Chapter Two
SALLY RAN A brush through her hair one last time, so nervous about her date with Gage, she was literally shaking in her boots. He had seen her at her worst, overcome with grief, sick with the flu, and hot and sweaty when they were out hiking. She didn’t usually worry too much about what she wore around him, but tonight she’d changed three times before finally deciding on her favorite skinny jeans and a cute white sweater, hoping being comfortable would calm her jitters. The over-the-knee, gray suede boots, however, had been a very conscious and embarrassingly calculated decision. Sally was blessed with long legs, and she’d noticed how Gage’s glances lingered and his gaze grew hotter when she wore those particular boots. She didn’t want to appear too eager, but there was no denying that she hoped he’d find her irresistible, as evident by the lace panties and matching bra she’d chosen to help her feel sexy—even if she wasn’t planning to jump into bed with him.
She thought about Gage on the other side of the adjoining door to his room, and a swarm of butterflies took flight in her stomach. They always got adjoining rooms when they traveled, although this time he’d pushed hard for the honeymoon suite when they’d checked in. Come on, Sal. Let’s really give this a shot. His pleading and seductive gaze had almost made her give in, but she’d had hours to think on the long plane ride from Vegas to Virginia, and pieces of their night had come back to her. She remembered toasting the new community center with Gage as they’d sat at the bar, and other people at the bar joining in on the celebration. Gage had sat beside her with an arm around her shoulders, which he did often, but it had felt different, being away from home, with all those eyes on them probably assuming they were a couple. It had felt good. Better than good. It had felt amazing.
It hadn’t been a conscious decision to get drunk, but she’d been a responsible parent since she was eighteen, and it was exciting to finally cut loose with the man she’d been attracted to for so long. All of their friends back home had made comments about the two of them getting together, but the one time Rusty had heard the suggestion, he’d scoffed and walked away, like he didn’t even want to think about the possibility of her and Gage as a couple. His reaction had stuck with her, and this marriage was a big risk. How did a person calculate risk when it came to friendships and love? That question was the driving force behind her refusal to share a room with her big, hunky husband.
Oh God. I have a husband!
A knock sounded at the door, and her heart leapt. She stared at it as if Gage might have x-ray vision and could see her nervously smoothing her sweater over her hips. She wasn’t even sure this date was a good idea, regardless of how much she wanted to go on it. She looked down at her sexy boots. I’m a walking contradiction. Risking their friendship scared the hell out of her. Everything hung on their time together.
No pressure or anything.
She drew in a deep, calming breath, second-guessing her outfit. Should she have gotten more dressed up? Worn something sexier? Something younger? Gage was three years younger than her, which wasn’t a fact she thought about often, but now that she’d asked herself the question, her nerves reignited.
“Bird? Don’t leave me hanging, baby.” Gage’s deep voice came through the door.
She tried—and failed—to push her worries away, and opened the door. Gage stood before her looking like her every fantasy in a pair of dark jeans and a white dress shirt. The first few buttons were open, exposing a dusting of chest hair. His thick sandy-blond hair looked finger combed in that sexy, tousled way she loved. He hadn’t shaved, and his scruff, coupled with his leather jacket, gave him a hard-to-ignore edge. Just like the first time she’d seen him at No Limitz, her heartbeat quickened and her mouth went dry. “Holy smokes” came out before she could stop it.
His lips curved up in a cocky smile as he leaned in, bringing a wave of his manly scent. He kissed her cheek. His whiskers brushed along her skin, unleashing memories of last night’s kisses and knocking her a little off-kilter.
“Hi, gorgeous. These are for you.” A bouquet of red roses in a beautiful glass vase appeared from behind his back.
It had been ages since she’d received flowers, and her insides warmed with his thoughtfulness. “Thank you. They’re beautiful. Come in. I’ll just put these on the table.”
He followed her in, standing so close behind her as she set the vase down, his heat seared down the length of her body.
“You wore my favorite boots.” His minty breath drifted across her cheek. “And you smell incredible.”
He might as well have said he wanted to lick her all over, the way her body quivered.
“Gage,” she said nervously, turning to face him. He was right there. His hands took up residence on her waist. His eyes blazed down at her, through her, hindering her ability to think. She needed to get a grip before she did or said something she shouldn’t.
She attempted humor, not her strong point. “Is this the way you treat all your first dates?”
“No,” he said with a hint of arrogance she wasn’t used to—but she liked. A lot. “This is the way I treat you.”
She couldn’t stop looking at his mouth, wondering how she could have kissed him and not remembered every detail, no matter how drunk. Forcing her gaze to meet his, she said, “You’re making me nervous.”
“Nervous is good. The way I see it, I’ve got several days to make you feel nervous, hot, bothered, happy, and hopefully lots of other new, exciting ways.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, smiling like she was all he’d ever wanted. “And I don’t plan to waste a second of it.”
It was like someone had flicked a switch in him from Gage Ryder, friend, to Gage Ryder, master seducer. “It’s been forever since I’ve been on a first date.” Like more than twenty years. “But aren’t you being a little pushy?”
“Yes,” he said arrogantly.
“Okay, just checking.” At least she wasn’t off base.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this. I like you when you’re nervous, Sal. You look like you don’t know if you want to kiss me or run away.”
She pushed past him and grabbed her coat and purse. “Okay, Casanova. Let’s get out of here before”—I make the wrong choice—“we spontaneously combust.”
“Want me to back off?” he asked as they entered the elevator.
No. “A little. Maybe.”
He didn’t say another word as the elevator descended toward the lobby, though his heated gaze remained trained on her. When the doors opened, a gorgeous redhead was waiting for the elevator. She smiled flirtatiously at Gage, her eyes slowly dragging down his body. He was strikingly handsome, athletic, and confident. The type of man women couldn’t help but check out. Sally had noticed it hundreds of times over the years, but now her claws came out. She felt possessive of him in a way she never had before. She lifted her chin, stood up a little straighter, unwilling to be a wallflower.
Gage laced their fingers together and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. His eyes never left Sally’s face. “Are you sure that’s what you want, bird?”
She felt the redhead watching them, and it took her a second to realize he was asking if she really wanted him to back off. In her head, she heard herself denying the truth, but when she opened her mouth, no words came. It was all she could do to shake her head.
“Good.” He pulled her closer, stepping around the redhead. “Excuse us. Newlyweds coming through.”
Ohmygod. What had she done?
GAGE COULDN’T TAKE his eyes off Sally as they ate dinner at a small window-side table in an Italian restaurant. He had eaten dinner with her so many times, he felt like they were already a couple, even though this night, their first real date, brought a rush of new and exciting feelings. Sally had refused his offer for a drink, although he knew she needed one. She’d fidgeted with her hair, her napkin, and barely said anything throughout their meal.
“How can you be this nervous with me, bird? I’m still the same guy I’ve always been.”
The waitress brought their check, and after paying, he moved to the seat beside Sally and held out his hand. Her gaze flicked up to his. A sexy smile lifted her lips as she set her delicate fingers in his palm.
She shook her head, speaking just above a whisper. “No, you’re not the same guy. Now you’ve seen me naked. You’ve…we’ve…” She pressed her lips together and glanced out the window, inhaling deeply.
He didn’t push, though he wanted to. Instead, he took a moment to really look at her. Sally complained that as a teenager she was pin thin, all legs and arms, but he imagined she was just as beautiful—inside and out—as she was tonight. She wasn’t one of those women who flaunted her assets, though she had plenty to flaunt. Her white-blond hair wasn’t lifeless, as she often complained. It had gentle waves, like the big slides Gage had ridden down on a sack of burlap as a kid at the county fair. On anyone else her hair might look plain, but it suited Sally perfectly, framing her high cheekbones and full, pouty lips, which he couldn’t wait to taste again and again. She was nervously twisting the ends of those gorgeous locks, as she’d done when he’d encroached on her personal space in her hotel room. Did she know how much his effect on her turned him on?
When she faced him again, their eyes connected and held. Heat radiated between them, drawing him closer, and a ragged sigh fell from her lips.
“I hate that after all this time as friends, we ended up in bed together and I don’t remember most of it,” she said. “I don’t even remember our first real kiss.”
“I can remedy that.”
Heat shone in her eyes, and just as quickly she schooled her expression and leaned back. “Gage, there are some things you don’t know about me, and there’s still a lot I don’t know about you.”
He didn’t believe there could be a dark secret about the woman who craved cookies like other women craved chocolate, the mother who he was sure had texted her son at least twice since they’d arrived, or the peer he was certain had already checked her email and left no inquiry unanswered. “I have no secrets, Sal, but enlighten me, please.”
Her eyes darted over his shoulder to the nearby tables.
“Let’s go for a walk,” he suggested, and rose to his feet, bringing her up beside him. He gazed into her eyes, his heart thumping harder at the reality that she was his wife. The words played in his head loud as thunder—my wife.
He helped her with her coat, enjoying every moment of this chance to treat her like she was his. He reached up and freed her hair from where it had gotten trapped beneath her collar, soaking in her appreciative smile.
“Shall we?” He took her hand as they left the restaurant, winking when she looked at him questioningly.
“This is weird.” She lifted their joined hands. “Suddenly you’re acting like we’re a couple, and I’m still trying to catch up.”
“Hurry your cute little ass up, sweetheart. You don’t want to be left behind.”
“Okay, that is the Gage I know. A little smartass, kinda flirty, but this…” She lifted their hands again. “I don’t even know what to do with it.”
He tugged her against him and flattened her hand against his chest, beneath his. “How about doing this, my beautiful wife? I remember a few things about last night, one of which was that you knew exactly what to do with your pretty little hands.”
“Gage!” she whispered with a laugh.
“Come on, bird. You really don’t remember our night together? I mean, at first I didn’t either, but it’s come back to me over the last twelve hours. I know I’ll never forget the look in your eyes as you wrapped your legs around my waist, arching up so I could hit that spot, and—”
Her hand landed hard over his mouth as crimson spread up her cheeks. “Don’t say another word.”
He lightly bit her palm and she gasped. He couldn’t help laughing as he lowered her hand to his chest again and held it there. “You are not that uptight about sex.”
“I’m not uptight, but I don’t need a play-by-play of my own sexual encounter, thank you very much.”
“Then admit you remember what it was like to be in my arms,” he challenged, refusing to allow her to negate their night together. “To kiss me, to feel me loving you like you want me to.”
She swallowed hard, looking as innocent as a girl and as sexy as the woman she was. “I remember some. Most, I think. But there are alarm bells going off in my head right now, and I don’t know what to make of any of it.”
“That’s what we’re here to figure out,” he reminded her as they walked along the brick courtyard in the center of town, surrounded by buildings with ornate carvings above colorful awnings.
“We’re here to get the community center ready for the grand opening in March,” she reminded him. “We have a full schedule of setting up the offices and interviewing. We just happened to get married along the way.”
“Boy, do I like the sound of that coming off your lips.”
“I’m starting to wonder if this was your plan all along.”
“Trust me, bird. My plan would not have been to get you so drunk you didn’t remember me making love to you.”
Her cheeks pinked up again.
“Although, I have to admit, I’m totally digging the whole marriage thing. Now you can’t go out with some other guy.”
“We aren’t really married.”
He lifted her hand and brushed his thumb over the ink mark. “What was that?”
“Okay, we are, but it’s not like you asked me.”
“You sure about that?” He arched a brow, knowing he had, and only now realizing she truly didn’t remember it.
Confusion filled her eyes. “You remember?”
“Hell yes. I tried to tell you on the plane, but you kept shutting me down. When we left the bar we were kissing.” He guided her past a group of iron tables outside a café, around a landscaped garden, where a tree still clung to a smattering of leaves, and beyond a shiny black streetlight, decorated with tinsel and holly.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he led her around the corner and backed her up against the side of the building. “What are you doing?”
“Showing you how we ended up getting married.” He lifted her hands to his shoulders. “We were standing against the side of the building like this.” He pressed his body to hers, heat flooding his veins as he brushed his lips over hers. “We were making out, touching each other, without a care about who might see us, because nobody else existed.”
He kissed the corner of her mouth, and her breath left her lungs in a faint puff.
“God, bird,” he whispered, unable to hold back the truth. “I’ve always wanted you, but last night you were so carefree and so into me, I wanted to consume you. And now…”
His arms circled her waist, holding her tight as he trailed kisses along her neck, to the spot below her ear that had driven her wild last night. She breathed harder, clung to him tighter, rocking her hips and driving him out of his mind. He drew back just far enough to gaze into her lustful eyes. He didn’t wonder what she saw. He knew. There was no room for anything other than his true emotions.
“You were right there with me, sweetheart. I could feel it in your touch, the way I do right now. I could taste it in your kiss. Last night when I put my cheek against yours, like this”—he touched his cheek to hers—“and I said, ‘I want you, Sally. I want to be inside you more than I have ever wanted anything else in my entire life.’”
Her fingers dug into his shoulders. Her breathing shallowed, but she didn’t say a word.
“Do you remember that, bird?” He took her face between his hands, gazing deeply into her eyes. “Any of it?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
She looked at him like he was her whole world. That was the look that had done him in over the years, each time strengthening their connection, drawing him deeper into love with her. He tried to push past the intoxicating emotions dragging him under, but it was like swimming in tar, and said, “Do you remember what you said next?”
“No, but now I remember kissing you, and being so caught up in us that I could barely breathe.”
Hell yeah, you were caught up in us. Your thigh ran up my outer leg, and I’m pretty sure I have claw marks on the back of my neck. He felt himself smiling. “I remember that, too.”
“Pieces of the night are coming back like intermittent flashes I can’t hold on to. It’s like you say something and it spurs an inkling that appears and then skitters away, and I’m having trouble putting the pieces together. Did I…? Did I try to climb you?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. It was the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced.”
“I’m a horrible, skanky drunk, aren’t I?” She buried her face in his chest. “I’m way too old to be climbing anyone.”
He laughed and pressed a kiss to her head. “If I have it my way, you’ll be climbing me when you’re so old you’ll need a walker.”
She smiled up at him. “This is so bad. It’s like the walk of shame I never took, but with my best friend, which makes it even more horrifying.”
“No, babe. It makes it that much more special, because your best friend finds you hot as fuck.”
She bit her lip, her finely manicured brows knitted. “What else did I say or do that I’ll never live down? I’d say I need a drink before you tell me, but I don’t trust myself with alcohol anymore.”
“I’d rather you were clearheaded for this.” He knew what he said next would come as a shock, but she deserved to know the truth. “After I said I wanted you, you told me that you’d never sleep with another man outside of wedlock, because you got pregnant with Rusty the summer after high school, before you were married.”
The color drained from her face. “I told you that?”
He held her tighter. “Yes.”
“Well, I guess it saved me from having to reveal it tonight, but you can never tell Rusty that. He thinks I got pregnant right after Dave and I were married. I have given him so many lectures about safe sex, and they’d be meaningless if he knew the truth.”
“He’s a college student, babe. He knows what happens when you don’t practice safe sex. We’ve talked about it.”
Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “You talked about sex with my son?”
“Sure. You didn’t think I’d let him go off to college without being fully prepared, did you?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I talked to him about it.”
“There’s a world of difference between Mom telling you to practice safe sex and hearing it from a guy.” He paused and then added, “I gave him some advice on what to do when he was so hard he thought he’d die from blue balls and the girl didn’t want to go further.”
“Seriously? You told him what to do?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“What do you mean, of course? It’s not every day someone talks to my son about sex. Well, don’t leave me hanging. How do guys handle that situation?”
“Depends on the guy. In college, you can’t always rub one out because of roommates or whatever.” He paused, waiting for her to hammer him for saying rub one out, but her eyes were focused, her face a mask of pure interest. She clearly wanted to know the answer. “I told him to keep an ice pack in the freezer, and after a hot date that didn’t end the way his body hoped it would, to put the ice pack on his chest or stomach. It will give his brain something else to focus on, and cool his jets.”
Mischief sparked in her eyes. “I’m totally checking your freezer when we get home. You know that, right?”
“Babe, I’ve been around you for so long, I practically live in the freezer.”
She laughed, and he loved it. Her laugh was so real, a little loud and breathy, which made it even sexier. And when she’d laughed in bed, it had instantly become one of his favorite naughty pleasures, one he’d like to hear repeatedly for the next hundred years.
“Great. Now I’m not just a woman whose only sexual experience has been limited to one man, but I’m also a cock tease.”
He ground his teeth together. “Sal?”
“Hm?”
“Don’t use that word. It makes me hot.”
“Which word?” She paused, and her eyes widened. “You’re such a guy.”
“Your point?”
She rolled her eyes. He was thrilled that she was loosening up.
“Was that one of the things you didn’t think I knew about you? That you got pregnant before you were married and wouldn’t sleep with another guy out of wedlock? Because I think that’s pretty damn respectable, and explains a lot.”
“Mm-hm. Pretty embarrassing is more like it.” Her gaze dropped to his chest. “What else did I tell you?”
He slid a finger beneath her chin, lifting her face so she had no choice but to look at him. “Maybe what’s more important is what I did next.”
She pressed her hands to his chest. “I don’t know if I want to hear it.”
“Why?”
Her fingers clutched his shirt, hanging on tight. “Because now you know that until last night, I hadn’t been with a man since Dave, and I was only ever with him. I probably sucked in bed, and God knows what else I revealed to you in my drunken state of sluttiness.”
“First, you definitely didn’t suck, literally or figuratively. I would have remembered having your mouth on me.”
“You talk so dirty,” she whispered. “Is that because I was so slutty?”
The glimmer of heat in her eyes made him want to talk even dirtier. “You were anything but slutty. You finally gave in to what we both wanted. That’s smart, not slutty.”
“Oh, please! I was so drunk. I probably said all sorts of things.”
“Obviously nothing you said turned me away. Don’t demean what we did, Sally. So, we were drunk? So what? I’m not drunk now, and I want you more than I did last night.”
“Gage…”
“No, don’t ‘Gage’ me. Hear me, bird. You said I didn’t ask you to marry me, but I did.”
Surprise rose in her beautiful eyes, and it killed him that she didn’t remember. “When you told me you’d never sleep with another man out of wedlock, I didn’t hesitate. I got down on one knee.” He knelt before her. “And I took your hand in mine, like this.” He held her left hand. “I said, ‘Sally Tuft, I have adored you for what feels like forever. Marry me and let me love you for the rest of our lives.’”
She sank down to her knees in front of him. “How do you know you said that? Do you remember saying those beautiful words to me?”
“Most of them, yes. But I don’t have to reach far to find what I’ve wanted to say since Danica and Kaylie’s double wedding.”
“Since…” Her voice trailed off as a couple came around the corner, whispering as they passed. “That’s a really long time,” she said incredulously. “What did I say? Last night, I mean.”
Now it was his turn to look away. He would never forget her five-word response—What took you so long?—but he didn’t want to hear those words again until they came from Sally, sober and full of meaning.
“Gage…?”
“I don’t remember exactly. One minute I was on my knees, and the next we were climbing into a cab, about to get married.” He met her gaze, hating the taste of the first and only lie he’d ever told her. And he vowed to never lie to her again.