Connor followed, leaving the animals on the porch. “You did nothing wrong. I don’t know why you’re here with your sister’s car, but frankly, I’m not surprised she decided not to show. She put you up to this, didn’t she?”
Nadine grabbed her rolling overnighter and slung her purse over her shoulder. The car keys were inside. “You can talk to her about this.”
“I’d rather talk to you.” He stepped aside to let her pass. “But since you’re way over your head in this scheme your sister is involving you in, I’ll let you off the hook.”
Part of her wanted to scram, take the opening and leave. But the irrational crazy woman part of her screamed that Connor wasn’t even stopping her from leaving.
So she kept walking. He opened the screen door and held it for her. Her booted steps clunked across the creaking porch and she rolled her bag, thunk, thunk, thunk down the steps, nailing the coffin lid over her heart.
Tears blurred her way to the car, and she didn’t even have the energy to go back for her cat. Not if she was going to make her escape. She popped the trunk and hefted her overnighter inside, then settled into the driver’s seat.
She didn’t care if Connor watched or not, didn’t dare look up to find whether he’d gone back into the cabin. She’d been an idiot to play along with Elaine’s scheme—one that was meant to ruin her reputation.
They were all using her. Every last one of them. Using her for a baby. Using her to get back at their father. Using her to slake his lust. Nope, Connor wasn’t innocent in this. Like any other man, he took the opportunity to cheat.
Anger overtook her, and she pushed the ignition button, starting the Benz. The fog was coming down, but not quite as thick as near the coast. She could manage it with the aid of the GPS system. She just had to get onto the road where the navigator could tell her which way to go.
Nadine put the car on reverse to turn it around. From the corner of her eye she saw Connor holding her cat. He waved at her and came toward the car.
“Sorry, Greyheart,” she muttered under her breath. She trusted Connor to bring the cat back, but right now, she couldn’t deal with even a moment longer in his presence.
If she didn’t leave now, she’d never leave. It was like ripping her heart out of her chest and offering it to a cruel heartless god.
She turned the steering wheel and jammed the accelerator. The wheels swished on the gravel.
Crunch. The sickening sound of metal smashing into metal bounced through her head.
What had she hit?
Nadine jumped from the car at the same time Connor charged toward her.
Crap. Crap. Triple crap.
She’d broadsided his fire engine red extended cab pickup truck, and Elaine’s rear bumper lay hanging off one side.
Chapter Nineteen
Holy …! Connor suppressed a curse word and blinked at his damaged truck. Adrenaline surged through his veins as the cat jumped from his hands and streaked toward Nadine. Meanwhile Cinder, having been alerted by the crash, ran around in circles barking and jumping.
Worst of all, Nadine could be hurt!
He intercepted her as she moaned, “Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no.”
“Calm, calm.” He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back. “Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?”
Whatever momentary anger he had about his truck disappeared at her obvious distress.
“I’m so sorry. So sorry. I’ll pay everything back. I promise. I’ll pay for it. It’s my fault. All of it. I’m so sorry.”
“Shhh … We’ll talk about that later. Let’s go back in the house and get you warmed up and fed. Are you hurt? Any neck pain?” He walked her to the car, grabbed her purse from the front seat and shut off the ignition.
“I’m okay, but I can’t stay. This was all wrong. I can’t stay here.”
“I’m not sure you’re going anywhere soon.” He firmly guided her back up the porch steps. “Not unless you want to be dragging that bumper all the way back to San Francisco.”
“Elaine’s going to kill me. She’s going to kill me.”
“Let’s worry about that later. I’m sure she has good insurance.” He set her on the sofa and pulled a striped afghan over her. “I’ll get the chili started and a fire going. Would you like a mug of hot chocolate or hot apple cider?”
“I need a drink.” She raised her arm and covered her forehead with her head resting on an armrest. “I can’t do anything right.”
“I disagree with that statement.” He kissed her on the cheek. He couldn’t help himself, no matter how pissed he was about the truck. She was more important, way more. “You stay put and I’ll take care of everything.”
Nadine nodded and they made eye contact, finally. He held her gaze until a faint smile creased her face.
He wasn’t sure what he was feeling, except the panic of her leaving was dissipating. He sure as heck wasn’t going to ruin another chance to speak to her—to let her know how he felt—that he’d actually been glad she turned up at the door and had been dreading her sister, the woman he was supposedly in love with.
“We’re in this together,” he said, his voice lowered. “I’m afraid I have some decisions to make. I hope you’ll give me another chance when this is all over.”
“I don’t get what you mean.” The smile was gone, replaced by a pained expression.
“You don’t have to get it right now, because I’m not a free man. I’m sorry for losing control earlier, and I want you to know it won’t happen again.” He gave her arm a squeeze, while his gut squeezed with regret at his resolve to behave.
“It was my fault, too.”
He grinned, shaking his head. Could this woman get any more lovable? Elaine would never have admitted fault. Not that he was comparing, make that, he would refuse to compare.
His hand lingered on her arm. He didn’t want to let go, but at the same time, he wasn’t being fair to her. Leaning in, he whispered to reassure her. “There is no fault when two hearts collide. I promise you, I’ll make it right.”
She blinked, her eyes watery. “You’re too good to me, Connor. So good to me.”
“You deserve better than to be a surrogate.” He put his hand over his heart, overcome by the fullness of his emotion. “You’re a woman some lucky man could build his entire life around.”
“Would that man be you?” she said with eyes wide open, not a hint of flirting—just a straight out query, like that of an innocent child asking if he was Santa Claus.
Her words lit a spark of hope in his dreary heart. He wanted to say yes, but he wasn’t free to give her any promises. He’d been given a small opportunity with the car accident, and he’d better be careful not to spook her or make her feel guilty for betraying her sister.
“I want to be. Let’s start this over, correctly.” His voice was thick. “Let’s have dinner and then we talk—as friends. Let’s get to know each other without all the other stuff getting in the way. Let’s finish this weekend with whatever plan your sister had for you. I’m sure she sent you here because she wanted me to like you enough for you to be the surrogate, so I’m going to do what she wanted. I’m going to get to know you and like you, but before I start, I have to tell you that I no longer want you to be the surrogate—not because I don’t like you or that I find you unsuitable, but because—” Because I want you to be the real mother of my children. Because I want you for myself. Because I think I’m falling in love with you.
“What is it then?” Nadine swallowed hard, but she kept her gaze locked onto him.
“I’m not going to be having children with Elaine,” he answered her without flinching. “I don’t think she really wants children. She can’t find the time for them, and I think she only wanted to give me what I’ve always wanted.”
“She wants you to be happy. She cares a lot about you.”
“True, but neither of us will be happy if we don’t agree on something so fundamental. It would be wrong to involve others—you and the baby. It wou
ld be very, very wrong.”
“Then I have to do the right thing.” She sat up, alert, and a spark seemed to have enlivened her. “I have to give her back the advance. I’m glad I haven’t spent it yet. Guess I better find a job, because I’ll be paying for your truck and Elaine’s car for a long time. I better start selling my paintings.”
“I might be able to help you with that. Your work is really good, and I’d like to buy some for the fire station.”
“Oh, I couldn’t let you do that for me.” She pursed her lips into the cutest little pout, although he doubted she was aware of it. “I’m the one who should be paying you for the damages.”
“Actually, I’ll contact Elaine’s insurance company. She allowed you to drive her car, right? With her permission?”
“Yes, she asked me to come up this weekend to spend it with you. Texted me the directions and had me pick up the key fob at her office.”
He pulled her from the couch to a standing position. “Then it’s on her insurance since she’s given you permission.”
“I’m still responsible.” Nadine followed him, hand in hand as he led her to the kitchen.
“That’s between you and her,” Connor said. “We lucked out with the kitchen fire. I hardly smell any smoke, and the only thing I ruined was the pot. Let’s see if we can scrounge up dinner.”
“Sure, I can whip up a salad if you have vegetables.”
“Have at it.” He opened the refrigerator, took out two bottles of beer and stepped aside to let her look through it.
She examined the contents of the food drawers. “Oh, wow, you have organic chicken thighs, leeks, mixed greens, Chinese eggplant, soy sauce, and hot sauce. I can whip us up a stir-fry instead if you’d like.”
Yep, chump that he was, he had brought Elaine’s favorite ingredients in an ice chest, but had balked at cooking them, hence the Dinty Moore beef stew. Elaine was always hypercritical of his cooking, tasting it several times and commenting on how he was inconsistent, or that it had tasted better the time before. She’d never offered to cook, only to critique.
He had to stop thinking about her. Once he returned to San Francisco, he was going to break up with her. It had nothing to do with Nadine, other than she’d helped him realize that the Elaine he’d fallen in love with as a teenager was no longer the woman she was now.
“You okay?” Nadine asked, still holding the package of chicken. “I didn’t mean to intrude. If you were preparing something special for Elaine …”
“I’m fine. Please, I’d love it if you whipped something up for us. Elaine never called me to cancel, and I’m guessing by sending you, she’s telling me she doesn’t have time for me.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Nadine said. “She had a consult and then she figured this would work into her plans.”
Connor popped the tops from the beers and handed one to Nadine, then took a long, hard swallow. Wiping his lips with the back of his hand, he made a rule. “I’ll deal with Elaine when I get back, but how about we fine each other a dollar every time we mention her name? I’m hoping I won’t make you rich enough to pay off all the damages to my truck.”
“You’re funny.” Nadine punched him lightly on his abdominals. “But you’re on. I could use all the pocket change I can get.”
Chapter Twenty
“Ah, come on, you’ve already taken the modeling pics.” Connor held a spoonful of lemon pound cake crushed with vanilla ice cream and teased Nadine’s lips. “Open up.”
“Mmm, mmm.” She shook her head vigorously, holding back another case of the giggles. “Now that there’s no baby making, I have to take my weight seriously.”
“Ah, come on, you can do it. Just one lick. It’s melting. Don’t let it drip.” He wiped the spoon across her upper lip. “I just gave you a mustache.”
Her tongue darted up to lick the mess, and he took the opportunity to slip the spoon in between her lips. It was cool, creamy, and sweet with a tang of lemony bliss.
“Mmmm …” Nadine couldn’t help moaning, especially when her mind reeled to what other delicious things Connor could slip into her.
“Told you, you’d like it.” Connor twirled the spoon inside her mouth before extracting it in a slow, sensuous motion. The veins in his hand flexed as he carefully dipped the spoon into the dessert. “Too bad I can’t kiss you and taste it from your lips.”
Nadine giggled, partially from his transparency, but more from the beers she had enjoyed over their mish-mash dinner of stir-fry chicken and chili cheese laced iceberg lettuce salad with pickle relish dressing.
That was the kind of salad Connor threw together for his fire crew in the guise of being healthy. Interesting how much she could learn about a guy by cooking with him.
Truth? Cooking and eating dinner with Connor was a real treat. He was such a big boy, but oh, so sexy, not that she was going to tempt him to break his vow on keeping things cool for now. She’d made a major blunder, letting him press her to the bed, and if the smoke alarm hadn’t sounded, who knew what trouble she could have gotten into?
“More?” He tickled her lips with the sweet, cool spoon.
“Sorry, can’t.” She rubbed her flat belly. “I’ve got to pay my mother back for the modeling photoshoot too, although she claims it’s a gift.”
“My sister Jenna’s a fashion designer.” Connor’s glance dipped from her lips to her chest. “How about I put in a word for you? She got a grant from the city to start a fashion design house in San Francisco, and she’ll be needing regular models since the ones she has right now, she’s flying in from New York.”
“For real? You’d introduce me to her? What if she doesn’t like me?”
“She’ll like you. We’re family, and anyone I like, they like. Except for Elaine … oh, crap.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.
“You’re excused this one time. Since you brought it up, I should call her and let her know I arrived safely, but damaged her car.”
Connor held out his hand and shook his head. “No cell service here, and the landline’s out of commission. We’ll have to drive into town and use a pay phone at the general store. They still have one, a real old-fashioned one with a half-booth that takes quarters.”
“No wonder I couldn’t get a signal, but with the GPS tracking on her car, she probably knows I’m here.”
“Then we’re good. Now.” He made a motion of zipping his lips. “No more E-word. Tomorrow morning, we’ll contact the insurance company.”
“Your place, your rules.” Her face cracked into a playful smile as she set her beer bottle down. “So what do you do up here with no TV, no computer, and no internet?”
“Ready to find out?” He wiggled his eyebrows and offered his hand.
Goodness. Despite the friends-only rule, he was so freaking tempting. How could she resist his hand? Friends held hands too, didn’t they?
She snuggled her hand into his and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m game. Let’s find out what hunky firemen do when out in the woods by themselves.”
“Come, let’s enjoy the fire I lit—in the fireplace, of course.” He caressed her hand with his thumb. “I’m not exactly alone, but sure, I’ll show you what we do out here without any electronic interruptions.”
She loved the sound of it, but she wouldn’t be able to resist if he tried anything on her. It would be wrong, since he was still engaged to her sister. And even if it played into her sister’s script, it was supposed to be fake—something to get her father upset—not enacted.
Besides, Connor didn’t want children anymore, at least not yet, and if she dug deep into her thoughts, she also wasn’t ready to be pregnant—not when he was offering her a chance to model with his sister—not when she had all those unfinished oil paintings. She loved the texture only oil could give. Watercolors absorbed into the paper, but oils could be sculpted boldly onto the canvas.
She caught her breath at the sight of the crackling fire behind the chain-linked curtain. It was cozy a
nd comfy, and as Connor pulled her into the loveseat facing it, she stopped thinking about her sister and her future.
It was all about the moment—that was all life guaranteed. The present—to live and make memories—the kind that she’d treasure, no matter what the outcome.
She leaned into Connor’s chest and rested her face on his shoulder, letting the dancing flames and the man she was already in love with mesmerize her.
Connor was complete as he held Nadine in front of the fire. His puppy slept at his feet, and the little gray cat was curled in his lap. He could stare at the dancing flames for hours, not needing to say a word or break the silence, or he could take out his guitar and while away the time, or lie on the banks of the river and watch the stars.
The sounds of nature soothed him, so far away from the noise of the city, the roaring of motors, the shouts of humanity with the constant rush of cars speeding by, eager to leave one place for another, always in a hurry.
He was twenty-nine, almost thirty, and the oldest son in his family. He was the leader. His father, who used to be the fire chief, counted on him to lead by example. He’d always known what he wanted—to be a fireman following in his father’s footsteps and to marry a girl named Elaine Woo—the smartest, prettiest, and most exciting girl he knew.
She’d won every academic award from spelling bees to Math Olympiad, yet she had time to joke around with him. The first time they met, she teased him, calling him an oversized oaf, and he proved how strong he was by bicep curling her, lifting her like a barbell. She loved the view up top, sitting on his shoulders, and he’d scare her by running up and down the bleachers at breakneck speed.
He oftentimes needed her tutoring, whether to study before a test, or to work on a school project, and sometimes he didn’t, but pretended he needed help so he could get her attention.
They’d had fun, too. He’d taken her to amusement parks and screamed with her on mind-bending roller coasters while she’d taught him to dance hip-hop. He’d tried to show her how to play the guitar, but her hands were too small, and she’d shown him her violin, both Western and Chinese. They’d had fun jamming together in her garage—not that they’d ever had an audience since her parents had both been working.
Spring Fling Kitty: The Hart Family (Have A Hart Book 3) Page 11