Once Removed, page 13
She’d ordered her muffin and coffee and gotten out as quickly as she could.
“Phoebe’ll call me when she’s finished,” Lainey said. “But she said she has a lot to do, and it could be late afternoon before she’s done.” Lainey sighed and slumped against the kitchen counter. “Which made me realize I need to get her a cell phone. I want her to be able to call us if she needs us. And…” She drew in a deep breath. “Since she doesn’t seem to want anything to do with her father, I want her to be able to call for help if he shows up unexpectedly.”
Brody pulled the slices out of the toaster oven and slid them onto a plate. Handed it to Lainey. “I agree. We can add her to my plan.”
“We’ll put her on mine,” she said, straightening her spine, steel in her voice. She did not want to fight with him about money. “I’ll get her a cell phone. You’re providing her with a home and meals. The least I can do is get her a phone.”
“You bought her clothes,” Brody said, closing the oven door on his own slices of pepperoni pizza. “And you’re getting her more clothes tomorrow.”
Lainey’s plate clattered onto the counter, and she whirled to face him. “You’re really going to argue about what we’re each contributing to Phoebe financially?” She narrowed her eyes at him, daring him to push about the cell phone.
“Hell, no,” he said, pulling his own slices out of the oven. “But you’ve had some unexpected expenses,” he said, carrying his plate into the dining room, Lainey trailing behind him. “Having Phoebe here doesn’t cost me a dime.” He waited for her sit, then slid into the chair beside her. “Vi always makes more food than we need, and the bedroom is standing empty.” He picked up a slice and pointed it at her. “You have to repair the damage to your house.” He took a bite of pizza, but it looked as though he was stalling for time. Marshalling his arguments.
Swallowing the food, he took a deep breath. “You had funeral expenses,” he finally said, avoiding her gaze. “And, as I said, you’ve already bought her some clothes. It makes me feel good to help Phoebe.”
Steaming, Lainey dropped her pizza onto her plate. “I’m glad you want to help her, Brody, but you’re being too aggressive about this and it’s making me uncomfortable. I don’t want to argue with you about who’s spent more money on Phoebe.” Anger rose up in a hot wave as the memories crowded in. “I spent my marriage arguing about money with Ron. I’m not going there with you.”
Brody closed his eyes. Took a deep breath, then reached for Lainey’s hand. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I just want to help you. Ease some of your burden.”
“It’s not easing my burden.” She slid her hand away from Brody’s. “It’s making me uncomfortable. Threatened. So back off, Brody. Please.”
Brody faced her, his expression troubled. “God, Lainey! The last thing I want is to make you feel uncomfortable. Or threatened. I had no idea money had been an issue in your marriage, or I wouldn’t have brought it up.”
“It wasn’t my issue,” she said, staring at the slice of pizza left on her plate, her appetite gone. “I made more money with my business than Ron made as a deputy. I didn’t have a problem with that, but Ron did.”
“What kind of an idiot gets upset because his wife makes more money?” Brody asked, astounded.
“An insecure one,” she said, her eyes fixed on her plate. “From the beginning, I insisted we each have our own savings and checking accounts, and that we’d both contribute to a joint account for our shared expenses. That seemed fair and equitable.” She sighed. “Some part of me must have realized we’d have problems with money.” Seeing that she’d clenched her fists, she slid them to her lap.
“When Ron couldn’t afford something he wanted to buy, he’d ask me to ‘help him out.’ Promised he’d pay me back next payday.” She hunched her shoulders, remembering the bitter fights. The excuses.
The enormous amount of money she’d lost. “I’m an accountant, and I’m careful with my money. I think before I spend it. But in the beginning, if Ron wanted money, I gave it to him.” She shrugged. “He was my husband. I trusted when he told me he’d pay me back. But he never did. And I realized pretty quickly that he was an impulsive shopper. If something caught his eye, he didn’t think about whether he needed it or whether it was necessary. He wanted it, and that was a good enough reason. So I stopped giving him money when he asked for it.”
Forgetting about his food, Brody turned to face Lainey. Took her hands. “I’m sorry, Lainey. That had to be really difficult. Painful.”
His mouth tightened, and Lainey knew exactly what he was thinking. It was written all over his face. He’d realized that Ron had starting knocking her around when she stopped giving him the money he asked for.
Brody’s lips thinned. “If Ron was still alive, I’d kick his ass into the middle of next month.”
“I appreciate the sentiment,” she said, her voice low. It still made her angry to think about how Ron had used her. Squeezing Brody’s hand, she let him go and shoved her plate away. The remaining slice of pizza slid onto the table, leaving a trail of crumbs behind.
Avoiding his gaze, she carefully replaced the pizza on the plate. “I didn’t want to fight about money,” she said in a low voice. “I tried to explain to Ron that he needed to save money, too. Be more careful about how he spent it.” She flattened her palms on the table. “That was a mistake.”
“Of course it was,” he said softly. “No one wants their spouse to lecture them about money, but it sounds like you had no choice. And clearly, Ron couldn’t see that.”
He reached for Lainey’s hands. “I’m sorry, Lainey,” he said, sliding his palm against one of hers. “I know how you feel, because money was an issue with my wife, too. Sherry wanted an endless stream of money for what I thought were frivolous things. This was just after I’d inherited the ranch and was trying to make sure it was successful in the long term. I couldn’t afford to let her keep spending my capital. She wasn’t happy when I cut her off.”
She stared at him for a long moment, seeing the truth in his eyes. He understood her issues. Realized how money could destroy a marriage. She slumped into her chair and sighed. “How did we get caught up in this depressing subject?” she asked, staring at her last piece of pizza, her appetite gone. “I had no intention of talking about my money problems with Ron, and I’m sure you didn’t plan on talking about your wife’s spending habits.”
“No. This conversation took a turn I wasn’t ready for,” he said. “Especially because I was really looking forward to you coming home.” He sighed and rolled his shoulders, tightening his grip on her hand. “But it was a necessary conversation,” he said.
“Really?” Surprised, Lainey raised an eyebrow. “You think we need to talk about our problems with our spouses?”
“Not what I meant. I don’t want to hear about Ron, and I’m sure you don’t want to hear about Sherry. But these are the conversations people who are interested in each other need to have. You can’t have true Intimacy if you don’t know your partner. I want to know how you became the person you are today, and you need to know the same about me.”
Discomfort flickered across Brody’s face. Disappeared so quickly she wondered if she’d imagined it. Who wanted to talk about their failures? Especially to someone they were interested in.
After a too-long moment, Brody said, “Money is an important part of that information. How we spend it and save it.” He shook his head. “Now we both know that money problems contributed to the ends of our marriages.”
Lainey stared at him for a long time, trying to let go of her irritation at their fight about money for Phoebe. Finally she forced a smile. “Nice recovery, Jones. You pulled us both out of that morass. And made it sound like we needed to have that conversation.”
“We did, Lainey. Don’t you feel better, knowing I’m not a spendthrift? That I save my money and plan my budget?”
“Are you saying that I won’t have to support you in your old age?” she retorted, finally allowing a smile to reach her eyes.
His mouth curled up on one side, and she wondered what he was thinking. Finally, he said, “It’s nice knowing you could, though. Right? Just like it’s nice knowing I could support you in our old age.”
“Fine, Brody. You win,” she sighed as she pushed away from the table. “It wasn’t a conversation I would have chosen to have today, but you’re right. We exchanged important information.”
“Exactly.” He stood up and grabbed both their plates, then tilted his head as he studied her. “You’re still irritated.”
She stilled and studied him. “How did you know that? I thought I’d hidden it pretty well.”
“I’ve studied you for a long time,” he said. “I know what it means when you purse your lips like that. And I know what it means when they turn white.”
“And what’s that, Mr. Expert?”
“It means back off. You’re irritated verging on seriously pissed.”
“And you know all this from our meetings at my office?”’
He shrugged. “I was drawn to you immediately, Lainey. Even though I knew you were married, I also knew Ron. We’d interacted enough that I suspected you’d be free someday.” He rolled his eyes. “God, I sound like some loser high school kid with a crush on the unattainable girl. Or a creepy stalker. But I’m powerfully attracted to you. And I wanted to know everything about you.”
She let go of her irritation with Brody. He wasn’t Ron. He wasn’t trying to control her. He wanted to help her. She sighed. “Brody, thank you for trying to fix this. I’ve let it go. Okay?”
“Thanks, Lainey. I appreciate that. And I’m glad to know about what Ron did. That he weaseled money out of you. I promise that I’ll keep that in mind the next time we talk about money. Okay?”
“There’s going to be a next time?” she said, quirking one eyebrow.
“I sure as hell hope so. But not now. I’m going to change the subject. In the interest of information sharing, I need to ask if you know how to ride a horse.”
“Smooth segue,” she said, letting the last of her irritation go. She relaxed her shoulders. Managed a genuine smile. “As a matter of fact, I do know how to ride a horse. I was one of those horse-mad little girls. Took riding lessons. Played with plastic horse figurines. Sadly, though, my father wouldn’t let me keep a horse in our suburban backyard.”
“Poor Lainey,” he said. “But now you have horses at your fingertips. How about a ride? It’s a beautiful day.”
“That sounds perfect,” she said, smiling as happiness rushed through her. It had been several years since she’d been on a horse. “Let me go put on more appropriate riding clothes.”
As Lainey dashed up the stairs, her face heated as she felt Brody watching her. Once in her room, she stripped off her tight jeans and running shoes, then pulled on looser jeans and sturdy boots. “I’m all set,” she said less than a couple minutes later as she clattered down the stairs.
“Not quite,” he said, taking her hand and leading her into the mudroom behind the kitchen. He studied the wide-brimmed hats on pegs along the wall and finally selected one. “Try this on.”
She slid it onto her head. Shook her head, trying to dislodge it. It was comfortable and exactly the right size. “Perfect,” she said.
“Great. Let’s go.”
Two hours later, they cantered back to the barn. Brody hadn’t tried to keep up with her, as if he’d realized she knew what she was doing. She knew her way around horses. Knew how to handle them. How to ride them. And she knew how to connect with them, a skill that couldn’t be taught.
When they stopped outside the barn, she dismounted without waiting for help, then ran her hand down the gray mare’s neck. Crooned something in a low voice, and the mare flicked her ears. Turned her head to look at Lainey.
Brody pulled a small carrot out of his pocket and pressed it into Lainey’s hand, and she flashed him a smile of thanks. Offered it to the mare, who took it daintily from her palm.
“You’re a good rider,” he said, his voice warm. “You know your way around horses. You can ride mine any time you like.” He nodded at the gray mare she’d ridden, who gently bumped Lainey’s shoulder with her nose. “Candy agrees with me.”
Hiding a grin, her eyes twinkling, Lainey said, “She’s a great horse,” as she scratched the mare’s nose.
Oh, God. His comment had been innocent, but Lainey’d turned it into a double entendre. Clearing his throat, Brody said, “Let’s get them cooled down and brushed.”
He showed her the equipment in the tack room, and Lainey collected what she’d need. Over the next fifteen minutes, Lainey removed the mare’s saddle and bridle, brushed her down and gave her fresh water. Then, with a final pat on the neck she stepped out of Candy’s stall and latched the door.
“Thanks, Brody,” she said, leaning against Thunder’s stall as he finished with his horse. “I really enjoyed that.”
“You’re really good at it, too,” he said.
She shrugged. “Most people are good at things they love to do.”
The barn was quiet, the only sounds the snuffling of the horses and the swishing of straw as the animals moved around in the stalls. Everyone was still in town, leaving her and Brody alone on the ranch. The air was heavy with anticipation. Expectancy.
Their lunch conversation had been uncomfortable. Strained. But as angry as she’d been, she was glad they’d had it. They’d learned more about each other. And it proved they could talk about problems without running away from them. She’d never felt that way about Ron. She’d gone out of her way to avoid conversations with him.
As Brody slipped out of Thunder’s stall with a final pat on his horse’s rump, Lainey straightened. They’d navigated the treacherous shoals of her marriage’s failure, and she felt free. Freer than she’d felt in a long time.
Brody’s doing.
A lot of men would have fled from the awkward, angry conversation they’d had. Brody hadn’t just not fled. He’d steered them through the conversation with grace, and now a tsunami of desire rose inside her.
Being around Brody had awakened the desire she’d thought had died. His care with her, his concern about her, had set it free.
So she stepped toward him. Tossed her borrowed hat toward the stall door, not caring when it fell to the floor. Locking her gaze with his, she watched the realization blossom in his blue eyes. He sucked in a deep breath and reached for her.
She flung herself into his arms, gripping his shirt. Yanked him toward her. She went up on her toes, searching his gaze. Saw nothing but desire, overlaid with concern for her.
She couldn’t remember the last time a man had been concerned about her. Worried for her. The realization that Brody had been worried about her, that he cared about her, smashed every barrier she’d erected around her heart. Cupping his face in her hands, she pulled his head down and kissed him with every joyous cell in her body.
Chapter 14
Lainey hadn’t thought before kissing Brody. She hadn’t weighed the consequences, or wondered if it was the right thing to do, or worried that he’d think she was out of line.
She’d only felt. Been consumed by overwhelming need, as if she’d die if she didn’t kiss Brody right now.
And Brody was clearly on board with her plan. His arms tightened around her, and he opened his mouth to hers. Nipped at her lower lip, then tugged gently on the delicate tissue. Her moan of pleasure echoed in his mouth, a sound only the two of them could hear.
As she deepened the kiss, Brody shifted, until she was pressed against Candy’s stall, Brody’s hard body crowding hers. Surrounding her. But instead of feeling trapped and panicking, she flew. Soared into the pleasure only Brody could give her.
Her gasps blended with Brody’s, filling the silent barn. He ran his hands down her sides, over her hips, leaving trails of fire behind. With a deep, needy groan, he tugged her closer and cupped her ass. Lifted her, so that the heat and hardness of his cock pressed into the notch between her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist and abandoned herself to pleasure.
He trailed his mouth down her neck, nipping at the tendon and making her shiver. Then he yanked her shirt out of her jeans and splayed his fingers against her abdomen. His hand was hot, his skin rough, and she squirmed against him. She wanted his fingers higher.
As if he could read her mind, he slid his hand up and fumbled with the front closure of her bra. Unsnapped it and freed her aching breasts. He breathed her name against her throat, then yanked her shirt up, burying his face in the valley between her breasts.
“More,” she gasped, hardly able to form the words she needed. “More, Brody.”
His throat rippled against her mouth. His hand shook as he covered one breast. Moved his palm over her nipple, until she cried out with pleasure. With need. Fire traveled from her breasts to the ache between her legs, and she pressed harder against him. She needed more from Brody. Needed everything.
As he took one nipple in his mouth, her legs trembled, too weak to keep her wrapped around Brody. As she began to slide down his body, he banded an arm around her waist, keeping her upright.
She fumbled with the button on his jeans, alternately trying to shove it through the too-tiny buttonhole and smoothing her palm over his hard, hot length. When she squeezed, his hips bucked wildly against her. His mouth tightened on her nipple, sucking so hard that she cried out with need. “More, Brody,” she panted. “I need more. Now. Please.”
Finally she got the button of his jeans undone. She pushed the zipper down cautiously, and when she’d finished, she shoved at his jeans, pushing them to his knees. Then she slid her hand into his boxers and curled her fingers around him.
“Lainey,” he gasped. “Stop. Are you sure this is what you want?”
“Does it feel like I’m unsure?” she whispered. “Does it feel like I want to stop?”
“No,” he panted, his hips jerking when she circled his tip. “No. But I need to hear the words.”
