by Gina Wilkins
“He’ll be fine, Shelby. I was thrown from a horse at my uncle Jared’s ranch when I was a teenager. Concussion, broken arm, a few cracked ribs—similar to your brother’s injuries. I healed without any repercussions. The arm’s as strong as ever, and if there was any permanent brain damage, no one would be able to tell the difference, anyway,” he finished with a laugh.
“Funny.” But his reassurances did make her feel better.
He tipped her head forward. She’d tied her damp hair into a loose braid after a fast shower before dinner. His thumbs pressed against her neck beneath the braid, rotated slowly. A moan of pleasure escaped her. “Feels good.”
He slid his hands down to the junction of her neck and shoulder, and squeezed, working the tense knots he found there. “With everything that went on today, I didn’t have much time to spy on my neighbor.”
Her head down, her eyes closed, she felt her muscles stretch, go slack beneath his skilled hands. “You are very good at this,” she murmured. “And to tell you the truth, I’d forgotten all about your neighbor.”
His breath was warm on her skin when he spoke, his head bent close to her. “You mean you didn’t come in to peek out my kitchen window?”
She laughed softly. “No, that wasn’t why I came in.”
She felt his lips brush the back of her neck and she shivered in response, her smile fading. “Nice to know,” he said.
Drawing a long, deep breath, she turned on the couch to face him, resting one hand on his chest as she looked at him. His lips were curved into a faint smile, but his eyes had darkened with an intensity that reflected her own mounting desire. So much had happened in the past couple of days that her emotions were right under the surface. And she’d never been able to hide her feelings well. Aaron had to see how attracted she was to him.
She couldn’t read him nearly as easily as he probably could her. Yet she saw the reciprocal awareness in his expression when he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. His lips moved hungrily against hers, his tongue teasing her lips apart to allow him access. She never even considered resisting. Burying her fingers in his hair, she crowded closer, craving more contact.
His right hand swept her back, tracing her through the thin mint-green top she’d donned after her quick shower. His left hand rested on her bare thigh, just below the hem of her khaki shorts. Heat radiated from his palm, spreading from her thigh upward to the now-tingling core of her. She pictured his hand moving upward, inward, and her stomach clenched. His other hand was already beneath her shirt, gliding against her back, sliding around her waist to rest thrillingly close to her breast.
The kiss grew more urgent, deepened until their mouths were fused, their tongues intimately tangled. Aaron’s toned muscles were rigid beneath her seeking hands, and she could only imagine how hard the rest of him must be. She found out for certain when he leaned back and drew her with him so that she was lying mostly on top of him.
He wanted her. That knowledge was so heady, so overwhelming, that she trembled with it. She’d never burned quite like this, never wanted anyone quite so desperately. It was almost as terrifying as it was exhilarating. Too much, too soon, too risky. It had stung when Pete had bruised her pride; it would be so much worse if she let Aaron break her heart.
Swallowing hard, she peeled her lips from his and planted her hands on his chest, pushing herself a couple inches away from him. “I have to—” think, she almost said “—breathe,” she substituted.
A long curl had escaped her braid, dangling into her face. Aaron reached up to tuck it gently behind her ear. “Oxygen is overrated.”
She laughed unsteadily. “Still.”
He kept his eyes on her face when he said in a low voice, “You know, I’d bet you could see the cabin next door very well from the window in the bedroom.”
She shook her head at him, both amused and somewhat shaken by the suggestion. He wasn’t pressuring her—but the significance behind his teasing comment had been clear enough. “The only two windows upstairs are at the front and back of the loft, facing the road and the lake. You can’t see Cabin Seven from there.”
“My mistake.”
“Right.” Still smiling, she scooted a little farther away from him, straightening her clothes with hands that were still shaking. “It’s been a long day.”
He nodded in what might have been resignation. “You’re tired.”
“Yes. And I don’t exactly trust my judgment at the moment. Because, to be perfectly honest, there’s nothing I’d like more than to check out the view from the upstairs window with you right now.”
His eyes heated and he moved reflexively toward her. She held up a hand and he went still.
“I’ve known you two days,” she reminded him, finding it a little hard to believe, herself, that so little time had passed since she’d thrown herself at him at the gas pump. “And today has been fairly emotional, so I’m not sure how much that’s influencing my thinking.”
“Then you should go. I wouldn’t want to be accused of taking advantage of you.” His smile was a little strained, but understanding.
She lifted an eyebrow. “Maybe I would be taking advantage of you. I could be just using you as a tension reliever.”
He nodded gravely and spread his hands as if in surrender to her. “I think I’m up to it.”
She laughed and punched his shoulder. Leaving him rubbing the spot ruefully, she stood. “I’m going.”
He caught up with her at the door, snagged her around the waist and brought her against him again for one more lingering kiss. He held her closely enough to let her know that he was still aroused, but he made no effort to convince her to stay. “Just wanted to give you a little more to think about tonight,” he murmured when he finally released her.
As if she didn’t already have enough. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she let herself out the door.
She glanced instinctively at the cabin next door when she walked to the golf cart. She saw the blinds in the front window move and, just for the heck of it, she waved. The slats fell abruptly into place and went still.
She really didn’t believe any longer that the odd Terrence Landon was a criminal mastermind who needed to be watched furtively from Aaron’s cabin. The guy was just too bizarre, she thought as she spun the golf cart out of the driveway and head toward home. But maybe she wouldn’t tell Aaron just yet that she was abandoning her clever undercover scheme.
* * *
“I feel like a damned idiot,” Steven complained, glaring down at his immobilized leg. Having been discharged from the hospital Friday morning, he lay stretched out on his mother’s couch that afternoon, his injured leg propped on a pillow. The TV remote, a cooler of bottled water and sodas, enough snack foods to feed half a dozen people, his cell phone, laptop computer and an ebook reader were all within easy reach. And he did not look happy, Aaron thought, studying Steven from a nearby chair.
“It was an accident. Could have happened to anyone.”
Steven sighed. “That doesn’t make me feel any better. I let my attention wander. Stupid.”
Aaron took a sip of his bottled water. He doubted there was much he could say to make Steven feel better about being cooped up on his mother’s couch while the rest of the family went about the business of running the busy resort. As the weekend began, they were all needed at their posts, so Steven had convinced them he would be fine alone for a few hours. Aaron knew everyone was checking on Steven frequently, but he’d figured he might as well hang around for a while to keep him company. He didn’t mind Steven’s crankiness. He’d probably be in much the same mood under the same circumstances.
“Sorry,” Steven said, shaking his head. “I don’t mean to take it out on you.”
Aaron shrugged. “Are you hurting? Do you need anything?”
“My head hurts like hell, but it’s n
ot time to take anything for the pain. Don’t really like that drugged feeling, anyway.”
“Same here. But I can get you an over-the-counter painkiller if it would help.”
“Thanks, but I’m okay. So I hear you’re going to be laying shingles this weekend.”
“Yeah. Won’t be the first time.”
“Bet you didn’t come on vacation planning to climb around on a hot roof, though.”
“Frankly, I didn’t know what I’d be doing here,” Aaron admitted. “I left Dallas on an impulse with no plans for how long I’d be staying. Might as well make myself useful while I’m here.”
“You’ve done that. The family’s got you right up there on a pedestal with your brother.”
Aaron grimaced. “I hope not. That’s a hard fall—trust me, I know. I just haven’t been here long enough to tick everyone off yet.”
“Make a habit of that, do you?”
“You have no idea.”
“Yeah, well, maybe you should give me a few tips on how to deal with it. Because I’m about to royally piss off a whole bunch of Bells.”
Aaron felt his eyebrows rise. “What are you talking about?”
Steven let his head fall back on the pile of pillows his mother had arranged behind him before reluctantly leaving for the grill. “I can’t do it anymore. I thought I could, but I can’t.”
Aaron sat silently for a few moments, processing Steven’s words. “You’re leaving the resort?”
Steven nodded. “I’ve got to. I mean, I’ll stay close to my family, I hope, but I can’t keep working here the rest of my life like my granddad and dad and my uncle. Maybe I’ll come back to it eventually—probably I will—but I have to try something else first.”
“Firefighting?”
“Maybe. Maybe the military, if I can’t get in to a firefighter program. Just...something different.”
Aaron nodded. “I can understand that.”
“I figured you would. It’s not that I don’t love my family. And I know I’m needed here. But—”
“But it’s a big world out there and you need to see a little of it,” Aaron finished when Steven floundered for words.
“Yeah, something like that.”
“They’ll understand, Steven.”
“They’re going to hate it,” Steven corrected flatly. “They’ll put on brave faces and tell me to go for what I want while they all look worried and sigh a lot. Pop will tell me I’m a damned fool, Mimi will remind me I’m their only grandson. Bryan will start popping antacids and Mom will wipe her eyes when she thinks I’m not looking. I’ll be the first in four generations to break away. That’s a pretty big deal.”
Aaron had to concede that was a lot of pressure. He’d found it burdensome enough that his own family worried about him. He’d never wanted to cause them anxiety, he’d just wanted to follow his own path. Steven wanted nothing more. “You have to do what’s best for you. Life’s too short to spend it wishing you’d made different choices.”
“That’s what I decided when I woke up in that ambulance yesterday,” Steven admitted, slowly rubbing his temples. “It’ll be a few weeks before I’m back on my feet. I’ll use that time to decide what I want, but I’m giving notice immediately. I’ll stay through Labor Day to get through the summer season and give them time to make other arrangements. It’ll take me that long to put in applications and whatever else I have to do, anyway. But after that, come what may, I’m out of here.”
It felt strange to hear such recognizable sentiments coming from the other man. Rather than admitting exactly how familiar the words sounded, he asked merely, “Headache?”
“Like an elephant stampede in my skull.”
“You should take some aspirin and get some rest. I’ll get out of your hair. Is there anything you need before I go?”
“I’m good. And, Aaron—”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for understanding.”
Aaron’s chuckle held little humor. “I doubt that anyone could understand better. You’ll figure it out, Steven. We both will.”
Steven nodded, his eyes already closed as Aaron rose and headed quietly for the door.
He had just stepped out onto the front porch when Shelby arrived in one of the ubiquitous green golf carts. She climbed out to greet him, looking pretty and fresh in a cherry-red scoop-necked top and denim shorts. His body reacted immediately to the sight of her, to the remembrance of having his hands on her—a memory that had kept him awake far too long last night. She really did have great legs, he thought, treating himself to one brief, appreciative survey before raising his gaze back to her face.
“How is he?” she asked, nodding toward the house. Did he see an answering awareness of him in her eyes even as she asked about her brother, or was that merely wishful thinking?
“He’s napping. Said his head’s hurting.” Aaron wouldn’t mention the conversation he’d just had with her brother, of course. It was up to Steven to tell his family his plans.
“Should I go in?”
“I’d let him sleep. I think he needs some alone time.”
“After a night in the hospital being hovered over, I don’t doubt that he does. I’ll go back to work, then. I assume he’ll call if he needs anyone.”
“He will. And I’m sure it won’t be long before your mom or grandmother feels compelled to check on him. He’ll be okay.”
“Thanks for sitting with him for a while. It made Mom feel better about leaving him knowing you were here with him.”
“You know I like your brother.”
She dimpled. “He’s a great guy. Don’t tell him I said so.”
“Your words are safe with me,” he promised her. Though she was only teasing, he would add the sentiment to the other confidences that had been entrusted to him in the past couple of days. He was beginning to feel the weight of them.
She glanced at her watch. “I’ll pick you up at seven, by the way. Be ready.”
“Uh—”
Her smile was almost blinding. “You haven’t forgotten our date, have you? This gal doesn’t welsh on her bets.”
“I wasn’t sure it was still on—what with everything that’s happened.”
“Steven’s going to be okay, so there’s no reason for us to sit here and stare at him. Don’t worry,” she added with a saucy wink, “I won’t keep you out too late. I know you have to start hammering shingles first thing in the morning.”
He wanted to kiss her so badly he could already taste her on his lips. He settled for tracing her smile with the tip of his finger. “You can keep me out as long as you like.”
Her smile quivered just a little and the faintest hint of pink swept upward from her throat to her cheeks. He wasn’t the only one feeling the heat that had little to do with the summer temperature, he thought in satisfaction before dropping his hand and stepping back. “I’ll see you at seven. By the way, what should I wear? Black tie, scuba gear, hazmat suit? It would help to have a clue—though I warn you, I didn’t even pack a jacket or tie. I did throw in a nice shirt and pair of slacks.”
Her momentary self-consciousness dissolved into a giggle at his whimsical suggestions. “Your shirt and slacks will be fine.”
He made a show of wiping his brow in relief. “Nice to know I won’t have to scramble to find a tux to rent.”
Still smiling, she glanced at the golf cart. “Want a ride back to your cabin?”
“No, thanks. I’ll walk.”
Nodding, she hopped back into the driver’s seat. “See you in a few hours, Aaron.”
He watched her buzz away. He couldn’t wait to see what she had planned for him that evening.
* * *
Shelby was leaving her parents’ house at just before seven that evening when she almost bumped into her youn
ger sister, who was on her way in. They paused on the front porch to speak.
“You look nice,” Lori said, giving her a once-over.
Shelby lifted an eyebrow humorously. “You don’t have to sound so surprised.”
“I’m just not used to seeing you in a dress.”
A little self-consciously, Shelby smoothed a hand down the front of her sundress, a crisp white cotton printed with colorful, cheery summer flowers. Scooped at the neckline and fitted at the waist, the dress flared out to swish against the tops of her knees when she walked. She wore small gold hoop earrings, a little gold sand-dollar charm on a thin chain around her neck and a slim gold bangle on her right wrist. She’d left her hair loose and curling around her bare shoulders. The outfit was actually casual, but because she spent so much of her life in tees and shorts, she felt dressed up. All of her family had remarked on her appearance when she’d stopped in to see Steven before leaving for her date, and now Lori had followed suit.
“You wear dresses all the time,” Shelby grumbled. “How come no one ever makes a big deal out of that?”
Twitching the skirt of her gauzy midcalf dress that faded from a deep graphite at the top to a silvery pearl at the hem, Lori smiled faintly, but didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “Do you have a date this evening?”
“Yes. Aaron and I are going out.”
Something flickered in Lori’s expression, too fleetingly for Shelby to pin it down. “You have a thing going with Aaron?”
Shelby rolled her eyes. “We’re going out to dinner.”
“Has he, uh, said anything about—?”
Frowning, Shelby prodded. “About what?”
Lori shook her head abruptly. “Never mind. I’m going in to see Steven for a few minutes, then I’m heading out myself. I have plans with friends.”
“I see.”
Lori moved past her, reaching for the door. “Have a good time with Aaron. I’ll catch you later.” She had the door to the house closed between them almost before Shelby could reply.
Shaking her head in bewilderment, Shelby headed for her car. She had a bet to pay off.