AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“May I at least kiss you? Since that’ll have to hold me for a while?”
Lainey reached for him, and Brody wrapped his arms around her tightly. Held her against him. His erection burned into her belly, and she took a deep, shuddering breath. “A kiss isn’t going to be nearly enough, Brody,” she whispered. “But it’s gonna have to do.” She lifted her head and gazed into his eyes. Desire burned there, igniting a fire in her as well.
He didn’t crush his mouth to hers. Instead, he kissed her slowly. Softly. Brushing his lips over hers, sucking on her lower lip, as if he wanted to memorize her taste. The way she felt. The tiny gasps and moans he drew out of her.
Desire roared to life as his mouth moved over hers. Aching for him, the burn of need flooding her veins, Lainey pressed closer to Brody. She nibbled at his mouth, tasting his lips. Enjoying his groans vibrating in her mouth. And when she slid her hands around his waist and cupped his hard ass to pull him closer, he froze. Carefully untangled himself from her and stepped away. “We have to stop, Lainey.” He smoothed his fingers down her cheek, brushed his mouth over hers one last time. “If we don’t, I’ll embarrass myself. But that was a hell of a kiss.”
She was shaking, and her knees were wet noodles, unable to hold her up. “I… I need to sit down,” she gasped.
Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, Brody steered her toward the couch. Eased her down, then sat beside her, his thigh pressing into hers. “My God, Lainey! One kiss. That’s all it took, and I’m close to exploding.” He brushed his mouth over hers. “I need you close. But maybe we should talk about something that’s not how much I want you. Or how much you want me.”
Lainey swallowed. Nodded, because she wasn’t sure she could trust herself not to say something inappropriate. “Yes. That would be… that would be smart.” Unlike the way she’d been kissing him. Definitely not smart, especially after she’d told him she needed time.
His fingers tangled in her hair, making her shiver. “Tell me more about your break-in.”
She froze, then sighed. “Way to kill the mood, Jones.”
He turned to press his mouth to her hair, and she felt his smile. “That’s the idea.” Brushing one last kiss over her hair, he eased away from her. “Any idea what your intruder might have been looking for?”
Forcing herself to focus on the break-in instead of the heat and pressure of Brody against her side, she said, “I wondered if they might have been after something in those boxes of Ron’s belongings. Ron dying is the only thing that’s changed in my life.” She gave him a tiny glance. “Besides you. And me staying here. And I’m here because of the prowler. Connecting the dots, I think it’s a safe assumption that the prowler broke into my house.”
“Seems logical,” Brody said. His arm tightened around her. “Thank God you came with me that night. What if he’d broken in when you were sound asleep? You could have been killed.”
“But I wasn’t.” She didn’t want to move away from Brody, but sitting so close to him, feeling every breath he took, his hard muscles against hers, was distracting her. Making it hard to think. So she edged away from him, far enough that they weren’t pressed together. “I need to go through Ron’s files,” she sighed. “Look at everything. See what a prowler might have been looking for.”
“I agree,” Brody said, studying her. “If you like, I’d be happy to help you.”
“I would love your help. Going through those boxes is going to be hard. A painful reminder of the failure of my marriage.” She swallowed. “I don’t want to burden you with it, but if you have time, I’d like you with me.” She nudged his knee with hers and shot him a tiny smile. “Nice to have some eye candy around.”
He grabbed his chest as though she’d injured him. “You’re objectifying me. I feel so used.” He grinned at her. “Feel free to do that any time.”
One corner of her mouth turned up. “I’ll keep that in mind. But an extra pair of eyes won’t hurt, either.”
“You’re right about that,” he said. He lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed a kiss over her palm.
“If you can spare the time,” she added. “I know you always have lots of chores to do.”
“I do, but I’ll always have time to help you. Maybe we can tackle those boxes in the evening, while Phoebe’s doing her homework or after she goes to bed.”
“That would be great. Thank you,” Lainey said, relief flooding her. She wouldn’t have to do this alone, and she was very grateful to Brody for offering to help.
“In the meantime, I’ll make sure my office is always locked,” he said, his voice grim. “In case someone comes looking for those boxes.”
She frowned at him. “Don’t you trust the people who work for you?”
“Every single one of them. But there are other people on the ranch nearly every day. The vet was here a couple days ago with her assistant. They spent almost an hour in the barn, treating a sick horse and worming the other ones. The feed business in town delivered an order today. Lots of different people are in and out several days every week. And we don’t keep track of them. We trust that once they’ve finished their business, they’ll leave. But who knows? Someone could take a job at one of those businesses to gain access to ranches. Or hitch a ride on a truck they know is coming here. So my office door will stay locked.”
“Thank you, Brody,” she said, sighing. “I know I’m leaning on you, and I hope you don’t mind. Maybe there’ll be a clue in that box about who killed Ron.”
She wanted so much more than support from Brody. She pictured them walking up the stairs together. Going into his bedroom and closing the door behind them.
So she leaned over and kissed his cheek, then stood up. “I know you have things you need to do in the evening, and it’s probably not a good idea for us to cuddle on the couch.” She brushed her fingers over his face, loving the scrape of his five o’clock shadow against her skin. “I’m going upstairs to read for a while, in case Phoebe wakes up. I’ll see you in the morning, Brody.”
“Sleep well,” he said, standing and grabbing her for a quick kiss. She leaned into him for a moment, then disentangled herself and went into the kitchen to wash her wine glass.
As she headed up the stairs, desire still heavy inside her, she heard Brody in his office. She hesitated, then turned and forced herself to enter her own room.
When Lainey was ready for bed, she slipped across the hall into Phoebe’s room and studied the girl in the light from the hallway. She was sound asleep, one arm curled around her pillow. Lainey wondered if she’d slept soundly at the compound, and suspected she hadn’t. She’d have been listening for whoever was sharing the place with her. Had probably hidden somewhere to protect herself, somewhere that wouldn’t necessarily be a comfortable sleeping place.
