Author: Jaci Burton

Afterward, while she dried off and blow-dried her hair, he went downstairs and made her hot chocolate with real whipped cream. She slipped into the fluffy bathrobe he left out for her, and they crawled into his bed. He’d turned on the fireplace in his bedroom and it was warm and toasty, so the last of her chills had dissipated.

She sat cross-legged in the middle of his bed sipping hot chocolate, feeling foolish for her childish tantrum earlier.

“Why do you continue to put up with me, Gavin?”

He shrugged and took the cup from her, sipping the hot chocolate. “You’re a challenge, Lizzie. I do like a challenge.”

“I’m a giant problem for you.”

He handed her cup back. “Yeah.”

She laid the cup on the nightstand, took off the robe, and slid under the covers with him. He turned off the lights and opened the drapes. The storm had died down now, and the only thing left was the low thunder and occasional lightning. The rain had lightened to just a patter against the French doors of the balcony.

He pulled her against him, and she laid her head against his chest and stared outside.

“I think you’re worth fighting for, Elizabeth. Even if I’m fighting you for you.”

She didn’t know what to say to that.

No one had ever fought for her before.

She didn’t think she was worth it.

FIFTEEN

“THAT WAS ONE HELL OF A HOME RUN IN ATLANTA THE other night, son. The entire bar erupted in cheers. We sold a lot of beer after you hit that grand slam.”

Gavin grinned as he helped his dad loosen some nuts on the lawn mower. “Thanks, Dad. It was a big hit.”

He’d come over after his weeklong road trip to help his dad with some repairs. His father was sweating over the lawn mower, trying to remove the wheels.

“Dad, let me do that.”

“I got it. Just get that one in the back, and then we can get these wheels off.”

Gavin dug in and cranked the wrench, muttering a litany of curses in his head when the rusty bastard wouldn’t budge. Finally, it gave and he got the nut moving. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he said, “Dad, why don’t you just get a new mower? This beast has to be older than me.”

“Hey, don’t be tossing out the old shit. It still works. Just needs a tune-up.”

“It needs a burial. You could get a riding mower. Or one of those that are self-propelled.”

His father’s face turned nearly purple as he pushed the wrench. Gavin held his breath, waiting for his dad to collapse right there trying to get the rusty bastard to let go.

“Goddamn this old thing needs some WD-40.”

“It needs the junkyard.”

His dad got up slowly from his position on the ground and hunted around in the garage. “You kids just want to toss everything out as soon as it doesn’t work anymore. You just need to give it a loving hand.”

“No, Jimmy. You need to know when something has given up the ghost and needs to be traded in for a newer model.”

Gavin looked up in thanks at his mother. “Amen to that, Mom. Tell him he needs to get a new lawn mower.”

His mother rolled her eyes. “As if I could tell him anything. In matters of the outside and the garage, he is king of the world.”

“Damn right.” His father looked at Gavin. “We’ll get her fixed.”

Gavin cast a pleading look at his mother.

She laughed. “Gavin, come in and get the iced tea I made. You and your father look like you could use a drink.”

He could kiss his mother right now. “Sure. Be right back, Dad.”

His father waved him off. Gavin followed his mom into the kitchen and took a seat at the kitchen table.

“What is his deal?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. He’s always been fond of fixing things, but lately he’s got some bug up his butt about retooling the lawn mower and the weed whacker, and he even found an old window air conditioner in the attic and has been futzing around with that, though I have no idea why.”

“You have central air.”

“Exactly.” She threw her hands in the air. “Maybe he’s planning to air-condition the garage. I don’t have a clue.”

He took the tea his mother offered. “He’s bored. That’s got to be it.”

“If he’s bored, I have a whole list of projects that need to be done around here, starting with a new fence. He ignores those and fiddles with stupid things.”

“Well, those projects aren’t fun, Mom.”

She laughed. “I guess. And I don’t know how he could be bored. There’s the bar.”

“Jenna probably manages the bar single-handedly these days. And we have great cooks and waitresses. Dad probably feels like he’s in the way.”

“Hmmm. You know, you could be right about that. I don’t know what to do about it, though.”

“Just tell Jenna to give him more work to do at the bar. Anything to keep him from tearing things apart here. Or find something here that interests him.”

She inhaled, then sighed. “I suppose so.” She took a drink of tea and studied him.

“What?”

“It’s nice to have you here.”

He knew what that meant. Something was on her mind. “Go ahead. Spill it.”

She took a seat at the table. “Mick came by and said he ran into you and Elizabeth.”

Somehow he knew this was going to come up. “And?”

“You could have told me you and Elizabeth were dating.”

“Do I ever discuss women I’m dating with you?”

“Elizabeth isn’t just one of the many women who parade in and out of your life, Gavin. She’s . . . Elizabeth. She’s practically family.”

“I don’t really know what’s going on with me and Liz yet, so there wasn’t a point in mentioning it. Mick said you were pissed at her.”

She narrowed her gaze. “He did, did he?”

“Yeah.”

“About what happened with Tara and Nathan?”

“Yeah.”

“Elizabeth apologized?”

“She did.”

“Mick said she corrected her error.”

“Yeah, she did.”

“Then why would I be angry with her? She made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Michael fired her for it. I would think losing a prominent client like Michael would teach her not to manipulate a client again.”

“I think she learned a valuable lesson from it.”

“Michael should be the last one to throw stones.”

Gavin shrugged. “He holds a grudge, and he’s protective of Tara and Nathan.”

“Understandable. But Elizabeth did some very good things for him and for his career. He needs to get past it.”

“Yeah, tell him that. He laid into me about seeing Liz and told me I should dump her.”

His mother’s eyes widened. “He did not.”

“Not in so many words, but he made his feelings clear.”

She sighed. “I don’t know why you two have always gotten into it. So competitive all the time. I’ll talk to him.”

He laid his hand over hers. “Thanks, Mom, but I don’t need you to fight my battles. It’s like you said. He’ll have to get over it. I’ll see Elizabeth for as long as whatever it is we have together lasts. If Mick doesn’t like it, that’s too bad. He’s going to have to deal with it.”

“How does Tara feel about you seeing her?”

Gavin shrugged. “I have no idea. Haven’t seen her since I got back from Florida.”

“Maybe you should tell her. If Elizabeth’s going to be in your life in a romantic way, she’s bound to run into Tara. You should pave the way and prepare her—prepare both of them—so it’s not a shock when it happens.”

“I’m sure Mick’s already told Tara I’m seeing Liz.”

His mother folded her arms. “And maybe he hasn’t.”

He nodded. “You have a point. I’ll talk to her.”

He’d try to make sure Elizabeth and Tara didn’t run into each other, which was easier than trying to explain to Tara why he was dating a woman she hated.

They both jumped at the sound of metal against metal coming from the garage.

“Now what?” Gavin asked.

She shook her head. “I have no idea. Did your father tell you he’s thinking of redoing the roof?”

Gavin rolled his eyes and slid his empty glass across the table. “Thanks for the tea, Mom. Guess I’ll head out there and figure out what he’s up to.”

“SO I HAVE THIS THING TONIGHT.”

Elizabeth rolled over in bed, her nails dragging down his chest, his abs, and slid under the covers to grasp his semi-hard cock.

“You have a thing? What thing?”

They’d spent the afternoon in bed. It was rare for him to have a day off, and they took full advantage of it. Elizabeth had met him at his house, and they’d shed clothes like they were on fire, fallen into bed, and spent the past few hours there. He was utterly exhausted.

Not that his cock had noticed, because it grew stiff under her stroking hand.

It was damned hard to concentrate on what he was trying to say to her when she was fondling his balls.

“Yeah. A thing. At my parents’ house.”

“Oh.” She let go of his dick and sat up in bed. “Okay. I’ll take a shower and get out of here.”

He grabbed her hand. “No. Wait.”

He pulled her back down on the bed. “It’s Mick’s birthday. Party at my parents’ house. My mom wants you to come.”

She looked horrified, like he’d just asked her to kill a chicken.

“I don’t think so, Gavin.”

“I told her you wouldn’t want to come . . . for obvious reasons.”

“Uh, yeah.”

He scratched his nose. “She’s kind of insisting. Said it’s time for you and Mick to bury the hatchet.”

She let out a laugh. “Yeah, he’ll bury the hatchet all right. In my back.”

She stood and stretched; her pretty nipples puckered as her back arched toward him. “Look, Gavin, tell your mother I appreciate the invitation and the sentiment behind it, but no way in hell am I ruining your brother’s birthday party by showing up there.”

He leaned back against the headboard and crossed his arms behind his head. “Not even if I ask you to come?”

“Why would you do that? You know how it will go. Mick will be pissed.”

“We don’t know that.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, we do know that. I’m going to get dressed, and then I’m going home. You need to take a shower and head on over to your parents’ house.”

An hour later he stood at his parents’ front door, not at all happy he didn’t have Elizabeth with him. He’d tried to argue with her and did everything short of kidnapping her and tossing her into his SUV to get her to come with him, but she’d refused.

Not that he could blame her. This wouldn’t have been a pleasant event for her.

And that pissed him off. Like it or not, he was seeing Elizabeth, and his brother was just going to have to start dealing with that.

Which meant that he and Elizabeth were a package deal. No Elizabeth, no him. He pivoted and stepped off the porch, wincing when the front door opened.

“Gavin.”

Shit. He turned and smiled at his future sister-in-law. “Hey, Tara.”

“You’re leaving? You just got here.”

“Yeah. I’m leaving.”

She pulled the front door closed and stepped outside.

Damn, she was a beauty, her blonde hair pulled back in a long ponytail, her brown eyes clear and guileless. She was the sweetest woman he’d ever met.