Don't Let Go (10 page)

She rose up to kiss him. He scooped his arm around her back and tugged her close, his mouth coming down on hers to take what he'd wanted earlier at his place.

Her kiss was hot and passionate, and when she moaned against his lips he wanted to open her front door, push her inside her house, and finish what they'd started.

But if she'd wanted that, she'd have stayed at his place instead of asking him to bring her home.

She wasn't ready yet. It wasn't the right time. He understood that. So he slowed down the kiss and pulled away.

“So about that poker run I mentioned.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to go with me this weekend?”

Her lips curved, and he could swear that whenever she smiled there was a sparkle in her eyes. “I'd love to.”

“Great. I'll call you with details.”

“You do that.” She smoothed her hands over his chest, making his heart beat faster. “I'll see you later, Brady.”

“Yeah. See you, Megan.”

*   *   *

MEGAN WATCHED BRADY
drive off, then closed her door.

As birthdays went, this had been one of her better ones.

Though she could have gone to bed with him. She knew it, but when her phone rang and Molly called, something had pulled her back.

It wasn't the right time. Not just yet. Maybe telling him about her parents and her childhood was like opening old wounds, and she didn't want him to use sex as a way to comfort her. Or maybe it seemed like he felt sorry for her, and she didn't want pity sex. She wanted him to want her because she was desirable.

Birthdays had always been a confusing mess for her, and it wasn't the right day or the right time to climb into bed with Brady.

She flipped the light on and headed into her kitchen, laying her purse on the counter.

Typical of her—she had to overanalyze everything.

He could have just wished her a happy birthday at the bar like the rest of the guys had. Instead, he'd taken her out for dinner. And he'd taken her back to his place. For someone who was all about wanting to be alone, he'd gone out of his way to be with her tonight.

So maybe it wasn't just pity, and was more about him being interested in her.

And he did ask her to the poker run this weekend, so she had that to look forward to.

She flipped off the light and headed into her bedroom, determined to be a lot less analytical this weekend.

It was time to just go for it and see what happened.

DES HAD HAD
her baby in record time, and before Megan had a chance to make it out to the hospital, she was already home.

Always an overachiever, that one.

So it was a few days after Des had the baby that Megan and Sam coordinated their schedules to make the trek to the ranch after work. Sam had to check on Grammy Claire before they left, so Megan decided to pack up a few baked goods, head home, and take a shower first. She'd made a mess of her shirt today with an unfortunate jelly roll incident, and a cleanup was definitely in order.

She stripped down and took a quick shower, dried and brushed her hair, then put on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt and slipped into her tennis shoes before tucking the baked goods in the trunk and heading out to pick up Sam.

Sam was already out the door when she pulled up. She had food, so Megan popped the trunk for Sam to slide it in.

“In a hurry to get out of the house?” Megan asked once Sam was situated in the car. “I was going to come to the door.”

“Not necessary,” she said. “Let's hit it.”

Megan grinned. “Okay, then.”

She backed out of the driveway.

“Where's Reid?”

“He was at the ranch earlier today to see the baby. He and Deacon are working on the house tonight.”

“That's exciting. How's it going?”

“Progressing faster now, but still not fast enough.”

On the way, they discussed their days at work. Megan told Sam about the jelly roll incident.

“Bet that was a bloody mess,” Sam said.

Megan laughed. “It looked like a bloody mess. Red jelly all over the floor—and all over me. It looked like a crime scene. A sticky one.”

“Yuck. I had no such disasters, so I'll consider my day a success.”

“You do that. How's Grammy Claire doing?”

“Oh, you know, she has her good days, but those are growing more scarce each month.”

Megan sighed. “I'm sorry, Sam.”

“Me, too. But we at least know what we're facing, so we're all prepared for it. And I'm enjoying the days where she's fully aware of who she is and who we all are. I'll embrace those as long as I have them with her.”

“It's really all you can do.”

“I know. She and I sat down and spent a lot of time talking when she was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She told me she didn't want me to put my life on hold for her, and that she didn't want me to spend forever being sad about it. She was happy with the life she had lived, and she made me promise when the time comes that she doesn't remember anything or any of us anymore, I'll only focus on the happy times she and I have had together. I told her I would.”

“It's a good thing. And you two have shared some wonderful memories.”

Sam smiled. “We have. And since Reid and I got married last fall, Grammy Claire got to take part in that, while
her memories were still intact. And we have wonderful pictures and videos from the wedding.”

“Yeah, we did manage to pull off the fastest wedding on record—that's for sure.”

Sam laughed. “Right? I'm so grateful to everyone who helped put it together. And especially to you for giving me such an amazing wedding cake.”

“Oh, please. It was nothing. As if you wouldn't give me the best wedding flowers ever if I had a time crunch.”

“I would. Now you just have to find the hot and sexy man of your dreams and make it happen.”

Megan shrugged. “Not in any hurry here.”

“Hmm. Speaking of hot and sexy men of your dreams, how's Brady?”

“Fine. We're going on a poker run on his motorcycle this weekend.”

“Oh, fun. So you two are dating?”

Megan turned off the main highway and onto one of the county roads. “I don't know. I . . . guess? Maybe?”

Sam laughed. “Megan. That's not very definitive. Are you or aren't you dating Brady Conners?”

“I honestly don't know. We've seen each other a few times socially. We've kissed. Nothing more. We either keep getting interrupted or one of us has pulled back before anything more intimate can happen.”

“Hmm.”

“You keep saying that.”

“I'm thinking.”

Megan had been doing plenty of that as well. She pulled through the ranch gates, and they tabled their conversation about Brady, which was fine with her, since she didn't have answers to any of Sam's questions.

Martha came out and greeted them.

“Hey, Grandma,” Sam said, giving her a hug.

Martha grinned. “I've been smiling for two weeks now. There are two new babies to fuss over.”

“I'm sure you're in heaven,” Megan said, hugging her
before handing her one of the boxes she'd pulled out of the trunk.

“This is so sweet of you, Megan.”

“I'm sure you're busy enough running around helping Des, and then heading into town to see Emma and the baby. The least I can do is bring some desserts and a casserole.”

“I brought one, too,” Sam said. “Someone's got to feed your ranch hands and Des and Logan. One less thing to worry about, at least for a couple of days.”

Martha hugged them both again. “I love you two. Thank you. Now come on inside.”

Megan and Sam helped Martha put the food away.

Logan stepped into the kitchen.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself,” Megan said, giving him a hug. “And congratulations.”

That might have been the biggest smile Megan had ever seen on Logan's face, except maybe for the day he'd married Des.

“Thanks. Des and the baby are in the living room. I'll see you both later.”

“Go on. I'll fix you both some iced tea,” Martha said.

They both washed their hands in the kitchen sink and spread on some hand sanitizer, as well, so they could hold the baby.

Des was in one of the comfy chairs next to the sofa, her feet propped up, a soft blue bundle in her arms. She wore cotton pants, and her raven hair was pulled up in a messy bun. And still, she looked gorgeous.

She always looked gorgeous. Her cheeks were pink, and she smiled when she saw them walk in.

“Oh, hi. I'm so glad you're here.”

“We missed you at the hospital, considering you were in and out in a matter of hours.”

Des sat up straighter. “Well, I wanted to avoid the paparazzi getting wind of me being there, and I had him pretty fast. Lucky for me, it was a fairly easy labor and
delivery, so the doc said I would likely recover with a lot less stress at home.”

“That's probably true.” Megan leaned over and took a peek. “He's gorgeous, Des. With a photo-ready face. A future actor like his mama.”

Des laughed. “Bite your tongue, woman. I wouldn't want anyone to go into this business, and definitely not my kid. He's going to be a rancher like his daddy.”

Sam looked over Megan's shoulder. “He definitely is beautiful, though.”

Des was grinning as wide as Logan. “Thank you. We named him Benjamin Dale McCormack, after Ben and after Logan's dad.”

Megan's eyes filled with tears. “That's so sweet. I'll bet Martha and Ben are beside themselves.”

“Martha cried, of course. Ben teared up as well. And then I sobbed. Hormones and all.”

“Aww,” Sam said, blinking back tears of her own. “Now you're going to make me cry.”

Des gave Sam a stern look. “Don't even. You'll make me start up again. Here, hold a baby instead.”

Sam scooped up Benjamin in her arms. “Oh right, like holding this bundle of sweet baby won't make me cry?”

Des gave a little chuckle. “I hope not.”

Megan got closer to Sam as she held the baby. “He's so adorable. Look at all that dark hair.”

Benjamin was awake, and his eyes were a dark blue.

“And those long eyelashes,” Sam said. “He's going to be a lady-killer, Des.”

Des gave a smug smile. “I know. He's also quite the crier. And very loud, especially in the middle of the night.”

Sam passed him over to Megan, who breathed in that sweet baby scent as she held him close and took a seat on the sofa. “And what does Logan think of his middle-of-the-night cries?”

“He's actually surprised me so far. He's up with him in the night, changes his diaper, holds him for a few minutes
and rocks him while I wake up and get ready to feed him. He's been . . . amazing.”

Megan looked over at Des. “That's awesome.”

“I think so. And if he doesn't need to eat, Logan's right there to hold him and walk with him or rock him.”

“Which gives you time to rest,” Sam said.

“Yes.”

“I'm so happy for you both,” Megan said.

Des pulled her sweater tighter around her. “Thank you. I couldn't have asked for a better life. Or a better man to spend forever with.”

Megan had never heard anything sweeter. She and Sam ended up staying for dinner at Martha's insistence, and she enjoyed seeing Logan hover over Des, fetch her plate for her, and take the baby so Des could eat.

They really were a lovely family, and she couldn't be happier for her friends.

After they helped Martha with the dishes, they hung out for only a little while longer, since it was obvious Des was tired. They said their good-byes, and Megan made the drive back to town with Sam in tow.

“So what's the timeline for completion of the house?” she asked Sam.

“Uh, not nearly soon enough?”

Megan laughed. “I know you're really anxious to get moved in there.”

“I am. But I understand delays due to weather. They barely got things started before winter hit, and recently we've had all the spring rain, so it's been a lot of frustrated waiting. Plus, now that Reid and Deacon have gone into business together, that has to take priority, and the house becomes a side project. We're very fortunate that Deacon is willing to work on it with Reid—and that we still have my old house to live in in the interim.”

“That's true. And before you know it your awesome new home will be ready, and you and Reid and Not My Dog will move in.”

Sam's lips lifted. “I know. I just need to be patient.”

Megan pulled up in front of Sam's house.

“Would you like to come in?”

She didn't see Reid's truck, so she nodded. “Sure.”

Sam opened the door, and the house was quiet.

“Where's Not My Dog?”

“On the job site with Reid, like always. He goes to the office with him, too. The tenants at the mercantile are so used to seeing him there that they would think it was odd if he didn't accompany Reid—everywhere.”

Megan laughed. “He does love Reid, doesn't he?”

“It's a mutual thing.” Sam went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of white wine, uncorked it, and poured two glasses. “I figured after today you could use a glass.”

“I'll definitely have one.”

She brought the two glasses into the living room. Megan followed her, and they kicked off their shoes and pulled their feet up on the sofa.

“Now, let's talk about Brady. You should definitely have sex with him.”

That had come out of nowhere. “You think so?”

Sam nodded. “Absolutely. He's so hot in a smoldering, quietly intense kind of way. Obviously the two of you have chemistry, right?”

“Like off the charts.”

“That's fantastic. So why haven't the two of you done it yet?”

Having a best friend like Sam meant they could talk about anything, even something as intimate as sex. “I have no idea. Timing, and maybe a little reluctance on both our parts?”

Sam took a sip of wine and studied her over the rim of her wineglass, then set the glass down on the end table. “I'm not sure what either of you has to be reluctant about. He isn't seeing anyone else, is he?”

“Not that I'm aware of.”

“I get that he's kind of reserved, but can you imagine what it might be like once he lets go?”

Megan sighed and took a swallow of wine. “Believe me, I've imagined it over and over again.”

Sam laughed. “Then you should definitely go for it. And quit being so reluctant about it. And if he's reluctant, then . . . talk him out of it.”

Sam made a good point. She and Brady were both consenting adults, and the time for hesitation was over. If nothing came from it other than a great time and some physical release, there was nothing wrong with that.

She could use a little fun—and a little sex.

She'd see what happened when they got together this weekend.