She couldn’t sort it out. At this moment, with the tree that haunted her for years merely a stone’s throw away and the man she loved with every fiber of her being, promising her forever, she couldn’t make heads or tails of what she wanted or of what she needed.
She reached between them and undid the top button of his jeans.
“What are you doing, Mabel?” he asked. But he knew what she was doing. His rock-hard cock told her that he craved the same thing she required.
Between the meeting with the chefs, Cal’s admission about his mother, and learning that her brother wanted Cal to make Elverna a success for her, she had to make the chaos and turmoil stop.
“I need you. I need to feel you inside me. My thoughts—my regrets. I have to make it stop. Please, don’t make me ask again,” she begged through a sob.
“All I want to do is give you everything,” he bit out, lust coating his words as he freed his cock from the confines of his jeans.
He shifted her body and had her straddling him in the space of a breath. There was no easing into this lovemaking. He pushed aside her panties and drove in hard. Staring into his eyes, she cried out as raw, visceral emotion cocooned them in passion’s fiery embrace. She met him blow for blow as she rode his hard length, gasping and moaning with each thrust of her hips. Everything disappeared as they clung to each other. There was no Elverna or New York or Chicago—only the two of them existed here. She squeezed her eyes shut, and still, the only thing she could see was his face—his smile. It had been all she’d ever wanted as a girl and then as a young woman. But had she changed? Had she broadened her view of what her life should be?
But her thoughts dissolved into the summer air as the rush of their release rocketed through their bodies. Crashing into oblivion, she raked his back with her nails as he called her name, grinding into her, spilling into her, lengthening her climax as he pistoned his hips, giving her every sweet second of tantalizing pleasure.
“I will always love you,” he said, breathless, as they clung to each other.
Gasping for breath, she rested her head on his shoulder. This was his promise to her. But what exactly had she promised him?
Chapter 7
Mabel
Mabel placed a pitcher of fragrant lavender honey tea on the table she’d set up near the barn when two large hands gripped her from behind. She inhaled a tight breath as a tantalizing tingle traveled down her spine.
“All this lavender is making me crazy,” Cal said in that dirty, gravelly tone that made her head spin and her toes curl.
“Is it?” she purred.
His hands slid beneath her blouse. “It makes me think of you and how we snuck into the lavender greenhouse last night.”
Oh, the lavender greenhouse! Surrounded by the intoxicating scent, Cal had taken her from behind, not once, but twice. Every night with this man surpassed the next. The delicious ache between her thighs was a physical reminder of how he knew just the way to make her body tremble with wanton pleasure. But it wasn’t just the amazing sex. Every day, he won over her heart with his smile and even his occasional broodiness. Truth be told, he did look damned sexy when he was sullen and moody.
A week had passed since they’d driven to the city—a week since she’d learned of Cal’s traumatic early years with a drug-addicted mother. And a week since she’d confessed why she’d returned to Elverna. After they’d gotten back to the farm that night, Cal had come to her window. Despite making frantic, frenzied love next to the tree where everything had changed between them all those years ago, her body still ached for his embrace.
Everything had changed with his admission.
He’d ignored her because he wanted her. Her assumptions had been wrong. They’d made love in the cottage, but it wasn’t a fiery, feverish union as it had been at the quarry. No, he’d taken his time, working her body slowly and deliberately. He’d whispered how he loved her and how he never wanted to be without her. She’d fallen asleep in his arms with the confirmation she’d waited a lifetime to hear.
This was their home. Elverna was Cal’s safe haven, and it would have to be hers, too. There was no way around it.
She hadn’t brought up Preston and Logan’s offer. She’d hoped that Cal would come around. And perhaps he still would. But with each passing day, the prospect of working with the men grew further and further away. She couldn’t dwell on it. There would be other opportunities, right? Still, she couldn’t help the thread of disappointment that wove its way around her heart. No matter! There was plenty to keep her busy in Elverna.
And speaking of busy, she couldn’t allow her mind to drift—not today. She smacked Cal’s hands playfully. “No hanky-panky, Callan Horner! Aren’t you supposed to be with my dad and our special guest?”
“Is that why you’ve got on the pink heels? Not very country girl of you,” Cal teased, but the comment stung.
She ignored the pang in her chest. He couldn’t mean anything by it, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little keyed up—okay, a little might be a misinterpretation. She arranged a basket of lavender and wildflowers and willed her frayed nerves to smooth out.
She kicked up her heel, showing off the shoe. “These are my lucky pink heels, mister. They’ve been with me through thick and thin,” she replied, then glanced from side to side. “And we cannot be caught fooling around. It’s not every day that we get the governor visiting not only Elverna but our farm.”
Yep, the governor.
News of Elverna’s overnight success had made it to the Illinois State Capitol. When she’d gotten the call from the governor’s office yesterday afternoon explaining that the man would be in the area and had heard remarkable things about the town and wanted to drop by, she’d nearly hung up, assuming it was a crank call. But the pair of black Suburbans parked in front of the main house didn’t belong to Cal the Goat or Mabel the Cat. Nope, the man had toured the town, stopped by the diner for lunch, and was currently visiting the greenhouses with her father. It wasn’t like paparazzi had staked out the place. It wasn’t like the Queen of England had popped in for a spot of tea, but it was still a big deal. The visibility he brought had their social media accounts blowing up with likes and comments.
“Do you want me to grab your boots for you? I think you left them in the cottage,” he offered as the pang in her chest returned.
“No, I’m good. I might even go get that hat you love so much to add the finishing touch to my outfit,” she tossed back.
“Not Mr. Floppy Sombrero?” he mock-lamented.
She frowned. When did her broody farmer become the fashion police?
“It’s Mr. Luxury Oversized Wide-brimmed Floppy Hat to you,” she countered as Kenny came around the corner.
The man removed his Muldowney Farm’s cap and wiped the back of his wrist across his forehead. “Isn’t this something! I still can’t believe that the governor is here! Word is that the man ate an entire casserole at the diner,” he said, lowering his voice.
Kenny wasn’t wrong. It was pretty incredible, and if they played their cards right, they could have a very influential friend after this visit. She reached for the charm that now held a much different meaning. It was no longer her connection to her brother. No, it was the piece of Cal that she’d kept close to her heart for the last four years without even knowing it.