Lean on Me (The Mackay Sisters) (24 page)

Lori laughed.  “He’s coming home
with us, Julia.  Stop worrying.”

Not long after, Dougie sitting
with quiet dignity in a large cat basket in the back seat with a bag containing
his new medicine, Lori felt like finally things were falling into place.

Matt and Lori ate lunch while
Dougie explored the house, first cautiously and later with more confidence. 
When Matt opened the back door to go out, Dougie dashed for the bedroom and
hid.  There was no doubting he was still traumatised by his recent experiences.

Spending the day watching a couple
of movies on TV and reading quietly, Lori dozed off with her head in Matt’s lap
while he idly played with her hair with one hand and held his book with the other. 
When she awoke it was to feel a warmth at her side.  Glancing down, she found Dougie
snuggled up beside her, precariously it had to be admitted.  He was so big that
half of him hung off the side of the sofa.

“He’s been like that for a while,”
Matt remarked.

Slowly, so as not to scare or
startle him, Lori slid her arm behind Dougie’s back for support.  The rusty
purr started and he pushed his head harder into her side.

Dougie quickly settled in and
before long it seemed as though he’d been there forever.  Disliking the
outdoors intensely - who knew what trauma he’d been subject to out there in his
abandonment - Dougie refused to go out.  But when it came to the house, well,
he was soon prancing around like king pin, as Matt put it.

“Boss of the house.” Matt picked Dougie
up with a little grunt.

Dougie just head-butted him and
purred louder.

“What more could he want?  Food,
water, litter tray, warm bed, kisses and cuddles.  Spoiled.”

Lori looked up from her book to
see Matt feeding him pieces of chicken. “Oh, and we wouldn’t want that, would
we?”

“Absolutely not.”

“And the chicken is for…?”

“Bribery.  I want my side of the
bed tonight.”

“You really think feeding him
chicken at two o’clock in the afternoon is going to make him sleep elsewhere
tonight?”

Matt just grinned and fed Dougie
more chicken, rewarded with another head butt.

~*~

Coming home from the nightshift,
Lori yawned as she drove.  She noticed Tommy’s ute parked in front of Harriet’s
house.  In fact, Tommy’s ute had taken up permanent night parking in her
driveway.

The scandal had quietened but it
hadn’t completely gone.  There was still a lot of friction in Tommy’s family. 
Of Harriet’s family Lori knew nothing, so she didn’t know what was happening on
that side of the war.

After parking the car in the
garage, she shut the door and entered the house, being met with a loudly meowing
Dougie demanding breakfast.  In the kitchen she saw that he’d already been fed,
his bowl of fish empty except for the few scraps on the sides of the bowl.

“Good thing Matt doesn’t spoil
you, huh?”  Laughing, she poured some cat biscuits into a clean bowl, washed
the dirty dish and headed for her bedroom.

Unusually, Matt wasn’t in the
bed.  Realising that he must have gotten up early and left for whatever reason
- she knew he wasn’t working that day - Lori headed for the shower.  By the
time she returned Matt was reclining back in the bed, his dark hair tousled,
his grin lazy, and his eyes holding a wicked gleam.

 “Got plans?” Lori asked, secretly
pleased to see him.

Somehow her days didn’t end or
start right without Matt being in there somewhere.  He had the power to make
her smile, laugh, and yes, do naughty things that made her blush if she thought
about them while at work.  He also made her feel safe and protected, he made
her heart warm, her days brighter, her nights sweeter, and she couldn’t imagine
life without him.

It was this last thought, a sudden
fear that had her dropping her dressing gown and scurrying across the room to
leap into the bed.

“Now that’s the kind of greeting
I’m talking about.” Laughing, Matt kissed her soundly.

Arms around his neck, she hugged
him hard.

As though sensing her slight
distress, he pulled back a little to look at her.  “Hey, hey.  Are you all
right, love?”

How could he know her so well? 
“Of course.”  She smiled at him, not wanting him to know how silly she was
being.  “Just a little tired, you know.”

He studied her.  “You’re sure?”

“Yep.”

Dougie chose that moment to jump
onto the bed and she rubbed his head before he settled at the side of the bed,
stretching out impressively.  “This feels so perfect.”  She rested her head on
Matt’s shoulder.  “I never want it to end.”

“Truly?” he asked softly.

“Truly.”

“Then make yourself more
comfortable.”  He flipped the doona back and patted the area between his
thighs.  “Let’s snuggle.”

More than happy to comply, Lori
climbed over his leg and settled down with her back to his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. 
“Lean on me, love.”

Within no time she was resting
back against him, safe and protected in his arms, his back against the
headboard.  With the doona around their waists, the bed warm and snug, Dougie
purring like a motorcycle about to fall apart, it was just perfect.

Matt’s fingers stoked through her
hair.  “Happy?”

“Immensely.”

“You know what we need?”

“What?”

“A bigger bed.”

“Because Dougie takes up so much
space?”

“Yep.”

She grinned.  “Agreed.”

“We also should make room in your
wardrobe for my things.”

“We should?”

“Yeah.  Hanging them over your
chair means I have to iron my uniform shirts.”

“Poor baby.”

“And we should make room in your
garage for my car.”

“Getting a little presumptuous,
aren’t you?”

“I pay rent next door when I practically
live here.”

“True.  Very true.”

“And I was thinking…” He played
with her fingers.

Eyes half closed, she nestled
closer against him.  “Yes?”

“We should make this legal.”  The
words were accompanied by something sooth and cold sliding onto her finger.

Had she heard right?  Opening her
eyes, Lori stared at her finger.  Was that a…?

Leaning forward over her shoulder,
his lips brushed her cheek.  “Marry me, Lori.”

Stunned, she could only stare at
the diamond engagement ring adorning her finger.  “Marry you?”

His hand moved up to cup her
cheek, turning her head to face him.  “I want this to last forever, too, Lori.”

His words sank in and she pushed
back enough to look up at him.  “You want to marry me?”

“I love you.”

Those simple words accompanied by
the look of complete love in his eyes sank right into her, touching her heart
and bringing forth the love she’d kept hidden.

“Oh, Matt.”  Reaching up, she
touched his jaw.

For the first time, he looked
uncertain.  “You will marry me?”

“Matt, I love you.  I have for a
long time.  I just didn’t say anything because I was afraid I’d scare you way.”

“Scare me away?”

“Everything was so perfect, I
didn’t want it to end.”

His eyes warmed.  “It’s never
going to end, love.  This is just the beginning.”

Lowering his head, he kissed her. 
Not hard, not fast, just a slow, gentle kiss that was so caring, so loving,
that Lori felt as though her heart would burst.

Lifting her arm, she slid her hand
behind his nape, tugging him down so she could deepen the kiss.

“I love you, Lori,” he whispered
against her lips.

“I love you more, Matt.”

“Impossible.”

“Really?”

“Bet your sweet arse on it.”

She laughed.

One twist of his body and Matt had
her on the bed beneath him.  Framing her face with his hands, he smiled lovingly
down at her.  “Besides, I’m saving you from the town gossips.”

“Oh, really?”  She ran her hands
down his back, enjoying watching his eyes darken with desire at the simple
touch.

Oh, how she enjoyed touching him.

“Yep.  Mrs Hubble is starting to
get scandalised at me being here at indecent hours.”

“Is that what you heard?”

“I can tell.  She looks at me.  I
feel dirty.”  He winked.  “Very dirty.”

“Guess I’m slipping from the
sweet, shy girl who never does wrong into a girl just as dirty as the local paramedic.”

“Just lean on me, love.  We’ll be
slipping together, but I won’t let you fall.”

“Promise?”

“Bet your sweet arse on it.”

“My, you do have a way with words,
Mr Winters.”

“I can do a lot with my mouth,
Miss Mackay.”

“I wasn’t aware we were talking about
your mouth.”

“What can I say?”  His grin was
darkly wicked.  “I’m great at multi-tasking.”

####

BIO

Angela Verdenius lives in
Australia, where she is ruled by her cats, adores reading, and thinks a perfect
day is writing and drinking Diet Coke, followed by reading or a good horror
movie.

To date, she has written numerous
novels in sci-fi romance series and BBW contemporary romances, 2 novellas, and
several short stories, one of which is a zombie story she had great fun writing. 
Her books have won many reviewers’ awards, as well as having been on the
Fictionwise best-seller list and winning the Golden Rose Award.

For more information about
Angela’s books, visit:

Her website at
http://www.angelaverdenius.com/

The lighter side of life on her
blog
http://angelaverdenius.blogspot.com
/

And her Author Page at
Amazon.com

Keep reading for listings of books available in ebook and print.

OTHER BOOKS BY
THIS AUTHOR

The full length novels below are available in assorted
ebook formats as well as paperback.

The
short stories and one novella is available in ebook only.

BBW
Romances

Big Girls Lovin’
trilogy

 
Doctor’s Delight

Cop’s Passion

Vet’s Delight

The
Lawson Boys duet

The
Lawson Boys: Alex

The Lawson Boys: Marty

The Virgin Sex Queen

The Mackay Sisters duet

Call on Me

Lean on Me

Heart
& Soul sci-fi/futuristic romance series

Heart of an Outlaw

Soul of a Mercenary

Heart of the Betrayed

Love’s Sweet Assassin

Soul of a Hunter

Love’s Bewitching Thief

Heart of the Forsaken

Soul of a Witch

Heart of a Traitor

Soul of the Forgotten

Love’s Beguiling Healer

Heart of a Peacekeeper

Soul of a Predator

Love’s Winsome Warrior

Heart of a Smuggler

Soul of a Guardian

Love, Heart & Soul Moments

Shattered Soul

Novellas -
Operation Seduction (BBW) (ebook only)

Blast
from the Past

Short
Stories -
Zombie Hospital (ebook only)

Perceptions (free) (ebook only)