Montana Rescue (The Wildes of Birch Bay Book 2) (12 page)

“Then you should fit right in.” Nick disarmed her with his made-for-sin smile. He pulled off another bite and moaned as his teeth sank into it. A small dot of confectioner’s sugar now clung to his upper lip. “So, dinner?” he asked around the treat. “Tomorrow night?”

“You were serious about that?” Why would he ask her to dinner with his family?

“Sure. I was told I could bring a date.”

“But I wouldn’t be a date.”

He tilted his head then, but he didn’t say anything. His eyes simply stayed on hers. So long that she began to twitch in place. He could somehow say so much without saying anything at all.

“I told you that I don’t want to date,” she reminded him. Her fingers itched to swipe the sugar off his lips.

“So now you’re telling me that you don’t eat steak either?”

“I don’t go to random guys’ family dinners to eat steak.”

Hurt flashed across his face. “And you’re saying I’m a random guy?”

“I’m saying”—she sighed—“that me showing up at Dani’s with you would be odd.”

He suddenly focused more on his food than her, and Harper didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t sure why her pointing out the obvious would have offended him, but she was fairly certain that’s exactly what she’d done.

“I’m just saying,” she tried again, “that they might read more into it than is there.”

“Or maybe they’d read into it that I don’t want to be a third wheel.” He wiped off his mouth, and the sprinkling of white disappeared. “You know how weird that can be. And as a bonus, I have it on good authority that Ben can grill a mean steak.”

“Yeah? And who told you that?”

“His daughter.” He smiled again, and danged if her chest didn’t squeeze tight at the sight. “I’m her favorite uncle, so she wouldn’t mislead me.”

Harper couldn’t get over the softness that overcame him simply by talking about the little girl. Jewel had been right. He would make a great father someday. “Then it sounds to me like
she
should
be your date. Imagine how thrilled she’d be with that.”

“She’s cute,” Nick acknowledged. “But I prefer my women older. Preferably with blue hair.” He lifted a hand, capturing several strands of her hair, while the backs of his fingers grazed over her ear. “I remember pink when I was just a kid. There was the summer of red. Then your rainbow phase.” His gaze returned to hers. “I always wondered if you were making a personal statement with that one.”

“Simply a statement,” she said, filling in the space when he paused. Since the day her mother had insisted Harper and her sisters wear matching dresses for Easter Sunday, Harper had started dying her hair random colors.

“But I do have to admit,” Nick continued. He released her hair, and his eyes fastened on her lips. “Blue is my favorite.”

“Quit trying to charm your way back into my pants, Nick Wilde,” she breathed.

“But I like your pants, Harper Stone.” His eyes inched lower. “Those jeans fit you really,
really
nicely.” When he finally dragged his gaze back up her body, she literally throbbed in front of him.

And oh, sweet Lordy goodness. That fast, and he had her completely undone.

“Come with me tomorrow night,” he urged.

She
would
like to get out of the house.

“I’ll even ply you with beer,” he said. “I know you like beer.”

“I do like beer.” And if she
did
go with him, that wouldn’t necessarily make it a date. Just a night out with two other people she already knew.

“What else do you like?” He slid the tip of a finger over her bottom lip, his voice lowering to that belly-quivering octave he was capable of. “Tell me, and I promise I’ll make it happen.”

Her tongue touched the spot where his finger had traced, and she found a path of powdered sugar in its wake. She licked at it while considering him. Because she didn’t for a second think they were still talking about a steak dinner.

“I’m still not sleeping with you again,” she finally managed, but her voice had turned shaky. And she wasn’t 100 percent certain she could back up her statement. Not if she found herself alone with him.

“So you’re saying your steam situation remains under control?”

This time there was definite heat in her cheeks at the reminder of their prior conversation. “My steam is definitely in check.”

His gaze lowered to his plate, and one corner of his mouth hitched up in a tiny smile, and Harper found herself squirming in front of him. He was laughing at her.

When he picked up another piece of the fried bread and her stomach growled a third time, his gaze shifted back to hers. The devil danced in the blue depths as he hovered the bite a half inch from her mouth. “Sure you don’t want any of my treat?”

“I’m positive I don’t want any of your treat,” she whispered hoarsely.

“Okay,” he said. He slid the bite between his lips then, and after he swallowed, he once again licked his fingers clean. “But feel free to call me if your steam situation changes.”

Harper’s throat went dry. The man was evil. Yet his taunting only cranked her stubbornness higher. She lifted one hand slowly and waggled her fingers in his face. “It’s been a while,” she began, the boldness in her voice misleading, “but I’m quite confident I could remember how to use these if my
steam
needs to be released.”

Deep laughter instantly circled her, and she almost died of embarrassment. Good Lord, she’d just blatantly told the man that she wouldn’t have a problem masturbating.

Jewel’s truck and trailer pulled up at that moment, and Harper quickly glanced over Nick’s shoulder in relief. She was breathing heavy, her nipples had hardened, and a few more seconds of this particular form of foreplay, and she might have agreed to anything the man suggested.

Nick followed her gaze, and at the sight of Jewel, he waved. Then he turned back to Harper. The humor disappeared from his eyes, replaced with pure heat, and he leaned in—so close that she could smell the sweetness on his breath and feel the faintest touch of his chest rub against hers. And danged if her legs didn’t quiver.

His mouth brushed across her ear. “You be sure to let me know if those fingers don’t quite do the trick.”

She nodded.

Then she groaned as she realized what she’d agreed to.

Nick straightened, heat still the only thing on his features, and slipped a bite of the funnel cake between her lips before she could even guess at his intent. His fingers lingered for an extra second, and this time, he was the one who watched her chew. And she had no doubt that the action turned him on just as much as it had her. There was something innately hot about watching someone’s mouth. Especially when that someone’s mouth had been on your body.

After she swallowed, he pulled his gaze back to hers. His eyes looked drugged. “Let me know what you decide about that steak,” he scratched out. Then he turned and walked away, and Harper slumped where she stood. Because what he hadn’t figured out was that at that very second, he’d had her.

Chapter Eleven

I
ncredible steak, Ben.” Nick gave his brother-in-law a slap on the back. He grabbed the loaded-down bag of leftovers his sister had packed for him and winked at his favorite person in the room.

Haley giggled and climbed onto an island barstool to wrap her arms around her his neck. She planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek and turned to whisper in his ear, “I didn’t tell no one about your blue-haired girlfriend.”

“Thank you,” he whispered back. He didn’t correct her on the girlfriend part. “I knew I could count on you.”

“And I’m sorry she didn’t come with you.”

“Me, too.” Nick ignored his sister’s clearly nosy look. Sometimes a man and his niece had to have secrets.

And sometimes a man kept his own secrets. About blue-haired women who were too chicken to come to dinner with him. Harper had texted an hour before he’d left the house to tell him that she couldn’t make it. Which had been a letdown. Yet not surprising.

He pulled back from Haley and winked at her, changing from a whisper back to normal volume. “You have a good trip to Canada, okay? Your Uncle Gabe will be very sad that he missed you.”

“Gabe’s coming in?” Dani asked.

“Yeah.” Nick glanced at her, surprised their oldest brother hadn’t shared his plans. “Next week sometime.” Gabe had let him know a few days ago.

Dani glanced toward Haley, and Nick noted the girl’s suddenly long face and felt guilty for bringing it up. Gabe’s daughter, Jenna, was Haley’s best friend. The two girls had only met the year before, but the friendship had been instantaneous. However, since Jenna’s mother had pretty much forced Gabe into relocating to Los Angeles before the school year started, the girls had rarely gotten to see each other.

“But from what I understand,” he began, once again talking to Haley, and hoping his words would cheer her up, “they’re planning to stay all summer.”

Her mouth formed an
O
. “All summer?” she whispered. She looked at Dani. “Does that mean I’ll get to see Jenna?”

“It sure does.” Dani scooped Haley onto her hip. “And she can spend as many nights here with you as you want.”

“And I can spend nights there with her, too? And with Pops and Gloria.” She shot a toothy grin Nick’s way. “And with Uncle Nick?”

Nick chuckled. The child could get anything from him that she wanted. “I won’t actually be around all summer, sport. I go home in a few weeks, remember? But I’m sure Pops and Gloria will love to have you. And I’ll be back to visit, too. I’d miss you too much if I didn’t.” He gave Haley another wink, making her giggle again, then turned back to Dani. “Been a while since you talked to Gabe?” Dani typically badgered all of them weekly.

“She’s a slave to the job these days,” Ben said. He moved to stand behind his wife and daughter. “It’s sad when she’s too busy to harass her own brothers.”

Nick agreed.

“My workload has definitely increased.” Dani owned her own marketing company. “Which is great. Happy clients talk, and I like them talking. But part of the problem is that I’ve been trying to get ahead due to this upcoming trip, and I’ve yet to hire a receptionist to field some of the calls.”

“Hiring someone is first on the list for when we return,” Ben told him. “If she doesn’t get on it herself, I’ll take that one over.”

“My hero.” Dani patted Ben on the cheek and smiled up at him, and he gave her a look that Nick—frankly—wished he wasn’t able to interpret. But thankfully, Dani remembered they weren’t alone in the room, and returned her focus to Nick. “Are Gabe and Jenna coming
alone
?” Her tone changed from hero worship to subdued.

“Who knows?” No one was a fan of their sister-in-law. Gabe’s marriage had been on the rocks for as long as they could remember, and Nick and the rest of them were pretty much holding their breaths, waiting for it to collapse. “All I know is what I got in the text. They’ll be in by the end of next week. Before Dad gets home.”

Dani nodded as if a decision had been made. “Then I’ll call him before we leave. Nate, too. We never know if Nate will make it in for harvest, so I’ll start bugging him now.”

“Of course you will.” Nick rubbed his knuckles on the top of his sister’s head. “But don’t be surprised if he doesn’t answer.”

“I never am.”

He headed to the door, reaching it and looking back in time to catch Haley’s yawn. Her face was now tucked into the side of Dani’s neck, and Dani peered down at her.

“We let you stay up way too late, didn’t we?” Dani spoke softly to the little girl.

“I’m not tired,” Haley denied around an even larger yawn.

Dani smiled fondly at her stepdaughter, and Nick felt a pang of jealousy as he stood there. The utter look of contentment on his sister’s face knocked him for a loop. She’d found it all here with Ben and Haley. While Nick still struggled to believe “all” existed.

He pinned Haley with a look. “You be sure to bring me back a present, okay? Since you’re going to Canada, I’d like an igloo.”

Giggles once again filled Nick’s ears. He loved her laugh. “I can’t bring home an igloo, silly.”

“Then how about you just don’t forget that I’m your favorite uncle while you’re gone?”

Berry-colored lips curled up. “I could never forget that.”

Dani moved toward him then, Haley still in her arms, and caught him in a hug before he could get away. “You’ll be okay while we’re gone?”

“I’m always okay.” He kissed both her and Haley on the tops of their heads. “Have fun and don’t worry about any of us.” Then he turned to Ben. “Take good care of her.”

“Priority number one.”

Nick knew Ben would see to it that Dani was fine, but he was continually caught unaware at how much he worried about his sister these days. He’d always worried, but until their skeletons had come out of the closet, he’d been a master at ignoring it. Yet now he found himself wanting to check in on her as much as she did him.

He left and slid behind the wheel of his truck but took a minute before driving away to take in the setting sun. That pang of jealousy hit again. This was nice. And not just the lakefront view. It had been interesting watching Dani and Ben together tonight. They’d grown closer over the months they’d been together. So close that they seemed like a fully contained unit now. They fit. And Haley only complemented what the two of them had.

Nick couldn’t wait until his sister had more children. She would thrive as a mother. And he needed more nieces—and wouldn’t complain if he had a nephew or two running around.

And if kids had great parents, then they wouldn’t grow up to be messed up in the head.

He put the truck into gear and pulled out onto the highway. Even bad parents had their purposes, he supposed. He shoved his mother from his head, choosing to fill it with Harper instead. And what came to mind wasn’t only the thrill he’d seen in her eyes the night before when she’d found him waiting on her, but her sexy stubbornness, as well. She’d wanted him. As much as she’d wanted his funnel cake. And though she’d refused to give in—to either offering—she hadn’t been able to keep from flirting with him. It had fired his need to a new level.

Until
she’d called him some random guy.

His ire rose. Random guy, his ass. He wasn’t just some Joe off the street. He was the man who’d recently been buried deep inside her. Who wanted to be there again.

Who already knew how to make her fall apart in his hands, and who knew they could have a heck of a lot of fun together both in
and
out of bed. He sighed with frustration, and his fingers clenched around the steering wheel. She might want him, but she wasn’t merely saying no to
him
. He still understood that, no matter how much his hormones tried to convince him otherwise. Harper had crap to sort through. And he didn’t need to add to it.

Only . . . she’d waved her danged fingers in his face, and he’d thought of little other than her own hands touching herself since.

He groaned and flipped on his turn signal, slowing to make a right turn into the driveway, but at the sight of a shadow up ahead he turned on his brights. A dark truck sat where he normally parked, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Cord had come home. Cord was a doctor in Billings, and the last Nick had been aware, he drove a dark Chevy similar to the one that sat silently in the dark. He’d bought it a year ago as a birthday present to himself. Maybe he’d gotten a few days off and had wanted to get away.

Or it could be Nate. Nick hadn’t talked to his twin in almost two weeks, and given that Nate wasn’t always one to report in
before
he headed out to pastures unknown, he could very well be making Birch Bay stop one on whatever leave he’d decided to take.

Whoever it was, it didn’t matter. A thrill shot through Nick at the thought of having either of his brothers home. He pulled behind the truck and stopped, acknowledging that he’d be just as thrilled at having
anyone
here. As he exited the vehicle, he took in the house and noted that the only light burning inside was the one he’d left on earlier. Whoever was here hadn’t seen fit to light the place up. He pocketed his keys and grabbed the doggie bag, then headed for the back deck. But when he rounded the corner, he stopped. It wasn’t Cord or Nate.

It was Harper.

She stood stiffly beside the back door, her eyes glued to his and her arms crossed over her chest. Desire fired through Nick like a rocket taking off into the night sky. In two seconds, he’d taken inventory. Trim denim skirt hitting a couple of inches above the knee, turquoise cowboy boots with silver toe caps, and a black sleeveless shirt with a zipper running the length of the front.

And he suddenly couldn’t care less about his brothers.

He took the steps two at a time, but when he reached her, uncertainty took hold. He held up the bag of food. “You missed a good dinner.”

Harper nodded. Then licked her lips. She looked nervous.

She glanced away from him, and he saw her chest rise with the breath she pulled in. When she brought her gaze back to his, she blew out the breath. “It wasn’t steak I was hungry for.”

That was all he needed to hear.

Blood roared through Nick’s head. He reached around her, not touching her, and not looking down, as he focused all his attention on the door. He had to get the key into the lock. Then he had to turn the knob. As the door swung silently open, he finally dropped his gaze back to Harper’s. She hadn’t moved. She stood with her face turned up to his, and he fought to maintain control until he made certain he wasn’t mistaken about her purpose for being there.

“Are you telling me that your steam situation has changed?” he asked in a low growl.

And finally, her features eased. She smiled at him, her intent written into that simple move of her lips, and his jeans grew instantly tight. “It’s leaking out my ears,” she replied.

Nick dropped the bag of food and backed Harper into the house. They made it just inside the door before he shoved her against the wall and his palms landed under the hem of her skirt. Her thighs were hot and smooth, and he crushed his mouth to hers. They grunted at the same time, and as Harper’s arms wrapped around his neck, he discovered that her skirt was the only article of clothing she wore below the waist.

“Condom,” she murmured. “There’s one in my back pocket.”

“We’re going to need more than one.”

Her legs wrapped around his hips before he could say anything more, and when the heels of her boots hit the backs of his thighs, his body rocked into hers. He could feel her heat through his jeans. She whispered something and bit into his neck, but he couldn’t make out the words. All he could hear was his blood pounding in his ears.

His fingers found the zipper of her shirt and jerked it open, and lo and behold, she wasn’t wearing anything under the shirt, either. So he filled one hand with a breast while the other once again slipped under her skirt. Meanwhile, the situation behind his zipper was fast becoming painful.

“Undo my jeans,” he begged. “And promise me that you won’t run out the minute we’re done. Because I’m going to make this one fast.” He kissed her again, his lips as demanding as his words. “And when I’m finished here, I’m going to spread you out on my bed and start all over. Working my way up from your toes.”

He slid on the condom after she’d freed him, his breaths coming out as short gasps as he took her in. Then he positioned himself at her opening. They were still up against the wall, no clothes removed and everything in disarray.

Grabbing her chin, he brought her face to his. “Promise me,” he demanded.

“I’m not going anywhere.” She was as out of breath as him, her voice just as raspy, and when she thrust her hips forward and her heat surrounded the tip of him, he was done.

He shoved inside her with a loud groan, relishing in the similar sound being returned from her. Then he pulled out and pushed in again. Harder this time. He gripped her butt in both hands and buried his face in her neck. He couldn’t slow things down. They both moved fast, each touching, thrusting, rubbing. They’d be done within seconds if they kept this up. But he was powerless to change course, and she didn’t seem to be in any better shape.