Before We Were Strangers

by Brenda Novak

  “Are you sure you want to do this, Micah?”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I’m worried about Paige.”

  “Don’t be. I was faithful to her when we were married, but I don’t have to be faithful to her anymore.”

  “I doubt she’ll look at it that way. And if she finds out, there will be problems...”

  He was so sick of Paige and how she tried to control him. It went all the way back to when she got pregnant. Although he’d never actually accused her, he was convinced she’d meant to trap him. “I’ll fight her in court if I have to.” Until this moment, he’d never wanted anything badly enough to oppose her to such a degree. That was why he’d given her the house, the car, the alimony she’d requested. He hadn’t been trying to hurt her with the divorce, and he wasn’t trying to hurt her now. He simply wanted the next few minutes with Sloane so badly he wasn’t going to walk away just because Paige felt he should.

  “It’ll be okay,” he said and hoped to God that was true as he peeled off his jeans.

  * * *

  Micah had always been athletic. His body hadn’t changed in that regard. He was just more powerfully built these days, especially through the arms, shoulders and chest. His thighs were thicker, too, and he had beard stubble he hadn’t possessed back then.

  When he noticed her studying him, he hesitated, his smile a bit unsure. “What?”

  “You look incredible,” she told him. He’d tossed her onto the bed but hadn’t yet climbed onto it himself, so she had a great vantage point from which to admire the improvements.

  His smile broadened as he joined her. “You’re acting as though this is the first time you’ve seen me.”

  “It’s the first time in ten years.”

  “Am I different?”

  “About twenty pounds different.”

  “You, on the other hand, haven’t changed at all.”

  “If anything, I’ve lost weight. I haven’t been careful with my diet, not like I was when I was modeling, but...”

  He ran his fingers down between her breasts, which weren’t particularly large but they were perfectly formed. “But...”

  “My friend was...sick.”

  “Clyde, right? The one who died of cancer?”

  She nodded as he smoothed the hair out of her face. “You miss him,” he said.

  She nodded again. “He was like the father I always wanted and never had, Micah. Unlike my own father, I believe he really loved me, and I can’t explain how good that felt.”

  A thoughtful expression claimed his face as he moved his thumb over her lower lip. “How could he not?”

  Sloane had been about to say she was having second thoughts, after all. She didn’t want to hurt Paige. She couldn’t stick around to be with Micah long-term. But the sweetness of that statement and the look on his face... She couldn’t stop what was happening; it was bigger and stronger than she was.

  “I want to take this slow,” he said as he touched his lips to hers. “But I doubt I’ll be able to hold back. Not this time. I’m dying to touch you and taste you everywhere all at once. What you do to me... I’m helpless against it.”

  She slid her arms around his neck and licked the edge of his mouth. “Then where will you start?”

  His smile slanted to one side. “Maybe I’ll start here...” He kissed her lips. “Or here.” He nipped her neck before moving down to her breast. “Or maybe...” he slid off her panties “...I’ll start right here.”

  He spread her legs in a possessive movement that made her gasp. “There?” she said.

  Holding her so she couldn’t push him away, he ran his tongue lightly over her. “Why not?”

  Her stomach muscles tensed with anticipation. “Because that...that makes me too self-conscious.”

  “You don’t have to be self-conscious with me. I was the first man to ever see you, to ever touch you.”

  That was true. She wanted what he was offering, but she also wanted to talk him out of it so that he’d move on to something that made her feel less open and exposed. “You never did this.”

  “Because you didn’t let me take off your clothes until graduation night. And by then I was so eager to make love to you I never thought of it. I just wanted to get inside you as soon as possible.”

  She laughed at the memory, but she’d been just as eager, every bit as in love and anxious to see what having sex with him would be like. “I’m not complaining. It’s just that I’ve never let anyone do that.”

  “Really?”

  “That surprises you?”

  “Sort of. You must’ve had plenty of opportunities.”

  “Not as many as you think. I’m an introvert, remember?”

  “I remember. I love your quiet, your reserve. I find it soothing. But the fact that you’ve never had this experience only makes me want to give it to you more. So don’t tell me no.”

  She dragged in a deep breath to compensate for the excitement building in her body.

  “Sloane?” He slid his hands up under her, tilting her at the perfect angle to make what he wanted more accessible. “Say yes. You told me you trust me.”

  She did trust him. It made no difference that they’d been apart for so long. This was Micah, the only boy she’d ever loved. If anyone was going to know her in this way, she wanted it to be him. As he’d just said, he’d been her first in every other way, so this seemed natural. “I do trust you.”

  “That’s a yes.”

  “That’s a yes,” she repeated.

  The satisfaction on his face nearly made her laugh. “I’m glad, because I can almost guarantee you’re going to like it.”

  “I like it so far,” she said and told herself to let go and embrace the moment. She’d been fighting her feelings—as well as her desire for him—for so long. Why not allow what they both wanted to happen while she was in Millcreek? Be happy and fulfilled for a change and worry about everything else later?

  “I’m just getting started,” he said and, a moment later, she felt the warm wetness of his mouth.

  “Wow, that’s good,” she said on a shaky exhale.

  “How good?” he asked, his breath warm against her flesh.

  “It might be the best thing I’ve ever felt.”

  He lifted his head. “I told you you were going to like it.”

  Trying not to writhe beneath him, she clutched the bedding on both sides of her as he went back to work. “You were right. But I want you inside me, and since I’ve been waiting for ten years, it doesn’t feel like I can wait another second.”

  “You can wait,” he assured her. “Let it build.”

  “How long?” she asked.

  “We’re getting there.”

  Unable to resist the pleasure he was giving her, she closed her eyes and arched her back and was soon so lost in sensation that nothing else could intrude—no worries or regrets or hesitation. His name was the only thing on her mind when her hands found their way into his hair and she cried out as he brought her to climax.

  Sloane and Micah had to be in Micah’s house. Where else could they be? Sloane’s car was still at the bar. Paige had driven past on her way from the store and saw it sitting there, alone in the empty parking lot. And Sloane wasn’t answering the door when Paige knocked at the motel. She’d stopped there on the way, too.

  So she had to be here with Micah, Paige decided when she saw that his truck hadn’t moved.

  She pulled out her phone to text Sloane again:

  I’m getting really worried about you. Please respond so that I know you’re okay.

  Micah had said he had to work at three, at which point he’d promised to “look” for Sloane. Paige grimaced as she, once again, went over their interaction at the door.

  “Bastard,” she muttered, smacking the steering wheel. “You knew exa
ctly where she was.”

  When her phone signaled an incoming text, she glanced down to see who it was. She’d also texted Micah to say she still hadn’t heard from Sloane. She wanted to see how he’d respond, hoped he’d compound his lie so that she could throw his words back in his face when she caught them together.

  But this wasn’t Micah or Sloane; it was Ed. As soon as she left the store, she’d replied to Sloane’s father that she was going to drive by Micah’s house to see if he and Sloane were together.

  Do you see anything?

  Not yet.

  Should I try calling Micah?

  No. He won’t answer. If I’m right, he’s too busy. The kind of busy she imagined made her seethe. She couldn’t watch him get back with Sloane, couldn’t see them around town, holding hands, smiling lovingly at each other. Not after everything she’d been through. Just imagining it made her sick. She’d loved both of these people with all her heart. She’d admired them, catered to them, tried to be whatever they needed in return. But nothing she did seemed to make a difference. They didn’t care about her sacrifices; they didn’t care about her at all.

  She wished they were just...gone, so that she wouldn’t have to think about them anymore. Then she wouldn’t have to see Micah every time he came to pick up Trevor, wouldn’t have to notice how he glanced away whenever she searched his face for some hint of concern or care for her.

  You said he works at three, right? Ed wrote. He’ll have to come out then. If Sloane is there, do you think she’ll stay at his house while he’s gone or that he’ll drop her back at the motel?

  It was likely she’d come out. She had to answer her calls and texts at some point, and she wouldn’t want to do that at Micah’s. What if Paige said she was going to stop by?

  As Ed said, Micah would have to come out to go to work, but Paige couldn’t wait to prove her suspicions. Her sister was already in a panic. Almost as soon as Paige had left, a customer had come in and tried to pay for a baby dress with a credit card. Because Yolanda couldn’t figure out how to process it, she wanted Paige to return to the store as soon as possible, before the woman came back. So Paige couldn’t stay here watching Micah’s house much longer. And yet she couldn’t miss this opportunity, either, couldn’t give up her position on Micah’s street until she confirmed that both Sloane and Micah were untrustworthy assholes who’d never been any sort of friend to her.

  I can get him out of the house earlier than that, she wrote back to Ed.

  How? What are you going to do?

  I’m going to tell him Trevor forgot his lunch money, and I’m too busy at the store to run it over. He’ll do anything for Trevor, even pull away from Sloane.

  And if he didn’t, she’d really have reason to hate him. That he’d put his love for Sloane above her was one thing. That he’d put Sloane above Trevor moved into completely new, unforgivable territory.

  And when he finds out Trevor has lunch money? Ed asked.

  I’ll tell him I forgot giving it to him, that I had a moment of panic, thinking our child would go without.

  Okay. Do it. But I hope you’ll confront Micah if he walks out with Sloane, let him know what a fool he is for allowing her to drag him into her baseless suspicions. Make sure he knows he’s just screwed himself where you and Trevor are concerned.

  That was what she wanted to do—to let him have it. She’d been so nice since the divorce, so hopeful that he’d come back if only she was appealing instead of hurt and angry. It had been such a struggle to subvert her true feelings. Now all the effort she’d put toward that made her feel stupid, as though she was letting him take advantage of her kindness and love—which was why another idea, a better idea, was taking shape in her mind.

  Again, she glanced down at Ed’s many texts. Sloane wasn’t going to end up with Micah. Not if she could help it.

  I’m pretty sure they’re together, she told Ed. And if that’s the case, Sloane will definitely get Micah to help her. He’ll open a police investigation, which will, at the very least, sink your reelection. They might even manage to drum up enough “evidence” to see that you’re charged with Clara’s murder.

  When he didn’t respond for several minutes, she knew he had to be fuming and felt a measure of satisfaction for striking back at Sloane so quickly.

  She’d just texted Micah about Trevor needing lunch money when Ed’s response finally came in:

  That will never happen, he wrote.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Sloane locked her legs around Micah’s hips the moment he pressed inside her. After having just brought her to climax, he was so aroused that action alone nearly sent him over the edge, and he hadn’t even started to move.

  He’d been so sure he’d never have the chance to make love to her again. This seemed like a dream, like one of the many he’d had since she left, except that it was so raw and real and totally unscripted it was completely different from everything he’d imagined before.

  The scent of her perfume, something he hadn’t associated with her in the past, mingled with the headier smell of sex to create a new memory, one he responded to in a very primitive way. The fact that they were doing something that felt so forbidden added a whole other dimension. There would be a cost for this—with Paige, with Sloane’s father, maybe even with Trevor.

  That last possibility terrified Micah. He was willing to face any repercussion except the loss of his son, but he refused to think about that right now. He wouldn’t lose Trevor. He’d fight for his visitation, do whatever he had to in order to remain part of his son’s life. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. It was only fair that Paige respect his right to move on, even if that meant he spent the day in bed with Sloane.

  He hated to think it might all be over too soon, so he sought to savor it while he could. Putting most of his weight on his elbows, so he wouldn’t crush her, he stared down at her while trying to regain control. He was feeling so much from a physical standpoint he was amazed by the tenderness that swept through him on a much deeper level when she gazed back at him as if she was just as lost in the moment.

  “It’s so good to be with you again,” she murmured, pushing a lock of hair off his forehead.

  He couldn’t hold a grudge against her, he realized. As hard as he’d tried not to, he’d already forgiven her for leaving him and everything he’d been through in the past ten years because of it. Which was crazy. She hadn’t even been back a full week. This approach was going to lead him right back to where he’d been.

  “God, what would it take for me to hate you?” he asked.

  Her eyebrows came together even though it was obvious she understood, at least a little, the way he meant those words. “You want to hate me?”

  “It would make my life easier.”

  “I think you did hate me, didn’t you? It felt like it when I first saw you at Paige’s house.”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t even come close.”

  The sweetest smile he’d ever seen curved her lips. “If it helps, I could never hate you, either.”

  So what did that mean? Where would they go from here? Micah had no idea since nothing had really changed. She wouldn’t stay in Millcreek, could never survive here with her father and brother running the town and the suspicion she harbored about her mother. And he couldn’t leave. Not with Trevor still so young.

  “Don’t,” she whispered and caught his face between her hands.

  “Don’t what?” he asked.

  “Think.” She guided his lips back to hers, kissing him so thoroughly he couldn’t resist moving inside her—and soon he couldn’t think. He had the only woman he’d ever truly loved beneath him. Nothing could erode the pleasure that brought him.

  * * *

  What a day. What a week! Ed had never dreamed his waif-thin daughter would ever have the guts to oppose him, but she didn’t seem to be backing off and running
away. Even Randy was surprised by her determination and commitment.

  Ed had been pacing all morning, wondering what he should do next. He’d just pivoted at the window when Edith walked into his office.

  “You haven’t sat down once this morning,” she said, frowning to find him away from his desk yet again. “What’s wrong with you? You’re acting like a caged panther.”

  “It’s nothing,” he snapped to get her to back off. “What is it you want?”

  She handed him a file. “You need to sign these letters so they can go out in today’s mail. And Chief Adler is on line one.”

  Chief Adler—that didn’t bode well. They’d already discussed what needed to happen. Was the chief of police calling with bad news?

  Ed hurried over to pick up the phone but hesitated when he realized that Edith hadn’t left the room. She was standing just inside the door, watching him with a skeptical expression. “What is it?” he asked.

  “You haven’t been yourself lately.”

  For good reason. Everything he was, everything he’d established, could come tumbling down in a heartbeat—and all because of his own daughter, who was only twenty-eight and had somehow gone off and made something of herself without his help. Randy had stayed and relied exclusively on him, but not Sloane. He had to respect her for that, but he certainly didn’t have to like her. “Stop making something out of nothing.”

  She continued to appraise him. “Don’t tell me things have already soured with Paige Evans...”

  The blinking light on his phone acted like a homing beacon. He wanted to answer so he could talk to Bill, but he didn’t want to do it while Edith was in the room. “Since when have I ever let a woman upset me? My personal life is none of your business, anyway.”

  She harrumphed. “It’s none of my business until you want me to send flowers.”

  “That takes you five minutes!”

  “So? If she’s pregnant or something like that, it would affect my job as much as yours. People around here won’t take kindly to their mayor sleeping with a woman half his age and getting her pregnant. Especially a local woman they have to face every day. Not if he isn’t going to marry her. And I’m guessing that would be the furthest thing from your mind.”