The early morning sky was awakening beneath a sliver of sunlight but phantoms still danced in the shadows. Though major objects—houses, trees, vehicles—were easy to make out, undulating silhouettes were not. It was beautiful and yet, eerie; alluring and mysterious.
Graham peered out the window, his eyes roaming as he pressed the cell phone to his ear.
“Nothing out of the ordinary out here.”
“Go home. I’ve got it from here. Thanks Guy. Please apologize to Bailey.”
“Who do you think kept me company?”
The guilt of having Guy sit out there all night tripled. “Hey, I’ll make it up to you guys.”
“No need. It’s what I do for a living. Remember?”
“Yeah but—”
“Graham, stop. You did a lot for me when I needed it. Now it’s my—our turn. No payback ever,” Bailey said.
He dropped his head against the wall and pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose. Guy was damn lucky. A soft sound drew his attention across the room. Tarin was curled up in his bed watching him. Everything about the scene in front of him looked right, felt right.
“Graham, you there?”
“Uh. Yeah sorry. Just got distracted.”
“How’s Tarin holding up?”
He grinned. “Just fine.” It must have come out a whole lot deeper and sexier than he’d intended, because Bailey and Guy started laughing.
“Got it. Take care of her. We’ll see you later. Watch your back; we’re still not sure she doesn’t have a role in all this.”
Tarin climbed out of bed and began a slow, gentle stretch. He couldn’t take his mind off her or concentrate on anything else.
“Uh-huh.”
“We’ll stick around for another half hour.”
He heard Guy’s words but their meaning didn’t register as he made a move to hang up. Their soft chuckling was brief as he clicked off his phone, setting it on the dresser beside him. He strode toward her, not stopping until he was mere inches away. She smiled, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back onto the bed. Then she climbed over top of him, slowly sliding her way up his body.
There’s something else I should be doing. It wasn’t more than a fleeting thought that came and went so fast it hardly registered.
~~~~
She awoke with a start. At first she was disoriented, unsure where she was. But then she moved and a slight ache permeated her body reminding her of the previous night. It was so vivid in her mind that she couldn’t help but blush—not only at the memory of what they’d done but the memory of what she’d done. Not wanting guilt or remorse to settle in, which brought back memories of the week she’d lost, she pushed herself upright.’
Chance giggled, reminding her of the sound that had awakened her. The warmth of his beautiful voice washed over her but also compelled her to investigate what had him so happy. She slipped on her lingerie and pulled on one of Graham’s t-shirts that hid her to mid-thigh. Strolling into the kitchen she couldn’t help but laugh. Two happy but filthy faces turned to look at her. One expression quickly slid into guilty.
“What are you doing?”
“Momma. Momma.” Chance reached out one hand toward her.
She walked over to him and touched his nose. “I don’t think so, big guy. Not until we wash—” She looked at Graham for clarification.
“Breakfast. Superman style.”
She shrugged, unsure what that meant. “Breakfast, Superman style, off your face.” He seemed fine with that and settled back into Graham’s arms.
To show her what they had been doing, Graham peeled another banana. Chance grabbed it in his tiny fist, squeezing it to mush and dropping half. Graham caught what he lost. Chance then shoved what he could into his face. Then he reached for more and shoved his next fistful at Graham to eat but most went on his face.
She started to giggle as she watched how seriously her son took his job of eating and sharing his banana. Then Graham squirted chocolate syrup on the next piece and she watched in horror as they walked toward her.
“Mommy. Eat.” His tiny fist was outstretched toward her with a yellowy glob with chocolate drippings.
Her hand shot out to stop them as she stumbled backward to get away. Graham quickly grasped her wrist, stopping her retreat. Before she could react, Chance was shoving his mush on her forehead. Laughing, she reached up to wipe it off but the look in Graham’s eyes stilled her. She watched mesmerized as he leaned forward and licked it off. A shiver of excitement shook her to her core.
“Eat.”
It was Chance’s insistence and giggle that brought her back to the present. Stepping back, she reached for him. “Let’s go wash up.”
“No.” He leaned back against the strong chest she’d been cuddling a few hours before. He looked like he could take on the world. She knew how he felt.
“I, well Guy and I, have to go out and talk with Dorothea later but you’ll be safe here.”
“Oh, is something up?”
Graham shoved his hand through his hair. “It would appear she might be thinking of selling.”
It took all her willpower to force her knees not to buckle. “She’s going to get rid of the winery?”
“I don’t know. We’re looking for answers.”
“Do you know if she has a buyer?” Her mouth had gone dry. James Madsen has purchased one winery and is looking to buy another. The information she’d found the week before immediately popped into her head. God no. But she feared that somehow he knew.
“I don’t know anything. She just dropped that little bomb yesterday.”
Chance took that moment to squeal. Thankful for the distraction, she reached for him again. “Come on love, we need to get you cleaned up.”
“No.” He wouldn’t let her take him.
“I’ll take him. You get the bath ready.”
“I was going to shower with him.”
“Do you think the three of us would fit?”
In lieu of a reply, she made her way to his bathroom. She pressed her hand to her thumping heart, trying to still it’s fluttering insistence that she take Graham up on his offer. Leaning over, she filled the tub a quarter-way full.
“Spoil sport.” Graham lowered Chance into the tub and then climbed in right behind him. All long lean muscle of him. Her eyes were peeled so wide, it took a moment for her to realize the two of them were grinning up at her.
“I’ll just—I’ll just... go.” She waved and slowly made her way out, closing the door behind her. Weak in the knees, she sank to the floor overwhelmed with emotion. Chance had never experienced a man that treated him like he was precious or important. He was lapping it up like a starved puppy given a bowl of milk. And she’d never had anyone look at her the way Graham did. It was frightening to think with only a simple glance, she felt like the same little puppy wagging her tail, begging for more.
What the hell am I supposed to do with him? Many delicious ideas immediately popped into her mind and she wondered when she’d become so amoral. It made her smile when she considered how horrified her father would be if he knew how sensuously unladylike she’d been the night before. And she had every intention of doing it again. But first, she needed to get her life in order and figure out who was intent on harming her… and why.