With that, I shoved by him, hauling my case with me. I struggled down the stairs (it did weigh half a ton) grabbed my purse off the side table by the front door and took off through it.
Hop in his shiny, black, twin-cab Dodge Ram was idling outside my parents’ condo.
He leaned across the cab and pushed open the door the minute he saw me, the interior light coming on.
With a heave, I failed to toss my bag in the truck bed. On the second heave, it was caught in Hop’s hands, pulled from mine and tossed over like it weighed as much as a pillow. Without hesitation, I turned to the car door and, with another heave, I hauled my body into the passenger seat.
Seconds later, Hop hauled his in on the driver’s side.
“Babe—”
“Go,” I whispered to the seatbelt I was wrapping around me.
“Lanie—”
I twisted to him and cried, “Go, go, go!”
Eyes glued to me, he put the truck in gear. He only looked to the road when we were moving.
“You gonna talk to me?” he asked.
“No.”
“Didn’t like leavin’ the kids, babe. Gotta take you back there.”
“Okay.”
“You sleep with me. We’ll get up early.”
“Okay.”
“Lanie—”
“Please,” I whispered and got silence.
We were closing in on his condo when he broke it.
“Your eyes are haunted, honey. This is more than your mom bein’ an alcoholic and your family livin’ in denial and that’s already f**kin’ bad enough.”
“Yes.”
More silence while he waited for me to share.
I didn’t.
Hop didn’t push. He parked, came around to my side, hauled my suitcase out of the back and grabbed my hand. His condo was quiet when we got in. I hadn’t been gone long but clearly his kids had crashed after an active day.
And clearly Hop read my mood because he took me and my bag straight to his room and ordered, “Get ready for bed. I’m closin’ down and lockin’ up. Be back.”
I nodded, did as ordered and wandered from the master bathroom into his room while he was pulling off his tee.
I went directly to the bed.
Hop went to the bathroom and met me in bed after he turned off the lights.
He didn’t turn me into his arms.
I burrowed there.
“Thank God you came up here. Thank God. Thank God. Thank God,” I chanted quietly into his chest.
He gathered my hair away and I felt his lips at the top of my head where he whispered, “Lanie, talk to me.”
I shook my head.
“Later?” he asked.
“Later,” I answered, relieved I didn’t have to get into it then. I didn’t have it in me.
“Promise?” he asked.
“I promise,” I answered.
His hands left my hair and he closed his arms around me.
I let his warmth and strength seep into me, feeling the tension and pain dull. It did not go away but I’d take it dulling for now.
“It’s his.”
Hop said this into the dark.
“What?” I asked.
“Knew it the minute I saw the arrogant, stick-up-his-ass f**ker.”
I lifted my head and looked at him in the dark. “What, honey?”
“That monster in you. It might have fed on other shit along the way, got strong and took control, but it was your father who planted the egg that hatched.”
I dropped my face to his chest. This was my way of answering in the affirmative.
He cupped his hand to the back of my head.
“Enough. I’m done. You sleep,” he ordered.
“Okay.”
His hand sifted through my hair.
I turned my cheek to his chest and held onto his warm, strong body.
His fingers kept sifting through my hair.
My body had melted into his, my eyes drooping, I was close to sleep when I whispered, “Please be real.”
His hand in my hair stilled, curled around my head and Hop whispered back, “Lady, I’m as real as it gets.”
I burrowed closer and fell asleep hoping he was telling the truth.
No.
Chapter Eight
“You’ll Accomp’ny Me”
Hop and I were sitting at a table in a biker bar that was so much better than the one I where I’d met Monster Truck Man, it wasn’t funny. That said, it was still rough but rough in a cool, kickass way, not a scary, precursor to being violated way.
Two mornings before, Hop had woken me early at his condo in Vail with a kiss that led to some cuddling and groping but he didn’t take it anywhere. Still, it felt nice and it was better than phone sex even if it didn’t lead to fruition. This was because it involved Hop, his hands, his mouth, his rough, sleepy voice right in my ear and his body right there for me to put my hands and my mouth on. It was fantastic.
We were up and out of bed before the kids woke. I was in the kitchen making pancakes when they cutely and sleepily made their way downstairs.
As an aside, Hop got gold stars because he had buttermilk available for pancakes. These stars started shining when he told me pancakes weren’t worth making without buttermilk and, since this was the God’s honest truth, I took it as happy indication that Hopper Kincaid and I might just be soul mates.
As they were waiting for pancakes, Hop gave the kids a vague explanation of why I was there, saying my parents had to go home early and he was helping out by giving me another day in Vail. The kids took this in but they did it in a way where I knew explanations were unnecessary. They liked pancakes. They liked being in Vail with their dad. They liked me. So it didn’t matter to them why I was there. They were just happy to go with the flow.
We did pancakes, we went into the Village, we had lunch then we headed home. Riding the high that was being with Hop and his kids, not to mention Hop coming to my rescue in a Dodge Ram the night before, I asked if they wanted to stick around when they dropped me off at my place and I’d make them dinner.
To this offer, I got two enthusiastic replies from the back of the cab and one eye slide complete with sexy, warm grin from the driver’s seat. I took this as ringing endorsement for my idea. I also didn’t try to stop myself from processing how nice that felt.
I didn’t have food so we stopped by the grocery store before we went to my house. Hop dragged my suitcase upstairs while the kids alternately explored and chattered to me and I made chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, thick white gravy with loads of pepper and green beans. Since I didn’t have time, I cheated on the key lime pie and made the pie my grandmother taught me how to make, “When you’re in a pinch, sugar plum.” That was, frozen lime juice concentrate mixed with Cool Whip, tossed into a premade graham cracker crust and chilled. It didn’t hold a candle to the real thing but, like Mamaw said, it did in a pinch or at least the way Hop, Molly and Cody wolfed it down, it seemed to.