Joey paused, his foot kicked up on the bottom rung. “Did you get a hold of her?”
“No, but she’s there waiting. I told someone at the front to relay the message that I’ll be a few hours late.”
“A few hours?” Joey’s voice kicked up. “You expect Lucy to wait there for you for a few hours?”
Dane folded his arms and leaned his shoulder against the wall facing Joey. “No, actually. I expect her to wait an hour or so and then go home. I’ll fix the roof, and meet her at her place.” He winked, and a grin began to form. “Might work out for the better. Now, how’s the attic?”
Joey gaped, thoughts reeling. He was going to let Lucy stay at Whipside without knowing when Dane would show, if at all? She’d second-guess leaving, wondering if Dane would arrive late and find her gone. Then he would meet her at her studio—after she was dressed for bed, of course. He’d apologize and appear sincere, as only Dane knew how. They’d probably tussle and tumble until morning.
And then there was no way Joey would be able to ask her on a second date.
The anger that’d been simmering in Joey’s gut before was replaced by a churning bitterness. He may’ve been grabbing at straws, imagining bullshit scenarios, but his thoughts couldn’t wrap around the next move in Dane’s game.
“Dude,” his twin said from beside him, hand on the ladder. “Let go. You’ve got this thing in a death grip.”
“Yeah. Sorry.” Joey released the rung and backed away from the damage. “Listen, I’m going to run by the station.” Wasn’t a total lie. He would run by the station. In fact, he’d drive right by it on his way to the cavern. “The chief might need an extra hand tonight.” Again, not a total lie. The chief could probably use the extra man on staff. But it wouldn’t be Joey. Not tonight. “Is that all right?”
Dad patted him on the back approvingly. “Go, son. Do what you need to do. We’ve got this.”
“Yeah,” Dane snapped, climbing into the attic. “We’ve got this. Thanks for the help.”
Without another word, Joey left the store and headed straight for Whipside Cavern. He’d have to break the news to Lucy that Dane wouldn’t be coming. He couldn’t just leave her stranded there for a few hours, waiting for a date who didn’t plan on showing.
He loved his brother, but there were certain things you just didn’t do to a woman; leaving her high and dry was one of them.
Chapter Ten
It didn’t take Joey long to reach Whipside, even in the storm. He turned off the freeway east of town and dipped down a narrow road that jogged over a bridge. A gray ribbon of murk weaved in and around rocks lying in the riverbed, splashing up on either edge of the bank. Once across, Joey turned off the main road. The Whipside Cavern sign pointed the way, complete with a picture of a man giving a thumbs-up while dropping into a black void.
Joey had never spelunked before. It wasn’t his kind of thrill. Flying the skies, streaming through clouds and banking around a steep mountain pass…that sounded amazing. Dropping into the center of the earth, into its suffocating heat, not so much. The mere thought made the collar of his T-shirt tighten.
After giving a solid yank on his shirt, Joey pulled into the lot and checked the time.
The clock on his dash clicked over to six thirty.
Would she still be there? She’d have been waiting nearly two hours already.
When he glimpsed the back of her emerald-green Jeep, parked in the closest stall to the building, Joey exhaled heavily and parked beside her. She wasn’t in the vehicle; must’ve still been inside the main store. The rain had picked up, smattering his windshield with fat drops. He threw on his hood, tucked his keys into his pocket, and then darted out into the rain.
Yanking open the door to the store, Joey strode inside and glanced around. The room was no bigger than his living room, with a circular clothes rack displaying Whipside Cavern apparel in the center. Stuffed bear and elk heads were mounted on the far wall and the one closest to the register. On the edges of the room, bookshelves full of used maps and guidebooks were covered with a layer of dust. A woman with chestnut-brown hair perked up behind the counter, shoving her phone in her back pocket as he approached.
“’Bout time you show up,” she said, giving him a showstopping smile. “Thought you’d never get here.”
Damn, if she wasn’t forward. Had she been expecting him?
As he opened his mouth to ask, thoughts of Dane and the way he’d quickly recalled the cavern number flashed through his head.
She thought he was Dane…
People who knew them well could detect their subtle similarities. Although she’d apparently met Dane before, she must not have paid that much attention. When she found out he wasn’t his twin, would she make him pay to get into the back room to see Lucy? No harm in pretending to be his brother for a spell, right?
“Sorry about that,” he said, doing his best Dane impersonation. He glanced at her name tag. “You know how it goes, Chloe. I can’t keep to a schedule to save my life. Hey, I’m looking for Lucy Stone. Is she in back?”
Her smile fell a bit. “Yeah, she’s been suited up and everything. She said she was waiting for you…is she a friend of your brother’s or something?”
Chloe had a thing for his twin. It was written all over the pout of her lips, and the blush spreading from her cheeks down to the base of her neck.
Joey didn’t want to lie or ruin Dane’s chances with the cavern worker. Even though his twin was supposed to be on a date with Lucy—a date he wasn’t going to take seriously and therefore didn’t deserve—Joey couldn’t in good conscience destroy any relationships Dane might’ve had with other women.
Without answering her question, Joey winked, channeling some of the charisma Dane was known for. “Mind if I go back?”
“No.” She blushed. “Not at all. Do you need me to escort you to the hole?”
“I’ll find my way,” he said, moving toward the door on the left side of the shop. “Thanks, Chloe.”
“No problem!” she called, though he’d already entered the hallway leading to the back.
The hall was dark, with a cord of lights running along the floorboard on either side of him. The hall opened up into a larger room than the first, and a small hole had been carved into the center. Rocks lined the edges and ropes dropped inside. Ahead of him, voices echoed.
Two male, one female.
Lucy.
Joey ran through what he was going to say: Dane can’t make it, though he sends his apologies. No, the sucker’s not that considerate. Dane can’t come. He sent me in his place. No, that didn’t sound right either. He didn’t want to replace his brother in her mind. He wanted to be in the forefront.
As he strode into the spelunking room, he spotted Lucy crouched near the hole, staring into the center. The space was dimly lit, with shadows in every corner, but when her gaze met his, her face lit up.
“Dane!” She said the words on a laugh, and then stood to meet him, embracing him in a bear hug. “You’re here!”
Dane? The poor lighting must’ve affected Lucy’s vision, too.
Her hair tickled his nose, but it smelled like the ocean wind, so he breathed in. Before he knew what had happened, his arms wrapped around her dainty waist, and he tugged her against him. He wanted to tell her why he was there. Spit out the words before he let this go too far.
But she felt too good in his arms, her body warm against his.
Mustering every last iota of strength in his body, Joey pulled back to tell her and—
“How’s the store?” She paused, stunning him with the tiniest curl of her lips. “Any damage from the storm?”
Tell her the truth. Tell her Dane can’t come. Tell her you’re not him.
“It’s fine.” He shook his head as the warmth from Lucy’s body spread through him. “We took care of it.”
Coward.
Liar.
“That’s great.” She adjusted her harness and moved toward the gaping hole in the ground.
“You ready to do this?”
“Ah…” Hell no, he wasn’t ready. He had absolutely no plans to strap up and drop into that pit. “I was thinking we could talk first.”
“Talk?” She adjusted her helmet and shuffled to the edge of the pit. “I thought we were going to do this?”
He didn’t come to spelunk; he came to tell her the truth.
“How about a rain check,” he said, holding out his hand for hers. “Come on.”
“What the hell, Dane?” The bigger of the two workers spoke up, propping his foot over the stone rim of the hole. “You’re just going to leave her hanging? That’s not like you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you back down from nothin’.”
“Look! His boots are shaking,” the smaller of the two chimed in.
Lucy giggled and then covered her mouth with her hand.
Joey checked his shoes. Tennis shoes. No boots.
Lucy punched him playfully in the shoulder. “Are you really going to drag me out here in the storm, make me wait two hours for you to show up—not that I wasn’t perfectly entertained by these two—and then reschedule? That’s fine.” She crawled over the edge and tested the rope before leaning back. “But I’m going.”
Shit. “Lucy, I’m not—”
“I didn’t come all this way to go home,” she snapped, lowering herself a few feet into the dark. Did the woman have no fear? “You can do what you want. But if you come down with me, there might be a kiss waiting for you at the bottom.”
Oh, hell yeah.
Thinking about nothing but the softness of Lucy’s lips, Joey snatched a helmet off the wall, strapped into the harness, and latched on, handing the rope to the sturdier of the two workers. He stepped into the dark, one foot at a time, and sucked in a clipped breath as he leaned back, putting all his trust in the rope. He adjusted his hands and focused on calming his racing heart.
It didn’t occur to Joey until he was sinking into the abyss that when he did lock lips with Lucy, she’d think she was kissing Dane.
This was not the second date he’d envisioned.
Chapter Eleven
Lucy lowered herself into the dark, holding on to the rope with one hand and sliding her palm over the rock with the other. It was surprisingly smooth beneath her fingers. The air was cool, but not cold, and for reasons she couldn’t explain, she completely trusted that the harness would hold her weight.
Dane descended above her, slowly lowering himself until he caught up. The walls arced away from her, and the room quickly opened up into an enormous cavern unlike anything she’d ever seen. Amber lights mounted to the walls illuminated monstrous chunks of rock dangling from the ceiling around them. And far, far below, the cavern was lit by what she assumed were cave-mining lights.
They were the only two people in the cavern—the only two people in the world, for all she was concerned.
“Wow!” Her voice echoed, rattling through the empty space. Feet dangling, she spun slowly on the rope to get a 360-degree view of the breathtaking cavern. “You could fit a football field in here!”
“It’s amazing,” Dane said, and his voice sounded different. “More than I expected.” He cleared his throat. “At least that’s how I felt the first time I saw it.”
As she met his gaze, she had the feeling he was talking about her. Did he think she was amazing? No, that couldn’t be right. He barely knew her. He must’ve said these things to women all the time.
She refused to be played by the player.
Averting eye contact, Lucy continued to descend, letting the rope slip through the carabiner a little at a time. Dane matched her pace, releasing rope each time she did. He moved like Joey, she realized. She’d always known they looked nearly identical, but she hadn’t realized how much they moved alike. Dane was careful with his movements, slow and cautious. But he was smooth, too, as if confidence blazed within him.
“Do you spelunk on a regular basis?” she asked.
He sighed. “Apparently.”
“I don’t understand how you’re able to run the family store and still make time to do things like this.” She shook her head and glanced around at the points of rock jutting from the ceiling, walls, and floor. “I can’t seem to find the balance. Either I’m hard-core at the winery, or things fall apart.”
“What makes you think things aren’t falling apart on my end?”
“Are they?”
He descended quickly, and then slowed once he dangled a few feet beneath her. “I don’t know. I suppose it’s more difficult in a family business versus one you’ve built on your own. You have the pressure to do things the way your parents did, so you never really feel like what you’re doing is for you. Then the second you do something you enjoy, the family thinks you’re slacking.”
“Exactly!” She threw her arms into the air excitedly, and although she was still harnessed, the movement sent her spinning. She screeched as she went round and round and the cavern became a giant blur. Big hands found her waist. She slowed to a stop, and found herself staring into the most stunning pair of whiskey-brown eyes she’d ever seen. “Thanks,” she said, feeling his palms warm her thighs.
“You okay?” His voice was rough, stirring something in her middle.
“I think so.”
His fingers curled around her waist and dug in, ever so slightly, but the movement stole the breath from her lungs. Would he grip her like that when he was hovering over her, pinning her to the bed?
“Have you gotten your balance again?” he asked.
“I think so.” God, they were so close. If she leaned forward, she could kiss him. “Note to self: the spin cycle is not fun.”
He laughed and released his hands from her side. “You say whatever comes into your head, don’t you?”
“I do, but how would you know?” she retorted. “You’ve barely talked to me since high school.”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t know.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and continued descending into the dark. “Do you feel pressure to run the winery the way your parents did?”
“Of course.” She let out more rope. “Even though they aren’t around anymore, I still feel the weight of their expectation. Seems like everyone in the town knew them, and how they built the winery from the ground up. There’s a lot of pressure for me to be as successful as they were.”
“That makes sense,” he said, his tone rich with kindness. “But you have to know you’re doing a great job. Everyone thinks it.”
She knew they’d have things in common, but she didn’t expect this level of understanding. She didn’t expect their first date to include this much conversation, if she were being honest. When he asked questions, he seemed to genuinely listen to her answers. From what she knew of Dane, he didn’t care about family expectations or fulfilling a legacy. He marched to his own drum and lived how he saw fit.
This was definitely a new side to Dane…a side she could relate to.
And she liked it.
“What about Joey?” she asked. “Does he help out when things get rough at the store?”
He groaned and let out enough slack to drop far beneath her. Loosening her own line, she followed his pace and slowed before they touched the cavern floor. She’d promised him a kiss when they reached the bottom. Instead of unhooking from the line, Dane hovered a few feet above the ground.
“Dane?” she asked, settling beside him. “Something wrong?”
“No. Nothing at all.” He spun on the rope. “Joey lives and breathes work, and spends most days at the station. When he does stop by to help out, we usually end up getting into it about something stupid and I kick him out.”
That was odd. Not what he said, exactly, but how he’d said it. As if he was taking all the blame for the harshness of their interaction.
She was more intrigued than ever about their relationship.
“What’s Joey’s deal, anyway?” she said.
He nailed her with a gaze that burned to her core. “What do you mean?”
Dane barked out a laugh and threw his head back.
“Does he have a secret spanking obsession?” she pressed. “Disgusting hygiene?”
When he finally stopped laughing, he said, “Joey’s thirty-two and single. Why does that make him a freak?”
She shrugged. “He’s sweet, funny, a total gentleman, and—”
“Don’t forget his stunning good looks,” Dane joked.
“Oh, who could forget that?” She winked. “I don’t mean to be rude, it’s just…guys like Joey aren’t single this long. Some woman would have swooped him up by now if there wasn’t something seriously wrong with him.”
He seemed to toss over her words as he stared at the ceiling. “Why aren’t you married? Webbed toes?”
“Touché.” She jabbed her finger in his chest. “But my answer’s easy. I’m not married because I don’t want to be.”
“You don’t ever want to get married?”
“Nope.”
His eyebrows rose, crinkling his forehead. “Never?”
“It’s not in my stars.”
“Hmm. That’s an interesting way to put it.” He folded his arms and yanked the rope against his chest. “Tell me why.”
They spun slowly, like spiders dangling on webs, their legs brushing as they twisted against each other. It was comfortable in the dark, the lights around them creating a spellbinding amber aura.
“I’m married to the winery. After my parents died, I didn’t have a choice in how I was going to spend my days. Is it such a bad thing that I don’t want to be tied down when I go home at night?”
“Not at all.” He put up his hands as if she had a gun to him. “I get it. You crave freedom, and that’s the only place you can get it.”
“Precisely.”
His luscious lips pulled into a frown. “Believe me, I understand that more than you know. I used to have a lot of responsibility put on my shoulders. Believe it or not, when I was younger my dad wanted to give me the store. He prepped me for it for years.”
Let Me Love You Page 7