Falling for the Enemy, page 5
Suddenly, the kitchen alarm went off and she jumped, her feet slipping on the hardwood floor. He steadied her and stepped back as she muttered about the pie. She walked slowly to the oven, opening it.
The scent of freshly baked pie filled the kitchen, but honestly it was the scent of her perfume that lingered for him. He watched her as she bent over to retrieve the pie, then had to turn away after noticing how curvaceous her hips were.
“Done,” she said.
“Looks good.” Those were the only words he could force out as his mind was busy thinking of how he would love to have his hands on her waist and his body pressed up against her and this wasn’t the time to indulge in such carnal thoughts.
But his needs had always been more savage than he wanted to admit. And with Rory he knew he needed to be more of a gentleman than he’d ever been before.
She just stood there in awkward silence after she’d placed the pie on a trivet, and he knew he should say something to make her feel at ease. But what? Forcing down the lust that was clawing at his self-control, he turned to the windows, saw the water dripping down from the rain. It had changed to a light, steady drizzle.
“It’s been so long since I’ve been in the rain,” she said, almost under her breath. “Before I used to like walking in it.”
Just those words calmed the beast in him. Before. She was a woman recovering from something that took more strength than he’d ever understand.
“Would you like to walk in it with me now?”
* * *
Rory was mentally cursing herself for not staying in Kit’s arms. She almost had that kiss she’d been aching for. But once the timer had gone off, she’d gotten nervous. Begun having second thoughts. She had wondered at first if he simply wasn’t attracted to her, not enough to go at her pace. She knew that those feelings weren’t always a two-way street. But now, after seeing the look in his eyes before she’d pulled away, she was pretty sure he was.
However, there was no denying that Kit was a hard man to read. It might be that she was simply out of practice because she hadn’t been around people who weren’t either related to her or hired to help with her medical needs. Also Kit treated her like she was...well just Rory. Not a Gilbert from Gilbert Corners or the tragic heiress. With him she was just herself. And even though he was indecipherable, she wanted to kiss him, so now she was second-guessing every-dang-thing she did with him.
“Rory?”
“Hmm?” She couldn’t take her eyes off his mouth. His lips were full but not overly so; his mouth looked like it would be firm against hers, and from that one brief brush she’d had of his lips, it had been.
“Do you have shoes?” he asked.
She forced her gaze away from his mouth. “Yes, but...um... Okay, so the thing is, Dash is afraid I’ll fall because the ground is slippery and I think I should mention that Hank, my PT guy, also said I should be cautious.”
“What does that have to do with shoes?” he asked. “I know you have to take things slow. But we made it up and down that embankment. Do you trust me?”
She did.
It seemed to her that Kit might be the only man in the world to see her for who she was. Hank saw the muscles that had atrophied and needed exercise and routine to regain stamina. Dash and Conrad envisioned her as the broken girl who’d lain in a bed for ten years. But Kit... She wanted to believe he saw Rory. The woman whom she wanted to be.
“I do have shoes,” she murmured, “but sometimes I’m steadier in bare feet.”
“Let me take a look at the backyard and we can go stand out there if you like?”
“And walk?”
“Yes, walk. But not too far,” he promised. “Your brother would definitely kill me if anything happened to you.”
She laughed at that. “Are you afraid of him?”
“No. I’m sort of afraid for you. I don’t want to see you get hurt even though I know you need to try new things.”
“Ah, thank you. I was joking,” she said, at his fierce denial. “I forget you’re not really from around here. But everyone sort of holds my family in this odd way in town. Like the livelihood of the town is somehow tied to us. Anyway, that’s what I meant. Plus there’s the curse thing.”
“What curse?”
Darn! Why had she brought the curse up? “Well, everyone thinks that the Gilberts have been cursed since Grandfather closed the factory. That was the night we were in the accident and then the economy in the town started to fail. But then Conrad came back and I woke up from my coma and Dash is living here again...”
“So the curse is broken?” he asked.
“I’m not sure there ever was one, but I was out of it for a while...and missing walking in the rain,” she said.
“Let’s fix that.” He smiled gently. “Let me check the yard. I’ll be back.”
Kit toed off his socks and then opened the back door and stepped out onto the concrete pad that had recently been poured. She’d hired a crew that Indy had recommended to clean the debris from the backyard. The bushes and flowers were all overgrown but the grass had been recently mowed.
She watched as Kit took his time walking around the yard, checking the ground for stability before he turned back to her. The rain was soaking his T-shirt, making it cling to his shoulders and his chest. She felt that pulse go through her entire body, to her feminine core, and she stood there watching and wanting him.
Rory knew she was playing a dangerous game because she wasn’t entirely sure if she could be brave enough to take what she wanted. To follow through on what she now realized she wasn’t sure could walk away from.
“Ready?”
She hesitated as she stared at his hand held out toward her.
“It’s up to you,” he said.
It was up to her. She could stay in the kitchen, looking out at the world or she could take Kit’s hand...
She did it, put her palm in his and he wrapped his fingers around her hand, holding it securely as she took a step out of the house. She stood there as the rain fell on her. It was colder than she remembered rain being. She tipped her face up and felt it falling on her cheeks and her hair.
Emotions roiled through her and she felt like she wanted to scream with them, but knew that wasn’t okay so instead a grunt sort of erupted from her.
“You okay?”
She nodded and then looked over at Kit. “Better than okay.”
“Ready to walk or are you good here?” he asked.
“Walk, please.”
“The ground is pretty firm closest to the center of the yard. So we can walk out and then turn and come back.”
She held his hand as they stepped off the concrete, and the first touch of the wet grass under her foot tickled a little. Spreading her toes out, she felt the sprigs between them. She stood there for a long minute, just happy that she could feel her toes and happy with her body.
The body that she’d been resenting more than a little because it was taking so long to recover and do what she wanted it to. But right now she was so glad to be standing in the rain with the grass under her feet and Kit at her side.
Five
“So when I decided to buy this property, Dash was—”
“Can we not talk about your brother?” he interrupted her. “Sorry if that sounded rude, but it seems he dominates your life. What about this property attracted you?”
He wished he had a plan to separate Rory from Dash in his mind. He didn’t want her to have any part of his revenge for his brother. But he was realistic enough to know that might not be possible. Also, when he was with her, he wanted to throw off the heavy mantle of expectation that Aunt Mal had placed on him.
The rain was soft and a little cold, forcing him to be present, and he was enjoying their slow walk in her yard. Kit normally just put his head down in the rain and rushed to get out of it, but there could be no rushing with Rory. And if he were honest, he didn’t want to.
She was enjoying this. Her steps on the grass were gentle and almost gliding. She tipped her head back repeatedly, her face turned up to the rain, and he had the feeling that this was something she had desperately missed.
“Sorry about that.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” he assured her. “I like you more than your brother.”
“I’m glad,” she said, leaning toward him again.
He was struggling with that lip-lock they’d almost shared and really trying to keep some distance between them. Not because he’d changed his mind about wanting to kiss her, but she’d pulled back to get her pie from the oven. It could have waited. She’d chosen to move away. And he was going to respect that.
“So, about this place...? It’s not exactly where I picture a Gilbert of Gilbert Corners living.”
“Well, that’s what I was going for. I wanted a place where I could figure out who I am,” she confided. “I want to make it my own, so I talked to my financial advisor and he found this place.”
“Is Dash your financial advisor?” he asked.
“No. My inheritance comes from my maternal side. So Dash oversaw it while I was in the coma but he didn’t merge them.”
“Why not?”
“He knew I’d wake up,” she said. “At least that is what he told me.”
He believed that Dash loved his sister, but Kit had always thought it was a guilty conscience that drove the other man. Now he was getting a glimpse that it might be more nuanced than all of that. “So you’re happy here?”
“Yes, I am. My family wanted me to stay close and I agreed if they backed off. I have a home in northern California but haven’t been there in years.”
She started laughing after she said that. “I mean even before the accident.”
They reached the point where he thought they should turn, and he halted for a second, looking around the overgrown brambles and flower bushes that lined the fence on the left and the right. This place also seemed special. Like it was hidden and, though neglected, it didn’t have the abandoned feel that some of the other parts of Gilbert Corners had.
“I like it.”
“Me, too,” she said, then gave him a questioning look. “Why are we stopping?”
“This is as far as we go. Time to go back toward the house,” he said.
“Can we stand here for a minute?”
“Of course,” he said.
She moved so that they faced each other and their eyes met. His mind sort of stopped working as he watched a drop of rain roll down her forehead to her nose and then it hung there on the tip. He reached up to touch it and he felt the shiver go through her.
Every molecule of his body craved her. Kit wanted to feel her mouth under his as the rain was falling around them. He needed to know the taste of her on his tongue so he could understand her more fully.
He turned so that he wouldn’t give in to his desire and his bare foot slipped on the wet grass. Acting on instinct, he tried to pull his arm from Rory so he didn’t drag her down with him. But instead she put both of her arms around him, using her body to steady him.
She was pressed against him, her head tipped back and laughing and he shut off his mind to all the why-nots that he’d been dwelling on and kissed her.
Her laughter and joy flowed into him as their lips met. She opened her mouth under his and he felt the tentative brush of her tongue over his. He found his footing and made sure it was solid as he put his arm around her waist and lifted her more fully against him. Their wet clothing wasn’t much of a barrier and he felt the fullness of her breasts against his chest.
His erection stirred. He wanted her with every fiber of his being, but he knew it had been ten years since she’d kissed anyone. His conscience demanded that he let her set the pace. Yet it was all he could do to keep his hand on the side of her face gentle. To just touch her with the lightest of caresses instead of pushing his fingers into her thick, rain-drenched hair and tilting her head so he could deepen the kiss the way his body demanded.
Then she sucked his tongue into her mouth and shifted against him. He felt the pebbled hardness of her nipples against his chest and savored the way her hips rubbed against his erection as she held tightly onto him.
He rubbed his tongue back over hers, tasting the sweetness that was Rory. This passion that was unfolding between the two of them felt like magic as he held her in the rain, taking his time with this first kiss and getting more turned on than he had been in a long time.
* * *
Kissing Kit was even better than walking in the rain. Another first for her. He tasted of coffee and mint. His tongue rubbed against hers, stirring to life feelings that she hadn’t thought about in ages. He held her gently but solidly.
The joy she’d felt at being able to steady him had easily bled back into desire and this embrace was doing things to her that she hadn’t anticipated. Her entire body was awash in sensation and her skin felt almost too sensitive. His hand against the side of her face was warm against the chill from the rain and she wanted to feel his big, strong palm moving down her body.
She couldn’t remember ever having had a lover, but there was so much of that time before the crash and coma that she still couldn’t remember.
He lifted his head, looking down at her with that fierce gaze of his. Her breath hitched because she wasn’t exactly sure what she should say.
“I...”
“Rory? Where are you?” Dash called from inside the house.
“Out here.”
“Out where?” her brother asked.
“I think we should start making our way back,” Kit whispered in her ear.
“I suppose so. I’m getting cold but a part of me wants to stay here since I know it will tick Dash off.”
She saw a smile tease the corners of his lips. “I can appreciate that but we don’t want you to catch a cold, which will only prove he was right.”
“True.”
“Good God, Rory! What are you doing? And you, Kit, should know better than to—”
“Enough of that,” Rory said sharply. “We are perfectly safe. Now either come join us in the rain or go sit in the kitchen and wait for us.”
Kit didn’t say anything but she felt the tension in his body as they walked slowly back toward the house. She was surprised when Dash stepped outside and stood there in the rain that was even lighter now, barely falling.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I haven’t felt the rain in years.”
Dash nodded and his face softened as he tipped his head to the side. “When you were little we used to dance in the rain, do you remember?”
He walked over to them and they all stopped. She didn’t recall that and couldn’t imagine Dash ever doing that. “You’re making that up.”
“No. Mom loved it. Sometimes she’d even entice Dad to join us.”
Rory turned to her brother and saw that usual mix of love and concern but also something else. Maybe a hint of sadness. She barely remembered her parents as she’d only been six when they died in a plane crash; but Dash had more memories. “I wish I could remember them.”
“Me, too, ladybug,” he said, then he looked past her to Kit. “Thank you for helping Rory with this.”
“No problem,” Kit said. “That’s what I’m here for.”
“Is it? I thought you were an old friend.”
“He is. He meant that’s what friends are for. He’s helping me with all the things I can’t remember doing and all the things I want to,” Rory explained.
“Like what things?”
“All the things,” she said again. She wasn’t going to mention kissing because, to be fair, she wouldn’t have kissed a life coach. Or would she? Her life was full of extraordinary surprises. Maybe she would have kissed anyone who was attractive and spent this much time with her.
If Rory was honest, she was sure it was only Kit whom she wanted to kiss. But then again, she hadn’t really been around a lot of other men that weren’t related to her, since coming out of the coma. There was Hank, of course, but he was married and also was always forcing her to do exercises that hurt. She glanced back over at Kit.
Wanting something didn’t mean she’d get it. She also had to be careful with her emotions. She had no real idea of the woman she’d been before but this woman she was today wanted connections. Wanted friends of her own, and after that kiss, a lover to call her own. She wanted it to be Kit, but was she just forming an attachment to him because he was the first hot guy she’d been around?
“Are you okay?” Kit asked.
“Yes,” she said. “The pie should be cooled down enough for us to have some now.”
“I’m looking forward to trying it,” he said.
“It looks delicious. What kind is it?” Dash asked as they walked back to the cement pad outside her back door. She noticed he’d put a towel down on the floor when they came back in.
They all sat down in the doorway one at a time and dried their feet. Rory went first and once she was in the house went to the linen cabinet and grabbed bigger towels for Dash and Kit.
They took them and toweled off in the doorway. “I’m going to go and change quickly,” she said. “Will you two be okay?”
“Of course. It will give us a chance to get to know one another,” Dash said.
“Don’t be...”
“What?” her brother asked.
“You,” she responded with a grin. “Be nice.”
“I can’t be anyone other than myself,” he told her.
She looked over at Kit and he just winked at her, which she assumed meant he’d be fine. She just didn’t want Dash to say anything that would make Kit leave her. Then she realized how silly that was. Kit wasn’t the kind of man to do anything he didn’t want to do.
