by Brenda Novak
“In a professional sense, yes.” She came closer to the bed. “I’m sorry.”
“We knew this would happen eventually.” So why hadn’t he done a better job of protecting his stupid heart? “Thanks for telling me.”
“That’s it?” she said. “That’s all you’re going to say?”
He sighed deeply. “What else can I say, Lourdes?”
She peeled off her T-shirt and stood there, nibbling nervously at her bottom lip as she stared down at him, wearing only her panties. “There’s still three days before I go. Do you want them?”
As his gaze settled on her breasts, Kyle told himself not to be a fool. He already cared far too much about her. At the rate he’d been falling, three more days—especially the kind of days she seemed to be offering—would bury him so deep it might take as long to get over her as it had Olivia.
But three days was still three whole days. So he threw back the covers and invited her into his bed. If he was going to crash and burn, he might as well make it one hell of a conflagration.
* * *
The way Kyle made love this time was completely different. He was in no hurry, for one thing. And he was so gentle it almost brought tears to Lourdes’s eyes. She was astonished by how much he seemed to feel—and what she could feel for a man she’d known for such a short while. The poignancy of those emotions amplified the pleasure of every kiss, every touch, every embrace.
It wasn’t long before she was convinced that she’d made a serious miscalculation in coming to his bed. What they’d shared before had affected her deeply enough. She’d never experienced that kind of raw, powerful sensuality, had certainly never allowed anything like that to drive her to the point of risking a public display. But she trusted Kyle in a way she’d never trusted any other man. And following that experience in the alley with this slow, sensual act just added an exclamation point to her infatuation with him. It had all happened so quickly—and yet it was going to be so difficult to leave. Even with the promise of that fabulous song Derrick had found for her.
As Kyle kissed her forehead, she had a feeling this trip to Whiskey Creek would soon seem more like a dream than a memory. She’d come here feeling like a bird with a broken wing, and Kyle had taken her in and carefully tended her until she could fly again. Just connecting with him had somehow made her whole.
Their eyes met as he rolled her onto her back and put on a condom. As strange as the thought was, since they’d already been together twice, this felt like the first time they’d ever made love.
He watched her face as he pushed inside her and didn’t look away when he began to thrust. He held himself above her and moved slowly, methodically, drawing out the pleasure for as long as possible. She noticed how the intensity of his gaze sharpened when her breathing grew labored, and she arched toward him, saw his nostrils flare as she gasped right before crying out in release. Then the barest hint of a smile curved his lips and he closed his eyes to concentrate on his own pleasure, until his climax followed hers.
She could tell by the way he pulled her to him afterward and hooked his arm protectively around her that he was feeling a great deal. But she was glad he didn’t voice those emotions. She knew it would only make it harder to leave.
Maybe he knew the same thing.
* * *
They showered together the following morning—and wound up making love beneath the spray. To Kyle, it felt like a honeymoon, or what a honeymoon should be like. Now that he and Lourdes had given themselves permission to enjoy their final days together, before she went back to resume her regular life, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. There was no more holding back. All inhibitions were gone. All pretenses, too. They just wanted to be together, refused to waste a minute on any other part of life—like eating or sleeping or including friends and family.
After the shower they went back to bed, where they made love yet again.
“You recover quickly,” she teased.
“Because you’re making me squeeze a lifetime into three days. But the party’s over now. I’ve exhausted my supply of condoms.” He dropped onto the bed beside her. “A guy who hasn’t had sex for three years doesn’t usually get this lucky all of a sudden. I wasn’t prepared.”
She laughed as she leaned over to kiss his shoulder. “There’s a store in town, isn’t there?”
“There is. If only I was willing to leave you long enough to drive over.”
She ran her fingers along his jaw as she gazed down at him. “We can’t stay inside the whole time I’m here. We have to leave at some point. You have that rehearsal dinner tonight.”
“True.” He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the gentle movements of her fingers. Then he opened them again. “Are you coming with me?”
“Am I invited?”
“Of course. Riley and Phoenix were planning to ask you to sing at the reception while they danced. Brandon texted me about it last night.”
“Did you tell them I’d be gone?” She seemed disappointed that she couldn’t do it.
He nodded. Only when the subject of her leaving came up was there any strain between them. But he knew, now that Derrick had devised a surefire way to put her back on top, she wouldn’t be happy in Whiskey Creek even if he managed to convince her to stay. And, to him, that would be worse than letting her go.
Lowering her hand, she glanced away as if she felt guilty for being the one who would eventually tear them apart. “Sure, I’ll come to the rehearsal.”
Kyle did what he could to banish their inevitable parting from his mind. “Good. Then I won’t have to handcuff you to the bed while I’m gone.”
She laughed. “That was my alternative?”
“Sounds reasonable to me. If you weren’t going with me, the only way I’d be able to tolerate being away from you would be to know you were home waiting for me, naked in my bed.”
“I’m pretty sure that would just encourage you to leave early.”
He kissed her neck, breathing in the scent of the soap they’d used in the shower as he did so. “Or maybe I wouldn’t make it over there at all.”
“I can’t say I’d blame you. After three years of celibacy, you’re making up for lost time.”
“What’s happening here has nothing to do with that,” he said.
“And how do you know?”
He smoothed her hair off her face. She was being playful, but what he had to say was completely serious. “Because I’m in love with you, Lourdes.”
She sobered instantly. “We just met, Kyle.”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“What about Olivia?”
“I think I got over her the second you stepped out of your rental car at the farmhouse. Until then...I just hadn’t met the right woman.”
“You don’t love her anymore?”
“I love her the way I should—as a sister-in-law.” How he could so easily give Lourdes what Noelle had always wanted, he couldn’t fathom. But there it was.
Her expression was troubled as she stared up at him. “Kyle, I...I had no idea this would go so fast.”
He tucked the covers around them. “Neither one of us saw it coming.”
“Will you hate me when I’m gone?”
“For breaking my heart?” He frowned. “Maybe for a while,” he teased.
26
Lourdes loved Kyle’s friends. They welcomed her warmly and seemed so natural and comfortable around her—even joked with her as much as they joked among themselves.
Of course, they were probably ecstatic that Kyle was finally showing interest in someone besides Olivia. Lourdes could see them nudging each other when he wasn’t looking. No one was saying anything about him—or her—out loud, but she could tell they were all excited that he seemed to be moving on.
They loved him...
Which meant she was about to break every heart in the room.
But she had no choice. She had to go back to Nashville. What else could she do? Her career was there.
She knew, as soon as she returned, Derrick would start pushing her to forgive him for Crystal so they could go ahead and get married, as they’d originally planned. But his indiscretion with Crystal wasn’t the biggest obstacle standing in their way. She no longer loved Derrick enough to marry him.
The conflict she felt made her stomach churn. She didn’t want to end her relationship with Kyle. But what choice did she have? She knew what her career demanded; she also knew it wasn’t what would make him the happiest. How could she even focus on him in the next six to twelve months?
While the others noshed on chips and salsa, shrimp and dip, cucumber sandwiches and other appetizers, she declined all offers of food and sipped at the water she’d requested instead of the champagne everyone else was drinking. She certainly didn’t feel like celebrating, she thought as she watched Kyle laughing with his stepbrother across the room. She and Kyle had mentioned that she’d be returning to Nashville to record a very special song, but they hadn’t added that she wouldn’t be coming back. These were their three days, before everything changed, and they weren’t about to ruin or waste them by taking others into their confidence.
“Are you bored yet?” Baxter asked, stopping by the refreshment table for another glass of champagne.
“No, I’m fine,” Lourdes said with a laugh.
“Too bad you won’t be here for the wedding,” he said. Then Riley called him over and he left Lourdes alone, enabling her to study Kyle some more.
He was handsome, the kind of handsome she’d close her eyes and dream about when she was back home. She couldn’t keep from staring at him tonight, or acknowledging that he looked even better in the nude...
Kyle glanced over, caught her watching him and smiled.
How was it that instead of living with the heartbreak of losing Derrick, she was feeling that rare but giddy sensation of falling in love?
“Your face brightens every time you look at him.”
Lourdes turned to see Olivia and felt the heat of a blush. Of all people to notice how Kyle affected her...
Or maybe it was logical that Olivia would be more aware of what was going on with Kyle than the rest of the group. She’d probably been keeping a pulse on that since they split up. She’d have to, in order to maintain the careful balance necessary for them all to get along.
“There’s no one else quite like him,” Lourdes admitted.
Olivia’s lips curved in a conspirator’s smile. “Trust me. You’re speaking to a convert. I may not be in love with him in that way anymore, but I’m a big fan of Kyle’s.” She popped a chip into her mouth. “So you’re over Derrick, then? That’s all in the past?”
Lourdes detected a hint of concern. They were happy for Kyle, but they also wanted to be sure she wasn’t playing him. “For the most part. We’ll still work together. At least we’ll try.”
Olivia smiled. “I hope that turns out well for you.”
“Thanks.” In an effort to shore up her decision, Lourdes told herself she could get over Kyle as easily as she had Derrick. Her first Nashville boyfriend had once told her she wasn’t deep enough to fall in love for real. Maybe he was right—and, if that was the case, she was doing Kyle a big favor.
It was better for both of them that she was going back to Nashville, getting back to work. She knew she loved music, knew she wanted to be involved in that. All the rest was...less clear.
“It’s different when the right person comes along,” Olivia said.
Was that what had happened with Brandon? He’d come along and Olivia had somehow known? How? And was Kyle, not Derrick, the right man for Lourdes? Or was there someone else, someone she’d meet later?
“How do you know when you’ve found the right person?” she asked.
Olivia didn’t have an opportunity to answer before Kyle approached. “We’re done,” he said. “You ready to go?”
With a nod, Lourdes said goodbye to Olivia and everyone else and walked out of the reception center under Kyle’s arm. He asked if she wanted to see a movie or go ice-skating in Sacramento, where there was an outdoor rink set up for the holidays. But she told him she’d rather go to the store.
“For...”
“What do you think?”
He nodded as he figured it out. “Ah, right. How could I have forgotten? That’ll be our first stop.”
As it was, he barely had the chance to buy the condoms, drive home and turn off the engine before she started kissing him. She felt strangely possessive of him. It had to be the dwindling time and all the things they had to face in the next two days that brought such urgency to the way she touched him.
He didn’t complain when she straddled him before he could open his door. “Do I have something you want?” he joked.
“I want this,” she said and undid his pants.
His hands slid up her shirt. “It’s cold out here. Wouldn’t you rather go inside?”
“No. I have to be closer to you. Now.”
The horn went off a second later, but even that didn’t stop them. “Don’t worry, Warren went to see his kids this weekend,” Kyle whispered, his voice hoarse.
She bit Kyle’s lip just hard enough to make it plain that she wouldn’t let him stop.
Somehow he managed to get them out from behind the steering wheel, silencing the horn, which was quite a feat, since they were both half-clad. Then he laid her down on the bench seat and shoved her legs apart, taking her as hard and fast as he had in the alley.
She braced herself against the dashboard and the seat as she surrendered to the satisfaction of being with him. At the same time, she told herself she’d be fine without this, without him.
Because it was Nashville that held everything she’d ever wanted.
* * *
Kyle watched Lourdes as she studied the computer screen. It was early, but they’d gotten plenty of sleep. They’d been in his bed since they’d come home from the rehearsal dinner last night, talking, laughing, massaging each other, play wrestling, sleeping or making love. They’d probably still be there, if hunger hadn’t driven them out.
While they were in the kitchen, he coaxed her into sitting down and helping him write his remarks for the wedding. He had to get it done before she left; he felt it would be much better with her input. He’d searched the internet for sample ceremonies, and he’d found some decent ones, but he wanted Riley and Phoenix’s ceremony to have more of a personal touch.
“Why don’t we start by having you tell me what’s special or unique about them,” Lourdes said.
“There’s a lot. Phoenix and Riley were together for a short time in high school. She wasn’t the usual type of girl. He was into sports and dated cheerleaders or one of the girls in student government, so she was a...departure for him and not someone his folks thought he should be with. She came from a sad, dysfunctional home, dressed all in black and wasn’t exactly a stellar student. Not that she isn’t smart.” He took a sip of the coffee sitting beside him. “Anyway, his folks said they wouldn’t pay for college if he insisted on ‘ruining his life’ with ‘that girl,’ and when he finally folded under the pressure and broke up with her, Phoenix took the news really hard. She was pregnant, not that anyone knew it at the time, and scared to death. And she was madly in love with him, so she was heartbroken, too.”
“At the rehearsal tonight, I overheard someone say that she spent a long time in prison. What for?”
He slid his cup and saucer away from his elbow. “I’m getting to that. Just before we graduated from high school, someone ran down Lori Mansfield, the girl Riley was dating after Phoenix.”
“You mean w
ith a car?”
He nodded. “Phoenix looked like the obvious culprit. Everyone knew how jealous she was of Lori. There was even some evidence to suggest it was her—enough to get a conviction. It wasn’t until last year that the truth came out.”
The color drained from Lourdes’s face. “Don’t tell me she was innocent.”
“She was. They took her baby away from her when she had him—gave him to Riley, who raised him—and she hardly heard from Riley and Jacob during all those years.”
“That’s heartbreaking!” Lourdes said.
“It is. And yet, as soon as she got out, she came back to Whiskey Creek, because she wanted to get to know her son. And long story short, she and Riley wound up finding each other again and realizing that they were still in love. Their story is not only unusual, it’s—” he searched for the right word “—inspiring, I guess. This isn’t just any marriage. This is Phoenix getting what she always deserved.”
“So maybe you could talk about the kind of love that endures.”
“And forgiveness,” he said. “If she wasn’t able to forgive, this wouldn’t be happening.”
“How old’s her son?”
“Jake’s a senior.”
“She’s waited a long time.”
He took another sip of his coffee. “See what I mean? Why I feel she needs someone who has more experience than a jaded divorced guy to help commemorate this occasion?”
Lourdes propped her chin on her fist as she considered what he’d told her. “Why don’t you start out talking about how some things, some of the most beautiful things in life, are hard-won but transcend everything else?”
“Love conquers all.”
“Yes.”
He hesitated for a second. “I like that approach, but we have to be careful not to make it too mushy. I don’t want tears in my eyes or anything. I’d never live it down.”
She laughed as she reached over to kiss him. “We can’t reveal that, deep down, you’re a big softy?”