Dream On (Stories of Serendipity #2) (24 page)

“Nothing I would dare to repeat in front of my children.” To Alyssa, he said, “I’m taking them home with me.
 They don’t need to be influenced by this man any longer.”  Holding the children’s arms, he began to walk away.

“If you do that, Steven, you will be in breach of our custodial agreement, and I can have you arrested for kidnapping.”
 Alyssa said coldly.  She was beyond angry.  “How dare you to presume I would endanger my children?”

To Alyssa’s relief, he released them.
 “Alyssa, he’s a user.  He uses women and throws them away like garbage.  Do you want that?  And the things he does to them while they’re under his spell...You’re not that kind of girl.”

“I’m not a girl, Steven.
 I’m a grown woman, and nothing I do is any of your business.  We’ve had this discussion before.  You can’t control what I do.”

“You’re right, but I can control what my children are exposed to.”
 Steven snarled at her.  “I’ll speak with my lawyer about this.”  He looked at Dalton and spat at his feet.  “This isn’t over, Alyssa.”

Steven stalked off, pushing past several onlookers who were hoping to see a Friday night fight.
 Alyssa breathed out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding.  Dalton came behind her to rub her shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Alyssa.”
 His hands were gently kneading the knots out of her neck and shoulders.

“It’s okay.
 It’s not the first time he’s threatened to take away my rights.  He’s an ass.”

“Mommy?”
 Cayden looked up at Alyssa.

“Yes, sweetie?”
 She knelt down to look at him in the eyes.

“Why was Daddy mad at Dalton?
 Dalton’s nice.”

“Because Daddy’s jealous.”
 Sierra pointed out bluntly.

Surprised at her eight-year-old’s astuteness, Alyssa nodded.
 “That’s right, Cayden.  Daddy’s jealous of Dalton, but that’s okay.  It’s what he feels, and he can’t help it, so you’re not going to get mad at him for his feelings are you?”

“No, but I’ll tell him all about how nice Dalton is when I see Daddy on Sunday.
 Then he won’t be jealous anymore.  Okay?”  Cayden’s blue eyes were round disks on his serious face.

“I’m not sure that will help, Honey, but...Okay.”
 She squeezed his shoulders gently, before standing up again.

They settled in to watch the game, Alyssa keeping an eye on the students around her.
 Dalton’s excitement was contagious, and before she knew it, she was cheering with the crowd when Serendipity made good plays.  The kids even got into the action, standing and cheering when those around them did.  The school spirit was infectious, and by the time Alyssa’s duty was over in the third quarter, she was so into the game, she wanted to stay and watch the ending.

 
The game lasted way past the kids’ bedtime, and Cayden was sleeping in Alyssa’s lap by the time the final whistle blew.  Dalton picked him up, tossed the five-year old onto his shoulder as if he weighed nothing, and took Alyssa’s hand in his own.  Alyssa held Sierra’s hand, and they all walked out of the stadium, fighting the press of the rowdy students who were anxious to move on to other parties.

At her car, Dalton struggled to buckle Cayden’s seat belt around him, while Alyssa strapped in a sleepy Sierra.
 Standing, she looked at Dalton over the hood of the car.  “Thank you for carrying him.  I would have had to wake him up.  He’s too big for me to carry him very far.”

“No problem, Alyssa.”
 Dalton came around to her side of the car and swept a lock of hair behind her ear.  “Other than that thing with Steven, I had a great time tonight.”  He dropped a kiss on her mouth, before pulling away from her.  “I would give you a better kiss, but...” His eyes roamed the parking lot, where kids were milling about, finalizing their plans for the rest of the night.

She looked at him, holding onto his hand, reluctant to let go.
 “What time should we come over tomorrow?”  She asked him, to put off his leaving.

“Whenever you want.
 Lunch will be about twelve thirty, but anytime before that is okay.  I’m sure we can find something to do.”  He waggled his eyes suggestively at her, making her giggle in anticipation.

“Is there stuff for the kids to do?”
“There’s gobs of stuff for the kids to do.”  His hands spanned her waist, pulling her to him, as he lowered his head for another kiss, this one a promise of more to come.  Her insides warmed and melted into a pool at the base of her core.

“Dalton, stop.
 I can’t take a kiss like that here.”  She breathed into his mouth.

“I’m sorry. 
I can hardly control myself around you.”  He breathed as his mouth moved to her jaw, and down to her neck.

“Ahem...Ms. Fuller?”
 She pushed Dalton away breathlessly as they both looked up to see Cody standing there.

Alyssa straightened herself, making the mum jingle as she looked at Cody.
 “Yes, Coach?”

“I was going to ask you for coffee, but I see you’re already busy.”
 He looked at Dalton and shrugged.  “I guess you have a boyfriend.”  He looked at the enormous mum that was perched on her shoulder but hung to her knees and shrugged.

“Yes.
 She does.”  Dalton’s hand came around her shoulders possessively.  She looked up at him, startled at the clench of his jaw and the intensity of his eyes as he glared at Cody.  

“I didn’t know.”
 He turned and walked away.  Dalton turned to Alyssa and pushed her against the car with his body, his face inches away from hers.  

“I may have to start coming to all of these games.
 You have men sniffing around you everywhere.”  He practically growled it at her.

“Whatever, Dalton.
 I can handle myself.”

He swooped down and covered her mouth with his in a hard, fast kiss of possession.
 “I want them to all know you’re mine.”  He moved away, leaving Alyssa breathless, before walking away and calling out for everybody to hear, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ms. Fuller.”

She got in her car and drove home with a smile on her lips.

Chapter 19

The next morning, Alyssa had to refrain from the urge to wake the kids up at the crack of dawn to go to Dalton’s house. She let them sleep in, managing to occupy her time with laundry.  When they finally did wake up, she threw them in the tub and scrubbed them clean before dressing them in nice play clothes.  Clothes that weren’t stained, ripped, or too small were a rarity in her house, but she managed to find some that matched.

Spending a little extra time on her own appearance until it was satisfactory for meeting his mother,
she whisked her kids to the car and drove to Dalton’s house.  When she pulled up, he was sitting on the porch steps, as if waiting for her.  His eyes brightened, as he stood and walked to the car to meet them.

“I’m glad you made it.”
 He laid a kiss on her cheek that left a warm spot where his lips had been.  “Hey guys!”  He opened the back car door for the kids to pile out.  “Mom’s still getting dressed for you.  Y’all want to go for a ride in the pasture before lunch?  I have treats for the cows.”

A chorus of cheers went up through the kids, and Dalton smiled at Alyssa before leading them to the truck.
 He lowered the tailgate and walked over to where a fifty-pound bag of cattle cubes sat, and carried it to the truck, tossing it in.  Alyssa exhaled slowly, watching the muscles in Dalton’s back bunch as he lifted the bag like it was a bag of sugar.  He repeated the process, and went for a bale of hay.

Speechless at the raw strength this man exuded, Alyssa briefly lost her breath.He patted the tailgate and motioned for the kids to get into the bed of the truck.
 “Sit on your bottoms, guys.  I’ll drive us to a place where we can feed them.  Have y’all ever seen a cow’s tongue?”

“No.”
 Both kids said in unison.

“Well, you’re in for a treat today.”
 He chuckled to himself and opened Alyssa’s door for her, once she was satisfied the kids wouldn’t fly out of the back of the truck.

As she watched him walk around the hood to his own side,
she inhaled deeply of the scents in the truck.  It smelled like hay, diesel fumes, and peppermints.  When Dalton got in, she leaned over and kissed his cheek.  He turned his head, and catching her face in his hand before she could retreat, he kissed her mouth fully before letting her scamper back to her side of the truck.

Grinning, he put the truck in gear and said, “Ready?”

“Sure, Cowboy Dalton.”  She appraised him openly.

“What?”

“I’m just surprised at you, is all.”

“Why?
 I figured at this point, there couldn’t possibly be any surprises between us.”  He eyeballed her with questions in his eyes.

“I just...seeing this side to you is...different, really.”
 She was flustered, mostly because she was having a hard time reconciling “Whore Dalton” with “Cowboy Dalton.”  Sitting this close to him, in this truck that probably smelled like his dad, was overwhelming Alyssa with conflicting emotions.  

“Is that a good thing?”
 He asked her quietly.

“Yes, it is.”
 

He drove the truck, slowly, through one pasture after another, showing off the property.
 Acres of green grass, interspersed with clumps of trees and an occasional pond charmed Alyssa, and drew gasps and giggles from the kids in the back.  After driving for a little while, Dalton stopped the truck and turned off the engine before honking the horn in several short beeps and one long one.  Sliding out, he looked over at Alyssa with a rakish grin.  “Showtime.”

He pushed the bale of hay to the middle of the bed, and using a pocketknife, he sliced through the bindings, letting it fall in clumps to the floor of the truck.
 Using the same knife, he opened the bag of cubes and offered it to the kids to each get a handful.  Before they knew it, they were surrounded on all sides by curious, then hungry cattle.

Alyssa squealed in alarm at their close proximity and tried to clamber up the side of the truck.

“Easy.  It’s okay.  They’re vegetarian.”  Chuckling, he lifted her into the bed of the truck and then climbed in beside her.  Showing them how to feed the cows without getting bitten, they all spent the next thirty minutes or so accommodating the bovines’ needs.  Alyssa and the kids remarked upon the length of the tongues and their sliminess as the cows opened their mouths to curl their tongues around the hay and cubes, sometimes missing their mark and curling the tongue around a wrist, eliciting shrieks of disgust.

“I like that one.”
 Alyssa pointed to one of the larger females, who had been nosing all of the others out of her way.

“Yeah?
 Why?”  Dalton reached an arm around her and listened intently.

“Well, she seems to get what she wants.”

“She is one of the oldest in the herd, so she probably does.  Interesting.”  He looked thoughtful.

“Why is that interesting?”
 She elbowed Dalton to get him to look at her.

“It’s just interesting you like the one that always gets what she wants.
 That’s all.”  He looked at her closely, as if he was going to say more.

“What?”
 She prodded.

“Is that an attribute of yours, Alyssa?
 Or is it an attribute you wish you had?  Getting what you want?”

“I have what I want.”
 She dropped her eyes, not wanting to continue the conversation.

“Just so you know, her name’s Bossy.”

Alyssa’s eyes widened.  “You have them all named?”

Dalton laughed.
 “Not all of them.  Just the ones with more distinct personalities and some of the older cows.”

When the supply of treats was gone, Dalton
wiped his hands on his jeans and said, “Lunch?”

“Yes, I’m starved.”
 Alyssa responded, eagerly.

“You guys still okay back there?”
 Dalton questioned the kids.

They had scooped the remaining hay into a pile, and w
ere laying on it with their hands behind their head, the picture of nonchalance.  Cayden had a piece of hay in his mouth, munching lazily.  “Yeah, we’re fine.”  He drawled.

Dalton climbed behind the wheel of the truck.
 “They seem to be turning country right before my eyes.”

Alyssa giggled
because that’s what had happened to Dalton.  “Yeah, they’re having fun out here.  This is good for them.”

“Good.
 I’m glad.”  He clasped her hand in his large, calloused one, making a heat build inside of her.  How could just a touch from him make her feel this way?

She smiled at him, and he started the truck and drove slowly back to the house, where lunch was waiting.

Mary was waiting for them on the porch, dishtowel over her shoulder.  When they all piled out of the truck, she hugged Alyssa and then the kids, “It’s so nice to meet you, dear.  Come in and wash up for lunch.  It’s on the table.”