Once Removed, page 12
“Oh, my God,” Brody whispered. “What the hell did Larsen do to her?”
“She didn’t say a thing,” Lainey said. “But we took a couple of the big plastic bags we’d gotten at Target, and she threw stuff into them really fast. Then she grabbed her shampoo and hair dryer from the bathroom, tossed those in a bag and tore out of the house. As we were driving away, Larsen’s truck turned down the street, and she turned sheet-white.”
To hell with keeping her hands to herself. Lainey reached for Brody’s hand, gripped it tightly when he offered it. “What horrible things happened to Phoebe in that house?” she whispered.
Brody’s jaw worked, and his mouth thinned. “I’m guessing he hit her, at the very least. God knows what else might have happened.”
“It sounds as though Phoebe worked a lot after her mother died. Probably to avoid her father,” Lainey said. Gripping Brody’s hand, she leaned closer to him. “After seeing how she reacted to her father today, I can’t bear to let her go back to Larsen. I want to talk to DCFS. Find out about becoming her guardian. Or her foster parent.”
“Yeah, I want something more permanent, too,” Brody said. “But Phoebe’s only been here for a couple days. Let’s give her a little time to adjust. To settle in. Then we can talk to her about a more permanent solution. We already talked about not going to DCFS behind Phoebe’s back.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Lainey said. “I wouldn’t betray her trust. But I won’t let her go back to Larsen.”
“Doesn’t look like he wants her, anyway.” Brody scowled.
“We don’t know that,” Lainey said. “Maybe he called the sheriff when he realized she wasn’t at the house. Maybe Larsen’s looking for her.”
Brody scowled. “He left her alone in that house for a couple of months. With no food or money. I doubt he’s looking for her now.”
“You’re probably right,” Lainey sighed. “But becoming her guardian would mean I wouldn’t have to worry about her all the time. Wonder if her father is going to take her out of school and disappear with her. Or show up on our doorstep.”
Brody blew out a breath. “Yeah. We’ll have to figure something out.” He smiled. “I like the sound of our doorstep. I’m tempted to hold you to that.”
Heat burned in Lainey’s cheeks. She hadn’t been hinting that she wanted to move in with Brody, even though she loved being here. Loved staying with Brody, seeing him every morning before she left for work and every evening when she got home. “It was a slip of the tongue,” she muttered.
“Maybe.” His smile widened. “But I won’t press you to talk about that tonight.” He leaned closer. “I’m pretty sure no one makes you do anything you don’t want to do.” He tugged at her hand and drew her out of the chair and over to his. Wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. “Tell me about your shopping trip with Phoebe? Did she have fun? Did you?”
Lainey relaxed against his chest. His flannel shirt smelled like the outdoors, and his five o’clock shadow caught in her hair. “I had a great time,” she said, letting her worry go. “I loved that she was so excited about getting new clothes. Watching her model them made me so thankful we found her. And I think I enjoyed helping her pick out the clothes as much as she loved getting them.”
Her smile faded as she turned to look at him. “I’m going to take her into Bozeman this weekend to do more shopping. It’s a bigger city with more stores, and she needs more clothes. Everything she brought from her house is worn and probably too small for her. I mentioned it to her, and she seemed to like the idea.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” he said. “Maybe I’ll go with you. I have a few things I need to do in Bozeman. You can drop me off and shop with Phoebe, then we’ll meet up later. Maybe have lunch or dinner.”
When she didn’t say anything, he glanced down at her. “Unless you don’t want me intruding on your girl time.”
“Not at all,” she assured him. “I just don’t want to take you away from your work if that’s the only reason you want to join us.”
“Not the only reason,” he said, holding up a hand. “I swear. I’ve needed to go into Bozeman for a while, but kept putting it off.” He smiled, and the warmth in his eyes made Lainey curl a little more tightly against him. “Being with you and Phoebe will make it fun instead of…”
“Instead of what, Brody?” she whispered.
He gazed down at her. “Instead of a hundred boring miles each way,” he murmured, his mouth hovering over hers. His hand tightened on her hip, and he drew her closer. “Any time I spend with you is a pleasure, even if it’s driving to Bozeman and back with a teen-aged chaperone.”
Brody made everything more exciting. Before she could filter herself, she said, “Being with you makes everything more fun, Brody.”
“I’ve thought the same about you for a long time, Lainey.” His eyes darkened and he leaned closer. “I looked forward to every trip to your office. Planned what I was going to wear. Thought about whether I should ask you to get coffee with me. But the answer was always no. You were married. And I wasn’t going to step over the line.”
Brody’s eyes were hot with need. With desire for her, and heat fluttered in her belly. Lower. His body surrounded hers, his arms holding her close, and Lainey felt safe. Protected. Cherished.
Desired. An emotion that had been missing from her life for a very long time.
As Brody stared down at her, his eyes darkened. Sparked with blue fire. Holding her gaze, he lowered his mouth slowly, as if waiting for her to object. To turn her head away from him.
Slide off his lap.
Instead, an answering fire built inside her, and Lainey leaned closer. Cupped Brody’s face in her palms and brushed her mouth over his. Brody froze for a moment, then deepened the kiss. She tasted his desperation. His need. His urgency.
An answering urgency swept through her. The heat and the need that had been dead for so long surged to life. She didn’t care they weren’t alone in the house. Didn’t care they might be interrupted.
Suddenly, there was only Brody. The way he made her feel. The deep connection that hummed between them. They’d carefully ignored it until the day he’d pulled her from the burning building at the compound.
Now, in this quiet room in the silent house, Brody was her sole focus. The only other person who existed in her world. “I’m not married now, Brody.”
Turning her body into his, she pressed against his chest, her breasts swelling with need. Blood pounded through her veins. Arousal hummed through her, the sensation foreign. Unfamiliar. It had been far too long since she’d wanted. But she knew Brody. Knew the kind of man he was.
Knew she could trust him.
So, taking a deep breath, she wrapped that truth around herself and let everything else go. Tried to focus only on Brody instead of the fear that wanted to close its fists around her.
Shoving the fear away, she felt only Brody. Smelled only his scent. Heard only his heart, beating against hers.
“Lainey,” he groaned into her mouth. “God, I want you. So much. You’re all I can think about. I’ve imagined us together for so long. Way before you came here to stay with me.” He drew in a shuddering breath. Managed to smile. “I’ve got to be the only man on earth who looked forward to seeing his accountant. I’d think of the flimsiest excuses to go to your office.”
“And I was always thrilled to see you,” she murmured against his mouth. More truth. She tangled her hands in his hair, letting the silky strands caress her fingers. “When I saw your name on my appointment list, my heart would speed up. My hands would shake.” She traced his mouth with her fingers. “And you were always such a gentleman. I appreciated that, even though I didn’t want you to be.”
His hands tightened around her. “I didn’t want to be a gentleman, either, Lainey,” he said, brushing his mouth over hers. “I wanted to wrap you in my arms. Kiss you senseless. Find out whether you wanted me as much as I wanted you.”
Cupping his face in her hands, Lainey pressed his mouth against his. “I did, Brody,” she whispered into his mouth, freeing the truth she’d suppressed for so long. “I had to keep myself on a tight rein to stay professional. To do my job. Remind myself I was married. But every time you sat on the other side of my desk? I wanted to throw myself into your arms.”
“You’re not married any longer,” he whispered. “May I kiss you the way I’ve wanted to kiss you forever?”
“Yes,” she said into his mouth. “Please kiss me, Brody.”
He brushed his lips over hers softly, giving her a chance to change her mind. Instead of backing away, as a smarter woman would have done, she pressed closer. Twined her arms around his neck.
He groaned into her mouth, and she opened for him. Their tongues danced together. Tangled. Seduced.
Lainey burned with need as they kissed, her body on fire and her self-control hanging by a thread. Brody was all she could think about as his heat and muscles and strength surrounded her, keeping her safe. Protecting her.
Driving her wild with need.
It had been years since she’d experienced those things with a man.
Beneath her, the hard length of his penis burned into her through her pants and Brody’s jeans. She shifted, rolling over him, and he cried out. “God, Lainey! Don’t move. If you do that again, I might embarrass myself.”
She rolled over him again, and he groaned into her mouth. Lifted his lips long enough to murmur, “Fighting dirty? I can do that, too.” He slid his fingers beneath her shirt and they rasped against her abdomen, his fingertips rough against her skin. His touch made her shiver. Moan into his mouth. Shift to get closer to him.
His hand drifted higher, stroking and caressing. He stopped at her bra, tracing the outline of the lace.
She was going to explode if he didn’t touch her. “Please, Brody,” she said, her voice breathless. Shaking. “Touch me.” She tugged on his hand. “Here. I’ll die if you don’t touch me.”
His penis twitched against her leg, and she wanted to reach down and caress him. Take him in her hand. As if he could sense her intent, he held her tighter. Immobile against him. But she managed to wriggle once before his hands tightened on her.
With a rough, raw murmur, he slid his hand beneath her bra. Cupped the mound of her breast in his hand. When he brushed the hard tip, she shuddered against him. Moaned into his neck.
Arousal burned inside her, sending electricity through her veins. She throbbed for him. Ached for him.
Wanting like this? It was a miracle.
Sliding his hand from her breast, he moved lower. Brushed his fingers over the seam of her pants once. Again. Pressed harder, and she exploded.
He muffled her cries with his mouth. Held her while her climax shuddered through her. Finally, he took his hand away and cupped her face in both palms.
“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen, Lainey. The sexiest thing I’ve ever felt.” He kissed her deeply, and she opened for him. In moments, arousal stirred again.
She wanted to rip his clothes off, along with her own. Join with him. Give him as much pleasure as he’d given her.
But as her arousal faded, she opened her eyes and saw the living room. The kitchen behind it. The stairs that led up to the bedrooms.
Where Phoebe was doing her homework.
“Oh, my God, Brody,” she said, sitting up. Sliding away from him. “What were we thinking?”
“Neither of us was doing a lot of thinking,” he said, brushing her hair away from her face with shaking hands. “We were only feeling.”
“Yes,” she whispered. Heat burned her cheeks. “What if Phoebe had come down to find me? To ask for help with her homework? What if Vi had forgotten something in the kitchen and come back into the house?”
“We would have been caught kissing on the couch,” he said.
“We did a lot more than kiss.” His penis was still hard against her leg. “It was wonderful, but too one-sided. I don’t want to leave you frustrated.”
She reached down to touch him, and Brody grabbed her hand. Pressed a kiss to her palm. “I’ll be fine,” Brody said against her hand, his mouth curling up. “I’m used to this situation.”
“I don’t want you to be used to it,” she said, pressing one last kiss to his mouth, then sliding off his lap and standing on shaky legs. “But I think I’d better go up to my room. Or we might really get in trouble.”
Brody stood up and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her one more time, his mouth lingering on hers, until her legs were even shakier. Then he set her away from him. “Good night, Lainey. Sweet dreams.”
“They will be,” she whispered. “I’ll dream of you all night.”
Chapter 13
Brody stood on the porch, his hand raised as he watched Lainey and Phoebe drive away. After dropping the girl off at the library to work with her friend Ashley on her backlog of homework, Lainey was heading to her house to clean up the mess her intruder had left behind.
As Lainey’s car slowed at the gate, then drove through and disappeared in the direction of Helena, Brody returned to the house, irritation and pride making him slam the door harder than necessary. He’d wanted to go with Lainey to help her clean up her house, but she’d declined. Firmly.
“It’s a Saturday morning,” she’d said. “Not the middle of the night. People in my neighborhood will be doing chores. Working in their yards. They’ll be around. My prowler won’t show his face. I’ll be perfectly safe. And I know you have things to do here.”
He did, but that wasn’t the point. He wanted to go with Lainey, just in case she ran into trouble.
Or even if she didn’t. He wanted to spend his time with Lainey, instead of spending Saturday morning reviewing receipts and ordering feed for the next two weeks.
And that was a problem.
She was messing with his mind. Distracting him from his business. He’d spent far too much time daydreaming about their sexy encounter in the living room a couple of days ago. Hoping to repeat it.
But Lainey had gone out of her way to avoid being alone with him.
He understood -- she wasn’t ready for more. After she’d come in his lap as he’d swallowed her sexy cries, he’d seen the shock in her expression when she recovered. The realization that she’d gone much farther than she’d intended.
It was probably the reason she’d been creative with reasons to avoid him. They both knew that if they were alone, they’d be tempted to take more.
Sighing, he closed his eyes. Tilted his head back. Then forced his attention to the paperwork that was a constant deluge. He’d neglected it for a few days, and it had already begun piling up.
He shoved away from his desk and walked into the kitchen to get another cup of coffee. Then he settled down at his desk and forced thoughts of Lainey out of his head. Stared at his feed order, blinked, and began to write.
Two hours later, Brody heard a car approach the house. He tensed until he recognized the sound of Lainey’s car. Exactly the distraction he needed.
Tossing his pencil onto his desk, he stood and hurried to the porch. Lainey was stepping out of her car, and she looked over at him. Smiled, but he could see the strain.
“What happened?” he called, stepping onto the driveway and hurrying over to her. He grabbed her hands and held them tightly in his. “What’s wrong?”
She stared up at him, and for a moment he saw longing in her expression. Desire in her eyes. Then she squeezed his hands and let him go. “Nothing’s wrong,” she finally said. “Just a long couple of hours.”
“Want to tell me about it over lunch?” He gestured toward the house. “Vi told me there was leftover pizza.”
“Sounds great,” she said. “I didn’t take time to eat in town. I was in a hurry to…” She stopped abruptly.
“In a hurry to what, Lainey?” he asked, lowering his voice. It sounded far too intimate, too needy, and he cursed himself.
That was exactly what Lainey didn’t want.
“To get back to… to the ranch,” she said, after stumbling on the words.
He hoped she meant she was in a hurry to get back to him. But he wasn’t going to ask. Better to imagine that’s what she’d meant, than to ask and make her uncomfortable. “I’m glad you did,” he said instead. “Wasn’t looking forward to lunch by myself.”
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes at him, and it was easy to read her skepticism. “You’re constantly surrounded by people. And you weren’t savoring a couple of hours by yourself? I sure would be.”
He opened the door and ushered her inside, then slid his fingers between hers as he steered her toward the kitchen. “I did enjoy the quiet, but it would have been more fun with you here to enjoy it with me.”
Lainey sucked in a breath, but she didn’t tug her hand away from him. “Well, I’m here now,” she said, her voice low and sexy in the quiet house. “So let’s have some pizza while you tell me what you did this morning.”
Brody reached into the refrigerator and pulled out the two pizzas that Vi had wrapped up. “Pepperoni or veggie?” he asked.
“Veggie for me. Just a couple of slices, please.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “I stopped at the Sweet Spot and got coffee and a muffin after I dropped Phoebe at the library.”
Brody lifted one eyebrow as he tried to control his grin. “Looking for some gossip about me?”
“I don’t gossip,” she said, although her cheeks stained pink. He wanted to kiss those hot cheeks and whisper that she didn’t need to pay attention to the gossip. That the only woman he was interested in was standing in front of him.
Instead, he bit back his grin and slid two slices of veggie pizza into the toaster oven. “How long is Phoebe going to be at the library?” he asked. How much time did they have before she had to pick up Phoebe?
* * *
Lainey stared at the toaster oven rather than looking at Brody, her cheeks burning after her admission that she’d stopped at The Sweet Spot. And yes, she had hoped to hear some gossip. But she’d been disappointed. Everyone had stopped talking when she walked in the door.
