Falling for the Enemy, page 3
He flashed a grin. “Good to hear. I followed your lead and got the same.”
They both took a sip. Rory closed her eyes as the icy, sweet and fruity coffee slid over her tongue. She liked it. It was cold and delicious; she took another sip of it before opening her eyes to find Kit staring at her.
Oh.
The look in his eyes was intense and unlike anything she’d noticed before. His lips were parted and his pupils dilated, and there was a slight flush to his skin.
“Do you like it?”
“Mmm-hmm,” he said. “So tell me about the person you thought I was.”
“Yeah, about that. It turns out that the person canceled but I hadn’t received the message. I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that.”
“I didn’t mind,” he said, taking another sip. “But you haven’t said what you hired them for.”
She turned the paper straw in her cup, staring down at her drink instead of at Kit. “I hired someone to help me get caught up on...um...life.”
He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, drawing the fabric of his black button-down shirt taut across his chest. She stared at the muscles, which she could see for longer than she knew she should. “Like what?”
Kissing, she thought. She wanted to kiss him but she knew she’d be awkward at it and she guessed he probably wasn’t going to be up for her fumbling around and figuring that out.
“Driving?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.
“Yes and other things,” she said. “Pretty much everything. I was eighteen when I went into the coma, so a lot of stuff that I should have picked up in the last ten years I didn’t. I just don’t want to wait for life to start. I need a jump start and I thought hiring someone to help would be the answer.”
“But they backed out?”
“Yes. Or Dash found out and fired them,” she said, her lips twitching. “He didn’t think it was a good idea. That’s why I said you were a friend.”
“Well, if it helps, I did meet you when we were kids briefly.”
“Did you?”
“Yes, at a summer party at Gilbert Manor.”
“I can’t recall too many details of the past, but I do remember the parties were always fun in the summer,” she said. How dumb was that, right! She couldn’t help feeling frustrated by the fact that she couldn’t remember a party that her family threw. Rory knew they’d had a bunch of them and there were photo albums in the library that showed them, but she never looked at them after she realized they weren’t triggering any memories.
“They were,” he said, reaching out and brushing his finger against the back of her hand where it lay curled on the table. “What else do you need to learn?”
Fear was right there waiting to wrap itself around her and make her retreat, but instead she turned her hand under Kit’s, slid her fingers through his and a shiver went through her entire body. “Everything.”
He leaned in closer. There was something electric in the way their eyes met. God, he was cute. She loved the dark stubble on his cheeks and his thick eyelashes. The scent of his aftershave was subtle. She took a deep breath, inhaling it all in. He rested his elbow on the table as their eyes met and something that felt almost magical seemed to pass between them. “Everything?”
She nodded. “There is so much I’ve missed.”
“What if I helped you out?”
“With driving?” she asked, because it was the safest thing to suggest at this moment.
“And other things,” he said, in a lower timbre. It sent a quiver throughout her entire body. Her lips felt dry and she licked them. His eyes tracked the movement of her tongue and his mouth sort of opened. Was he flirting with her?
“What kinds of other things?”
Ugh. The words just popped out and her tone...that was her flirting tone. Did she want him to flirt back with her?
“I have to be honest with you, I want you.”
He wanted her.
She swallowed. So yes. He definitely wanted her to flirt with him, too. Her eyes widened and then she realized that she had no idea what to do next. “I... I...”
He squeezed her hand. “Do you want to spend more time with me, Rory?”
She nodded.
“Do I make you nervous?”
She shook her head. “You should. You’re a stranger and a man... I am not sure why you don’t.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. What if we date? We can take things at your pace. I’ll teach you to drive and whatever else you have on your list,” he suggested. He spoke in that low, rumbly tone that resonated through her body and made her feel like she was back in his arms.
“Do you want to do that?” she whispered.
“One thing about me, I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
Wow. Well, okay, then. That kind of honesty was what she was looking for. She was tired of people who were nice to her because of her condition and Kit was offering her a chance to have everything she’d been dreaming of with a real guy. Not the faceless lover who sometimes showed up in her dreams.
“Duly noted. Oh, and one thing about me? I’m trying to say yes to everything.”
“So then we’ll start dating, Rory Gilbert.”
Dating. OMG. Was that still a thing? She didn’t know, but apparently it was for her. A wave of giddiness swept through her. She was going to go out on dates with Kit and get to bask in his dreamy eyes, thick eyelashes and that kissable mouth of his.
“Yes, we will, Kit...” she said, then paused. “I don’t know your last name.”
Three
What was his last name? He had decided not to lie, and if he told her the truth there was a chance she wouldn’t connect him with his brother. But then again, he wasn’t sure. Something as small as a name could spark her memory. “Palmer. Kit Palmer,” he said.
Liar.
But he still wasn’t sure what part, if any, Rory had played in his brother’s destruction that night.
“Palmer. I like it. So your family is from around here?” she asked.
He exhaled, releasing the tension that had been roiling through him. “We were for a bit. When the factory closed, we moved,” he told her. “I was in college on the West Coast so didn’t get to say goodbye.”
“What did you study?”
“Business management.”
She frowned.
“I’m a CEO, so it’s served me well.”
She shook her head and took a sip of her coffee. “It’s just so practical.”
She made it sound like it was the most boring job in the world. And honestly, she wasn’t wrong. But he’d made the choice he had to in order to help his family survive. It wasn’t exactly a dream job but he hadn’t had her financial power to fall back on.
“Not all of us were born into the Gilbert family,” he reminded her.
“Fair enough. I wasn’t even thinking of that. I’m sorry,” she said.
She sounded contrite and when she looked away from him, he realized he’d made her anxious again.
“What’s worrying you?”
“Not trying to make excuses, but I haven’t had a lot of conversations with anyone not related to me since I came out of the coma. Sorry to use that for my reason for everything but I truly didn’t mean for that to come out—”
“Stop,” he said, taking her hand in his and rubbing his thumb against the inside of her wrist. “It’s okay. I think I’m a little bit sensitive when it comes to my past.”
“You are? Why? You seem like someone who’s got everything together.”
“I have insecurities just like everyone else,” he admitted.
She turned her hand in his, lacing her fingers through his, and a bolt of pure desire went through him. Their hands fit so well together, almost like he knew their bodies would. He wasn’t sure what he expected Dash Gilbert’s sister to be like but it certainly wasn’t Rory. She was charming, shy and flirty but in an understated and almost innocent way. Made sense given she’d been in a coma for ten years.
A tendril had come free and curled against her cheek. There was something about this woman that stirred him to the core. And for a moment, he forgot she was a Gilbert and just enjoyed the thrill of being turned on. He shifted his legs as he started to get hard and looked instead into her eyes.
“Of course you do,” she said. “One of the things my therapist told me was that just because I felt like I’m being held together with yarn doesn’t mean everyone else has a solid foundation. Sorry again.”
Kit lifted her hand and brought it to his mouth because he wanted to touch her and this might be the only time he could and not want more. Brushing his lips against the back of her hand, he rasped, “Apology accepted, and going forward you have nothing more to apologize for.”
She shivered a little as his lips had grazed the back of her hand and then licked her lips and gave him that innocent smile of hers. The one he was sure she had no idea affected him as deeply as it did. But he knew he had to get his head back in the game. He had to stop looking at Rory and just seeing her as a woman he wanted. He had to—what? For the first time that he could remember, he wanted someone for himself.
Wrong woman, dumbass.
“You don’t have to apologize either,” she said.
Kit nodded. “So your list. I have about two hours free this afternoon. Is there something small we could tackle?”
She took another sip of her iced coffee, closing her eyes as she did so. “Hmm. This drink is so good,” she said before pausing, as if this was the biggest question of her life. “Not really. Today was meant to be a get-to-know-each-other day. What do you suggest? Whatever you propose, I’m pretty sure I haven’t done it.”
“I haven’t been back here for a while. Should we walk through the shops on Main Street?”
“No. I’ve done that. But what if instead of the shops, we go toward the path by the river?” Her eyes lit up. “I heard there are some wild blackberries growing down there. Maybe we can pick some and I’ll make you a pie.”
A pie? It was the last thing he expected of an heiress. But it suited Rory. It was almost too easy to picture her picking berries and making a pie. He had to admit that was another thing that made him want to kiss her.
“All right. Have you seen any?” he asked.
“No. I haven’t had anyone willing to walk down the path with me. It’s sort of steep and ‘rough’ according to Dash, but the truth is he thinks I should be carried everywhere.”
He laughed at the way she’d put air quotes around rough. He couldn’t say no to helping her with this goal of hers, especially since it would annoy her brother. But he knew they’d have to be careful.
They finished their coffees and headed toward the river. Today it was flowing steadily, looking serene and picturesque. Now that the train station and surrounding shops had been renovated and cleaned up, the town was starting to come to life again. He noticed that a camera crew was set up across the street.
He knew from his own research that they were from the Home Living TV network. Indy Belmont—Conrad Gilbert’s fiancée—was filming a makeover show where she redid buildings in this town.
The paved road ended near the bridge and then a steep path led down to a dirt walkway that ran alongside the river. He looked at the trail and then back at Rory. The last thing he wanted was for her to hurt herself. “Someone should put a handrail in here.”
“I’ll mention it to Dash.”
“Or you could go to the town council and tell them yourself,” he suggested. She was too connected to Dash and if he was going to spend time with her, he wanted to see her standing on her own.
She nodded. “You’re right. I’ll do it.”
* * *
Rory hadn’t realized how much she needed someone like Kit until he pointed out that she could go to the town council herself. She had been thinking of the actual things Dash was forbidding her to do when she’d moved out. But she hadn’t really contemplated taking a starring role in her own life.
She liked the idea of it but she knew that when it was time to show up and present her ideas, she was going to be nervous. But she didn’t need to dwell on that just yet. For the moment she looked down at the slope and wondered how she was going to navigate it.
“Any suggestions for how I can do this?” she asked Kit. “My left leg is weaker than my right.”
“Wait here while I see just how steep this is to walk down.”
She watched with more than a little envy at the nimble way he went down the slope. He took his time, though, looking for rough patches and checking the sturdiness of the dirt path. When he got to the bottom, he took a few steps in both directions and then came back and returned to her side.
“Okay. The way down, I think you should put your hand on my shoulder and I’ll lead the way. We will go slowly and you will be in charge of the pace. When we get to the bottom, the river path is level and has been edged with pavers, so it’s clear someone has been maintaining that part. But getting back up might be harder.”
Rory had already been thinking about that. She’d noticed the deep, almost lunge-like movement of Kit’s legs as he’d come back up the path, and she wasn’t sure she could do that. When she did lunges at her physical therapy sessions, she’d only managed two on each side and then her thighs started quivering.
“Do you cross that bridge when we get to it?”
“We can. But be prepared for me to do a lot more assisting. Is that something you’re okay with?” he asked.
She had made so many strides in walking and getting around on her own, but she’d known from the beginning that when she tried more strenuous activities there would be times when she’d have to rely on someone else to help her.
It frustrated her because she wanted to be able to do things for herself. But she had no shame in asking for help. Conrad had been the one to make her feel normal about it. He told her that after his post-accident surgeries he’d had to ask for assistance with everything. With that one thought, her big, six-foot-five-inch, muscle-y cousin had made her realize that she was going to recover, too. But only if she asked for help and respected her limitations.
“Yes. Are you okay with it?” she asked. If he wasn’t, then no matter how hot he was she was going to have to end this before it really had a chance to get started.
He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her. “I am. I like being your knight-errant.”
She smiled at him. “Knight Kit. I like it, but I don’t want to be a damsel in distress.”
“You won’t be. Ready?”
She took a deep breath. Then closed her eyes for just a second and looked up at the sky before glancing back at Kit. His dark brown gaze was steady and patient. He wasn’t going to rush her. She also felt like he wouldn’t judge her if she suddenly said no. But this was her year of yes.
She nodded.
“Okay, so something I have learned is that the first step is always the hardest,” he said.
“Why do you think that is?”
“Because you don’t know what it’s going to be like.”
She put her hand on his shoulder. He was strong, solid, and she felt the strength in him. He looked over his shoulder and winked at her. “You’ve got this.”
She licked her lips and nodded. She did have this. And if she didn’t, she’d come back tomorrow and try again. Hopefully with Kit, she couldn’t help but think.
“Ready?
“Yes.”
He moved slowly as he’d promised, and with her hand on his shoulder for balance, she found her footing without too much problem. In fact, it felt at times he was going too slow, but she knew that caution was needed. She realized about halfway down that she was holding her breath and reminded herself to breathe.
When they got to the bottom, she felt like she was going to cry. She blinked a bunch of times, keeping the tears in, but did take out her phone and snap a picture of the path she’d come down.
“Want me to take your picture next to it?” he asked.
“Yes, that would be nice.” She handed him her phone. “I’m trying to document all my firsts so I can look back on it on the bad days.”
“Good idea.”
He watched her for a minute and then lifted the camera phone. She wondered what he saw through the viewfinder. Kit made her feel different, more like a woman than a sister or a patient. Which, let’s face it, was totally a good thing.
But the butterflies in her stomach as he moved around trying to find the right angle...she wasn’t sure what they meant. Of course, she liked him and he had said he wanted her...so now she couldn’t help watching him and wanting him, too. Wanting to feel his arms around her and his mouth on hers.
He moved toward the river to get a good position of her and the trail, and she looked up at where she’d come from and felt like screaming for joy. But it came out as a little yelp as she turned and smiled at Kit.
He snapped her picture and then came over and put his arm around her shoulder, careful not to pull her off balance, and took a selfie of the two of them.
Then he turned his head and looked down at her. Their eyes met and something passed between them. Something electric.
She had no idea what she’d do if he lowered his head and kissed her. She knew she’d kissed boys before. Rory had never let being an heiress get in the way of living the life she wanted. But she had also been sexually attacked just before she went into her coma, which made her hesitate. All the thoughts she’d been having about his mouth and his body. Suddenly, she wasn’t sure she was ready for a kiss.
What if she kissed like a high schooler instead of a woman? What if she totally sucked at it because it had been a long time since she’d locked lips with anyone? What if...and this was the scariest thought of them all, what if his kiss made her remember the man who attacked her and she freaked?
