Aubrey’s heart recognized Gage long before her brain did and beat wildly in anticipation.
So much for toning down their highly charged attraction.
Chapter 7
Gage stared his fill. He wasn’t the kind of person to hurry a good thing, and Aubrey in shorts and a tank top was one incredibly good thing.
“I lost my cell phone earlier,” he stammered. “I think it might have fallen off my belt while I was working.”
He stood at the bottom of the porch steps, Aubrey at the top. Their positions put him on direct eye level with her breasts. With her back to the light, he couldn’t see much. Imagination and memory filled in the blanks.
“Oh.” She hugged her waist. “I can’t help you much, I haven’t been outside until just now.”
“Do you mind if I have a look around?” Given the fact he hadn’t been able to tear his gaze away from her, his remark could have been construed differently.
“Go right ahead. Do you need a flashlight?”
“I brought one.” He produced a miniflashlight from the back pocket of his jeans.
Neither of them moved. “Gage,” she began, then faltered. Lifting her arm, she brushed back the hair from her face. One breast raised and strained against the fabric of her pajama top.
“Uh-huh?” His attention remained fixed on her. She was more sexy, more beautiful in that moment than he ever remembered.
“About today…” She rubbed the back of her neck.
Gage watched, his mouth dry as an old bone baking in the hot sun. She let her arm fall, and he narrowly avoided groaning with frustration.
“I’m leaving in another four weeks and returning to Tucson.”
“Okay.” He knew that and wasn’t sure he liked it.
“It’s uh…” She shifted her weight to her other foot and blew out a breath. “It’s probably a good idea for us to keep a little distance between us. Just to avoid any problems when the time comes for me to leave.”
Gage moved forward until he was toe to toe with the bottom porch step. “You think we’ll have problems when you leave?”
“Possibly… Yes,” she said with more confidence.
He returned the flashlight to his jeans pocket and climbed the bottom step. His new position put him on eye level with her mouth. Not a bad place to be, either. “Why?”
“Because…” She swallowed nervously, her strength apparently deserting her. “We have a lot of history together and shared memories.”
Gage sensed a brush-off coming and refused to go down without a fight. “A lot of intimate history.”
“Well, yes.”
From his raised vantage point, he had a great view of her cleavage. “And you don’t want to start anything we can’t finish, right?”
“Exactly.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I said no.” He leaned closer, inhaled the freshly showered scent of her. “I, for one, want to start something with you, and I’m pretty sure you want to start something with me, too. But you’re scared and understandably so.”
“You’re wrong.” Her protest sounded weak, thank God.
“About you wanting to start something, too, or you being scared?”
“Gage, please.”
“Tell me something, Aubrey. When I had you trapped in the wheelchair this afternoon, did you want to kiss me? Not would have, but want to?”
“I…uh.”
Gage eased forward and angled his head upward as if to meet her lips. He stopped a few inches short. “Yes?”
If he turned his head marginally to the left, his mouth would graze the underside of her jaw. He resisted. For their relationship to develop into something more, Aubrey had to stop being a participant and start being the initiator.
“The truth, Aubrey. No more games.” He closed the distance between their mouths by several more millimeters. “Do you want to kiss me?”
Her breath hitched. “You don’t fight fair.”
“Not where you’re concerned.”
“Fine,” she said with what sounded like forced resignation. “I want to kiss you. Will you leave now that I’ve confessed?”
“No way.”
“How come?” Her brow furrowed in surprise and then indignation. “Because I won’t kiss you?”
“Because I haven’t found my phone.” He chuckled and moved closer still. “And because you haven’t kissed me.”
“If that’s what it takes to get you to leave…” She dipped her head, bypassed his mouth and brushed his cheek with her lips.
Gage went completely motionless, waiting.
She didn’t pull away. Good, but not enough. Difficult as it was, he kept his arms locked at his side, silently pleading for her to end his torture, either by going inside or giving them what they both wanted. Seconds stretched into an eternity.
At last, she cradled his cheeks in her hands. “Happy?” she crooned and pressed her mouth to his smile.
“Ecstatic.” His tongue traced the outline of her bottom lip as his arms circled her waist.
“This changes nothing. We’re not getting involved.” She tilted her head back as he tasted the silky column of her neck and the hollows above her collarbones.
“Quit your jabbering and give me a real kiss.”
She obliged him by fully fusing her mouth with his.
Since she’d technically instigated the kiss, he let her control it. He had no complaints about the arrangement and, evidently, neither did she. They started out slow, familiarizing themselves with each other through tender and tentative explorations—something they’d missed out on during their frantic kiss at the community center.
Their leisurely pace didn’t last, however. Aubrey slid her hands from his face to his shoulders, pulling him to her. Gage took her invitation a step further. Without separating their mouths, he lifted her off her feet, walked up the remaining two porch steps and stumbled blindly in the general direction of the lawn chairs.
They almost made it.
A shrill chirping sounded from a distance. “Dammit,” he grumbled and set Aubrey down, though he didn’t release her.
“What’s that?” she asked dazedly.
“My cell phone.”
“Your cell phone?”
“I told Hannah to call the number in thirty minutes. I figured I could follow the ringing to the phone.”
Aubrey disengaged herself from his arms and straightened her pajamas. “You’d better go find it while it’s still ringing.”
“Yeah.” He could see the change coming over her. Already, she regretted kissing him, possibly questioned her momentary loss of sanity. The chances of them picking up where they left off once he found his phone were slim to none. “I’ll be right back,” he said and beat a path to the front yard.
Flashlight in hand, he followed the sound of the chirping, which quit as he was closing it on it. Gage was considering asking Aubrey to go inside and call the number for him when he found the phone near the ramp. He picked it up and hooked it to his belt. Only then did he look for Aubrey.
She stood near the screen door, one hand on the knob. He walked to the porch, ready to put up a fight. She wasn’t going inside without first talking to him. At the top step, he paused.
“Aubrey—”
She silenced him with a raised hand. The other one clutched the doorknob like a lifeline.
“I’m not ready for this, Gage. As tempted as I am to be with you, I can’t. I’m leaving soon, and it wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”
At least she admitted to being tempted.
“You could always stay.”
She shook her head. “I have my job to consider.”
He understood. In a town the size of Blue Ridge, employment opportunities on a whole were limited and virtually nonexistent for nurses. He could hardly ask her to give up her career for him. Not when he resented his father for making just such a demand. And even if Aubrey were willing, she’d come to resent him, too.
�
��More importantly,” she said, “there’s a…situation I’ve been ignoring that needs resolving.”
He had no right to ask, but nonetheless, did. “A boyfriend situation?”
“No.” She shook her head, her green eyes a little lost. “Work and family.”
“I’m sorry.” Gage’s apology was sincere. He well knew the obstacles of balancing work and family. “Anything I can help with?”
“This is something I have to deal with on my own.”
“Sounds serious.”
“It is.” Eyes closed, she massaged her forehead. “I’m having a bit of a career crisis, I guess you could say. And my dad and I don’t exactly agree on how I should handle it.”
Gage knew Alexander Stuart regularly attempted to impose his will on his daughters, Aubrey in particular. Funny, where their parents were concerned, she and Gage really were very much alike.
“If you ever want to talk, I’m a good listener.”
“Thanks. Maybe another time. It’s getting late and I have an early morning.” Opening the door, Aubrey stepped inside. “Good night, Gage.” Her face was a dark shadow behind the screen. “Thanks for building the ramp. You’re a good friend of the family.”
He started to say he could be a whole lot more than a good friend if she’d let him but kept his mouth shut. Pressuring her for more before she was ready would only reverse the tentative inroads he’d made. And besides, he was coming away with considerably more than just his cell phone.
At least he now understood a little better what was bothering Aubrey and how it was contributing to her case of cold feet where their relationship was concerned. He just didn’t know what to do about it.
Yet.
“See ya later.”
Gage bounded down the porch steps, digging his keys from his pocket when he hit bottom.
No doubt about it, Aubrey still cared for him. If she didn’t, the thought of getting involved wouldn’t scare her like it did. And most importantly, she didn’t have a boyfriend. At least one who mattered.
For the first time since her return, Gage felt like he had a fighting chance with Aubrey.
*
“More mashed potatoes, honey?”
“Thanks, Mom.” Gage accepted the serving bowl from his mother’s outstretched hands and ladled a second helping onto his dinner plate.
He wasn’t particularly hungry but didn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings. She’d spent half the afternoon in the kitchen laboring over their meal. Neither was he particularly talkative. None of the Raintrees were, which was a little unusual. Then again, they were all pretty tired.
Hannah, a notorious chatterbox, had stayed up late the previous night doing homework then gotten up at the crack of dawn to leave for class. For his part, Gage had ridden out bright and early to check the water level of the stock tanks and round up any strays. His father, enjoying a second straight week free from gout, had come along. Too proud to admit he’d overextended himself, he was paying the price in the form of sore muscles and aching joints. Gage’s mother, evidently weary of trying to jump-start family mealtime conversation, settled for seeing that everyone got enough to eat.
Gage’s excuse wasn’t as much fatigue as his inability to keep Aubrey and the searing kiss they’d shared last night off his mind. He still didn’t know if he should be mad at his sister for interrupting them, or thank her for doing so. Chances were good if she hadn’t called his cell phone when she did, Gage and Aubrey would have yielded to their impulses and given new meaning to the word reacquaint.
He need only close his eyes to recall the feel of her as she came into his arms, warm and lush and, for a few heart-jarring moments, willing. If Gage didn’t know better, he’d think he was seventeen all over again.
“Peach pie anyone?” his mom asked, getting up from her chair and reaching for her husband’s empty plate. “It’s homemade.”
“You sit, Mom,” Hannah said. “Gage and I will get the dishes and serve dessert. Won’t we, big brother?”
“Absolutely.” Anything to stop thinking of Aubrey. Gage snatched the platter of leftover roasted chicken from the center of the table.
Outside, Biscuit barked, announcing the arrival of a vehicle in the Raintree driveway.
“Who could that be?” his dad demanded and hobbled toward the door.
“Bring some extra pie,” his mom called to Hannah in the kitchen. “We have company.”
Gage’s cousin, Chase, entered the great room behind Joseph, cradling his seven-year-old daughter, Mandy, in his arms. One of her feet was bare, and she was whimpering.
“Sorry to barge in on your dinner,” Chase said, visibly distressed. He turned in a half circle as if he didn’t know quite what to do with his daughter.
“What’s wrong?” Gage asked and went toward them.
Chase wasn’t one to fluster easily, or hadn’t been until he’d become a single dad six months earlier when his wife—make that his ex-wife—walked out. The change in family structure had turned him into a chronic worrier where Mandy was concerned.
“She was playing out behind the shop and cut her foot on a piece of sharp metal. It’s deep, but I don’t think she needs stitches. I was hoping you could have a look and give me your opinion.”
“Sure.” Gage led the way to the kitchen.
“She’s had such a rough go of it lately,” Chase said as they walked, “I hate to put her through any unnecessary trauma.”
In the kitchen, Gage patted the end of a long counter inlaid with colorful ceramic tile. “Sit her down here why don’t you.”
“Hi, Mandy, honey.” Hannah, who was serving up the last of the pie, greeted them. “What happened?”
The little girl clutched a tattered stuffed toy to her side and sniffled. “I hurt my foot.”
“Aw, that’s too bad. Well, Uncle Gage will fix you right up.”
“I don’t want no stitches.”
“Who does?” Hannah licked a dribble of pie filling from her finger.
Gage pulled a chair from the breakfast set over to the counter and sat down in front of Mandy. He tickled the back of her ankle and when she automatically lifted her leg, he deftly captured her foot in his hand.
Mandy giggled. “Quit it, Uncle Gage.”
“What have we here?” He removed the bandage Chase had put on the cut and tsk’d as if her injury was something awful to behold. “I say surgery’s in order. What about you, Dad?” He looked to Chase for confirmation.
She squealed and tried to jerk her foot away. “No!”
“I’m kidding, pumpkin.” He tickled her ankle again, glad to see she wasn’t in a lot of pain. “It’s not so bad. I’m sure a butterfly bandage will be enough.”
“You don’t by chance have any?” Chase asked. “I’m out.”
“Not here. Maybe at the station. We could ride over and dig through the first-aid supplies.” Gage reexamined Mandy’s cut. “Has she had a tetanus shot recently?”
“When she started kindergarten. I called SherryAnne before we left the house.” Chase’s flat answer discouraged any further questions about his ex-wife. “What about antibiotics? Do you have any of those at the station?”
“Just topical.” Gage reapplied the bandage. “But I agree she should have some. Lacerations on the foot are prone to infection.”
“I don’t want a shot.” Mandy’s bottom lip protruded in a pronounced pout, and her eyes brimmed with tears.
“No shot,” Gage said. “Just some bad-tasting medicine.”
Mandy scrunched up her face but didn’t object.
“Doc Ferguson won’t be back in town until Tuesday.” Chase gathered his daughter in his arms. “Maybe I should take her to the E.R. in Pineville after all. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how it went.”
“You won’t get home until ten or later,” Hannah said. “Stay and have some pie with us. You can leave in the morning.”
“I have appointments all day.” Chase was a veterinarian, the only one for thirty-five
miles in any direction.
“Maybe Mom can take Mandy,” Hannah suggested.
“She’s working tomorrow.” Gage stood and returned the chair to the table.
“Thanks anyway.” Chase headed out of the kitchen with Mandy in his arms. “But it’s probably better for everyone if we just go tonight.”
“Wait.” Gage reached for his cell phone. “I have an idea.” He hit a speed dial number on the key pad and waited while the call went through.
“Hello.”
A small jolt of anticipation went through him at the sound of Aubrey’s voice. “Hi, it’s Gage. Are you busy at the moment?” He winked at Mandy. “I have a patient who requires the services of a good nurse.”
*
Aubrey leaned her back on the front door of the clinic and shielded her eyes against the setting sun. In the distance, Gage’s pickup truck rumbled down the road, headed straight for her. Grandma Rose had insisted she’d be fine alone for a short while, leaving Aubrey with no legit excuse to refuse Gage’s request.
Not that she would have refused to help Chase and his daughter.
She’d met Mandy only once, at her grandfather’s funeral. Mandy had been a toddler then, Chase and SherryAnne happily married. Aubrey liked Gage’s older cousin, though she hadn’t known him well and SherryAnne hardly at all. During her summers in Blue Ridge, Aubrey’s attention had been fixed exclusively on Gage.
The truck swung into the drive and parked beside her SUV. Both doors opened and Gage emerged from the driver’s side. He paused, his bare arm resting on top of the open door.
His searching gaze landed on Aubrey where it remained. She could feel the effects of his intimate scrutiny clear to her toes. A very small, very wistful sound escaped her lips, and for one fleeting moment, she considered disregarding every one of her resolutions about Gage.
“Thanks for agreeing to see us.”
Chase appeared by Aubrey’s side, intruding upon her and Gage’s interlude—for which she was grateful. Something went haywire with her reasoning every time she found herself near Gage. It was a distraction she didn’t need, especially while working.
Just Kate: His Only Wife (Bestselling Author Collection) Page 24