“Are you all right?” she asked with a smile in her voice. She knew what she’d done to him.
He lifted his head just enough to gaze at her. She had a contented grin on her face, and he didn’t think her satisfaction came from his performance as a lover.
He laid his head back down. “Sorry.” He wasn’t sure that he was sorry he’d lost control, but he wasn’t ready to think that hard yet.
She rolled over, easily overpowering him. He was too limp to do anything but follow her movements. She arranged them both on their sides, face to face. Her fingers brushed his lips. “How could you be sorry? For what?”
“I lost control.”
“I know. I liked it.”
“You could get pregnant.”
She dropped her gaze. “I can’t say I’d be sorry if I did.”
He stiffened and tried to sit up. “Lorelei—”
“Don’t say it.” She braced her hand on his chest. “I know you won’t stay. I don’t care. I’d still love your child.”
He caught his breath, and his heartbeat steadied enough for him to see her clearly. If she did wind up carrying his child, there was no other place he’d rather have her than with Jay and his family. But he didn’t want to think about that now. He was still too sated from their encounter to have room for regret. He’d have the rest of his life for that.
She relaxed against him, looking pretty satisfied herself. Her lips were redder than normal, and a flush spread over her cheeks and across her breasts. He remembered the gripping pleasure of her body that had sent him over the edge. A grin spread across his face, and, unbelievably, that wasn’t the only part of him to stir. “So you, ah ...”
“Yes.” She playfully pinched his nipple. “As if you didn’t know.”
“I knew,” he crowed in a whisper.
The silence settled between them. He reached out and stroked her cheek, gazed in her eyes, and almost made a terrible mistake. She didn’t seem to notice, only closed her eyes and snuggled against him.
He held her tighter instead of telling her he loved her. That was something he dared not say. Not now. It would be too cruel to give her false hope. He was too much of a coward to reveal himself like that, so the thief in him held on to what he could grab in the moment. And yet he still wanted more.
***
Lorelei sauntered down the kitchen’s side steps, two sweating glasses in her hand, just as Braddock poised to backhand Corey. He let go of the kid’s collar and stepped away. He pretended to study the distant cotton fields so he could compose himself before he had to face Lorelei. He hadn’t been going to hit the kid hard, only shake him up enough to get him talking.
He turned back to see her hand a jar half full of murky water to her brother. Corey greedily gulped the contents instead of saying anything.
Lorelei turned to Braddock and handed him the second jar, her smile as sweet as a kiss.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” he said, unable to stop himself.
“I’m going to puke,” grumbled Corey.
Braddock cut his gaze to the kid. With Lorelei between them, Corey didn’t intimidate as easily. He was a royal pain in the ass any way Braddock saw it.
“I’m tired of the crap, kid. Are you going to tell me what I want to know or not?”
Lorelei put her finger to her lips. “Little Chris and Rachel are still around. Do you want them to hear you?”
“Sorry.” Braddock brought the rim of the jar to his lips and hesitated. One quick glance at Lorelei told him he had better not sniff the cloudy mixture first. She smiled in anticipation, as if she had just handed him some kind of special gift. He braced himself and took a gulp. Lemonade! The tartly sweet tang puckered his mouth and showered him with a flood of memories. Summertime and careless days washed over him. He stared at Lorelei. How he wished he’d known her then.
“Can you believe Beth had lemons? A neighbor has a tree. I haven’t had lemonade since before the war.”
Neither had he, but he couldn’t seem to do anything except stare at the glow in Lorelei’s eyes. Every time he looked at her he felt all soft inside and lost his whole taste for Mulcahy and the gold. He’d rather drink lemonade with Lorelei.
He locked his gaze on Corey, a safer target. The boy’s smug expression reminded Braddock that Mulcahy wouldn’t disappear just because he had lost interest. He grabbed the other dining room chair Beth had insisted they take out behind the house for their talk. He’d tried to refuse, but didn’t want her to know he planned to beat the information out of Corey rather than have a civil conversation.
Placing the chair in front of Corey, he sat down. He gulped the rest of his lemonade in one long swallow. No sense in lingering over something he couldn’t have. He took Corey’s half full glass and handed both to Lorelei.