Any Man Of Mine

I’m looking for him.” Then he was gone, the sound of his shoes silenced by the rubber matting.

“You think you’re going to be warm enough now?”

Autumn nodded, and as Sam stepped onto the ice, she leaned forward and picked up her coat. Sam skated next to Conner and picked up his stick. The two passed the puck back and forth, and she watched the way Sam paused to touch his son’s head and back and patiently helped him when he fel . The two skated side by side. Sam made it look easy, smooth, while Conner struggled, teetering and almost fal ing every inch of the way. Sam said something, his low voice mixing with Conner’s childish tones. The two laughed, and her heart lifted a little in her chest. The blanket fel from Autumn’s shoulders and pooled at her waist as she reached into her coat pocket. She pul ed out her BlackBerry before her heart pinched, too. Before she got al weepy at the sight. She read her e-mails, sent text messages to Shiloh, and brought up the calendar on her phone. The Friday after Thanksgiving she and Conner were leaving on a minivacation. They needed to leave early Friday morning, but Thanksgiving was Sam’s holiday this year, which was annoying since Sam was Canadian and didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving on the third Thursday in November. Usual y, if it was Sam’s holiday, and if he was going to be in town, which was rare, he kept Conner overnight. She needed to talk to him about that and hoped like heck he’d let Conner come home that night so they could head out at daybreak. It was the first Thanksgiving in a long time that she wouldn’t be making a big meal for her brother and Conner. Conner would be with Sam, Vince at work, and she’d have the whole day to herself.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

She looked up past black-and-brown plaid pants, black shirt, and paisley tie, beneath a peach-colored argyle sweater. Muscles bulged the arms of his shirt and the col ar around his neck. He had dark skin, black spiky hair, and deep green eyes.

“I’m waiting for my son.” She pointed to the ice where Conner once again stood between Sam’s skates.

“You’re Conner’s mother?”

“Yep.”

“I’m Julian.” He sat next to her. “And I believe you’re planning my wedding.”

“Oh.” She took in his pastel sweater, and said, “You’re Bo Ross’s fiance.” She stuck out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He took her hand in his. “I’m glad you talked Chelsea and Bo out of a double ceremony. Sometimes they finish each other’s sentences, and I was afraid I might end up marrying the wrong sister.”

Autumn smiled. She’d only met with the twins for a short time, but she thought Julian’s concern was justified. She also thought, given Julian’s fashion risks, it was probably a good thing Bo loved black and white.

“Nice day dress.”

Her brows shot up her forehead, and she let go of his hand. He knew what a day dress was? “Thanks. I got it at Le Frock. A little vintage store on Pine.”

“I know where it is. Last summer I got a sharkskin suit there.”

“Blue?”

“Yeah.”

“I remember it. I bet you look great.”

“I’m the only one who likes it.” He shrugged. “I met Conner a few weeks ago after the Stars game.” His gaze skimmed her face. “You’re different than I would have imagined an ex-wife of Sam’s.”

“Not a long-legged, big-lipped supermodel?”

“No. You’re prettier than his supermodels.”

Autumn laughed. “Right.”

“Seriously. Until now, I thought Sam had horrible taste in women, but you’re a surprise. A gorgeous redhead.”

It was such an outrageous lie, she laughed even harder. She put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a little shove like he was Vince. He was built like Vince.

She glanced up as she heard the shh shh shh of skates on ice. Sam stopped a few feet away within a shower of glittering snow, his blue gaze icy as he looked at Julian.

“Savage is looking for you, jagbag.”

Sam grabbed frozen peas from his freezer and shut the door. He shoved the bag beneath his sweatshirt and held it against his shoulder. He wandered into the living room toward the huge windows and looked out at the city and the bay beyond. When he’d seen Autumn laughing with Julian, touching him, relaxed and easy, something inside him had snapped. Snapped right in two, and he’d cal ed Julian a jagbag. Not that he had any qualms about insulting another man. Not even men he liked. And he liked Julian, but he usual y knew why he was insulting another guy. You can certainly entertain any woman you like here, Autumn had told him the other day. Just as I can entertain whomever I like in my house. Until that day, he’d never real y thought about her entertaining anyone. In her house or anywhere else. Probably because Conner had never mentioned any other man but Vince. So, Sam had always just assumed that there had never been anyone in her life. He’d never wondered if she had a boyfriend, a friend with benefits, or just the occasional hookup.

He wondered about it now, and he wondered why he was uncomfortable with the thought of her with anyone. He’d like to tel himself that it was because he didn’t want his son exposed to random boyfriends. That Vince was already one too many men in his son’s life. There was more to it. Maybe he just didn’t like the thought of someone sleeping in her bed, pressed tight against her smooth skin, in a house that he’d technical y bought.

No, there was more to it than that. He didn’t care about the money he gave her to support Conner. He couldn’t say the same about someone pressed against her skin, though. But of al the men on the planet, he had the least right to have an issue with whomever she pressed against. He knew that, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about her lately.

A lot. Autumn and that weekend in Vegas kept slipping into his memory like a dream that he couldn’t shake. Like a hot, hazy dream fil ed with reckless desire and consuming need.

Maybe it was because he was spending more time with Conner and seeing her more often. Maybe because he was usual y on the road, and these past few days he’d had too much time on his hands and had been thinking about putting his hands on her. Maybe because he hadn’t put his hands on anyone for a while.

Maybe he was just bored.

Whatever it was, maybe it was time to figure it out.

Chapter Twelve

Any Man of Mine:

Does Dishes

Autumn sat at the head of her dining-room table, her head bowed. She held Vince’s hand in her left and Sam’s in her right. Conner sat beside Sam with his eyes closed. “Bless us Oh Lord for Thy gifts we are about to receive,” she prayed as Vince and Sam glared at each other over the stuffed turkey in the middle of the table on her mother’s lace cloth. “May our bodies be nourished and our hearts grateful.” She squeezed her brother’s hand, and added,

“And can we al just get along. Amen.”

Sam let go of her hand and smiled. “Amen. Great prayer.”

“Especial y that part where you channeled Rodney King,” Vince added.

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?” al three asked at once

“Pass the mash potatoes.”

“Pass the mash potatoes who?”

Conner shrugged. “Pass the mash potatoes to me. I’m starving.”

Sam shook his head as he spooned potatoes onto Conner’s plate. “You’re going to seriously have to work on