by Stacey Wilk
“I’d like to meet your brother sometime.”
Justin smirked. “He won’t come here, and he’s not easy to get along with. He’s angry all the time. I could never let him meet Izzi. He wouldn’t like her. He’d see her as the reason I left home. Which isn’t true, but that won’t matter.”
“You really like her, don’t you?”
He shrugged. “Does it matter? Her father would rather skin me alive than allow us to date.”
“Give him some time.” She would try and talk to Gage about the kids. “Go get some lunch. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll just hang a few cabinets first.”
“You don’t have to do that. It can wait.” She checked the phone again. They would probably have a little time before Gage arrived. The tour could always run late, and he’d have to put the horses away. He’d want everything in order before he left.
Justin narrowed his eyes. “I don’t mind.”
“Okay. Just a couple. I can make you lunch while you work.” She wanted to take a quick shower and get the sweat and dust off her before Gage arrived, but that might not happen.
She hoped he wouldn’t mind a little grit on her. Or they could shower together. That thought had her bouncing into the house.
Justin hung cabinet doors while she whipped together egg salad. She sliced fresh tomatoes and onions. The roll toasted and filled the kitchen with the smell of warm bread. Justin scoffed the food down and washed it away with a soda.
“That was great. Thanks. I guess I’ll go now unless you want me to finish.”
“No, that’s fine. We’ve made some good progress. The place is really shaping up. Go do something fun this afternoon.”
He went out the back door and into the warm afternoon. She watched as his car drove away. Gage was very late, and that wasn’t like him. The man who thrived by the rules also made sure to run on time. Where was he? Had he changed his mind? Maybe something came up at work with the robberies.
She made a quick call to the hospital to check on Kennedy and see if Gage might have stopped there, but no one had seen him. She didn’t want to bother him while he was out with guests. A call to him would have to wait.
She wanted to call the ranch, but she didn’t want to speak with Gage’s mother, and she didn’t want to worry Izzi for any reason in case he hadn’t been seen in a while. Instead, she left the door unlocked and jumped into the shower.
After drying off and dressing, she checked for a text or a call. Still no Gage. The sun hung low and painted the sky in pinks and oranges. He wasn’t coming. That realization weighed down her shoulders. Standing on his lawn last night must have scared him off. He didn’t want to be with her. She should have expected that. Still, she was a grown-up and not a teenager in love. She sent a quick text to see if he was okay.
She grabbed her yoga mat and went out to the dock. Maybe a few sun salutations would calm the nervous energy and disappointment stirring inside her. It was better to focus on why she came home in the first place and not on the reason she left. She and Gage were the past. That was the best place for them.
Yoga soothed her aching muscles and settled her mind. She flowed from pose to pose as the thoughts in her brain floated off and slid under the surface of the lake.
A truck’s loud engine rumbled down the driveway, interrupting the quiet of the early evening. She stopped the flow of poses and turned toward the front yard. For a second, hope that Gage had arrived tapped on her heart, but it was more likely the overflow of guests from the Ryker ranch.
Jett had called the other day and said he was sending some guests her way. That call had surprised her. She expected everyone in Gage’s family to hate her because she had broken his heart, but they were always ready to move forward. A lesson she should try and practice. She really was a terrible yogi. She rounded the garage and stopped.
A smile burst from her lips, but she pushed it off her face. He’d come after all, but who did he think he was showing up so late without a call? Did he expect her to just wait around for him? Even though she had.
Gage eased out of his truck. He stretched his back and rolled his head on his neck. His long stride was slow and deliberate as he favored one side. His shirt was ripped and covered in dirt. Long, bloody scratches punctuated his arms.
“What happened to you?” She ran to him, letting go of her earlier anger and hurt.
His smile lit up his eyes. He scratched the back of his neck. “I’m sorry I’m late. I should have sent a text, but I wanted to get here as fast as I could.”
“Did you get into a fight? Never mind. Just come inside. I’ll get you some ice.”
“Hang on.” He grabbed her and pulled her against him. “The only thing I have wanted all day was to hold you so I could smell your sweet scent. It’s what kept me going.”
“Gage, what happened?” She rested her head against his chest and listened to his heart pound.
“It’s a long story, and I don’t want to relive it.”
“Was it on the tour? Did someone get hurt? Is it Izzi?” She eased back to see his face. His expression was neutral. He had closed down the wall over his emotions.
“It’s not Izzi. She’s fine. A guest on the tour this morning. I should’ve known.”
Worry tried to strangle the next words. “Did someone die?”
He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’ve made a lot of trouble for Jett and the ranch. I should’ve been paying better attention. It’s all my fault.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him to her. Her fingers toyed with the ends of his hair. “I don’t understand. Come inside. Let me help you get cleaned up.”
He gripped her shoulders. “Someone almost died under my watch.”
He explained about the man and the fall and kept his gaze off in the distance. Pain carved deep lines around his mouth, and dark circles hung under his eyes like half moons.
“That’s not your fault. You told them to stay together.”
“If he hadn’t wandered off the first time, we would have taken the safer route. Those riders weren’t experienced enough for that trail. If that guy sues us, we could be through. I may have destroyed my family’s business in one afternoon.”
“Let’s go inside.” She took his hand, led him into the house, and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. “Do you want a beer?”
He stayed in the doorway. “No, thanks. I’m sorry. I’m not good company. I wanted to come over here and explain in person. I didn’t want you thinking I was blowing you off. I thought about you all morning, but after today I should go.”
“Please stay.”
“Why?”
“Because I think you need someone to lean on and maybe some ibuprofen. Did anyone look at your injuries?”
“I can handle this. I just wanted to apologize.”
She ran a dish towel under cold water. “Sit.”
“Calista, please stop. I don’t need you to pamper me. I only have a few scratches. That guy broke his arm and could’ve died. What if he died today? That man was my responsibility, and I let him and Jett down. I was so mad at that guest for not following my rules on the trail I wanted to punch him, and then when he cried like a baby because he was inches from death, I wanted to punch myself instead.”
Things were starting to make some sense. Ajay was always in the room. Gage would never forgive himself and saw every opportunity to help someone as his chance for redemption. Had she had a part in that? What had she done to him while she was busy wallowing in her own grief? “Please sit down.”
He plopped into the chair and stretched out his long legs. “I can go, if you want.”
“I want you to stay and let me help you for a change.” She dropped to her haunches and wiped the dried blood off his skin. The scratches weren’t deep.
She held his gaze. What would she do if something terrible happened to him? She couldn’t let him leave this earth without making sure he knew how she felt about him. She had wasted the pa
st sixteen years thinking she could take all the time she wanted to forgive him and to get over losing Ava.
That wasn’t true at all. They weren’t given an unlimited amount of time. She had been selfish and arrogant to think she could hold out her feelings.
He cupped her face. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
She wanted to kiss him. “Let me get you that ibuprofen. And maybe a shower to ease the tension in your muscles? Do you still keep a go bag?”
“You remembered that.” His lips twitched in a small smile.
She wiped the last of the blood from his arms and rinsed the towel out. She had remembered everything about him. She had hoped as time went by she would be able to forget the little details of their lives together, as if she were sweeping crumbs into the garbage, but every tiny grain of her memory remained.
“You can shower in my bathroom. Do you want me to get your bag?”
“I think I can handle that. If you’re hungry, I can take you for dinner after.” He pushed out of the chair and placed a kiss on her lips.
“Dinner would be great. I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I’ll be right back.” He went out the door.
She turned the shower up to high. The bathroom with its white-tiled floor and walls filled with steam. She grabbed fresh towels from the linen closet and tried not to think about Gage wrapping one around his waist.
“Calista, are you up here?” He stood inches from her in the hallway. His large frame took up most of the space and stole the breath from her lungs. Sweat glistened on his dark skin.
“I left some hydrogen peroxide and bandages on the counter for you. I can wash your clothes if you want.” Her tongue tangled around the words and strangled their sound.
“I’ll just stick them in my bag.” He held up a black duffel. “Thanks for understanding.”
“The accident wasn’t your fault.”
“Give me ten minutes. I’ll be right out.” He kissed her lips in a swift motion and closed the bathroom door.
She needed something to do while he showered in her house, or she would go right into that bathroom. The image of his broad shoulders and long legs filling up her shower flooded her brain. His dark hair would be slicked back and pressed against his neck. Probably reaching his shoulders. She heaved a long breath. She loved his hair.
The hot water would run in rivulets over his toned muscles. She wanted to chase them with her tongue. Sweat pooled between her breasts.
She trotted down the steps to the kitchen and tugged open the refrigerator. The air cooled her down. “Get a grip,” she said to herself.
He was probably hungry and tired, and the last thing he would want would be to start making out. They could make love another time. Ugh. Have sex. No one said anything about love.
“Shit.” Gage’s voice echoed through the ceiling.
She ran for the stairs and banged on the bathroom door. “Gage, are you okay?”
He didn’t respond.
“Gage?”
She shoved the door open and stopped. He wore nothing but a towel around his thin waist. His black chest hair dusted his defined muscles and narrowed to a line that led to the top of that towel. She dragged her gaze back to his face, but his hair, wet and hanging, caught her attention. Her heart clogged her throat. She’d wanted to avoid him wet and sexy, and she walked right into her fantasy.
He pointed to the counter. “I spilled the whole bottle.”
It took a second for the image to register. Hydrogen peroxide dripped off the counter and pooled onto the floor. Why was that important when Gage stood in her bathroom half-naked? “Oh. Hang on.” She grabbed a towel from the hamper and mopped up the mess.
“I’m sorry. My hands were shaking. It was stupid.” He ran his hands over his hair. His pec muscles flexed with the movement.
She tried to still her heart. “Maybe you’re hurt worse than you thought. I could call Jett for you. Or take you to the hospital.”
“I don’t need the hospital. It’s nerves.”
She had never seen him get scared except for that night when everything went wrong. “Since when is Gage Ryker nervous about anything?”
“Honestly, not since the first time we made love.” He held her gaze.
She swallowed her own nerves, still lodged in her throat. “We don’t…if you don’t want…” She couldn’t finish the thought.
“I didn’t plan on standing in your bathroom in a towel wishing you would have come in while I was in the shower. I planned to buy you lunch like a gentleman, take you for a walk, pick a wildflower, and hand it to you so you’d smile up at me. Then, and only then, if you would give me the honor, I would have tried to kiss you again. But there I was thinking about the mess of this afternoon and how I wanted you underneath me to ease some of the pain. Except I don’t know if you still want me. What if you still hated me? That’s when I dropped the bottle.”
She didn’t think she could go on talking to him as if this were any other conversation. She took a deep breath and tried a little faith. “I want you.”
He cleared the small space in two steps and cupped her face. His lips pressed against hers, and the room faded away. She wrapped her arms around his neck and curled her fingers in his wet hair. He parted her lips and intertwined their tongues. His mouth pressed harder, and his tongue moved in a frenzy. A galvanic energy ran across her skin, leaving goose bumps in its wake. She tried to keep up with him, wanting more of his almost-agitated kissing.
She could be the release he needed because that was what he was for her. He would be the pathway to a future that wasn’t clouded by heartache and pain. He might be able to help her wipe clean the windows of her soul covered in dirt and grime and for the first time in sixteen years see the road ahead.
His hands ran up and down her back. The towel did nothing to hide his desire. She couldn’t believe she and Gage were in this spot. She hadn’t dreamed they would find their way back to each other after she sealed their fate with a slap. She wouldn’t think about any of that now. Those memories would be muted by this one.
She ran her fingers over his chest and down the thin line of soft hair to his navel. Her hands explored his legs. The bumpy texture of the scar on his thigh was like finding an old forgotten treasure. He moaned as her hand went under the towel and rested on his hip. Joy burst her heart open and sent her home again.
He tugged her shirt over her head. She unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor.
“Beautiful,” he said on a long breath. “Now come back here.” He tugged her closer.
His skin was still warm from the shower. She pressed against him, allowing his heat to mix with hers. His chest hair rubbed against her nipples and sent her head spinning. He pulled on the waist of her yoga pants, but the material stuck to her sweaty skin.
“Let me.” She helped him and pushed her leggings to the floor. She stood naked before him, exposed, with nothing to shield her if this night turned on its head. She was ready to give herself to him again and possibly break her heart in so many pieces it could never be mended.
His hands sought all the places on her body that were once his. He dropped his mouth to her breast and brought the nub between his teeth. He nipped, and a prick of ecstatic pain shot through her. She brought her mouth to his neck and returned the favor.
“May I?” She tugged on the towel, and it dropped.
His desire-filled smile brightened his eyes.
“You are beautiful too.” She took him in her hand and stroked the full length of him.
His kiss was hot and strong like the sun. His hands continued to search for something and everything at the same time. He broke the kiss, and their chests heaved.
“Do you want to go to the bedroom?” she said.
“Right here.” He hiked her up on the counter and stood between her legs. “Unless you don’t want to.”
He had always made sure she was safe and taken care of. It was why the night of the tragedy she had depended on him to save her
again. When he couldn’t, she had fallen apart. “I have never wanted anything more than to be with you again.”
His fingers gripped her hips. One hand slid over her side and dipped lower. She moaned as he found the place that longed for his touch the most. He set the pace she liked best without her having to remind him. The pleasure built inside her in a blissful agony. She wanted him to be hers again.
She pushed his hand out of the way to make room for what she really needed. “Now.”
He kissed her again and thrust himself inside her. She wrapped her legs around him to take in all of him. She needed to be filled up the way a well needs water. She had stopped living and hadn’t realized how much until now. No other man could drive her to the edge of ecstasy the way Gage could. It wasn’t only his strong muscles and sexy smile but also his soft heart and protectiveness. He showed her a side of him he didn’t share with anyone else.
They moved together in a rhythm meant for only them. She held on to his back as if she might drown if she let go. The desire curled inside her until it broke like a crashing tide against the sand. Her body shuddered as he continued to rock his hips.
He gripped her waist, plunged one more time, and met her on the other side of the sweet, dreamy pleasure.
“I think I need another shower,” he said.
She placed kisses along his neck and shoulder. Her fingers caressed his chest and dropped lower.
He gripped her hand in his. “Hey.”
She opened her eyes and with some regret pulled her lips from his skin. “What’s the matter?”
He held her face in his hands and burned his gaze into hers. “You keep that up and I won’t let you out of this bathroom.”
“That was kind of the idea, stud. You can shower again later. For now, take me to bed.”
He scooped her up and carried her into the bedroom. He made love to her until the sun set and the sky was filled with stars. Not that she saw them. The only view she wanted was the one of the man above her, beneath her, and beside her.