“Okay, guys, let’s head back,” she called.

They gave her a joyous look. Then disappeared into the brush.

Her heart pounded faster. Something brushed against her leg, and she jerked back, frantically shaking her foot. This was creepy. Where’d they go? The sound of bushes moving and a low whimpering echoed. Oh, my God, what if a bear got them? No, there weren’t any bears out here, but could a gopher hurt them? A deer?

“Gandalf! Balin! Get over here now!” she whispered fiercely.

A low bark. A rustling. Oh, hell, what was that? She took a few steps back, eyes trained on the shaking bush in front. “Doggies?” Caught in the middle of a horror film, she moaned, wondering if she should run back to the house and get Cal’s help, or stay and fight.

A small black-and-white furry thing raced in front of her.

Skunk!

Morgan began to turn and get out of the danger zone, but suddenly both dogs leaped out of the bush, and a scream broke from her lips. She fell back on her ass in the brush, and then the dogs were on her, thinking it was a fabulous game of hide-and-go-seek that they had won.

As she fought them off and scrambled to her feet, the smell hit her first. The stench was so bad, she gagged, pressing her hand over her nose to try to ward it off. She had to get away from the skunk’s spray, so Morgan began running out of the woods, and the dogs followed, barking wildly.

Finally she reached the house and breathed in a sigh of relief. Then gagged again.

Oh, no.

The stink of skunk was everywhere. As the dogs circled her, their fur gave off waves of scent, and when she lifted her shirt up and sniffed, Morgan stumbled back.

Oh, no.

They’d gotten sprayed by a skunk. All of them. Her first official walk with the dogs and she came back like this. Cal was going to kill her.

“Stay here,” she warned them. “You can’t go in the house. Goodness gracious, what am I going to do now?” she moaned.

Morgan went inside and stayed back in the foyer. “Umm, Cal?”

“Everything go okay? I’m starting to feel better.”

“I had a little problem.”

He quirked his brow and stared at her. “Why are you all the way over there?”

“Because I can’t get too close to you. We, umm, encountered an animal.”

“We have tons of deer here, baby. Nothing to worry about. You can let the dogs back in.”

Morgan sighed. “Actually, it was a skunk.”

His eyes widened. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“I’m sorry, Cal. They wandered into the woods and I couldn’t stop them and suddenly there was this skunk that jumped out at me and it was too late.”

Cal shook his head and stood. “Okay, that happens sometimes. I got an outdoor shower to give them a bath. Let’s make sure they don’t come in the house. It’s hard to get the smell out.”

“Then I’d better take a shower with them.”

The knowledge dawned on him at the same time he smelled her. Cal stopped midway, his face crumpling up to protect himself from the stench. “You got sprayed?”

She nodded miserably. “ ’Fraid so. I smell bad, Cal.”

He studied her for a moment in silence. Then burst into laughter. “Poor baby. Come on. Let’s get everyone cleaned up. I think I have a few cans of tomato juice left.”

Oh, hell no.

chapter nineteen

Cal waited outside the bathroom door, listening to the sounds of the shower. His hand closed around the knob, and he bowed his head, thinking, considering. But there really was no other choice. He’d never wanted Morgan Raines as badly as he wanted her right now.

They’d managed to clean up the dogs, fighting to wash the wriggling skunk-sprayed furballs with tomato juice. Finally, after two rounds, the stench had faded, and after an extensive drying session, they were let back into the house. The entire process had gotten them both wet, sweaty, and smelly, so he waited for Morgan to rinse herself off and shampoo her hair. Once the initial wash down was done, she was safe enough to send into his master bathroom for a steam shower, and he went into one of the other bathrooms to cleanse himself.

Most of the hard liquor had worn off after a few glasses of water, and though he still felt a bit woozy, he wasn’t going to be sick. As he headed into his room to bring extra towels, the full impact of the night hit him full force.

Somehow, someway, he’d broken down some barriers with his brothers on the worst day of the year.

And for the rest of his life, some of the most painful memories would be replaced with Morgan. The way she hunted him down at the bar. The way she took care of him. The way she’d looked when telling him about the skunks, and the way she laughed when they were stuck in the shower with two smelly dogs. She’d managed to replace so many bad images with ones that made him smile. And just like that, Cal knew his mother’s anniversary would have a whole new meaning.

He caught the low strains of off-key singing, and he didn’t hesitate a second longer.

Cal opened the door and went in.

Steam curled in thick clouds, hovering in the air. He caught the outline of her naked body through the fogged-up door, her Southern twang adding extra zest to the popular Rob Thomas song. Cal quickly stripped off his clothes and joined her.

Her gasp was accompanied by the instinctual raising of her arms to cover herself. He grinned, his gaze raking over her wet curves, from her gorgeous plump breasts peeking out from her fingers to her round hips and soft thighs, all the way to her pretty pink-painted toes.

“What are you doing?”

He put the condom on the shelf and grabbed the bottle of liquid gel that smelled like coconut. “Making sure you don’t miss a spot.” He squeezed a dollop in his hand. “Can’t have you in bed smelling of skunk.”

She dropped her gaze deliberately to his heavy erection. “Why don’t I believe that’s your only motivation?”

He stalked over to her and pulled her hands from her breasts. Raw want licked at his nerve endings, fogged his brain, thickened his dick. Everything about this woman made him want to howl at the moon and mark her as his. “You came to find me. Why?”

He soaped up her breasts, rubbing his palms in circles, dragging them across the tight peach tips. A moan escaped her lips. She arched back into the caress. “I was worried about you. Sydney told me what happened.”