Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

D allas was a decent cook. He could make a mean breakfast out of next to nothing, but aside from that, his culinary skills were limited to simple recipes. Stew, chicken soup, that sort of thing. Which was why dinner at the main house was always a treat. The feast that Rosie prepared for the Bridgestones was next level. In his opinion, the woman could give Gordon Ramsay a run for his money, without the potty mouth, of course. Rosie had strict rules for her kitchen. Always wash hands and no cursing.

As Benton predicted, Ryland was a no-show, though Nora kept things interesting. She more than made up for any awkward silences between him and Vivian because she was one hell of a chatterbox. Heck, he was pretty sure she'd been born talking.

First, she'd wanted to sit beside her Auntie Viv, and then insisted Dallas sit across from them next to Benton. Her doll Velvet sat next to him. Then she proceeded to talk nonstop about a number of things, from the kittens in Dallas's mudroom to some snake named Eddie at the Pullman ranch, and she finished up by giving them an overview of her newest favorite nature show on Emperor penguins.

Honestly, he had no idea a girl her age had so many words inside her. By the time dinner was done, his head spun from all the information she'd passed on, and he volunteered for cleanup so that Benton could get his daughter upstairs and showered and ready for bed.

Which in turn left him alone with Vivian, who, unlike her niece, hadn't contributed to the conversation at all.

"You're quiet tonight. Everything okay?" he asked, feeling he should start the ball rolling. Which, in and of itself, was odd for Dallas—normally, he liked the quiet.

"Of course," she answered, getting to her feet. "I'm just a little tired, is all." She grabbed the dirty dishes from the table and took them over to the sink to rinse, while he cleared the rest of it. The air was thick and heavy with things unsaid, and Dallas wasn't sure how to navigate his way through.

"It's been a few days," he said, tossing the scraps into the garbage before leaning against the counter a few inches from Vivian.

She took a plate from Dallas and looked up from underneath her lashes.

"Since we…" He raised a cocky eyebrow. "Hung out."

"I've been working." Vivian loaded the dish into the machine. "A lot."

Okay. That surprised him. "Yeah?" He handed her the rest of the plates and grabbed a cloth to clean the table. He was more than a little curious. "What is it that you do exactly?"

She popped in a pod and started the dishwasher, then turned to him, a half-smile on her face. Free of makeup, she looked like the girl who'd stolen his heart when he was seventeen. It was crazy, really. Life had left some lines on his face, but she looked as if she'd just stepped out of a memory, with her hair up in a messy bun, skin soft and glowing.

"I give relationship and family advice." Her chin was up in defiance, as if she expected some kind of blowback. He was more than happy to oblige.

"You give what?"

Vivian lifted her chin higher. "I talk about relationships and family dynamics on a podcast. And I write a column too." She shrugged. "I know it's hard to believe considering my own life is a train wreck, but I seem to be able to find the right words and ideas for fixing everyone else's situation except mine." She leaned against the counter a few inches from him. "I still can't believe I get paid for it." She looked up at him. "Crazy, right?"

"Not crazy," he replied. "You were always observant. Always ready to ignore your own advice while dishing it out to everyone else. That hasn't changed." He watched her closely. "Remember the blizzard?"

A slow burn crept over her features, and she slowly nodded. "A girl doesn't forget being stranded in a cabin in the middle of a storm like that. All because she needed to see a guy so bad, she was stupid." Vivian looked away and shook her head. "You made me stupid and crazy." A pause. "I think you still do."

"I know the feeling." Dallas tossed the cloth in his hand. "What's your life like in Alaska?"

Was she surprised at the question? Her body language was stiff, and she turned away. There was a window over the sink, and she stared out into the dark November night.

"I have a nice home. A condo on the water. It's full of nice things. I work with nice people, and I have a nice job that"—a hint of smile curved her bottom lip—"pays the bills even though I feel like a fraud." She turned around and leaned her elbows back onto the counter. "I don't have any pets or anyone to look after other than myself, so I suppose that's nice. Easy. I have one friend, Jack, who means the world to me, and he loves me even when I'm not nice. The fact that he's gay and the only man in my life is telling, I suppose, but what exactly it says, I'm not sure."

"That's a hell of a lot of nice."

"It is."

"I just never figured you for…"

She pushed away from the counter and moved closer. So close, he could see the lighter shade of blue and gold around her irises and count the freckles that sprinkled across her nose.

"For what? Boring? Unimaginative?"

"You're neither of those things. You couldn't be boring if you tried."

She licked her bottom lip, and damn, now all he could think about was kissing her until she begged him to stop.

"Then what?" she asked carefully. The pulse at her throat beat steady and sure, and her breath caught as she stared up at him. "What is it that you never figured me for?"

Dallas had never been the kind of man to bullshit, and he didn't see the need to start now. "I never thought you'd settle."

"Settle?" Her eyebrows shot up, and she made no effort to hide her displeasure. "I didn't settle. I took what I could get and made the most of it."

"Not buying it. You've settled for the easy way out."

Her eyes flashed, and she stepped away. When she spoke, her voice shook. "My life has been anything but easy. You of all people should know that."

He considered her for a few seconds. "I know you had it rough, Viv. But I also know you've been running since you left, and that ain't living."

"And you are? Living the dream?" she retorted, anger propping up her shoulders. "You're still here. In this place. Working a ranch that will never be yours."

He ignored the taunt. He knew what she was doing, because it was what she always did when she felt backed into a corner. Vivian deflected. And insulted. And back in the day, it would have pushed every single button he owned, and they'd have a huge fight. They'd say things they regretted, but they'd never apologize for them. It was why they'd been doomed.

But Dallas wasn't young and dumb anymore. He was a grown man who'd learned to deal with things in ways other than using a sharp tongue or his fists.

"You always had a fire in your belly. You pushed back. You challenged. God, Viv, you were wild and crazy, and you didn't take shit from anyone. Not even me." Would he ever understand this woman? "You drove me crazy."

"You drove me insane."

"Guess we're even."

Vivian sighed and moved away from him. "I have a good life in Alaska. I don't worry about money. I have a purpose. A reason to get up every day."

"So you said. It's nice."

"Yes."

"And yet you're back here in Montana." A slow burn started in his gut when she turned to him, because the look in her eyes was anything but nice .

"For the moment." Her eyes narrowed a bit. "And what is it that kept you here, Dal? What's your life like? I remember a time when all you dreamed about was leaving. Of going to Houston or out to Kentucky. You were going to be some big-time horse breeder."

"Things change. I had to grow up real fast."

"So did I."

"My father is in jail."

"What?" She was shocked. "I didn't know. What happened?"

"He screwed the wrong woman and got into it with her husband at some bar in Bozeman. It got physical, and he knocked the guy down." It was hard to hide the disgust he felt for his father, so he didn't try. "The man never got up, so my father went to prison on aggravated assault charges. I'm sure you remember he'd been in trouble before, so this time his sentence was twenty years." Even now, the anger he felt over his father was big. "I stayed because my mom and sister needed me and because I…"

Christ, what the hell was he doing?

"Because you…?" Vivian prodded, watching him closely.

"I guess I thought you'd come back." He bent toward her, inhaling that scent that would drive him over the edge if he let it. "But you didn't."

"I couldn't," she whispered.

"Until now."

"Until now."

He focused on that pulse at her neck, because her big blue eyes would destroy him. Dallas Henhawk was the kind of man most folks steered clear of because he wasn't easy or nice. He had no problem being an asshole, and yet this woman had him by the balls and didn't know it.

Yet.

"Do you think Benton is coming back down?" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I have no idea."

"Is it rude if I leave?"

"Do you care what your brother thinks?"

She moistened her lips, the jezebel, and his body went hot and then cold, suddenly filled with the kind of thirst only she could quench.

"No," Vivian replied. "Do you?"

"In this case, I'd have to say I don't give a flying crap what your brother thinks."

"Are you walking me home?" Her eyes had darkened, and when she slid her tongue across her lower lip, his body answered with a sudden surge of desire. Already, his mind was two paces ahead, images of Vivian naked, beneath him, taunted Dallas. He took a step back, because he didn't trust himself not to take what she was offering right here in the Bridgestone kitchen.

"After you," he replied.

Vivian held his gaze for a heartbeat and then sailed past him while he took a moment to calm the hell down, and then, like a good boy, headed to the foyer. They got into their boots and winter gear, and while he would have taken his truck, she headed off into the darkness, giving him no choice but to follow along.

There was no talking. No words to pass the time as they walked through drifts of snow that were nearly to his knees. By the time they reached the foreman's cabin, he'd worked up a sweat, but it was nothing like the fever raging inside his body.

Vivian let them in, and he shrugged out of his coat, then tossed his boots and hung up his coat. The dog stood a few feet from him, growling softly. He'd forgotten about the damn thing. "Beat it," he muttered darkly, then glanced over his shoulder. His blood ran hot at the sight of Vivian bent over in nothing but her underwear and bra, trying to rip off her socks.

"Let me," he murmured, grabbing her calf and holding her still so he could tug it off. Once her feet were bare, his hands traveled up her hips, and he hooked his hands underneath her panties, then slowly pulled them down so that she could step out of them. While he was busy doing that, she'd already undone her bra.

Dallas sat back and stared up at a goddess put on this earth to fuck with him.

"You're beautiful," he said slowly, pushing her backward until the sofa blocked their way. She leaned against it, and he spread her legs apart. "You still tired?" he asked roughly, eyes on the prize before him.

"No," Vivian said softly.

Dallas glanced up at her and grinned. "That's good, Duchess." He held her hips in place, then bent forward to taste her. To devour her. To drive her over the edge.

The only problem was, he was along for the ride, and if he'd been thinking straight, he might have realized that following Vivian over the edge wasn't the smart thing to do.

For a smart man, this could be a problem.