. My food and I need a moment.”
Kate grinned and nodded. She was good with silence.
Sort of.
Okay, she was horrible with silence. She managed to hold it for one full minute—a record. “Tell me about the trip with Adam.”
Holly pretended that Kate was really asking about the trip. “You know we found my dad.”
“Yes, on day two. Which leaves one whole night unaccounted for.” A teacher through and through, Kate paused, waiting for the correct answer. “I want details, Holly. Spill.”
“You first,” Holly said. “How was ballooning?”
Kate shook her head. “I didn’t go.”
This was a surprise. Kate had so been looking forward to it. “Why not?” She frowned. “Wait. By any chance, did Grif talk you out of it?”
Kate blushed. “Why would you think that?”
“Because he IMed me right before I left the other day, and he’d been keeping track of you.” Holly watched, fascinated as Kate’s blush reached the tips of her ears. “Kate, what’s going on?”
She waved a hand in front of her mouth. “I used too much chili pepper. Yow, it’s hot.”
Holly grabbed a bottle of water and pushed it across the desk toward Kate, who grabbed it gratefully. “I mean between you and Grif. What’s going on between you and Grif?”
Kate choked on the water.
Holly set down her fork and stared at her friend, torn between amusement and horror. Kate was as up-front and honest as they came. She didn’t have a deceptive, manipulative, evasive bone in her body. What she did have was a crush on Holly’s brother. Always had. But Holly thought she’d gotten over it, since the last time Grif had come home, he’d plowed his way through every single woman he knew.
Except for Kate.
“Tell me you’re not pining away for him,” Holly said.
Kate took a bite of enchilada and shook her head.
“Kate.”