Just This Once, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge #3) (3 page)

Chapter 3

Becca woke late, so late the sun was high in the sky and filling the guest room at her parents’ house with bright light. She kicked the covers off and shuffled into the bathroom. As she stood under the steaming hot water, her mind replayed Aidan’s kiss last night. She kept trying to convince herself she must have imagined how earthshaking it was, but her body betrayed her. Merely thinking about it sent heat spiraling through her. She tried to force her thoughts off of him, but her mind was stubborn and kept leaping back on the track that was dedicated solely to Aidan now. She bounced between the hot memory of what it felt like to have his lips on her skin and what he said afterwards. Did he really say he’d wanted to kiss her for too damn long? She must have imagined that. Every time she tried to dismiss it as an overwrought, erroneous memory, her heart and body clamored otherwise.

Annoyed, she dressed quickly and headed down the hallway to the kitchen. After all five of their children had grown up and moved out, the Hamilton’s had wisely sold the sprawling home they owned outside of Seattle and relocated to Bellingham. Their home was situated on a small rise on the outskirts of the city with a view of Bellingham Bay. The hallway opened into an expansive living room and kitchen. Becca’s mother, Jill, was putting dishes away in the kitchen. Becca strode to her side and gave her mother a quick squeeze around the shoulders.

“Hey Mom, I made it!”

Jill glanced over and smiled. Her mother’s dark hair was shot through with silver streaks. She kept it short though its tendency to curl won out no matter its length. Her face was framed with wispy curls. “I heard you come in last night, but figured it was best to let you get to bed. Glad you made it. Where’s your car?” Jill put the last plate away and handed Becca a mug from the cabinet. “Coffee’s fresh,” she offered, gesturing to the coffee pot nearby.

Becca filled her mug and took a welcome sip. “You make the best coffee.” She took another swallow before leaning against the counter. “When I last saw my car, it was on its side in a ditch.”

Jill’s hand flew to her mouth. “What happened? Are you okay? Why didn’t you call us?”

“Slow down, Mom. As you can see, I’m fine. My shoulder’s a little sore, but that’s it. I wasn’t too far north of Seattle when a car swerved into my lane. A little bump, and I ended up in the ditch. Before I had a chance to call anyone, Aidan showed up. He was on his way to spend the weekend at Ellie’s.”

Saying his name aloud sent a curl of anticipation through her. Dammit, she did
not
need this right now. She’d sworn off men for good reason. She didn’t need to fall for Aidan McNamara. Maybe he wanted to kiss her, but everything about his life screamed permanent bachelor. He worked nearly all the time and, as far as she knew, he kept his relationships strictly casual. She forced her mind back to the moment. Her mother was saying something, and she’d lost track.

“Say that again, Mom. My brain hasn’t had enough coffee yet.” True, but not why she was distracted. She took another gulp of coffee and topped it off before walking to the small round table by the windows and sitting down.

Jill followed and sat across from her. “I was just asking where your car was now.”

“Oh, right. Aidan arranged for two of his crew to wait with it until the tow company got there. You know Aidan, he probably had it sent to the most swank towing company lot in Seattle. As if there could be such a thing.” She rolled her eyes and glanced out the window.

“Now, honey. Don’t give Aidan a hard time for helping you. He’s a good man.”

Becca idly twirled a lock of her damp hair around her finger. “I know. I was teasing. He’s another Gage—always there to save the day.”

Jill frowned. “And what’s wrong with that?”

Becca couldn’t seem to eliminate her slightly snide tone. She didn’t really mean it, but Aidan set her off. Their kiss last night had only exacerbated the feeling. She certainly didn’t want to try to explain that to her mother. She bought a moment by taking a slow sip of coffee before she met her mother’s soft gray eyes.

“Nothing’s wrong with saving the day. You know me, sometimes I tease too much.”

Her mother held her gaze, her eyes a tad too knowing for Becca’s comfort. “Maybe so, but you hate asking for help more than anyone I know, so I’m sure it rankles when you need it. It wouldn’t hurt you to be forced to ask for help a bit more. Maybe you’d get over yourself then.”

Becca tried to beat back the defensive feeling that arose inside. She wanted to stomp her feet and deny her mother’s point. However, it was so apt, she knew she’d sound ridiculous if she argued. She hadn’t always been this bad about it. She and her twin brother Garrett occupied the middle tier of siblings in their family. Gage was the oldest, her and Garrett next, then Sawyer, and last came her only sister, Jessa. Being jostled in the middle and surrounded with three brothers, Becca had fought to be as strong and as tough as her brothers.
 
She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she’d always wanted to be strong, to show the world she could take care of herself. Yet, she hadn’t been antagonistic to the concept of relying on someone. She’d taken a spin on trying to let down her guard, which had ended in the spectacular and mortifying end of her engagement when she caught her fiancée with his pants around his ankles in the bathroom and another woman’s mouth wrapped around his cock. The woman in question, Lynne Green, had allegedly been Becca’s friend and was supposed to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. The bitter irony of how cliché it all was still rankled at her.

Even worse, Kyle—she could barely stand to think his name—had pulled himself together faster than she had in the moment and technically broken up with her before she managed to form a word in her brain. He’d gone on to report to their many shared friends and acquaintances his toned down version of events, which included the face-saving detail that he had broken up with her. She was too embarrassed to tell many people the sordid truth, but a few close friends knew. To her knowledge, her mother didn’t know the worst of it. She only knew Kyle had broken up with Becca two days before the wedding and he’d gone on to date her friend.

To say Becca didn’t enjoy the idea of allowing herself to be vulnerable, which meant asking for help sometimes, was an understatement after that. Traversing this mental trail of events, Becca smiled ruefully at her mother. “Maybe so. At least I let Aidan drive me up here last night after he made the arrangements for my car. That’s big for me, you know?”

***

“Easy, Oscar,” Aidan warned when his sister’s dog barreled toward him.

Oscar incrementally slowed his gait, but he still crashed into Aidan’s knees. Aidan leaned down and ran his hand through Oscar’s thick fur.

“He can’t help himself,” Ellie remarked from across the room. “He loves you to pieces.” Ellie tucked her almost-black hair behind her ears as she looked over at Aidan, her hazel eyes glinted with amusement.

Aidan plunked down on the couch and patted it. Oscar had free rein in Ellie’s house, including to the couch. Oscar leapt up beside Aidan and immediately curled up and rested his head against Aidan’s leg. Oscar was Ellie’s latest foster dog. She cared for dogs one a time until the local rescue organization found permanent homes for them. Oscar had been with her for months now. Large and black, he was a mixed breed dog who looked mostly Labrador retriever. According to Ellie, even the friendliest black dogs were harder to adopt out.

Aidan leaned his head back on the couch and eyed Oscar. “I think he loves everyone to pieces.”

Ellie grinned and stood up from the small table where she’d been sewing. Scraps of brightly colored fabrics were scattered on the table like confetti. Ellie loved to sew and had lately taken up quilting. Every time Aidan wondered how his little sister would get by, she tried her hand at yet another artsy endeavor and made money. Her quilts were selling well at a local fiber arts gallery in Bellingham. They were added onto her stable of pottery.

She sat down across from Aidan and Oscar in a small rocking chair, idly pushing it back and forth with her foot. “He loves lot of people, but you’re in his special category. I wish you’d consider adopting him. He’d make a great friend for you.”

“Ellie, I’d love to, but I work too much.”

“Take him with you. He’s a good boy. He can be your ride along buddy.”

Aidan grinned at that. Oscar would be good company on long days. “”I’ll think about it. Meanwhile, what do you need fixed this weekend?”

He and Ellie were close, which was a good thing because their father died while he was on active duty during the first Iraq war, and then their mother passed away only a few years after Ellie finished high school. They had some extended family nearby, but they weren’t too close. They had each other, and Aidan was thankful they got along well. He’d been around enough to know that wasn’t always the case, even in loving families. As such, Aidan was Ellie’s go-to guy when she needed help with home repairs. Aidan didn’t mind as it gave him a chance to get out of the city, and he enjoyed visiting Ellie. She was easy to be around.

“I need help patching the roof over the garage. I had this grand idea I could do it myself and looked it up online and everything. Then, I tried to get up there and remembered heights make me way too nervous,” Ellie said with a grin.

Aidan chuckled. “Right. Plus, it’s never a good idea to climb up on a roof when you’re alone.”

Ellie rolled her eyes. “I never made it up there, so no need to worry.”

“How come you think you need it patched?”

“Because it’s leaking. Right over where I get in and out of my car. It’s not bad, but the guy at the hardware store said it’s better not to ignore it.”

“The guy at the hardware store is right. Let’s go take a look.”

A while later, Aidan was up on Ellie’s roof. After a quick check and the pleasant discovery that Ellie had ably purchased all the supplies he might need, he’d gotten to work. He worked quietly, enjoying the cool breeze coming off the ocean nearby. His mind kept turning over thoughts of Becca. He’d fallen asleep with their kiss fresh in his thoughts last night. While everything he’d said to her was true, he’d never thought he’d have a chance with her. She kept men at a very clear distance. Meanwhile, he’d long ago accepted his desire for her would likely go unanswered. Then, last night had happened.

It was just a kiss. Don’t go thinking you might have a chance for more.
Problem was, more was all he wanted despite the wrinkle of her being Gage’s sister. Aidan doubted Gage would guess at his feelings for Becca because he’d buried them so deep to keep his distance. Not to mention that he’d unintentionally created the impression he wasn’t interested in anything beyond casual with women. He wasn’t, but he’d yet to meet anyone who called to him the way Becca did. With her, even when he was young and half led around by his cock, he’d known Becca was special. Considering her off limits, he’d carried on with his life and had honestly hoped to meet someone else. He dated plenty of women, but he rarely let things go too far. He preferred to keep things uncomplicated, and sex often invited complications. He hadn’t meant for it to look the way it did, but he cared so little for what others thought that he ignored it.

He shook his head and kept working. By early afternoon, he climbed down the ladder and put it away, along with his tools, in Ellie’s garage. When he walked inside, he found Ellie with fabric draped on her lap and her sewing machine whirring.

“All set. Roof should be good to go. We won’t know for sure until it rains again, but I think it’s fine.”

Ellie glanced up and pulled a few pins out of her mouth. “Of course it’s fine. You’re the master repair guy,” she said with a grin.

“Mind if I head over to the Hamilton’s for a bit this afternoon?”

“Of course not! I’m trying to get this quilt done this weekend, so all you’d be doing here is watching me sew.”

“How about we plan on breakfast downtown tomorrow?”

Ellie had already turned back to her quilt and nodded absently. Aidan didn’t know what the rest of today would hold, but he was keeping his options open. Becca had said it was okay to stop by, and he fully intended to make sure she didn’t simply ignore their kiss. One small problem was he was a planner, and he didn’t have a plan. Becca turned him upside down inside and made it hard to think straight. His rigorous military training was usually what he relied on, but it wasn’t much good when it came to matters of the heart and body. When it came to Becca, she stirred deep waters. Years of denying his feelings had sent them flooding out when he kissed her last night.

Chapter 4

Becca stared out the window, idly tracing the edge of the windowsill. Her parents had left to run some errands and later to attend a fundraiser. Her father had retired from the military years ago and busied himself with various local projects. Her mother still worked occasionally as a nurse. Both of them were active in the local community and often attended fundraisers for various community non-profits. They’d invited Becca to go with them, but she hadn’t been up for it. Though she could barely admit it to herself, she was also restlessly waiting for Aidan to call. It was late afternoon, and she was starting to wonder if he would.

Of course he will. If Aidan said he would call, he will. He’s a man of his word.
Immediately on the heels of that thought, Becca tried to stop thinking about him. She didn’t trust men, so it didn’t make sense to trust Aidan.
It doesn’t change the fact he is who he is. Aidan comes through. He always comes through.
She sighed and lifted her gaze. Bellingham Bay was visible in the distance with the famed San Juan Islands peeking out beyond the bay. She took a breath and tried to quell her anxiety.

One kiss from Aidan, and she was a hot mess. She wrapped her arms around her waist and turned away from the window, pacing slowly between the living room and kitchen. She tried to recall the last time she’d kissed anyone. It promptly occurred to her that Kyle held those sad honors. The same day she’d found him in the bathroom otherwise occupied, he’d kissed her goodbye in the morning before she left for work. Well, she supposed it was good she’d finally kissed someone else. When she’d sworn off men, it hadn’t occurred to her that to shut all chances out would mean Kyle would forever be the last man she’d been intimate with.
This
was a new train of thought, a most definitely odd one, but nevertheless.