14. Claimed by Him

CHAPTER 14

Claimed by Him

TORI

N ate proved he could deliver more than a satisfying ability to please me with his mouth. What else was he capable of with that tongue of his? My panties soaked and I shook those thoughts right out of my head.

For one minute, I simply wanted to sit and be alone with my thoughts. Catch my breath, too. Everything about this night started to overwhelm. I was ready to leave, but Mama Harland announced the cake cutting would happen soon. I made an excuse for the bathroom and left his side.

When I entered, Meadow was in the ladies room, talking with a couple of younger women.

“Oh, here she is, our lovely bride. Tori, let me introduce you to Hartlyn and Chloe Wilson. Hartlyn dates Cody Love, the man who owns the ranch you’re staying at.” She surprised me by pulling me in for a hug, and so did the other two. Being neighborly here apparently gave everyone license to constantly embrace.

“Nice to meet you both.” I nodded.

“How do you like the cabin so far?” Chloe asked.

“Isn’t it cute and comfortable? I decorated it myself.” Hartlyn boasted. I didn’t have the heart to put down her attempt, even though I knew with a little more of a designer’s touch the cabins could be gorgeous inside and out.

“Thank you for letting us stay there. It is quite cozy.” Not exactly a lie. “I love how tucked away the spot is for the cabins and the view of the ranch around us.”

“See. You told Cody that spot would be perfect. Now you two can stop arguing about that, at least.” Chloe stuck her elbow into her sister’s rib.

“I don’t know if we can stop fighting. I think we’re headed for another breakup.”

“It’s always something with you two. How many years have I told you to leave him if he’s not going to settle down?”

Their Southern accents hit me as stronger from these two. Their long blonde tresses softly fell in waves around their shoulders, pretty as they could be. In my head, they embodied the picture of the classic southern belle.

Chloe excused herself from the room, leaving the other two lingering still. My chance for peace and quiet diminished.

Hartlyn tapped her chin, squinting at me. “Hm. Now that you’re staying a while, maybe you’d prefer something bigger? Cody has his old family farmhouse available for rent on the other side of the property if you’d be interested.”

“Our decision being so new, we hadn’t given it much thought, but you’re right. A bigger place would help. So would jobs and… There’s a lot to figure out.” I ended on a sigh. We had decided to deal with things one at a time. Get through tonight first, tomorrow we’d tackle the rest.

“Hm. Speaking of jobs, you should tell Tori about the Harvest Festival,” Meadow encouraged.

“Yes. The Love Ranch is hosting their first ever festival in a few weeks, and we’ll need helpers of all kinds if you’d be interested.” She proceeded to fill me in on the details. They were starting to set up for the festival now, for the event to be held the entire month of October. From family fun games and a petting zoo, to a corn maze and haunted hayrides, there would be something for all ages. A one-day music festival also featured in the plans involving many local bands rotating on the stage throughout the day, with Prima as the emcee for it.

Meadow gushed, clearly excited. “I cannot wait for the festival. When I became the mayor, I could only dream of the hustle and bustle we have in town now.”

“It certainly sounds interesting.” I couldn’t bring myself to admit to them how little experience I had at any job.

“Gosh. I hope we didn’t step out of bounds here. You probably are trained or educated in some unrelated field,” Meadow laughed now, nervously.

“I have worked in design. That’s what my degree is in.” Might as well let the lies add up as they rolled right off of my tongue. “But here, something like this, just to get me started, would be nice. Is there an application I need to fill out?”

“Heaven’s no. I wouldn’t think of making you fill out paperwork. You’re Nate’s wife. The Harlands are dear friends of ours. I’d even pay you under the table, but don’t let the mayor hear about it.” With a wink, she chuckled. Meadow, too, placing her hands on her ears like she didn’t hear a thing.

I made a mental note to get our fake IDs from Nate anyway. At first, he probably held onto them thinking we were a flight risk. But now, where would I take my daughter? I went from thinking Cap had planned everything to the nth degree, to living in the moment with Nate, unsure of our next steps.

If I was honest with myself, I wasn’t ready to leave. Living with him in the cabin, trust between us grew, and it wasn’t easy for me to accept. He hadn’t left us yet, despite the complex nature of the mission he never asked for, and felt obliged to finish. With Nate around, day by day, I started to feel safe, but I hoped it wasn’t a false sense of security. Bottesta was still at large, although I doubted he’d put his finger on a map and point to Kissing Springs to find me.

“Porsche could work as well. Opal will be, after school and on the weekends when she’s not cheering, if she makes the squad,” Meadow added. “How sweet the two of them are, becoming friends. Which reminds me. Opal has been hounding me to ask you if Porsche could come come to our house for a sleepover.”

The same pressure had been coming at me from my daughter as well. “Maybe soon. There’s a lot going on right now.”

“Sure. Just say when.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll be out on the ranch riding my horse. I’ve been so stressed lately helping Cody plan this festival. We’ve been fighting over every detail, I swear. But riding is my stress-relief and helps calm me. I could stop by the cabin? I’ll show you the farmhouse and the festival plan. We can talk more then.”

“Sounds good.” They made to leave, but Meadow turned back, with a squeeze of my arm and a genuine smile I was sure came naturally as the mayor here.

“I just know, once you give this town a chance, you’ll feel right at home.” Her words intended to be encouraging, but took me aback.

After they left, I exhaled, leaning against the wall, finally able to breath and roll my shoulders. Home. I doubted I had ever truly known what that felt like.

When I left my parents at sixteen, Ricardo already had a house. After he died, Antonio’s became our living quarters under armed guard at all times. None them were ever home.

Did my daughter understand the concept of home?

When I finally left the restroom, I scanned the party for her. She and Opal and few other girls stood near the stage, talking and laughing with Connor. I scowled. Just what she needed, to develop a crush on a music man. And where was Nate? Why wasn’t he keeping an eye on her?

It took a few minutes, but I finally spotted him in one of the dark corners of the room—with a woman. The way he leaned an elbow on the wall above her, very close to her, talking and smiling, ignited a tick twitching my eye as I watched.

Her hand landed on his forearm in such an intimate way, indicating clear familiarity. An old girlfriend, perhaps? One all too glad he was back home, hoping for a second chance?

I huffed. The music wasn’t too loud, but the woman tugged on his shirt, bending him closer so she could whisper in his ear. He roared his head back, laughing at whatever stupid thing she said.

It shouldn’t bug me, but it did. How dare he? He had one job here—to watch after us. Not chasing some piece of ass right in front of me and the entire town.

His mother’s voice broke right into my jealous fit. “Gather around the cake table. Nate? Tori? Oh, Porsche, join me, sweetie, for a picture. Where’s our happy couple?”

I stomped forward taking my place beside her, and if she’d noticed not too happy.

“And where is Nate?”

“I’m here.” He appeared, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me beside him. He smiled down at me, leaning as if for a kiss, but I dissed him, turning my head away with my arms crossed.

“Chloe Wilson baked and decorated the cake. And let me say her champagne frosting is to die for. Didn’t she do a fabulous job?” Mrs. Harland explained. The cake was beautiful, but I could hardly concentrate still pissed at my fake husband for flirting, yet I knew very well I had no right to be. “With this knife, passed down for four generations in my family, both Tracy and Jayne cut their wedding cakes and surely it brought their union much luck. Now it’s your turn. And don’t forget to make a wish when you cut the first piece.”

She pressed the ivory pearl handle into my palm, then she and Porsche scooted away. In my current mental state, wielding a cake knife next to Nate wasn’t a good idea. As far as weapons went, the antique could hardly be lethal, but effective against a husband’s cheating ass.

Why was I letting this get to me so hard? Then every infidelity of Ricardo’s hit me. Oh yeah. I had baggage to claim.

I sighed, willing myself to calm down, closing my eyes for second. Ricardo wasn’t here. None of this was real. If Nate wanted to fuck around, he had my full permission to do so once this mission of his was over. I wouldn’t stand for it otherwise, this situation was difficult enough to navigate.

I muttered under my breath, “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Which layer of the cake should we cut? Top, middle or bottom?” He whispered and enclosed his hand around mine with the knife still in it.

“I could care less.” In tandem, I moved us into position and slammed the blade down into the bottom layer, wondering what it’d feel like if his balls were on the table instead. Good thing he hadn’t a clue what ugly thoughts swirled around in my head.

“Dang. This cake is pretty soft. Do we have to cut so hard?”

“Do you have to flirt with a random woman in the corner?”

He scoffed. “Is that what this is about? You jealous?”

“No.” I forced us to make the second cut, just as vehemently as the first.

“Yeah, you are. But you don’t have to worry. She’s one of my exes from high school. We were just catching up. She’s married. Happily. Two kids. Another on the way. We simply had some laughs about the old days.”

I rolled my eyes. “Exactly how many exes should I expect you to be reminiscing with during our stay here?”

“For the record, many. Unfortunately. I’m not sure why it matters. Aren’t we keeping things professional between us?”

“That doesn’t mean I give you permission to flirt.”

“I see. Well, look, I grew up here. There’s bound to be a lot of history catching up to me the longer we stay. Deal with it. It doesn’t mean I desire every woman who crosses my path.”

“Then what do you desire?” I dropped the knife on the table, unable to let my anger go, too far gone now. His hand left mine and and reached for the plate. I took up the server and dumped a piece on it, making a mess with little care for presentation.

“At the moment? I’d like my wife to calm the fuck down.”

“Oh really? How’s this for calm?” I grabbed half the piece and smeared it into his face. Not just a simple swipe of icing on his chin, but allover. His forehead, both cheeks, down his nose, across his gorgeous lips that I suddenly, desperately yearned to kiss again, leaving little of the confection and icing left in my hand.

“I cannot believe you just did that,” he seethed, while people around us were in stitches without a clue about our frustrations. He picked up his half of the slice, his eyes all fired up.

“No. Nate. Don’t. You. Dare.”

“I don’t know what they teach you in the city, princess, but down here? Turn about is fair play.”

“Nate? Nate!” He backed me up against the wall. I eyed nervously around looking for anyone to intervene. This man, my supposed protector, became my cake enemy. As he reared his elbow back, cake poised and ready to fire, I started to raise my arms in automatic defense of myself.

Instead, his lips seared into mine, crushing me, splitting my lips with his tongue. The cake and icing drifted into it, sweetening the taste of him. His tongue travelled further down my throat, taking me unabashedly without a care for our onlookers.

My anger and frustration subsided, replaced with unfulfilled longing. I wanted to know this man inside and out. Especially inside of me, waking me up, proving that a man could be loving and caring.

I’d heard of a man claiming a woman with kisses, never a party to such a thing. But now?

Claimed. My fake husband claimed the fuck out of me.

But for how long? One day soon, all this small town bliss would come to an end. I couldn’t let my heart lead me all the way to heartbreak.

When we parted lips, our eyes remained connected, heated together, until the crowd cheering for us slammed us back to reality.

None of this was real.

None of this was real.

None of this was real. I forced myself to recall until I believe it again.

“Did you really think I’d cross your face with cake?” He chortled.

“Yes. But good for you, you didn’t. Otherwise, we’d have to find out just how sharp that old cake knife really is.” I swiped some of the icing from his forehead and licked it off my finger, slowly drawing it out, delighting at his eyes laser focused on my mouth. He growled like he enjoyed the view way too much.

“Uh, are you guys okay? We are still acting, right? Because people are saying that kiss looked really hot.” Porsche observed, coming up to us. My cheeks pinked, sending me fast back to the reality of being a mother and this entire ridiculousness. I hoped I didn’t traumatize my baby yet again.

I lightly pushed away. “Yes. I think the party is about done. Don’t you, Nate?”

“Yep. Come on, team. We have a ton of presents to stuff into the truck.”

The entire ride home, I replayed every second in my head. I moved fast-forward, like Cap had, working through every possible scenario, and every outcome, coming to one conclusion. The more Nate and I touched or kissed, the more Nate and Porsche got close as father and daughter, the more each of us would get hurt in the end.

No matter what happened next, I must keep myself, and Porsche, from falling hard for Nate Harland.