Intent(50)

I’m careful to avert River’s attention elsewhere before she sees Justin and Lily and interrupts them with her excitement. Just as Ace comes into my view, I have to remind myself about the whole containing excitement part. It’s a hot summer day, the sun is blazing, and Ace is shirtless. The sheen of sweat covering his exposed skin beads and rolls down his chest. My eyes involuntarily follow the path it takes until it disappears into the happy trail on his lower abdomen.

The way his arm, chest, and abdominal muscles flex and straighten when he lifts and moves the square bales of hay is mesmerizing. My mouth is dry, my skin is flushed, and it’s hard to breathe. None of my body’s reaction is from the heat of the sun. It’s from the heat of the man who is quickly taking over all of me. When I rake my eyes back up, drinking in the fine, sexy specimen of a man standing in front of me, I realize I’m the one who’s busted blatantly ogling him. The knowing smirk on his face is both cocky and handsome.

“What are my two favorite girls doing here?” he calls out. River’s attention snaps to him, and she takes off running in his direction. He gathers her up in his arms and meets me halfway. “I’m glad you came by.” He leans in to kiss me hello, and I know from the husky quality of his voice he’s thinking about the same thing I am. “I’ve missed you.”

River begins chattering, telling him every move we’ve made today, everything she’s learned, and all the activities she wants to do tomorrow. He’s the most attentive father I’ve ever seen in action. The way he interacts with her is precious. He listens to her, has two-way conversations, and creates ways to make her requests a healthy reality. Watching them together, I realize he shows his love for me in similar ways. I love the way he supports me, actively participates in matters that are most important to me, and shares his thoughts and feelings.

“Hey, baby girl,” Lily calls from behind me. “Come give your favorite aunt a hug!”

River jumps out of Ace’s arms and runs to her. Lily covers her little face with kisses and River squeals with laughter. “Aunt Lily, you’re smothering me,” she laughs.

“Why don’t you come home with me for a couple of nights? Daddy and Layne may want to have a date night or something,” Lily suggests.

“Can we camp out in the den?” River asks, cutting her eyes to look sideways at Lily before she answers.

“Yep. And we’ll make s’mores, too.”

“Okay!” River agrees. “Daddy, I’m spending the night with Aunt Lily.”

Ace chuckles and nods his head. “Yeah, I knew she had you at s’mores.” He directs his gaze at Lily. “Something up I need to know about?”

“River and I are going to take off now. I’ll stop by your house and pick up her clothes. I have my spare key with me,” Lily replies.

Ace puts his hands on his hips and leans his weight to one side. He clearly isn’t fooled by her sudden desire to babysit River. “Lily.”

She hesitates for a moment before her shoulders slump and her smile falters. “Just erring on the side of caution.”

Ace’s face turns to stone before my eyes. He folds his arms over his chest and positions his feet in a fighter’s stance. He doesn’t appear to be aware of his movements, but he’s subconsciously preparing to fight. “You’re sure?”

“Not one hundred percent. But I’m not willing to take the chance, regardless,” Lily replies. “I’ll talk to you later, big brother.”

Lily and River turn to leave and Justin walks them out. I’m not sure if that’s to give Ace and me time to talk about what the hell just happened or if he doesn’t want to get caught in the cross fire of Ace’s wrath. His face isn’t stone now; it’s pure rage.

“Ace, what’s wrong?” I ask.

He takes a deep breath and blows it out forcefully. “Layne, I’m not hiding anything from you, but I need some time to cool off before we talk about it. Can you understand that?”

“Of course,” I reply. Honestly, I completely understand how it feels to need time to collect my thoughts, get my emotions under control, and then mentally prepare for a conversation. “Take your time. I’ll give you some space while I run a few errands. You know how to find me if you need anything.”

His strong arms wrap around me and squeeze me to him. “Thank you for understanding. We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay.” I kiss his cheek and step out of his embrace. “Don’t take it out on my horse, though.”

This at least gets me half of a smile in return. “I won’t. I promise.”



* * *



My errands are finished and I haven’t heard from Ace yet, so I head for my cabin. There’s a strange car parked in the driveway when I arrive, but since Zoe is still here, I assume it’s a friend of hers. When I climb the stairs to the front door, I hear raised voices coming from inside. As I open the door, I very clearly hear an angry female voice.

“You will damn well do what I tell you to do, or I will make your life a living hell. And you know I can f*cking do it!”

The girl screaming has her back to me, but I can clearly see the worry and torment on Zoe’s face and it brings out the protective momma bear in me.

“What the hell is going on in here? Who the hell are you?” I bellow as I advance on her.