Before I Let You Go

by Angie Daniels

  Kelly could have drowned. His hands began to shake and his chest filled with overwhelming fear. He had never been so scared in his life. His mind traveled back to those moments leading up to discovering her kicking and screaming in the lake. He had pulled up to the house and, finding the door unlocked, had walked in and called her name. He’d happened to be in the kitchen, looking for her out back, when he noticed something in the lake beyond. The rain was coming down too hard for him to see clearly, so he had stepped out onto the back porch, and just as he reached the top step he had heard her scream.

  He’d jumped into action. Chest pounding with fear, he’d rushed down the hill and dived into the water.

  He smoothed a hand across his face and forced himself to take a deep breath. What would he have done if he had lost her? He shook that thought aside as he removed the mug and dropped the tea bag inside. He wasn’t going to let himself think about it.

  He loved her. He took a deep breath as the realization of just how much he loved her hit him. He loved her so much that he would have drowned trying to save her life. Did she know how special she was to him? Of course not. Because he had been too stupid to tell her just how much she truly meant to him. He had almost let her walk out of his life. Well, he had come to his senses and there was no way he was leaving without letting her know just how much he cared.

  Diamere took a saucer from the cabinet, set the mug on it and reached for a spoon and the sugar bowl, and carried both back down the hall to the bathroom. He was disappointed to see Kelly was no longer there.

  “The water started to get cold, so I thought it would be smart to get dressed and get in bed.”

  He noticed that she had found the red-and-navy flannel robe that had been hanging on the back of the bathroom door, and had slipped it on.

  “Why don’t you get under the covers?” he suggested.

  Kelly stuck her chin out defiantly. “I’m not a baby.”

  “I didn’t say you were,” he told her quietly.

  She looked as if she was about to say something, but thought better of it and instead went to the bed and slipped beneath the covers. “Satisfied?”

  “Very,” he replied with a grin as he moved over and took a seat beside her.

  Kelly took the tea from his hand and stirred in two teaspoons of sugar, then brought the warm liquid to her lips.

  “I’m going to go find something dry to put on.” He rose and leaned over and pressed his lips against hers.

  As he headed for the door, Kelly called after him, “Thank you for saving my life.”

  “You’re welcome. Now get some rest.” He turned and went to Mark’s room across the hall to find something dry, while Kelly finished her tea.

  After taking a shower and putting on dry clothes, Diamere checked on Kelly. She had drifted off to sleep. He crawled into bed beside her, pressed a kiss to her disheveled hair and tightened his arm around her. This was his woman. Kelly belonged to him. A wave of protectiveness surged over him. He was willing to lose his own life to keep her safe. He would never let her go.

  Chapter 21

  Kelly opened her eyes and allowed herself time to adjust to gray light coming in through the windows. Rain was still beating down heavily outside and she released a sigh. She was in the country vacationing and didn’t have anywhere to go this morning, so there was no rush to get up. With another sigh, she shut her eyes again and snuggled into the covers.

  She’d started to drift off to sleep once more when she suddenly bolted upright. Diamere. Her heart began to thump in her chest. He was somewhere in the cottage. Tossing the covers aside, she rose from the bed and slipped her feet into her pale blue slippers. As she moved down the hall, she tightened the belt on her robe. When she reached the kitchen she stopped in her tracks.

  “Good morning, beautiful.” Diamere greeted her with a warm smile, then reached for a spatula and flipped a golden-brown pancake.

  “Hi,” she replied in a voice filled with uncertainty. She was in awe at the kind man before her. The smells of fresh coffee and bacon mingled in the air.

  After a moment of silence, he glanced over at her and asked, “How’d you sleep?”

  “Fine,” she replied as she crossed the room and took a seat at the table.

  “Good. I thought about waking you but I figured after what you went through you needed your rest.”

  Her eyes traveled to the apple-shaped clock on the wall and she gasped. “It’s almost ten o’clock.”

  He nodded. “I know. I checked in on you at eight just to make sure you were still breathing,” he replied with a hint of amusement.

  He met her eyes and stared at her for a long moment before she turned away and self-consciously combed her fingers through her hair. Why was he here? she wondered. Diamere still hadn’t told her. Not that she had given him a chance.

  “Ready for some coffee?” he asked, breaking into her thoughts. Kelly nodded, then watched him reach for a mug and fill it. She couldn’t help admiring how good he looked in his low-rise denim jeans and a simple black T-shirt that strained across his massive biceps. His feet were bare and she realized how comfortable and at home he looked.

  Kelly gazed out the window. Rain was still beating steadily against the glass. It was a summer storm like none she had ever seen. For the moment it seemed as if they were stranded out here at the lake. Thank goodness school didn’t start for another week. Mama Tate was a smart woman, and with the grocery store being so far away, she always kept the cottage freezer stocked with food.

  “Is the power out?”

  Diamere nodded. “Yep. Thank goodness you have a generator, so we at least have lights, but the phones don’t work. I think that big tree cut the power line.” He turned to her and the corner of his mouth twitched upward. “So in other words, we’re stranded.”

  Realization sank in. The two of them were alone together until the storm was over. Kelly’s heart pounded heavily at the prospect of being alone with him for any amount of time.

  Diamere carried over her coffee along with a plate, and placed them on the table in front of her. Kelly looked down at the food, then back up at him. “Aren’t you going to eat, too?”

  He filled his mug, then headed to the table and took a seat. “I’ve already eaten.”

  Kelly shrugged, then reluctantly reached for a knife and fork and cut into the fluffy stack.

  “It’s beautiful out here. I can see why you like to come,” he murmured.

  She nodded and finished chewing. “I’ve loved this place all my life.”

  Diamere looked out the window. Silence hung in the room for several minutes.

  “Why are you here?” she finally asked.

  He avoided making eye contact, reaching over to her plate and stealing a slice of bacon. “I’ll tell you later. Right now I want to know why you were out in that water.”

  His question was simple enough. She shrugged. “I already told you. I felt like swimming.”

  “Didn’t you know a storm was on the way?”

  Kelly took a sip of coffee as she thought about his question. “Yes, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen until much later. When I noticed the sky had gotten dark I tried to get back, but it was too late.”

  “Why were you swimming so late in the evening?”

  “You sure ask a lot of questions,” she said wryly.

  “I’m just trying to understand.”

  She narrowed her gaze. “Why? So you can tell Mark on me?”

  “Yeah, as a matter of fact. Maybe he’ll talk some sense into you so you won’t do something so stupid again. You could have drowned.”

  “Stupid?” she repeated. Diamere sure had a lot of nerve. “Stupid as you coming all the way down here? Now I’m stuck with you until the storm clears!”

  Diamere took a sip from his mug, then rose. “Actually, coming here was the smartest decision I’ve ever made.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, catching Kelly completely off guard. “Now that I know you’re okay, I’m going
to grab my bag out of the car and take a shower.” He walked off, whistling a tune.

  The wonderful breakfast was stuck in Kelly’s throat. As long as he kissed her like that, she was far from okay. Hearing the front door shut, she stepped to the window and watched him go out to his SUV and retrieve a black duffel bag. He had come here with the intention of staying.

  A warm feeling flooded her body. What was he up to?

  She continued to think about it as she finished her breakfast and started on the dishes. From down the hall she could hear the sound of running water, and couldn’t help thinking about Diamere standing under the warm spray of the shower in all his naked glory.

  The last time she’d seen him was after they had made love, after leaving Hadley. She had made it clear, or at least she thought she had, that she was not at all interested in continuing their relationship. Kelly’s blood began to boil. She hoped he hadn’t come out here to persuade her to do otherwise. Diamere was stubborn; she knew that for a fact. But if he thought he was going to get his way this time, he was in for a rude awakening.

  Lightning flashed outside the window again and the rumble of thunder made her shudder. Hearing the shower water turn off, she decided to go confront Diamere. But he wasn’t in the bathroom. After searching all three bedrooms, to no avail, she moved down the oak wood hallway to the spacious family room at the back of the house, where she found him searching the built-in wall unit.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

  Diamere swung around and she looked down at the board game in his hands. “Care for a round of Scrabble?”

  “Scrabble?” she asked, brow lowered in confusion. “No, I don’t want to play. What I want is to know why you’re here.”

  “I’ll tell you what. You beat me at a game of Scrabble, and I’ll tell you whatever you want.” Kelly didn’t miss the glint of a challenge sparkling in Diamere’s eyes.

  A smiled curled her lips. If there was one thing she was good at, it was Scrabble. She would have her questions answered in no time.

  An hour later, Kelly was frustrated—sexually frustrated.

  “Kelly, is something wrong?” Diamere asked as he watched her mop her forehead for what he figured was probably the seventh or eighth time.

  “No, I’m fine. Just hurry up.”

  He placed his letters on the board, and when she looked down, she did exactly what he had spelled: m-o-a-n.

  Kelly was frustrated, all right. Every word Diamere spelled had some romantic meaning. Sex. Lips. Kiss. Wet. And now moan. What in the world was he up to?

  “It’s your turn.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” she snapped, feeling increasingly irritated by the second. She didn’t have much to choose from.

  “Are you going to finish playing or what?” he taunted.

  “Just give me a minute,” she growled. The game was supposed to have been a simple slam dunk. Instead, he was beating her badly. She still had five letters left, while he only had one. Nibbling her lower lip, she studied the board, and then a smile curled her lips. She reached for three letters and added them to a letter Y, to spell out play.

  “Play, huh?”

  “Yeah, like we’re playing a game of Scrabble because someone is trying to play games instead of telling me why he’s here.” She rolled her eyes and reached for a bottle of water.

  Diamere’s face creased with laughter. “No games. I told you I’d tell you if you win.” A smirk took over his expression. “Unfortunately, though, I got this game in the bag.”

  With a look of amusement, he picked up the last tile chip from his tray and set it on the board, spelling sexy. “Sweetheart, that’s what you are to me. Sexy.”

  His words caused the churning in her stomach to intensify. Every time his gaze met hers, her heart turned over in response. Kelly caught herself moistening her lips as he leaned in close enough to kiss her. Instead of doing so, he whispered in her ear, “Looks like I get to keep my secret a little longer.”

  She pulled back with a furious gasp. He was getting a big kick out of teasing her.

  “How about double or nothing?” he challenged.

  With a frown, she rose from her chair. “How about I’m tired and I’m going to go read my book. The thing I had planned to do before you interrupted my vacation.”

  He rose, as well. “While you’re reading, I’m going to work on that leaky sink in the kitchen.” He packed up the game and returned it to the shelf.

  Kelly shook her head in disbelief. “You really aren’t going to tell me, are you?”

  “I will. Just not yet.” He cupped her chin and pressed his lips to hers, then headed toward the kitchen.

  Kelly was livid. How dare he think he could drive down to the lake and seduce her into continuing his no-frills relationship? Well, he had another thing coming. The only thing stopping her from throwing him out was the storm raging around them. Furiously, she stalked down the hall to her room and flopped onto the bed.

  Refusing to waste another second thinking about him, she reached for the book on the nightstand and opened to the page she had bookmarked. Within minutes she was into the story, and found herself wrapped up in the love affair between the two main characters. Kelly couldn’t help but wonder why love was so perfect in books, and was thinking of every reason why it wasn’t possible to be that way in real life when she felt her eyelids grow heavy. With a yawn, she curled up into the pillows and drifted off to sleep.

  Diamere found what he was looking for, then closed the door to the shed out back and headed into the house. Replacing the worn washer was an easy enough job, and gave him the excuse he had needed to put some distance between himself and Kelly.

  A smile curled his lips as he thought about the expression on her lovely face as he’d teased her. He felt that she had been seconds away from asking him to leave, which was why he’d decided to get out of her way. Not that it would have mattered. With the rain coming down the way it was, he was certain the bridge at the end of the road was washed out.

  He reached for a wrench and within minutes had the leak stopped and the faucet back in working order. There was no noise coming from down the hall, and Diamere was beginning to wonder if maybe he had pushed her too far. He loved Kelly and had every intention of telling her just that, but he was going to do it on his own time. He was still getting used to the idea, and part of him, his pride, wanted to know if she felt the same way about him. What if she didn’t? The possibility kept running through his head, especially while they were playing Scrabble, and she’d grown angry and mentioned she wasn’t too happy about him ruining her vacation. The sooner he told her how he felt, the better for both of them, because he wasn’t sure how much more either of them could take.

  Chapter 22

  Kelly yawned and glanced out the window. The rain was still coming down, but had slowed up a bit. Hearing movement coming from the front of the house, she rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. They were stuck here together. There was nothing either of them could do about it until the storm had passed. Reluctantly, she rose from bed and headed down the hall to the bathroom. She was tempted to hide out in her room until morning. The way things looked outside, she was almost certain the storm would be over by then and the roads would be manageable.

  After brushing her teeth and running a comb through her hair, Kelly moved down the hall and into the kitchen. Entering the room, she found Diamere looking inside the refrigerator. He lifted his head and greeted her with a smile.

  “I was planning to grill the salmon you had in the refrigerator, unless you would rather have something else.”

  She shook her head. “No, salmon sounds good. But it’s raining outside.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll pull the grill under the awning. It won’t take that long to fix fish.”

  “You’re the boss. Do you need some help?”

  “How about you make a salad?”

  “I’m on it.”

  While she w
ashed the lettuce and chopped vegetables, he went outside and fired up the barbecue. From the kitchen window she watched him. He had taken off his shirt and was wearing a plain white T-shirt that showed off his muscular arms and the tight muscles of his stomach. Stop looking at him. All she was doing was making matters worse.

  As soon as she finished preparing an attractive-looking salad, she grabbed a bottle of wine from the top shelf of the refrigerator and carried both out onto the sunporch. By the time she got the cork out, Diamere was coming through the door with the grilled salmon.

  “Perfect timing,” she said as she stared down at the main course.

  “I told you it would take no time.” He set the plate down on the table next to the salad, then pulled his wet T-shirt over his head. Her gaze dropped to his chest and traveled over the dark mat of hair, now wet from the rain. “Let me go and wash up so we can eat,” he added.

  Kelly watched him leave the room, admiring his walk and the way his blue jeans hugged his perfect butt. Oh, boy. The next several hours were not going to be easy.

  The rain had slowed and the sky had turned an orange-red. She managed to take a moment away from her racing thoughts to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings.

  The two of them were relatively quiet as they ate. She was trying to patiently wait until Diamere decided to tell her the reason for his visit, and instead of getting angry again, she decided it was best just to act as if she didn’t care one way or the other.

  “It looks like the rain is slowing,” he said, to break the silence.

  Chewing her food, she nodded. “Yes, it is, finally.”

  “Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll be able to return home.”

  Why did she suddenly feel saddened at the thought of him leaving, especially since she had made it clear he had interrupted her vacation? “Yes, you probably will.”

  There was a pregnant pause before he asked, “When are you returning home?”