“Because he had come looking for my sister about a year after she left him and saw that she had baby that was only a few months old. He was never that smart, but he’d done the math and figured out Lanie was his. He still didn’t really care at the time, and when my sister died, he still didn’t step forward. I am my sister’s only living next of kin, so by law, she came to me as long as I wanted her. And I did. Now this asshole got a whiff of money, and he’s trying to play a game.”
“So he’s only fighting you because he wants money?” I asked.
Brian nodded curtly, and I could see the frustration and annoyance plain on his face. He didn’t like asking for help, or divulging too much information about himself, but he’d just done both. He grunted and huffed a sigh.
I could tell he was done with the conversation, and I couldn’t blame him. The pain he must’ve been enduring and the loss he experienced while he was out here. I couldn’t imagine the sleepless nights he probably had. He lost his sister, and now he was faced with the possibility of losing his last connection to her
“Look, can you watch her or not?” he asked again.
“Of course, I can,” I said. “When do you want me over there?”
“Could you come over Monday in the morning? Around breakfast?”
“I’ll be there,” I said.
“I’ll pay you for your time.”
“Don’t worry about it. You go meet with your PI. It’ll be fine. Brian?”
“Yeah?”
“You know if you can prove that he’s on drugs and unfit, the courts will never award Lanie to him, right?” I asked.
“That’s why I’m meeting with the PI,” he said.
“No one in their right mind would that girl away from you,” I said.
“This man knows how to cheat the system,” he said. “I’m isolated up here. And he knows he can use that against me in court. He can paint me as someone who abandoned my family when life got too hard and—”
Brian bowed his head to his feet, and I started wondering what kind of life he’d led. What had happened to draw him to the mountains in the first place? Did he have a job? What did he do for money? What had happened to pull him away from his family? What was he so ashamed of?
He was such a mystery, and I found myself drawn into his story.
“He’s slimy, Amanda. But he knows how the system works. I have to be prepared, and I can’t assume anything,” he said.
“Well, Lanie’s taken care of. So do what you have to do,” I said.
“Thank you.”
Even though our conversation had wrapped up, I could see his hands shaking. He was clinging to the edge of the island counter, and it was cracking underneath his grasp. He released it quickly and glanced over at me, his eyes curious but filled with fear. I walked over to him and took his hands in mine, then brought them to my lips to kiss.
“Take a deep breath, Brian. You’re shaking.”
I wanted him to calm down. I wanted him to be okay. The sight of someone so big and strong, so clearly struggling for control of his emotions unlocked something deep inside me. I held his hands in mine as I looked up into his eyes, and I found myself being swallowed by them. They were beautiful. The color of the sky on a bright summer’s day. I stepped into his body and released his hands, then threaded my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said. “No one’s taking Lanie away from you.”
His hands wrapped me up, and I sighed into his neck. He turned his lips to my skin, and I could’ve sworn I felt their warmth. My skin puckered and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I pulled back to take in his eyes once more, giving myself one last chance to revel in their beauty.
Then, without a word, he kissed me.
It was hesitant at first. Light and non-committal. His lips were pillow soft, and his beard tickled my cheeks. His hands slid down my back before they cupped my ass, and immediately I found my nipples tightening to sharp peaks. Brian’s tongue swiped lightly at my lips, asking for entrance.
I fisted his shirt and pulled him even closer, and it unleashed the madman inside.
Picking me up off the floor, he settled me on the counter. Its rickety form creaked underneath my body weight, but Brian held me steady and close to him. His kisses trickled down my neck, sending shivers up my spine as his mouth cupped my clothed breasts.
My hands were twirling into the tresses of his hair as he traveled down my body.