“Ouch,” he mouthed.
Gideon leaned into the room, seeming hesitant. “Good morning. I knocked but…” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the front door.
“Don’t be silly. Come and go as you please while you’re with us.” Momo was folding laundry.
Rowan wriggled higher to see Gideon better, leaning back over the arm of the couch. “Did you sleep okay?”
Gideon nodded. “Fine, thank you.” Under his coat, he was wearing a light gray sweater over an open-collared dress shirt and suit pants.
“Rowan’s been complaining all morning about the bed,” she said with a grin.
“I haven’t,” Rowan protested.
She picked up the next towel off the clean laundry pile. “He has.” She met Rowan’s eyes. “You probably didn’t pull the zipper hard enough. I’ll have Kevin look at it when he gets back.”
“No,” Rowan said too quickly. “It’s fine. I’ll sleep here or something.”
“Don’t be stupid. Can’t have you sleeping on the couch and scaring off Santa…or worse.” She hummed what sounded like I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.
With a sigh, Rowan looked at Gideon. “Please, ignore her. In fact, ignore everybody. And you know what, ignore me too.”
Gideon gave a low laugh. “Don’t worry about it. We’re adults. We were sharing a room anyway, so it isn’t a big deal.”
Rowan raised his eyebrow. That wasn’t how he remembered the conversation going last night as they had argued over sleeping arrangements.
Ah, whatever. It was only for a few days.
Momo snapped her fingers at Gideon. “Oh, your pants. Did you want me to throw them in with the next load of laundry?”
“No, that’s not necessary. I’ve bagged them up, and I can deal with it when I get home.”
“You sure?”
Rowan shook his head. “Momo, they’ll be dry clean only.”
“Really? I could have sworn Sarah used to bring Jamie’s suits over when we were doing her laundry for her.”
“Maybe she did. Jamie’s suits were probably…”—cheap—“…a different type.”
“Oh. Well, if you’re sure.”
Gideon nodded. “Thank you though.”
The room fell into silence, and Rowan felt awkward. “Okay. I’m going to take the dogs for a walk.” He got to his feet. “Come with me?” he asked Gideon and headed toward the entrance.
“Sure.”
“Did you want any breakfast before you head out?” Momo called after them. “Need a coffee fix to start the day?”
“I already ate, but if you wanted something, Gideon,” Rowan said.
Gideon shook his head. “I’m all right for now.” He sat down and immediately Deon was up on the sofa next to him, his muzzle on Gideon’s knee. Instinctively, Gideon was stroking Deon’s head.
“He likes you.” Rowan gestured.
“What’s not to like?” Gideon smiled and then refocused on petting the Border Collie, who wriggled and rolled over for belly rubs. “I’m a likable guy,” Gideon added.
Was he making a joke? Deon let out a soft whine when Gideon stopped petting him, and Rowan watched his buttoned-up boss immediately restart the stroking, much to Deon’s delight. Any minute now Dog would be up on the sofa as well, the two of them were inseparable when it came to fussing.
As if he’d been called, Dog pounced on Deon, and both dogs ended up sprawled over Gideon. At first, it seemed like he didn’t know what to do, which dog to focus on, but the dogs worked their magic, and then he was petting them both.
Momo walked over. “Oh look at you. They love you. Just to say Widget is upstairs with Ava at the moment, in case you think he’s run off somewhere again.”
“Does he do that a lot?” Gideon asked.
“Once the little shi—dog disappeared for three days only to be found sitting on the doorstep as if saying where have you been? when we came home one day,” Momo recounted the story with a shake of her head.
“I swear you and Mom manage to keep the most troublesome dogs as part of the family.” Rowan put on his coat.
“Could say that about some of the kids too,” she said through a fond smile and rested her hand on her hip.
Rowan pulled on his boots. “Can’t argue with that.” He straightened, jumped on the spot, and flexed his toes inside his footwear. “Right, we won’t be long.” He leaned in and kissed Momo on the cheek.
“Have fun.” She returned to her towel folding.
“We’ll take the dogs on the land out back so they can run about. Means I can show you around the place while we’re out there.” He paused and sucked on his teeth. “Not that there’s all that much to show.” He waved his hands as if he was a tour guide. “And on your left, you’ll see a fence. On your right, a tree. And what’s this coming up, another tree. My favorite tree.” He pulled open the door, Deon and Dog rolling off Gideon and leaving him covered in shed fur, not that Gideon seemed that fazed by his pants being covered in dog hair, but maybe he just hadn’t spotted it yet.
“You have a favorite tree?” he said and stood.
“Actually, I do. There’s this big apple tree near the edge of the property. I find it pretty when it’s in bloom, plus the apples are just at that right point between sweet and sharp in how they taste.”
Gideon’s expression softened as he smiled, coming to Rowan’s side.
“What? Is having favorite trees too weird?”
“No. I was just thinking about how I couldn’t wait to see it.” His smile widened, and Rowan was mesmerized.
“Well, I doubt it’s anything but twigs right now so…”
Gideon shrugged. “I would still like to see it.”
Ah, what is this feeling? Rowan’s chest tightened and there was heat in his cheeks. Was it because Gideon had genuinely taken an interest in something Rowan cared about? Talking about trees. I’m so embarrassed.
“Shall we go?” Gideon nudged his elbow. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Sorry. I was thinking if there was anything more exciting to show you than trees and fences.”
“I promise. I’m fine with trees and fences. So, lead the way.” Lines creased the corners of Gideon’s eyes as he encouraged Rowan.
Rowan’s gaze was drawn to Gideon’s lips. There was that smile again. Warm and honest. Pretty full lips drawing him in. He kind of wished he’d been drinking, so he could use drunkenness as an excuse to kiss him again. “Yeah.” He turned away.
Where am I looking?
What am I thinking?
And why do I want to see his smile more than anything right now?
Eight
Gideon
At this moment all Gideon could think about was that he desperately needed trees, fences, open spaces, in fact, anywhere that wasn’t inside and where he could clear his head.
He’d woken to the sounds of Rowan moving around the room, keeping his eyes shut tight, and waited until his non-ninja PA had shut the door behind him. Only then had Gideon turned on his back and stared up at the ceiling, wooden beams forming the cabin’s frame. On a high shelf sat a painting of a lake, the kind that someone new to art who’d watched Bob Ross might try to emulate. Knowing Rowan’s moms it was one of their kids who’d painted it and then handed it to them to be carefully framed and put in a position where everyone could see it.