She has complete control…and he’s determined to take it away

A librarian in the small town of Hood River, Natalie Clayton’s world is very nearly perfect. After a turbulent childhood and her once-wild ways, life is now under control. But trouble has a way of turning up unexpectedly—especially in the tall, charismatically sexy form of Paddy Hurley….

And Paddy is the kind of trouble that Natalie has a taste for.

Even after years of the rock-and-roll lifestyle, Paddy never forgot the two wickedly hot weeks he once shared with Natalie. Now he wants more…even if it means tempting Natalie and her iron-grip control. But there’s a fine line between well-behaved and misbehaved—and the only compromise is between the sheets!

The Best Kind of Trouble

Lauren Dane

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Sometimes in your life you go through some rough spots, low points, places where you’re not sure what to do or how to do it. This one goes out to every single one of you who have pushed me, supported me, placed wonderful opportunities in my path, who’ve checked in with a little bit of love, delivered a pep talk or a come to Jesus when I needed it. Thank you for reminding me in some way, big or small, just how blessed I am in my friends and family.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Title Page

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

IT REALLY DIDN’T matter that the day was sure to be hot enough to melt asphalt; coffee was a necessity if she was expected to work all day at the library and not maim anyone.

Public safety was important, after all. That and her terrible addiction to things that were bad for her like caffeine and sugary baked goods.

Common Grounds was a daily stop on her way to work or other errands in town.

Bobbi was behind the counter, and when she caught sight of Natalie coming through the doors, she grinned. “Morning!” So. Perky.

Perky was not in Natalie’s wheelhouse, so she aimed for amiable because Bobbi the barista was Natalie’s pimp. “Morning. Hit me with something awesome.”

Another luminous smile from Natalie’s favorite barista as she got to work. “I have a new something to try. Are you game?”

“My vices are few, so I like to enjoy what I’ve got.” She looked over the stuff in the case. There were no doughnuts, sadly, so a scone would have to do. “I’d like to enter into a relationship with that cinnamon scone there to go with my something new.”

“It’s early for you, isn’t it? I thought the library didn’t open until ten today?”

“It doesn’t, but I’m doing story time for some preschoolers.”

“Aw, that’s nice of you.”

Natalie had the financial ability to volunteer in her free time and a strong commitment to giving back, so reading to preschoolers once or twice a week was pretty fun as such things went.

Bobbi handed over the bag with the scone and her drink. “Latte with orange essence and a little shaved chocolate. Tell me what you think.”

“Sounds fantastic.” As for nice for reading books to kids? “It’s a good thing when children like to read. Plus, they’re adorable when they’re three and four. They blurt out the best stuff. Usually shit about their parents. Last week, right as I finished up Fancy Nancy, one of them pipes up and says, ‘my dad doesn’t wear pants on weekends.’ It was awesome.”

Bobbi laughed. “My nephew’s like that. My sister says she and her husband have to be careful about stuff they say now because he told his kindergarten class that he walked in on mom and dad naked wrestling.”

That made Natalie guffaw. “It’s pretty hilarious when it’s other people’s kids ratting them out.”

“Yeah. Our time will... Oh...my.” Bobbi’s gaze seemed to blur as she gaped in the direction of the front door, and that was when Natalie heard his voice.

Not for the first time.

“Care to help out a man in dire need of some caffeine?”

She couldn’t help it. Natalie turned to take in the ridiculous male glory that was Paddy Hurley. In jeans and a T-shirt, he still looked like a rock star. Though she’d seen him naked, and he looked like a rock star then, too. His dark brown hair had lightened up, probably from being out in the sunshine. He’d put his sunglasses on top of his head, so those big hazel eyes fringed by gorgeous, thick sooty lashes had extra impact.

Impact that made Natalie’s heart beat faster and her face warm as she remembered some of the things they’d done together. To each other. Dirty, filthy, naked things. Really good things the mere memory of had her libido sitting up and panting over.

Bobbi was entranced by him as she stood at the counter, blinking slowly, clearly caught up in her admiration. He kept smiling, as if he was totally used to that sort of attention. Of course he was.

“Can I get an iced coffee and a slice of that blueberry loaf for here?” He changed his tone a little from that flirty drawl to something more direct, and it seemed to do the trick.

Bobbi stood a little taller and cleared her throat. “Uh. Yeah. Sorry. Yes, of course.”

“Thanks.” He grinned, all white teeth and work-in-the-sun glow. Good God, he was beautiful.

“I’ll bring it out when I’m done.” Bobbi got to work but waggled her brows at Natalie, mouthing holy shit, it’s Paddy Hurley.

Natalie tried to turn quickly and make an exit, but he’d caught the direction of Bobbi’s look, and she saw the moment he recognized her, too.

“Hey, there. Wow.” He searched for her name, which was what allowed her to pull her mask on and pretend she had no idea who he was.

“Hello.” She turned to Bobbi. “See you tomorrow!” Natalie put the lid back on her cup and gathered her things, but Paddy stepped closer.

“Natalie, right? You worked at that dive bar attached to the bowling alley near Portland.”

A lifetime before.

“Sorry?” She cocked her head as if she had no idea he was talking about the two weeks they’d spent nailing each other as though sex was going to be outlawed any moment.

“It’s Paddy Hurley. I’d know that mouth anywhere.” He said it quietly. Enough that she appreciated his discretion.

That Natalie stayed in the dive bar. The Natalie she was now had risen from the ashes while she was in college, and she rarely looked back if she could help it. Paddy Hurley and those two weeks they’d shared were a great memory, especially the naked part. But she’d spent too many years and a whole lot of effort to be more and had no desire to go digging up that lifetime again.

“Nice to meet you, Paddy. I enjoy your music. I need to be on my way.” She reached for the door, and he searched her features and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. Which was sort of charming, and she had to remind her hormones sternly to back off and let her brain do the work.

But he rallied. “I know it’s you. Stay and have coffee with me so we can catch up.”

“I have to get to work.” She opened the door, nudging him out of the way a little as she did. The heat of the day greeted her, and she stepped out, covered her eyes with her shades and walked away.

The past was the past. She had a life now. One she’d spent a lot of time and energy building, and she needed to keep the door on who she’d once been firmly closed.

Even if it left a tasty bit like Paddy Hurley on the other side.

* * *

PADDY WATCHED HER retreat down the sidewalk, the hem of her skirt swishing back and forth, exposing the backs of her thighs. Thighs that had been wrapped around his hips more than once.

She had tattoos, matching ones, at the top of each thigh, right under each ass cheek. Pretty red bows like at the top of stockings. He smiled at that memory.

“Her name is Natalie, right?” he asked the barista when she brought him the coffee and pastry.

“Yeah. You know her?”

“She lives here in town?” He sipped his drink. He and his brothers had gone out for an early ride so he was hot and a little sleepy. The iced coffee helped with both.

“Sure. Works at the library. Comes in every morning before work to get coffee. Well, except Monday because the library is closed on Mondays. She’s single. You know, if you were asking because you thought she was pretty.”

He gave the barista a smile. He did indeed think Natalie was pretty. Her hair was short now where it had been long years before. He normally loved a woman with long hair, but on her that pixie thing worked. She had a great neck.

A great everything. She’d kept up with him on every level. They partied hard, fucked hard, worked hard. He and the band his brothers had formed, Sweet Hollow Ranch, had had a series of gigs at dives all over Portland and Southwest Washington. They’d managed to get two crappy hotel rooms included as part of their pay.

The motel had been right behind a bowling alley and the shithole of a bar attached to it. Natalie had been a waitress there, slinging drinks and dodging overeager hands when he’d met her.

It had been a matter of hours after meeting—the chemistry so instant and thick between them—until they’d stumbled into her studio apartment and into her bed.

She’d been underage, as had he, but they’d spent the next two weeks together around her shifts at the bar and his gigs.

And then he’d gone on the road, and she’d gone off to college. He’d thought of her over the years. One of their songs, “Dive Bar,” had been about her and those two weeks.

Turns out she lived in the same town. Which meant it was fate. He continued to smile after he’d thanked the barista.

Why she’d pretended not to know him was the question. She had her reasons, and he aimed to know them, too. The woman behind the counter said Natalie was single, so it wasn’t a boyfriend.

Paddy hadn’t achieved the success he had because he gave up when things got hard.

He’d simply keep at it.

He leaned back in his chair and watched the street outside as he drank his coffee. A new challenge was always fun. Especially when it concerned a pretty blonde with long legs and a smile that invited a man to sin and not repent.

CHAPTER TWO

“YOU REMEMBER THAT shithole of a bar we hung out in just outside Portland?” Paddy handed a coil of rope to his oldest brother, Ezra.

“Dude, you’ve got to be more specific than that. There are dozens upon dozens of shithole bars I remember. More I don’t.” Ezra snorted as he hung the rope up on a hook just inside the stable door.

Paddy laughed. It had been fifteen years since they’d started out, and that particular shithole bar had been at least a dozen years before. “Back at the beginning. Right before we headed to L.A. and made the first record with the label. The bar was next to a bowling alley. We had two rooms in that rattrap of a motel that was behind it.”

“Ah! Yes, I do remember that one. Damien got his ass jumped by those cowboys who heckled us and waited for him after the show.”

“Then we all jumped in, and you got arrested.”

“Wasn’t the last time.”

“And now you have pigs and dogs, and you only beat on your brothers.”

“I’m too old to beat up anyone but you people. Plus, I have great hands. Why you taking me down memory lane?”

“There was a girl.”

Ezra barked a laugh. “Yeah, well, you’ll have to be more specific with that, too. Even more of them than shithole dive bars.”

“Natalie. Long blond hair. Big blue eyes. Dimples. Juicy mouth. She worked in the bar. We had a thing. Hot, hard, fast, for two weeks before we left for L.A.”

“Hmm, sounds familiar, but, Paddy, you have a thing for blondes. There are stories like that from coast to coast and across Europe. They all run together after a time.”

“I do have a really fucking awesome life.”

Ezra rolled his eyes. “Does this story have a point?”

“She’s here. In town, I mean. This morning after our ride, I went down to get some coffee. She was there. At the counter. Hair is short now, but it exposes her neck.”

Ezra hummed his approval as he put things away.

“She’s a librarian.”

Ezra’s brows rose appreciatively. “Well, now.”

“Right? But she pretended she didn’t remember me.”

Ezra turned and then laughed so hard he had to brace his hands on his knees. “Man, I wish I’d have seen your face when that happened,” Ezra choked out in between fits of laughter. “I love how your ego paints it like she pretended not to know you instead of her just not remembering.”

“Har har. She remembered me. There’s no way she forgot it. It wasn’t a night or two. It was two really intense weeks. Plus, asshole, I’m unforgettable. Anyway, she didn’t deny knowing me. She just stepped around admitting knowing me. I know the difference.”

Ezra stood up, wiping his eyes and settling down a little. “Thanks for that. Totally made my day.”

“I’m asking you for advice. You give Damien advice all the time.”

“He’s an idiot. He needs it more than you do,” Ezra said, referring to one of their brothers, the drummer of Sweet Hollow Ranch.

“Yeah, there is that.”

“Okay, so hit me. What advice do you want? How to deal with the blow to your ego? Suck it up and move on. So what? There have to be dozens upon dozens of women who feel the same way about you, Paddy. You dumped her, and she does not have fond memories. You’re lucky she didn’t knee you in the gooch.”

“I didn’t dump her! It was fall, she was heading off to college and we were on the road. It was fine. No tears. No drama.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I liked her. I liked her then, and I want to know if I’d like her now.”

Ezra looked him over carefully as they left the stables. “So you want to what? Be this woman’s friend? See if she wants another turn in the sheets with you? This is your hometown, Paddy. Don’t shit where you sleep. If you charm her out of her panties and then it goes bad, then what? Do you really want some pissed-off ex-girlfriend who knows where you live?”

Paddy made a face. “It’s not like that. I can’t believe I haven’t bumped into her before now. It’s not like Hood River is a bustling metropolis.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve been out on multiple tours in a row and traveling in between.”

“True. Anyway, I don’t just want to nail her, though she’s gorgeous and all. Like I said, I want to see if we still click.”

“Cut the shit. You’re into it because it’s a challenge.”

Paddy sucked in a breath. “Okay, so maybe that’s part of it. But not all of it.”

“For whatever reason, you have an unhealthy level of self-confidence. You’re okay-looking and all. Chicks dig you, and you hate to lose. So go for it, but don’t be a dick.”

Which, come to think of it, was pretty good advice.

* * *

NATALIE WALKED INTO Common Grounds with a spring in her step. She’d had a really great dinner with her housemate and best friend the night before. They’d watched a movie, and she’d gotten eight solid hours of really good sleep.

It was sunny, a breeze came in off the Columbia and she was well and truly prepared for an excellent Friday.

She waved a hello at Bobbi. “Good morning! I think I’d like an Americano today with lots of room. What sorts of delicious, calorie-packed goodness do you have left in the case?”

Bobbi looked over to her left. “See, like clockwork.”

Natalie followed her gaze and nearly jumped when she saw Paddy Hurley sitting there with a grin on his face. The muted sunlight from the window he sat next to danced over his skin. Jesus H, he looked fantastic, his long legs stretched out, the denim straining at the thighs and over his crotch.

He packed quite a treat behind his zipper. Her belly and regions south tightened at that memory.

She snapped her gaze from his cock and tried not to blush.

“Have a seat.” He pushed the chair across from him away from the table with one booted foot. Not cowboy boots, worn work boots she figured cost more than she made in a month.

She wanted to go over and sit. Wanted to flirt and chat and let it lead right back to her place. Something about the man had gotten under her skin right from go. He was dangerous. Wanting too much was dangerous.

“I have to go to work.” With sheer force of will, Natalie turned her attention back to the bakery case.

Bobbi gave her a single raised brow but then got started on the Americano. The sounds and scent of the coffee-laden steam settled Natalie a little. “Ooh, I want one of those banana chocolate chip muffin things.”

“Here’s the thing, Natalie.” Suddenly, Paddy was standing very close. How had he done that? “That muffin is on hold. I’m a nice guy, though, so I’ll happily let you have it if you’ll sit and have coffee with me while we catch up.”

In her head, her sigh was wistful, but on the outside, she added a little annoyance to keep him back. Natalie had a weak spot for charming men, and boy, did Paddy have that in spades.

She was careful not to turn to look at him. He was so close, she probably couldn’t have kept her little resolution and stay on her Paddy Hurley–free diet. “I’ll have the blueberry one instead, then.”

Bobbi, clearly confused about the entire situation, shrugged and handed over the Americano and the muffin. Natalie thanked her and paid before heading toward the door.

Paddy caught up to her before she’d gotten more than a few steps. “Natalie? I was under the impression that when we parted ways before, things were okay between us. I guess I got it wrong. I’m sorry for whatever I did.”

Natalie paused. She might know it was best to keep him at a distance, but she didn’t want him feeling guilty or to come off looking disgruntled. “It was fine. There’s no need to apologize.”

His expression was smug for a moment, and then he caught himself with an easy smile. “So you do remember me.”

There was no way she could stop her smile in response. “Yes. You’re pretty memorable.”

“So what’s the deal?” He leaned a little closer. “You like being chased?”

With an annoyed hiss, Natalie stepped away. “No. I’m not interested in this...whatever it is. I don’t want to play games. I’m not being coy. I have a nice, quiet life. I like it that way.”

“There’s no whatever it is. Not yet. We already had that. I just think we could get to know one another again. I promise not to trash your living room or put a guitar through your television or anything.”

The charisma flowed off him in waves. It wasn’t something he put on. It wasn’t an affectation. It was impossible not to be attracted to him. They’d clicked all those years before, and it was still there, that chemical pull that made her a little sweaty and dizzy.

She stood a little straighter. “I have to go to work. I’m glad things are going well for you and your career. Have a good life, Paddy.”

He grabbed her hand, twining his fingers with hers, and a shock of connection rang through her. She could not want this.

The heat of him sort of caressed her skin, and it wasn’t even gross and sweaty because it was a thousand degrees outside. Was he some sort of sorcerer or something?

His attention shifted from where their hands were together to her face. “Wait. Let me walk you over. You’re at the library, right?”

Using all her will, she slowly pulled her hand free, their fingers still connected until the very last.

“No. Really. I can’t. I don’t have room in my life for you and all that comes with you.”

He flinched a little, but she had to give him credit for doggedness. “You don’t even know me now. How can you know what comes with me?”

“I’m truly happy to see your success. You worked for it. But come on, I’m no dummy. I know what comes with a life like yours.” She took a step away and then another until she was far enough to get a breath that wasn’t laden with him. “Enjoy your Friday.”

She left him there on the sidewalk as she kept going until finally, after she’d turned the corner, the squeezing pressure in her belly eased and she could breathe again.

She’d made the right choice.

She liked him. It wasn’t like she could lie about that. But she’d spent years of struggle to make herself a life she wanted, too many to let her ladybits take over. Truth was, she let that fear remain. The fear that his wild life would be one cringeworthy experience after the next; the fear of all that chaos and insanity kept her steadfast.

The library beckoned, and she kept moving toward it. She had a direction, and it was forward, not back. There was room for pleasure; she certainly hadn’t left sex behind, after all. But fleeting pleasure wasn’t stable or strong. That’s what he offered, and so she needed to pass on it.

* * *

BUT WHEN SHE walked into the coffee shop on Tuesday, he was there. Natalie ignored him and once she got out to the street—and man, was she glad she’d driven that day so she could put a closed door and a bunch of steel between them—she saw he waited just on the other side of her car.

“What? God, I told you, I’m not interested.”

His smile was slow, easy and effortlessly sexy. “You’re not interested in Paddy the rock star.”

Natalie frowned. “Is that so hard to believe? Not everyone wants to latch on to you for your fame, you know. I’m happy for you and your brothers. I like your music. But I don’t party like that anymore.” Hell, she didn’t live like that anymore. “I’m not that girl.”

He leaned against her car like a cat. “Darlin’, none of us are those people anymore. If I drank like that now, I’d be seriously fucked up the next day. When I’m not on tour, I’m here in Hood River. Not exactly known as a place to do blow off a hooker’s ass now, is it?”

She groaned. “I have no idea. It could be, and there could be a huge hooker-cocaine thing going on, and I wouldn’t know it. This is my point. Why are you so set on me, anyway?”

“You’re so suspicious. It’s sort of sexy. I’m set on you because I like you. Let me take you to dinner. Somewhere low-key. Hell, I’ll make you dinner at my house. No photographers. No keg stands. Just Paddy and Natalie.”

“Patrick, just leave it be. There are a million women who would be happy to have dinner with you. I’m a librarian living in a small town. I don’t have dinner with rock stars.”

“I won’t be a rock star at dinner. I’ll be Paddy. Anyway, I love books. Come on. Give me a chance. While I’m impressed you’d think a million women would be interested in me, I’m only interested in one woman. You.”

She got in and closed the door. After she’d started the car, she opened her passenger window a little. “Look, I’m flattered, I really am. But I’m not the woman for you.”

She pulled away, and he gave her a cheeky wave.

In retrospect, it was right then that she knew she was in very big trouble when it came to Patrick Hurley.

CHAPTER THREE

“SO REALLY, HE’S JUST... It’s like I keep telling myself I need to lose ten pounds before my high school reunion, but he’s a dozen doughnuts. Ooooh, Natalie, you know I’m delicious. Just one bite. I’m so good with coffee.”

Tuesday, Natalie’s housemate and best friend, broke out laughing. “I know how much you love doughnuts, too. So why not eat one? Or six? My point is, who freaking cares if you get a taste of Paddy Hurley? This isn’t Little House on the Prairie. You’re not going to get fired for premarital sex by the town elders.”

“It’s not that.” She made no bones about liking sex. Natalie considered good sex as important to her life as doughnuts and coffee. Paddy came with too many complications and too much noise. He had complicated written all over him.

“Then what is it?”

That wasn’t it, either.

“It’s just...” Natalie licked her lips. “He’s messy and complicated. He’d take so much time to handle, and I’m over handling other adults. I don’t want to be a nursemaid, a psychologist, and I sure have no desire to parent him while I’m fucking him, too. Ugh. I spent years and years stepping over people passed out in my house. I had to call the paramedics more than once because some random stranger, or my dad for that matter, had overdosed. I’ve had enough cleaning up puke and pretending not to smell liquor on breath at nine in the morning.”

She’d lived a life utterly out of control until she’d finally left home at seventeen, and even then it wasn’t until college that she finally got her shit together. Control meant everything. It meant you lived a life of your own choosing and not at someone else’s mercy, and it meant not being responsible for keeping grown-ass people from driving off a cliff.

It was the leaving that had been the key. The ultimate act of taking control of her life was walking away from that house. That pretty, solidly upper-class shell that was rotting inside. Just like her childhood had been.

“He comes with too much shit that pushes my buttons. Hot in bed or not, I just don’t want to chance it.” Paddy was a walking-talking advertisement for out of control.

Tuesday was careful to keep pity out of her eyes, but she sighed heavily. “All I’m saying is that life is made from chances you take. How do you know he won’t be worth it?”

Easy for Tuesday to say. Then again, her best friend sat in the house making gorgeous jewelry or hiking instead of going out on dates for her own messed-up reasons. Still, being someone’s friend meant knowing when to call bullshit and when to leave it alone. Tuesday wasn’t ready to confront those demons yet.

“I can’t deny knowing he lived here. I found out about six months after I bought the house here.” The fact that the dudes from Sweet Hollow Ranch lived in town and were locals who continued to make the city their home was a point of pride to Hood River. The town tended to be protective of the entire Hurley family. People didn’t call the paparazzi when one of them ate in their restaurants or shopped in their stores. There weren’t pictures sold to the tabloids of them going about their daily business.

When she’d discovered it, she’d been mildly worried, but she’d already begun to put down roots. She had no plans to run off simply because some old lover was in the same area.

And then Tuesday happened upon a storefront on Oak that she’d decided to run a business from and share half of Natalie’s house. Hood River had been a new start for both women.

“All this time I’ve lived here, and I never bumped into him or caught sight of him. I guess I had just hoped our paths wouldn’t cross.”

Tuesday made a dismissive sound. “Well, they have, and he’s clearly looking for a taste. I’m gonna guess he’ll eventually give up if you keep ignoring him. But what I’m saying is, why not see what he’s got to offer?”

Natalie wasn’t ready to admit out loud that maybe she was curious.

“Hand me the potatoes, and let’s change the subject please.”

Tuesday rolled her eyes but passed the bowl. “You did a pretty good job with these, by the way.”

Natalie’s cooking was an utter disaster, but over the years since she and Tuesday had roomed together in college, Natalie had developed a few not-awful dishes. Mainly easy stuff like sandwiches and soup, but she’d been working on mashed potatoes for a year or so, and she’d gotten to the point where nothing caught fire, and they actually tasted good.

“Now I can make canned soup, ham sandwiches and mashed potatoes. Maybe that’s what Paddy is after. He’s been waiting for a woman to make him mashed potatoes his whole life.”

They both cracked up.

“At least between the two of you, you have enough money to get takeout every night. Or maybe he can cook. That would be a bonus to the good looks and success stuff.”

“He’s probably spoiled. He lives up there on the ranch with his family. Maybe his mother cooks for him or something.”

“Maybe. But somehow I doubt it. But you won’t know unless you let him in.”

“I don’t need to know to mock him, duh. Just let me have my fun imagining him eating overcooked Hot Pockets or clinging to his mom’s apron strings.”

* * *

“SO HERE’S THE THING,” Paddy said as he sidled up to Natalie the next morning at the coffee shop. “I dig that you don’t have to be at work until nine.”

“Why?” She handed some money to Bobbi, who took in the daily Paddy show with apparent glee. “So you don’t have to get up so early to come down here and pester me?”

He laughed at that. “I’ll have you know I’ve been up since six-thirty when I helped my oldest brother deal with a fence problem. Have you ever dug a post hole? It totally sucks. Ezra is sort of insane because he seems to actually like it.”

Natalie moved to grab some honey for her latte, but he kept talking. “It’s good because I can get my work done and come down here in time for you to actually have breakfast with me sometime.”

“See you tomorrow, Bobbi.” Natalie waved and started for the door, which Paddy now held open for her.

“I don’t like getting up early. Also, I don’t eat breakfast very often.”

He took up beside her, and she didn’t stop him. “You have a muffin in that bag.”

“That’s not breakfast. Bacon and eggs with toast and maybe hash browns, that’s breakfast.”

“You’re serious about breakfast.”

“Not really. If I was, that’s what I’d be eating. Mainly I have doughnuts or muffins or a toaster-pastry thing.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Really? Those are like cardboard. Also, you don’t look like you eat doughnuts all the time.”

“I’m serious about doughnuts. But my favorite kind I have to go to Portland for. Which is why I don’t eat them all the time. And my housemate is sporty. She drags me to hike and bike and windsurf. It’s gross, but it enables me to keep my doughnut habit.”

“You cut your hair. It was long before.”

“You’re good at the non sequiturs.”

He snorted. “I’m not sure when you’re going to run off, so I’m trying to get in as much chitchat as I can before that happens.”

She stopped, turning toward him. “Why are you so persistent? I’m not even that nice to you!” It was hard for her not to be friendly to him. She liked him, for heaven’s sake.

“You don’t want me for my status.”

She shook her head, trying to understand. “Status?”

“The celebrity thing.”

She rolled her eyes. “You didn’t have any status when I met you.”

He grinned. “Nope. Just a shitty van that broke down a lot and some instruments my brothers and I played.”

She paused for long moments and then started walking again. “I cut my hair years ago. Tuesday, that’s my housemate, she went through a phase when she wanted to be a hairdresser. It lasted half a quarter. But she cut my hair, and I liked it short. Plus, I look great in hats, and short hair works that way.”

“Did that hurt? You sharing that little fact with me?” He winked, and it was cute, and she ruthlessly tried not to show how amused she was but probably failed.

“So you two have been roommates since college?”

“No. We shared an apartment in college, and then she got married and I went to grad school. But three years ago, she came to visit and wanted to set up a business here, so I offered her a place to live for a while. She never moved out. Which is good because I can’t cook, and she does and thinks it’s fun.”

“Like hiking?”

Natalie curled her lip. “Yes. Ugh.”

“No husband?”

“I would not be allowing you to walk me to my job if I had a husband, Patrick Hurley.”

Paddy’s laugh made her tingle a little. It was a bawdy laugh. “You said that like you were going to paddle me or slap my hand with a ruler. You should know that’ll only encourage me.”

She pressed her lips together and then gave up, laughing.

He kept pace, but she noted his smile from the corner of her eye. “I meant your friend.”

Duh. Of course he did. “She’s a widow.”

“Oh, damn. That sucks. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.” They approached the library, and she handed him her coffee. “Hold that, please.” She rustled through her bag until she found her keys. “Thanks.” She took the coffee back and tucked the pastry bag into her purse.

* * *

PADDY REALLY DIDN’T want that moment between them to end, but he’d enjoyed a victory nonetheless, so he’d take that small step forward and get more next time. “Wow, I feel like we’ve turned a corner here, Natalie.” He bowed. “Thank you for letting me walk you to work.”

She appeared to be looking for something to say, and he didn’t want her to say something about him not doing it again.

“Will you let me take you to dinner?”

She sighed, but it was a sigh of longing, so he pushed ahead.

“I mean, I was aiming for breakfast since it’s the least datelike of the meals—unless you slept over, of course—and if that happens, I’ll make you bacon, eggs, hash browns and toast. Maybe even biscuits. But since we’re not at that stage yet, and you don’t eat breakfast, dinner is a good alternative.”

“Not lunch?”

Was she teasing him? That was a good sign. “I’ll take what I can get. But usually during the days when I’m here in Hood River, I’m working. Either on music or on the ranch. Summer is a crazy busy time and my brother does so much when we’re on tour, I like helping him out.”

Natalie sighed long and then shook her head as she looked him over. “Why you gotta be so human, Patrick Hurley?”

“Is that good or bad? I don’t know with you.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know for sure yet, either. You can pick me up from here tomorrow night. I’m off at six.”

With that, she unlocked the door and went inside. “Have a good day, Paddy.” She waved one last time, locked the door once more and disappeared into the building, leaving him standing there with a dumb smile on his face.

CHAPTER FOUR

“I HAVE NO IDEA why I said yes. I should call him and cancel.” Natalie paced in front of her closet, still only half-dressed.

Tuesday just rolled her eyes. “You don’t even have his number.”

“I have his mother’s. She’s got a library card. I looked her up in the system. I can call her, and I’m sure she can pass the message on.”

“Sure, that’s not creepy at all.”

“Gah!”

Tuesday snorted. “Hush up. Wear that blue dress with the white piping at the neckline. You can wear it all day at work, and it’ll still be nice when you’re off. It says I care enough to not look like I slept in a Dumpster, but I’m still casual enough to walk away from your ass if you start anything and look fabulous doing it.”

Natalie halted and then laughed. “You should do red carpet shows on the entertainment networks. I like that better than ‘I’m wearing blah from her spring collection because cerise is the it color’ or whatever.”

“It’s why even after you marry Patrick Hurley and spit out his spawn, we’ll always watch the awards show red carpet together.”

“Marriage? No, thanks. I’m not even convinced I should go to dinner with him. Anyway, he’s not after marriage. He just wants to fuck me.”

“Well, look at you!” Tuesday waved a hand in Natalie’s direction. “You’re all blonde and adorable, and you have great tits. Boys like those. Of course he wants to fuck you. Also, he has.”

Natalie struggled sometimes with the balance between owning what she liked and feeling guilty about it, anyway. Breasts had a lot of power. She did have some nice ones, and Paddy seemed to be impressed. Knowing that filled her with a sort of taboo power. What that said other than she liked that he liked it, she wasn’t sure.

She pulled the dress from her closet and looked at it.

“See what I mean?” Tuesday indicated the dress with a tip of her chin. “Listen and obey always. I know things. Now, I have to get ready to open the shop. Wear those flats, but take some heels in your bag. Don’t argue with me about this. Heels are perfect with that dress and, like tits, everyone likes cute heels.”

Tuesday kissed her cheek and left the room.

She did wear the blue dress, of course. With flats and the blue high-heeled sandals tucked in her bag to change into. On her way out the door, Tuesday tossed her a little drawstring bag. “I made those a few days ago. They’ll be supercute with the outfit.”

Her housemate, in addition to running a custom framing shop, made jewelry she sold in her store. The earrings Natalie spilled into her palm were dangly bits of blue. All together they made a dragonfly, one of Tuesday’s favorite subjects.

Natalie took off the earrings she had on and replaced them with the dragonflies. “Thanks.”

“Text me if you need me to save you. Otherwise, you can debrief me tomorrow morning. If you sleep over at his place, text so I won’t worry.”

“I’m not sleeping over at his place.” No matter how sexy he was. No matter how much knowledge she had about how good he was in bed. Sleeping with Paddy on the first date—despite their history—would be stupid.

“That’s the saddest thing I’ve heard today, Nat.”

* * *

“WHERE ARE YOU off to tonight?”

Paddy tossed the ball one last time, and Ezra’s dumb but sweet-as-hell dog ran off after it, getting distracted by a butterfly.

He looked up at his mother, who stood on Ezra’s porch with Damien’s wife, Mary, and tried to pitch his voice low to avoid notice. “I’ve got a date.”

“Is that a euphemism?” his mother called out. So much for trying to keep it quiet.

Mary laughed, and Paddy shook his head. “You’re jaded, Mom.”

“I raised you four! I’m an eternal optimist. You don’t date, you go off and have your little flings and return home in a week or so.”

“Well, I’ll have you know I’m taking a librarian to dinner.”

“Is that a euphemism?” Mary asked with a smirk.

“She works here in town, as it happens. I’m making her dinner on the boat.”

“Do you need help?”

One of the best things about having Mary as a sister-in-law was that she was an amazing cook. The author of three cookbooks, she was their own personal tour chef, too.

“I’m grilling some salmon from the fishing trip I took with Vaughan a few weeks back. I was going to have corn on the cob to go with.”

Mary cocked her head. “You’re going to serve your date corn on the cob? Is this a first date?”

By the scandalized look on his sister-in-law’s face, he figured it was probably not a good thing to do.

“In a manner of speaking. I knew her before. Years ago. Before we hit it big.”

His mother crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, and she suddenly wants to go out with you?” Sharon Hurley was not one for any foolery that had to do with anyone taking advantage of her children.

He laughed. “Well, Ezra thinks this is pretty hilarious and all, but no. I ran into her in town last month, and she pretended not to remember me at first. I’ve been hounding her pretty much three or four days a week since then to get her to go out with me. She’s utterly disinterested in me as a celebrity. In fact, it freaks her out, I think. That’s why I’m doing dinner on the boat instead of taking her to a restaurant.”

Mary perked up. “Oh, well, then. Wait. Natalie? Supercute little blonde? She’s one of those who wears cigarette pants and flats and looks like an ad for a vintage clothing catalog?”

He kept looking back and forth between his mother and sister-in-law, confused by Mary’s questions and hoping to get some sort of clue from the context.

His mother’s brows rose, and then she nodded, patting Mary’s arm.

That shared look could very well equal trouble for Paddy, so he wanted to nip it right in the bud before it could turn into a reality. “What is going on between you two? It looks like there’s a caper brewing. No capers. For God’s sake. It took me a month of following this woman around like a lost puppy just to get her to let me walk her to work. If you two rush in like Lucy and Ethel, you’re going to ruin all my progress. Also, what are cigarette pants?”

Mary waved that away. “Never mind, it’s her. There aren’t any other blondes working at the library. Don’t make her eat corn on the cob. Not on the first date. Even if you knew her from before.” Mary came down the steps. “Come with me to the house. I’m sure I have some sides for you.” She tucked her arm through his.

“Are you taking pity on me?” He liked to tease her. She’d come from an equally insane family and fit in theirs just fine. She was the sister he’d never had, and she kept his brother Damien in line and from burning things down. Plus, there was that really good cook thing, and she wasn’t a chore to look at, either.

“That’s what family does.” She winked.

“Let’s drive over. I want to get to the boat and get things set up. I’m picking her up at six.”

He opened the door of his car for her, and she got in.

He wasn’t stupid with his money, but he loved cars and had a special garage built at his place for his collection. He’d decided to take the Shelby fastback. He’d had it restored up in Seattle the year before, and he loved the summertime when he could drive it often.

It was a sexy car. And yes, he was showing off. A little.

Damien was out front when they arrived at his and Mary’s house, just down the road from the main house their parents lived in. His brother’s face lit when he caught sight of Mary. “Hey, there, Curly. Have you been keeping Paddy out of trouble?” Damien kissed his wife soundly.

“Impossible to keep the Hurley boys out of trouble. Only your mother has the fortitude for that. But he’s got a date, and I’ve got stuff for him.”

Damien slung an arm around his wife’s shoulders as he took Paddy in. “Don’t give him those potatoes. Well, you can’t, anyway, because I ate them about ten minutes ago.”

“Damien! Those were for dinner.”

He laughed and Paddy rolled his eyes at his bottomless pit of a brother.

“I was hungry. How can I resist? They didn’t even have a sticky note on them saying not to eat them like the other stuff does.”

“You ignore those, too. I figured if I put the potatoes behind the beets you’d never see them.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Come on in. Let’s see what’s left after Hurricane Damien has gone through my kitchen like a plague of locusts.” Mary poked Damien’s side. “Where do you even put it all? How fair is that, anyway?”

Paddy did what he was told, sitting at the bar while she put together a tote of food for him. Her colored-cotton totes were famous in his family. She had several, each with colored stripes indicating which of them got what bounty. His was blue, and she handed him three, one of which was insulated.

“Balsamic strawberries. They’ll be awesome for dessert. Wild strawberries, even. There’s a pint of vanilla ice cream in case she wants some to go with the strawberries. The balsamic is good on that, too.”

He used to question her weird food combos. After three years of her cooking, he no longer doubted that whatever she gave him would taste good.

She rattled off a bunch of directions for how to deal with this or that, and he just nodded and kissed her cheek when she finished up. “Thank you.”

Damien finally roused. He’d been watching his wife through hooded eyes and Paddy tried not to think about whatever nasty stuff was going on in his brother’s head. “Wait, date? Oh! This is the librarian?”

“You knew about this and didn’t tell me?” Mary looked to her husband.

“Believe me, most of what I don’t share you’d be scandalized by, anyway.”

She rolled her eyes. “Come to breakfast tomorrow and tell us how it went. I may need to check some books out, anyway. I haven’t been down there in some time.”

“Don’t meddle, Curly.” Damien pulled on one of the long dark curls that were the source of her nickname.

“Pfft. It’s not meddling when it’s family.”

Paddy grabbed the totes. “It totally is. She’s skittish. If you poke around, just be discreet. I like this woman.”

Mary smiled up at him, patting his arm. “I can handle it. Now go. Have a good time and use a condom!”

He found himself blushing and felt better when Damien cracked up.

* * *

NATALIE GAVE HERSELF one last look in the mirror in the staff bathroom. The earrings made her smile. Like a little bit of Tuesday was going on the date with her.

Date. With Paddy Hurley. She was so stupid.

And yet there she was, freshening her lipstick and finger-combing her hair. “Time to go,” she told herself in the mirror before she waved goodbye to her coworkers and headed out to the sidewalk.

Where she heard the purr of an engine and knew it was him before the deep green classic car pulled into view.

He pulled up and shook his head so hard when she moved to open her door that she drew back as he got out.

“Wait!” He came around.

“Is it broken?”

Paddy snorted. “No. But my manners aren’t, either. First things first.” He took a long look up and down, and she was glad she’d worn the heels. “You look pretty. I want to say more, but I don’t know if I should.”

“Well, now you have me nervous.”

He kissed her then. Nothing really untoward, a quick peck smack-dab on the lips. But those traitorous lips tingled and his scent was in her by that point. He wore cologne, which seemed odd, but it was nice. Sexy and masculine without being overwhelming.

He hadn’t had a beard all those years before. She liked the slight scratch of it.

Paddy opened the door and indicated she get in. She managed to do so without showing her underpants or looking too ungraceful.

He got in just a second or two later and pulled away from the curb.

“You have great legs and cute toes.”

He said this as his attention was on the road, so he didn’t catch her blush.

“Um. Thanks.” God, did he have a foot fetish or something weird? She thought back on their time and flushed, a sweat breaking out. Okay, so that was unwise because he was really supergood at sexy stuff. But he hadn’t seemed unnaturally interested in her feet.

“Where are we headed?”

“My boat. I figured we could have dinner out on the deck. It’s such a nice night and it’ll be light until so late. I’ll take us away from the marina. I know a nice little stretch just east of here. Deserted, so we’ll be able to see the sunset and I’ll have you all to myself. But not in an it rubs the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again way.”

She burst out laughing. “Did you just quote Silence of the Lambs at me? Serial killer dialogue meant to reassure me?”

He cursed under his breath, and she reached out to pat his arm to reassure him. “I know it was a joke. Really. I’m more concerned you have a foot fetish than with you being a serial killer.”

“Foot fetish?”

“The toes comment? I mean, look, if it floats someone’s boat, more power to them. But I can’t even get a pedicure because people touching my feet weirds me out.”

“Note to self, don’t try to paint Nat’s toenails.” He turned with a grin on his face. “We’re both being way more nervous than we need to be.”

“Yeah. Probably.”

“I like cute toes when they’re painted and looking great in nice high heels. I don’t want to lick them or anything. Yours would probably be worth it. But I can control my baser urges.”

He parked at the marina, which was less than five minutes from the library, and walked her down the row, heading to a rather impressive boat.

“So, what’s that? Fifty-footer? Nice.”

“Someone knows her way around boats. I like to go fishing with my brothers and our friends. In the summer, if we’re here and not out on tour, we can watch fireworks from the water. Have dinner out here. It’s a good thing to have. You’re okay with boats, right? No seasickness or anything?”

“I love being out on the water. My grandparents had a boat. Sometimes, as I was growing up, we’d go out on it. They lived on Lake Washington.”

“Oh, Seattle locals?”

“Medina.” Her grandparents had lived in a mansion with a sloping lawn to the lake where their yacht had been moored. Too bad they paid more attention to the lawn and their things than what their spoiled son got up to.

He held her forearm as she got on the boat.

“Oooh, swanky. What brought a rich girl from Medina to a shithole bar in Portland?”

“They’re the rich ones.” She blew it off, not wanting to get into it. She was rich, too, but it was their house and their lifestyle. The guilt would start if she thought about it too long. Guilt and anger and all the stuff she knew didn’t belong to her, but she felt it, anyway.

He let her avoid the topic. “Come on, then. Let me get ready. Have a seat up there. Once we’re away from the marina, I’ll crack open some champagne.”

She watched him, the sun behind his head highlighting him like a freaking angel. He was confident there at the wheel. Hands steady, sunglasses shielding his eyes and rendering him even more attractive.

* * *

THE TIME IT took to get away from the marina to the cove where they finally ended up had allowed her to get herself together and shove all that stuff about her family far away.

He handed her a glass. “Now, what should we toast to? New beginnings? Old times?”

“Dinner.”

He smirked and clinked his glass to hers. “That’s a good start. Come on over and sit while I work.”

She managed to climb down and finally just bent to undo the shoes. Yes, they had been cute and sexy but walking barefoot was easier on a boat than in heels. “Hope you don’t mind,” she said when she caught him looking at her.

“I don’t mind at all. They’re sexy heels, I can’t lie. But I like you making yourself comfortable on my boat even more. I’m hoping your skirt blows up enough for me to see if you’ve still got those bows on the backs of your thighs.”

He’d licked her tattoos a time or three, if she remembered correctly. And she knew she did because it would be impossible to forget a man like Paddy Hurley licking the skin at the top of your thighs and then giving your ass cheeks a sharp nip. She shivered and was proud of the way her voice didn’t betray how breathless he rendered her. “Those’d be some powerful gusts. The breeze isn’t that strong and the dress is long enough to defeat what we’ve got now.”

He looked back over his shoulder at her. “So, the bright red bows are still there?”

“I hear tattoo removal is pretty painful.”

“Shame. Maybe I can see them later. Or next date you can wear a shorter skirt.”

“Don’t get your hopes up. I have to bend and kneel all the time at work. Parents in Hood River tend to frown upon librarians flashing their panties at the library.”

He groaned. “You’re a wicked tease, Natalie.”

He made her laugh. She hadn’t expected to feel so relaxed with him. But she did. This was dangerous ground, but she couldn’t help herself. Flirting with him was fun. And...it was easy because things just flowed between them.

He shook his head at her, still smiling. “Be right back. I need to put something in the oven and the microwave.” He dashed down to the galley, and she contented herself looking out over the water. She loved being out on the water, but it had been years since she’d been on a boat. The last time had been when Tuesday had scattered Eric’s ashes.

He popped back up a few minutes later. “Need a refill? I have juice and sparkling water, too, if you prefer.”

Champagne was one of her favorite things, so on the rare occasions she did drink, she loved it. However, she needed to go easy because Paddy was like three glasses on an empty stomach just by existing.

“I’ll have more when we eat.”

He put a platter out on the low table in front of her. “Some snacky things. I considered taking credit. Once you taste them, you’re going to love them and think I’m awesome. I’m all about that. However, it wouldn’t be nice of me, and eventually you’d find out that my sister-in-law, Mary, is an amazing cook and gives us all food on a regular basis. She made all those little things and gave them to me. I was going to do cheese and crackers or chips. I particularly like those there. The ones that look like little sacks. They have cheese and spinach and other stuff in them.” He pointed.

Natalie popped one of the phyllo bundles into her mouth. “Oh. Yeah, these are really good.” She ate two more and then made herself try the other stuff. Dates stuffed with blue cheese, spiced nuts, cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto.

After Paddy grabbed a few appetizers, he turned and got to work, oiling the grill as she settled on the rather comfortable couch on the deck to watch. He was at ease with himself, clearly at home in his skin.

“This should be done in like five minutes. You don’t need to cook it very long.”

“Want help? Not with cooking because I’d set something on fire. But I can lay out plates and that sort of thing.”

“Nope. Table is set. If you want, you can take the pilaf out of the microwave. There’s stuff in the cooler, but I’ll bring it and the salmon in a minute.”

She made her way down to the galley, guessing—correctly—at its whereabouts and grabbed the stuff he’d asked for and headed to the table on the main deck.

CHAPTER FIVE

PADDY BROUGHT THE salmon and the other things from the galley on a big tray but paused at the sight of her, the breeze playing with the hem of her dress and the hair at the nape of her neck. He wondered if she had any ink beneath the material of her dress.

Wanted pretty badly to see it as the sun rose, as she woke up in his bed.

“Hope you’re hungry.”

She turned, and it was a punch to his gut. The pleased smile, the ease on her face. She was so damned beautiful. Open in that moment, and he craved more with such longing, it alarmed him. There was something so alluring about her manner. Not when she was closed off, that sucked, and he hated it. Natalie was...elegant. Strong, sure, but she moved with a lithe grace.

Natalie padded over in her bare feet. And no, he wasn’t a foot fetishist, but damn, she did have sexy feet, and he liked the way she looked. A little casual, rumpled by the wind. Distracting him with his nonstop imaginings of what was under her clothes. He had been with her before, sure. But that was over a dozen years past.

“I really am. I had a microwave burrito for lunch.”

Snapping away from wondering what color her panties were, he pulled her chair out, and she sat. “I hope this is better than that.”

She laughed, sipping her champagne. “The appetizers alone were better than that.”

“Music. We need some music.” He got up.

“I’ll get started on dinner. You know, take one for the team and all.”

Laughing, he found the remote for his dock and turned it on as he went back to join her.

“Wow, so you just go from zero to John Legend?”

“I’ll take all the help I can get.” He dished up some of the tomato salad.

Natalie had this way of pausing, he’d noticed. She considered her answers so carefully sometimes. Made him want to know more.

Finally, she finished her champagne and locked her gaze on his. “God save me, Patrick Hurley, but you don’t need any help.”

Oh, yes, that felt good. “Yeah?”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

“Is that a good sigh? A bad sigh?”

She chewed her lip. “I don’t know.”

Then she shook her head and forked up some salmon. “I’m a liar. It’s a good sigh. Also, the salmon is fantastic.”

He preened a moment as he grinned before letting her off the hook. “So why are you eating microwave burritos for lunch, anyway? The library isn’t that far from some pretty great little cafés.”

“I’m a horrible cook. Sometimes I can’t get away from work for an hour for this or that reason, and I need something quick. Plus, I eat out. A lot. It’s better than a frozen diet meal, which tastes like tears and loneliness. I hate them. And yet, my freezer is full of them.”

He wrinkled his nose and then gave her curves a covetous look. “Why in God’s name do you need diet meals?”

“I love doughnuts and I hate exercise.”

“Sex is great exercise. I’m just saying.”

“Hmm. I’m not sure it’s a good selling point when you’re trying to get one woman into bed to reference other women.”

He cringed and then caught the twinkle in her eyes. “Oh, my God. You’re teasing me.”

She shrugged. “Some people think I’m funny. Even those of us who shush others for a living know how to laugh.”

He snickered and then paused as he imagined her all stern in a pencil skirt and a button-down white shirt. Maybe with a ruler and some really high black pumps and stockings with the line down the back.

Leading up to those twin red bows.

Clearing his throat, he drained the rest of his champagne and poured them both some more.

“Why libraries?”

“I was in my third year as an undergrad and I went to a job fair. I wandered up and down the aisles, took brochures. Took notes. Asked questions dutifully. And I ended up at the MLIS people—master’s in library and information science—spent forty-five minutes with them. I liked them. I liked what they did. Until that, I’d been considering getting a teaching degree. One of the folks I met that day urged me to apply to the graduate MLIS program, and I did.”

They continued to eat as she spoke.

“So I looked around and kept at it, and he was so helpful and kind and open. I applied and got in.” She paused. “Of course, by the time I was ready to graduate, the economy had changed. With all the cuts to libraries, I wasn’t sure what would happen. I’d been working part-time in a library near campus, so I knew how tight things were. I considered jobs outside public libraries—law firms need librarians, for instance. Colleges, universities, that sort of thing. But...the public library is important. I really wanted to pursue a position that way. This job here in town opened up, and one of my friends told me about it, and that’s pretty much history.”

“You probably could have made a lot more money elsewhere.”

Her eyes lost that teasing light and she got serious. “Libraries are important, Paddy. Libraries are not just a place to check out books. They’re a haven, a safe place for so many kids. You cannot undervalue that. Being a place, a home for people who need to escape their own unsafe places is something libraries provide. It’s a priceless thing. Some kids don’t have any adults in their lives who give a shit about them. They can go to the children’s librarian who does something as simple as holding back a book she thinks that kid would like, and it changes everything. I make enough to pay my bills and fortunately, I have family money, too. That I have the ability to be part of someone’s safe place means everything to me.”

Right then, Paddy fell a little bit in love with Natalie Clayton with her ferocity about kids and libraries.

“Go down a layer or two and you’re a fierce bitch about kids. I like that a lot.”

She shrugged.

“Family money?”

She looked away a moment and then nodded. “Yes. I considered giving it all up, but in the end, I like using it to help other people.”

“What does your family think?”

“Let’s talk about you for a while. Why did you stay here in Hood River instead of heading to L.A. or Seattle or New York?”

“I like all those places. I actually do have a condo in Manhattan and a place in Santa Barbara, where I head when I need the ocean. But my family is here. We have enough land that I can be left alone when I need it, but my brothers and my parents are close enough that I can get on my bike or take a brisk walk and be on someone’s doorstep in a few minutes. I help when I’m around. We built a studio in an old converted barn, and we do all our own production there. I know where everything is. No one bothers us in town, really. I guess at the end of it, this is my home. Everyone should have a home.”

She smiled at him and it made him happy.

“I like Hood River a lot. Love it in the fall best. Love the colors of the leaves. So gorgeous.”

“I thought you grew up in Medina?”

“No. My grandparents lived there. I grew up in Los Angeles, actually. I visited a few times every year, but I grew up in a world where the leaves never changed.”

“Where at in L.A.?”

“Whittier. It’s a suburb east of downtown. So you mentioned a sister-in-law? When did your brother get married?”

She was touchy about her family, obviously.

“Let’s see, um, about a year ago. Yeah, they’re coming up on their anniversary soon. Do you have siblings?”

“I grew up thinking no. But a few years ago, my grandmother let it slip after five glasses of wine that a person I thought was my second cousin is actually my sister.”

“Wow, that’s some daytime-talk-show stuff right there. How did she react? Did she know?”

“She doesn’t know and really, she’s better off not knowing. Not like she’s missing out on any sort of stellar parenting.”

“You don’t want to tell her? To have a relationship with her?” Paddy couldn’t imagine not going to someone who was his brother or sister. He may fight like crazy with his brothers, but he couldn’t imagine not having them all in his life.

A shadow of grief passed across Natalie’s face for the briefest of breaths. “She grew up in a relatively normal household with both parents. She’s married and has three kids of her own. She runs a stationery store with her husband in a small town in Nevada. Her life is good. Who am I to tell her that her mother had an affair and everything she’s ever believed is a lie? What right do I have to do that?”

He sat back. He hadn’t thought of it like that, but she was right. Took the weight of knowing, he’d figured, but she’d done it to protect her sister.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t have such a great childhood, then?”

A shrug. “I have a good life now. That’s what counts. So is it weird being a rock star?”

“Yes. Sometimes it’s totally weird.” Having a conversation with this woman was an intricate process. She’d revealed things, personal things, but there were other topics she wove around and avoided.

He wanted to know her. All her wounds and sore spots as well as things that made her smile.

“Like how?”

“Well, you know, I’m just Paddy. I’ve been me my whole life. So I’ll be walking down the street in Manhattan and suddenly someone will gasp and call my name out and it’s like...being recognized as Paddy Hurley from Sweet Hollow Ranch has its own unique tone. It’s great. I mean, I’m happy people love our music and it pays my bills and enables me to do what I love and travel all over the world and stuff. But it’s an odd thing to have someone shake and cry just because they’ve seen me on my way back from grabbing a coffee.”

“Must make you feel responsible on some level, though.”

He warmed, pleased she’d gotten that. “Yeah. I mean, normally, if you catch me before I’ve had coffee, I’m grumpy. I can tell my brothers to fuck off and leave me be, but that teenage girl? I have to dig deep sometimes because I don’t want to be that guy. Even when I’m tired or hungry or pissed off.”

“Must be exhausting to be on all the time.”

“Another reason I live here and not L.A. or Manhattan. Anonymity is not overrated. I can go get groceries in a ratty pair of jeans and it won’t show up ten minutes later online. I’m protected here. Once I’m out in the larger world, it’s different. People you don’t know just make shit up about you. I hate that. Two years ago we were on tour and I got food poisoning. Have you ever had it? It’s the worst. I thought I was going to die. Anyway, so they had to take me to the emergency room because it was so bad, and so of course, it was reported that I’d overdosed. My mom flipped out.” He stopped abruptly, and she reached out, touching his hand.

“I know. About Ezra, I mean. It’s sort of impossible not to have seen all the reporting on it at the time.”

Paddy swallowed. He was careful sharing things about Ezra, who was so powerfully private in the wake of his battle with addiction.

“Your mom nearly lost one son, so I’m sure it was very upsetting for her to read that about another one of her sons. You all do live pretty hard out there on the road.”

“Did you look us up, then?” He wasn’t sure if he was embarrassed or flattered or what.

She snorted. “Please. I live in the world. The modern world with television and media. You’re supercute brothers in a rock band together. Of course it’s common knowledge that you booze it up and carouse when you’re on tour. I don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to know that.”

“Oh. Yeah. Probably. It’s not as wild as they make it out to be.” Mostly. Since Mary, especially. She came with them on tour and there was no way she’d stand for any bullshit in her presence.

“Anyway, so yes, it’s weird. But it gets me great tables at restaurants. I fly first-class. I don’t have to worry about money because I have enough, and I have a great accountant who manages it for me and invests it for my future. I’ve met some amazing people, seen some amazing things. I do this thing I dreamed about, and we’re lucky enough that we’re successful at it.”

They finished dinner and dessert.

“So, how’d I do?”

She looked back over her shoulder as she’d been standing, leaning to trail her fingers through the water.

“Dinner was great.”

“Date-wise?”

“Not much to complain about. Gorgeous man. Really nice boat. Beautiful scenery. The weather is perfect.”

He took her hand and took her down to the stern. “Gorgeous, huh?” He turned her to face him and got close, the rail at her back.

“Are we pretending you don’t know how pretty you are?”

“Nah.” She made him smile a lot. “Still, it’s nice to hear from a beautiful woman I really hope to kiss a time or two tonight.”

“I have such bad judgment.” Natalie said it, but she had no plans to fight it.

“Really, now? That sounds like it’ll be a win for me.”

She laughed, placing her palm on his chest. “You’re bad for me.”

“I promise not to rot your teeth or give you diabetes. That means I’m way better for you than doughnuts.”

She slid her hand up to his throat and around to the back of his neck. He stepped the last bit, bringing her to him, his arm around her waist.

He lowered his head, and she went to her tiptoes to meet him halfway for a kiss.

Ha, kiss was such a mild word for what it was.

She wove her fingers through his hair and tugged to keep him there. If she was going to make a really bad decision, she wasn’t going to do it halfway.

Plus, he was really good at kissing.

He traced her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue and then nipped hard enough to make her gasp. That’s when he barged right into her mouth and turned her knees to jelly.

And clearly, she needed to work as hard as he was working, so she hummed and sucked his tongue. He arched into her body, holding her tighter. She lost herself in him, in the way his hands felt on her body. In his taste as it filled her up and rendered her useless to think about anything else but his mouth on hers.

Out there, it was just the two of them. The stars overhead, the sound of the water, the breeze, Paddy and Natalie, and it was perfect, so she didn’t fight it.

That kiss slid into another and another until her head spun, and she clung to him, taking it in, savoring every moment until he finally broke away, though his arms remained around her.

“Yeah. So that was fucking awesome.”

She laughed as she tried to catch her breath.

“Do you want to go for a swim?”

“I didn’t bring a bathing suit.” Also, she sure as heck wasn’t going to wear some cast-off suit from another chick he brought out there.

“There’s no one around. You don’t need a suit.”

The sexual invitation in his voice wrapped around her, caressing, teasing.

“It’s been a really hot day. I’ve got fluffy towels and a shower here to rinse the river off if you want.”

He pulled his shirt off like a challenge.

“Live a little dangerously.”

He unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, easing them down, and she wasn’t surprised in the least that he didn’t have any underwear on. Or that he was really interested in that swim.

He followed her gaze to his cock and looked back with a grin. “Yeah, well. You’re sort of irresistible. But I promise it’s just an invitation to swim. Not that I really don’t want to fuck you, because I do. But we’ll take it at your pace.”

He popped a cushion from a nearby couch free, revealing a stack of neatly folded towels. He pulled two out. “What do you say?”

She needed to say no. Needed to say she had work in the morning and should really go home.

But she found herself saying, “You go in first.”

With a grin, he jumped from the deck into the water with a splash. “I’ll even keep my back turned until you get in.”

She unbuttoned her dress, slid from it, her bra and panties, folded them and put them out of splash range and took a running jump from the boat into the river.

CHAPTER SIX

“SO, IT WENT GOOD, huh?” Tuesday paused to examine a pair of hand-beaded slippers. They’d headed to a craft fair in Portland and had sucked down coffee and sang along to the radio on the way.

“It was... Yeah, it was good. He made me dinner and wooed me a little.”

It had been a few days since the date, but she and Tuesday had barely connected between work and other stuff, so this was the first time they’d been able to talk about it all.

Tuesday put the slippers down, and they moved on, this time it was Natalie who paused to look at a framed photograph that had been hand-tinted. “Wow, this is fantastic.” She turned to Tuesday. “This would look perfect in the front hallway, don’t you think?”

Tuesday nodded, and Natalie bought it, tucking it carefully into the rolling cart she brought to fairs, green markets and swap meets.

“Did you sleep with him?”

Natalie snorted. “You’re so shy.”

“Whatever. Did you?”

Natalie shook her head. “Nope. We did get naked, but it was to swim. And it was dark so I saw some—well, okay a lot—when he just stripped off and jumped in.” A smile came unbidden, and because it was Tuesday, Natalie gave in. “Everything is how I left it last. We kissed a lot. He felt me up. But we got out, and I dried off and got dressed and so did he, and he brought me home.”

“Ugh. Lame. You said his cock was still nice and sturdy, so what’s the story?”

Natalie laughed. “Sturdy?”

“Like a farm work truck, I’d imagine.”

This made Natalie laugh so hard they had to stop so she could get her breath. “You’re so broken and wrong, Tuesday. Thank goodness for you. We didn’t because I wasn’t ready.”

“Ready? You’ve already fucked him. What’s the holdup? It’s not like you’re a virgin.”

“You should get laid yourself, since you’re so invested in what I’m doing. Jeez.”

“Mine are better,” Tuesday said in an undertone as they left the jewelry stall they’d stopped at.

“Duh.” This particular craft market had a wait list, and Tuesday was on it. Hopefully soon she’d be able to get a stall at some point.

Tuesday waved a hand. “Anyway, you like sex. He’s gorgeous. Why aren’t you ready?”

“I needed a little time and he gave it to me. That said a lot. We talked. We flirted. We kissed. It’s all good. The pace works. If he was only after me to fuck me, he won’t come around again.” Just as he had been concerned about people after him for his celebrity, she needed him to want more than sex from her.

“Ah. I get it. I guess that’s fair. If he passes your test and calls to ask you out again, will you go?”

Natalie couldn’t afford to lie to herself, and Tuesday would know it, anyway, and call her out. So she went with blunt. “Yeah, definitely. I like him. He’s funny and obviously talented. Plus he cooks.”

“Always a plus.”

“He’s nosy, though. I ended up telling him more than I had intended to. Back in the day, we just had a lot of sex and drank. This talking thing is new.”

They laughed at that.

“So you’re... This is you dating him. For real?”

“Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know. So far it’s one date. But I just needed to do it like a real person. I wouldn’t have banged some random dude on the first date, either. That doesn’t erase all the other things I pause over. He’s still...” Natalie whipped her hands all over the place. “A tornado? A storm? He’s messy, and he comes with a lot of stuff I don’t want or need.”

“Whether you need it or not is a whole different conversation, Nats. Anyway, he didn’t ask you to marry him or go out on the road with him. Right now he’s farmer Paddy, and you’re the librarian. Come to think of it, that sounds like a really hot book I’d totally read. So live a little. It’s not that serious.”

Natalie blew out a breath. She wanted him, at least for the next little while, so it was really in her best interest to let Tuesday talk her into it. Tuesday rarely steered her wrong.

Tuesday linked her arm with Natalie’s. “We’ve spent enough money, and now I’m starving. I need a lot of pancakes and pork products.”

“Yes, please. Let’s go put this in the car, and we’ll get brunch.”

* * *

PADDY WAS UP EARLY, needing the physical activity to ease the burn. Even masturbating in the shower hadn’t made it better, so he’d been out with Ezra in the orchards since the sun had risen.

The work, being outside and the cool morning air that would be gone in just a few hours, all combined to make a far more relaxed Paddy, along with Ezra, making their way up the front steps of their parents’ place for breakfast.

The sound hit him immediately. A smile broke over his face as he remembered his nieces were with Vaughan that week.

Kensey and Maddie looked up from where they poured pancakes with their grandmother and squealed at the sight of two of their uncles coming in.

“That’s how I wish I was greeted every time I came into a room.” Paddy knelt and held his arms open to get kisses and hugs from the girls. “You guys are getting way too big. Stop that now.”

Vaughan grinned at his daughters. “Second and third grade already.”

It was a little bittersweet because they didn’t live there with their dad. Instead, their mother had primary custody and lived in nearby Gresham. But Paddy had to hand it to Kelly. She’d had more than one opportunity to leave the area for school and her job, but she’d turned it all down so their daughters could see their dad on a regular basis.

They’d married too young and divorced too quickly. Vaughan and Kelly’s marriage had been a casualty of their lifestyle as well as their age and inexperience at being in a relationship.

Paddy looked over at his brother. Vaughan had never truly let go of Kelly. There’d been plenty of women so it wasn’t as though it hindered him in the sex department. But there’d been no one he’d been interested in for longer than a week or two, and he only rarely went out.

Kelly and Vaughan had gotten together for the same reason they split; they had an intense connection and chemistry. But at twenty-three and twenty-five, neither Kelly nor Vaughan had known how to manage it, and it had exploded.

Paddy stepped to the side as the girls moved to Ezra, grilling him about the animals he kept. “Yes, of course we’ll go horseback riding after breakfast. You can come over and see the goats, too. Violet herds them.”

The girls thought that was hilarious. A pig herding goats? And yet, that’s exactly what Ezra’s crazy, bossy pig, who thought she was a dog, did.

“Coffee just finished.” His mother motioned to the coffeemaker with a spatula. “Mary and Damien are on the way up, too, so you boys need to put the extra leaf in the table.”

They all moved to obey their mother, and ten minutes later the dining room was filled with the happy noise of a family eating a big breakfast.

“How’d your date go?” His mother never forgot anything, which made her awesome and frightening at the same time.

“Good. Mary’s food went over well and only made my salmon look better. We drank champagne, went swimming.” He attempted what he hoped was a nonchalant shoulder thing. It had been a pretty nice date. And he rarely had nights like it. Just regular, fun get-to-know-you dates.

“You gonna ask her out again?” Ezra asked, dropping pancakes on Kensey’s plate.

“Yes.” He hadn’t even needed to pause to think it over. He’d sent her wildflowers the next day. She’d called him to thank him but got his voice mail. He’d returned the call and got hers.

He would totally ask her out again and hopefully this time, he’d end the date the next morning. The kisses they’d shared had been a taste of heat. Their chemistry was still there in a big way. But they were both different.

Natalie especially. The carefree girl he’d dallied with for those two weeks had never shared anything personal, and he had to admit, he’d never asked. She’d said a lot but not much had been intimate.

“The way she talks about her job? So much passion. It’s more than a place she goes to pay her bills. This is her calling. It was awesome.”

“Is this your girlfriend, Uncle Paddy?” Maddie asked.

“I’d like her to be. She’s a librarian here in town.”

Kensey’s eyes widened. “For real? Can we go check books out from her, then? I love the libary.”

“Library, darlin’.” Vaughan kissed her head. “And sure, I think checking books out is a great idea.”

His mother went back for another pass at information-gathering. “So how does she talk about her work, then?”

“She talked about the library like it was a haven. How she wanted to be part of a safe place for kids and others in the community. Said the library was more than just checking out books.”

His mother smiled and Paddy knew it spelled trouble.

“I like that. Girl’s got a good heart. So you knew her when you two were young and silly, and now you’ve grown.”

“Yes.” The good thing was that because the girls were there, his mother wouldn’t bring up safe sex or anything else embarrassing and cringeworthy. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t find him later to do it.

“Is she pretty?” Maddie snuck a piece of bacon off her dad’s plate, and he pretended to be scandalized.

“She’s really pretty.”

“She likes books, and she’s pretty, too. Is she smart?”

He nodded. “She has a master’s degree. You know what that is?”

Maddie shook her head.

“You go to grade school and then high school. She went to college after that. That’s four years. And then she went to school for more years after that to get a special degree in being a librarian.”

“That’s lots of school! Smart and pretty. My momma says pretty fades but smarts last forever.”

“That’s what she says when Maddie doesn’t want to finish her homework,” Kensey added.

“Well, your mom is right.” Vaughan laughed, winking at his brother.

* * *

WHEN SHE WALKED into Common Grounds Monday morning, he sat there at his regular table.

“There you are. Morning, Natalie. I took the liberty of ordering for you.” He pointed at a very large mug and a plate with two spice doughnuts.

“You’re the devil.”

He laughed. “How so?”

She sat and looked at the pretty design Bobbi had made on the top of her cappuccino and then back to the masculine glory of his face. “Doughnuts? Two of them, even.”

“It’s Monday. If an extra doughnut is what it takes to get through unscathed and without violence to another human, I say eat two.”

Because he had what was probably 2 or 3 percent body fat, it was clearly easy to say. Which did not stop her from eating that first doughnut in what felt like three bites. Maybe it was four.

She hoped so.

He just grinned at her.

“What?”

“I like watching you. Did you have a good weekend?”

“Went to a craft fair with Tuesday. Bought stuff for my house. Ate too much. We planted stuff in our front yard, and yesterday she made me go on a hike. I just pray for winter when I don’t have to hike up hills for a few months.”

“Aw, come on now. You wouldn’t do it if you really didn’t like it.”

She nearly choked on the second doughnut. “I hate to break it to you, but I do it because my best friend likes it. I don’t like being really sweaty.” She sipped her cappuccino. “Well, outside of a few examples. Some kinds of sweat are worth the exertion.”

He leaned closer. “Please tell me you’re talking about sex.”

She blinked, keeping her expression serious. “No, I’m talking about raking leaves. Of course I’m talking about sex.”

He wiped his brow theatrically. “I’m going to change the subject, or I’ll be useless for hours. Bobbi says you never drink iced stuff. Now that September is here, that’s one thing, but in full summer, too?”

“Are you a coffee spy, Paddy?” She raised a brow.

“If I am, can I capture you and do whatever I have to to get you to cooperate?”

The words fell over her, heated, dirty innuendo. “Maybe.” They watched each other as they sipped their coffee.

“Tuesday says my dislike of iced coffee means I’m broken and tragically weird. I’ll eat coffee ice cream, because I’m not that tragic. But I’ll happily guzzle hot coffee all year around. I’m a traditionalist that way.”

“Did you know you have a dimple?” He reached out to brush a fingertip over the space to the right of her mouth. Of course she wasn’t smiling then; she was probably looking like a deer caught in the headlights because he set her aflame.

She ducked her head. “Did you have a good weekend?”

“My nieces were visiting, so we rode horses and went on picnics, and I endured three DVDs worth of animation. So yes, I had a good weekend. You should go out with me again.”

Her head spun at that quick change of topic. “I should?”

“Oh, yeah. Do you like movies?”

“Yes, again, not that tragic.”

“Our manager is dating a producer so we just got a bunch of stuff that’s just released. I have a home theater. Why don’t you come to my house? We’ll have dinner and watch movies.”

“I can’t tonight. Monday night is my book club.”

“Book club? What are you reading?”

“We have themes. This month is graphic novels, so we’ve been doing all the Walking Dead issues.”

“Really? Amazing. Is this open to new members?”

She laughed. Nearly choking on her drink. “We’d never get anything done if you joined my book club.”

“What? Why do you say that? I like to read!”

Natalie waved a hand at him. “You’re far too charming, flirty and sexy. I’m the most steadfast member of the group, and I can’t even concentrate around you. The rest of them would dissolve into goo. No book club for you, Patrick.”

He laughed. “I’d say you were mean, but you did compliment me and say I messed with your concentration, so I’ll let it pass. How about Wednesday?”

“Okay.” She looked at her watch. “I need to get moving.”

He stood with her. “I’ll walk you.”

She could have refused but she didn’t want to.

“All right.”

He walked on the outside, her barrier from the street. His gentlemanly ways surprised her at times.

“I admit it’s way nicer now that you don’t reject me over and over. Would I be pushing my luck if I tried to hold your hand right now?”

“Yes. I’m on my way to work. I like to keep my work and my private life separate.”

“Hmm. We’re going to need to talk about all this.”

“Hmm.” She mimicked him. “It’s going to have to wait until Wednesday.”

“Fine.” He chitchatted about silly stuff until they got to the library.

“I take it a kiss would not be okay according to your rules?”

“You’re learning. Oh, I need directions to your house for Wednesday night.”

He took her phone and put the information in. “I’ll see you Wednesday, then. I can’t be at the café tomorrow morning. We’re doing an interview, so I’ll be busy doing that for a while.”

She didn’t want to be disappointed, but there it was, anyway. So reckless of her to go getting attached to him like that, but her brain didn’t seem to care. The other parts of her had lost that battle weeks before. “Okay. I’ll see you Wednesday, then. Have a good interview.”

She turned with a wave and headed into work.

CHAPTER SEVEN

HE SPENT MOST of Wednesday preparing for his date. He went in and got a haircut and a beard trim. He picked up snacks and supplies for dinner. He also picked up extra condoms. It was like a talisman. For luck.

They’d end up in bed. He hoped it’d be that night, but even if it wasn’t for another month, it would happen. They had so much sexual energy between them, it sizzled.

He cleaned the house, changed his sheets and bedding. Aired everything out and moved furniture three times.

He was officially ridiculous, and he didn’t stop even after he’d realized that.

There were three movies. Horror, a thriller and some comedy bro-flick. He’d let her choose.

In the shower he considered jerking off so he’d be more relaxed. Thinking about her had him tense and agitated, but in a way he sort of dug. He hadn’t had to work this hard for a woman, well, ever, actually. He’d had her before, which only spiced things up. He knew what it was like to be inside her. Knew what her lips felt like wrapped around his cock. Knew what she tasted like.

He’d thought he’d remembered her body. He’d seen it naked an awful lot. But in the brief glimpses of her he caught out at the river, he’d noted curves. More than she’d had then. He had tended toward tall women with big tits and a lean look. But Natalie was voluptuous. He hadn’t realized he had a thing for all that swoop and dip, but he was utterly converted. Nicely though, the big boobs part was there, too. He’d been so focused on the curves, he’d only barely noticed the ink and hoped for a far closer inspection very soon.

So yeah, he soaped a hand up and wrapped it around his cock as he imagined her naked. Wet, but not from swimming. Flushed from orgasm. On her back in his bed. Her lips swollen from his kisses and from sucking his cock. Her eyes half-lidded and dreamy.

“Open those thighs.”

She complied with that smile of hers. Unashamed of what she wanted, of what he did to her. She was slick, dark with desire and when he fed her his cock, pressing in slow and steady, she made a sound that wrapped around his balls and tightened.

She wound her legs around his waist, grabbing two handfuls of his ass and pulling him closer, urging him on. She loved fucking as much as he did. That wouldn’t have changed. Tight and hot, her inner muscles would flutter around him as she got closer. As he got closer. Her nails dug into his skin as she arched, her neck bared to his lips as he licked and nibbled.

Climax shot through him, yanking him from that fantasy as his dream Natalie dissolved, leaving him alone and still half hard as the water rushed over his skin.

* * *

SHE’D GONE WITH casual that night. Her favorite supersoft T-shirt with the V-neck and some jeans. No heels this time. He lived on a farm so if he wanted her to walk or do something outdoorsy, she’d be better off in the sneakers she’d chosen instead of sandals.

Of course, as she followed the road, drove through a gate that he’d given her the code to and continued on, she realized the word farm probably wasn’t adequate for the land, the orchards and fields in the distance. She saw lights from a few houses and passed two until she saw the turnoff for his.

Off the main road, she could see the river in the distance as she parked in his driveway. All glass and gorgeous, warm wood, his house was Northwestern modern. The opposite of her Victorian, but it fit him.

She didn’t get the chance to knock; he opened up with a smile before she’d even been able to raise her hand.

“Hey, you found me.”

“Yes. Your instructions were perfect, thanks.”

He opened the door wider and motioned her inside.

“Are you a shoes-off house?”

He snorted. “No. If you want to, go on ahead. I’m not wearing shoes because I don’t want to. But it’s your choice.” He paused and bent to kiss her quickly. “Sorry to burst your foot-fetish suspicions.”

She laughed and put her bag down in the entry.

He took her hand. “Want a tour?”

“Yes, please.”

It was a great house. Clean. Very modern but warm at the same time. His living space was great with big couches and chairs.

“Is yours the house everyone hangs out at?”

“We split it up pretty evenly. My house is the middle point between Ezra, who is closest to the big house where my parents are, and Damien, who lives the farthest from it. We spend more time at Damien’s these days because Mary is such a great cook.” He paused. “Want to see the upstairs?”

Natalie nodded, and he took her up the stairs fronted by a wall of glass. “This view is insane.”

“We all worked with the same architect who took the land and views into account as she worked. All our houses are unique and fit our individual tastes, but they’re on the same continuum so you can see the thread. It’s a light touch. Each room has something about it that I love. My work space has excellent afternoon light. My bedroom gets the sunset. Kitchen gets morning light. All that jazz.”

He opened the door to a huge room with several guitars on stands, a large desk with two monitors, big chairs and a wet-bar-sized sink and fridge. “This is my work space.”

She went in, impressed. “Wow.”

He blushed, brushing his fingertips over the neck of a guitar. “I spend more time in here than any other place but my bedroom. I can run tracks in here. We’re all hooked into a network with the board in the barn, that’s our studio here. I write here. Ezra sleeps on that big couch a lot.” He snorted a laugh.

“You and he do the writing?”

“About eighty percent of it is me and Ezra. Ezra does the bulk of production. Damien and Vaughan write a song or two each album.”

“So you’re closest to Ezra, then?”

He laughed. “Ezra and I collaborate really well, but we’re too much alike in some ways, so we fight a lot. In the old days, it was nose-breaking sort of fighting, but now it’s more pissy bickering. Though we do occasionally get physical. He knows how to push my buttons. He and Damien are closer. Vaughan and I tend to pal around more, but he’s been away a lot over the last month. His girls just went back to school, so he’s been spending time with them. But, and don’t tell Ez this, Ezra is the person whose advice I seek out when I need an honest take. He’s pretty wise for a dick.”

She shook her head, imagining what it was like for their mother to have four really handsome sons who got into all the trouble they did.

He opened another door.

“My bedroom.”

She walked into the room, spinning slowly. Stunned.

“What? Why do you have that look on your face?”

“I never expected this.” Where the rest of his house was modern though comfortable, his bedroom was homey. His huge bed dominated one wall and was dressed with fluffy bedding. Heavy drapes were pulled back to expose sheers and windows looking out to the fields beyond, and if she was right, Mt. Hood on clear days.

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined two walls. She traced her fingertips over the spines. This was the bedroom of a hedonist. Of the kind of person who spent the entire day in bed reading and watching movies.

Fucking.

“Never expected what?”

She turned to him. “This warm, inviting, comfortable space. It’s womblike. I want to take a nap in your bed right this instant.”

The worry on his features wisped away with a pleased grin. “Well, go on ahead. But only if I can nap with you. I love a good nap.”

“I can tell.” Napping was one of her biggest vices.

There was a big chair near the fireplace with an ottoman and a blanket on the back. She pointed. “Where’d you get that chair? I want one like it in my bedroom so I can read and nap on rainy days.”

“If I told you, I’d be discouraging you from coming here on rainy days to read and nap, instead. That’s self-defeating, Nat.”

“You travel a lot. How can I leave my napping needs up to chance? You’re quite heartless to make me, Patrick.”

“Your sense of humor turns me on.” He stepped closer. “You’ve been in my house for about twenty minutes now, and I haven’t really gotten a good kiss yet. Have a heart.”

“You’re the one who won’t even tell me where to buy that chair. Mean.”

“You’re all breathless.” Paddy cupped the back of her neck and slowly walked her into his chest. And she let him.

“I have asthma and you made me walk up stairs.”

He laughed. “I swam with you a few days ago. You’re in excellent shape. But goddamn, I love your body.”

She gulped. “Oh.”

“You need to be quiet so I can kiss you now.”

She nodded.

He started at the corner of her mouth. Just a brush of his lips. When she smiled, he licked at the spot, making her draw a breath. That’s when he used her distraction to sneak his very talented tongue right into her mouth.

Just a quick flick, and then he was gone again. He nipped her bottom lip, tugging until she moaned softly, digging her nails into his biceps where she’d been grasping him to stay standing because her knees had gone to jelly.

“You taste like cinnamon.”

He backed off, and she was sure she should have been glad, but she really liked his mouth on hers.

“Gum. The cinnamon, I mean. And maybe two boxes of Hot Tamales.” Perhaps three, but that wasn’t something she could confirm as she tended to lose count.

He grinned. “Come downstairs. Ezra went into town, and he’s picking Thai food up for us. He should be here shortly.”

She followed him from the room and down the stairs. He had a great back. And a great butt, too.

“I should have asked if you liked Thai food. If you don’t, I can make something. I went to the grocery store, but then I realized I’d rather order in and have more time with you.”

“Thai is good. I order it all the time, but I haven’t had it in a few weeks. Tuesday got a slow cooker and she’s been making all sorts of great stuff in it. It’s pretty awesome that one of us can cook.”

“How come you can’t?”

She started to answer, but there was a knock on the door.

“Hold that thought. Ezra’s here.”

Paddy bellowed out a come in as he jogged toward the front entry. When Ezra came around the corner into the room, she totally recognized him from before. Where Paddy was gorgeous, Ezra was ruggedly handsome. Big and brawny, he looked every inch the rancher he was. She bet he looked really good doing sweaty things like baling hay or riding a horse.

He flashed her a smile. “Hey! I remember you.”

It was impossible not to smile back. He thrust the bags at Paddy and headed to her, taking her hands in his. “It’s good to see you after all these years.”

“You, as well. Paddy’s been telling me about the job you do here on the ranch and also the collaborative way you put out Sweet Hollow Ranch’s music. I’m totally impressed.”

Paddy made a sound, and they looked up at him. He had puppy-dog face, and it was very cute.

“You can tell he was the spoiled one. He can’t deal if everyone isn’t fawning over him all the time.”

“Shut it, buttface.”

“Notice he didn’t dispute my statement.”

“She’s my date. Go away.”

“Thank you for bringing us dinner, Ezra.” Natalie patted his arm.

He sent Paddy a face, and she burst out laughing.

“I’d love to have dinner with you guys, thanks for asking.” Ezra turned to her and led her into the kitchen. “Gives me a chance to catch up with Natalie. I don’t suppose you have that Mustang anymore?”

“Oh, my God, you remember that? I kept it for years, wanting to get it restored, but I never had the time or inclination and I ended up selling it.”

Paddy turned and pulled her into a hug. “I forgot about that sexy fastback you used to have.”

“So you both love cars, clearly. Given the one you drove the other day, I should have guessed.”

“Paddy’s past love and working his way into obsession. But, as far as obsessions go, classic cars isn’t a bad one.” Ezra pulled out a chair at the table. “Sit.”

She did, trying not to laugh more as Paddy frowned at his big brother.

“Hey, we understand that you need to go home. Thanks for understanding I’m on a date and all.”

“I headed Mom off so I think the phrase you’re looking for is, thanks, Ezra, for saving me from an evening of baby pictures and stories about the time I yarked on that Santa at the Bon Marche.”

“I don’t know which is worse,” Paddy muttered.

“Please. Don’t lie. Sharon Hurley nosy about her baby’s date is way worse than me eating all your crab rangoon and leaving after I know I’ve given you an eye tic for a few hours.”

Paddy thrust plates into his brother’s arms. “At least set the table.” Paddy turned to Natalie with a far friendlier look than he gave his brother. “What can I get you to drink? I’ve got waters, juices, orange soda, beer, wine. I can do mixed drinks, too. I have champagne for later, but not until Ezra leaves.”

“I’d love some orange soda.” The two men moved around the kitchen—and each other—with ease, saying far more about their bond to each other than their bickering had. It was clear the two spent a lot of time like this, just hanging out.

“So—” Ezra grinned her way for a moment and continued eating “—you’re a librarian. Why Hood River?”

“Well, there were a few places that had openings. I visited several cities in a few states. I visited here in May, so it was so pretty and warm and everyone was friendly. I liked the library here. Liked the programs. But to be totally honest with you? I was driving around, you know, just checking the area out, and I drove past a big blue Victorian with a for-sale sign out front.”

She’d slowed, looking up at it and had wanted it with a greed she rarely allowed herself to feel. The curves of all the bay windows, the lattice work; the house was like a childhood dream come true.

“It was the house that sold me on Hood River. Don’t tell my boss that, though.”

Ezra laughed, but it was Paddy who spoke next. “So? The house?”

“I went back to my hotel and contacted the listing agent. I made an offer the next day after I did a walkthrough. Moved in sixty days later. It’s a really big house, though, so I lived in half while I did a lot of remodeling on the rest. And then my best friend came to visit, and she fell in love with it, too, and she now lives in the other half.”

She wanted to ask him why he’d chosen to run the ranch, but she didn’t know him well enough, and she didn’t want to push any buttons about his past addiction. Addiction talk often made her antsy, anyway.

“I think I know the house you mean. It’s not blue anymore, though. It’s green and white. That’s the one. Overlooking the river, right?”

She nodded. “Yep. It was that color originally, and when I saw the swatches, I knew I wanted it that way again.”

Ezra stayed long enough for her to know he wanted to check her out and be sure she was okay. It spoke volumes about the closeness of this family. But it sure was nice when he finally sent a grin to Paddy as he stood, patting his belly.

“That was awesome, kids. I’m off home.”

She rose, and he kissed her cheek before they followed him down the hall to the door.

“Make good choices.” Ezra winked, and Paddy rolled his eyes, opening the front door.

“Yeah, yeah. Thanks for bringing the food. See you later.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

“I THOUGHT HE’D never leave.” Paddy leaned back against the door, flipping the lock. “I’m sorry about that.”

“It was totally fine. I like Ezra and so do you. He checked me out because he wanted to be sure I wasn’t going to hurt you or your family in some way.”

He paused before he grabbed her hand and began to pull her down the hall. For all the smooth, supercontrolled way she acted, there were times she was utterly unvarnished. It kept him on his toes. “Nah. He knows you’re fine.”

“I was some chick you fucked for a few weeks years ago who suddenly resurfaced in your life. For all he knew, I was a stalker out to try to con you.”

She was pretty perceptive. He hadn’t even realized that until she’d said it. Of course Ezra, being the oldest and yes, being the guy who caused no small amount of drama and harm to their family, would take it on as his responsibility to protect them all.

“Does that offend you or bother you?”

She tossed herself onto the big couch in the center of the media room. “What? That your big brother did what big brothers are supposed to do? I’m guessing I must have done okay, or he’d still be here.”

“If your family did that, I don’t know that I’d be that easygoing about it.”

“Well, that’s not going to be a worry for you, so you can put that out of your head. But let’s face it, you have a lot to lose. More than the average random woman who shows up in one of your lives. Not all of us are going to have big fat bank accounts and trust funds.”

“You’re going to tell me that story.” He moved to the projector.

“Maybe. Maybe not. But right now, I’m here for the movies and popcorn.”

“Is making out on the menu?”

“If you’re nice to me, and you’ve included some peanut M&M’s in the offerings, I might let you get to second base.”

He was very glad he’d grabbed snacks of all types when he’d gone grocery shopping earlier.

“As a matter of fact, I did. So sit back and let me get everything set up.”

She raised one brow and then shrugged, settling in and getting comfortable.

They chose a movie—the thriller—and he popped some corn and tossed her a bag of M&M’s before finally joining her on the couch.

She put her head on his shoulder as they watched, and once they’d finished the popcorn, he pulled her close, and she fit just right against his side.

The credits finally started to roll, and she shifted to her knees, getting in his lap astride his body.

“Well, now.”

She slid her hands through his hair and pulled him close, dropping her lips to his, claiming a kiss. He hummed, his hands sliding up her thighs to her hips, where he held on as she kissed the hell out of him.

Her skin where her shirt met her pants was warm and soft, and he didn’t stop himself from touching, caressing up her spine as she arched into him.

Higher and higher until he popped the catch on her bra, pausing for a moment to be sure she was on board.

She broke the kiss, leaned her upper body back, pulled her shirt up and off and tossed her bra aside, leaving him totally speechless and very pleased.

“Damn.”

He grabbed her back, pulling her close, her breasts brushing against him, making him hiss as his hands roved all over her bare skin.

She arched into him like a cat before nipping his earlobe. “You take your shirt off, too.”

“I want to spend some time on you first.”

She made a sound and, grabbing his shirt at the hem, pulled it up and off.

“Man, oh, man.” She flicked the bar through his right nipple with her thumbnail.

It was his turn to arch just then. “What brought this on?” He moaned as she kissed across his cheeks to his ear.

“I wanted you, and here you were.”

“Well, that’s very true.”

“I like sex. I know already that I like sex with you. As long as things are private, I’m totally on board with this thing going wherever and for however long.”

He wanted to frown, even though her words were good ones. As far as he could tell, there were no good reasons not to do more than just fuck. He opened his mouth to press her, but she made a sound that tore at him.

With a groan, he skimmed his hands up her belly to cup her breasts and drew his thumbs back and forth across her nipples.

“Yes,” she breathed into his ear before she licked the outer shell and gave him the edge of her teeth against that very sensitive skin.

She was lush there in his lap. The weight of her perfect against his cock. The heat of her pussy teasing him.

“You have new tattoos.”

“You have nipple rings and more ink.”

“I want to see you.”

“Earn it.”

She pulled away enough to look into his face, a smile of challenge on her lips. He snatched a kiss, accepting her challenge. Eagerly.

He shimmied to the edge of the couch and stood, setting her down on her feet. “Now, stand there while I look at you awhile. Whet my appetite because I’m starving for you.”

“Mmm, that’s a good one.”

There was some of the woman he’d been with before in that moment. He liked it. Her ink was perfectly placed so no one would have been able to see it while she was clothed.

Starting at her right hip there was a spill of pink climbing roses. Unfurled as they flowed up her side and up her back. He circled her, taking it in. “This is gorgeous.”

“Thank you. I get a little more once a year.”

“You’d never know these were here when you’re dressed.” He pressed a kiss at the highest knot of blooms at her midback.

“That’s the point.”

He kissed his way across her shoulder until he’d come to face her again. “Is it?”

“The ink is for me. No one needs to know about it unless I want them to. I don’t need everyone to see it or know about it to enjoy it.”

He unmoored the top button of her jeans and slid the zipper down. Panties the same color pink as the roses on her body.

“I wanted to look at you the other night on my boat when we skinny-dipped, but I didn’t want to scare you away.”

He shoved her jeans down, and she stepped from them. Then she turned slowly, her ass tipped slightly toward him. She slid her fingertips over the red bows that were inked at the tops of her thighs. “I believe you were asking about these.” It wasn’t until she looked at him back over her shoulder that his control slipped. He dropped to his knees to get a better look.

He caressed up her legs to that spot where each bow lived. Gooseflesh rose, beading her skin as he breathed over it, and she squeaked prettily when he licked each one.

“You taste good.”

She moaned, fisting her hands at her sides.

He hooked his fingers at the sides of her underpants and pulled them down, spinning her once she’d stepped free to face him, gloriously naked.

“I’m naked, and you have your pants on still.” Her voice was breathy again, and it made him smile.

“I know. How fucking lucky am I?” He lifted enough to lick over the ink at her hip, his body warming when she held his head to her, her fingers cradling his skull.

“You could be even luckier if your pants were off.”

“That’ll come soon enough.” He licked her belly, circling her belly button. “First you need to come and then we’ll move to step two.” He stood and walked her back to the couch, a push to get her seated again. He put a pillow on the floor and knelt on it. “Don’t worry, the pillow can stay for when it’s your turn to be on your knees.”

Dear God, he was going to melt her. Her bones and muscles and skin were just going to drip into a puddle of wordless, turned-on goo at his feet.

He kissed the inside of each knee and then up her thighs, pushing them wide. She didn’t have time to worry or be embarrassed or hesitant. He moved quickly, licking through her until her breath came out as a stutter.

“You like that?” He spoke, his lips against her labia. Enough that she felt his smile, and it sent a shiver through her.

“What’s not to like?” she managed to say but felt like her tongue was three sizes too big for her mouth.

Maybe one of the reasons he was a lead singer was that he was really good with his mouth. Like stellar fantastic. He’d been good before, but clearly, he’d been practicing on a few women in the interim.

He teased her until her thigh muscles trembled. There was something so delicious about the way he held her thighs wide, the strength in his forearms as he held her open and down at the same time, the slight callus to his fingers—forbidden and dark and oh, so good.

He changed his pace. Slow, with licks with the flat of his tongue, fast, hard flicks with the tip of his tongue against her clit. He drove her to the edge, and then he pulled back over and over until she was a trembly, sweaty mess.

“If you don’t let me come, I’m going to take over and do it myself!”

He pulled back, nipping the inside of her thigh. “I’d love to see that. But right now, your orgasm is in my hands, and you’ll get it when I want you to have it.”

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to muster up outrage, but it never came.

He waited, brow raised. “Nothing to say? Good.”

He bent and got back to work. But this time he didn’t tease her. He kept a relentless rhythm that sent her spiraling into climax so hard, she saw stars.

When she managed to open her eyes, she found him resting his chin on her thigh, smiling.

“Someone learned more than a few new chords out on the road.”

He burst out laughing.

“Just when I think I’ve got you figured out.”

He got to his knees, and his hands went to his top button on his jeans. She sighed happily. “Finally.”

“I’m sensing a theme here. You’re impatient when there’s something you want in view.”

“Have you looked in the mirror?”

He stood, slowly dragging the zipper down, each click of the teeth nearly a drumbeat in her head.

“I have to laugh at that comment when you’re spread out on my couch like the most luscious piece of cake a man ever saw.”

He was a ruthless flatterer.

“Doughnut may be more apt.”

He laughed again as he pushed his jeans down his legs, along with shorts.

“I see you wore underwear today.”

“I do from time to time. How did you know I didn’t?”

His cock tapped his belly, it was so hard. The belly was hard, too. She sighed her pleasure at the sight of him. “You and I went naked swimming just a few days ago. A gal notices things like that.”

He was tall. Hale and hearty. She cocked her head, taking him in. Flat, hard muscle covered his body. It was a testament to living on a ranch she supposed, but damn, he looked good. Both of his nipples were pierced; silver bars running through each. He had a number of tattoos, far more than he’d had before.

“Wait.” She got to her feet, wildly flattered by the way he looked at her.

“I’d rather leap on you.” He leaned in and took a deep breath at her neck, kissing her there.

“You looked at my ink, I want to look at yours. Then you can leap. Though I’d really like to get this—” she grabbed his cock, squeezing it “—in my mouth first.”

He groaned. “Hurry up, then.”

She looked at the owl, wings stretched across his back and the muscles of his shoulders. There were subtle shadings of red and green here and there on its feathers. Masculine and yet, still focused on the inherent beauty of flight and the feathers. “This is fantastic work.”

“Thanks. It’s relatively new. A friend of my sister-in-law runs a tattoo shop in Seattle. He’s a freaking genius.”

On his right biceps, he had a tattoo of a wing; there was another on the left. “What bird is this?”

“Peregrine falcon.”

“Birds, huh?”

On his hips he had musical notes. “First gold record, Try Me. On the left is first double platinum, Ride.”

“I love that one.”

“You listen to our music?”

“Hard not to. You’re sort of a big deal. And you’re good.”

He had a labyrinth on his right thigh.

“It’s one I walked at a really hard time in my life. Whenever things get bad or overwhelming, I just look down.”

He got to her and she was past freaking out over it. His charisma scared her without a doubt. But she was charmed, and she wanted more.

She kissed his shoulder, and he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

“I have condoms right there in that little table. I think you should grab one and then ride me. Right here. Right now.”

She raised a brow as she looked at the table he indicated.

“I just put them there earlier today because I live in hope. It’s not my fuck-company table or anything.”

It was exactly the right thing to say. She pushed him back to sit on the couch before grabbing a condom. But she didn’t use it right then.

“First things first.” She put the pillow between his feet and he grinned.

“Oh, that. Well, I’m not going to argue with a really good idea.”

She got to her knees, and he had to count to fifty to keep from blowing just from the sight of it. She licked up his thigh, her gaze locked on his, and he gulped at the carnality in it. She knew exactly what she was doing, which made it even hotter.

This was a woman who owned what she wanted.

This was the woman he’d been with years before.

Then she licked up the line of his cock, and he huffed out a breath, giving in to his desire to get his hands in her hair. He loved the cool softness of it against his skin. That her mouth was currently on his cock certainly didn’t make it worse.

She teased him, taking her time. He’d been so eager to get inside her, he’d been in a blind rush. But this...this allowed him to wallow in the pleasure of the entire experience. She was doing to him what he’d done to her.

Her taste had been so freaking good; the sounds she made had been so hot, he hadn’t wanted it to end. But it was the way her pupils had swallowed the color in her eyes when he’d told her he was in charge that had nearly killed him. She was so controlled, so in charge, he hadn’t been sure how she’d react to his tease.

Her mouth was so hot and wet as she swirled her tongue around the head and took him so deep he grunted, his fingers tightening in her hair.

She moaned around his cock, and it vibrated to his brain.

He was torn. This was good. Like really, really good. She was a goddess here, her curves on display for him, those pretty blond curls bent over his lap, mouth on him. But he had been dreaming of being in her since he’d bumped into her at the café over a month before.

Once she scored her nails over his balls, he made a choice. He urged her back with his hands on her shoulders. “Wait. Stop. I want in you.”

She pulled off with a slight pop of sound and licked her lips. “You were in me.”

He swallowed hard as he grabbed the condom, ripped it open with his teeth and rolled it on quickly. “Now I can be in your pussy. Come on and ride.”

She scrambled, straddling his lap. One-handed, she reached back to hold him where she wanted, and then he nearly blacked out when she slowly lowered herself on him.

“Jesus.” Orgasm clawed at his guts, and he pushed it back because there was no way he’d finally gotten here, inside this woman, to come in a minute like he was sixteen.

She rocked back and forth, and he dug his fingertips into the muscles at her hips. Her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she moved.

“Mmm, yes. More.”

A demand.

He held her down at her hips as he began to thrust up into her body, slow and steady. Staying deep.

The light was on in the hallway behind her so it glowed around her body as she moved. So beautiful, this woman.

He let go of her hip with one hand to cup one of her breasts, taking the weight in his palm before pinching and tugging her nipple until her head tipped back, her mouth, still swollen from his kisses and his cock, opened on a sigh laced with desire.

Her inner muscles gripped him and fluttered, and he nearly lost his mind. He held on, not wanting the moment to end. The scent of her skin, of her sex and desire rose and grasped nearly as tightly as her body did.

He slid the hand at her hip between them, finding her clit swollen and ready. She hissed. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Come on, let me make you come again.”

“I just did.” But her voice had gone deeper as he began to lightly slide the pad of his finger back and forth over her clit.

“I really need to come, Nat. But I won’t until you do. Do it for me.” He grinned, and she groaned, moving to lean her head on his shoulder.

“Is that your version of do it for America? Or just the tip?”

Startled, he snorted a laugh until her body tightened around his, and she bit his shoulder hard as she came. He snarled, pulling her down on him, holding her in place as he pushed deep, as hard and deep as he could and followed her.

He kept his arms around her until he had to get up. He carefully settled her back on the couch. “I’ll be right back.”

She pulled a throw over herself, snuggling against the pillows.

In front of the mirror in the adjacent bathroom, he stared at himself as he washed his hands. He wore a flush on his skin. Not the first time. Not even the first time with her.

But things were different somehow because he wasn’t thinking about how he’d get her out the door. He couldn’t get the sight of her all naked and curled up on his couch out of his head.

He wanted more of that. More of sleepy, relaxed Natalie Clayton in his house and in his life.

He didn’t want to splash water on his face to snap out of his little fantasy. Because he didn’t want her off his skin.

He forced himself to do it. He didn’t know why he was acting like a fuck-drunk dumbass but he needed to snap out of it.

“Hey.” She smiled up at him when he came back into the room.

“Hey, yourself. You should sleep over.” He wanted to punch himself for blurting that out.

“I can’t. I have to work tomorrow.”

Oh. Well. He should be glad. Women stole covers, and if you let them sleep over they assumed stuff. She was doing him a favor.

But he found himself saying, “I have an alarm clock. Believe me, things get started early on a ranch. I’ll make you breakfast even.”

She stood, the blanket she’d been using fell away, and he had to step closer to touch all that pretty, naked skin. She leaned into his touch briefly, tiptoeing up to kiss him.

“Offers of breakfast are always appreciated. But I really do need to go home.”

“Fine, fine. Deprive me of sleepy, warm woman for morning sex.”

She snorted a laugh and then moved away, getting dressed.

“You’re going home now?”

“Well, I got what I wanted. I’m going home to notch my bedpost. Where I record all my wild sexual encounters with celebrities and stuff. See you around.”

He blew a raspberry. “Be sure to mark two notches.”

She grinned. “I’ll do that. Should I bring you a gold star the next time I see you?”

He hugged her again because he could, and because he would see her again. And because she made him smile so much.

“As long as it’s not an edible one.”

She snorted and swatted his butt.

After she’d gone, he’d gone to his bed to read awhile before going to sleep. Her scent rose from his skin, and when he woke up the next day, the faint stamp of her presence was still on his hands.

CHAPTER NINE

NATALIE WALKED OUT of work at the end of her day, and he was waiting, leaning against his car, legs stretched out. It had been a week since she’d had dinner at his place and the sight of him, long legs encased in denim, was just what her day had needed.

“Hey, you. I was thinking we could go and get some dinner. What do you say?”

“I have laundry to do.”

He started, clearly confused by her refusal.

“Did you just turn down a date for washing clothes?”

She patted his arm. “No. You showed up unannounced and asked me to dinner. I already had plans to wash my clothes.”

He frowned. “How about if we have dinner at your house so you can do your laundry? Work with me here. I have doughnuts.”

She was going to gain ten pounds if he kept doing that. But, hello, doughnuts.

“Follow me to my house. We have a funky driveway so pull in behind me so Tuesday can get in when she gets home.”

She ducked his kiss and headed to her car with a wave. Once she’d gotten her belt done, and she was on the way home, she allowed herself a smile at how handsome he’d been and how flattered she was.

He made her belly flutter. Belly fluttering was vastly underrated.

Tuesday wasn’t home when they arrived. She’d left a note for Natalie on the fridge that she’d headed up to Olympia to see her family and would be back Sunday night.

Natalie hung her stuff up. “Tuesday won’t be here. She left a note saying she’d be away for the weekend. She’ll be sorry she missed meeting you.”

While he wanted to meet this Tuesday she talked about so much, Paddy wasn’t going to complain at having her all to himself.

“Bummer. Well, next time.”

“Come on through, then.”

Paddy walked through her kitchen, the floorboards creaking in a way he’d always thought of as welcoming. “Wow. This is beautiful.”

She smiled at him, and he was instantly glad he’d said it. Truly, the place couldn’t have been more opposite of his home. It was old-fashioned and fancy in places he’d deliberately chosen to be clean and simple in.

But someone had clearly put in the time to restore it to its Victorian glory, but it was also inherently comfortable and homey, too.

“It looks a little bit like layer cake outside, but in here, it’s more casual. Lived in.” The kitchen windows let in a lot of light and gave a view of a backyard with a pretty garden and seating area.

“Thank you.”

He stepped closer and slid his arms around her. She melted against him, snuggling against his body. He kissed the top of her head, and she tipped back so he could get to that mouth.

It had been a week since he’d seen her last. It was...odd; he had to admit to himself that she seemed just fine with her life and with his intermittent place in it.

He kissed her long and slow, enjoying her taste.

“Give me a tour?”

“Sure. I don’t have a home theater, though. We only have two televisions, one in my room and one in Tuesday’s.”

“Are you trying to get me in your bedroom?”

She laughed. “I have to do laundry. I wasn’t lying. But there’s time after I get the first load started.”

He swept her into another hug. “You know, you could just have more clothes, or do laundry more often. Are you a procrastinator?” He might have pegged the Natalie he knew before as a woman who waited until the last minute to do laundry, but this one? Not so much.

“I have a presentation tomorrow afternoon that I just learned about today. I need to wash clothes for that. I have clean stuff, but this is important, so I need to look professional, and I have exactly one professional outfit for that sort of thing.”

“Okay, so let’s get that in the wash. I was going to take you to Nora’s for dinner. How about I call in an order to go? I’ll go pick it up and maybe a bottle of wine, too?”

“All right.”

He followed her through the house and up a set of stairs. “This is my side of the upstairs. Tuesday has the other side. Her stairs are back in the kitchen, but there’s also a landing that connects both sides where we have a little reading loft.”

The walls going up the stairs were full of photographs. He pointed. “This is Tuesday?”

Natalie smiled. “Yes.” She paused with a smile. “This was us back in the day. She was the first person I met when I started school. Other than staff and stuff, I mean. I went to my dorm room and she was there already. I knew within an hour that she would always be important in my life. Funny how that works.”

He understood it, though.

“This is our group.” She indicated a series of photographs. “Delia, Zoe, Eric, Rosie, Jenny, me and Tuesday. We’re 1022 because that was our room number. We had a five-room suite thing. One shared main room and a bunch of bedrooms. Eric was honorary because he lived next door. He and Tuesday married a year after graduation.”

“He’s the one who died?”

“Yeah. He was all sporty, like Tuesday. They did all this crazy stuff, like every year they did a bicycle trip from Seattle to Portland. They kayaked and canoed. It started when he was tired a lot. But he was a busy dude, so for a while they just attributed it to his job. And then he got bruises that didn’t go away.”

She swallowed hard, the emotion clear in her voice. He brushed his knuckles down her back, wanting it to be better.

“Typical dude, he didn’t want to go to the doctor, but finally he was really bad off, so he went after Tuesday pestered him relentlessly about it. They learned a week later that he had cancer. He died three months after that. He was a great guy. He and Tuesday were right. You know what I mean? Anyway, that was four years ago.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine.”

“It sucked. But we all go to the doctor now if we’re sick for longer than seems normal.” She moved again, and he followed.

“The rest of your group, 1022 I mean, do they all live local?”

“Delia is a documentary filmmaker. She lives in Portland. Zoe and Jenny are in Seattle. Zoe is a biologist. She’s a freak about cetaceans. Orcas mainly. Jenny’s a schoolteacher. Third grade. Rosie lives in Brooklyn. She finds locations for commercials and advertising shoots.”

“Wow, you guys are all so interesting.”

“We went to a liberal arts college with no letter grades in the middle of the forest. It’s our kooky wheelhouse.” She pushed open a set of doors leading to a rather large bedroom with a sitting room attached. “This is my room.”

Not surprisingly, the entire room was neat and orderly. The only thing that showed any messiness at all was her bed.

“I’d have pinned you for a make-your-bed girl.”

“Why? I’m just going to get back into it, anyway.” She disappeared into a closet and came back out holding a bundle of clothes.

“Can I look in your closet?”

She took him in warily. “Why?”

“I want to see if my suspicions are correct.”

“I’m going to put my stuff in the wash. You have at it.” She waved in the direction of the closet and then left.

He poked a head in and smiled. Ruthlessly organized, just as he’d figured. Her shoes were in neat boxes, her things hung according to type and color. He opened a drawer and hummed.

“Someone likes sexy underwear.” He didn’t touch the rainbow of silky panties, which would have been sort of creepy. He’d need to propose removing them from her body with his teeth, instead.

“So, are you stealing my shoes or my socks like a foot fetishist does?” She poked her head into the closet, and he jumped. “Wow, guilty people jump like that. Should I be scared? I have mace.”

He snorted a laugh and then indicated the drawers set into the walls of the closet. “I’m far more interested in your panty collection.”

“Lipstick, a pretty bra, some nice underwear, little things that can totally make a crappy day better.” She shrugged. “Just started the laundry. We could stay in instead of eating out. We could just order pizza. There’s soup, which I can do relatively well. And stuff for sandwiches. I’d say we had junk food but other than doughnuts, I’d be lying because Tuesday thinks apples are living wild. But I do have a stash of Hot Tamales in my dresser.”

“I have plenty of junk food in my pantry. And a washer and dryer, too. I’m just saying.”

“The clothes are already in the washer. Plus, in about five minutes, I’m going to be in yoga pants and a T-shirt.”

He tossed himself on her bed after he toed out of his shoes. The scent of her skin rose from her sheets, and he didn’t stop himself from burying his face in her pillow to breathe her in.

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