Time of Possession (Seattle Lumberjacks #5) (11 page)

With all of them working in tandem while the
women stood around the bar and drank wine, they finished up pretty
quickly even if the kitchen wasn’t as spotless as it could be.
Puddles of soapy water dotted the floor and sticky spots remained
on the counter.

Tyler stood back and surveyed their work.
“Good enough for the girls we go with,” he announced with a grin
and made a beeline for the bar. Brett followed him, accepting a
shot of whiskey for his trouble. He put back the shot and found
another one in his hand. Tyler grinned at him.

“Hey, you trying to get me drunk? I thought
we were going to HQ to study film?”

“We are.” Tyler grinned right back, his eyes
glassy and his body swaying a bit.

Estie grabbed Brett’s arm, surprising him
with her tight grip, but then she’d been nipping at the
brandy-infused eggnog. “Do you sing?”

“Uh, not unless I have to.”

“That’s good enough. Sit.” She pulled him
across the room and pushed him down on a piano bench giving him no
option but to stay there as she crowded next to him. “What’s first,
gang?”

Brett had never been involved in a Christmas
in which the entire family sang Christmas carols. In fact, his
family usually spent the time fighting or glued to the TV. Enjoying
each other’s company was not an option.

Estie played the piano with the talent of a
master musician and sang in a sweet, lilting voice. The rest of the
family gathered round, singing like the von Trapp family from
The Sound of Music
. Since he had a little buzz going, Brett
joined in. He might not have the best voice in the world, but he
could hold a tune.

The time flew by. Before Brett knew it,
they’d been singing for over an hour. Finally, the party began to
break up, as people packed up their stuff and said their
goodbyes.

Reluctantly, Brett stood, taking his cue
from the others who were heading for the door. He’d been drinking
coffee since the singing started and was good to drive.

Estie touched his arm. “Do you mind giving
me a ride home? It’s a little too cold and dark to walk.”

“Not at all.”

“I need to check on the horses first.
Besides, I think you’d like to meet them.”

“I’d love to.” Brett forced the excitement
out of his voice so he wouldn’t sound like a pathetic sap.

Hurriedly, he said his goodbyes and
thank-yous and followed Estie out the door. He helped her into his
SUV and drove down the icy driveway to the large horse barn at the
bottom of the hill.

Estie flipped on the lights right inside the
barn door and paused for a moment. She turned to him, her eyes
smiling in the dim barn light. “I love the smell of horses, and
there’s nothing more soothing than the sound of horses munching
hay.”

Brett listened for a moment and nodded. She
was right. Truly right.

She grabbed some carrots from a bin near the
door and led him down the immaculate aisleway. A large black horse
stuck his head over the half door and studied them with large,
intelligent, kind eyes. The animal made a deep guttural sound,
which Brett interpreted as a welcome.

Estie stopped in front of the horse’s stall.
“This is Tyler’s horse, Rowdy. Ty used to rope off him years ago.
Now Rowdy just goes on trail rides, much to his dismay. He loved
the cattle work.”

Brett scratched the horse on his broad
forehead. Rowdy turned his head sideways and stuck out his lower
lip, looking so ridiculous Brett had to chuckle.

Estie put her hand out flat with the carrot
resting her palm. “When you feed a horse, make sure you keep your
fingers out of the way.”

Brett watched her and imitated her. “His
lips are so soft, like velvet.” He looked up at Estie in wonder.
She smiled back at him, warming his entire body on the chilly
Christmas night.

“Aren’t they? I just love horses.”

“I’ve never been around them. I’m a city
boy.”

“My offer to teach you to ride is still
open.”

“I’d love to learn to ride.”
Bad idea,
Einstein.
But he didn’t give a shit what a bad idea it was to
spend more time with this woman. He couldn’t help himself. He
needed her like a drug addict needed his next fix.

She turned to him, all bundled up in her
leather jacket, a purple scarf wound around her neck, her cheeks
flushed from the cold—or he assumed it was the cold.

Her smile lit up his soul. The fond
expression in her eyes lit up his heart. And other parts of her lit
up other parts of him. For a moment they stared in each other’s
eyes. He took a tentative step toward her. She put her hand on his
bicep as if to stop him, only she didn’t. Her lips parted in silent
invitation, even as doubt creased her brow.

And fuck, he wanted to answer that
invitation. Wearing those little black boots with the heels makes
her an inch taller than him, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care
about anything but the closeness of their bodies and souls. Even
though their bodies weren’t touching, the electrical current
flowing between them bound them together, making him dizzy.

One more step. Only a whisper separated
their bodies.

He laid a hand on her shoulder, and she
sucked a breath through her teeth. Her blue eyes hypnotized him and
decimated his good sense. Her inviting lips parted, and she leaned
into his chest, closing that minute space between them and
destroying his resolve to do the right thing.

He could’ve resisted, could’ve walked away,
but when her chest pressed against his and her sweet breath
feathered across his lips, he willingly left earth for oblivion. He
had to taste her, take just a sample to satisfy his hunger.

Their lips touched. Hers were petal soft and
moist. Like a good wine they intoxicated him, weakened his knees,
and sent him spinning in slow, lazy circles. He pulled her closer,
his arms tight around her waist. She wrapped her arms around his
neck, breathing in short, raspy gasps. He slid his tongue inside
her mouth, exploring every sweet recess with dizzying
intensity.

She buried her fingers in his hair, holding
him closer as her tongue danced a sexy dance with his, their lips
getting to know each other better. A lot better.

Brett’s heart slammed into his rib cage, and
he forgot how to breathe. He pushed her onto the top of a grain
bin, and she wrapped her long, heaven-sent legs around his waist.
His dick ached painfully as she rubbed her crotch against his.
Brett groaned an almost inhuman sound he didn’t recognize as coming
from his own mouth.

Nearby, a horse snorted.

Some shred of sanity penetrated his
brain.

Estie was engaged to be married.
Engaged.
It didn’t matter if he liked the guy or not, Estie
belonged to someone, and that someone was
not
him. No matter
what anyone took from him, he’d always had his honor.

With superhuman willpower, Brett backed
away, his entire body shaking from the effort. Estie tried to
follow after him, but he held both her arms and kept her a good two
feet away from him. She blinked several times, her face flushed,
her breathing in short gasps. Finally she shook her head and backed
up a few steps.

Brett stared and his feet and mumbled, “I’m
sorry. That shouldn’t have happened.” He glanced up at her. She
still looked shell-shocked.

“It’s…it’s okay. It was nothing. We just got
caught up in the moment. A little too much alcohol and some of that
Christmas magic that makes the world a totally different place than
it really is.” The sadness in her eyes sucker punched him in the
gut. He knew that sadness. He lived with it every day.

She’d nailed it. He’d been in a surreal
world with her these past few hours and had truly forgotten about
harsh reality.

“I’d better get you home.”

“Yes, you’d better.” She hugged herself as
if she were cold, but Brett doubted it. If anything they were both
way too fucking hot. He took her home, the silence stretching
between them, watched until she was safely inside her home and
drove off.

He was crazy if he thought he could live
below her and keep his hands off her.

Chapter 7

“You’re what?” Richard’s mouth dropped open,
and he shook his head, as if to clear it.

“I’m renting my basement apartment to Brett
Gunnels.” Estie shrugged and gnawed on a piece of celery from her
salad. Staring out the window of the little waterfront café in
downtown Seattle, she watched a ferry motor out of Elliot Bay and
wished she were on that ferry heading to parts unknown.

“Now, dear, do you really think that’s a
good idea? What kind of impression does that give our friends that
you’re renting a room to a single man?” He turned on his syrupy
sweet voice that didn’t really work for her anymore.

“Friends? Like your country club cronies?”
Leave it to Richard, always thinking about appearances. “And it’s
not a room; it’s an apartment with a separate entrance.”

“He’s interested in you, and I think you’re
sending him the wrong message.”

“Sorry, you don’t get a vote. Your name
isn’t on that house, and your name isn’t on a marriage certificate
with mine.” She was being a bitch, and she hated her attitude.
After all, Brett’s predicament wasn’t Richard’s fault.

“Yet.”

Estie took a long swallow of water and tried
to make sense of the conflicting emotions butting heads in her
stomach. “I don’t want to fight about this, please. He’s paid the
first month’s rent, and my brother has arranged to move him within
the week. It’s only for a few months.”

“Your brother bulldozed you into this. He’s
never liked me.”

Estie wouldn’t dispute that point, but she
tried to soften it a little. “Tyler doesn’t like anybody, except
for a few select people. You’ll grow on each other.”

“Estie, I’ve always been there when you
needed me. Always. I cover you with your family. I cover you at
work when you run off to rescue some animal, rather than doing your
job.”

“I do my job and then some.” Estie bristled,
not liking his insinuations. “Besides, there are times when Sylvia
needs me.”

“I need you. What about me?”

Oh, God, there went that whiney voice and
pouty lower lip, which might work on his mother, Eunice, but
so
did not work on Estie. “I’m trying,” she said, reaching
for patience she didn’t have.

“Well, try harder. I’m trying to come to
terms that we’ll have animals in the house because I know how
important they are to you, but you need to do some compromising,
too, such as carving out more time for me. Maybe taking up
golf.”

“I do compromise,” Estie said through
gritted teeth. “Furthermore, my animals are family, and you don’t
keep family outside in a kennel.” Though at times she wished she
could banish Ty and Freddie behind a locked chain link fence.

“Please tell your brother that you aren’t
renting your apartment to Brett Gunnels. Do it for us.” Richard
folded his napkin into a neat little triangle and stood, looking
down at her.

Estie sighed and ran a hand through her
hair, pushing it off her face. “Maybe this isn’t going to work out,
Richard. Maybe we’re both fooling ourselves.”

“Of course, it is. I love you
.
”

“I need more time to think.”

“You’ve had nine years. How much more time
do you need?” Richard tugged on his collar, a sure sign he was
getting exasperated.

“We’ve been friends for nine years. We’ve
only been a couple for a short time and engaged for a few
months.”

“I’m going golfing.” Richard spun on his
heel and stalked out of the café, leaving her with the bill.

Relieved, she watched him go. A smart
fiancée would tell Brett to find another place to live. But that
kiss from Brett. Oh, sweet lord, that kiss. The one that catapulted
her heart right out of her chest. She’d never realized a kiss could
be that powerful. Richard’s kisses were sterile, well-practiced,
and pleasant, but not knock-your-panties-off awesome.

Not like Brett’s.

* * * * *

Once back home, Estie picked up the place,
took the dogs for a walk, and sat down to do hours of torturous
financial work on her laptop. The figures swam in front of her eyes
until her head hurt. Yesterday, she’d found some minor
discrepancies in Tyler’s finances and could not figure out where
the error was. Usually she found this job challenging and
rewarding, but lately she found it frustrating, just like she found
Richard frustrating.

Estie couldn’t dispute that Tyler’s
financial portfolio had grown in leaps and bounds since she and
Richard became partners. Everything was going according to her
carefully laid-out plans, her future was in order, her life was in
order, or so she told herself. Yet, she couldn’t quell the growing
fear that her life was perched on the verge of chaos, especially
when she couldn’t keep her imagination at bay and her thoughts kept
drifting to a certain sexy quarterback. She needed a dose of common
sense and a gallon of practical advice from a friend who wouldn’t
mince words.

She left a voicemail on Sylvia’s phone and
waited—none too patiently. A few hours later, Sylvia returned her
call. By the time Sylvia called Estie had folded and refolded her
towels, arranged her pantry, and swept the hardwood floors.

“Estie, what’s up? You sounded pretty upset
on your message. Is the mama’s boy giving you shit about joining
the country club’s women’s guild again?” Leave it to Sylvia to get
right down to the nitty-gritty, not bothering with all those social
niceties. But then, a woman didn’t have to cultivate any social
skills when she spent her days in communication with animals.

“Things are different.” Estie plopped into a
chair and propped her feet on the coffee table. Immediately, Spock
and Jim vied for a spot on her lap.