Caught (Men of the Show Book 3) (15 page)

“What’s that, sweetheart?” Lisa asked.

“That you wished I was your real son instead of that big oaf down there.”
 
Jason pointed at Matt.

“I don’t,” Caitlyn disagreed in a quiet voice and the table stopped laughing.

“Why’s that?” Jason asked her.

Her face flamed when she realized she’d spoken aloud. “Why what?”

“Why don’t you wish I was your brother instead of Matty?”

“I would have preferred a sister,” she said quickly and slouched in her chair, trying to get away from the attention.

Jason collected a handful of his curly hair at his neck. “You can do my hair.”

“Oh, jeez.”
 
Matt’s mom waved a hand at them. “Let’s eat and not do hair, please.”

Everyone dug in and after a few minutes, Matt’s father glanced up and cleared his throat. “Shannon, what is it that you do?”

“I’m a lawyer. I work for a firm in Chicago.”

Both of his parents’ eyebrows raised before slanting their eyes toward him. He knew they were wondering how he could be with someone who lived in Chicago and in a line of work that provided no free time, but he kept his face neutral.

“What type of law?” his father asked.

 
“Corporate.”
 

“You must be extremely busy, then,” his mother said.

“Yes, I am,” Shannon agreed. “But I was able to catch a little break and get away for a bit. After the holidays, however, I’m sure things will pick right back up and I’ll be back to having no life.”

Matt fought to keep his comments to himself, but he didn’t miss his dad’s sharp scrutiny. He expected to be cornered later and questioned about his expectations with Shannon, since his dad understood firsthand the time commitment required with a firm expecting you to bill over two thousand hours a year—and it wasn’t as if Matt had been quiet about his desire to settle down and start a family.

“Matt says you’re in law as well,” Shannon said to his dad. “What do you practice?”

“General for the most part, but I do a lot of civil litigation. I have my own firm with two partners and I recently took on two more in order to handle the workload. I did the big firm thing for a bit, but it took too much away from the family.”

“Yes, it would be hard to balance both. Can I ask you, though, do you regret it?”

“Getting out and starting my own firm?” his dad asked, and when Shannon nodded, he shook his head. “Not at all. I had to choose between my career and my family. I chose my family. I had missed so much early on that I couldn’t get back and I didn’t want to regret it at the end. I was lucky I was able to get a lot of referrals, build up my client base fairly quickly, and have more control over my time and schedule, and over time it all worked out.”

Shannon took a moment to process what his father had said. Matt hoped she was thinking perhaps she could do the same thing, but when she spoke again, her words crushed his wish.

“I never considered doing the private thing. I’ve always wanted to be a partner in a big firm, so I’ve prepared myself for the sacrifices I’ll have to make in order to do so.”

“There will definitely be lots of those,” his dad said.

Matt caught his mother’s eye and he saw the questions behind them. He smiled, trying to feign indifference, but she wasn’t buying it. As much as he wanted to believe Shannon wouldn’t bail on them once her visit ended, his confidence was fading. She didn’t sound like someone considering trying to make a relationship work with her career. In fact, she sounded like someone who couldn’t wait to get right back to it.

He tried not to be frustrated. His eyes had been wide open when he’d asked for this, but still, he resented she wasn’t even trying. When his dad mentioned not wanting to have any regrets, he’d hoped the conviction resonated with her, but she appeared to have glossed right over it.

With dinner complete, Matt and Jason remained at the table while everyone else helped to clean up in the kitchen.

“I like her,” Jason told Matt in a low voice.

“I like her too,” Matt responded. “I just don’t know how it’s going to work. That’s the bitch.”

“Yeah, she does seem extremely career-driven, which is surprising to me.”

“What do you mean?” Matt asked.

Jason shrugged. “You want a family, Matt. It’s no secret. Everyone knows that. I don’t see how you’re going to get that out of her. At least not right away.”

“We don’t need to get ahead of ourselves,” Matt said. “We just started seeing each other.”

Jason tilted his head and gave Matt a scowl. “Don’t try to pull that on me. I know you’ve been thinking about it. It’s how you work. It just seems like you’ve put yourself in a no-win situation and I can understand why. She’s beautiful and she seems perfect for you, except her career. I don’t want to see you get the short end of the stick again, bud.”

“I know, I know,” Matt agreed. “I have to try, you know?”

“Did you tell her about Natalie?”
 

Matt shook his head. “No, not yet. I haven’t had the chance to dump that bit of fun information on her.”

“Matt,” Jason hissed, his voice laced with exasperation. “You have to tell her. She has to know what’s going on in the background.”

Matt scratched at his hair in frustration. “I know and you’re right. With everything being so unsettled between us, I didn’t want to throw that at her. That will definitely cause her to run.”

“Then she fucking runs,” he said. “At least you know where you stand with her.”

“What are you guys whispering about?” Shannon asked as she walked back in.

Jason stood and smiled at her. “I was telling Matt what a lucky son of a bitch he is.”

Shannon’s cheeks blushed a pretty pink. Matt pulled her to his side and pressed his lips to her temple. “Damn right I am.”

“Don’t mess it up or I’ll be there to pick her up,” Jason said with a smirk as he walked into the kitchen.

Matt leaned down to give her a kiss. “I don’t plan on it.”

Chapter 12

Shannon walked into the master bedroom after they’d returned from dinner and sat on the edge of the bed, toeing off her shoes. She liked the Bucks—really liked them. A close-knit and supportive family, they cared about each other and didn’t hesitate to say as much.

The story of how Matt’s parents had taken in Jason was heartwarming and reminded her that there were still people in the world who cared about others. One day Shannon wanted to do pro bono work for those who needed someone to speak for them, but didn’t have the necessary funds. With her current schedule and lack of free time to volunteer, however, it wouldn’t be any time soon and would most likely have to wait until after she retired since she didn’t think Bickles, Bickles and Barnes would be too keen with her taking side work.

Shannon couldn’t say enough about Matt’s parents. His mother obviously loved her children and thrived on having them all back together in the house. Matt’s father reminded her a bit of her own, very driven with a passion for law, but the resemblance ended there. He didn’t mind talking shop, but would much rather discuss the events happening in his kid’s lives. Making the shift in order to balance his career with his family had worked for him, and she respected the decision he’d made.

The dynamic between Caitlyn and Jason was intriguing. Jason treated her like a little sister, but Shannon swore she’d caught him occasionally stealing glances at Caitlyn, his brown eyes warming considerably in what appeared to be attraction. Even though Caitlyn had managed to remove her foot from her mouth, she’d been clearly embarrassed at having spoken aloud and Shannon was pretty sure a preference for a sister wasn’t what Caitlyn had really meant. Interesting.

But, as much as she liked them all, she wasn’t going to be a popular person within the family after the holidays. Shannon hadn’t missed the quick glances thrown Matt’s way when she’d discussed her career, but having everything out on the table now would save a lot of shock, heartache and surprise in the end for everybody.

Spotting a large photograph hanging on the wall over the bed, Shannon walked over to get a closer look. The picture captured the sun coming up over a mountain range, throwing the sky into a riot of different shades of pinks, yellows and oranges. The cactuses in the foreground glowed an electric green against the reddish brown mountains muted by the brilliant colors surrounding them. It was a magnificent photograph.

When Matt walked in after letting Buddy outside one last time for the night, Shannon said, “This is a great photo. Where did you get it?”

“It’s Caitlyn’s,” he answered.

“What do you mean?”

“She took it. She’s a photographer.”

Impressed, Shannon turned back to the photo. “Wow!
 
She’s really talented.”

“Yeah, we all keep telling her she needs to open her own gallery and sell her work, but she keeps shying away from doing it for some reason.”

“She definitely should,” Shannon agreed as she studied it again. “She has an amazing eye.”

Matt pulled her into his arms. “I think tonight went well, don’t you think?”

“Of course, how could it not?
 
Your family is awesome.”

He smiled. “Thanks. I can tell they liked you too.”

She tried to ignore the guilt his comment elicited. “Jason certainly did,” she joked.

Matt laughed. “He’s an idiot. It’s best just to ignore him and not encourage him.”
 
He gave her a gentle kiss. “I know you were nervous when we got there, so I appreciate you dealing.”

She shrugged. “It was inevitable coming down here.”

Matt nuzzled her neck, his lips paving a warm trail down. “I’m glad you’re here. I like having you in my house and I especially like having you in my bedroom.”

She smiled as she pulled him closer. “Oh yeah?
 
And why’s that?”

He glanced toward the big bed beckoning them and gave a slight shrug. “I can think of a reason or two.”

“And what would be the other reason?”

“Did you happen to see the Jacuzzi tub I have?
 
It’s quite nice.”
 
He took her hand in his to lead her into the bathroom.

“I did happen to see that before as well as your astronomically sized bathroom.”
 

She leaned against one of the sinks lining the wall next to the bathtub as he set the plug before starting the water. Picking up a remote, he flicked on the see-through fireplace. Fire blazed up instantly, dressing the room in a soft glow when Matt dimmed the lights.

“Why are you still dressed?” Matt asked as he came back over to her.

“I’m just watching you and all of your toys.”
 

“Toys?”
 
He reached out to pull her shirt over her head. “I haven’t even gotten started on the toys.”

“Okay, okay,” Shannon chuckled. “We can keep those safely tucked away for now.”

She removed his T-shirt and ran her fingers over the dips and curves of his perfectly chiseled chest. Placing her palms flat, she marveled at his rock-like physique. Glancing up, she found his blue eyes hot on her. Matt ducked down, taking her mouth with his as his large hands cradled her head, his tongue pushing through to tangle with hers.

The steam rising from the tub heated her already flushed skin and added to the pleasant sensation of being cocooned within a bubble of warmth. She leaned back, letting his soft lips trail down her neck, suckling and nibbling as he unbuttoned her pants and tugged them down along with her underwear. He unlatched her bra and let it fall to the counter before stepping back to shed his jeans and boxers. Simply the sight of him standing before her completely naked had her knees going weak and her mouth going dry.

“Come on.”
 
Matt pulled her to the Jacuzzi and held her hand as she stepped in. He hit another button and multiple jets came on as she sank down into the soothing water.

She settled back, a padded headrest supporting her head, and closed her eyes. “Oh, man. This is nice.”

“The view’s nice too,” he said from where he sat across from her.

Shannon caught him staring at her breasts where they floated just above the waterline. “Perv,” she said with a laugh and a light splash in his direction.

He gave her his megawatt smile as he moved toward her. “If enjoying the sight of a beautiful woman naked in my bathtub makes me a perv, then my name is Matt and I’m a perv.”

Pulling her onto his lap so she straddled his hips, his lips found hers again. Their skin, slick from the water, moved across each other with a slippery friction. She rocked her hips, drawing a sharp inhale from him before he tightened his grip, urgency replacing the slow and languid seduction he’d started.

Shannon let herself sink into him as his hands explored her shoulders, down her spine and into dips of the small of her back before settling on her ass and grabbing a handful to urge her against him. The intensity of his desire for her only caused hers to spike, leaving her blind with need.

Lifting up on her knees in order to guide him into her, she started to sit, but he gripped her thighs, his fingers digging to stop her.