“Yes.”

“You’re all wet.”

“Yes.”

She sighed and set her head back on his shoulder. “That was dumb.”

Yeah. He’d done a few dumb things as it pertained to her. He squeezed her tight and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She sniffled against him, clearly trying to stanch the flood of emotion.

When she had it together, he leaned back slightly. “Better?”

“I don’t know.” She leaned her head back against his shoulder. “I wasn’t planning on dealing with this until I ate the chocolate chip banana muffin the girls gave me.”

He let out a low laugh. “Proud of you,” he said softly and she looked up at him, her clear surprise causing a rush of affection to flow through him. “And I’ll steal you all the muffins you want.”

“Be still, my beating heart,” she said.

He set her on the bed and then stripped and dried himself off before coming back to her and drying her too. Then he tugged down the bedding and nudged her in.

“You going home in your birthday suit?” she asked.

He looked down at himself. “It is a dilemma.”

Their gazes met and held, and then she lifted the covers, silently inviting him in. She didn’t have to ask twice. He got in and pulled her chilled body into his. With a sigh, she cuddled close, pressing her face into his throat.

“Mark?”

“Yeah?”

“You once said you couldn’t be pushed where you didn’t want to go. But can you be seduced?”

She appeared to hold her breath on his answer, and that just about killed him. She’d had a shitty night, but more than that she’d had a shitty time of it in general, being with a dick of a husband who hadn’t appreciated what he’d had, and worse, he’d taught her to doubt herself.

“Don’t say I should be alone tonight,” she warned. “Because I thought that too at first, but . . .” She shook her head, her voice raw from crying, her eyes hollow and hurt. “From the moment you stepped into my shower like you did, I realized I didn’t want to be alone at all.”

“What do you want?”

“Honestly?”

“Always.”

“Oblivion,” she said without hesitation. “I want to be taken out of my own damn head. I want to be reminded that though I might not be the sort of woman anyone wants to keep long-term, I’m still desirable.”

“Lanie, you’re the most desirable woman I’ve ever met,” he said, never meaning anything more. “I—”

She put a finger to his lips and leaned over him, brushing her bare breasts across his chest, her hair floating around them as her mouth ran up his jaw, teasing the spot beneath his ear that got him every time.

Then she kissed him.

He let out a rough groan and fisted his hands in her hair. “I’m seduced by you when you’re not even trying,” he said huskily. “But tonight, Lanie, it’s all on me.” And with that, he kissed her hot and deep before gently sinking his teeth into her lower lip to tug lightly.

She moaned and clutched at him and heat and desire seemed to flame them both. Wrapping his hands around her wrists, he slid her arms up over her head and then slowly made his way down her body, using his mouth and tongue to make her forget the past few hours.

When she was limp and boneless, he sat back on his heels and looked over the long, curvy body that he’d just worshipped every inch of. Glowing. Sated. Just how he wanted her. When he thrust into her, she cried out his name and wrapped herself around him.

He moved inside of her, his need for her consuming him as she arched her hips to meet each thrust, her body straining against him, taking everything he could give her. She was hot and tight, so tight he lost it, burying his face into the sweat-slicked crook of her neck as he let go, so lost in her he couldn’t remember his own name. Only hers . . .

Chapter 20

Just need a pinch of anxiety for flavor.

After Lanie had walked out, River wanted to go after her, but Cora had stopped her.

“Not now, honey.”

“But—”

Cora squeezed her hand. “She needs some time.” She turned to Holden. “Give us a moment?”

Holden nodded, but instead of leaving he looked at River. “I’ll wait right outside for you,” he said. “I’ll walk you back to your cottage.”

River, humiliated at all he’d heard, shook her head, but Holden held firm.

“You haven’t scared me off yet,” he said quietly.

Not willing to have this conversation in front of her boss—at least she hoped to God that Cora had meant what she said and that River still had a job here—River didn’t argue. She couldn’t. She was plum out of fight.

When they were alone, Cora took her hand. “You okay?”

River let out a mirthless laugh.

“Let’s start with physically. Anything wrong physically?”

River took stock. The baby was for once quiet and settled. “No. We’re okay.”

“Good.” She cupped River’s face. “It’s been quite a day, I know. I also know when I say I don’t want you to fret too much about this, that you still will—but the important thing is you came clean. The worst is over now.”

“No,” she said. “I still have to talk to Lanie and make her understand that I didn’t mean to hurt her. I wasn’t faking our friendship.”

“And you will talk to her,” Cora said. “But for now, she needs to think. She’s a thinker, our Lanie. You need to give her some time. Time and patience.”

“I’m not very good at either of those things.” River closed her eyes. “And I meant what I said. I won’t take a penny from her. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.”

“Then maybe you’ll apply for a scholarship from the winery and go to school on that.”

River’s eyes flew open. “What?”

“We give away three scholarships every year. If you were awarded one, you could go for your RN. It’d be a ticket out for you.”

River had to choke down the lump in her throat. “I can’t—I can’t think about that right now.”

“I understand,” Cora said in that voice she used when she intended to get her way and was willing to wait patiently for her moment to strike. “We’ll need to leave in thirty minutes to make it to the doctor for a quick check before our prenatal class.”

“What prenatal class?”

“The one I signed us up for at your last doctor appointment,” Cora said calmly. “Unless there’s someone else you’d rather have at your side when you’re in labor?”

River stared at her. “I . . . haven’t let myself think that far ahead. I’ve got to have someone with me?”

“No, you can do it alone if you’d rather.”

River’s gut sank to her toes. She hadn’t felt alone in the five weeks she’d been here. The thought of going into the hospital to have this baby on her own was paralyzing. “You’d really do this with me?”

“In a heartbeat. Come now.” Cora led her out of the house. Holden was indeed waiting for her, leaning against the porch, his long denim-clad legs crossed. Cora gave him a long look and then moved off, giving them a moment.