Grabbing the baseball bat from her closet, left behind from her days of playing ball, she crept down the hallway. A shadow danced on the kitchen wall. Bottles clanked in the refrigerator and then the door closed. The intruder was in the kitchen…and raiding the refrigerator? What the hell?
Shannon lowered the bat slightly and peered around the kitchen door. Dustin stood by the sink, a bottle of beer dangling from his long fingers. She sighed, her heartbeat returning to normal, and propped her hip against the door jamb. “What are you doing here?”
He looked up from his beer and grinned. “There you are. I was on my way to town when I saw all the lights on. Figured I‟d make sure Carolyn hadn‟t gotten back in.”
“You were afraid my mother was here?”
He shrugged. “Gran asked me to keep an eye on the place and told me under no circumstances was
„that woman‟ allowed back on the property.”
Shannon laughed. Gran was very protective of her home. “And the beer?”
Dustin had the grace to blush. “I figured if I was going to keep checking the place, I should at least keep my favorite beer on hand.”
That was Dustin, always dependable and practical. Her heart swelled, her pulse kicked into overdrive. His presence filled the room. “In that case, wanna toss me one? I could use a drink right now.”
He obliged, and they went into the living room. They sat side by side on the flowered couch, feet propped on the coffee table. The ceiling fan clicked and whirled, muffling the chirping crickets outside.
“This is your first time back, isn‟t it?” The question was more a statement as Dustin took a pull from the bottle. “Are you doing okay?”
Shannon twirled her bottle on her knee. Define okay. “It‟s a little weird. I still expect her to be in the kitchen, ya know?” She swallowed back tears. “I never should have gone to Paris. If I‟d only listened to my instincts. I knew she was sick, and I told her I would come home…”
Dustin put his large hand on her thigh. Heat scorched to her pussy, and she wanted to grab his hand and move it farther up.
“Stop. Gran wanted you to go. If you had missed out on that part of your dream simply to tend to her, she would have felt horrible, and you know it.”
Tears filled her eyes. “But she died alone.”
He shook his head. “No, she didn‟t. Mom and I were here with her all the time. Don‟t feel guilty, Shay, not for a minute. She was so proud of you.” He brushed a tear from her cheek.
“You were with Gran?” Even more guilt assuaged her. “You took care of her when I was out traipsing around the world.” She hung her head. “You both must have hated me for leaving you here.” And for the first time, his behavior struck a chord. “Why aren‟t you more upset with me? Since I got here, you‟ve been friendly and flirty and like nothing I expected.”
“So, what? You want me to waste energy on being bitter?”
It would have made her feel better if he had.
He set his beer on the table and cupped her cheeks, his palms cool from the chilled bottle. “Look at me, Shannon.” When she looked up, he said, “We all knew that leaving was what you needed to do. You had to follow your dream.”
“You were so mad at me,” she whispered, her chin trembling. The anger in his eyes was burned in her memory. Her heart clenched. “You told me to leave and never look back.” And all she wanted him to do was beg her to stay. Would she have? Probably not, but she needed him to prove she was wanted. What a pathetic, needy loser she‟d been back then.
“How else was I going to get you to leave?” He lifted the corner of his mouth in a wry smile. “If I thought for one second I could have kept you here and made you happy, I would have. I was so in love with you, Shay, I would have done anything to make you smile.”
Was. Past tense. Her heart clenched in misery. Yet, here he was comforting her, touching her. His face was so close.
“What about now?” Oh, God, had that question just slipped out? Her heart skipped a beat waiting for his answer.
His hazel eyes darkened to jade green. “I would still do anything to make you smile.”
Not a declaration of true love, but she‟d take it. A cool breeze brushed her cheeks, like Gran had given her blessing for another chance at happiness. “Thank you for being here when I wasn‟t.”
He breathed a kiss across her lips. “You‟re welcome.”
This man, this fuck-me sexy man, had taken it upon himself to care for her gran. He had opened his arms wide and accepted her family as his own. And not only that, but from the moment they saw each other, he‟d made her feel alive again.
Desire flared to life deep in her belly. She set her beer on the table and swung onto his lap to deepen the kiss. His hat bumped her forehead so she plucked it off his head and chucked it across the room.
“Hey, that‟s my favorite hat,” he protested, his large, hot hands clutching her hips.
She braced her palms against his shoulders and quirked an eyebrow. “You want me to get it for you?” She scooched back on his lap, but he stilled her.
“Not on your life.” Gripping her ass, he yanked her forward until they were belly to belly. Her crotch brushed the fly of his jeans, his cock hard and ready beneath it. She gyrated against him in slow circles and closed her eyes as her pussy throbbed. “I‟ve waited a long time to get you back in my arms.”
Snaking his arms around her waist, he swirled his tongue around the interior of her mouth, teasing, seducing. He traced the fullness of her lower lip and then sucked gently. Shannon sighed in sweet surrender. She leaned forward, resting against his chest. This was right. Being with him was where she belonged. She didn‟t need New York. She only needed—and wanted—Dustin Dumen. Her tongue stroked his, tangling, promising. Her clit twitched in response, demanding attention.
With fumbling fingers, she wrestled with his belt buckle. Finally, it was open and she moved on to the button-fly closure of his jeans.
He cupped her breasts, lifting them high, his thumbs stroking the erect nipples through the material of her T-shirt and bra. A soft moan escaped her. God, she wanted him.
A vibration from his pocket startled her. “You‟re cock is buzzing.”
Dustin groaned and pulled her mouth back to his. “Ignore it,” he commanded and sucked her lower lip into his mouth.
She did and tugged his shirt free of his jeans. One by one, she released the buttons and pushed the fabric aside, revealing taut, bronzed skin, each muscle fully defined. Holy hell, he‟d grown up good. Ever so lightly, she skimmed the tips of her fingers over the flat planes of his stomach, reveling in the muscles jumping under her touch. Bending forward, she ran her tongue around a beaded nipple, licking a path down to his navel. Dustin sighed and dropped his head to the back of the couch.
With impatient fingers, she unfastened his jeans, each button popping free. She slipped a hand inside his boxers and circled his steely erection, milking and massaging the ropy veins threading down his thick length. Silken heat burned the skin of her palm. His eyes smoldered with desire, and his breathing grew shallow. Ah, the power she wielded in her hand.
Sliding off his lap to her knees, she shouldered his thighs wider apart and maneuvered her mouth to hover above his cock.