Spitfire (Puffin Cove) (22 page)

"'
Twas no favour, but I'll leave it at that."

He kissed her forehead, an unconscious absolution for thinking that she was to blame for her failed marriage
. Then he hugged her closer to him again, nuzzling his face into her hair. They sat that way for a long time, and through Kane's thoughts drifted the deep, even cadence of Laura's breathing.

She
had fallen asleep. She was probably exhausted from all the activity of the last few days, and here he'd made her emotionally exhausted on top of it.

When
Jill came through the door he placed a finger against his pursed lips.

Jill
beamed, and he knew that she loved seeing her two best friends enjoying exactly what she told him they deserved.

Kane shifted, and
Laura came awake.

"
Wha? Oh, geez. I'm so sorry. I must have dozed off."

She was so embarrassed
. That she'd fallen asleep on Kane, but also that Jill was back to see it.

Dork
. Dorkity dork dork dork!

She struggled up from
Kane's lap and tried to rearrange her clothes, her hair. They hadn't been doing anything wrong, but she was mortified that they had been caught noodling on the couch with a sleeping child in the next room.

Jill
quirked a cheeky smile at her as she hung up her jacket, and Laura huffed out a laugh.

"
Caught red handed, huh?"

"
Yup. Horny teenagers."

"
How was book club, Jilly-girl?" Kane asked through a grin.

"
Oh, rousing as always. I lead such an exciting life." Jill rolled her eyes and went to fill the kettle for tea.

"
Never mind. Couple 'o weeks and we'll have ye shakin' yer tail feathers at the festival."

"
Oh, yeah. I'm really looking forward to that. Can't wait!" Jill said, shaking her tail feathers at the stove.

"
Well, I should be off. What're your plans fer tomorrow, girls?" Kane made for the door and started putting on his boots. Laura's eyes followed him, and became riveted to the tantalizing show of his ass in that soft, faded denim that he wore so well.

"
Well, that milk needs processing, and it's pastry day. So I'll be busy with that. Laura?"

"
Um...er...I...house stuff." She seemed to have lost her train of thought somewhere.

Jill
was giggling at something, and then said, "What about you, Kane?"

"Barn chores and work."

He was sitting on that fine ass now. Ah, well. For the best. She was feeling a little twitchy just from the brief glimpse she had gotten of it. But it was so bloody sexy. And perfect. And it felt so good in her hands. She loved how his muscles moved when he...

He was grinning
at her. Jesus. Could her read her mind? God. She hoped not. All it seemed to have in it was need. And his perfect, luscious ass. And needing his perfect, luscious ass. Jill and Kane were both looking at her expectantly now. Did they ask her something? What were they talking about? Holy Dinah. She was either infected with terminal lust or had early onset senile dementia.

Oh, yeah
. Work.

"
What are you working on now?" The raging blush on her cheeks was probably radiating heat all the way across the room to both of them now. Randy. Horny. Sex addicted. All right. Enough. We...are...talking...about.... Oh, yeah. Kane's work. He is an artist. He carves birds. He is not the most gorgeous, arousing, sexiest... Oh, for the love of
God!

"Doin' a chickadee right now."

Jesus. What?
Right. The carving of the art.

Laura
somehow managed to drag her feeble brain from the gutter, and realized that she knew next to nothing about how Kane worked. She didn't know whether he was the type to not want someone watching over his shoulder, or touching his ass while he held sharp objects, but she would love to observe him at it sometime. His art. At his art. Hell, she'd love to watch him milking the cows, for that matter. Or dusting. Or drawing breath.

Jesus
.

The.

Chickadee.

"
Oh, I'd love to see it. That's one of my favourites."

"
Come t' the farm anytime, Spitfire. Ye're always welcome."

From the amused glint in his eye
s and the quirky grin on his beautiful lips, she was sure that every sex-crazed thought that had just run amok in her pickled mind had been running equally amok on her dorky face.

Thankfully, h
e moved to Jill, who was standing obliviously at the counter, gathering ingredients for bread prep, and kissed her on the cheek. Then he came to Laura and drew her by the hand to the door with him. He pulled her into his big, warm arms.

"
Always," he whispered through a smile that wasn't teasing any longer. He touched his forehead to hers, rubbed his nose across hers, then tilted his head and softly kissed her lips.

After he left,
Laura stood at the door, her arms crossed over her belly.

"
Got it bad, dontcha?" Jill teased.

"
Yup." She smiled and bit her lips, clamping back the silly grin.

"
Good," Jill pronounced.

Chapter Sixteen

To:
Kyle Patterson; Kevin Patterson

From:
Laura Spencer

Subject:
Guess what?

Hi guys
! I think I've bought a house! On the ocean! I'm so excited!!!! It needs some work, but it's in good shape. And did I mention that it's on the ocean? LOL! I'll let you know as soon as it's ready. I hope you two can come this summer. I'm thinking the middle of August? See how that works out for your schedules. I can't wait to see you both!!! How is work? Bet you're glad school's done. You can fill me in on all the deets when I see you. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love you, love you, love you!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Mom

To:
Laura Spencer

From:
Kevin Patterson

Subject:
Re: Guess what?

Cool
! Can't wait to see you too! I don't have to share a bed with Kyle, do I? LOL

Love you!

Kev

To: Laura Spencer

From:
Kyle Patterson

Subject:
Re: Guess what?

That
's awesome, Mom! Where did you buy? In that same town, Puffin Cove? What's it like? Are there a lot of reno's to do? Send pics. This is really great news. August should be fine. Looking forward to seeing you and Newfoundland again. Everything's good here. See you in about a month, eh?

Love
, Kyle 

The next few weeks were a flurry of activity for Laura. The well was acceptable, but had a lot of iron in the water. She did a little research and found that it wasn't a problem for drinking, but that she would have to be diligent about keeping the porcelain white, and her white laundry from going yellow.

The septic report was favourable
. George's lawyer had been in contact with the owner's lawyer, who talked to the owner himself , who gave Laura carte blanche to do whatever needed to be done. She took the liberty, and had the septic pumped.

She hired an exterminator, who informed her that she was certifiably insane, but that he
would try his best to live-release the bats. He said that he wanted to set out warfarin and traps for the mice, but she refused. Kane had several barn cats, and as long as she could get one that wasn't feral, she would rather get rid of the mice the natural, old-fashioned way.

She took further liberties, and pulled off every piece of wood panelling
. She numbered all the baseboards and quarter-round for refitting, filled all the holes in the plaster, and prepped the floor for refinishing.

She was painting the base coat on the walls on a rainy afternoon, belting out a song to the radio, her butt wiggling in time
.

…and how could I ever refuse
? I feel like I win when I loooooooose…Waterloo, I was defeated you won the war…

She almost didn
't hear the knock at the door. Must be the carpenter she called for the estimate on the stairs. She wiped her hands on a rag, turned down the radio, and swung open the door.

Kane pushed his way in and slammed the door closed with her body
. Her shock was immediately replaced with an inferno of gut-clenching desire. He moaned raggedly against her neck, his hands everywhere. He hitched one of her legs over his hips as he ground them against her. He plundered her mouth with deep, ravaging kisses, his breath coming out in torn gasps. She gripped her hands into his hair, pulling on it to the point of pain, and bit down on his neck, panting, whimpering.

He jammed a hand between them, yanking her waistband down, fumbling and tearing at the buttons of his fly, releasing the
glorious beast in his pants. He drove it home in one sharp stab, then rode her higher and higher up the door, groaning her name, flexing his strong legs and glutes as he thrust into her over and over, unintelligible words garbled against her mouth and neck and hair.

She could feel him banging against her cervix, her g-s
pot, God! it felt like her throat. Her moans built to a scream as the rapid, mind-numbing release ripped through her so sharply she would have collapsed if he hadn't had her pinned. He threw his head back, and howled as he came in wave after wave of hot, thick spurts. They came back to earth in a flutter of ragged breaths and trembling limbs.

His forehead rested against the door
. "Jaysus Christ, Laura. What have I done t' ye? What have ye done t' me? God, love. I only meant t' come and see ye. I never meant…"

Her lax body barel
y upright, Laura chuckled through her raw throat, and pressed her trembling fingers to his lips. "Don't, my love. That was the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me."

She started to laugh
. She couldn't stop. She laughed in pure joy, in unrestrained love for this sexy, glorious man.

Her laughter infected him, and he joined her,
and she felt the tenseness in his muscles soften as he cuddled into her and nuzzled at her neck.

"
I will never be able to paint a room or listen to Abba again without going cross-eyed."

He chuckled and settled her back to rights
on rickety legs, tugging up her pants, buttoning his own. His hands still trembled as he cupped her face and tenderly kissed her bruised lips.

"
Did I hurt ye love?"

She sighed dreamily
. "Probably. But it was so worth it. Besides, I think I might have hurt you back a little." She fingered the purpling bruise on his neck, frowning. "Do you own a turtleneck?"

Barking out another laugh, he spun her away from the sorely abused door,
and she counted it strong from their testing of it.

"
Ye delight me more than ye know, Spitfire."

"
And you, my gorgeous, sexy man, are -"

Another knock came at
the door.

Holy Moly
! Three minutes sooner and the carpenter would have gotten an earful
. She hoped that the paint fumes would cover the smell of sex that filled the air. Kane quirked an eyebrow at her and she said, "Carpenter," as she swung the door open for a second time that day.

But it wasn
't the carpenter. It was George's, and now her, lawyer.

Roderick
LeRoy, the pure-bred Newfie barrister, came in sporting a plaid sport coat, a polka-dot tie, and a smile that surely communicated that he knew precisely what he had just missed. If their flushed faces hadn't given them away, the moist spot on the front of Kane's jeans and the swollen lips on Laura would have. He proceeded to give them something else to celebrate.

"
Hope ya don't mind, madam, but I took the liberty o' comin' oot ta tell ya that as of t'day, ye're the new owner o' this foin establishment."

Laura
let out a woohoo fit to shake the rafters and spun around in a circle. She took the sheaf of papers from the lawyer and shook his outstretched hand.

"
I'll be sendin' alang th' finals whens I gets 'em, me ducky. You enjoy yer new digs now. Lang may yer big jib draw." He saluted and left them to their celebrating.

"
Oh, Kane! It's mine! It's mine! And can you believe my lawyer? The first time I met him I thought for sure that George was joking. This guy seemed like he'd just come off the boat. But George swore by him, so I figured, 'why not?' and it seems as though he knows what he's doing. He's delivered me a house by the sea!" She jumped up and down, clutching her documents.

Kan
e snaked his arms around her, laughing. "Shut up, woman, and kiss me."

She did. G
reat smacking kisses all over his face. He lifted her from her feet and laughed again as he swung her in a circle, then settled her back down to collect the bouquet of delicate green hydrangeas, pink cabbage roses and phlox he that he had carelessly dropped to the floor just inside the door. She took them in shaky hands and buried her luminous smile in the blooms, taking them to the kitchen to put them in a jelly jar she used for washing out her brushes.

"
Wish I'd brought champagne t' toast the new landlord."

"
Oh! I've got some! I put it in the fridge, hoping that some day soon I'd be able to christen my new house with you. And now I can! Ohh, and we
have
." She blushed and tucked her bottom lip between her teeth. His lips tipped up, and his dimple winked at her.

She pulled the lone bottle out of the otherwise empty fridge, which h
ad cooled down reasonably well, and handed it to Kane. Two flutes from the Sally Ann wrapped in paper towelling came out of the listing cupboard, and Kane worked the cork free with a hiss and a pop. He poured the sparkling wine, and they ting'd their glasses together.

"
To the newest and most beautiful home owner in the land," he toasted.

They sipped as her eyes sparkled and softened
. She was so glad that he had been here to share her happy news. It wouldn't have been half as exciting without him. Not to mention the sweet mother of God excitement of the moments before.

"
Show me what ye've done, an' what ye still want t' do."

She too
k his hand and guided him through the house, pointing out the box of receptacles that she would replace, the new ceiling fans to install, the creamy yellow paint for the exterior of the house. She told him of the kitchen cupboards, countertop and stacked washer/dryer that she had already ordered in St. John's. She chattered on about the floor refinishing needing to wait until all the walls were painted and the new stairs built.

"
Have ye hired someone t' build them, then?"

"
Not yet. I'm waiting for estimates from two carpenters, but they haven't come out to measure yet."

"
I'd like t' do it fer ye if ye'd let me, Laura love."

"
Really?" Her eyes flew to his, and her heart trembled yet again. "You can do that?"

"
Aye. Learned about all sort of things in school. Art isn't just for admirin' with the eyes. I learned about the different properties of all mediums, how t' work with them t' show off their best features, angles, measurements. Even built furniture at one point. So if ye've the need fer a willin' carpenter, I'm yer man."

"
But won't it interfere with your other commitments? What about your art, and the farm?"

"
Let me juggle me time, Spitfire. I'll do what needs done, and ye'll have yer stairs." He tweaked her nose, then shifted his hand to tuck a wild curl behind her ear.

And I
'll have you here working alongside me
, she thought. She would like that very, very much.

"
I'd be honoured to have you build my stairs, Kane. Thank you. You probably won't let me pay you, will you?"

He arched an eyebrow at her
. "Not in money, no." Then the arched brow wiggled with its mate as he ogled her.

She laughed huskily.
"Well, I guess I better get knitting in all my spare time then. If the gifted artist can build me stairs, then I can knit him something special, can't I?"

"
Aye, love. I'd let ye do that, and be happy fer the trade."

He
ran his hands down her back, cupping her bottom and pulling him to her for a long, languorous kiss.

"
I should let ye get back t' work," he murmured in her ear. "I'd offer t' help, but I'm dead horrid at house paintin'. Ye'd have more paint on yer floors than on yer walls. Can't fer the life o' me figure how a body can work with all that bleedin' paint on that huge brush."

"
Oh, that's alright. I work better alone anyway. I'm bossy and controlling and would probably -"

"
Aye, Spitfire. Ye'd be bossin' an' controllin' the pants right offa me. We'd not get a lick o' work done."

She giggled
. "Yup. I think you're right. Okay, get lost Downey. And thank you for the beautiful flowers, and the celebration. Both of them."

"
Anytime, darlin'. Anytime."

Laura spent every waking moment working on the house. Except for the times when she helped Jill with Shannon, and the stolen moments that she cherished with Kane.

She had a lovely supper out at his farm
. He was a very good cook, and stuffed her full of linguini and clam sauce, caesar salad and Jill's fresh bread. They danced after supper in his living room, swaying to the soft strains of Celtic ballads, fitting their bodies together so perfectly, learning fully clothed what made them sigh and moan, drifting up to his bedroom to learn deeper and sweeter lessons. She fell asleep in his bed, wrapped in his arms, her heart so full it made her struggle not to weep.

She wanted to tell him how much she loved him
. And almost did. But she held back, not wanting to take that next step, afraid of approaching a precipice she would either have to back away from, or tumble over.