Against the Heart (5 page)

She shrugged.  "It was just an idea."

He gave her one of his charm-you-out-of-your-knickers smiles.  "Come with me to the paint store and we’ll take a look, see if it would work."

She hesitated.  She shouldn’t go with him.  She didn’t trust herself where Ian was concerned.  Just looking at him made her heart beat too fast.  Yesterday she had seen him with his shirt off as he worked in the yard and dear God, the man was ripped.  A sweat-slick chest banded with muscle, broad shoulders, a trim waist, six-pack abs, and powerful biceps.

Last night she’d had an erotic dream about him.  Since she’d never experienced the hot rush of passion she’d known in the dream, it was insane.

"Come on," he urged, grabbing her hand and tugging her toward the door.  "Lily’s in the den with Dad.  She’ll be fine till we get back.  We’ll pick out the color together."

She flicked a glance toward the den.  They would only be gone a few minutes.  She let him pull her out of the house and help her climb up in his Jeep.  As she clicked her seatbelt in place, she could still feel the imprint of those warm, hard hands around her waist. 

Thinking what those big hands did to her in her dream, heat rushed into her cheeks...as well as other places she firmly ignored.

She started talking about the house. "It’s really coming along, Ian.  I think your dad really likes the way it’s shaping up."

"You’ve done a great job, Meri.  I couldn’t have asked for more.  In fact, I was wondering if you might want to stay on after the house is finished.  You know, keep doing what you have been?  Cooking and cleaning for my father?"

She shook her head.  "I appreciate the offer, but I’m planning to move to the city, get a secretarial job or something."

As the Jeep moved along the road, Ian flicked her a sideways glance.  "What city do you have in mind?"

She’d been planning on Portland, but that was now out of the question.  "I don’t know.  Lately I’ve been thinking I might go to Denver. I hear it’s really pretty there and if I start looking on the Internet ahead time, I should be able to find a job."

"Seattle’s nice," he said blandly.

But Ian lived in Seattle and she needed to stay away from him at all costs.  If she didn’t, she was going to end up in his bed.  She wondered if he was one of those guys who was into making conquests.  If she slept with him, would he be down the road the next day?

She didn’t want to find out.  She knew how bad it could hurt.  Joey was the stupidest thing she had ever done, but falling in love with Matt Sawyer was even worse.  Matt had made a complete fool of her.  He’d spent weeks seducing her, finally scored, and dumped her three days later.

She wasn’t making that kind of mistake again.

"I’m thinking Denver," she said even more strongly.  "I don’t have enough saved yet, but in a couple more weeks I will.  That should give you enough time to find someone else to take care of your dad."

He just nodded, returned his attention to the road.  In the paint store, he surprised her by picking up a paint chip the exact shade she’d had in mind.

He held up the soft-butter-yellow chip.  "How about this?"

She loved it.  "What about your dad?"

"What do you say we brave the lion and take our chances?"

Meri laughed.  "I say yes."

So they bought the paint, got back in the Jeep and started home.  "I was wondering, Ian...."

He cocked a dark gold eyebrow.  "I think I see more trouble on the horizon."

"What if we got some curtains to match the color of the paint?  Maybe some placemats or a tablecloth?  It would really finish off the room."

Instead of answering, Ian wheeled the Jeep around and headed for the Bed, Bath and Beyond they had passed along the route.

Twenty minutes later, they walked out of the store with kitchen curtains, two table clothes, two sets of placemats, and some yellow-and-white terrycloth kitchen towels. 

"Oh, it’s going to look wonderful," Meri said.

Ian cast her a glance.  "Let’s hope my dad thinks so."  But he was smiling.

Meri smiled back.  She couldn’t wait to see the curtains up and everything in place, couldn’t wait to see how the room finally turned out.

While Ian finished painting the kitchen, the crew at work upstairs finished the entire second floor.  The bad news was, the whole place smelled of paint fumes.  There was no way they could stay in the house while the work was being done.

"What are we going to do?" Meri asked.  "It’s not that cold, maybe we could all sleep in the barn."

Ian laughed.  "My barn-sleeping days ended a long time ago.  We’ll get rooms somewhere for a couple of nights.  I’ll get on the phone and call around, find us a decent motel."

A knock at the front door interrupted him.  When Ian walked into the entry and pulled it open, he found Heddy Peterson standing on the front porch, a foil-covered glass pan in her hands. 

"I saw the paint trucks parked out front.  I figured with the house torn up you wouldn’t be able to cook tonight, so I brought you a ham-and-cheese casserole." 

"Come on in--if you can stand the smell."  Ian took the casserole dish from her hands and led her farther into the house. 

Heddy wrinkled her nose at the fumes.  "My goodness, this is worse than I thought.  There is no possible way you can spend the night in here."

"I was just about to start calling motels, see if I could find a place for all of us to stay.  The painters think they can finish by tomorrow night.  Once they’re done, we’ll air the place out and move back in the next morning."

"If you want to leave, go ahead," Daniel grumbled as he ambled toward them down the hall.  "I’m staying right here."

"It’s dangerous to breathe this stuff, Dad," Ian said.  "It shouldn’t be a problem to find a couple of rooms for the next two days."

"Don’t be ridiculous," Heddy Peterson said.  "Your mother was my friend.  She would roll over in her grave if I didn’t insist you spend the night at my house.  I have plenty of room and I’d love the company.  Now...when you’ve finished working, just get what you need and come on over.  I’ll put the casserole in the oven and it’ll be ready whenever you are."

Daniel stepped in front of her.  "Did you hear what I said, woman?  I’m staying here."

Heddy didn’t back down.  "Ian told you it’s dangerous.  You’re staying at my house, Daniel, and that’s the end of it."

He scowled, then a smile of amusement slowly curved his lips.  "You always were one stubborn woman, Heddy Peterson."

She blushed.  Ian couldn’t believe it.  Heddy and Emma Brodie had always been close friends.  But after his mother had died, Heddy seemed to look at Daniel a different way.  There were a few times Ian had thought that his dad was seeing Heddy in a different way, too.

If he had been, he had ruthlessly squashed any chance of a relationship.  Looking at the two of them now, Ian had a hunch he knew why.

"We’ll stop work a little before dark," he said, "get showered, and come on over."

Heddy reached out and took the casserole from Ian’s hands.  "I’ll have supper ready," she said, turned and walked out of the house.

"Stubborn damned woman," Daniel grumbled, his gaze still on the place she had been.  In her late fifties, Heddy was an attractive woman, small but buxom, with short silver hair, clear skin, and a face that was mostly unlined. 

"She’s a good woman, Dad.  You always liked her.  What happened?"

Daniel looked up at him.  "Nothing happened and it isn’t going to.  I was married to your mother for thirty-five years.  I loved her something fierce.  She’s still right here, you know?"  He pressed a hand over his heart.  "Even now that she’s gone, I doesn’t seem right to look at another woman."  

Ian just stood there.  He’d been right.  Guilt was the force keeping his father away from the woman next door.

He watched his dad walk away, glanced up to see Meri standing in the doorway. 

She smiled as she came toward him.  "I’ve never believed in that kind of love.  The kind your father and mother had.  The kind that lasts forever."

"Yeah..."  Ian’s throat felt tight.  "Dad always said, when a Brodie falls, he falls hard."

"I think he likes Mrs. Peterson more than he lets on."

"So do I.  It’s been five years since Mom died.  Maybe Dad’ll figure out my mother would want him to be happy."

"Maybe," Meri said wistfully.  There was something in her voice, something that made his chest feel tight.  When she looked at him, he felt that funny little kick.

Ian cleared his throat.  "The painting crew is at work in the den.  I’m going to start on the living room.  I want to get as much done as I can before we quit for the night."

"Why don’t I pitch in and help?" Meri asked.  "There’s nothing else I can do till the house is finished."

"You know how to paint?"

She shrugged.  "I can do pretty much anything."

Ian’s gaze drifted over her.  He couldn’t help imagining her naked, moving beneath him in bed.  "I’ll just bet you can." 

Meri blushed, just like Mrs. Peterson.  He found it charming, then realized it actually wasn’t.  He had to stop thinking about Meri that way.  Told himself firmly that he would.

The furniture had all been moved to the center of the living room, a tarp spread over it so nothing would get ruined.  For the next two hours, he and Meri worked side by side, painting the living room a nice soft shade of rose, the color it had been before.

"I like your mother’s taste.  This is a really pretty shade and it looks great with the burgundy furniture."

"You didn’t much like the white kitchen."

"It was okay."  She grinned.  "Yellow looks better."

Ian’s mouth edged up.  "The kitchen’s still partly draped, which means my dad hasn’t noticed yet, but sooner or later he will."

Meri groaned.  "Don’t reminded me."

Ian laughed and they went back to work.

CHAPTER SIX

That night they stayed at Mrs. Peterson’s house.  Meri called her Heddy now, as the older woman insisted.  Heddy had installed her and Lily in one of the upstairs bedrooms, put Ian in one, and his dad in another.  It was a big, roomy old house in excellent condition.  Unlike Daniel, Heddy maintained her home very well.

Since it was so late when they arrived, they ate at a table in the kitchen, a big open space like Daniel’s, this one painted a pretty robin’s egg blue.  Heddy fixed a salad and homemade parker house rolls to go with the casserole.  A big slice of chocolate cake appeared for dessert.

"This is soo good," Lily said, getting thick chocolate frosting on her mouth.  Ian leaned over and wiped it away with his napkin, smiled and tweaked her nose.  Lily laughed.  Watching Ian with her little girl, Meri felt a clutch in her chest.

Don’t even think about it,
warned a stern voice in her head. 
A man like that isn’t for you.

After supper was over, Meri helped Heddy with the dishes, then put Lily to bed upstairs.  But Meri had too much on her mind to sleep. 

The doors to all the bedrooms were closed as she walked down the hall and descended the stairs, wandered out to the stable where the little bay colt stood in a stall with its mother.

Moonlight slanted in through the open windows of the barn, illuminating the interior, which smelled sweetly of fresh cut hay.  Watching the mare with her baby, Meri found herself smiling. 

At the sound of footsteps, she turned and saw Ian walking out of the shadows.  Moonlight shone on his pirate gold hair and his eyes were a fierce shade of blue.

Meri’s breath caught.  She told herself to make an excuse and leave, but her legs refused to move.

"I guess you weren’t sleepy either," he said in that sexy, seductive voice she heard in her dreams.

"I was a little keyed up, I guess, being somewhere new."

"It’ll only be for a couple of nights."

"I don’t mind.  Mrs. Peterson is really nice."

"Yes, she is."

A soft nicker came from one of the stalls farther down the line.  Ian tipped his head in that direction.  "Come on.  Meet Sunny."

She let him guide her deeper into the barn, toward a stall near the door opening into the open pasture land beyond.  A beautiful golden palomino stood inside, his long blond mane and tail freshly curried.  Clearly Ian had been the one to do the work.

"He used to be mine," he said a little gruffly, stroking the horse’s velvet nose.  "Dad sold him when Mom died.  I never knew Heddy was the one who bought him until I spotted him in the field when we were here looking at the colt."

"She never said?"

"I was almost never around back then.  First I was in college, then I started working.  I had my own business by the time Mom had a heart attack and passed away."  Ian smoothed a hand over the horse’s muzzle, scratched between his ears.  Sunny rubbed his golden head against Ian’s hand.

"I think he remembers you."

He smiled.  "I raised him from a colt."

"Maybe you could buy him back."

Ian shook his head, but she thought she caught an instant of regret.  "I’d have to leave him here.  Unless Dad got interested in horses again, it wouldn’t be fair to Sunny."

Meri glanced back at the beautiful golden palomino.  "It must have been great having a horse of your own."

"It was," he said.  "I was a pretty fair rider in my day.  I thought about doing a little rodeoing, but Mom thought it was too dangerous."  His mouth edged up as if he were amused by some inner joke. 

Meri wondered what it was.  Her mind sifted through the possibilities, but when she looked at him again, his focus had shifted away from the horse and he was looking directly at her.

"I can’t stop thinking about you, Meri," he said softly.  She felt his big hand on her cheek, gliding gently down to tilt up her chin.  Then he was bending his head, covering her mouth in the gentlest of kisses.

Her heart started racing, her stomach fluttering like the wings of a bird.  He tasted like chocolate frosting and strong, sexy male, and when he kissed the sides of her mouth, ran his tongue along the seam of her lips, coaxing her to open for him, she couldn’t resist.