Love a Little Sideways (16 page)

* * *

Liz had mixed feelings about going home. On the one hand, it was time to get back to the new life she’d put on pause to be here. On the other, the time with her family had been amazing and part of her wished they could stay just a little longer.

“They’re pathetic today,” Keri said from her station, which was frying more bacon than Liz had ever seen in her life. And she’d worked in truck stops. “They’re all sore and trying like hell not to show it.”

“They’re not hiding it well,” Paige said. She was beating a huge bowl of scrambled eggs, which would be the first of several batches.

Liz rolled her eyes. “Drew told me he’s never ridden that fast through the woods in his life. And Kevin knows these trails really well, so I guess he was moving right along.”

“Don’t tell anybody,” Keri said, “but Joe asked me to tie his sneakers this morning.”

The women all laughed and Liz glanced over at Drew. He was sitting in one of the chairs, balancing a mug of coffee on the arm. When he saw her looking, he gave her a pretty feeble thumbs-up.

“I don’t think Drew can actually lift that coffee up to his mouth,” Liz said. “Maybe we should give them straws.”

Aunt Mary slapped a stack of paper plates on the table. “Or maybe they shouldn’t go out there and try to act like they’re seventeen anymore.”

“Hey, Gram,” Joey said. “I don’t ride like that.”

“Only because you’re behind slower riders,” Lisa said. Her oldest son gave her his most charming Kowalski grin before taking off with a cup of orange juice. “They think I don’t know what goes on when they go out with just dad and no mom. Last week, Danny had mud down his pants and leaves in his helmet.”

They served breakfast and, after everybody had eaten their fill, the women sat and drank
their
coffee while the men tried to hobble their way through cleanup without moaning or groaning. They were horrible actors, but that just made the show all the more fun.

“I wish you didn’t have to go home today, Liz,” Aunt Mary said. “I mean, I wish nobody had to go home today, but especially you.”

“I know, but I’m closer now. We’ll see each other a hundred times more than we have in the past. You’ll probably get sick of me.”

“Never. Mitch said something about leaving about four so you guys could have dinner on the road and still be home early enough to take showers and unpack the truck before bed, right?”

“Actually, I’m going to ride home with Drew and he has to work tomorrow, so we’re leaving a little earlier.” That got the attention of all the women sitting around them. There was some speculative noises dripping with innuendo and Liz felt her cheeks heat up. “Have you guys ever ridden in the backseat of Mitch’s truck? If you were as tall as me, you’d ride with Drew, too.”

“I wonder if he’ll walk you to the door,” Emma said, giving her an exaggerated wink.

“He’s going to walk to my door several times since I’m going to make him carry stuff in.” Then she intended to drag him into the shower and then into her bed, but she was sure they could fill in those blanks without specifics.

“We’re done,” one of the men declared, preempting what Liz knew was going to be a heap of teasing from the women.

“Where are the kids?” Drew asked.

“Quiet, isn’t it?” Lisa sighed happily. “Leo took them down to the pond to do some fishing.”

“Damn. I want to offer them money to break down my camp and pack it up.”

Liz shook her head. “That’s pretty lame, you know.”

“You should know ahead of time my kids are brutal negotiators,” Lisa said. “You might be surprised how much it’ll cost you.”

“I’ll help you,” Liz said. “I have to do mine, too.”

It sounded like a decent plan, but an hour later she was hot, tired and ready to kill her tent with fire. “It came out of this bag, so it should go back in the same damn bag.”

Drew laughing at her wasn’t helping. “They never fit back in the way they came out.”

“It’s a scrap of nylon and some flimsy poles.”

“You could always throw it in the Dumpster.”

She put her hands on her hips and glared at the tent. “Then I’ll have to buy another one for next time, because you know Rose and Aunt Mary are going to try to drag us back every year now that we gave in once.”

“If we come back next year, we’re coming in an RV. I don’t care if I have to beg, borrow or steal one, but we’ll have a bed, air-conditioning and a lock on the door.”

Liz looked sideways at him, but he wasn’t paying any attention to her. He was in the process of rerolling her sleeping bag because the way she’d done it, it wouldn’t fit back in its zippered cover, and he didn’t seem to be aware of the assumption he’d just made.

Rather than feeling uneasy, the idea Drew took for granted they’d be together next summer made Liz feel warm and fuzzy inside. Obviously he was easing up on his urgent mission to acquire a mom for his kids and relaxing a little.

He tossed the zipped-up sleeping bag in the back of his SUV and then groaned. “That hurt. Everything hurts. Remind me never to ride with your cousins again.”

“We haven’t even started on your tent yet.”

“If we had an RV, we could just pile all the crap in it and shut the door. Then I could stretch out on the bed and take a nap while you drove home.”

She snorted and tossed her duffel bag to him, laughing when it almost knocked him off his feet. “Maybe instead of an RV you should buy a four-wheeler with power steering and a good suspension so you don’t hobble around like a ninety-year-old man after a ride.”

His eyes lit up, of course, at the mention of new toys. “Hey, maybe we can do both. You should get one, too. Or I could get a two-up so you’d be more comfortable on the back. Longer wheelbase, though.”

“You’d play hell trying to keep up in the rugged stuff with the other guys.”

He started rambling about the pros and cons of different machines, so Liz turned her attention back to her tent. It was tempting to toss the entire thing in the back of his SUV and worry about repacking it later, but she didn’t want it to get torn. Plus, it had become personal. The tent would fit in the bag, period.

Chapter Sixteen

Drew hadn’t thought they’d ever get on the road. The gauntlet of hugs, kisses and goodbyes alone had taken almost an hour, but he’d finally herded Liz in the SUV and driven away to waves and blown kisses.

Once they were on the road, she sighed and rested her head against the seat. “That was intense.”

“I thought I was going to have to throw you over my shoulder and toss you in the truck.”

“How very caveman of you. So it seemed like you and Mitch are doing okay.”

Drew put his left hand on the wheel so he could hold her hand with his right. “I don’t know about okay. There’s still some strain, but we’ll get there eventually.”

“I still feel bad he hit you.”

“That’s between him and me. I don’t want you feeling like you were in the middle of that.”

She gave a humorless laugh. “How can I not feel like I was the cause?”

“Because shock was one thing, but that anger came from me lying to him.”

She sighed, turning her head to look out the window. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. It’s behind us now.”

And he was happy to leave it there. “It’s going to feel unreal to go back to work tomorrow. I’ll be adding
of doom
to everything.”

“You can give speeding tickets of doom. Those are way more fun than regular speeding tickets.”

He squeezed her hand. “As long as none of them have your name on them.”

They opted for an early, drive-through dinner since they’d both need groceries after being gone a week. He laughed when she ordered one of the bottles of milk that came with a kids’ meal.

“For my coffee tomorrow morning,” she said, ignoring his mocking.

When he reached her house, he backed the SUV into her driveway to make it easier to unload her stuff and then killed the engine. “Wonder how long it’ll be before this picture’s on Facebook.”

“Well, now it doesn’t matter, does it? No more secrets.”

He grinned and leaned across the center console to kiss her. “I like that.”

After pulling a small stack of mail out of her mailbox, she grabbed a bag and went to unlock the door. He took her laundry bag and a bag of badly depleted snacks and followed her, going straight into the kitchen. She set the bag down, then dumped the mail on the counter.

“It’s safer if you have your mail held at the post office when you’re going to be away. When it piles up, it’s obvious you’re not home.”

“Thank you, Officer Miller.”

He pinched her ass. “Chief.”

“Since I haven’t been here very long, I’m not exactly rolling in mail.”

“Don’t call me if you go away somewhere and your house gets robbed while you’re gone.” She raised her eyebrow, and he chuckled. “Okay, I guess you do call me. But don’t whine about it, or I
will
tell you I told you so.”

He went to grab another load, but got sidetracked by his first view of her living room. It was filled with inflatable lounge chairs. The kind you blew up and used in the pool if it wasn’t full of Kowalski kids.

“What the hell is this?”

A few seconds later, Liz appeared, her eyes wide. “What? What happened?”

He waved his hand at the inflatable chairs, surprised he had to specify those were what he was referring to. “Pool party?”

“Oh, those.” Liz gave a breathless laugh, her hand to her chest. “I thought something horrible had happened. Busted pipes so the ceiling collapsed kind of horrible. Those are my chairs.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I got suckered into hosting movie night, but I only have the futon. Paige and Hailey brought those and we had umbrella drinks and watched
How Stella Got Her Groove Back.
It was very tropical.”

“And now?”

“Now I have to give them more air every once in a while, but I like them. They’re fun.”

He wasn’t sure about fun, but he was pretty sure if he sat in one, it would be a long time before he could get up again. “You don’t have a pool float for a bed, do you?”

“Keep making fun of my furniture and you won’t ever find out.” She slapped him on the ass as she walked back to the door.

Furniture. Shaking his head, he followed her out for another trip. It only took a few more to get her stuff out of his truck and he closed the hatch. Then he shoved his hands in his pockets and wondered what he was supposed to do next.

Liz was inside and he couldn’t leave without saying goodbye, so either she was planning to come back out or she just assumed he would go back in. And, if he went back in, was she assuming he’d stay for a while?

When she didn’t make an appearance after another minute, he locked the truck and went inside. She was in the kitchen, frowning at the pile of camping debris.

“I think I own more camping stuff than I do house stuff,” she said.

“Depends on how you classify those chairs in the living room.”

“Funny. You want a drink?”

So he was staying for a while. “What do you have?”

She thought about it for a few seconds. “Water?”

“Sounds good.”

She grabbed a bottle from the fridge and handed it to him. “I’m glad I don’t have to work tomorrow. I’m not ready to face four-thirty yet.”

“I don’t have to get up at four-thirty, but I do have to work tomorrow. And between now and then, I have to empty my truck, do a shitload of laundry, shower and sleep.”

She leaned back against her counter, a naughty smile tilting the corners of her mouth. “You can save time and shower here if you want.”

Oh, yeah. He most definitely wanted.

* * *

Liz took her time soaping Drew down. It was a novelty, having all the time she wanted in the privacy of her own home, and she intended to enjoy every second she had him.

She started with his hair and he moaned, eyes closed, as she worked up a lather and massaged his scalp. The spot at the base of his neck made him suck in his breath, so she returned to it again and again, rubbing it with the tips of her fingers. When she tipped his head back under the stream, he let out a sigh of pleasure as the water washed the shampoo away.

Then she picked up the bar of soap and turned it over and over in her hands. Once they were lathered, she ran them over his shoulders and his chest before moving down to his abdomen. His muscles twitched under her slick touch, and his breathing grew rough as she made her way slowly and deliberately down his body.

Stepping very close to him, she put her hands behind him and soaped his back before running them over the firm mound of his ass. Her breasts rubbed his chest and his hands grasped her hips, holding her to him.

“You feel so good,” he said in a raspy voice against her hair. “Is it my turn?”

“I’m not through with you yet.” She wasn’t sure she ever would be through with wanting to touch him.

When he growled his impatience, she chuckled and re-soaped her hands. She did each leg next, enjoying the way he froze when her fingertips lingered near the tops of his thighs. Finally, she wrapped her hand around the hard length of him and stroked gently. Drew groaned and moved his hips toward her, urging her on.

She stroked a little faster, her hand sliding up and down his shaft, until he braced his hands against her shoulders and pushed her gently against the shower wall.

“It’s my turn now,” he said, and his hot gaze raked over her body.

Following her example, he started by washing her hair. Hers was long and thick, and it took him a while. She lost herself in the sensation of his fingertips massaging her scalp and then his hands working through the long strands, rinsing the shampoo out.

Then his lathered hands mimicked the path hers had taken. He ran them over her shoulders and her breasts. The soap made his skin glide over hers, and she whimpered when his thumb flicked over her nipple. She sucked in her stomach when his hand slid downward, her knees practically trembling in anticipation.

Liz had to grab on to his shoulders when he finally slid his hand between her legs. He caressed her there, working her into a state of desperate need, until the only thing keeping her from falling was being trapped between the shower wall and his body.

“The water’s turning cold,” he murmured against her ear.

“Don’t care.”

“Because it’s hitting my back, not yours.” He pulled away from her so he could reach back for the faucet handle.

“Wait, I’m still soapy.”

Her rinsing wasn’t as leisurely and sensual as his. She ducked under the water, which was turning cold even faster than she’d anticipated, even as he turned it to full hot to get the last few drops. The second she was clean, he killed the water, amusement all over his face.

“You’re covered in goose bumps,” he said.

“You should stop laughing at me and warm me up.”

He grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her, trapping her to him again. “I can do both.”

After patting them both down with the towel, he took her hand and led her into her bedroom. A fleeting thought went through her mind that the room looked so much like her bedroom at the lodge, it was almost as if they were making love in that spot again. Except this time they were alone, there was no rush and they weren’t hiding anything from anybody.

But when he stretched her out on the mattress and covered her body with his, she stopped thinking about anything but the feel of his skin against hers. His mouth closed over her nipple and she arched her back at the sensation.

After the way he’d touched her in the shower, Liz was close and she wrapped her legs around Drew’s hips. “I want you inside of me.”

He kissed the hollow at the base of her throat, chuckling, and the sound tickled her skin. “Patience.”

“No.” She reached between their bodies to stroke him again. He was so hard and he groaned when her hand closed over him. With her other hand she reached for her nightstand and pulled out the condom she always kept on hand, just in case.

He took it from her and she sighed when she had to release him so he could put it on. She loved the feel of him in her hand.

Then he nudged her knees farther apart, and she remembered she loved the feel of him inside of her even more. He rocked his hips, pushing deeper with each stroke and she skimmed her nails up his hips to his back.

“You feel so good,” he murmured, pushing her wet hair back from her face so he could see her eyes.

She lost herself in his gaze and in the feeling of him, raising her hips to meet Drew stroke for stroke. He quickened his pace, driving harder and faster, and when he hooked his arm under her knee, she gasped and clutched at his shoulders.

Her orgasm came hard and fast, taking her breath away. As it rocked her, she was barely aware of Drew saying her name in a low growl, his muscles tightening as he found his own climax.

He collapsed on top of her, his breath blowing hot across the sheen of sweat on her collarbone. She rubbed her hand up and down his spine, and he shuddered under her light touch.

“That was a great shower,” he said after a few minutes. “It doesn’t feel like that when Katie washes my hair.”

She slapped his shoulder. “I should hope not.”

“What?” He lifted his head, looking down at her with heavy-lidded eyes. “It’s the same thing. She’s washing my hair or you’re washing my hair. Why doesn’t it feel like that when she does it?”

“Because she’s not naked?”

“Mmm. Maybe that’s it.” He slid off of her. “Be right back.”

She was already sliding into sleep. There was nothing like a shower, an orgasm and your own mattress to knock you out after a week of sleeping on the ground. When the bed dipped under his weight, she woke up enough to snuggle against him and feel him kiss her hair, but then she was out.

The next morning, Liz stretched, not really wanting to get out of bed. She’d managed to ignore the alarm on Drew’s phone pretty well, but she was aware the volume of the cursing and banging in her kitchen was increasing. After a quick detour to the bathroom, she went to see what the fuss was about.

It was about the coffee, which had been her first guess. Drew held up the jar of instant. “Is this really all you have?”

“It really is. Throw a mug of water in the microwave and voilà.”

Because all of his stuff was still in his SUV, he’d put on the clothes he’d worn home yesterday, and he needed to shave. But he still looked delicious in her kitchen first thing in the morning.

“A man can’t live on a cup of microwaved instant coffee,” he grumbled. “I’m not sure a man can even
call
that coffee.”

“Poor baby.” She followed his gaze to the pile of mail spread out over her counter. Most of it consisted of brochures and info packets for various online classes.
Very
various. She couldn’t figure out what appealed to her, so she was looking into everything and hoping something would stand out.

“Going back to school?” he asked, once he’d glanced over and knew she was aware he’d been scoping out her mail.

“Maybe. Not sure what I want a degree in, so I haven’t signed up for anything yet.”

“Not much of a job market in Whitford.”

She shrugged, sticking two mugs of water into the microwave. It was a tight fit. “I pay Lauren rent month to month and my car will get fixed or replaced eventually.”

He didn’t say anything after that, which was fine with her. For starters, she hadn’t had her meager allotment of caffeine for the day yet. And she didn’t like talking about what she planned to do with her life because she didn’t know and that was starting to worry her. She needed
goals
, dammit, and that was not something to worry about before coffee.

But after the microwave beeped and she’d handed him his mug, he nodded toward the brochures again. “If you don’t even know what you want a degree in, why are you thinking about spending that kind of money?”

She shrugged. “Why not? A lot of people do it.”

“Is this about your brothers? It’s not a competition, and everybody just wants you to be happy.”

“Maybe going back to school is what I want to do.” It was way too early for this kind of conversation. “Since I don’t have any groceries yet, I’ll probably go to the diner for breakfast. Do you want to go?”