Delinquent Daddy (21 page)

"Let's cut some wood," he said.

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Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

And thus started a day of labor like she'd never experienced before. Forget Tae Bo. It didn't even signify compared to the workout she received now. Sweat dripped off her temples in buckets. Her arms were so tired from lifting the chainsaw, her muscles quivered every time she gunned the motor.

It was a quarter after twelve when she finally couldn't take it anymore. She shut off the engine and set it on a log, afraid her arms were going to shake off her body. They felt like limp noodles.

Boston sidled up to her seconds later, holding out a bottle of water. She took it appreciatively and chugged without grace.

"Why don't we switch," he offered, hefting the saw.

"I'm fine," Ellie said, though, no, she wasn't.

He ignored her stubborn pride with a shrug. "Hey, if I don't get a turn, how am I supposed to show off my muscles for..."

He met her gaze with a slow smile and belatedly finished with, "Cassie?"

Ellie rolled her eyes and sent him a reluctant grin. "Then by all means," she offered. "Knock yourself out, Law Boy."

The name no sooner left her lips when she remembered and slapped her mouth shut. His words from over a week ago filled her head.
Don't call me Law Boy anymore. You only did
it because you thought it annoyed me, but all it ever did was
turn me on.

Her eyes skidded to his. His teeth flashed as he smiled.

Oh, yeah. He'd definitely heard her. Caught by his gaze, she felt restrained by his blue eyes.

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But the moment was soon broken by her daughter. "Mom, I'm starving."

"Yeah, so am I," Cameron said, wiping sweat off his brow with the back of his wrist as he strolled closer and glanced Boston's way. "Are you going to allow us a lunch break or what, slave master?"

Boston and Ellie exchanged glances. "I did promise Cassidy pizza," he admitted.

"Pizza?" Montgomery perked to attention, setting down a limb he was hauling to join the group. "I think I could eat a large pepperoni all by myself right now."

After digging some cash out of his pocket, Boston turned to Ellie. "Would you mind picking up a couple?"

As he held out the money, she frowned and shook her head. "I'll pay," she offered, glancing toward his brother and cousin. "It's the least I can do."

"No," Boston said. "This one's on me."

"Boston," she started on a tired sigh. "You've already done enough today."

"Ellie," he countered just as stubbornly. "I
want
to pay."

"Good God," Cameron broke in with a disgusted growl. "
I'll
pay if it'll get you two to stop bickering. I'm wasting away here. Need food. Must eat soon."

"Oh, fine," Ellie ground out, snagging the money from Boston's hand. Turning from the annoying men, she glanced at her daughter. "Go see if Keller and Nora want some pizza too."

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195

Delinquent Daddy

by Linda Kage

Chapter Twelve

As it turned out, both Keller and Nora not only wanted to eat with them, they also wanted to ride with Ellie and Cassie to pick up the pizza.

"Oh, Lordy. I needed a break," Nora groaned and then let out a moan of delight as she slipped into the passenger seat of Boston's car.

Ellie still couldn't believe she was actually going to drive such a nice automobile. But he'd parked behind her, blocking her in the drive, and when she'd asked him to move his car so she could get out, he'd merely tossed her his keys and instructed her to take the Infiniti.

"Mendel is driving me insane," Nora grumbled. "I'm telling you, that man's not a doctor. He's a dictator. Actually, scratch the 'tator, and
that's
what he is. Move that, pick up this, cut that. Kiss my ass. I was just about to murder him when you saved us."

Chuckling, Ellie started the engine and sucked in a breath as the smooth motor hummed to life under her. In the backseat, the two nine-year-olds were chatting away about what they were going to do with the money they were earning today. After Cassidy told Keller how her father was paying her to pick up limbs, Nora had felt obliged to do the same for her son.

"Looked like you were having fun over there with all those power tools and sexy men, though," Nora commented and 196

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then yawned, closing her eyes and resting her head back against the car seat rest.

"Nora!" Ellie hissed in alarm and glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure Cassie hadn't heard. Those "sexy" men just happened to be her father and two uncles.

"Oh, they're not paying attention." Nora snorted. "Kids never listen to adults. But you've got to admit, good looks run in that family. I mean, holy crap, El. I don't really think it was all that hard labor making me sweat. It was Boston and his brother and cousin."

Sputtering out a surprised laugh, Ellie shook her head and turned into the pizza parlor's parking lot.

"Well, admit it," Nora pressed. "It's not a sight you see every day. Those three look damn good all sweaty and dirty."

"Okay, okay," Ellie broke in, still unable to control her chuckling. "I agree. Now, hush." She parked the car and as her passengers piled out, she reached for her purse. But when she did so, she paused, taking note of the cubbyhole in the center console.

Grinning to herself, she pulled the money Boston had forced on her from her pocket and tucked it into the change holder. There, she thought, pleased with herself. He wasn't paying for anything today.

She stepped lighter as she followed the crew inside and was finally able to admit that Nora had been right. Boston looked great in the old jeans and sweatshirt Cameron had brought over for him. It reminded her of how he'd looked in college.

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Too bad it wasn't July, instead of November. The heat might've forced him to peel off his shirt while he worked.

Even so, there was something about men and power tools that was beyond yummy. He kept pausing throughout the morning to pay attention to Cassie too, which made him that much more attractive. Once he'd picked her up and held her over his head so she could pull a dangling limb hanging broken from a high branch.

Another time, Ellie had caught sight of him teasing Cassie and then grinning at her as he tucked a leaf behind the girl's ear. It was so similar to a time in college when he'd plucked a flower out of the campus flowerbed and slipped it behind Ellie's ear. Her heart jumped like crazy.

She'd spun away from the scene and promptly severed a large limb to alleviate the pressure building in her chest. But it hadn't seemed to help because she could still hear laughter across the lawn; Boston's and Cassie's both. And she'd ached for something she knew she shouldn't.

After pausing for lunch, everyone set back to work. Cassie and Keller were tired of raking and went inside Keller's house to play video games. By late afternoon, most of the mess was cleaned in both yards. As Cameron and Monty cut the last large limb, Boston hauled stacks of wood to the already overflowing trailer. Ellie tried to assist him, though she could only carry one block at a time.

Every once in a while she could hear Nora and Mendel arguing in their yard. Cameron, Monty and Boston grinned at each other as they listened.

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"They're better than watching a soap opera," Cameron admitted and started his saw to cut his way through a limb connected to the main trunk that was sticking up in the air.

Ellie bent over, too busy picking up another log to notice where she was standing.

But she heard Boston's sharp call loud and clear.

"
Ellie
!"

She glanced up just in time to see him charge toward her.

It wasn't until she noticed the panic on his face that she caught motion from the corner of her eye. The limb above her cracked and began to fall...on
her
. The log she'd just lifted slipped from her fingers and she cringed, bracing for the impact.

It never came.

Boston hurled himself toward her, his hands lifted to catch the tree. He cursed as he did so, and she could only imagine how much it injured him to save her. As the branch settled over them, he gritted his teeth and held the wood off them, straining with all his might. Leaves and limbs covered Ellie and Boston like an umbrella, cocooning them inside.

Boston continued to hold the large limb above them; Ellie knew it had to hurt.

But he still immediately glanced at her in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered, breathing hard. "Are you?"

He nodded, but she could see it in his eyes. He wasn't comfortable at all.

"You guys all right in there?" Cameron asked from outside the branches.

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Boston's gaze stayed on Ellie. She stared back at him with wide eyes. They were close. Boston had his hands up, holding the branch off them. He looked down at her like it would be nothing to tilt his head a little and press his mouth to hers.

Ellie stopped breathing, waiting for him to do just that.

"Yeah," he finally answered Cameron. "But could you get this damn tree off us?"

Ellie abruptly snapped back to reality.

"Oh, my God," she cried. "I'm sorry, Boston. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," the words came from between gritted teeth.

Cameron and Monty lifted the branch together and pushed it to the side. As soon as it was gone, Boston dropped his arms, sucking in a breath. He pressed his palms together as if trying to hide them. But Ellie saw blood seep through the cracks

"Boston, no," she breathed, snatching his wrist. She pried his hands apart and turned them up, only to gasp at the sight of torn and raw flesh. Biting her lip, she looked up at him with concerned eyes.

"They're okay," he said.

She shook her head. "No, they're not. Damn it, this is my fault. If I would've just looked where I was going in the first place... You should've let the tree fall on me."

As she was talking, berating herself and him too for getting hurt on her account, she kept a hold of his wrists and began dragging him toward the back entrance of the house.

Boston followed meekly and only once said, "Ah...El?

Where're we going?"

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"I'm going to patch you up," she huffed, still furious with herself.

"Ellie." He laughed uneasily as he followed her inside. "I'm fine. Really. It's just a couple scratches."

But she was determined. She didn't let go of him until they were in her bathroom. She closed the toilet seat and ordered him to sit.

"Yes, ma'am," he murmured, all the while giving her an amused look.

Turning on the water, she reached for his fingers again and didn't even notice how easily he handed them over. She plunged his hand under the warm stream, getting her own fingers wet in the process. Cringing at the blood that filled her drain, she muttered, "Just a couple scratches," and grabbed a washcloth. After thoroughly cleaning one palm, dabbing out chunks of bark and dirt, she took care of the other, continuing to grumble to herself as she opened the medicine cabinet and searched for some ointment and gauze.

He sucked in a breath as she applied the salve. Ellie couldn't help but wince right along with him.

"Sorry," she whispered and leaned over to blow on the cuts, her long hair falling over her shoulder and caressing his wrist as she did so. He sucked in another breath, this time for an entirely different reason.

She straightened abruptly and cleared her throat. Carefully keeping her eyes off him, she opened the gauze and began to wrap his hands.

"So, am I going to live?" he asked quietly.

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Ellie risked sending him a brief frown. "It's not funny," she admonished. "You hurt yourself because of me."

"Well, if I knew I was going to get this kind of attention for it, I would've injured myself a long time ago," he said and then laughed. "Jesus, El. You don't have to turn me into a mummy."

"Hush," she said and taped off the end.

Once she turned away to store her ointment and supplies back in the cabinet, she felt him push to his feet. He moved closer. She knew because she was suddenly enveloped by his smell and his very heat.

Ellie swallowed and finished putting away her first-aid kit.

They were too close. The already miniscule bathroom grew even smaller, and suddenly she couldn't breathe so well.

Slowly, she pushed the cabinet door closed and met his gaze in the mirrored reflection.

"Ellie." He touched her back lightly.

She jumped. Mortified by her own response, she covered her mouth with both hands and spun toward the exit. But she didn't even get one step before he took her arm.

"Ellie," he said again, his voice soft and entreating.

"Boston, I'm sorry. But I can't—" she started, turning toward him, merely to let him down easy. But when his blue gaze latched onto hers, the words died in her throat.

"You can't what?" he asked.

She shook her head, unable to even remember what she'd wanted to say.

"Oh." The word puffed from his mouth, and his warm breath caressed her cheeks.

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His gaze darted to her lips and back to her eyes. Then slowly, so frustratingly slowly, he bent his head, stopping an inch from her mouth as if waiting for permission to proceed.

Ellie exhaled, closing her eyes and tipping her face up.

Soft, warm lips pressed against hers, gentle enough she wondered if she was imagining it, dreaming it. But then he made a sound in the back of his throat. His hot mouth moved over hers fully, slanting and stroking his tongue boldly between her teeth.