Chapter Fifteen
“SHIT!” SALLY RAN after Danica. She never should have let herself get so carried away. What was she thinking? She wasn’t thinking, period. The administrative area of the community center was far away from where kids were allowed to wander, but still. Anyone could have walked in on them.
“It’s okay, Sally,” Gage reassured her as they headed for Danica’s office. “I’ll handle it.” His hair was messed up, and he had lipstick around his mouth.
Her stomach pitched. She was sure she looked like she’d wrestled with a tube of lipstick, just as he did, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it right that second.
“This is not okay.” She huffed out a breath and walked into Danica’s office. Danica was pacing with a pinched look on her face, which made Sally even more upset.
“I’m sorry,” she pleaded. “I should have told you the truth this morning.”
“It’s my fault, Danica.” Gage stepped forward, forming a protective barrier between the two women.
“That’s not true. It’s my fault,” Sally insisted. “Are you going to fire me? You should fire me. I lied to you this morning. Wait, not about the lube or the Bridge or any of that, but about me and Gage. And I know I’m going to kiss him again in the office. I just know it, because”—she waved at Gage, who looked confused—“look at him. How can we work together when I can’t even keep my hands off him?”
“Lube?” Gage asked.
“Yes, lube,” Sally snapped. “I have a bone to pick with you about putting it in my purse.”
He chuckled, then quickly schooled his expression. “It was my fault, Salbird. I should have stopped us. If anyone’s leaving the company, it’ll be me.”
“Would you guys both be quiet for a second?” Danica grabbed Kleenex from a box on her desk and handed some to each of them. “Clean the lipstick off your faces. No one is getting fired or leaving the company. I’m just a little shocked, and embarrassed for walking in on you, and thankful it was only me and not some kid.”
If you only knew what you could have walked in on. Sally wiped her mouth. “I’m really sorry, Danica.”
Gage put a hand on the small of her back, drawing her closer. And hell if she didn’t snuggle right up, despite knowing she should keep a modicum of space between them. What was wrong with her?
“See?” she whispered to Gage. “I can’t even stay away from you right now. This is bad.”
“This is beautiful, baby.”
Danica pointed to the couch. “Sit, lovebirds.”
They sank down to the couch, Gage’s arm around Sally’s shoulder. The gig was up. No use fighting it now. She moved closer to him.
Danica sat in an armchair, one hand on her belly, a smile playing at the edge of her lips. “You don’t have to tell me, but how long have you two been together as a couple? Have I been missing signals?”
“Since the conference,” Sally said.
“Vegas,” Gage reiterated.
“This is good news, right?” Danica said. “Why are you hiding it?”
“Because after all Rusty’s been through, I don’t want him to be the last to find out.”
Gage gently removed her fingers from the ends of her hair and set her hand on his leg, covering it with his own. “We’re going to tell him in person, when he’s home for the holidays.”
“Why would he mind if he wasn’t the first to know that you two are going out?” Danica asked.
Because we’re really married.
Gage squeezed her hand. “After finding out about Chase, Sally thought it was best not to take any chances. We don’t know how he’ll react.”
“I don’t want Rusty to worry that if this doesn’t work out between us, he’ll lose Gage,” Sally explained.
“He will not lose me,” Gage insisted. “Nothing is going to go wrong between us.”
“We don’t know that! People get divorced all the time, and Rusty doesn’t need to go through that.”
“Divorced?” Danica’s gaze darted between the two of them.
Sally pushed to her feet, pacing again.
“Break up,” Gage said. “She meant break up.”
“Sally, even if you two broke up, why would he lose Gage?”
“I don’t know!” All the love she felt for Gage came rushing forward, pushed by the fear and confusion of doing right by her son. She threw her hands up in the air, unable to keep their secret any longer. “Maybe because we’re married. You’re the ex-therapist. You tell me what to do. We got drunk and ended up married in Vegas. It was an accident. Or maybe it wasn’t.” She looked at Gage, her heart aching, tears welling in her eyes, and her heart tumbled out too fast to stop it. “What if this is what we’ve wanted for so long, we just did it? Could it have been a moment of sanity in a night of debauchery? I don’t know what we were thinking that night, and even though I love Gage with all my heart, once Rusty finds out, he’ll never trust me or listen to me again. How can he? His own mother got rip-roaring drunk and married her best friend. It was selfish of me. And once he realizes that I put myself before him and that trust is broken, how can it ever be repaired? What kind of mother does that? And what if we do get divorced? Then I’ve screwed Rusty out of the best thing that has ever happened to him.”
“Slow down, baby.” Gage rose to his feet and wrapped his arms around her. “That won’t happen. I promise you. We’re too good together. We’re happy. We love each other. What else is there to overcome?”
“I don’t know,” she said through her tears. “Maybe the fact that I feel like a stranger in my own house—the house Rusty may never want me to get rid of.”
“We’ll figure that out,” he reassured her. “We can keep the house. We don’t have to sell it. You’re shaking all over, baby. Sit down.”
She moved in a fog, relieved to be free of her secret and petrified of the aftermath. “I’m sorry to blurt it all out like that.”
“It’s okay,” Gage said. “It’s better this way.”
Danica’s eyes were wide with surprise. “You’re married?”
Gage handed Sally more tissues and said, “Yes, and we want to be married. But not at the expense of Rusty. If you have any advice on how best to handle this, please, we’d love to hear it.”
“Married?” Danica shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can see Kaylie doing this, but you’re the careful ones. I think you both must have wanted this for it to happen.”
“Great.” Sally sank back against the cushions. “How messed up do I have to be to need to get drunk to be with the man I love?”
“You’re not messed up,” Danica said. “You’ve put motherhood above all else since you were eighteen years old. Why does this surprise you? I’m just taking a wild, unfounded guess, but you probably needed to be drunk to allow yourself to take what you wanted. And the harder you fight it, the more you’ll want each other.”
Sally waved a hand. “Obviously, since we had sex in the supply room.”
“You had sex in the supply room?” Danica laughed. “I thought you were just making out.”
Sally buried her face in Gage’s chest. “Go ahead. Fire me. I deserve it.”
“I’m not firing you! I’m tickled that you two are together. But we do have children in the building, so—”
“We won’t,” Sally said at the same time Gage said, “Never again.”
“Danica, what should we do?” Sally asked. “I can’t tell Rusty about us over the phone. And I don’t know how to tell him we’re married. And what about Kaylie, and Max? I feel terrible for leading them to believe that Gage and I aren’t together.”
“Kaylie and Max are the easy part.” Danica handed Sally the phone. “You can conference them both in on the same call and tell them so you don’t stress all night about it. But maybe leave out the part about being married. I think you’re right to want Rusty to be the first—second—to hear that. And when you see him, you’ll know what to say. You don’t need me for that part. You have each other, and you’ll figure it out together.”
Sally looked down at the phone and lifted a questioning gaze to Gage.
“I’m behind whatever you want to do, babe. If you want to tell the girls or if you want to wait. It’s up to you.”
He was willing to continue keeping their secret to protect her son and her heart, despite how badly she knew he wanted to tell the world about their relationship. She felt her love for him grow, like a living, breathing being inside her, and as she called the girls and explained the truth, it was Gage’s unrelenting support that settled her worries, carrying them another step forward.
LATER THAT EVENING, Gage grilled steak while Sally prepared a salad, and they ate by the roaring fire in his house. They’d decided to give staying there a try. They washed the dishes and shared half a bottle of wine. It was nice not to be stuck in a hotel or in separate houses. After dinner Gage emptied several of his dresser drawers and cleared space in his closet for the bag of clothes Sally had brought over. Seeing her clothes beside his filled a void inside him he hadn’t realized existed.
She set the last of her shirts in a drawer and closed it carefully. Her gaze swept over the heavy wooden dresser, where her hairbrush and mirror lay beside a bottle of her perfume. “I’ve been in your house so many times, but it’s never felt like this.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Is that bad or good?”
“Good. But different. Last night when I went inside my house, I felt like I’d walked into someone else’s life. It was weird after being with you every second of the day. I know things about you now that I didn’t used to, like that you wash out the sink after you brush your teeth and you always hang your towel after using it. You made the bed while I dressed every morning, and when you used a pen, you put it back where you got it, even if it was across the room. As I walked around my house last night, it felt like a part of me was missing. I missed all the little things about you. But at the same time, I tried to imagine not living in the house where all my memories of Rusty growing up were practically ingrained in the hardwood, and it hurt. It was confusing and it brought up so many worries. And now I’m here, and it feels good, and right, to be together again. And that makes me feel guilty.” Her shoulders slumped. “I told you I’m a head case.”
“No, babe. You’re not a head case. That would be confusing for anyone. I was an idiot to try to overlook all those things in the first place. I don’t want anything about our relationship to make you feel bad. Would it help to try staying at both houses and see which one you feel better in when we’re together? I want this to work, Sal, whatever it takes.”
“Maybe. But I’m not sure I can sleep with you there. For now I’d rather settle in here where it feels like we both belong.”
“I think that’s a great idea. And since you’ve had such a stressful day, getting caught having sex and all.” He waggled his brows, and she laughed. “How about letting me give you a back rub?”
He opened the drawer beside the bed and withdrew the flavored massage oil they’d received in the honeymoon basket.
“I still can’t believe you put that lube in my purse. Talk about embarrassing.”
“I’m sorry about that. I thought you’d see it last night and get a kick out of it.” He put the bottle in his pocket and stepped closer. “Now, how about you take off that pretty little sweater and let me redeem myself for all the awful embarrassment I’ve caused you. I’ll make you a comfy bed by the fire and make you feel good all over.”
She raised her arms as he lifted her sweater over her head. “You’re not even being subtle about this seduction—you realize that, right?”
He kissed the swell of her breast. “This isn’t subtle?” He unhooked her bra and gently pushed it off her shoulders.
“No,” she said breathily.
“Shame on me.” He lowered his mouth to her breast, teasing her nipple. “I should learn some tact.”
Her sexy murmurs brought his mouth to hers, and he kissed her deeply.
“Let me love you like you deserve to be loved.” He led her into the living room and laid blankets and pillows out by the fire. “Let’s take off your pretty skirt so it doesn’t get oily.”
She wiggled out of her skirt with a playful look in her eyes. “Shouldn’t you take off your clothes? To keep them from getting oily, of course.”
“Ah,” he said as he unzipped his jeans. “Tact. I like it.”
She stood before him naked, save for a pair of panties, twirling her hair and watching him strip down to his briefs. Her eyes darkened and her lips parted.
“Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.” He stepped closer, loving the hungry look in her eyes. He unwound her hair from her finger and put her hand on his chest. “Do I really get to put my hands all over you?”
“Mm-hm.” She licked her lips, moving her fingers in slow circles on his chest. “How do you want me? On my stomach or my back?”
He pictured her lying on her stomach naked, and his cock twitched, eager to make his dirty thoughts a reality. “Jesus, baby. That’s a loaded question.”
She bit her lower lip and sank down to the blanket, lying on her stomach. He tried to tell himself it wasn’t an invitation, but hell, his body had already sent the RSVP.
He retrieved the massage oil from his jeans and gave himself a pep talk, like he was readying himself for a big game as he straddled her hips and poured the edible massage oil into his hand. You’re here to give her a massage, not to tear those panties off and devour her. Do not rush her! You can do this. Willpower, man. You’ve got this.
He fucking hated that voice in his head.
Willpower? Who was he kidding? A man would need balls of steel to be able to resist Sally’s sweet, supple body. He began with her shoulders, feeling the knots ease beneath his fingers. Her skin was warm from the fire and grew warmer with every touch.
“Mm. That feels so good.”
Fuck yeah, it feels good. You feel good.
He massaged each arm from shoulder to wrist and back up again, earning more appreciative sounds. Her seductive murmurs made it hard for him to think. He moved lower, perched on his knees as he straddled her thighs, careful not to put his weight on them, and worked his way down her back, massaging away from her spine. The scent of strawberries and lust hung in the air as his hands slid up her sides. His fingers grazed her breasts, lingering there as he kissed each vertebra.
“Mm,” slipped from her lips.
He kissed each vertebra, his hands playing over every inch of her skin in slow, deep massages. Seeing her hair fanned out around her and her beautiful body laid out before him filled him with as much desire as it did love. He placed openmouthed kisses along the dip of her waist, the back of each hip, massaging as he went. He moved lower on his knees and shifted so he was between her legs. Her panties rose high on the curve of her ass, revealing the tender skin where each cheek met her thigh. He couldn’t keep from running his tongue along the creases. Her hips rose off the blanket, and her long, delicate fingers curled into fists. Damn, she had no idea how torturous this was.
He dribbled oil onto her hamstrings, rubbing it in with slow strokes, one hand on each leg. His mind ran through so many dirty thoughts, they spilled from his lips, hot as lava. “Baby, I want to tear those panties off and touch you, taste you. I want to rub my body all over yours. I want to feel your oiled-up ass against me while I take you from behind.”
She bit her lower lip, hunger radiating from her eyes as she gazed over her shoulder.
He moved both hands to one leg, massaging deep and sensually from the back of her knee to the curve of her ass, and once again couldn’t resist tasting her sweet tempting flesh. She rocked her hips, moaning with each slick of his tongue. Aw fuck. This was too much. He splayed his hands over her hamstrings, squeezing too hard, and brushed his thumbs along her inner thighs, struggling to keep himself from taking what he wanted. Her hips gyrated, bringing his thumbs against her damp panties. A guttural sound crawled up his throat as he lowered his mouth and nipped at her bottom, making her squirm.
He inhaled the alluring scent of her arousal and licked her through her panties, his thumbs pressing along the sensitive nerves at the top of each inner thigh. Her bottom lifted higher, and her legs spread wider. He wasn’t about to pass up this invitation. He slid a finger beneath her panties and tugged them aside, baring her ripe sex. There was no finesse, no holding back, as he greedily ate at her. She moaned and writhed, lowering her chest to the blanket. Fuuuck.
Where the hell were the scissors when he needed them? Forget willpower. He tugged her panties down to her knees, palming the soft globes of her ass with his slick, oily hands, and covered her sex with his mouth again, devouring her. She mewled and panted as he dipped his fingers inside her. He needed to taste her again. All of her. He licked around her entrance. The sight of his fingers inside her, her sweet, perfect body waiting to be taken, nearly did him in. He brought his mouth to one silky globe, licking and grazing his teeth over her sensitive flesh as his fingers stroked over the spot that made her moan. She thrust her hips back, giving him the green light, and he sped through without looking back, loving her with his mouth, fucking her with his fingers, making her body shake and shudder as she came apart.
One arm circled her waist, and he followed the lines of her body to her sex, teasing her overly sensitive nerves. She inhaled unevenly and rose on shaky hands and knees, thrusting her hips back. He pushed his briefs down and rubbed his hard length along her wetness, aching to be inside her so badly every muscle flexed. He wanted to feel all of her. His chest came down over her back, and he bit down on her shoulder, tasting the sweetness of the oil and the unique taste of Sally.
“Oh God, I love that,” she panted out.
Her ass was cradled by his hips, rocking against his hard length. Desire mounted inside him, and he cupped her breasts, taking the tight peaks between his fingers and thumbs, and sealed his mouth over her neck. Her back arched, and a long, surrendering moan pierced his resolve.
“I don’t want to sound like a prick,” he ground out, “but I want to fuck you so badly right now—”
She looked over her shoulder, her hair covering half of her beautiful face, sultry eyes boring into him. “Then do it.”
He sheathed his cock in record time. His heart pounded against his ribs as he grabbed her hips and drove into her so hard and deep, she cried out—and he saw stars.
Gage froze, fearing he hurt her.
“More,” she demanded.
Hell yes.
He loved her harder, and she moved with him, meeting each thrust with a rock of her hips, taking and giving with equal fervor. Their bodies were slick with oil, covered with a sheen of perspiration. His pulse throbbed in his ears. Heat streaked down his spine. His arm swept around her waist, bringing them both up on their knees. His hands moved over her breasts, between her legs. He turned her face, feasted on her mouth.
“I need more of you, baby.”
She turned over, his heart full to near bursting as she reached for him. Her softness conformed to the hard press of his body, and he held her gaze as he entered her. He traced her lips with his tongue and took her in a punishingly intense kiss, pulsing his hips with agonizing precision. Every thrust brought him closer to release, but he felt her sex tightening, sensed an orgasm on the rise, and slowed his pace even more, drawing out her pleasure. Her fingernails dug into his arms.
He wanted to make her so needy she could barely stand it, but when he gazed into her pleading eyes, emotions bubbled up inside him and teasing went out the window. He slanted his mouth over hers and loved her into the night with wild, heated passion.