by Linz, Cathie
“Only if you have a dirty mind.”
“What about this?” Sue Ellen demanded. “You can’t claim that this isn’t obscene.”
“It’s a cucumber.”
“It’s huge. That’s just not right.”
“I’ll tell you what’s not right,” Lulu declared. “Whatever is going on between Nathan and Skye.”
“Nothing is going on,” Skye said.
“That’s what I mean. All those sparks led to nothing?”
“It led to hot, wall-banging sex in my office at the Tivoli, right between two Cary Grant posters.” Skye’s internal editor was definitely not on duty at the moment.
Sue Ellen eyed her uncertainly. “You’re kidding, right?”
“She doesn’t look like she’s kidding.” Lulu’s forehead wrinkled in concern, making her pierced eyebrow stand out even more. “She looks like she’s going to cry.”
“Skye never cries,” Sue Ellen declared. “Right, Skye?” And just like that, the tears came.
“Now look what you did to Skye,” Lulu said accusingly. “You made her cry!”
“How?” Sue Ellen was clearly at a loss. “What did I say?”
“You insulted her vegetables. You know how she feels about her organic vegetables and the farmer’s market. And you go and make fun of eggplants, ginger, and cucumbers the first five minutes you’re here.”
“The wildberry jam looks good,” Sue Ellen noted, moving on to the next stall. “Want me to buy some?” she asked Skye. “I’ll buy a case if you want me to.”
“Come on.” Lulu led Skye over to the benches set out nearby. “What’s going on? Why are you crying if you and Nathan had wall-banging sex? He didn’t have wall-banging sex in your office with someone else, did he?”
“No.”
“Was he no good at it?”
“He was wicked awesome,” Skye admitted.
Lulu shook her head. “So the problem is . . . ?”
“I’m stupid,” Skye wailed.
“So? Men usually go for stupid women. Ow!” Sue Ellen rubbed her arm where Lulu had pinched it. “What was that for? It’s not like that fact is a secret or anything.”
“It’s not true,” Lulu said. “Do you know how many men prefer smart women?”
“No, and neither do you, so don’t even try pretending that you do,” Sue Ellen retorted.
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Skye declared, scrubbing the tears away.
“You haven’t really talked about it at all yet,” Sue Ellen pointed out.
“Change the subject,” Skye ordered.
“Okay. Do you know how many people squander their lottery winnings within a few short years?” Lulu asked.
“No, and I don’t want to know,” Sue Ellen said.
“Seventy percent. I read an article on the Internet about a woman who won five million and is now broke, living in a trailer park somewhere.”
Sue Ellen bristled. “There’s nothing wrong with living in a trailer park.”
“Is that where you’d live if you had five million dollars?” Lulu asked.
“No way!”
“How is this information supposed to cheer me up?” Skye demanded.
Lulu snapped her gum. “You didn’t say we were supposed to cheer you up.”
“We need chocolate for that,” Sue Ellen said. “A Blizzard would be good. Is there a Dairy Queen around here?”
“Skye doesn’t eat stuff like that,” Lulu reminded her.
“Which is why she needs cheering up.”
“This is the last time we’re doing this,” Angel informed Adam as he got out of his limo. Toni had fallen asleep in the backseat of Angel’s VW van, and Angel stood close enough to keep an eye on her in case she woke up.
Adam looked at the farmhouse at the end of the long drive they were standing on. “Is that why you had us meet at this out-of-the-way place?”
“This isn’t an out-of-the-way place, it’s a piece of property I’m thinking of buying.”
“And you wanted my opinion of it?”
“No, I really couldn’t care less about your opinion.”
“Then you won’t be upset to hear that I’m reconciling with my wife.”
“No, I won’t be upset.” Angel wondered if she’d driven him back into his wife’s arms by having a fit in his office the way she had, throwing cold water on herself as if she were on fire. “I’m glad for you. Glad that the meditation made you realize what’s important in your life.”
“I don’t know that I’d go that far.”
Angel sighed. “You know, it wouldn’t kill you to admit that I helped you.”
“You scared me. When you went ballistic in my office like that.”
Okay, that answered that question. “Well, whatever I did to motivate you, I’m glad it worked. I hope you and your wife will do well together.”
“Yeah, me, too. I guess I was sort of going through some kind of midlife crisis or something.”
“That happens.”
“To you, too?”
“In wanting to recapture the past? No, that wasn’t an affliction I had, thank heavens.”
“Julia told me she’s pregnant. I’m going to be a grandfather.”
“Yes, you are. And you better not mess that up.”
“Mess what up? Luke and Julia? They’re getting married. The guy should have come to me and asked for my permission first.”
“No, he shouldn’t have. He doesn’t need your permission. No one in this family does. They don’t need my permission either. Remember, being a parent means—”
“Loving your kids unconditionally. Yeah, yeah—I know. So, what do you think about their getting married?”
“I’m happy for them.”
“Do you see yourself ever getting married?”
“No, I really don’t.”
“What about that bum in your life?”
“He’s not a bum.” Angel instantly defended Tyler. “He’s an incredible man.”
“If he’s that incredible, why don’t you marry him?”
“Well, for one thing, he hasn’t asked. But even if he did, I don’t want to get married. I’ve spent my life refusing to be hemmed in by arbitrary traditions like marriage. I don’t like the formality of it. I prefer a spiritual meeting of souls.”
“Well, if you ever change your mind, here’s the name of my attorney. He does a great job on prenups, in case this latest business venture of yours really takes off. I saw the website and heard that Hollywood is going crazy over your scarves.”
“Apparently so.”
“You don’t sound too thrilled.”
“I have conflicting feelings about it.”
“Now there’s something new,” Adam said. “You having conflicting feelings.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just that I never met anyone so averse to success.”
“At other people’s expense.”
“Who are you hurting by being successful? All those other business ventures you had, didn’t you want them to thrive and be a success?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“But what?”
“I don’t know if I’m any good at being successful.”
“Listen, if you can teach a type-A like me to meditate, even a little bit, then you’ve got what it takes to be successful at anything.”
Angel was on the verge of crying. “Really?” “Entrepreneurs don’t cry.”
“New Age entrepreneurs do,” she retorted before hugging him good-bye.
As Adam drove away, Angel opened the van door to check on Toni.
“Was that a capitalist pig?” Toni asked sleepily, pointing to the departing limo.
“No, that was just a man.”
“A man you’re still in love with?” Tyler demanded from the other side of the van.
Angel jumped a foot in the air. “Tyler! What are you doing here?”
“Following you. I parked down by the road and hiked in.” Angel
was stunned. “Why?”
“Because I wanted to know what you were up to and you weren’t telling me. I’ve known for some time now that something was going on, and I suspected it involved Adam. So I came to see for myself.”
“Did you hear what I told him?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Then you should know that he’s going back to his wife. I don’t have any feelings for him. I love you. You’re my soul mate.”
Instead of saying she was his soul mate too, Tyler said, “Did you want to get married?”
“What?” She blinked at him. “No. What made you think that?”
“You did point out that I hadn’t asked you.”
“And then I added that I don’t want to get married. Honestly, I don’t.”
“Not even to your soul mate?”
“What’s a soul mate?” Toni demanded, hopping out of the van to join them.
“A person who drives you crazy,” Angel muttered, feeling another hot flash coming on. Turning to confront Tyler, she jabbed his chest with her finger. “No, I don’t want to get married, period! But I do want and expect that when I tell a man he’s my soul mate, he reciprocates and tells me the same!”
“You already know you’re my soul mate,” Tyler said.
“Too little, too late, mister!” Angel scooped up Toni and snapped her into her car seat.
“She’s mad at you,” Toni told Tyler.
“Yes, she is. And I deserve it.” Tyler spun Angel around before dropping to his knee in the gravel-covered drive. He winced at the stones digging into his jeans.
“What are you doing? I told you I don’t want to get married! Honestly!” Angel tried to tug him to his feet but he refused to budge.
“I’m proposing that we not get married, but that we remain soul mates for the rest of our lives. What do you say?”
Angel blinked away tears as she pulled Tyler up and into her arms. “I say that’s the kind of nontraditional proposal I’ve been waiting a lifetime for! And the answer is yes!”
Nathan knew he needed help. He just wasn’t sure where to get it. His buddy Cole was certainly no expert in the relationship department.
He considered consulting with Luke and Tyler, who appeared to have had some success in dealing with the Wright women.
Luke seemed to be a happy camper. He and Julia were engaged and they had a baby on the way. Tyler and Angel also seemed well suited to each other. Even Owen and Violet had danced to Owen’s Benny Goodman records, or so the funeral director had confessed to him not two seconds ago.
“In case you were wondering why I had that certain pep in my step,” Owen said.
“No, I wasn’t wondering.” Nathan’s thoughts were instead consumed with Skye and how deeply he’d hurt her the night before with his bumbling attempt to make things right.
When he’d returned from the accident scene, he’d been an emotional mess. Sure, he’d been to other crash sites since Annie’s death, but none as bad as that one yesterday. There had been three fatalities.
So he’d gone to Skye and had sex with her to heal himself. Taken advantage of her. Tossed her up against the wall as if she weren’t worthy of tender foreplay.
That’s why he’d said what he had. He couldn’t get the look on her face out of his mind. And then she’d accused him of always comparing her to Annie, saying that that was a race she could never win. And that he only saw Skye as a wicked Eve tempting him to do bad.
Didn’t she see that he was the one who’d tempted her? Who’d mistreated her?
He had to make it up to her. Because the minute she’d walked out on him, he’d known in his head what he’d suspected deep in his heart for some time now. That he loved her.
Now he just needed to convince Skye of that fact. But how?
Chapter Nineteen
After the farmer’s market, Skye drove her friends back to Rock Creek in her trusty, rusty Toyota. The trunk of the car was filled with a bushel basket holding a variety of apples, and bags of veggies.
“Hey, isn’t this the road where Nathan stopped you and gave you that ticket?” Sue Ellen asked.
“He didn’t actually give me a ticket, just a hard time.” Which he’d been giving her ever since.
“A hard time? As in wall-banging-sex hard time? Ow!” Sue Ellen turned to glare at Lulu in the backseat. “Why did you hit me this time?”
“Even I know that what you asked Skye was totally inappropriate.”
“In that case, you better fasten your seat belts, girls,” Sue Ellen noted. “We may be in for a bumpy ride.”
“Why are you quoting old movies?” Skye demanded.
Sue Ellen pointed to the rearview mirror. “See anything interesting in there?”
Flashing red lights. Again. Skye was not amused. “Shit!”
Lulu swiveled to look out the back window. “Were you speeding?”
“I don’t know.” Skye pulled over and came to a stop.
“Maybe it’s Deputy Sheriff Timmy Johnson,” Lulu said.
But it wasn’t. It was Studly Do-Right Nathan.
“Ladies.”
Skye angrily shoved open the door, almost smashing it into his crotch. “What do you think you’re doing?” She jumped out of the car. “Why did you stop us?”
“Because you’re disturbing the peace. My peace of mind, body, and soul.”
Skye rolled her eyes. “That’s the lamest thing I ever heard!”
Not exactly the reaction Nathan had been hoping for.
He looked to Sue Ellen and Lulu, who’d gotten out of the car on the other side, for guidance.
“It is pretty lame,” Lulu agreed.
“I thought it was kinda romantic,” Sue Ellen said.
“That’s what I was aiming for.” Nathan put his hands on Skye’s shoulders, but she pushed him away.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Skye was furious. “You are not getting off that easily.”
Sue Ellen spoke next. “Skye wouldn’t tell us what you did to her after you had wall-banging sex in her office,” Sue Ellen said, “but it must have been something bad, because she cried at the farmer’s market. Ow!” Sue Ellen gave Lulu her own version of the Sicilian death stare. “Stop hitting me!”
“How did you know where to find me?” Skye demanded.
“I called Sue Ellen.”
Skye belatedly recalled a muffled cell phone conversation Sue Ellen had had as they were leaving the market.
She turned to her friend. “You conspired with him?”
“Just listen to what he has to say.” Sue Ellen jumped into the driver’s seat of the Toyota, which was still running. “Get in!” she ordered Lulu, who quickly complied.
And they took off, leaving Skye standing there with Nathan. She wasn’t wearing a belly-dancing costume this time, just jeans and a hand-knit blue sweater from Peru.
Nathan appeared to be at a loss for words. No surprise there.
Skye started walking away. It was only a mile or two into town. She could make it on her own.
“Wait.”
Something about the tone of his voice made her pause for a moment. Then she started walking again.
“Please wait.”
“For what?” She pivoted to confront him. “Wait for what? For you to come to your senses? For you to climb out of that coffin you put yourself into when your wife died?”
“You don’t pull your punches, do you.”
“You’re only now noticing that?”
“I notice everything about you.”
“Because you’re a lawman, and that’s what lawmen do—notice details and put them in their reports.”
“No, not because I’m a lawman. Because I’m a man in love with you.”
“Yeah, right.” She wasn’t buying that for one second.
“Why don’t you believe me?”
“Because not twenty-four hours ago you told me that having sex with me was a mistake, that it shouldn’t have happened.”
“It shouldn’t have happen
ed the way it did, with me taking advantage of you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There was a terrible pileup on the interstate last night,” Nathan said. “Multiple cars and a jackknifed semi. Three fatalities.”
“And that reminded you of your wife’s accident?”
“It reminded me that life is short. You have plans. You have a life. You don’t expect it all to change in the blink of an eye. But it can and it does. I was still messed up when I came to you last night.”
“So you had sex with me to forget your wife.”
“No. You don’t get it. I had sex with you to prove I was still alive.”
“Well, gee, glad I could help you with that,” Skye said with biting sarcasm, before turning on her heel and marching away.
“I should have been making love to you to prove that I love you.”
She turned to face him again. “You say you love me, but you can’t even talk to me about your past.”
“I’m never going to be the kind of guy who spills his guts.”
“And I’m never going to be the kind of woman who is obedient and conservative. So if that’s what you want—”
“It’s not. I want you.”
“Then you have to stop slamming the door on me. You have to start sharing at least some of your thoughts and feelings. Not spilling your guts—I get that. But at least a little sharing.”
“Okay.” He swallowed hard. “Annie was pregnant when she died in that crash. If she’d lived, our child would have been about Toni’s age now.”
Skye’s caught her breath. “So that’s why I kept sensing pain in you whenever you saw my daughter.”
“Until that last time, when Toni cracked me up. It’s like I was finally able to let the past go.”
Skye nodded. She’d seen that in his expression. He’d opened up like never before, letting her see the man behind the barriers. But not for long.
“Give me another chance,” he pleaded huskily.
He was letting her in again, allowing her to see the essence of himself, the man he was. “I think I can manage that. But you won’t be able to manage me. I’m not manageable.”
He moved closer to her and gently ran his fingers down her cheek. “Are you persuadable?”
“Possibly.”
“Then can I persuade you to come back to my place to continue this conversation is a more private setting?”