Stroke of Love

by Melissa Foster

  “What? Why?” Dex looked handsome in his jeans and button-down shirt. He held tightly to Ellie’s hand, which made Sage miss Kate even more.

  “I can’t wait another two or three days. I want to see—”

  Dex and Ellie stepped to the side of the entrance. It took a second for Sage to realize that he wasn’t dreaming. Kate stood in the doorway in a long-sleeved navy blue dress that stopped midthigh, her eyebrows knitted together, blinking repeatedly.

  Tears stung Sage’s eyes as the breath left his lungs. “Kate.”

  Jack reached for Kate’s suitcases, which Sage hadn’t noticed her holding. Kate nibbled on her lower lip, her cheeks flushed, her eyes damp. In two steps she was in his arms.

  “Oh my God, I’ve missed you,” he whispered against her cheek. In the next breath, his mouth was on hers in a deep, loving kiss. All of the emotion of the last week constricted his chest. He could barely breathe. She was there. Finally right there with him. He had to look into her eyes.

  “You’re here.”

  “I couldn’t wait.” Her body shook as she clung to him.

  “You feel so good.” He kissed her again, mildly aware of the people gathering around them, the flashes of the cameras, the murmurs of wonder. He didn’t care how much of a spectacle they made. His world was finally righting itself again—maybe for the first time ever.

  When they drew apart again, they were both breathing heavily, smiling like they’d just won the lottery. Sage wrapped his arm around her waist and held on tight.

  “You’re so damn beautiful. What about your parents?”

  “They’re coming for the weekend. I didn’t want to wait to see you, so…” She shrugged, looking so damn adorable that Sage had to kiss her again.

  Kate glanced around the room and quickly dropped her eyes. Sage realized that a crowd had formed around them: His family members stood close, strangers behind them, reporters taking pictures, scribbling on notepads.

  He spoke to no one in particular. “This is my girlfriend, Kate.”

  Jordan, the blond reporter, spoke above the din of the crowd. “She’s the focus of Emergence?”

  “She is emergence,” Sage replied.

  Kate shifted her eyes to the painting and gasped. She shot a look at Sage. “When…?”

  “In Belize, and I finished it here. It’s going right in our living room.” Our living room.

  “Mr. Remington, can you answer a few questions now?” Jordan approached him.

  Sage took Kate’s hand and nodded proudly. “Now there’s nothing I can’t do.”

  “COME WITH US.” Siena put her arm around Kate and guided her away from the crowd that had enveloped Sage after he was interviewed by Jordan and two other reporters.

  Savannah held Kate’s other arm, and Ellie flanked Savannah’s other side. Both Siena and Savannah were several inches taller than Kate, and she felt vulnerable between them. She didn’t want to leave Sage, but as they dragged her away, she looked over her shoulder and realized that it would be forever before he was free again. Oh God. Will they give me hell for crashing Sage’s opening? She couldn’t help it. After Sage had called the evening before, she had to see him. She just couldn’t wait a few more days. She’d phoned her parents, who apparently held love in as high regard as helping others, which she’d never realized, and then she’d changed her flight arrangements. One look at the warm, excited smiles on the women’s faces told her there was no way in hell they would give her a hard time about anything. They kept glancing at one another like they couldn’t wait to hear juicy gossip. Kate didn’t even know how to gossip. Do I? Oh my God. I’m the gossip. They want the details about me and Sage. For some reason that made her feel better, included. Now, as they brought her into a room in the back of the gallery and sat her on a couch between Savannah and Ellie, with Siena standing before them, arms crossed, her hand on her chin, Kate’s stomach sank. Oh, God, she’s looking at me like she hates me already. I totally misjudged the situation.

  “So, Sage had no clue that you were coming?” Siena asked.

  “No.” Shit.

  “And you came straight from Belize?” Siena narrowed her eyes at Kate.

  She nodded.

  “Did you see his face?” Ellie put her hand over Kate’s and squeezed. “I’ve never seen Sage that happy.”

  “You’ve got big ones,” Siena said as she crouched before Kate and put her hand on her knee. “I mean, that’s a long way, and what if…? I don’t know. Anything could have gone wrong.”

  “Oh my God, Siena! Buzzkill much?” Savannah glared at her. She tossed her long auburn hair over her shoulder and draped her arm over Kate’s shoulder. “Don’t listen to her. It was incredibly romantic.”

  Siena hates me. She really hates me.

  “Buzzkill? Oh my God. No, I’m so sorry, Kate.” Siena’s eyes softened, and the similarities between her and Sage came to life. The sincere smile, the light when it reached her eyes. “I love what you did, but I don’t know if I’d ever have the guts to do it. I mean. Wow. When he kissed you, it took my breath away.”

  Kate breathed a sigh of relief. “I had to come here.” Her eyes shifted to each of them, and she realized that her worries were unfounded. She might not have many female friends, but she knew the hungry-for-details look women got in their eyes, and she recognized it in theirs. “I know this is fast, and I know that you don’t know me, but…”

  Savannah pulled her close. “But we will. You’re part of the family now. Sage said you’re moving in.”

  Kate felt her cheeks flush. “That’s the plan. I’m a little nervous. I mean, I’ve never spent time in the city, and I don’t want to mess up his life, and I’m not a freeloader. I’m really not.”

  “Kate, would you stop? We’re not judging you. If you weren’t a good person, Sage wouldn’t have fallen in love with you.” Siena looked at Savannah and Ellie. “Right?”

  “No way. Sage sees right through people,” Savannah added.

  “X-ray vision.” Ellie laughed. “And don’t worry about messing up his life. Remington men are about the strongest men on earth.”

  “Hey, Braden men are pretty damn strong, too,” Savannah said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

  “Yeah, so I’ve heard,” Ellie said. “But I have yet to meet them.”

  “Who are the Braden men?” Kate asked.

  The others exchanged a glance. “Sorry, you have a lot to catch up on,” Siena explained. “Savannah’s last name is Braden, and she’s got five amazingly handsome, incredibly sweet brothers. And there’s no doubt that the Bradens are strong. But they’re a different type of strong, having grown up on a ranch. Hell, Rex is about the manliest cowboy I’ve ever met.” Siena sighed.

  “But Jade, Rex’s significant other, would kick any girl’s ass if she went near him, so let’s not go down that road,” Savannah added.

  Siena continued. “Anyway, Sage is so different from my other brothers. He’s always been more serious, more contemplative about life. I’m glad he found someone who believes in the same things he does. He told us all about Hydration Through Creation. He’s really excited about it, and about you, Kate. We all are. We’re happy for you.”

  “You are?” Relief swept through her.

  “Yes! Until Savannah and Ellie came along, it was just me and my brothers. Do you have any idea what it’s like to grow up with all those boys in the house?” Siena rolled her eyes.

  “I do,” Savannah said. “I love my brothers, but there’s nothing like having sisters. I mean, I have sisters-in-law, and Siena and Ellie, who, well...” Savannah looked from one to the other. She leaned in close to Kate and whispered, “I have a secret that I’m trying really hard not to blurt out.”

  The excitement in Savannah’s green eyes was contagious. “A secret?” A secret! It had been ages since she’d shared secrets with a friend. Hell, it had been ages since she’d had friends. The warmth of Savannah, Siena, and Ellie enveloped her, and her anxiety fell away. Kate felt like she
was at a slumber party that she never wanted to leave.

  “Savannah! Did you and Jack finally set a date?” Siena jumped to her feet.

  “I can’t say. I promised I wouldn’t say anything until he told your mom.”

  “His mom already knows.”

  They all turned toward Joanie Remington’s voice. “You’re having a hen party with our newest hen and no one invited me?” Sage’s mother flashed a smile at Savannah. “Jack just told me, and I couldn’t be happier.”

  Savannah rose and embraced her. “Me too. I’m so excited, and I wanted to tell you right after we set the date, but he wanted to tell you in person.”

  “I’m glad he did, but now…” Joanie put her arm around Siena, and Ellie pulled Kate to her feet and draped an arm over her shoulder as Joanie and the others huddled together. “We need to plan a bridal shower!”

  Kate loved the warmth that passed between Siena and Savannah with nothing more than a glance, and the way Siena reached for Ellie’s hand when her mother mentioned the bridal shower. She’d never been part of such a close group of women before, and as Joanie reached for Kate’s hand, she had to swallow past her longing to remain a part of it.

  “Kate.” Her voice was tender as she patted Kate’s hand. “Sage has told me so much about you. I knew that first time we Skyped, when I saw that gleam in my son’s eyes as he pulled you close and introduced us, that his heart had opened up to you. I hope we can spend time getting to know each other.”

  Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Now she knew why Sage was such a good man. How could he not be, surrounded by this type of love? “I...I look forward to it.” More than you could ever know.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  SAGE HAD DREAMED of this moment since he’d returned from Belize. He unlocked the door to his town house and threw the door open; then he turned to Kate, and he had to take a moment to catch his breath. He couldn’t believe she was there beside him, looking up at him through her thick lashes, a nervous smile on her lips.

  “Welcome home.”

  “Home.”

  He nodded. “Home. Our home.” With his hand on the small of her back, she walked inside. Sage carried in her bags and set them by the front door. He watched her eyes rove from the overstuffed blue sofa, covered with colorful, unmatched pillows, to the leather recliner and the stack of books beside it. I should have put those away.

  Kate took a step forward and ran her hand along the cherrywood railing that led up to the second level, where the kitchen was tucked out of sight. A dining room table filled the balcony area that overlooked the living room. She reached for Sage’s hand and walked with him toward the fireplace, running her eyes over the plants set atop the built-in bookshelves to its left. She followed the foliage down the edges of the shelves.

  “I realized after I got home that I should probably trim those back. They’re kinda jungle-ish, aren’t they?”

  “I love them.” She picked up a frame from the mantel and sucked in a breath.

  “It’s one of the pictures Luce took at breakfast, remember?”

  She nodded and ran her fingers over their smiling faces. “You’ve already had it printed and framed.”

  “All of them. There are some upstairs, blown up larger, and a few in the bedroom.”

  “Oh, Sage. I love that you did that.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against him.

  She felt so good against him. God, I missed you. “The painting of you will go right above the fireplace—that is, if you don’t mind.”

  She looked around the living room again, and her eyes caught on the glass doors that led to the garden in his backyard; then they lifted to the glass panels that spanned the back of the room and arced over the far end of the living room, giving it a greenhouse feel.

  “Sage,” she said in one long breath as she walked toward the doors. “Oh my gosh.”

  He picked up a remote control from a sofa table by the wall and pressed a button. The garden illuminated from the ground up, and Kate gasped another breath. “You must spend hours out there.”

  “I always thought I would, but I never made the time.” He wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the side of her neck. “But I will now.”

  She turned in to him, and he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until he couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been in his arms. When they drew apart, she was looking at him with all the love and all the desire that swelled within him. Jack’s words whispered to him: You just liked what you were doing more than you liked who was waiting for you, and Sage knew, without a doubt, that with Kate in his life, he’d make the time to do all the things he always thought he would but had never done. Loving her like she’d never been loved before was on the top of his list.

  The End

  Please enjoy a preview of the next

  Love in Bloom novel

  Flames of

  Love

  The Remingtons, Book Three

  Love in Bloom Series

  Melissa Foster

  Chapter One

  SIX INCHES OF fresh snow covered the roads. Even with the windshield wipers set to high, Cash Ryder could barely see a few feet in front of the all-terrain vehicle he’d borrowed from his buddy Tommy. The roads appeared empty, but he knew that in a storm like this one, there could be fifty cars just outside his limited range of visibility. It was as if New York had been swallowed by snow, and Cash wondered how many accidents the local fire department would have to deal with. As a firefighter, he’d seen it all, from overconfident teens skidding into trees to truckers unable to stop their massive rigs from rumbling over the tops of cars that had collided on black ice. Cash was headed to his eldest brother Duke’s house, just outside of New York City, and the storm had come out of nowhere. He needed a break from the city. Hell, he needed a break from life. Visiting his brother for the evening had seemed like the perfect escape. He hadn’t seen him for a few months, and the last time they’d been together, Cash’s emotions had been raw. He’d laid into Duke—and everyone else who was in his path—with a venomous rage that even he hadn’t known he possessed. Luckily, Duke wasn’t a grudge holder. He understood that even the most prepared person could be knocked sideways on occasion, and Cash knew that Duke would always be there for him.

  He gritted his teeth as memories of the tragic day that completely fucked with his mind played through his head like a bad rerun. His pulse sped up, chased by full-body chills. Sweat beaded his brow despite the cold. Shit. I couldn’t get to the guy. He tried to comfort himself with the last, and most difficult, reminder the therapist his chief had told him to speak with had given him. The one she felt was the most important—and the one that he could barely stomach. It wasn’t my fault.

  Skid marks across the fresh snow pulled him from the painful thoughts. Not just skid marks, but thick trails, as if a car had skidded sideways. He eased up on the gas and craned his neck, squinting into the storm. Shit. Definitely recent. Definitely over the edge of the mountain. He pulled onto the shoulder, cursing under his breath, and pulled his woolen cap over his head, zipped his parka, and slid his hands into his thick gloves. He pulled out his cell phone and reported the accident to 911. Then he grabbed the emergency bag that contained a first-aid kit, a glass-breaking tool, and other rescue items he never left home without and headed into the storm.

  SIENA REMINGTON’S TEETH chattered as she struggled against the airbag pressed against her chest. Okay. Okay. Calm down. Wasn’t that the key to surviving? Remaining calm? Her heart slammed against her ribs, which ached from the impact of the accident. She tried to get her bearings, but all she could see was white. The car leaned to the right, and she had no way of knowing if she was on the edge of a precipice or on solid ground. She hadn’t seen anyone on the roads, and she’d skidded off the pavement ten minutes ago. She hadn’t even told her friend Willow that she’d left the city and was on her way. Oh God. Her cell phone rang. She scanned the floor. Goddamn phone. She hadn’t even reache
d for it when it rang as she was driving. She’d glanced at it—for a second, maybe two—and then wham! Her car was skidding off the road toward the edge of the mountain. Now the frigging phone was nowhere in sight. And I’m going to die out here in bum-fuck New York. Shit. Shit. Shit.

  “Hey, you all right in there?”

  A man’s deep voice broke through her worry. “Yes! Help me. Please!” Oh, thank God. “Hurry. Please hurry.” She grabbed her hat from her pocket and pulled it down low over her head, debating braving the conditions and getting out of her car. She couldn’t remember ever being so cold.

  A gloved hand cleared the snow from her window; then a set of eyes pressed close, one hand shielding them as the window fogged from his breath. Siena gasped a breath before realizing that any sane person would be covered up in this weather. Her heartbeat picked up as she stared at the mask that covered everything but a swatch of skin around serious, dark eyes. Sexy dark eyes, filled with serious concern. Jesus, what am I thinking?

  “Please help me.” She struggled with her seat belt.

  “Are you hurt? Injured in any way?”

  Siena moved her legs and arms. “No. I don’t think so.”

  “Good. Your car is sideways.” His voice was muffled behind the mask and the window. “It’s stable, but when I open this door, it could jostle it into a slide, so I want to get you out as fast as possible. Can you get out of your seat belt?”

  She pulled at the buckle. “Yes. Yes, I think I can.” Oh God. Please get me out. Sideways? “A slide? Like I could slide off the mountain?” Tears pressed at her eyes.

  He looked away, then back through the window. “I don’t think so. You’re on a pretty flat spot. Got the seat belt off?”

  “Yes. Wait. You don’t think so? What if the car slides? Am I near a big drop? Jesus, I don’t want to die.”