Spark, page 11
“But…”
“Please. My only thought was getting back here to you.”
I sigh against him. Every cell—the ones controlled by my pussy, anyway—in my body aches to accept him at his word.
Every cell in my brain urges caution.
I could fall so easily for this man.
And to him, I’m a notch on the bedpost.
I thought I was okay with that.
Turns out, I’m not.
I want more.
“Okay,” I say finally. “I forgive you.”
He smiles then—a dazzling smile that lights up his whole face and ignites a spark in my already hot loins.
How did I ever think Dale was the handsomer of the two?
Donny is beautiful. He could be modeling between the pages of Esquire and GQ.
“I won’t let you down again,” he says. “Just tell me what you want for our date tomorrow, and it’s yours.”
“You choose,” I say.
He shakes his head. “Nope. We’re not playing that game. I want to know what you want.”
“Dinner. Just dinner. Where doesn’t matter, as long as it’s with you.”
Part of me wants to puke a little at my words. Even more so when I realize how much I truly mean them.
I’m so not the romantic and mushy type.
But I mean those damned words with my whole heart.
“Aspen, then?” he says.
“Don’t be silly.”
“What’s silly about it? We have a place there. A couple, actually. They’re unoccupied at the moment. It’s a two-hour drive. We can drive back or stay the night. Your choice.”
“Dinner in Grand Junction is fine. It doesn’t matter where, Donny.”
“Aspen it is, then. I’ll make a reservation at my favorite place. They serve our beef and our wines.”
I can’t help a laugh. “You Steels. Always paying good money to eat and drink your own stuff.”
“Because it’s that good.” He smiles slyly.
“You said you’re not much of a wine drinker,” I say.
“I’m not. Doesn’t mean I don’t know good wine when I taste it.” He smiles. “Want to know a secret?”
“Sure.”
“My cocktail of choice is a margarita.”
I can’t help it. I laugh out loud. “A sweet drink?”
“It’s a manly drink,” he says.
“Manly with an umbrella.”
“Manly because it’s made with tequila.”
“And a buttload of sugar.”
“And it’s also delicious.”
I nod. “I can’t argue with you there. I prefer a sweeter cocktail myself, when I drink at all. That or a beer.” I don’t mention how good the screwdriver Brock mixed for me earlier tasted.
Donny gives me another searing kiss and then backs away. “Tomorrow. And I owe you.”
I cock my head. “What? Other than an apology, which you already gave me, you don’t owe me anything.”
“You’re wrong.” He presses his lips to mine once more. “I owe you an orgasm.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Donny
I don’t leave Callie’s side the rest of the evening. We share a few more dances, and then I take her home, give her a scorching kiss, and drive myself back to the house with a hard-on.
So strange how badly I want to make this up to her. Any other woman, and I’d be screwing her right now. I sure didn’t come home to Snow Creek to get serious with someone.
My crush on Callie Pike will probably be short-lived, but while it’s here, I’m going to treat her right.
I get back to the ranch house, and Dale is still there, which doesn’t overly surprise me. He and I still have a lot to discuss. I’m still angry about what our birth father did to us, but it’s not Dale’s fault. His only crime is that he didn’t tell me—was never going to tell me.
Which isn’t a crime.
He’s so overprotective. Always has been. I’m not his baby brother anymore. I’m a grown man. Try telling him that, though.
“What’s up?” I say to him.
“Just figured we had more to talk about.”
Mom and Dad are out on the deck, hanging with Aunt Marj and Uncle Bryce. Everyone else has gone home, it seems.
“I’m fine, Dale,” I say. “Sorry I went off on you. None of this is your fault. It’s our fucking birth father. But damn, it’s all so long ago, and I hate having to think about that time.”
“I know,” he says. “You’ve done a great job of getting past it all. Much better than I have.”
I shake my head. “We just have different ways of dealing. It’s still with me. Always. I just push it to the back of my mind.”
“You compartmentalize,” he says.
“Yeah, if you want to put a label on it.”
“Do you ever worry that it will come barreling out?”
“Not really. It’s not like I’ve blocked it out. I know it’s there, and sometimes I do think about it, but I just choose not to.”
He smiles. “You have a brilliant mind, Don. The way you can choose what to think about. That’s why you were so good in school. Why you could deal with college and law school.”
“Don’t put yourself down,” I say. “College isn’t for everyone. No one can blame you for not wanting to be stuck in a room.”
“No one can blame you, either, but you were able to do it.”
True. We’re two different people. That became clear soon after we arrived at Steel Acres.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Dale says. “I don’t feel like I missed anything. It’s just that I never considered so many things until Ashley came along. She really helped me see clearly. She and…”
“She and what?”
“She and Floyd, to be honest.”
“Say what?”
“Not Floyd, really. Just a Robert Frost poem I found at his place.”
I shake my head. “Dale, you surprise me sometimes.”
“I surprise myself more. This is getting awkward, so let’s change the subject. What’s the story with you and Callie Pike?”
“There isn’t one. Though we’re heading to Aspen tomorrow for dinner.”
“Aspen?”
“Yeah. I owe her one.”
“Say what?” This time from Dale.
“I’ll tell you sometime when we’re drinking. I’ve only had one margarita tonight.”
Dale chuckles. “You and Mom and your margaritas. So this is a drinking story?”
“I’m going to change the subject again,” I say.
Truth is, I’m not ready to talk about Callie and me. I originally thought it’d be a hookup, but I don’t usually take my hookups to Aspen. I’m certainly not planning to get serious with anyone, but something about Callie Pike makes me want more than a simple hookup. I’ve already had her, and now I think I want her even more.
“Okay.” Dale grabs his phone out of his pocket. “Let’s talk about what’s on both our minds—other than women.”
“How to get the lien off the Murphy property. Should only require a simple release. I can file the paperwork first thing Monday morning.”
“Why didn’t someone take care of this long ago?” Dale asks.
“Beats me. Someone in the family would have had to sign off on the transfer of the property when Murphy’s dad bought it from that Madigan dude. That happened back when… I don’t know. It would have been our grandfather, most likely, but we’d have to check the timeline.”
“This doesn’t sit well with me,” Dale says. “The whole thing. Why would Grandpa Steel have allowed the transfer without Madigan paying off the lien?”
“Maybe he didn’t care. It’s not like he needed any money from the sale.”
“Yeah.” Dale rubs the blond stubble on his chin. “Good point. Still, there’s something we’re not seeing. I feel it in my bones.”
I nod. I can’t fault my brother’s observation. Something here doesn’t quite meet the eye.
“I’ll do some research Monday when I get to the office. I’ll have access to all the databases for the city and state. Maybe I’ll find something. Of course, if anything was there, Mom would probably have already found it.”
Dale stays quiet, but his eyes lower slightly.
“Say it,” I say.
“What?”
“You want to say something. I know you better than anyone else does, bro. That look on your face says you’re holding something back.”
“I know how close you are to Mom,” he says.
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Because that’s what I want to say. You said Mom would have found it if there was anything to find. And the first thing that jumped into my mind when you said that was she might have hidden it.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Callie
Rory, Maddie, and I sit on the deck at our place, drinking Diet Coke. Mom and Dad went to bed, and Jesse and his buddies headed into town for a drink at Murphy’s. They invited us along, and Maddie almost went, but when Rory and I turned them down, she stayed behind.
“Thanks a lot,” she says.
“For what?” Rory asks.
“For making me stay here with my sisters when I could be having a drink with Dragon Locke.”
“I don’t recall either of us forcing you to stay,” I say.
“How would it look? You two staying but me going alone?”
“I’m in a relationship,” Rory says, “and Callie is…”
Maddie’s eyes widen. “Callie is what?”
“Callie’s not interested in hanging out with her brother and his bandmates, one of whom is her cousin,” I say. “Besides, Jesse won’t let Dragon near you. I thought you were after a Steel man, anyway.”
“They all seemed otherwise occupied,” Maddie says. “Not fair that you, dear sister, had three of them salivating over you.”
I ignore that last comment. “It’s late. I’m exhausted.”
“I am too.” Rory polishes off her Diet Coke. “It’s too late to give Raine a call. I’m going to head to bed and wake up early to call her. Night, girls.”
Maddie pounces on me then. “Please? Come with me to Murphy’s?”
“It’s midnight, Mads.”
“So? I’m not even slightly tired.”
“I am. Call Bree. Or Angie and Sage. Or Gina. I’m sure one of them will be up for it.”
“I’m kind of a third wheel with them.” She scoffs. “Make that a fifth wheel. They’re all Steels.”
“You five have been inseparable since fifth grade,” I tell her.
“True. But they don’t have to worry about the things I have to worry about. It’s a drag after a while. They’re all the same age.”
“You’re the same age as they are,” I remind her.
“You just don’t get it.”
“Actually, I do. So does Jesse. The Steels… Well, something shined on them long ago. But they do work hard too.”
“I know. I have nothing against them. I love all the Steels. It’s just…”
I give her a smile. “It’s just you’re feeling a little sorry for yourself.”
“So what if I am?”
I open my mouth to tell my sister to stop having a pity party, but I can’t bring myself to. I should be looking for an apartment in Denver right about now. Getting ready to move there for law school.
I should have started the fall semester, but no. I decided to stay and help with the grape harvest.
If I’d gone, no way would Mom and Dad pull me out now.
Of course, I’d have come home anyway to help.
Because that’s what Callie Pike does.
She takes care of her family first.
Not a bad thing, but damn, can’t I catch a break? Even my big date with Donny tomorrow evening doesn’t put me in a better mood when my little sis is pouting. I’m looking forward to it, but it doesn’t mean I get to go to law school.
Maddie sighs. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For being a brat. I’m so thankful we’re all here. No lives were lost in that fire. Things can be replaced. People can’t.”
I nod. She’s right, of course. Except the things that were lost are the things that the people need to make a living.
“You know what?” I rise. “I changed my mind. Let’s go into town.”
“Really?” Maddie squeals.
“Yeah, why not? We can drown our sorrows together.”
Murphy’s is hopping. It’s Friday night, after all, and it’s the only bar in town if you don’t count the quieter bars that are attached to restaurants.
Jesse and his bandmates are playing pool, and—
Uh-oh.
Hanging around them are the awesome foursome themselves. Brianna and Gina Steel and Angie and Sage Simpson.
“Let’s sit at the bar, Mads,” I say.
“No, I want to—”
Well, there’s no protecting her. Her four best friends are already here, and they didn’t invite her.
Maddie is twenty-one—way too old for high school drama. Still, I feel for her. She wanted to be included.
“Maddie!” Angie waves. “Hey! Come on over.”
My sister meets my gaze with a hopeful look.
I get it. She dragged me down here, and now she really wants to hang with her friends and the band.
“Go ahead.” I plunk onto one of the only two available bar stools.
Brendan Murphy is tending bar. “Hey, Callie. What’ll it be?”
“Screwdriver. A double.” What the heck? Maddie can drive home. Or I’ll hitch a ride with Jesse or Cage.
“Coming up.”
“I didn’t realize you were working tonight.”
“I got back here an hour ago after the Steel party started dying down. I’m wired, so I told Laney and Maryanne to go on home. I’d tend bar and close up.”
I nod as he slides my screwdriver to me. I take a sip.
“Wow! That one’s stronger than the one I had at the party.”
“You said double.”
“I did. You’re right. I guess I just didn’t realize a double was so…double.”
Brendan laughs. I’ve never been overly attracted to redheads, but Brendan Murphy is in a class by himself. Slap a kilt on him, and I swear he’d be Jamie Fraser with a ponytail.
Yeah, a hottie.
“What are you two doing out so late?” he asks.
“Blame Maddie. She twisted my arm.”
“I’m glad she did. You and I haven’t talked in a while.”
“Brendan,” I say, “we’ve never talked.”
He laughs. A big boisterous Irish laugh. “You may be right about that.”
“Last I heard, you’re kind of mooning over Ava Steel.”
He reddens. And on his fair and freckled face, it’s really obvious.
“Where’d you hear that?”
“A little bird told me.”
“You mean Rory.”
“Yeah.” Rory knows all the gossip from Raine, of course.
“There is something about her,” Brendan says, “but she’s way too young for me.”
“She’s twenty-four.”
“And I’m thirty-five.”
“So?”
He laughs. “You make a good point. Where is she tonight?”
I look toward the back. Sure enough, Ava’s nowhere to be found. “Don’t know. I imagine she’s home in bed. I hear she gets up early to make all her bread for the day herself.”
He nods. “Doesn’t surprise me. She’s got one hell of a work ethic.”
“All the Steels seem to, despite the fact not one of them needs to work.”
“That’s not a bad thing, Callie.”
“Did I say it was?” I take another sip, willing myself not to be so defensive. I’m getting used to the strength of the drink.
“Hey,” he says. “I’m sure sorry about law school.”
“Don’t be. It was my decision.”
True enough. Mom and Dad would have backed me if I’d pressed about going. But the money… They need the money, and I’m young. Law school can wait.
“I’m young,” I continue, echoing my thoughts. “Law school can wait.”
“It may not have to,” he says.
My eyes widen. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You seemed pretty friendly with several Steels earlier tonight. Brock, Dave, Donny.”
“That better not mean what I think it means.”
“It only means that your financial struggles will be over if you snag a Steel.” Brendan smiles broadly, and his blue eyes twinkle.
He’s so cute I can’t be angry, even though his comment is way out of line.
“I have no plans to snag a Steel. Those seem to be your plans.” I give him a smug smile of my own.
“Ha!” He throws his head back. “I should be so lucky.”
“You’ve got as good a chance as anyone else.”
“Not when the one I want doesn’t know I’m alive.”
“Brendan, everyone knows you’re alive.”
“Not so.”
“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” I take another sip of my drink, the alcohol lessening my inhibitions. “H. O. T. You’re hot, Brendan. Have you ever thought about wearing a kilt?”
Another uproarious laugh spills out of him. “That’s a Scottish thing, lassie. I’m Irish through and through.”
His fake brogue makes me smile. I pull out my phone and search for Murphy Tartan. Sure enough, a gorgeous dark-green plaid pops up. I shove my phone in his face. “Check this out. Murphy Irish plaid. Get a kilt, Murphy.”
“You seem pretty invested in this idea, Callie.”
“Kilts are hot.”
“They’re skirts, Pike. I don’t wear skirts.”
“You want Ava Steel to take notice of you?” I sip the screwdriver again. “Get a skirt.”
“She’s not the type to get turned on by a guy in a dress.”
“Who said anything about a dress? It’s a kilt.” I tap some words into my phone. “Look. Get one of these Jacobite shirts. Totally sexy.”
He takes my phone from me and stares at the photo of the guy in a kilt and the long-sleeved shirt with a lace-up neck. Yeah, he’s thinking about it.
