by Sara Davison
He glanced at his watch. “You’re right. I’ve overstayed my grace period by at least an hour and a half. Time to go.”
She had propped her bare feet up on the couch between them, and he grabbed her big toe and shook her foot lightly. “Hey, can I ask you something before I leave?”
Nicole swallowed. “Sure.”
He flicked a finger in the direction of her throat. “That necklace you wear, is it just an accessory to you?”
Nicole touched the piece of jewelry lightly, almost reverently, with the fingertips of her right hand. Her gaze met his. “No.”
Gage’s shoulders relaxed slightly, as though he’d been afraid to ask. “Good. It’s more than that to me too.”
“I gathered that when I saw you and your brother praying before your meal last week.”
“Yeah, my faith is important to me.”
“Me too.”
He smiled and pushed to his feet. As tired as Nicole was, part of her would have liked him to stay longer. A flicker of not-quite-conquered fear niggled in her stomach. Don’t get attached. You’ll be sorry.
Nicole considered that advice as she rose. The problem was that it presupposed she wasn’t already at least a little bit attached, and she was no longer sure that was the case. Especially when he gathered up all the dishes and carried them into the kitchen before following her to the door. When she turned to face him, a warm smile spread across his lips and reflected deep in his eyes. “Thank you for not running.”
She leaned against the doorframe. “That’s the good thing about taking your date to her place for dinner. Makes it hard for her to leave.”
Gage slipped on the black wool coat he’d lifted off the stand by the door and tilted his head to one side. “Are you saying this was a date?”
Her cheeks warmed. “Well, I ...”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He leaned in and touched his lips to hers, a sweet and gentle kiss she felt all the way to her knees. When he eased away, he did up the buttons on his coat, his eyes not leaving her face. “Get some rest. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
Nicole nodded and closed the door behind him, bracing herself with both hands against the dark wood. Not very good at this, yeah right. If he were any better, she’d be a puddle on the floor right now. Her gaze traveled across her hands, pressed white against the door. One was clenched tightly and the other spread flat against the wood. Which was exactly how she felt inside. Part of her reached out to grasp what was happening between her and Gage and pull it to her. The other part, that reason-slash-fear part that had dictated how she lived so much of her life, demanded that she shove it away.
She took one hand from the door and brushed her fingers lightly across her lips. Heat rose in her chest. Why did he have to do that? Until he had kissed her, she could have walked away, could have pushed him out of her life like she had every other man who had tried to get close to her. Not that she hadn’t been kissed before, but she’d always managed to be gone before any of the kisses actually meant something.
Gage hadn’t given her that luxury.
Chapter Six
Daniel hesitated, his finger hovering over the doorbell. Not too late to back out. Except he’d never hear the end of it from his sister or his partner if he failed to show up. It’s just dinner. Before he could change his mind, he stabbed at the bell. The low bong echoed through the house, immediately followed by the pattering of little feet down the wood-lined hallway. Daniel smiled.
The door swung open. Four-year-old Leticia, tight black braids covering her head, dropped from her tiptoes onto her heels as she let go of the handle.
“Dan-el!” Little Allie toddled up behind her sister, dark eyes sparkling as she raised both hands.
He bent down and scooped one giggling child up under each arm. “How are my two favorite girls?”
“What? I risk my life every single day to protect you, and they’re your favorites?” Sharleen’s voice drifted down the hallway from the kitchen.
Still clutching the girls, Daniel started toward his partner. “Sorry, I meant to say two of my three favorites.” He went through the kitchen doorway. Sharleen closed the oven door and turned to face him. He set both girls down on the floor. Allie wrapped her arms around his leg as he leaned in to kiss Sharleen on the cheek. “Where’s Tom?”
“He’s in the living room with … the others.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed at the hesitation. They wouldn’t, would they? “What others?”
She waved a hand through the air. “You know, Austin and Rebecca. And I also invited Lou and Esther.”
“Oh good.” He hadn’t seen his former partner, Lou, since Daniel had been promoted to detective. Although the idea of spending the evening with three couples as the odd man out didn’t exactly thrill him, he’d still be happy to catch up on all the news from his and Sharleen’s old precinct. Daniel leaned down and swung little Allie up into his arms. “Come on, beautiful. Want to be my date tonight?”
“Me too.” Leticia held up her arms.
Daniel crouched down and picked her up as well.
“Perfect. A gorgeous girl on each arm. Just how I like it.”
Sharleen shot him a wry look as he straightened. “Go on in and say hi to everybody.” She turned back to the stove.
Daniel shifted both girls more securely in his arms and headed out of the kitchen. When he went into the living room, Tom gave the fire one more shove with the poker, then closed the door of the woodstove and dropped the tool into the metal holder with a clang. He came over to Daniel and took Allie from him. “Hey, Daniel.”
“Hi, Tom.”
Tom turned and surveyed the room. “I think you know pretty much everyone.”
Lou walked over and gave him a brief hug. “Good to see you, man.”
“You too.” Daniel raised a hand to Lou’s wife Esther and to Austin and Becca.
“And this is Elizabeth.”
A tall woman with long, shimmering brown hair rose gracefully from her chair in the corner and crossed the room.
Ah. The hesitation. Daniel pasted on a smile as she approached him and Tom.
When she reached them, she held out a slender hand. “Daniel, hi.”
He shifted Leticia to his other arm and took her hand. “Nice to meet you, Elizabeth.”
“You too.”
Her fingers were soft and warm in his. Daniel waited, but the only feeling that ignited in him was a slight irritation that he had been blindsided by his sister and his partner. He let go of her.
Elizabeth’s smile faltered slightly, as though she either read the reaction in his eyes or had experienced the same one at his touch. She nodded and returned to her armchair in the corner. Daniel headed over to Becca. As he pulled her into a one-armed hug, Leticia between them, he whispered softly in her ear, “We’ll discuss this later.”
She offered him one of her patented impish grins as she pulled away and touched her hand to her stomach.
Daniel rolled his eyes. Oh no, you’re not going to start using that against me. “Later,” he mouthed as he turned to greet her husband, who was watching the two of them with an amused smile.
“I warned her,” Austin said in a low voice as he shook Daniel’s hand, the classical music piping through the room masking their exchange.
“Then my sister deserves what she gets.” Daniel clapped his brother-in-law on the shoulder.
Sharleen appeared in the doorway of the living room. “Dinner’s ready.”
Daniel followed Lou into the dining room and pulled out the chair next to him.
“Here.” Sharleen reached for Leticia.
Daniel had been hoping to set the young girl on the seat beside him, but Sharleen took Elizabeth by the elbow and led her over to it before taking her daughter to sit with her. So be it. There are worse ways to spend an evening than in the company of a beautiful woman. Daniel held the chair out for her and pushed it in a little when she had settled on it.
The smile she flashed him a
s he took his seat did send a little rush of warmth through his chest, which was something. Not nearly enough to let his sister or partner off the hook, but something.
“So, how do you know Sharleen?” Daniel held the bowl for Elizabeth as she used the tongs to delicately transfer a helping of salad to her plate.
“We met at the gym. We were beside each other on the bikes one spin class and started talking. After we’d gotten to know each other better, she told me about her partner and suggested I come to dinner tonight to meet you.” She inclined her head toward him a little and lowered her voice. “I gathered from the look on your face when Tom introduced us that she hadn’t given you the same amount of information.”
“No, she hadn’t. You were a total surprise, to be honest. I’m sorry if I reacted poorly.”
“Don’t be. I wouldn’t have appreciated that either. I didn’t realize that was the case, or I would have insisted they let you know I would be here.” Elizabeth passed the bowl on to Tom on the other side of her. “Tell me about your work.”
Daniel filled her in, as much as he could, on the case he and Sharleen were working on. She laughed at the stories he told her about Detective Sergeant Lector. Daniel studied her surreptitiously as he ate. She really was attractive, with eyes—such a deep blue they were almost purple—that widened with every story he told as though she was intensely interested in each word. She was so good at getting him to talk about himself that he’d been doing it for twenty minutes before he realized he hadn’t asked her anything about her life. “What do you do?”
“I’m a surgeon at Sick Kids.”
“Wow. Impressive.”
She lifted one slender shoulder in a self-deprecating gesture he found surprisingly endearing. “It’s what I always wanted to do. I think God instilled the desire in me practically from the moment I was born. I ‘operated’ on all my dolls and quite a few of the animals we had on the farm. In fact, I seriously considered becoming a veterinarian until …” She picked up the linen napkin she’d laid across her lap and pressed it to her lips.
Until what? Daniel gave her a moment.
When she lowered the napkin, her smile was sad. “My younger sister was hit by a car when she was seven and I was nine. We’d been riding our bikes together and laughing and talking and didn’t see the vehicle speeding toward us. Apparently, the driver, who had been drinking, didn’t see us either. He hit her and almost collided with me, but I managed to swerve out of the way. She was rushed to the hospital and into surgery where they worked on her for eight straight hours. Thankfully, she survived and ended up recovering fully. I’ll never forget the look of fear on my parents’ faces as we sat in the waiting room that long, agonizing day, or the joy that exploded across them when the doctor came to tell them she was going to be okay, the way they clung to each other in shared relief.
“From that day on, I knew that was what I wanted to do, what I had been born to do, the type of work that could bring terrified patients and their families such hope and joy. Of course,” she twisted the napkin around in her hands, “it doesn’t always work out that way. Most of the time it does, though, thankfully.”
He had to give credit to the two most important women in his life. They did know how to pick them. Elizabeth was remarkable. Someone he would be happy to call a friend. He doubted it would ever be more than that and couldn’t detect anything in her eyes or body language that suggested it would be for her either. Not that he believed in love at first sight, but he did think that, when you met the person you were meant to be with, there would be something—some kind of flame that hinted at a potential inferno somewhere down the road. With Elizabeth, as much as he admired her, there was barely a spark. Nothing more than he’d feel for any attractive, intelligent woman.
A low buzzing sound caught his attention. Elizabeth pulled a pager from her pocket and glanced at it. She looked over at him. “It’s the hospital. I need to go.”
He nodded. “I’ll walk you out.” Another reason it would be difficult for the two of them to embark on a relationship. His pager hadn’t gone off tonight, but that was a rarity. If one or the other of them was always being called away from wherever they were, it would be a trick to spend any amount of time together. A twinge of regret over a lost opportunity worked its way through him, but he didn’t question the decision.
After she had said farewell to everyone, Daniel followed her down the hallway and helped her into her coat. She turned and smiled at him as she held out her hand again. “It really was a pleasure to meet you, Daniel.”
A goodbye. Daniel held her hand briefly before letting her go. “You too.” He waited until she had gone outside and was almost at her vehicle before he closed the door firmly behind her.
When he returned to his seat, ignoring the questioning looks from his sister and Sharleen, Lou nudged him in the shoulder. “How’s the new job going? Miss pounding the pavement on our old beat yet?”
Daniel grinned. “Every single day.”
“I’m glad to hear it, because I need a favor.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m supposed to go speak to a group of school kids on my day off in a couple of weeks, and my new partner has decided he’d rather spend the day with his fiancée, if you can imagine. Any chance you’d help me out for an hour or two?”
Daniel thought about it. Could be a nice break from the intensity of the case. “What’s the date? I’ll see if I can work it out.”
“That’d be great.” Lou gave him the day and the time and Daniel entered it into his phone. They chatted for a bit over dessert, until Becca yawned for the third time and Austin announced that they were going to head out.
Daniel tossed his napkin down on his plate and excused himself from the table to follow them to the door.
Austin held Becca’s coat for her. Her eyes met Daniel’s as she slid her arms into the sleeves and did up the buttons. She had the good sense to look contrite, which stemmed the flow of the lecture he’d been about to unleash on her.
Grabbing her knitted hat off the hook, Daniel tugged it down over her ears, then, one hand on each side of her head, he tipped it back so she was looking up at him. “No more set-ups, do you hear?”
She sighed. “All right, but you have to admit Elizabeth is pretty great.”
“Yes, she is, but she’s not the woman for me. And if and when I am ready to get involved with someone, I’ll find her myself. Clear?”
“Clear.”
“Good.” Daniel wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. “Now go home and get some rest.”
She smiled up at him. “I will.”
Daniel watched as she and Austin walked out to the car. His brother-in-law held her arm until they reached their vehicle. Then he pulled open the door for her and waited until she got in to close it behind her.
Daniel shut the front door. He couldn’t have chosen a better husband for his sister if he had tried. Which he hadn’t. Because he’d figured out that she was an adult and perfectly capable of getting her own life together. Something both she and Sharleen could take a lesson from.
He headed down the hallway, a wry grin on his face. He’d wait until everyone else had left the party, then lay down the law with his partner too. As much as he appreciated her and Becca’s concern for his happiness and well-being, the two of them were going to have to back off and let him find his own way, even if that meant he was destined to live his life alone.
Chapter Seven
The panic hit Nicole as soon as she hung up the phone. Gage was bringing take-out over for dinner. She should have said no. When he’d kissed her, she had been shaken to the core. Then she hadn’t heard from him for over a week. She was almost relieved when he didn’t call, although she had also checked the connection on the phone several times, wondering why he hadn’t.
Nicole dropped her head into her hands. She couldn’t do this. She didn’t need the conflict that raged in her over being with him. It would be better to call if off now, be
fore either of them was in too deep. If she waited, it would just be cruel. She lifted her chin. She would tell him tonight.
The doorbell rang, twisting her stomach into knots. Nicole drew in several calming breaths as she crossed the living room and pulled open the door.
The last bit of air she’d taken in dissipated, and she pressed a hand to her stomach. Gage stood in the hallway, holding a paper bag from a Chinese food restaurant and offering her the lopsided grin that did strange things to her insides. Nicole swallowed hard and stepped back.
“Hi.” He moved past her into the living room.
She shoved the door shut hard and turned to him. “Hi.” Her voice stayed cold and flat.
The warmth in his eyes cooled slightly. “Everything okay?”
Tell him no. He can leave now, and this will all be over. “Sure. Come into the kitchen.” Without waiting for him, she walked across the living room and through the French doors at the far end. She reached into the cupboard to grab two plates and set them on the counter. Nicole heard his footsteps on the marble floor, felt his presence in the room even more clearly than that, but didn’t look up as she yanked open the silverware drawer and grabbed the knives and forks.
Gage didn’t speak as he set the bag down on the island. She refused to look at him, concentrating instead on getting out glasses and filling them with water from the tap. Her hands shook as she carried them to the table and set them down with a thud.
When she turned back, he had leaned a hip against the counter and was watching her. He’d taken off his coat and her breath caught when she saw him. If he didn’t look so good, even dressed casually in a long-sleeved black T-shirt and jeans, what she was about to do would require considerably less willpower. It took every ounce of determination she had to walk past him and reach for the food. The combined aromas of ginger, garlic, and sesame seed oil wafted from the paper bag.
“Hey.”
Nicole dropped the container into the bag and turned around slowly. Gage had come up behind her and stood inches from her. She couldn’t breathe without drawing in the faint scent of his musky aftershave that was making it hard for her to think straight.