by Kay Stockham
Turning her head, she watched as the streetlights played over Garret’s face. He was gorgeous. Strong and tall and handsome. A man’s man. A man she’d be thrilled to call her husband. But was Tobias right?
Garret pulled up to the house and stopped, shoving the vehicle into Park before he reached for the door handle.
“No,” she said quickly, unable to stomach the pretense a moment longer. “Don’t bother walking me to the door. I’m going straight to bed. Thank you for dinner.”
He snagged her arm before she could let herself out. Watching her closely, Garret slowly tugged and she moved toward him willingly, hoping, praying, that while she’d been gone something had changed.
Garret brushed his lips gently over hers. “Feel better.”
She nodded, hesitated, then wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him again, the kiss too hard. Desperate. Awkward and totally different from the way she’d felt with Tobias. She pulled away with a murmured goodbye and rushed out of the Escalade.
“Joss?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
She turned to shut the door, blinded by tears. “I love you, too.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
DARCY STARED up at Garret and laughed. “Shut up! Are you serious?”
He winked at her. “No one suspected a thing.”
She lifted the hammer up to him and watched as he nailed the closet supports into place. Darcy was fairly sure Rosetta’s maintenance contract covered such things, but the woman had insisted Garret was a better hand at completing the chores. Darcy was glad to see him again. After the kiss and that scene at the hospital, she wasn’t sure how he’d treat her. If he would even come to see her.
“What’s next on the list?”
“The shelf above the washer. It wobbles, apparently.”
He tested the support, made sure it wouldn’t budge and climbed down, seemingly as at ease on the ladder as he was at his job. The power player had a domestic side. Who knew?
Garret put the hammer back into the tool chest, hesitating. “Darcy, about the other day—”
“We’re good. Right, Spike?”
He chuckled, his eyes warm on hers. “I’m glad. You and Spike have enough on your hands without me adding more to the mix.”
“Or hurting your girlfriend,” she murmured softly, nixing the easygoing mood with four words.
Garret hesitated, his expression darkening with a mixture of regret and sadness. “Or that.”
GARRET FROWNED and hung up the phone when he got Toby’s voice mail again. He knew his friend was upset about Wellington and the loss of the partnership, but Toby had bills to pay. He had to get something going soon, and a week had come and gone since that night at the Old Coyote.
A knock sounded outside his door. Garret swiveled in the chair, hoping Toby had come to see him, but his mother stood there instead. “Hey, Mom, what’s up?” He stood and walked over to give her a kiss.
“You tell me.” His mother hugged him back and sent him a look he recognized well. “Garret, is everything all right?”
Sighing, Garret leaned his hips on his desk and scowled. “If everyone would mind their own business, it would be.”
“Have you been out with Joss lately?”
He inhaled and sighed. “She picked up a cold in Montana. I’ve talked to her on the phone several times, but she’s been taking it easy and puttering around the gallery. Why?”
“Garret—”
“It’s not my baby.”
“Well, of course it’s not. I know Darcy would be wearing a wedding band if that was the case.” She smoothed her carefully styled hair. “Sweetheart, I hate to sound old-fashioned, but appearances do matter and—”
“Harry said something to you.”
The first time or two he’d seen Darcy since the kiss, her responses had been reserved, but then she soon warmed up and seemed to have forgiven him. Once he started noticing the ripe fullness of Darcy’s breasts pressing against her top, the curve of her lips and the shape of her behind, the way she jumped up to help Gram every time she thought the older woman needed it, he left. But you still noticed.
His mother drew herself up to her full height. “He’s concerned. And frankly, so am I.”
“It’s fine, Mom.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“Doing what? Darcy is literally stuck here in town until after the baby’s born, and Gram’s great, but don’t you think it’s a little heartless to drop Darcy there and not see her again?”
“So it’s friendship? She’s your friend?”
“I’d like to think so, yes.”
Exhaling what appeared to be a sigh of relief, his mother said, “We want you to be happy, Garret.” She palmed his face in her hands. “Marriage is supposed to be forever. No one would hold it against you if you need more time before you propose to Joss.”
“Harry would disagree with that statement.”
“Harry can disagree all he likes. I don’t want you or Joss hurting over something that could’ve been prevented if it wasn’t rushed.”
“Me, neither. Thanks, Mom.” He forced a smile. “Now, tell me how the plans are going for Gram’s big birthday bash.”
DARCY ACCEPTED the gift with a smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Colby. I don’t know what to say.”
The older woman beamed. “You don’t have to say a word, honey. I’m glad to help. My grandbabies have more than enough. I thought you might be able to use a little, too, with your baby on the way.”
“I can. I appreciate it.” It had been that way all day. All of her clients had come bearing gifts, and she was overwhelmed by their generosity. As she set the gift aside and selected music for Mrs. Colby’s session, she reminded herself this was a temporary situation. She wouldn’t be staying here, best not get too attached to the people.
But they’re so nice. Why not stay?
Moving close to the door, Darcy spotted the flyers that had appeared that morning. Jocelyn Pierson’s name was displayed in bold letters as the event contact for donations benefitting the children’s ward at the hospital. Garret’s hospital where he worked for Jocelyn’s father in the position Garret’s grandfather helped him get. Garret was too nice a guy to screw with his life.
She enjoyed the time she spent with him. Loved how he made her laugh and blush and feel like a woman instead of a beached whale. But she liked it too much. He was too handsome, too flirtatious, too kind. Too nice a guy for her to have to sit back and watch him marry another woman.
That’s why you can’t stay.
JOSS APPEARED in front of Garret during his workout, looking every inch Harry’s daughter in her sleek suit and high heels. “Hey, feeling better?” he asked.
“Yes, I am. Thank you.”
“What’s wrong?”
“You tell me. I just got off the phone with Daddy.” Her light blue eyes narrowed in concern. “I can’t believe he had the gall to say what he did to your mother. I’m so embarrassed. He treats me like I’m a child, not a woman.”
Maybe if Joss spoke up more, Harry wouldn’t do that. Garret smiled, grim, almost wishing she had put Harry up to it. At least then it would mean she cared enough to fight for him. How juvenile was that? But her mood of late worried him, and he wouldn’t mind a little better idea of where he stood. They were two adults, but the pressure to keep their families happy was intense. This was why guys didn’t bring the girl home to meet the parents until he knew for sure what he wanted. “Mom was fine. We had a nice chat when she came to see me about it.” He nodded toward her clothes. “You working out?”
“No. I had to take my car to Nick’s. It’s making a funny noise.”
“You should’ve said something. I could’ve had a look at it.”
“You’re too busy, and Nick said it would take ten minutes. A fan belt or some such. I saw your car and thought I’d come to apologize. I don’t know what’s gotten into Daddy lately. He’s so insistent that we make things permanent.”
/> “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You don’t need that pressure on top of getting ready for the opening.”
“I’m okay. So why are you here now? I thought you always worked out in the morning?”
“I was hoping to run into Toby.”
“Oh? Any particular reason why?”
“I think he’s feeling pretty low about not getting the partnership. Thought I might try to cheer him up. Guess I’ll track him down some other time. Want to grab some dinner? I’m almost done here.”
She shook her head. “That sounds lovely. It really does, but I can’t. I need to meet with the caterer about opening night.”
“This late?”
“She works out of her home and we need to go over some things. Did I tell you I’m hosting a charity toy drive the night of the opening? I’m coordinating it with the hospital to help supply the toy bin in Pediatrics and send every child home with a new or gently used toy.”
“That’s great.”
Just then the door to the designated massage room opened and a drowsy looking woman emerged. She paused in the doorway to say her goodbyes. He couldn’t see Darcy.
“I’ve got to go. Nick promised to have my car ready. Give me a call later tonight if you get a chance.”
“Uh, yeah, sure. Be careful.” He shifted to make it easier for her to give him a kiss.
“Ick. You’re all sweaty. Don’t muss me for my meeting.” She kissed more air than lips, flashed him her practiced smile and then walked away.
Garret glanced back toward the massage room only to find the door closed once more. Swearing beneath his breath at the strange situation he found himself in, he grabbed his gear from the locker room and headed out of the gym.
The February air cooled the sweat on his skin with numbing swiftness, but that was nothing compared to the surprise he felt when he saw Joss standing outside her car talking to Toby. Joss looked flustered, her normally ultra-cool persona nowhere to be found as she stared up into Toby’s face and gave him what for about something. The scene caught his attention because she looked so fiery and passionate. So unlike the woman she was with him. The woman she’d appeared inside the gym. If he wasn’t mistaken she almost looked—
Interested in Toby?
The thought came out of nowhere, a sucker punch that couldn’t have shocked him more. No way. It was his imagination. One of the first lessons in law school was that in domestic cases the guilty are usually the first to accuse the innocent of their own crimes. The fact he liked Darcy, was curious about her and had been thinking about her as something other than a friend, that was why he saw what he thought he saw.
He took a step forward to join them but something held him back. Garret watched, unable to take his eyes off the scene playing out before him. Joss said something he couldn’t hear, but Toby’s reaction was instantaneous. His buddy bent forward, his head lowering, his posture that of a man about to kiss a woman senseless—or quiet. At the last second, Toby stopped and pulled away, but there was no denying the sexual tension flaring between the two of them.
Had he been played for a fool? Was that why Joss was so uncomfortable of late? Was that why Toby was avoiding his calls? Guilt?
Doubts bombarded Garret’s head. All those hours he worked. Jocelyn’s distance. Tobe stopping by the gallery, pressuring Garret to decide. This was why? He ground his teeth until his jawbone popped loud in his ear, angry, furious at Toby’s trespassing and yet not sure what to do. The rational, don’t-go-off-half-cocked mediator-attorney in him demanded proof before he considered confronting them, and seeing them talking in a parking lot did not qualify as such. But the tension. What about that?
Toby stalked off and got into his SUV, peeling out of the parking lot and heading west even though he’d been dressed in work-out clothes and hadn’t stepped foot inside the gym. Joss did the same but headed east, both of them seemingly trying to stay as far away from each other as possible.
A gust of wind hit him but did nothing for the anger simmering inside him.
Was Joss cheating on him with his best friend?
“EIGHTEEN.”
“Twenty-one.” Darcy swiped the cards from the couch cushion between them and looked up to find Garret in the same mood he’d been in all night. No amount of teasing or questions had drawn him out of it. If anything it had gotten darker, his expression more brooding.
The condo was quiet, Rosetta out on a date with one of the men who lived in the building. Garret had scowled when he’d heard the news. He’d hesitated outside the condo door, freshly showered and dressed casually in khaki slacks and a lightweight black sweater that emphasized his good looks, but then asked if he could come in anyway. She hadn’t been able to turn him away.
“Ow. Wait a minute, I have to stretch.” She made a face and shifted her sideways position on the couch.
“Where’s it hurt?”
She smoothed her hand over her lower back and without warning, Garret moved closer until their knees met, putting them face-to-face. Just like that his arms were around her. Despite the surprise of it, she didn’t move away. Garret placed his hands on her lower back and began a slow massage.
“Oh, wow.” She tried to hold in a moan, but his touch felt too good. “Oh, that feels wonderful.”
He chuckled huskily. “You like that, huh?”
Oh, yeah. And he seemed to like it, too. “Don’t stop.” She tried to hold herself upright and away from Garret’s hard, broad chest but the slow push and pull of his hands on her back made that impossible. She dropped her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes with a sigh.
His lips brushed her temple. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?” she whispered, feeling the tension inside her rocketing up by degrees. How was that possible with her the way she was?
“Make me want you when all you’re doing is sitting there.”
She caught her breath. Seriously? The moist heat of his breath against her neck, her ear, sent shivers through her. “It’s all a figment of your imagination. I’m pregnant, or have you forgotten?”
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Meaning…what? “Garret, stop.”
“You said I couldn’t.” He kissed her temple again. “And I don’t want to.”
She squeezed her eyes shut at the pitch of his voice. “I don’t want to make another mistake. We’ve spent a lot of time together these past few weeks and it’s been fun, but…Garret, you wouldn’t be a rebound for me.” She lifted her head, looked into his eyes and bared her soul. “This is…It scares me how easy it would be to fall for you.” Nothing like a little honesty to send a guy running.
“Would that be a bad thing?”
“Did you and Jocelyn break up?” He shook his head no. “Then, yeah, it would be a bad thing.”
“We’re close, Darcy. I’m not going to lie to you. Joss and I never made a verbal agreement to be exclusive, but we have been, almost from the beginning.”
She plucked at a button on his shirt, needing something, anything, to do rather than face him. “If you tell me you’re one of those guys who says he’s in love with two women—”
“I’m not.” He lifted her face to his. “Darcy, I’m going to be honest here. I’m not sure what I feel for you. Am I interested? Attracted to you?” He rubbed his thumb over her chin, a slow drag of warmth. “Yes, I am. Does it freak me out that you’re pregnant? Yeah. Big time.” He smoothed a hand along her jaw until it rested on her nape. “I’ve thought about marrying Joss for a while now. I bought the ring before Christmas,” he admitted softly.
“But something happened?”
He brushed his thumb over her cheek, her mouth, his eyes a turbulent sea. “Yeah…you. You have me thinking things I shouldn’t be thinking about a soon-to-be mom.”
Garret stared into her eyes, and she saw a reflection of what she felt: a conflict between duty and desire. How often had she wanted to go out and have fun, but was afraid she’d end up like her mother? Afraid she’d end up on the losing end
of a string of guys who wanted to get off and nothing else? And when she’d taken the risk, jumped into a relationship with Stephen, look what had happened. How did people know what was right and what was wrong?
“Darcy, say something.”
“I know what it’s like to want something you don’t have. I understand being confused. But I need to know this isn’t a joke or a game for you. Whatever this is. I understand being confused, but I don’t want my heart broken.”
“I don’t want to break your heart.” He settled himself more comfortably against the back of the couch. “I don’t want to mislead you, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you, Darcy. I don’t know where I stand on a lot of things and you’re one of them. All I know is that right now, right here, I’m where I want to be. Is that enough for you for now?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
HER FANCIFUL IMAGININGS wanted her to think there was a reason she’d had the accident that night. A reason Garret was the one to find her, the one with her now. But she had learned to be a realist. “Why would you want me?”
The question emerged raw, revealed her vulnerability. But her own family didn’t want her, why would he? Especially in the condition she was in.
God has the best in store for us, but you have to believe to receive, Darcy. You remember that and you’ll have a good life. Nana’s voice filled her head, bringing forth a rush of memories and emotions. Rolling out pie crusts on summer afternoons, the radio on an oldies station, Nana in her flowered apron singing “You Are My Sunshine.”
But how could she believe in anything—trust in anyone—after what had happened to her with Stephen? After what happened repeatedly to her mother at the hands of the men in her life?