Chapter Nine
Eric thought he’d kill his brother later, but for now he was going to keep kissing Susan, until their legs didn’t hold them any longer.
It had taken a moment for her to relax again, but when she had, the magic was back.
Her arms were around his neck, her thumbs making small circles on the base of his head. What was it about this woman that he just couldn’t get enough of?
He didn’t know her, not really. But when their mouths and bodies came together there was a sizzle that had him pressing his body even closer, until the camera between them pressed deep into his chest.
Eric pulled back, breathless.
Susan sucked in air beneath him. “I didn’t expect that,” she said and that made him smile.
“I hadn’t wanted you to.”
Her blue eyes were dark now as they gazed up at him. “This just complicated things, didn’t it?”
“I don’t think so. We didn’t have anything to complicate. I think this just made breakfast more interesting.”
She laughed as she relaxed her shoulders against the hay bales. “I’m not a woman who falls into bed with men.”
“I invited you for breakfast. I think I told you, you could decide on the spending the night. Maybe someday we’ll get to that.”
“Right.” She pushed herself up and stood solidly on her feet before him. “I could go start breakfast.”
Eric shook his head. “I’m cooking breakfast. Though I didn’t consider it would be this early.”
“Can I help you in here?”
“You know about horses?”
“Not a damn thing.”
Now he laughed. “Why don’t you go back to the house and make coffee? I’ll be in shortly. The door is unlocked.”
Susan nodded. “I like you,” she said as he turned to walk back to Whiskey River.
For a long moment, he studied her still standing where he’d kissed her breathless.
“I like you too. I don’t waste kisses on women I don’t like.”
She nodded. “I just thought I should mention that.”
Eric gave her a tip of his hat and went about getting the horses fed.
I like you. Did she have to sound so juvenile, Susan thought to herself as she headed toward his house.
It seemed important at the time, though. He needed to know she didn’t just go about having breakfast with men and kissing them. Why it was so important, she wasn’t sure. But it was.
Maybe because he needed to know she wasn’t easy or a home wrecker. She was a trusting person and that sometimes screwed her over.
She let out a breath as she slid in behind the wheel of her car. The last thing she needed was to bring parts of her old relationship into this new one. Or whatever it was. How did you have a relationship with someone you just met?
As she cleared the turn to his house, she saw that there were still two pickup trucks outside. They were the same trucks that had been there when she’d arrived earlier that morning.
He’d told her to go to the house and start the coffee. He wouldn’t have told her to do that if there were people there. The man, Russ he’d called him, said they were heading out. They must have done that.
She’d let herself in and make that coffee.
Susan parked the car and climbed out into the cold. Walking up the steps to the unlocked front door, she pushed it open and then stood frozen in place looking at the two men looking at her.
“I’m sorry. Eric told me to come over and start the coffee.”
The man on the couch laughed. “He promised you breakfast and is making you start the coffee?”
“Well…I…we…I should…”
The man seated in the chair stood and walked toward her. “Come in. I’m Russell Walker,” he said as he held his hand out toward her. “Eric’s brother.” He turned toward the other man. “This is Ben. Eric’s other brother.”
“It’s nice to officially meet you both. I’m Susan,” she stuttered out. “I’ll just head out. Let Eric know…”
“C’mon in. I already made coffee and I just want to bust my brother’s chops a bit.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I want to be here for that.”
Russell smiled at her and she noticed he had the same smile as Eric. “Stay. He’s forty years old and I’ve never seen him kiss a woman like that. Don’t get me wrong, he’s had women around, but the PDA isn’t his style.”
She nodded. “It wasn’t really a public display.”
“I know. Makes it even sweeter on my part.”
He started for the kitchen as Susan took off her coat and hung it on the hook.
“I enjoyed your food,” Ben said standing from his seat.
“Oh, thank you. Those were very simple menus.”
“I’m a bachelor. Cereal is a good meal.”
“I’m in culinary school now. I’d like to open my own place some day.”
Ben’s eyes opened wide. “That’s adventurous. What kind of place?”
“I haven’t really decided exactly. I’m a vegetarian, so I’d certainly incorporate that.”
Russell walked from the kitchen with two mugs in his hands. He handed her one. “Vegetarian? So no bacon or ham with your eggs? Do you eat eggs?”
She laughed. “I’m not vegan. I just don’t eat meat. It’s not a health thing really. It was with my ex-husband. For me, it’s more of a gross factor.”
That made Russell laugh. “You don’t eat meat and you’re dating a man who lives on a cattle ranch?”
That did sound a bit ironic. Then the rest of his sentence hit her. “I don’t think we’re dating.”
“You kiss men like that a lot? Because I haven’t been kissed like that in a long time.”
She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. “I don’t do that. I haven’t kissed a man since I’ve been divorced. I don’t just do that.”
Ben chuckled as he stood and headed toward the kitchen. “You said that.”
She heard Eric’s truck and only a moment later he pushed open the front door.
“I told you two to be gone when she got here. You said you were leaving.”
Russell laughed and sipped his coffee. “Oh, we were until I saw you. Then I thought it would be more fun to watch you squirm.”
Eric hung up his coat. “I’m not squirming.”
Ben laughed from the other room. “Oh, yes you are. But we’ll get out of your hair. He just wanted to see your reaction coming through the door.”
“You’re not twelve,” Eric retorted.
Russell shifted a look to Susan. “I take it back. I have seen him kiss someone like that. I was twelve.” He grinned.
When Susan looked at Eric, she wasn’t so sure he wasn’t going to pounce on the younger Walker. His eyes were dark. His cheeks filled with color. When he grew angry, there was a crease that formed deep into his forehead.
“I think you’ve both outstayed your welcome. Get out.”
Russell set his coffee mug on the end table next to the couch. “He’s really a cranky old man. He’s always been a cranky old man,” he told her with a grin. “He has four brothers, you know. None of us are quite that cranky.”
“You’re going to be dead brothers if you both don’t get your ass out of my house in the next…”
Ben moved from the kitchen swiftly and yanked Russell along. “We’re gone. It was nice to formally meet you, Susan. We’ll see you around,” he said as he shoved his brother out of the house, then backtracked to pull their coats off the hook by the door before leaving.
Susan watched Eric process his irritation with his brothers. She wasn’t sure, anymore, that it was anger. She’d seen her own sister get irritated in such a manner more than once. It was endearing to see someone else do the same.
“I see you have coffee already,” he said, his voice strained.
“I do.”
“Sorry about that. I’d swear to you they are usually more mature than that, but then I might be lying to you.”
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“I enjoyed them. Don’t be too mad at them.”
His eyes settled on her. “Nothing rattles you.”
“I wouldn’t say that. That kiss in the barn rattled me.”
“It surprised you.”
“It did.”
He stepped to her and she could smell hay and cold on his clothes. “I don’t like people in my business. They hung around longer than I’d wanted them to.”
She’d known him to be a bit snippy, and she’d agree with Russell, perhaps a little cranky, but now he sounded mean.
“So maybe I should just drink my coffee and go. We could count this as breakfast.”
Susan could see his eyes cloud with what she thought might be confusion—then clarity.
“I didn’t mean I wanted you to leave.”
“I don’t mean to be in your business.”
The irritation was back and he let out a groan. “Listen, things are unsettled this week. I’m not going to get into it, but with my grandfather dying and funerals and wills…I’m just tired of family in my way.”
Susan turned and set her mug on the end table next to where Russell had discarded his. “I think we should do this some other time. Considering all you’ve been through this week the last thing you need is a stranger getting involved.”
“You’re not a stranger—not anymore.”
“Hired help of your step-mother. Roommate to your cousin. We will certainly cross paths.”
His eyes narrowed as he tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “Will? I invited you out here because I wanted to be with you. You’re not a stranger because I’ve seen inside your soul.”
“How did you do that?”
He took a step toward her. “I saw your photos.” His eyes darkened. “I saw where you sleep.”
Susan swallowed hard and crossed her arms over her chest as if it would give her a protective barrier. “So what are we doing?”
He stepped closer still until he was toe to toe with her. She dropped her arms and found she had pushed herself against the back of the couch. Something told her this was a situation that called for the utmost care. With one move, she could be a victim to a man she didn’t know—alone in his house. Or she could find out she liked him even more than she’d meant to.
“I want to get to know you,” he said as he slid his hand up her arm. “The timing of it is just off.”
Susan sucked in a breath, trying not to lose herself in his touch. “I was always told if you wait for the right moment it’ll never come.”
His hand moved over her shoulder and up into her hair. “The moment I met you, you struck me as a very smart woman.”
The last man who looked at her like Eric was looking at her had told her she was the stupidest mistake he’d ever made. It was quite a contrast to this man telling her how smart he thought she was and he didn’t really know her at all.
Susan lifted her hands to his chest. She could feel his heart pound beneath her fingertips. When she lifted her eyes to meet his they were dreamy—lost—staring back into hers.
It was foolish to think that this man was going to be around for longer than a month. He was only warding off the week he’d had. She was his distraction.
Then he moved his head, lowered it to hers, and covered her mouth with his. Susan closed her eyes and inhaled his kiss.
Maybe he was equally her distraction too.