More Than Cookies (The Maple Leaf Series) (16 page)

“I’ve got plans already, Scott. Ones I’m actually late for, but thanks.” She managed to get to the driver’s side door and open it. “Enjoy your afternoon.” She slid into the car and started it immediately.

Scott stood there. Watching her. Waiting for her to what? Change her mind?

Not going to happen.
She felt bad, but there came a time to move on. This was that time. Scott had to realize that soon.

Didn’t he?

She’d thought he’d gotten the picture the last time she’d seen him. What was so hard to understand?

Shaking her head, she made a quick stop at her house to change into more comfortable clothes and grab the batch of pumpkin brownie cookies she’d made for Ian. Ten minutes later she pulled up in front of Orion’s house.

Chainsaw noise guided her to the workshop instead of the house. The first thing she saw was Ian perched on a stool, earplugs wedged in his ears. She didn’t want to scare him, so she walked in a wide arc until she was nearly in front of him. The smile that bloomed on his friendly face was precious.

Ian waved enthusiastically and hopped off his stool. He dragged another stool over, placed it right next to his, and patted the seat.

Sage sat, but Ian was on his feet again, rummaging around on Orion’s workbench. When he returned a moment later, he held out a package with foamy, neon yellow earplugs. He motioned for Sage to plug her ears.

The noise of the chainsaw was deafening to the point Orion hadn’t realized she’d arrived yet. Sage didn’t exactly mind that her presence was still unknown. This gave her free license to stare all she wanted at the Stud at Work.

Orion wore cargo shorts, which appeared to be his clothing of choice. His blue T-shirt said
World’s Greatest Son
and fit him… snugly. Not snugly as in he was out of shape and taxing the limits of a too-small shirt, but snugly as in my-muscles-and-I-can-rock-a-T-shirt like no one else can.

Sage’s lower regions vibrated with anticipation and she fanned herself with her hand.

She’d given the basket of cookies to Ian and he had become
involved
with them, so she continued her Orion inspection. He had on a backwards John Deere baseball cap, earplugs, and safety goggles. Sawdust snowed over him and she noted that the tops of his work boots were again taped around the ankles. As her gaze traveled up his lower calf to the back of his knee to his simply magnificent ass, a heat washed over her every part.

How could just looking at a man stir up so much?

She longed to touch him again. To feel all his taut muscles under her fingertips. To have his hands all over her.

Shit.
She was close to orgasm from all the way across the workshop. What would being in his personal space right now do to her?

Ian munched happily on the cookies, and Sage settled a bit on her stool. She focused on the way Orion’s shoulder muscles flexed as he held the chainsaw at different angles to cut into the massive stump. His biceps were a treat to behold as well, and she literally wiped her mouth with her hand, afraid drool had escaped.

As if sensing her ogling, Orion turned around and gave her a big, bad, sexy grin. One that had her heart beating erratically in her chest and threatening to jump right past her rib cage.

Get control.

But it was probably too late for that. Her libido had already made decisions. Her heart wasn’t far behind. Only her mind held her back a bit, recommending caution, and she couldn’t ignore that.

Orion powered down the chainsaw and set it on the ground by the stump. Brushing sawdust off his chest—Good God, he was sexy—he made his way over to her. He pulled off his glasses and earplugs and set them on the workbench.

“Sage is here!” Ian hollered, making both of them crack up.

“Yes, I see that, Dad. Thanks.” He settled his gaze on her. “You’re here.”

“It appears so.”
And I’m about as turned on as a gal can be.

He flitted his attention to Ian with his hand in the cookie basket. Again.

“He’s going to gain like four hundred pounds with you around.”

“I’ll take him hiking with me. He’ll burn it off in an afternoon.” She reached out to sweep some sawdust off Orion’s shoulder.

“My work is a little messy.” He cleaned his T-shirt off some more.

“But very sexy. The definition of manly.” She was eager to see him continue. “And it smells downright heavenly in here.” She inhaled deeply, closing her eyes as she did so. When Orion’s lips brushed her own, her arms automatically came up to cup his face, to hold onto him, to not let him go.

“It tastes good in here too,” Ian said, eating cookie crumbs off his shirt.

“Hey, are you going to share any of those or what?” Orion plunged his hand into the basket and snagged a cookie as Ian tried to keep the basket away, his laughter filling the workshop.

“That’s the only one you’re getting,” Ian said. “Thirty-two cookies to start. Three were eaten by me. One by Orion.”

“Thanks for keeping score, Dad.” Orion finished the cookie in two bites, which had Sage wondering how many bites it would take him to consume her.

Most likely none.
She’d surely melt at his feet before he could bite anything.

****

So, yeah. The cookies were good, but Orion was more interested in what Sage tasted like. After he’d gone to bed he’d thought of Sage all night long, despite Adriana’s voice message that had turned his mood sour.  He’d barely made it through the morning waiting for Sage to arrive. He’d almost slipped back into his foul mood, but she was here now and stunning in a tie-dyed tank top, denim shorts, and…

And work boots?

Jesus. His body almost couldn’t take the hormonal rush of seeing those amazing legs of hers support themselves in a pair of scuffed-up, broken-in, brown work boots. He had a sudden urge to strip her down to nothing but those boots. 

“What?” 

Her voice snapped him out of the fantasy, and he met her deep green gaze.

“Huh?”

“What are you staring at? Did you have a seizure or something?” She grinned as if she knew exactly what had happened.

“Maybe. I love the work boots.” He glanced toward his father who was still engrossed by the cookies and now wandering around the shop humming as he nibbled.

“An afternoon in the workshop calls for work boots, does it not?” Sage peeked at Ian too.

“We don’t exist to him right now.” Orion slid his hands around Sage’s waist and pulled her closer.

“Excellent.” Her smile grew to full strength and a weak-kneed feeling spread through Orion’s legs.

“Good diversionary tactic with the cookies.” He lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers, but that wasn’t nearly enough. Not by a fucking long shot.

As he parted his lips and she readily accepted his advance, Orion wanted nothing more than to abandon any intentions to carve wood. He wanted only to scoop this beautiful woman into his arms, haul her into the house, and make love to her until they’d both be ruined for anyone else but each other.

Where did that thought come from?

He didn’t care where it had come from. He’d had it and it was truly what he wanted. When Sage made a tiny pleading noise while they kissed, the world around him sloughed away. Nothing else existed right then but the two of them and the sparks they were lighting.

“How long are you going to do that?” Ian asked.

Sage ended the kiss, and Orion groaned.

“I was planning to do that for at least three days straight,” he said to his father.

Ian put on his contemplative face. “You couldn’t do that for three days straight. Not really.”

Sage giggled. “I wouldn’t be so sure, Ian. He’s pretty good at it.” She swiped one of her own cookies and bit into it.

“Hey!” Ian said. “These are mine.”

“They were mine first,” Sage said with a wink. God, the way she toyed with Ian was priceless.

Ian stared into the basket. “I guess you’re right. They didn’t exist before you made them.” He held the basket out to her.

Orion stuck his hand in and stole another cookie for himself.

“They were never yours.” Ian brought the basket close to his chest again. “Were they, Sage?”

“Nope. Made them special just for you.” She rubbed his forearm and shot a playful glance to Orion.

“Real neighborly, Miss Stannard.” Orion swatted her fine ass.

“Maybe I have something else for you, Mr. Finley.” Her blonde eyebrow rose over an eye so green it made Orion think of the Vermont summer woods. Vibrant and alive.

“What do you have for him?” Ian asked.

Sage’s cheeks pinked and Orion couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of him. She shoved him square in the chest and he stumbled back a few steps, still laughing.

“Yeah, Sage,” he said. “What do you have for me?”

“You’d better stop or I’ll give it to someone else.” She pointed an accusing finger at him.

In three steps he was directly in front of her. “Don’t you dare.”

“Possessive much?” She traced the lettering on his T-shirt with her index finger.

“It’s a quirk of mine, yes.” He grabbed her finger then held her whole hand.

“Good to know.”

She didn’t appear to mind that perhaps he was the possessive type. Not that he was the possessive type. He wasn’t any type at all. Well, maybe the avoiding type.

But Sage is changing that.

He wasn’t sure how, but he felt it. Inside him. Deep down. She was transforming the way he thought, the way he responded, the way he breathed. Being around Sage loosened the tight knots that had been in his shoulders since Adriana had divorced him and taken Myah away. She made his chest ache less. She gave him hope that things would turn out fine in the end.

Be careful.

He heard the warning in his head, acknowledged it, and filed it under Too Late in his brain. He was in deep and without an urge to climb out of whatever it was. In fact, going deeper sounded perfect to him.

“Dad, you probably need some milk for those, don’t you?” he suggested.

“Milk! Yes!” Ian put the basket down, a new task filling his brain now. Orion watched to make sure he went into the house. He could see his father through the kitchen window and knew they had at least five minutes before Ian reappeared.   

“Tell me you have no other plans for today,” he whispered while corralling Sage back into his arms.

“None that I can think of.” She backed them up to the workbench.

“Good.”

He changed places with her and in one swift move, he lifted her to sit on the workbench.

Oh, yeah. This is a great idea.

Sage immediately opened her legs so he could step between her knees. She locked her ankles behind him and drew him closer. Her hands ran along his shoulders, up his neck, into his hair. If she kept touching him like that, looking at him as if he were the last cookie in the basket, he was pretty sure he’d lock the workshop doors and let Ian fend for himself on the outside.

“My meeting this morning took forever,” she said. “Usually I enjoy meeting with catering clients, but today,” she stopped to press a kiss to his lips, “I just wanted to get here. To you.”

Those words shouldn’t have meant anything to him. They were just words and he knew how quickly words could change meaning and hurt like hell. Sage’s sounded genuine though. As if they came from her heart, not from some deep, soulless dungeon.

“I’m glad you’re here now.” He rested his hands on her thighs, loving the muscles he felt there as if she’d spent years hiking in the woods, which she probably had.

“Me too.”

“I brought milk for all of us.” Ian entered the workshop, carrying a tray with three half-full glasses. His blue eyes focused on the glasses as if his gaze was the only thing keeping them from dumping all over the place. With shaky hands he set the tray down on the workbench. He spent a moment looking at his hands as if he weren’t in control of them.

“The medication he takes makes his hands shake sometimes,” Orion said. “And that makes him nervous.” He stepped away from Sage, hoping to head off an episode. “Thanks for the milk, Dad.” He passed a glass to Sage and took Ian’s hands in his own, steadying the older man. “Look at me.”

Ian raised his head, but his eyes showed signs of panic.

Uh-oh.

Taking a breath, Orion was about to go into rescue mode, but Sage beat him to it.

“Milk is one of my favorite drinks, Ian.” She took a long swig then hopped off the workbench, her boots making a solid
pop
on the wood floor of the shop. Hooking her hand around Ian’s elbow, she guided him to the two stools they had been sitting on earlier. “Let’s sit and watch Orion. All this cookies and milk silliness is keeping him from his work.”

Ian paused for a moment as if maybe he wasn’t going to sit, and Orion held his breath. If this blew up, he’d have to ask Sage to go home. Getting Ian over an episode—though he didn’t have them often—could take a while.

Sage sat on one stool and patted the one next to her. “Come on.”

Ian shuffled toward her and slid onto the stool. He bent his legs to rest his feet on the bottom rung and placed his hands on his thighs. When he looked at Sage and a huge smile stretched across his face, Orion wanted to fall at Sage’s feet and worship her.

Later. Definitely.

“You are a goddess,” he whispered, dropping a kiss on her temple.

“This is true.” She pushed him toward the waiting stumps. “Now get to work.”

“Yeah, get to work.” Ian chuckled beside her.

“You heard the man,” Sage said. “Off you go.”

“You guys are tough.” Orion saluted them both and grabbed his earplugs and safety glasses while Ian and Sage plugged their ears.

Feeling a little on display as he reached for the chainsaw, he glanced back. Ian had moved his stool closer to Sage and they were giggling over something.

Probably have sawdust on my ass.

He swiped his hand across his backside just in case, which made Sage and his father laugh even harder. Deciding that his father laughing was a good thing no matter the reason, Orion pulled the cord on the chainsaw and pressed the trigger until the blade whirred angrily.