Falling Softly: Compass Girls, Book 4 (7 page)

Damn, they
all
made it impossible to abhor them. No matter how hard he tried. He wanted to laugh and punch something at the same time. So he got up and started walking toward Sterling’s Jeep as if he were walking the plank on a ship.

Because he was pretty sure where being alone with Sterling would land them, if she didn’t knee him in the balls first.

A few moments later, she caught up, trotting to match his long strides.

Steeped in awkward silence, they wandered toward her Jeep.

Together, yet not.

Chapter Six

The instant they were alone in the truck, Sterling whipped around to face him. “I’m taking you straight home.”

“Like hell. I promised your dad—”

“Whatever. I don’t need your pity.” She damn near pouted. It was more sexy than annoying, though. “I’m not going to force you to spend time with me when you’re clearly not interested. Let’s save us both the embarrassment and discomfort.”

“Ah, shit. Sterling, I’m sorry stuff between us went the way it did. I would never have slept with you if I’d known how things were going to turn out. You know, that you were a Compass Girl or that I’d be working here. You can’t imagine how far out of the realm of possibility I thought that was.” He scrubbed his hand over his face.

“Why was I good enough before, but not after, you knew who I was?” she calmed down enough to ask him directly.

Viho preferred her riled. This was harder to combat.

There was nothing he could tell her that would alleviate the recrimination in her tone or the doubt in her eyes without sharing the truth. That was not a possibility.

When he didn’t respond, she angled the Jeep toward the bunkhouse he’d been sharing with a couple of other single guys.

“Wait. Seriously, I want to help you out, Sterling. Not because I told your dad I would, either.”

She slowed.

“Can you please accept this as the peace offering it is? I don’t regret having sex with you. Son of a bitch, it was the best day I’ve had in a long time and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.” He reached over and touched the metal cuff on her wrist. It was beautiful, like her.

He knew by looking at it that she’d made it.

And despite his better judgment, he wanted to know more about her profession. To see
her
work, and where she created these things, interested him. So the excuse to do it under the guise of assisting her… Well, it was all fine by him.

Sterling drew a deep breath, then three-pointed it in the middle of the ranch road. Though her mouth formed a stern slash that didn’t look at all like her usual glowing smile, she accepted his offer. “Fine. But it isn’t going to be any fun. This shit is heavy. And I’m not going to feel bad when you’re hurting tomorrow.”

He
really
wanted to crack a joke about them getting sore together, but he kept it to himself. Good thing too, if the derisive glance she threw him was any clue to how she felt. It threatened to shrivel his balls where he sat.

Viho kept his mouth shut the entire ride into town. It was nice to get away for a few hours. He truly didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself, but the ranch had an awesome set up. The hands he’d met were pretty cool men too. In no time at all, they’d picked up his old nickname from the few elders on the reservation who’d taught him all he knew. The ones who’d respected him and his hunger for learning the true old ways.
Chief
.

But six weeks without wheels—or even a horse—had just about driven him nuts.

The only saving grace, when he wasn’t working overtime on Vicky Compton’s gardens, had been the long walks he took to remote places on their land. Sometimes with one or more of the Compass Boys, including Sterling’s little brother, Bryant. He’d enjoyed sharing those things about their surroundings, and they’d practiced making fires a bunch too. Skills every kid who lived out here should have.

Still, civilization would be a nice change. Maybe they could grab some dinner before heading back. If she would deign to speak to him. Or even look at him. And if he could rustle up a shirt. Takeout, eaten in her shop, just the two of them sounded pretty fine too.

They pulled around the back of the row of stores on Main Street, and she guided him to the service entrance of her shop. He was impressed with her security system and the cameras until he considered her Uncle Sawyer was Compton Pass’s sheriff and her store was full of semiprecious stones and metal.

She ushered him inside and locked the door behind them.

“So do I get the official tour?” he asked, breaking their verbal standoff.

“Um. Sure.” She seemed surprised that he gave a shit, which only twisted the knife in his gut a little more.

“This is the current space. We’ve got the stockroom back here, which is nothing flashy. My workstation is up front and then the retail area is past that. I’ve been wanting to expand for a while, take on some pricier projects for online markets or maybe do some traveling shows. I just signed the lease a couple weeks ago when the space next door became available. We’ve had the shop closed with all these damn fixtures in here, but I need to reopen soon if I’m going to afford double the rent.” She shook her head. “Of course, my dad keeps paying the bill because he’s been too busy to help me, and I think my family likes me around to take Vivi to the doctor during the day and stuff, but I’m not looking for a handout from my family.”

“You’ve done this all on your own.” It wasn’t a question. He could tell she had built it from the ground up. And done a damn fine job. The shop sucked him in. Quirky yet stylish, the way she had stuff arranged was clever. It made several of her pieces jump out.

Glancing around at the jewelry near him, he spotted a half-dozen items that he admired. This was not stuff you’d find in a kiosk on the mall. No, her jewelry was original. Gorgeous. Like her.

“My mom would have loved this pin. Her name was Haiwee. It means Dove.” He pointed to a bird on a silver branch with ruby eyes. The detailing in the feathers made it seem as if it were about to launch into the air.

“Honestly, it’s one of my favorites too. Would you mind if I named it after her?” Sterling smiled as she sidled closer. She didn’t flinch when their arms touched.

“That—that would mean a lot to me. Thank you.”

Sterling nodded. “You’re welcome.”

The more he looked, the more he realized she wasn’t that different from him. She saw nature in a way most people didn’t. A bracelet formed from a curve of wire dotted with blue crystal reminded him of a half-frozen stream.

All of her designs were exquisite. To his untrained eye, anyway.

“Wow, Sterling, you’re fucking great at this. This one here, it’s the sun, right? On a hazy day when you can see the heat waves.” He turned toward her but couldn’t see her eyes through the veil of her hair. So he reached out and tucked it behind her ear before he could think better of it.

“Yes.” She smiled. “And thank you. Lots of people tell me my stuff is pretty, but no one ever seems to see what I do.”

“Like this tree, with the leaves falling softly around it like they do after the first frost?” He pointed to a necklace with tiny emeralds dangling from dainty chains that forked off a roughly rectangular garnet.

“Exactly.” She stared at him as if he’d somehow cheated on a test where no one knew the answers except her.

Sterling leaned toward him, but when she got too close, she jerked away as if singed by the heat smoldering between them. “Come on. We need to lug these cases into the other room and hook up the specialty lighting units. It’s going to be a pain in the ass.”

“Sounds like fun.” As long as he got to do it with her.

Two hours later, he realized she hadn’t been kidding. Sweat beaded on his bare chest as he connected the final wires with his aching finger. “There. Done.”

He squirmed out from beneath the case and sat, resting his back against the wall. Sterling handed him a bottle of water, which he chugged. When he recapped the empty container, he caught her staring at him.

“What?” He wiped his mouth, self-conscious.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Viho, but I’m kind of glad you sliced yourself open before. You look pretty damn hot working without your shirt on.” Sterling ate up the plane of his chest—and his six-pack—with her hungry stare. “I think we should agree that you’ll go shirtless from now on so we don’t have to keep sabotaging your poor wardrobe.”

He laughed, though it was hard to maintain his distance when their easy camaraderie extended beyond manual labor.

“You know, Vivi was right. You have the most amazing eyes.” Sterling smiled as she touched his cheek. Innocently enough, despite his cock taking her stroke completely out of context. “Even Jake’s aren’t as bright gold as yours, though.”

He turned away sharply.

“Why do you do that?” She tossed up her hands in frustration. “I don’t understand you, Viho. One minute you’re running hot. Then the next…this.”

“There are things you don’t understand, Sterling.” He sighed as he climbed to his feet.

“Damn straight. Because you won’t fucking tell me what’s going on with you.” She propped her hands on her hips. “What’s your deal? Before you knew who I was, everything was…phenomenal between us. But the minute you found out that I was a Compass Girl, things changed. I don’t get it.”

“Used to everyone bowing down at your Compton feet?” he snarled.

“That.” She pointed then approached until she poked him in the chest. “I don’t get that attitude. What the hell has my family done to you? Answer me.”

He clamped his jaw to keep from spilling everything. The past few hours in her company had made him weak. He truly admired her and wished he could share.

“You know what? If we’re so awful, get the hell out. I’ll loan you the money for a new truck and you can be on your way right now. Today.” Her tapping toe warned him that her temper was about to blow.

Yet, somehow, the thought of leaving this town and the people he’d met—most of all her—didn’t thrill him. In fact, it made him feel sick.

So maybe he owed it to her to be honest as she’d been with him from the start. He wanted to trust her.

Beyond stupid.

Still tempting.

“Tell me, Viho. What’s going on?” This time she didn’t screech. She snuck right in below his radar and his tensed arms to hug him, nuzzling his chest with her cheek.

There was no way he could fight that.

“Fine. You want to know all my secrets? How about this? Earlier, in the garden, your grandmother was closer than you realize. My damn eyes? The reason they look like his is because Jake is my father.”

He couldn’t believe he’d said it out loud.

Least of all to her.

Shit!

Of all the reactions she could have had, Viho never expected Sterling to bust out laughing. “You dickhead. I thought you were really going to let me in for a second. You suck.”

He didn’t move a muscle.

She didn’t believe him?

He stared down at her, about to stride from the room and never look back.

Something in his face must have clued her in. She froze too. Then started talking at lightning speed, her voice pitched a full octave higher. “Oh my God, Viho. You’re not joking, are you?”

He shook his head.

“Does Jake know?” She looked horrified. “He doesn’t, does he?”

Viho shrugged. “My mom always swore he didn’t, but I didn’t believe her. And now she’s dead, so I can’t exactly revisit the subject.”

“I’m so sorry, Viho.” She hugged him, then canted her head as she tried to make sense of the impossible. “So if you came here to find him, why haven’t you told him who you really are?”

“Whoa. Hang on. I didn’t do this on purpose. Hell, I was trying to stay far away. That’s why I wasn’t on the main road to start with. Except the engine locked up and…well, you know the rest.” He couldn’t help himself—Viho gathered Sterling into his arms and held her. It soothed him to have her close. No matter what happened now, at least he didn’t have to carry his burden alone.

Sterling seemed content there, rubbing his back and hugging him in return.

He finally had his secret out in the open and the world hadn’t ended.

Yet.

“I can’t believe this,” she whispered. “I promise I won’t say anything, but, Viho, I think you should tell him. He would want to know.”

“He never came for me. All those years. It would be awkward. He chose not to be part of my life. Who am I to make him pick differently now?” Viho hated the rasp in his voice.

“I get that he’s your father, but I
know
Jake. He would never have given up the chance to have a family of his own. My mom tells stories…” Sterling cut off.

“Yes?” Viho had to learn more.

“Uh, this is kind of weird.” She snorted. “Hate to break it to you, but your dad and my mom used to get it on.”

“What?” He pulled back enough to catch her wry grin.

“Yep. Wild monkey sex, I’m pretty sure. It’s not like I asked for details, but there’s a crap ton of winking and nudging going on between my aunts when they talk about it.” She shook her head as if to clear it of the thoughts. “Remember, I told you Jake worked on the ranch before my dad came back from New York? Our parents kept each other company. Your dad has always seemed a little…broken. Distant. Now I think I know why. I still don’t believe he knows you exist, but I bet he loved your mom something fierce.”

“Oh yeah, so much that he forgot all about her and screwed your mom a bunch instead of chasing after my mom?” He didn’t mean to hurt Sterling, but she flinched as though he’d slapped her. Before he could apologize, she countered.

With logic and something more primal.

“Are you saying you can’t understand using sex to make yourself feel better?” she whispered as she kissed the side of his neck. Simultaneously, her hand snuck to his crotch and began to massage his limp cock, which responded to her manipulation despite the potent turmoil churning inside him. Maybe more because of it. “Don’t lie to me, Viho. Who do you think it was you fucked that day in the middle of nowhere? How can we blame our parents when we both did the same thing?”

He made some non-distinct sound. It was the best he could do when she scraped her teeth over his jaw.

“In fact, I’d like to do it again. Right now. You know, in case you’ve forgotten how cathartic it is.” She unfastened his pants, dipping her fingers beneath the waistband of his underwear to tease the lightly furred skin beneath. “I want to take away your pain. Or at least distract you from it.”

Somehow he was sure she didn’t mean the throbbing in his cut finger, which escalated in sync with his rising blood pressure.