Divine Phoenix(Divine Creek Ranch 10)(52)

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me what happened?” he asked carefully, obviously not wanting to push her into rehashing her painful past.

The issue of the tattoo rose in her mind, and she decided to give him the basic facts and not waste their time together by making him pull the story out of her. The waiter brought his steak and baked potato and her steak and salad and she gave him the facts quickly with as little emotion as possible.

A few minutes later, he murmured, “Lily, if I could change one thing about the past, it would be that you’d never moved away from Divine.”

“That would be nice. But the important thing is that I’m here.” Slipping her hand around his arm, she pressed the side of her head against his big shoulder. “I’m so glad to see you, Del.”

Del gazed at her with his enigmatic gray-green eyes that were at once fathomless but also warm with some deeper emotion. He tilted her chin with his hardened, callused fingertips and placed a gentle kiss above her brow line.

“I’m home now.”

Her heart galloped at the contact, and instant guilt formed in the pit of her stomach even as excitement and desire raced through her veins. The spot between her thighs, claimed by Clay the night before, warmed for his brother just as much.

Lord, have mercy, what he does to me! I should have my head examined.

If she’d still been living in Durst, her mind never would’ve made the leap, declaring Clay’s brother off limits, but this was Divine. Grace and her men, and Doctor Emma and hers came to mind.

Never say never!

After lunch, Lily accompanied Del to the grocery store and the ranch and farm supply warehouse. She volunteered to make some meals for him that he could just pop into the microwave.

“In that case, I’d better buy a microwave.”

That surprised her. “You don’t even have a microwave oven?”

“Nope. There is supposed to be a delivery happening right about”—he checked his watch—“now. My old refrigerator was a goner when I turned on the power this morning. I’ve been away a while so it’s no big surprise.”

“What will you do to make ends meet?”

Del shrugged. “I’m a bachelor. It doesn’t take much to keep me. I’ll be working full time around the ranch on my own, getting things repaired and in order. I made a shit ton of money for the contract work I did in Afghanistan, so I’m good for a while.” His eyes took on a sad, distant look when he’d mentioned Afghanistan, and she could only guess at the things he’d seen over there.

“We should throw you a welcome home party.”

He looked genuinely disturbed by the notion. “Please, don’t. I just want to get settled quietly right now, kind of ease back into civilian life.”

“It could be fun. Since I got here, I’ve made a number of friends. You met one of them earlier. Remember Grace?”

“The blonde, right?”

“Yes. She and her husbands are really nice people. I’ve enjoyed getting to know her and she’s introduced me to some others—”

“Did you say husbands?”

Lily laughed softy. “Yep. Three of them. Things have changed in Divine. Roll with it, baby.”

Del cocked his head. “Interesting. Three husbands?”

Lily giggled and replied, “It seems to be working for them. I thought she was crazy until I met her…and them. They make it seem easy.”

Del shook his head. “I’m not sure I could be the sharing kind.”

“Never say never, Del. You and Clay could find the perfect little woman to shack up with.” She tried to play it off as comical, but the thought was actually a pleasant one for her, imagining herself in the middle of that sandwich.

“Speaking of shacked up, Clay said you’re living with him while trying to get the old place fixed up.”

“That’s right. I’ve been working hard to earn money so the work can get started. Jack Warner is the contractor who is going to be handling everything.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and Del leaned back and picked up the heavy length of it, stroking it between his fingers. Here and there she felt the gentle tug on her scalp, and it sent shivers flurrying all over her body.

“This is beautiful.”

Proving her hormones were still on the rampage, a mental image popped into her mind of him gathering her hair in his hands gently tugging on it as he entered her from behind while whispering in her ear. She shuddered lightly when the thought turned her on, but thoughts of her ex-husband ruined the moment. JT had pulled her hair during sex, using it as a leash and yanking roughly on it. She slammed the door on the memory. She still hated her hair, but knowing that Clay and Del both admired it made her hate it a little less.