More Than Cookies (The Maple Leaf Series) (8 page)

Orion’s kiss, however, had been… heavenly. Just the right amount of pressure, moisture, duration, and taste. And his hands—even that imperfect pinkie finger. The way he’d grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in close. God, she’d wanted to climb inside him. Better yet, she’d wanted to peel his clothes off right there in the workshop, throw him down on the sawdust—which smelled amazing—and feast on him until she was full.

She had a feeling she’d never
be
full.

If Ian hadn’t come back to introduce his nurse friend, Wendie, Sage had no idea how far she and Orion would have gone. It was a little scary. It was also a lot exciting.

Even now, as she walked beside Orion and behind Ian and Wendie up to the rustic farmhouse across from the workshop, her heart hammered in her chest.

Get it together.

 She was Sage Stannard, Master Flirt and Man Charmer. Her nerves didn’t get rattled. She didn’t get thrown off balance by a silly kiss.

Oh, but that kiss was far from silly.

She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from sighing aloud thinking about that kiss.

“We’re having barbecued chicken, Sage. Do you like barbecued chicken?” Ian asked as he opened the back porch door and held it open for Wendie and Sage. He let it go for Orion, but then turned around abruptly and stepped back outside to hold it again. “Sorry, Orion.”

“That’s okay, Dad.” Orion put an arm around his father’s shoulders, and Sage instantly felt all the love he had for the old man.

Good kisser and good guy.
When would she find something wrong with Orion Finley? Because there had to be something wrong with him, didn’t there? She was always attracted to men who seemed nice then acted like a jerks at about date three or four. There was no denying she was attracted to Orion either. The spark was there. He’d lit it in the workshop with that firecracker of a kiss.

“So you’re Adam’s sister?” Sage asked Wendie, who was a pretty woman maybe in her early forties with short, curly brown hair and compassionate green eyes.

“If I must admit relation to him, then yes, Adam is my little brother. Pain in my ass most of the time.” She said this with a smile in her eyes.

“He’s a pain in my ass most of the time too,” Orion said, “but this time he really came through for me.”

“
He
came through for you?” Wendie put her hands on her hips then shot a glance around the kitchen. “Is
he
here right now, cooking your dinner, cleaning your house, caring for your father?”

Orion stepped behind Sage. “My mistake. I meant to say
you
have come through for us, Wendie. You’re amazing and awesome and… please, don’t hurt me.”

Sage looked at him over her shoulder. “You’re afraid of Wendie?”

“Hey, I’ve known her since I was ten years old and yes, she’s hit me before.”

“Damn straight. I’d hit you again too.” She pointed a finger at him, but the left side of her mouth was turned up in a smile. She looked at Sage and said, “Sometimes men need to be smacked around, you know?”

“I’ll have to remember that.”

“Don’t hit my son.” Ian came to stand directly in front of Sage. He was her height, but outweighed her by at least fifty pounds.

Sage backed up a few steps while Orion said, “Sage isn’t going to hit me, Dad. We’re joking around.”

Ian narrowed a blue eye at her. “Not funny, Sage. No jokes.”

“Don’t worry about him,” Orion said guiding Ian to the dining room next to the kitchen. “But just to be on the safe side, don’t hit me.”

“I promise not to… while your dad’s around anyway.”

He smiled at her and her legs got wobbly as she followed him into the dining room where Wendie had the table set already, but she quickly added a place setting for Sage. A long, rectangular table made from dark, barnwood planks and surrounded by black ladder-backed chairs filled most of the room. A black iron light fixture hung from the ceiling with lantern style lights dangling from it. Along one wall was a skinny serving table made of a single, wide plank with black, tapered legs. Above that table was a stunning picture of a huge black bear framed in burgundy-stained wood.

“This is a great room,” Sage said as she took the seat Wendie had indicated was for her.

Orion settled Ian with a napkin on his lap and poured water into his father’s glass before sitting beside her. “Thanks.”

“Orion made everything in this room,” Ian said proudly.

“You did?” Sage surveyed the room again. “Everything?”

Orion nodded.

“Even the bear picture?” She pointed to the wall where it hung.

“Bears are his favorite.” Ian munched on a roll Wendie had given him. “He used to draw them all over the place as a kid.”

Orion shrugged his left shoulder. “Bears are my spirit animal or some such nonsense.”

“Not nonsense,” Sage said. “My cousin Rick has a coyote he saved as a pup and he has a way with animals. They like flock to him. Men who have a connection to animals are… special.”

The flush on Orion’s cheeks was lovely, and Sage didn’t care what was for dinner. She was suddenly hungry for something else entirely.

“We used to have a dog,” Ian said. “But he’s gone now.”

“I’m sorry,” Sage said. “Did he pass away?”

Ian shook his head, but didn’t say more because Wendie filled his plate with food that had caught his total attention.

“Ranger didn’t die,” Orion said. “He, like Myah, is being held hostage.”

“Witchy Ex-wife has your dog too?” Sage’s dislike for this chick grew tenfold. “After dinner, let’s call Jack Benson, okay? There’s not a moment to lose.” She rested her hand atop Orion’s on the table, her thumb grazing the shortened pinkie. She felt a little dizzy at having contact with him.

He stared at her hand but didn’t pull his free. “Are you sure you want to get involved in this, Sage? Adriana is my problem, not yours.”

She raised her hand and tipped his chin so he had to look at her. The hope she saw in those lovely blue eyes was all she needed to see.

“I’m sure.”

“I have no way to pay for this fancy lawyer.”

“He owes Lily a favor which she is kindly letting me collect. No payment necessary.” Sage held up a finger. “On second thought, I’ll think of a creative way you can pay me. How does that sound?”

“It sounds like trouble,” Orion said, but his gaze had lowered to her lips.

“You have no idea, Mr. Chainsaw. No idea.”

Chapter Seven

Dinner with Sage at his dining room table had been an experience. She had an appetite Orion hadn’t expected. For such a slender woman, she packed away chicken like someone three times her size. He’d always thought he and his father had a gift when it came to chowing down, but Sage put them both to shame.

He should have been repulsed.

He found it fucking adorable instead.

Add in the fact that her maple peanut butter cookies were a sugary wet dream and Sage Stannard was well on her way to being The Perfect Woman.

If such a thing existed.

Right before he’d gotten shot, he would have sworn no woman was perfect. They were all flawed. Some hid it better than others. Some knew when to spring their evil sides on an unsuspecting male.

Surprise!

But Sage. Something was different about her. Very different.

Alone now in his bedroom after having settled Ian in his bed, Orion studied Sage’s handwriting on the paper with the attorney’s number on it. She was left handed and for some reason that turned him on. The words
Tomorrow at 2:30
she’d written on the paper after setting up their appointment were slanted to the left, a little extra flair added to the T, and the colon in the time was actually circles instead of dots.

I’ve spent way too much time looking at this.

He tossed the paper onto his nightstand and leaned back on the headboard. His eyes focused on the shadows the small lamp to his right made on the white ceiling above him. He always saw shapes in those plaster swirls. Birds, elephants, and all manner of other critters. He’d taken to counting them to fall asleep, but he didn’t think that was going to help tonight. He was too wound up. Too anxious about meeting with the lawyer. Too hopeful the lawyer could actually help him. Too heartbroken without Myah. Too pissed off with Adriana. Too lonely without his best buddy, Ranger.

Too horny with Sage still fresh in his mind.

Orion flicked off the lamp and slid down into the cool sheets of his bed. He had both of the bedroom windows open and the sounds of the brook that meandered through his property made him think about how that brook cut across Cressen’s place next door as well. Cressen’s place that was no longer Cressen’s place. Cressen’s place that now had the pleasure of calling Sage its owner.

Was it possible to be jealous of a house?

Rolling to his left side, Orion adjusted until his right leg didn’t throb. He’d showered earlier and inspected the angry red line across his thigh, held closed with staples. If he thought about it too much, his stomach got a little unsure of itself.

I was shot.

He recalled the burn when the bullet had entered his leg. The police had visited him in the hospital to tell him they hadn’t found any evidence of hunters and asking around town hadn’t turned up any names either. Not a big deal. He didn’t plan on pressing charges. Accidents happened. Luckily, Myah hadn’t been with him.

He would definitely need to be more careful if he won custody of her.

And I might actually win.

Now that he had Sage and this top-notch lawyer on his side, anything was possible. Myah could be back in his life for good. He almost couldn’t stay still thinking about having her all the time. God, he loved her so much. She was everything.

How Adriana could use Myah as a way to get back at him for offenses he wasn’t even sure he’d committed was beyond his comprehension. Sweet, innocent, precious Myah. She deserved better. She deserved the best of everything. He didn’t claim to be the best, but he was certain he was better for Myah than Adriana. His ex-wife was poison, and he was determined to keep her toxic attitude away from his daughter.

“Orion?” his father asked from the other side of the door.

“What, Dad? Do you need something?” Orion climbed back out of bed and limped to the bedroom door. When he opened it, Ian stood on the other side, the T-shirt and cotton shorts he used as pajamas a little askew as if he’d wrestled with the sheets to come to Orion’s door.

“I was thinking.”

Orion waited for Ian to finish, but a long moment passed without him saying anything.

“What were you thinking about, Dad?” He leaned against the doorway to take the weight off his leg and folded his arms across his chest. Sometimes Ian stalled before bedtime, not at all like Myah who went to sleep with the same quiet obedience she used for everything.  

“Dinner was nice tonight,” Ian finally said.

“Yes, it was.” Orion had to admit Sage’s presence made things feel more… homey.

“Good cookies too.” Ian rubbed his full belly.

“Made Oreos and Nutter Butters seem like second-rate cookies, huh?”

“Homemade is always best.” Ian hesitated and tapped his heel on the wood floor.

“What else is on your mind, Dad?”

“Sage could be the exception.” He paced in the hallway, half talking to himself now.

Orion rested his hand on Ian’s shoulder and the older man stopped. “The exception? What do you mean?”

“Maybe she’s not like the rest of them. Maybe she is genuine. Maybe she really cares. Maybe she’s not like your mother or Adriana.”

Every once in a while, the real Ian showed up. Those moments were fewer and fewer recently, but Orion treasured them. It was as if the universe gave him his father back for a couple minutes. Such a gift.

“Sage seems extremely nice and she wants to help us, but I’m still going to be extra careful.” Sounded like a logical plan. He couldn’t afford to get swept away by her soft lips, long legs, amazing cookies, and possibly good heart.

Too risky.

“Be careful.” Ian echoed his words and nodded. “Good night, son.”

“Good night, Dad. See you in the morning.”

He watched Ian shuffle back to his own bedroom and close the door. After listening and assuming his father was back in bed, Orion turned and went back into his own bedroom. He eased into bed again and was more awake than ever.

11:00 p.m.

He picked up his new cell phone from the nightstand, but it was too late to call Myah, not that Adriana would just let him talk to her anyway. No, he’d have to go seven, maybe eight rounds with his ex first and that wasn’t even a guarantee the bitch would put Myah on the phone when she was finally done ranting and raving. He’d told his daughter she could call him whenever she wanted to, but Adriana wouldn’t let her.

Tomorrow that could all change. Or at least they’d be on a path toward that changing… hopefully. When he’d talked to him on the phone earlier this evening, Attorney Jack Benson had sounded like a laid-back guy with knowledge and confidence. Sage had assured him that, though he was cordial to them, Lily had said she’d seen the guy bring people to tears in the courtroom.

He didn’t want to take pleasure in the vision of Adriana in tears—he didn’t wish her harm—but if it meant Myah was with him forever, he was all for it. If he had Myah and Ranger back, maybe he could focus on moving on with his life. Their life.

Maybe he could see if Ian was right about Sage. Was she the exception?

She sure felt like one.  

****

Sage maneuvered through the front door of her mother’s house with a box of miscellaneous junk from her bedroom. Old CDs she hadn’t yet ripped to her MP3 player, a stuffed moose she’d won at the Danton High School Homecoming Fair the year she’d made queen, three fashion magazines she’d been studying in the hopes of putting together a new Summer Sage look from the measly clothing options in Danton, and a lavender-peach candle she’d made with Hope last winter when her sister was suffering from a candle-making addiction. She set the box on the back seat of her car and calculated she had enough room left for the final two boxes before bugging Rick to move her larger furniture with his pickup truck.