Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (2 page)

“Where to
,
Ms. Bennett?” Stan asked.
His eyes grew big when he spotted Emma in the backseat doubled over.

“Get us to the hospital, fast. Emma’s in labor.” Before the window had risen back in place, Stan was pulling out of her drive and hitting the gas.
She could hear the rocks spinning out from under the tires in his haste.
Claire moved to sit next to Emma. “How far apart are the contractions?”

Emma screamed and doubled
again,
panting.

Claire took her hand and gently squeezed it
.
“Emma, look at me.”

Emma turned her head and looked up at her sister.

“Just breath
e
,
Emma, remember what they taught you
in Lamaze class
, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Breathe through the contractions.” Sweat had started to
bead
on Emma’s forehand, but she nodded that she’d heard.

Clair
e pulled
out
her
slim
phone she had stashed
inside her bra and hit speed dial.
The fact that Butch hadn’t commented on the move told her he wasn’t going to be
of any help either.
She’d set the hospital and the obstetrician’s number
s
in her phone, just in case.
Claire made it a point to be prepared, especially when it came to her family.
Claire took it upon herself to act as the mother figure, regardless
of whether
her siblings wanted her to.
She’d told the hospital and her doctor they were on their way and guessed at how far apart the contractions were. They were now expecting them, and once they got the
re,
Claire would relax. She hadn
’t expected Butch and Jake to
lose brain cells and not be able to function, but Claire had been prepared, and it was a good thing too.

Claire felt the temperature change in the limo, turning the air cooler before Emma said a word.

“Not now
,
old woman
,
” Emma spat out through gritted teeth. Jake had pulled himself from his stupor and was now rubbing Emma’s back as she was slumped over, whispering
words of
encouragement and love in her ear.

The limo pulled up to the hospital in record time
. I
t was a wonder they hadn’t gotten a ticket
. The staff was waiting outside with a wheelchair to push Emma in with Jake on her heels. Claire and Butch made their way to the small waiting room, making themselves as comfortable as
they
could
be
in
the
hard chairs. Claire
needed coffee
,
unsure
of
how long they would be waiting. She
rose and
had
walked to the vending machine when she felt Butch behind her again
right
before he whispered in her ear.

“Doesn’t that beach sound good
right about now
,
Angel
?” Butch placed his hands again on her hips and
placed a light kiss on her neck, throwing her off guard.

Claire maneuvered out of his embrace and swatted at his arm. “Butch, knock it off.”

Mike and Abby
practically ran in, as if they were afraid to miss the birth.
Mike started his pacing
as he always did when he was worried while
bantering
back and forth with Butch about
how Jake was holding up
. Abby took a seat next to Claire and put her arm around her shoulders.

“You did good
,
sis. She’s going to be all right, and just think, in a few short hours
,
we are going to have a niece or nephew to spoil.”

Abby’s eyes sparkled
as
they had after holding
her son,
John, for the first time.

A few short hours had turned into several long hours until Jake walked
in dressed from head to toe
in scrubs. The talking and the pacing stopped as they all stood there waiting for news of Emma and the baby. The color had returned to his face
,
and he graced them with a huge smile.
“Emma did great, and Lily is as beautiful as her mother.”

Claire let out a breath and pulled Abby into a hug as Butch and Mike congratulated Jake
,
patting him on the back and shaking
his hand. “When can we see her?” Claire asked.

“They’re moving her from the birthing room into a regular room in a few minutes. I’ll come back and get you when they have her settled.”

After seeing Emma and Lily,
Claire and Butch settled in the limo for the ride back to her house. Jake had been right
;
she was beautiful. Lily had a head full of brown hair like her mother and
had
slept while Claire had held her. Night had turned into day while they
’d
been with Emma in the hospital
,
and Claire was exhausted. Her bed had been calling her name for the last several hours. Butch slid closer and put his arm around Claire’s shoulder
,
settling her into the crook of his arm.

“You did good
,
angel
. Now just close your eyes and I’ll wake you when we get there.”

Claire leaned into the warmth he offered and did just what he asked
, too tired to banter with the flirt
. She closed her eyes and let sleep take hold of her.

She dreamed of the beach Butch teased her about, the picture he had painted about the both of them.

Claire woke up to find herself in her room with a smile on her face. How had she got there? She didn’t remember anything after falling asleep nestled in Butch’s arms in the limo. Movement in her bed had her head jerking to the left. Butch lay on top of the covers next to her. Claire’s mouth dropped open, and her hand flew to cover it as she stared at him.

Butch
slowly
blinked his
eyes
open
and smiled.
He said,
“Good morning
angel
,
”
as his arm snaked out
,
wrapping it around her waist and pull
ing
her body close to his.
The thin barrier of her dress
and bed linens
were the only thing standing in the way of their bodies becoming intimate.

Claire put her palms on his chest and pushed. “Butch, why are you in my bed?”

Butch rubbed his eyes. “Because I carried you upstairs and your bed looked so comfortable.”

Claire slid from under the covers, thr
ew
her legs over the edge of the bed
,
and stood. “There are five other rooms on this floor with beds just like mine
. W
hy didn’t you pick one of those?”

“Don’t get uptight
,
angel
.
I didn’t touch you. I didn’t undress you. I didn’t let my hands roam all over your
sweet tight
little
body. I didn’t kiss your soft
red
lips. I was a good boy, but we can change all of that right now if you want to climb back in bed.”

Chapter 2

Claire
’s
legs felt like rubber,
and the longer she stood looking at the shirtless muscular man lying on her bed, the more
afraid
she became
they’d give out on her at any minute.
Her hands itched to feel the steel of his chest underneath her palms. She could imagine her fingers combing through his light brown hair as he kissed her. A brief shiver rippled through her.
His words awakened a deep need
, one
she’d gone without for
far
too long, one
she was sure
he could
easily
satisfy
if she’d only take him up on his offer
. Claire shook her head,
reminding herself he
was
a friend of the family. Things would become awkward at family dinners
,
and she wouldn’t put herself
or him
in that position.
Claire raised her brow.
“Uh… No, that’s not going to happen
, big guy.”
As much as I want it to.

She pulled some
clothes from her drawers
and closet retreating
to the
serenity
of her bathroom, locking the door behind her
as she pushed it closed
.
Claire
unzipped her dress and let it drop, pooling around her feet. She turned on the shower and
climbed in
,
hoping the hot water would
clear
the cobwebs in
her head. Her own gifts would have allowed her to read Butch’s thoughts to see if he
meant what he’d said
, but
it went against her morals. S
he’d decided
a long time ago not to
pry
in
to
other
’
s thoughts
unless
,
of course
, it involved
the safety of
her family. She didn’t know how her gift worked or why she had it. She just
had it,
like the rest of her family
had theirs
.

Emma could see dead people
,
and her gift of intuition g
ave
her PMS symptoms when
she or
one of her siblings
were
in trouble. Abby’s gift was that of psychometry. She could touch objects
,
and a scene
would
play
out
in her mind of
a previous time
. Mike’s gift was one of a kind, similar to hers, but di
fferent. Claire could read thoughts
, while Mike’s gift would play an entire scene in his head
with just one touch
, giving him a glimpse of a recent event
in living color
. It’s what helped make him such a good detective.

Thinking of her siblings had
simmered
her libido and
cooled
all thoughts of the man
lying in her bed
.
Claire
made quick work of her shower
, drying
off
with a big fluffy white towel. She
pulled on her gr
a
y slacks and
pink
cashmere sweater.
She applied her makeup just right, unlocked the door
,
and pulled it open
with a hesitant sigh as she fastened
her mother
’
s pearls around her neck.
Her room was empty
.
No sign of But
ch lingered
besides the smell of his cologne. He’d even made her bed before leaving.

Claire blew out a breath, thankful she would
n’t
have to deal with
any awkwardness from his request
for her to come back to bed,
or her desire to do just that. It was better this way. They’d remain friends and nothing more.
She had other things to concentrate on, like finding a way to get Mike onboard with her plans of dating Elizabeth.

Claire walked through
her open bedroom door and down t
he stairs. The aroma of fresh coffee enticed her toward the kitchen.
It was just what she needed to get her day started
;
in fact, she’d
probably
need
more than one cup.
She
pushed
through the
double
door
s
to find Butch perched at
her
table
reading the newspaper and sipping his coffee. A
nother
filled
cup
waited across from him.
He folded the newspaper and placed it on the table.
He smiled
, his gaze intent watching her as he
nodded for her to have a seat.
As at home as he was,
anyone would
think the man actually lived
t
here.
Claire
raised her brow,
smiled back
,
and
slid into the unoccupied chair,
lifting the coffee to her lips to test the
black nectar of the gods.

“How was your shower,
angel
? Did you think about me?”
Butch grinned with a twinkle in his eye. Claire wondered
if Butch purposely designed to make people uncomfortable with his innuendos and flirting words. Would he know how to handle it if she dished it back
?

Claire shook her head. “Butch, get real already. You and I aren’t going to happen.”

Butch
slid his chair across the tiled floor,
stood
,
and walked to the coffee pot for a refill
, looking
back over his
shoulder. “I’ll lay off for now…
but I’m not going away. You can deny there
’s
something
between us, but you’re wrong. You know it
,
I know it
, and it’s only a matter of time
.”

Claire placed
her mug back on the table and crossed her arms over her chest.
He might have been right about the sparks between them, but he had a thing or two to learn about her.
She
’d
opened her mouth to retort his claim when the cleaning crew
walked into the room
. She pushed her
chair away from the table
, grabbed her cup
,
and
stormed
out of the room
,
leaving
Butch standing in
her
kitchen. She had work to do today
, and her plans didn’t include that obnoxious man
.
The work
wasn’t going to do itself, and she wanted to make time to go see Emma at the hospital.

Claire walked through her office
door
and found
Jenny sitting at the extra table in her office.
Claire liked to keep the room clean from clutter. Everything had a proper place
,
and she expected everything in it.
Papers
littered
the table
.
The lines of concentration around her brow deepened the longer she stared
.
Jenny
was oblivious to the fact Claire stood in the room
, h
er attention focused
solely
on the
mess of
papers before her.

Claire
pulled in a deep breath to tamper her OCD tendencies and
cleared her throat
.
“Good
m
orning
,
Jenny.”

“Oh, sorry
,
Ms. Bennett, I didn’t hear you come in. Good
m
orning.” Jenny leaned back in her chair
, her entire attention now focused on Claire. She grabbed
her own coffee
mug
and took a sip
. “How is Emma? Did she have the baby?”
 
 

Claire
glided
around her desk and
settled
in
to
her
brown leather chair where she spent most of her time. She’d been glad she didn’t need
a nine-to-five job
, but that didn’t mean she didn’t work everyday.
Her office was her sanctuary
.
Coordinating her charity functions was wh
ere
she excelled.

The tragic death of her father and
premature
death of her mother had hit
all her siblings like a punch in the gut, especially Claire. She’d picked up the pieces and resumed the role of
a
mom
,
taking care of her younger sisters. They’d each received enough
inheritance
money to live comfortably
, and Claire had been smart with hers
.
A few good investments and she never had to work a day in her life
, but i
t was her
unyielding
need to help others
that kept her grounded
and brought a sense of meaning to her life
.
She’d spent countless hours in the nursery of the hospital visiting the newborn babies when her mother
received
chemo. Claire guessed that those experiences had pushed her in the direction to help others.
All of those babies wrapped tightly in their blankets brought her thoughts back to Lily.
The beginning of a smile tipped the corners of her mouth
as she thought about
her new niece
.