by Lynn LaFleur
She shot him a wide-eyed look. “You want me to walk back to your house naked?”
“Yes.”
Eve grinned. “Cool.”
Quade stuffed the blanket and the rest of their items into the canvas bag. Taking Eve’s hand, he took off at a fast walk. He would’ve jogged if he’d thought Eve could keep up with him.
They made it back to his house in half the time it took them to walk to the creek. Quade led her through the house directly to his bedroom and they fell to his bed.
His kiss started out ravenous, but Quade soon slowed it. The overwhelming need to fuck that he’d experienced by the creek disappeared. From the gentle way Eve caressed his back and ass, he didn’t think she felt the urgency either. This time would truly be lovemaking.
He pulled away from her long enough to roll on a fresh condom, then returned to his place between her legs and entered her with one thrust. She wrapped her ankles around his thighs. Quade linked their fingers together, laid their clasped hands next to Eve’s head. He gave her soft, sweet kisses while he moved inside her … on her mouth, her cheek, her jaw. Even when he felt the climax brewing in his balls, he kept everything gentle.
Eve came seconds before he did. The sexy sound in her throat signaled it before her body trembled. Staring into her luminous green eyes while the pleasure flowed through him, he knew he’d found the woman he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.
Words formed on his tongue that he longed to say to her. He held back, sensing she wouldn’t want to hear them yet. Whatever happened in her past with her former fiancés had caused her a lot of pain. She needed more time to heal.
He’d give her that time. She would be worth the wait.
9
Eve didn’t know how life could be any better.
She’d seen Quade every day for the last four days, ever since they spent all of Sunday together. They had supper, then either she spent the night with him or he with her. She preferred going to his house because he would cook for her while she played with his dogs.
No pressure. No expectations. Just pleasure and the joy of his company.
The volunteer fire department had a practice fire tonight with the new firefighters, meaning she wouldn’t see Quade until later tonight. They wouldn’t be able to have supper together, but she could prepare lunch for him.
He’d sounded pleased when she invited him to her apartment for lunch. He told her he should be finished with his morning counseling sessions in time to be at her place by twelve-fifteen.
Eve covered her round kitchen table with an ivory tablecloth, added earth-toned plaid napkins. She’d walked to Flowers on the Square during her morning break and picked up a small autumn arrangement. The vase contained the same colors as her napkins.
Taking a step back, she studied the table for anything she might have missed. Even though it would be a simple meal of chicken-salad sandwiches, chips, fruit, and iced tea, she wanted everything to be perfect.
Her stomach jumped when the doorbell rang at a few minutes past noon. She made sure her blouse remained neatly tucked into her pants and smoothed back her hair before she opened the door.
She smiled. “Hi.”
Quade returned her smile. “Hi.”
“Come in.”
He stepped across the threshold. Eve closed the door behind him and turned. Before she could say another word, he pushed her against the door and covered her lips with his.
If anything tasted better than Quade’s kisses, Eve couldn’t think of it. Of course, she could barely think at all when his lips touched hers. He encircled her waist with one arm, caressed her ass with his other hand. Eve tugged the leather band from his hair so she could tunnel her fingers into the silky strands while she returned the kiss.
Quade gave her three soft, pecking kisses before he rested his forehead against hers. “That’s better than anything you cooked.”
Eve agreed. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged him tightly. He returned her hug, held her as tightly as she held him. It always amazed her how perfectly they fit together.
“Are you hungry?” she whispered in his ear.
His hand drifted to her ass again. “Mmm, yes.”
Chuckling, she pulled back enough to see his face. “I meant for lunch.”
“Oh.” He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “You can’t blame a guy for wanting dessert first.”
“Sorry, no dessert today. I have to be back to work by one-thirty. But …” She ran her hands over his shoulders. “You could come back tonight after your practice fire.”
He flashed her a crooked smile. “I do like the way you think.”
She gave him a quick kiss. “Help me get our lunch.”
Eve took a large bowl of mixed fruit from the refrigerator, handed it to Quade to set on the table. She followed him with a plate of chicken-salad sandwiches that she’d cut in half. By the time she uncovered the sandwiches, Quade had poured their tea from the pitcher Eve placed on the table.
Quade took a large bite of a sandwich and moaned. “I’ve never eaten chicken salad as good as Emma’s. Until now.”
His compliment pleased her. “I’ll tell Emma you said that. I made it, but got the recipe from her.” She smiled again when he finished his half sandwich and took another from the plate. “You either really like chicken salad or you’re hungry.”
“Both.” He spooned a generous amount of fruit onto his plate. “I didn’t have a snack like I usually do. I keep protein bars in my desk at school, but no time to eat one.”
“Busy morning?”
“Yeah, unfortunately.”
When he didn’t continue, she gently prompted, “Something serious?”
“I can’t talk about it, Eve. It’s confidential.”
She knew whatever a client said to Quade had to be in the strictest confidence and he wouldn’t share. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s okay.” He wiped his hands on his napkin before sipping from his glass of tea. “It would be nice to share some things and take the burden off me, but I can’t.”
“I understand.”
Eve didn’t speak again for several moments to give Quade time to sort his thoughts and eat his lunch. Just as she decided to break the silence, he beat her to it.
“I’m leaving about noon tomorrow for Austin. I’d like you to go with me.”
The bite of banana she chewed grew in her mouth until it felt like the size of a baseball. Meeting his son didn’t fall into the no-pressure-no-expectations category. That fell in the we’re-getting-serious-so-I-want-my-son-to-approve-of-you category. She finally managed to swallow so she could speak. “Excuse me?”
“One of my nephews’ birthday is on the twenty-fifth. The whole family is gathering at my parents’ house Saturday. It would be the perfect chance for you to meet everyone.”
“Quade, I don’t need to meet your family.”
She must not have said what he expected her to, for confusion spread across his face. “Why not?”
“Well, because we’re not … involved.”
He slowly folded his napkin and laid it next to his empty plate. “You don’t think we’re involved?”
“No. I mean, we’ve only been seeing each other a week.”
“We didn’t just meet a week ago, Eve. I’ve known you for two years.”
“I know that, but I told you right from the start that I didn’t want a relationship.”
Eye narrowing, Quade sat back in his chair. “So we’re fuck buddies? Is that it?”
She winced at his choice of words. “You don’t have to be crude, Quade.”
“What am I supposed to be? You say you don’t call this a relationship, so what is it?” He leaned forward in his chair. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted in a woman, Eve.” His gaze passed all over her face. “I’m falling in love with you. Hell, there’s no ‘falling’ about it. I’m already there.”
Fear wrapped itself around Eve’s heart. Quade wasn’t supposed
to love her. She couldn’t risk her heart to love again.
“Please don’t say that,” she whispered in a tortured voice.
He reached across the table to take her hand. “Eve—”
“No!” She yanked her hand from beneath his. “You can’t love me. We’re suppose to enjoy each other’s company, that’s all. I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time. Please don’t spoil it.”
“I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time, too. There’s no reason we can’t be even happier. I want more time with you. I want a life with you.”
Eve stood and picked up their plates. She still had some of the sandwich and fruit left on her plate, but her churning stomach and clogged throat wouldn’t let her eat another bite. She set the plates in the sink, turned to find Quade right behind her.
“Talk to me. We can work it out.”
“There’s nothing to work out.”
She tried to pass him, but he took a step to block her retreat. “Why won’t you talk to me, Eve? Whatever happened in the past is exactly that—in the past. You and I go forward from here.”
Tears burned behind her eyelids. “There’s no going forward, Quade.” She crossed her arms over her stomach, creating a wall between them. “I’d like you to go now.”
Disbelief flashed through his eyes, mixed with pain. “You aren’t even willing to try?”
“I can’t, Quade.” She swallowed to clear the huskiness from her voice. “Please go.”
Pain remained in his eyes, but anger replaced the disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re throwing away something so good because of fear. Whatever happened in your past has nothing to do with you and me.”
Unwilling to say more, she looked toward the door, then back at him.
He obeyed her silent command. Without giving her another glance, he walked out the door.
It didn’t hit her at first. She stood still, her arms crossed over her stomach, while she tried to figure out what happened. Quade had been angry and hurt when he left. She couldn’t blame him for that, but she’d had no choice. She had to hurt him to protect herself.
God, how selfish that sounded.
The pain struck. She pressed a fist against her chest, directly over her heart. The pain soon spread throughout her body. Tears flooded her eyes. Her knees gave out and she dropped to the floor. Huge, racking sobs soon filled the room.
She should’ve known better than to ever go out with Quade, much less make love with him. She should’ve known things with him would end as badly as with the other men in her life.
She had to accept that she would always be alone.
“Are you sure it’s leaking?” Quade asked Rhea through his cell phone. “I checked the extinguishers last week and they were fine.”
“I don’t know what happened, but something’s wrong. There’s white foamy powdery stuff all around the nozzle thingy. I’m afraid the extinguisher will burst.”
He couldn’t help chuckling at her description, even though a leaking fire extinguisher wasn’t funny. “It won’t burst, Rhea.”
“Please come check it, Quade. I’d feel a lot better.”
He wanted to help Rhea, but he didn’t want to step inside Cozy Crafts Cottage and see Eve. She’d torn his heart out of his chest with her refusal to talk to him. He couldn’t handle seeing her so soon after she’d thrown his love back in his face.
“If you’re worried about running into Eve, she isn’t here,” Rhea said as if she’d read his mind. “She looked horrible when she came back from lunch, so I sent her home.”
Despite what had happened between them an hour ago, concern surged through Quade at the thought of Eve hurting. He pushed it aside. She didn’t want his concern, his love, or anything else from him. “I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Perfect! Thank you so much, Quade. I really appreciate it.”
He pressed the button to end the call. He didn’t know why, but something churned in his gut regarding Rhea’s call. She sounded sincere, yet he couldn’t help feeling that she hadn’t told him everything.
With a shrug, he ignored his gut, picked up his keys from the kitchen island, and headed for his pickup.
He made it to Cozy Crafts in twelve minutes. Rhea met him as soon as he entered the store.
“Thank you for coming so quickly, Quade. It’s the fire extinguisher in my back storeroom.”
He followed her through the store, nodding to Rhea’s clerk, Mary Lander, as he passed her. “In here,” Rhea said once they got to the storeroom. He followed her through the doorway, and froze in his steps when he saw Eve unpacking a large box.
Rhea rushed past him and pulled the door closed behind her. Before he could grab the doorknob, he heard the sound of a key turning in the deadbolt.
“Y’all are going to talk and work out whatever is wrong,” Rhea said through the door. “Mary and I are going to Mona’s for pie. We’ll be back in an hour or two. Or three.”
Eve hurried over to the door and pounded on it with the side of her fist. “Rhea, open the door! Rhea!”
Silence, until he heard the chime of the front door. “Would she close her store and just leave?” he asked.
“There’s no telling what Rhea will do.”
Quade examined the door to see a keyed deadbolt above the doorknob instead of a lever to flip the bolt. “Keyed from both sides?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a key?”
“Yes, in my purse in the employee lounge.” She blew out a breath. “I can’t believe she locked us in here.”
He took a moment to study her, noting her red, swollen eyes. “You’ve been crying.”
She quickly lowered her head, took a few steps away from him. She could only take a few since the storeroom didn’t have a lot of empty floor space. Shelves almost touched the ceiling on three sides. The other side held a long table covered with boxes, tape, scissors, box cutters, and various other tools.
He noticed a case of bottled water on one of the shelves. Tearing back a corner of the plastic, he removed one of the bottles and held it out to Eve. “Want this?”
With a huff, she accepted the bottle from him. Quade chose one for himself, removed the cap, and took a long drink. He could feel the tension flowing off her body. “Well, what shall we talk about?”
She shot him an exasperated look. “What?”
“Rhea said we had to talk.” He leaned against the shelf, crossed his ankles. “She didn’t specify what we should talk about.”
“You know very well what she wants us to talk about.”
“Yeah, I do. But I figure if you wouldn’t tell me why we can’t be together while we were in your apartment, you won’t do it here either.” He took another drink from the bottle. “Tell me why, Eve,” he said softly. “The last week with you has been great. At least tell me why we can’t have more days like those.”
Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. If she started crying, he’d probably lose it and join her.
“I suck at relationships,” she said in a raspy voice.
“What do you mean?”
She set her untouched water on the table behind her. “I fell in love, enough to where I became engaged twice. But the feelings just … fizzled.” He saw her throat work as she swallowed. “I can’t become involved with you, Quade. I couldn’t handle a broken heart for the third time.” She swallowed again. “You’re a wonderful man and you deserve a woman who isn’t damaged goods.”
He stared at her for several moments, trying to decide what to say. He didn’t want any of his comments to sound as if they came from a counselor instead of a man who loved her.
“Eve, I love you. I believe you love me, too, but you’re afraid to admit it because you’ve been hurt in the past. I understand that. I’m not pushing you to make a commitment with me this moment. All I want is a chance.”
He moved closer until they stood a few inches apart. “I’m a patient man. I’m willing to give you all the time you need to realize we belon
g together.” He laid his hands on her waist. “How about it, Eve? Take a chance? It might turn out to be better than you ever imagined.”
Quade watched the pain and hopelessness slowly fade from her eyes. Her gaze passed over his face, to his mouth, and back to his eyes. “I’m scared.”
“I know you are. Trust me to always be here for you.”
A gentle smile graced her lips. She touched his chest, slid her arms around his neck. “Yes,” she whispered. “I want to take a chance.”
He kissed her, letting his lips slide over hers with tenderness. His kiss promised a lifetime, beginning right this moment.
He pressed his forehead to hers. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she whispered. She touched his lips with her fingertips. “I’m sorry for being so selfish and hurting you.”
“You have no reason to be sorry. We go forward from here. But I’ll warn you right now, I’m going to do everything in my power to make you happy.”
Her smile returned, even wider and brighter. “I promise I’ll do the same for you.”
He gave her one more kiss. “Okay, we talked. How do we get out of here?”
Eve held out her hand, wiggled her fingers. “Give me your cell phone.”
Quade did as she asked, watching while she punched in a number.
“Your plan worked,” she said into the phone. “Come let us out … No, I’m not kidding you. We made up and everything is fine between us again … Okay, see you then.” She ended the call, passed the phone back to Quade. “She’ll be right here.”
“Rhea’s method may have been sneaky, but I can’t complain about the outcome.”
“Neither can I.” She pressed a tender kiss to his lips. “Thank you.”
“For?”
“Giving me a chance.”
Eve kissed him again. She kept right on kissing him even when she heard the sound of a key in the deadbolt.
“I guess you weren’t kidding,” Rhea said, laughter evident in her voice.
Eve faced her friend and employer. “I should spank you.”
“Nah. You can’t be mad at me since it all turned out good.”