Page 16 of More Than Words (Trickle Creek: The Lyons #2)

Chapter Thirteen

Ethan

W hen I woke, she was still in my arms, her chest rising and falling with each soft, slumbering breath. At some point in the night, we got off the floor and moved to Delaney’s bed in the back of her apartment and piled the blankets high over top of us to keep us warm.

Not that we’d needed them. The heat between us was more than enough to ward off the cold. Even with the power outage keeping the heat off for most of the night.

I watched her for a few minutes, memorizing how peaceful and absolutely stunning she was.

Outside, the storm had stopped and the sun was trying to shine through the clouds.

The last thing I wanted to do was look outside to see what kind of mess Mother Nature had left for us to clean up.

In a perfect world, I would stay exactly where I was—in Delaney’s bed, with her cuddled up on me, all day.

Sadly, that wasn’t reality.

She must have sensed the shift in me, because before I could slip away, leaving her undisturbed, Delaney’s eyes fluttered open. I watched as a look of surprise crossed her features, before melting into a smile as she remembered the night before.

Her beautiful, sleepy smile stirred me to life when she looked up at me and said, “Good morning.”

I pressed my lips to hers. “Good morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well?”

Her answer was a contented moan, and she wiggled closer to me.

My cock stiffened in response to the feel of her hot, bare skin on mine.

It was my turn to moan. As much as I wanted to give in to my urges—and I very much did—I’d already heard my phone binging with messages from the other room.

I needed to get up and check on things. It was bad enough I’d completely forgotten to go back to the brewery and check on the tanks one last time before going to sleep.

I’d been more than a little distracted. In the very best way.

But still.

I couldn’t completely ignore my responsibilities.

“Looks like the storm stopped,” Delaney said without lifting her head. “How bad do you think it is out there?”

“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly. “But unfortunately, I’m going to need to find out sooner rather than later.”

She sat up, her long, dark hair falling over her bare shoulders as she pulled the sheet up to cover her breasts. Mussed from sleep and sex, she’d never looked more beautiful than she did in that moment.

It took all my self-control not to pull the sheet down and ravage her all over again.

I swallowed hard and forced the thoughts from my head.

“You need to go check on your tanks.” It wasn’t a question. Delaney bit her bottom lip and nodded. “Do you think they’re okay?”

“I sure hope so.” Reluctantly, I flipped the cover back. Before I moved, I leaned over and gave Delaney a long, slow kiss.

“Oh. I should brush my teeth.”

I chuckled. “I love the way you taste.” I wiggled my eyebrows, and she blushed a very pretty shade of pink and swatted my chest as I slipped from the bed.

“You’re leaving?”

“Not for long,” I said, my voice low. “But I do need to make sure the tanks are okay and check in with Quinn.”

Quinn.

Saying her name out loud brought the reality of my daughter sharp and pressing to the front of my mind.

What the hell were we going to tell her?

I stared at Delaney for a moment, the expression on her face matching the thoughts swirling through my head.

Nothing, I decided. We weren’t going to tell Quinn anything. At least not yet. Not until I knew for sure that this thing with Delaney was more than a storm and being snowed in together.

I blinked and put a smile on my face. “I’m sure she had a great time at the inn last night with Reid and Avery, and no doubt she’ll want to stay. But she tends to worry about me.”

“Of course she does.” The worry slipped from Delaney’s face.

We’d have to talk about…well, everything . But it would have to wait.

“You have coffee, right?”

She smiled again, sleepy and soft. “You know I do. But I’m afraid that’s probably all I have as far as breakfast goes.”

“Coffee is perfect.” I bent and kissed her once more, reluctant to leave her and this moment together. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Before I caved in completely and climbed back into bed with her, I forced myself to get up, find my clothes, and face the world outside.

How was something that looked so light and fluffy so damn heavy?

I heaved another shovel of wet snow out of my path and, after what felt like hours, made my way to the back door of the brewery.

My gloves were soaked, and I was sweating so much I hardly needed a jacket against the sharp morning air by the time I unlocked the door.

The plows would be by to clear the back alley and most of the plaza, thank goodness, because I didn’t know whether I could face the prospect of digging out the entire shop front, too.

As heavy and problematic as a heavy snowstorm was, I had to admit, it was pretty.

There was nothing quite as serene as the morning after a fresh snow, and this one was no exception.

The thick, white blanket coated every surface in white crystals that sparkled in the sunshine. It looked like a postcard.

Beautiful, yes.

But still a giant pain in my ass.

Once I finally made it inside, I stamped the snow off my boots and shed my jacket, hanging it over a stack of kegs. The faint hum of the backup generators still filled the air around me and made me smile.

The tanks would be just fine despite my total negligence the night before.

A quick check proved me right.

Temperatures held steady, and the pressure gauges were right where they should be.

I took a few minutes to move through the brewery, checking lines, making notes and doing my usual morning duties.

I was doing everything I was supposed to do. Things I’d done hundreds of times before. But I was totally on autopilot, because the only thing I could concentrate on was the one thing, or rather, one person, I’d left next door.

Delaney.

My mind continued to travel back to the image of her curled up under the blankets: cozy, warm, and…deliciously naked.

The smile on her face when I kissed her. Like she was just as happy with the new development in our relationship as I was.

I shook my head, dragging a hand over my jaw and the stubble that over the last few weeks had started to become a full-on beard. I was really and truly settling into mountain life.

I laughed at myself and was still chuckling a moment later when my phone rang and I answered my brother’s call.

“Reid.” I tucked the phone between my shoulder and neck as I scribbled one final note on my clipboard. “You guys make out okay last night?”

“I was calling to ask you the same thing,” my brother said.

“We’re good here. Had a big fire in the great room.

Quinn helped us serve hot chocolate and make s’mores with the guests last night.

Everyone had a good time.” He paused for a moment.

“Looks like there are some branches down outside, but nothing crazy. How are things there? Generators hold?”

“They did.” I nodded and took another glance around the space.

“It’s like nothing ever happened here. If you don’t count the four feet of snowdrifts outside my front door,” I added as I moved out of the back room into the front of the brewery and saw the drifts outside for the first time.

“Wow. The plows will have their work cut out for them.”

There was no way any customers were getting through that. Not that I expected any anyway. The entire town would be digging out from the storm all day.

“Quinn good?” I asked. “I hope she wasn’t too much trouble.”

“Are you kidding?” My brother almost sounded angry at my question. “Quinn’s great and you know it.”

I chuckled. I did know it.

“She was a huge help last night. And I think she had fun. She’s sleeping in this morning, but she was excited to help Avery make pancakes this morning.”

“I’m sure she did.” My kid was pretty great. And I never had to worry about her behaving herself or being a nuisance. Especially with her uncles.

“In fact, I’m keeping her today,” Reid continued.

“I talked to Preston earlier and he said the roads were still a total shit show. There’s no point in trying to take her home to be stranded on the edge of town until the roads get better.

If she stays with me, she can still make it to school if it opens tomorrow. ”

“I assume today is a snow day?”

“Sounds like it.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “If she’s happy to stay and you’re good with it, she might as well hang out there. I’ll give her a call later when she’s up.”

Reid grunted his approval. “What about you?” he asked after a moment. “Were you stuck at the brewery all night?”

I hesitated.

“I stayed at Delaney’s,” I admitted.

There was a beat of silence. Then a low whistle. “You did, did you?”

I could picture the smug grin on my brother’s face as he no doubt painted his own picture of what exactly went on, which I was sure wasn’t too far from the truth in this particular case. Not that he needed to know that.

“It wasn’t like that,” I said after a moment, lying straight through my teeth.

“Right.” I could almost hear his eyes rolling. “I’m sure it wasn’t.”

“Reid.” I straightened up and set the clipboard down on the bar top. “Don’t say anything about it, okay? Especially not to Quinn.”

“Oh?” His voice immediately sobered.

“Yeah, oh.” I exhaled and pinched the bridge of my nose. “It’s just all really new and I don’t know…well, we don’t know…”

“Of course I won’t say anything,” he said, and I believed him.

My brother might be the grouchiest guy in town, but he had his soft spots, and my kid was one of them.

“You like her.”

“Yeah,” I said, the word rougher than I meant it to be. “I do.”

It was the truth. I did like her.

There was another pause and for a minute, I thought we might have been disconnected. “You deserve good things, man,” Reid finally said. “So does Quinn.”

“She does.”