Head Over Hooves: Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, page 12
“I've got you,” he repeated. “Whatever you need. I'm it. Always.”
“Yes, right there.”
He lifted her another half inch and shifted his hips and suddenly he hit the magic spot because she cried out and came apart in his arms with the sweetest sound as she clenched around him.
He drove deep five more times and then he exploded, filling her up, emptying into her in a way that seemed so much more than physical.
They lay together, gasping for air, for several long seconds after.
Finally Drew shifted to the side, keeping one arm and leg draped over her. He rested his forehead on his other arm, working on just breathing, and absorbing the moment.
“So, that was fucking amazing.”
She smiled and rolled her head toward him. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.”
“Rory.”
“Yeah?” She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair.
“Ask me to stay.”
Of course he meant tonight. In her bed. So they could do that again.
Of course he didn't mean stay for good. In Louisiana.
Probably.
But several emotions flashed across her face before she nodded and said, “Stay.”
“Yeah.”
The smile she gave him was full of desire and happiness and something more that he wasn't quite ready to label. But he was very sure he was feeling it as well.
10
The next two days were perfect.
He’d spent another night in Rory’s bed. But last night, they’d just talked on the phone. For five hours. And had phone sex. Yes, even though they were in rooms only about eight blocks apart.
She’d had some late clients and he’d agreed to dinner and drinks at a restaurant and bar in New Orleans with the Landry clan.
But he’d been eager to get back to Autre. To Rory.
He’d called when he’d hit the city limits and she’d said she’d just gotten out of the shower. In that moment, he’d wanted only one thing more than to head straight over there and get her dirty all over again—he’d wanted to show her they could still connect even once he went back to Iowa.
Instead of going to her house, he’d gone to his room at Mitch and Paige’s and propped on his bed. And they’d just talked. About everything. They’d shared stories about their work, their friends, and their favorite things. They’d video chatted this time, but the phone still kept them from getting distracted by kissing and touching.
Though, eventually, they’d gotten there too. They’d just had to touch themselves. They’d talked each other through one of the hottest orgasms Drew had ever had. There was something about having your partner say all the words out loud, the thoughts and feelings that were going through their mind, that made it seem even more intimate in a way.
The final conclusion had been…yeah, they could do this long-distance thing.
But he knew he wasn’t going to last long being away from her.
Three days ago, he’d met a woman who was nothing like he’d expected to find and yet, he was planning to talk to his brother and cousin the second he got home about transitioning the farm operation to them so he could move to Louisiana.
It was crazy. But he thought that maybe the craziness in Autre needed a little bit of his steadiness.
Drew stood back, surveying Santa’s Village and took a deep, satisfied breath. The Landrys didn’t know that he’d painted and laid the sparkly red bricks or helped with the sleigh or anything else. But it was all finished and Rory could relax.
Well, except for, of course, the fifty empty boxes that still sat in the sleigh. But Drew was going to fix that as well.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Oliver Caprinelli’s number.
“Hey, Drew, what’s up?” Ollie answered on the second ring.
“Need a favor.”
“Okay.”
Ollie and Drew had an interesting relationship. When Oliver and his wife, Piper, had first moved to Appleby, they had not been married. They hadn't even been dating. Piper had been Oliver's assistant, and Drew had immediately been attracted to the gorgeous, sassy woman.
She was like a younger sister to the five men who had become accidental millionaires when their online video game had become an overnight worldwide sensation and it had taken Drew a little time to figure out that she was madly in love with Oliver. It had taken Oliver even longer to figure that out. And that he felt the same way about her. But prior to realizing that what he felt for Piper was love, Ollie had been jealous of Drew and Piper’s friendship and flirting.
Now the men had not only called a truce but had actually turned into friends. Ollie and Piper belonged together, there was no doubt about it, and there was no way that Drew would ever get in the way of that.
Plus, Piper wasn't the one for him. Now that he'd met Rory, that was even more obvious.
“We had a little… situation here. Wondering if I could get fifty more of those game controllers from you.”
“No can do, man,” Oliver said.
“Oh.” Drew had fully expected Ollie to agree to replace the controllers with no problem. Ollie was not only incredibly rich, he was also incredibly generous. “Seriously?”
“I mean, I would, but we don't have any more,” Ollie said. “These controllers aren’t releasing until May. The ones we got ahead of time were purely for charitable and promotional purposes. We sent fifty to you guys, we've got fifty here in Appleby for the kids, and we sent fifty-some to a children’s hospital somewhere. The company is doing a couple of giveaways for like ten or something, but we don't have a big stash of them anywhere.”
“Dammit,” Drew muttered. It hadn’t occurred to him that this might be a problem. He supposed he’d gotten used to having friends in high places with lots of resources.
“I mean, I could possibly talk to the manufacturers,” Ollie said. He owned the company. He was the biggest name at Fluke Inc. and if they needed more controllers made and he told them to, Drew was sure they would. But there was no time.
“I need them like in two days.”
“Oh yeah, that's just literally, physically not possible.”
Drew shoved a hand through his hair. “Well, fuck.”
“So what happened? Is there some other way we can help?”
Drew sighed. “It's just there was a little mishap with these controllers and now the Christmas party is kind of hinging on us being able to replace them.”
There was a slight pause, then Ollie chuckled. “You've been there for three days.”
“So?”
“So you're all worked up about the Christmas party in this other town? And talking about it in terms of we. You’ve only been there a few days and you're trying to save Christmas for Autre?”
“Well, I'm trying to help someone…”
Ollie chuckled again. “Oh my God, it's a girl.”
Drew grinned despite himself. “I didn't say that.”
“You’re already in love?”
Well, there was no reason to deny it. “I figured you'd be the one most thrilled by that. You said you wanted me to find a girl far, far away from Appleby and Piper.”
“I absolutely said that. But I didn't actually think it would happen. I was hoping you'd go down there and get laid. Now you're telling me you're falling for someone?”
Drew laughed. “Trust me, no one is more surprised than me.”
“Well, man, that's amazing. So seriously, how can we help you with this?”
Drew sucked in a breath. “I suppose the only people who actually know these are game controllers that are missing—long story—are the Landrys, right?”
“I think Piper and Paige have been dealing with most of this. I don't even know if everyone down there knows what they are. Hang on a second.”
Drew heard the sound of Oliver's squeaky office chair and then the door opening. “Hey babe, who have you been talking to about the game controllers down in Autre?”
“Paige. Why? Who’s on the phone?” Drew heard Piper's voice ask.
“Drew. There’s some issue they need some help with.”
The next thing Drew heard was Piper's voice on the phone. “Drew? What's going on?”
“It's a long story. But I need to replace the fifty controllers.”
“Are they broken? Did they not make it in time?”
“No. It's not that. I can't really get into the details.”
Piper paused for just a moment, but, like a true friend, she simply said, “Okay. What can we do?”
“Let's just give them some money to replace the toys,” Ollie said.
“Yeah, we can totally do that. Do you want me to just send you money to your bank account?”
Drew smiled and shook his head. It was kind of amazing having friends who were millionaires and could just come up with this kind of money, but it was also amazing to have friends who were wonderful people and who were willing to do things like this. Then he sighed. “I don't know if we have time to actually go buy fifty more gifts.”
“You're totally right,” Piper said. “I know you all have a lot of activities and things going on. How about I buy the toys and ship them down to you. I can do that overnight so they’re there tomorrow. Do you need them to be wrapped?”
Drew’s grin grew. Not only did he have rich friends who were generous, wonderful people, but one of them happened to be one of the most organized humans he'd ever met. Piper could get anything done.
“Piper, that would be amazing.”
“Consider it done. I'll have everything shipped to you at Paige's house.”
“Uh, ship them to the petting zoo. You guys are really the best.”
“We’ll do anything for you, Drew. And now I can't wait to have Ollie tell me all about this girl you’ve fallen in love with.”
Drew let out a short laugh. “You weren't in the room when he said that.”
“But that's what this is, right?”
“I'd like to think that I would try to be helping these people do this amazing Santa's Village even if I hadn’t met Rory.”
“You are a great guy. You probably would be helping them with this even if it weren't for this girl. But you're also very resourceful and the fact that you didn't want to mess around with other potential solutions and just called in a favor like this means something.”
“Taking the easy way out and calling my millionaire friends means something?” Drew asked.
“It does. You're not the type to take the easy way out. But this is obviously something that matters a lot, that you need to know is done right. And exactly on time. So you're willing to put aside the idea that you shouldn't just throw money at all the problems and actually get on the phone and ask someone else to get involved.”
“I do want this to be perfect for her. She's done all the hard work, she's put the time in, and the heart in. It’s not her fault it’s falling apart. So yeah, I guess in this case I'm okay with using my resources to fix it easily for her.”
He could hear the smile in Piper's voice when she said, “I hope she realizes what a good guy you are.”
Drew rolled his eyes, but he was starting to understand that being a good guy, especially for Rory Robins, was exactly what he wanted to be.
“I think she does.”
“I'm going to miss you,” Piper told him.
“Miss me?”
“When you eventually moved to Louisiana.”
His heart kicked hard against his rib cage. “Did I say I was moving to Louisiana?”
“No. But you’re exactly the type of guy to turn your life upside down when you finally fall in love.”
Drew thought about that. For about four seconds. Then realized that Piper was absolutely right. “You know what? I'm gonna miss you too.”
They disconnected and Drew felt amazing. He’d just fixed the final piece of this whole Santa's Village situation for Rory.
They had the gifts replaced, the village was completely put together, and as he spoke, Sawyer was sitting on Santa's big chair with little kids in his lap telling him all their hopes and dreams.
Drew watched as a little girl beamed up at Sawyer.
“Hello, Sophia,” Sawyer greeted her. “What would you like to talk about today?”
Drew smiled and shook his head. Sawyer really was taking this seriously. He wasn't asking the kids if they had been good or what they wanted for Christmas. He was inviting them to have a conversation. They could ask him anything or just chat about whatever was on their minds. It was very interesting how many of the kids actually just wanted to talk.
“I want to know what my best friend wants for Christmas,” Sophia told Sawyer.
Oh, that was cute. Honestly, all of these kids had been cute. Drew had been hanging around making sure that the reindeer were mostly behaving themselves. And that the kids were behaving themselves around the animals.
Donna, Jim, Lucy, and Ethel were used to people, including children, but it didn't hurt to have someone the reindeer knew and trusted nearby, and someone that knew them in case any interventions were needed. He rotated between the animals, petting them, talking soothingly to them, and offering them treats as the kids came by.
“What does your friend like?” Sawyer asked.
“Grass. And being outside. And when I pet his nose. And when we talk and tell stories.”
Sawyer nodded. “Is your best friend an animal?”
“He's an alpaca.”
Drew perked up at that. Jordan had told him about a little girl who’d bonded with the orphaned alpaca that had come from Drew's farm to live here in Louisiana. Apparently, the little girl had lost her father to cancer and she and the alpaca had developed a unique bond that had helped her come out of her shell and start talking about her feelings again.
“Well, I mostly hang out with reindeer,” Santa Sawyer told her. “But I know that reindeer and alpacas can be very good friends and my reindeer have been spending a lot of time with the alpacas here while we've been visiting. Maybe we should ask one of the reindeer if they know something special that Chewpaca would like for Christmas.”
Sophia's eyes rounded and Drew could only assume it was in delight over Santa knowing which of the alpacas was her friend.
“Drew, do you think that Donna would know what Chewpaca might like for Christmas?” Sawyer called to him.
The reindeer he was standing next to was Ethel, not Donna. But Drew nodded. He was a Reindeer Wrangler, after all. His name tag even said so.
“I’ll ask her,” Drew told him. He leaned over. “Hey Donna”—There was no need to call Santa out on not knowing his own reindeer—“any idea what Chewie might like for Christmas?”
Ethel raised her head and blinked at him. Probably wondering why he was calling her Donna. He gave her a wink. Then he looked up at Santa and Sophia. “She said that Chewie is hoping that Sophia will come and take him on a walk and…sing him a song.” It obviously had to be something the little girl could “give” the alpaca that wouldn’t cost any money.
Sawyer looked down at Sophia. “Well, there you go. What do you think?”
Sophia was frowning. “I'm going to have to work on that. I tell him lots of stories, but I don’t sing to him.”
Drew grimaced.
“But I can do that. I'll make up a really good song.” Sophia told him.
Okay, whew.
“Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?” Sawyer asked.
“Just be sure you tell my dad I love him,” Sophia said. “And I miss him.”
Drew could tell that Sawyer needed a second to swallow before he answered. “I’ll be sure to tell him.”
“But I know he's around,” Sophia said. “I met a new friend this summer. Her name's Grace. Do you know her?”
Sawyer nodded. “I know Gracie Trahan really well.”
“Her daddy died too. Well, her first daddy. She has another one now. Anyway, she still talks to her first daddy and she said that our daddies come and visit us and watch over us. Even if we can't see them.”
Again, it was clear that Sawyer was struggling to keep his composure.
“That's true. I'm certain that your dad will be here for Christmas.”
Sophia gave him a huge grin. “I'm so glad. Maybe he can come with me to meet Chewpaca.” Then she reached up and gave Sawyer a little hug before sliding off his lap and running to join her mother.
Sawyer looked over at Drew and shook his head. “Damn. These little girls. They just get to me.” He thumped his chest over his heart.
Drew understood. That had all been pretty fucking sweet.
Sweet was not what he had come here for, but it was everywhere he looked.
He glanced across the barnyard, searching for Rory, seemingly instinctually. He saw the top of her green head when she straightened from giving a little boy a candy cane.
Then something else caught his eye just beyond where she was standing.
Protectiveness and anger immediately tightened his body. No fucking way.
He started in that direction but remembered that he was in the middle of Santa's reindeer herd.
“Hey, Jordan,” he called, trying to make his voice sound normal.
Jordan looked over. “Yeah?”
“I need you to handle the reindeer for little bit.”
She came over and took her place next to Ethel. Drew handed her the tiny treat bucket.
“Everything okay?” She clearly read in his face that it wasn't.
“No. But it's going to be.”
Without any further explanation. Drew started in the direction of the man he'd seen hovering by the pickups parked along the fence line.
Roger Robins was here.
He couldn't believe that fucker had showed back up here and thought he was going to just walk in and out of here as if he hadn’t stolen from these good people and nearly ruined his daughter’s Christmas.
Well, when he walked out of here—which he would be doing without saying so much as a single word to Rory—it would be for good.
This guy wasn’t going to mess with Rory anymore.
Drew was here now.
And yeah, he was a good guy.
But he knew how to be a real asshole when the situation called for it.
