“Meli?” I mouthed.
Nodding her head, Paxton dropped her hands and pulled on her boots.
“Okay. Words…come to me!” Amelia said. I could faintly hear the sounds of her fingernails tapping against her keyboard.
Now it made sense. The flowers sitting on the table were Amelia’s favorite. She had told me she had a hiding place for writing when she was struggling with a story. She must have meant the cabin.
“What do we do?” Paxton mouthed as she pulled the comforter off the bed and picked up the bandana and wrapped it all in a ball. I loved that she was trying to clean up.
Smiling, I took her hand in mine. She shook her head and pulled back when I tried to get her to walk with me out to the living area.
“Steed! No!” she whispered.
The typing stopped. I put my finger to my mouth to get Paxton to stop talking. She dropped the bedspread like it had burned her.
The typing started again as did the faint sound of music. I slowly opened the door to the bedroom. Amelia’s back was facing us. Paxton tried to sneak out of the cabin without Amelia seeing us. I watched as she tiptoed over to the front door. Amelia caught sight of her and screamed, then jumped up. Which made Paxton scream and throw her body against the front door.
“It’s just me!” Paxton screamed.
Amelia covered her chest with both hands. Her eyes jerked from Paxton to me, back to Paxton and finally back to me.
“Jesus, son of Mary! You scared the living piss out of me! What in the hell are you—” She stopped talking. A slow smile moved across her face.
“You slept together!” I glanced at Paxton. She wore a huge grin as her cheeks turned a beautiful shade of pink.
Amelia jumped up and down. “You slept together! Oh. To-the-M! To-the-get it girl-G!”
Covering her face in her hands, Paxton groaned. I walked over and pulled her into my arms. “We’ve been caught, pumpkin.”
Amelia did a few spins, a fist pump, mumbled something about motivation and then stilled.
“Wait. You had sex in here? Please tell me you were finished when I walked in.”
I wanted to laugh at the horrified look on her face as it all sank in. “Actually, we were gearing up for round two when you walked in.”
Paxton hit me on the stomach while Amelia covered her mouth and stumbled back a few steps. She fake gagged…or maybe she gagged for real. I’m not sure.
“You were…when I… That’s gross.”
Paxton dropped her head and buried her face into my chest. “I’m so humiliated.”
“Don’t be, Pax. We didn’t know anyone would be showing up.”
“Why must you guys use this cabin as your fuck zone? Oh my God! I walked in on Trevor banging some whore on my work table a few months ago! He has a house on the ranch! You have a house. Why are you here in my happy place?”
“We were out riding and things got a little heated. I couldn’t take Paxton back to my place because Mom’s there with Chloe.”
Amelia sighed. “Did you at least clean up?”
Paxton pushed off me. “We started to! Steed, get the bedspread and that little bandana.”
I started for the bedroom, but Amelia stepped in front of me. “B-bandana?”
“Yeah,” I said trying to walk around her.
“What about it?”
“I had to use it in a pinch.”
Her eyes widened. “So you used it for blowing your nose?” She looked hopeful that I might agree with that.
I shook my head. “No, if you must know, when you walked in I was still buried balls deep inside Paxton.”
“Oh God,” Paxton said with a groan.
Amelia snarled her lip. “Gross.”
“You’re taking the conversation there, sis. I needed to wipe the cum off of us, and I saw the bandana on the side of the bed. I used it. I figured it was something Mom had picked up for decoration.”
Horror moved over her face. “No! You didn’t! Steed! Why didn’t you walk into the bathroom and get a towel like any normal guy?”
“I panicked, Amelia! I was fucking my girlfriend less than three minutes before you walked in! What the hell was I supposed to do?”
She spun around and covered her mouth. “Too much information!”
“You were the one jumping all around saying how happy you were we had sex!”
“Um, maybe I’ll just go in and get that stuff,” Paxton said walking between us and into the bedroom.
“Steed! That was a gift from one of my readers! They made it for me because one of my characters in a book I wrote always carried a bandana.”
Oh shit.
“Why in the hell did you have a gift from one of your readers on the side table in the cabin?”
“Because I thought it would look cute in here with all the furniture. And this is my writing cave, you asshole!”
Paxton came out of the bedroom carrying the bedspread. “Amelia, I’ll take care of this and get it all cleaned. I’m sure it’s…fine.”
Pinching the bridge of her nose, she shook her head. “It has my brother’s cum on it. Oh God.” Covering her mouth, she gagged again, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
I took Paxton’s free hand in mine and pulled her towards the door. “Hey, you could put this whole scene in a book!”
I could practically feel the anger pouring off of her as she turned to me. She picked up a book and threw it at me. “Fuck you, Steed Parker!” Amelia screamed.
I lost it laughing while I ducked out of harm’s way.
“Steed, that wasn’t very nice,” Paxton said, trying her best to hide her own laughter.
Glancing up, I couldn’t help the lightness that crept into my chest as I watched Paxton sitting in the oversized chair with her legs tucked under her. Chloe was snuggled up, staring at the pages of the book Paxton was reading.
This was the life I had dreamed of for so many years. A family with Paxton. It had been a month since we had sex in the cabin. A month of pure fucking bliss. Every chance we had we were in bed together. Making up for lost time.
Damn, I loved making love to Paxton. It was the only time I ever felt completely relaxed. Contentment wasn’t even the beginning of how I felt.
“Daddy? Are you going to get our turkey this year for Thanksgiving?”
My eyes drifted to my daughter’s, and I smiled. “Uncle Tripp always shoots the Turkey for Thanksgiving.”
“How come?” Chloe asked.
I shrugged. “Guess it’s always been the tradition. Grandpa had him shoot his first turkey when he was about your age.”
Her eyes widened as she jumped out of the chair and ran across the room to me. “Can I shoot a turkey with Uncle Tripp?”
With a chuckle, I nodded. “If you want to. I’m sure he would love that, but maybe next year when I can teach a little more about guns and how to safely use them.”
Chloe spun around and faced Paxton. “Paxton, have you ever shot a deer?”
“I sure have. I was with your Daddy when I shot my first deer.”
My mind drifted back to that day. Paxton sitting up in the deer stand with me, so serious about killing her first buck. I’d never been more proud than when she shot him, and he dropped straight to the ground. Perfect shot.
“Daddy! Daddy! I want to be like Paxton! Please can I shoot a deer?”
Laughing, I pulled her onto my lap and tickled her stomach. She kicked and laughed until I stopped. “You really want to shoot a deer, Chloe?”
Her big blue eyes looked into mine. “I want to be like Paxton when I grow up.”
My heart melted and my gaze jerked up to see Paxton wiping a tear from her cheek. “She is pretty amazing, isn’t she?” I asked not really expecting my daughter to answer.
“She is. I can’t wait until she’s my mommy.”
We both smiled. This past month I hadn’t pressured Paxton with our relationship. If it were up to me she’d be moved in, and my ring would be on her finger. But I knew she wanted to take things slower. We made sure we went out at least three times a week. Twice alone and once with Chloe.
Paxton’s blue eyes stared into mine, and I replied, “Neither can I, pumpkin. Neither can I.”