Page 12 of Single Mom's Mountain Men
Her disheveled, wet, blonde tresses, her sultry eyes and their open, unsure expression. The full, kissable lips. The scent of coconut, the dampness of her skin, and the fact that I can see the full shape of her body outlined in the hastily donned sundress that’s sticking to her every curve.
God. No wonder he didn’t want me to see her. She's gorgeous.
He must have known I would turn into a horn dog instantly.
“Hey,” I say, forcing my mouth to move, albeit sluggishly. I try to keep my eyes on hers instead of going lower like they want to do. “I’m sorry to disturb your rest, but my brother said you would be staying with us and I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Wes, Charlie’s little brother."
“Wait, you’re the little brother?” Her eyes open in surprise. “The way Charlie spoke, I thought you were a lot younger.”
I glare at Charlie out of the corner of my eye. “Of course, he gave you that impression. My brother likes to pretend like I’m akid in front of beautiful women.” I hold out my hand. “But to officially introduce myself, I’m Wes Norris. Charlie’s very grown, very adult, and much more normal younger brother."
She cracks a smile and extends her hand too. "I’m Patty.”
Beautiful name. Warm and unassuming, just like her. “Patty what?”
Her breath hitches a little and there’s a pause before she says, “Patty Cole.” There’s also a skitter in her expression that makes me think that the last part was a lie. The "Cole" didn’t come out with the same natural conviction as "Patty". But I let it go. She probably doesn’t want to tell her full name to two strangers. What if we turn out to be weirdos?
"Patty Cole." I taste the name on my tongue. "Like that singer."
She cocks her head. "There's a singer called Patty Cole?"
“Yeah, I think. Or at least I know her name was Patty something. She was popular in the eighties. You would know her, right Charlie, since you're so ancient?"
Charlie glares at me and Patty giggles. Man, I love the sound of it.
"Anyway, Patty, it's real nice to... err... see you. I'm gonna let you rest right now, but I should warn you we have an older brother who will probably want to meet you too."
She nods. "That's fine. Um, about the cost of our stay..."
"Don't worry about it," Charlie speaks up for the first time. "We'll work something out. Or you can stay for free if you want."
“Oh no, I couldn’t do that.” She shakes her head as I turn and give Charlie a look.
“We’ll discuss later. You rest up for now.”
She hesitates, but then nods and closes the door.
I’m still facing Charlie, a smile splitting my lips. I put mylips together and blow out a long whistle. "So that's why you were hiding her."
His glare increases. "Leave her alone. She doesn't need your trouble."
"Oh brother, but you know the ladies love my trouble. Because I make it so damn fun for them." I bound down the stairs and hear Charlie call out behind me.
"Where are you going?"
"To tell Mitch we have a guest," I respond. "You know how much of a control freak our brother is. He'll have a fit if he stumbles across her on his own."
Charlie sighs, likely seeing the truth in what I'm saying. "I'll come with you."
We find Mitch in one of the sheds, rough planing some lumber ready to be turned into two-by-fours for the construction trade. He doesn't remove his eye protection as we arrive, but he yells over his tools, “What?”
Charlie and I share a look, and then I venture. “Charlie has a guest.”
“So?”
“A lady guest.”
That gets Mitch to stop what he’s doing and Charlie shoots me a dirty look.
