My Way Back to You (Harlequin Large Print Super Romance) (7 page)

He loosened his grip enough to lean her back slightly, and nipped his way to the peak of her breast.

She arched her back, thrusting a nipple toward him to meet the sweet assault that never came.

He stopped, and the pause lasted long enough to make her aware something was up. She straightened and found him frowning at her chest. “Did I do that?”

She followed his gaze to the red splotches marking each place where his whiskers had made contact with her fair skin. She shrugged. “No biggie.”

“Yes, it is.” He took her firmly by the waist and tried to set her off his lap. “Let me up, and I’ll go shave.”

She pushed him back onto the pillow. “No way, bucko. Follow the rules and don’t use your mouth, and everything will be good.”

His mouth quirked on one side. “Just good?”

“Maybe
just
good.” She wiggled against him with her backside, lightly clawing at his chest and stomach. “Maybe worth waiting sixteen years for.”

“Nobody should have to wait for sex this good. Just think what a happy state our world would be in if everybody could have it like this all the time. War would be a thing of the past.” He grabbed a condom package from the table and ripped into it.

So
that’s
what he’d meant last night. He hadn’t been feeling any heavy remorse—only making commentary on sex in general. What a relief! Flashing a wicked grin, she took the condom and proceeded to put him through as much agony as possible as she slid the protective covering into place. Then she slid herself into place, as well.

“Oh, baby.” With his hands on her hips, he held her firmly and raised his hips to meet her.

The reminder that this morning would be their last time together like this made her want to slow down and make it last, but her body would have none of it. The way he filled every part of her—as no one else ever had and probably never would—gave him total control, and when he shifted into high gear, she went along for one of the greatest rides of her life.

And this time, she cried out his name when the delicious spasms rocked her core.

She collapsed on top of him, sweaty and gasping for air. She could feel their hearts pounding against each other, dancing to the same beat.

A fitting closure.

Her breathing finally righted itself, and Jeff’s arms loosened enough to allow him to trace circles on her back. His touch was so soothing and relaxing, she could have lain there all day. But they were on a bit of a time schedule, in spite of pretending otherwise.

“I can take you to the airport if you’d like,” she said at last. “What time’s your flight?”

“I’m not flying out until Sunday. One of the guys at the dealership is from Wisconsin, and his family owns a cabin on Lake Geneva that they rent out. I’m getting a car and driving up there to spend a few days. Play some golf.”

“Mmm.” He’d moved one of his hands up to her hair and was brushing his fingers through it. It felt so good she couldn’t bring herself to move yet. “Sounds nice.”

His chest rose as he took a deep breath, and when he let it out, it fluttered through the top of her hair. “Mags?” he whispered. “Come with me.”

* * *

H
E
FELT
M
AGGIE
’
S
spine stiffen
under his hand, then she released what he recognized as a forced laugh. “We’re exes, remember? That wouldn’t be proper.”

“We’re consenting adults.” He glided his hand down her back to cup her fine ass. “To hell with proper.”

She shook her head.

He’d just had twelve hours of the most amazing sex ever, and he wasn’t prepared to take no for an answer unless it came with a better reason than being exes. Rolling to his side, he deposited her on the pillow and rose on an elbow to look her in the eye. “You’ve got to do better than that...and you’ve already told me the salon practically runs itself, so that one won’t fly, either.”

Worry clouded her gorgeous green eyes as she heaved a conflicted sigh. “We’re being unrealistic. Playing with fire. That sort of thing.”

“This has nothing to do with reality, Mags. It’s pure fantasy.” He watched as the worry in her eyes gave way to question. “Yes, I admit it. I’ve fantasized through the years about us having sex again.”

The admission felt good, perhaps because it was the first time he’d allowed himself to acknowledge it openly...or maybe even more so because he saw the truth in her eyes and the uneasy smile it brought to her lips. She’d fantasized, too. “This could be our chance to have fun, Mags. We’ll be able to part company without all the drama of last time.” Her chin quivered, and he kissed her to bring her thoughts back to the present. “What do you say? Three days of golf, great sex and no drama.”

Her finger traced the outside of his ear. “I’d considered staying up here for a day or two to visit the museums. Even mentioned the possibility to Mom and EmmyLou.”

“Who?” He wasn’t familiar with the name.

“EmmyLou Creighton, my best friend, and the salon’s assistant manager?”

Jeff nodded, remembering the mentioning of the name that first night at dinner.

“She was the first stylist I hired,” Mags went on. “It was just the two of us for several years.”

She was actually seriously considering his offer! He pressed further and took advantage of his position by toying with her bare nipples, catching them between his fingers and bringing them to hardened peaks. “See there. Your subconscious was making plans to set this up before I even mentioned it.”

That brokered no verbal response, but she looked miserable and still conflicted. A pang of guilt ran through him. “I’m sorry, Mags. I shouldn’t be pressing you to do something you’re not comfortable with.” He sat up, shifting his weight away from her, preparing to make a friendly, unemotional exit and get the hell out of Dodge.

Her hand caught his arm. “Stepping out of my comfort zone might be good for me.”

“You want to do it?” This had to be her decision—he wasn’t about to talk her into anything she’d regret later. He’d already had to live with that guilt far too long.

She nodded and a spark of excitement glinted from her eyes as she sat up. “It may be crazy, but I haven’t done anything crazy in a really long time.”

“Me, neither.”

Not since letting you go.
Whoa! He hadn’t spoken that aloud, had he?

Jeff took a couple of deep breaths to slow his racing heart. Where in the hell had that thought come from? This little excursion was a fun trip, and he wouldn’t think of it as anything more.

“I do insist on one rule, though.” Maggie’s eyes were stern, but her grin gave her away. “No more using the mouth until you shave.” She cupped his cheeks with both hands and wiggled his head playfully.

He grabbed her hands and held them tightly in his lap, forcing her face close to his. “Oh, really?” He flicked his tongue along the base of her jawline and up around the back of her ear.

“
So
unfair,” she whispered.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“I’
M
TELLING
YOU
, Eli...something’s up.”

Baxter Hill seemed especially steep this evening. Maybe it was the fried catfish, hushpuppies and French fries she’d fixed for dinner that felt so heavy in the pit of Rosemary’s stomach. Or maybe it was something completely different—like the nagging feeling her daughter was lying to her about staying in Chicago to sightsee.

“You...don’t think...it’s the son of a bitch, do you?” Eli’s heavy breathing caused his words to come out in spurts.

She’d tried to slow their pace several times on tonight’s walk, but her stubborn-ass husband seemed bent on making it home in record time. “My gut feeling is, yeah, he’s involved. Probably just being around him for three days threw her into a funk. She might’ve needed to stay up there as a distraction until she could get her wits about her again.”

“Maybe she’s...not wanting to...leave Russ.”

“That’s possible. But, if that’s what’s going on, I hope she doesn’t let him know she’s still there. That’d only make things harder for both of them.” Rosemary didn’t really believe Maggie would stay in Chicago because of Russ. Time after time, Maggie had talked about how it was best to not let him know how much it was going to hurt her, leaving him so far away. She was resolved, and once she set her mind to it, Maggie always followed through.

Letting go of Jeff had been the exception.

So maybe it was simply that being around him shook enough of those old feelings loose that Maggie needed a big-city distraction rather than an empty house where she was more likely to dwell on it.

Rosemary prayed that was the reason, anyway.

They reached the top of the hill and turned around to head back down. Eli’s face looked like it had been rubbed with beet juice. “Good Lord, are you sure you’re okay?”

He gave her a hard glare and started down without breaking his stride, not saying anything more until they reached the bottom. “She’s been busy with Russ and probably hasn’t had time to see the city,” he said when he’d caught his breath, his words no longer clumping.

“She does enjoy museums,” Rosemary conceded as they turned onto their front sidewalk. “I’m probably reading too much into it.”

Reaching the porch a couple of strides ahead of her, Eli plopped down on the steps. He pulled off his cap and ran a hand through his hair, sending drops of sweat flying in all directions. The look he gave her stopped her in midsit. “Rosie, I think I might have a problem.”

Rosemary’s knees stiffened, lifting her back to fully standing. “What is it?”

“I get pressure in my chest when I go uphill.” He pressed a flat palm against his heart. “But not down.”

A cold chill gripped Rosemary despite the heat surrounding her. “When did this start?”

“First felt it last week when I lifted Mabel’s casket. Pain. Right here.” He patted his heart. “I figured I’d pulled a muscle. But I feel it every time I exert.”

Things began to fall into place. “So you were doing the jumping jacks...”

He nodded sheepishly. “To test my theory.”

“I knew something was wrong.” Rosemary thrust her finger at his face and shook out her frustration. “How many times this week have I asked you if you were okay?”

Eli grabbed her finger and stilled it. “And now I’m admitting I don’t know if I am. I think I need to go to the hospital and find out.”

Eli was suggesting the hospital? He’d
never
done that in all the years she’d known him. The seriousness of the situation sank in. “Oh!” She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth, trying to hold back her distress. She swallowed, and it lodged in her throat, making the muscles constrict and ache, causing tears to well up in her eyes.

“Don’t you go crying on me, now.” Eli’s voice was calm. “Just get the car keys, okay?”

Rosemary stumbled up the steps and into the house, grabbing her purse and feeling around inside it to make certain she had her keys and her phone. By the time she got back outside, Eli was sitting in the passenger side of the truck—another clue this was serious. Eli always insisted on driving.

Because the pain was sporadic rather than constant, they bypassed the county hospital and drove on to Paducah, the closest city. It had two excellent hospitals, but they chose Baptist Health where Maggie had been born and Rosemary had had her gall bladder removed several years ago.

They were moved through the ER quickly once Eli explained his symptoms, and before long he was lying on a bed, wired up to an electrocardiogram machine.

Rosemary had regained her composure...for the most part. She just tried to convince herself Eli was right about the pulled muscle. Mabel’s casket
had
been solid oak. Heavy. Eli had no business being a pallbearer at his age. The younger men should take over that job.

“You haven’t had a heart attack,” the doctor said, at last. “Your EKG looks fine.” If he’d been standing on the same side of the bed as she, Rosemary would’ve hugged him. “But—”

Uh-oh. Buts are always bad.

“I can’t rule out that you might have problems. I’m going to admit you, and we’ll keep an eye on you tonight. Tomorrow morning, we’ll do a stress test and see if you have any blockages.”

“How ’bout I go home, sleep in my own bed and come back in the morning for that stress test?”

“It won’t hurt you to sleep somewhere besides your bed this one night,” Rosemary chided, but she couldn’t stir much anger into her voice. They seldom went anywhere overnight. Had never even been on a vacation. Eli’s steadfast rule was that he slept in his own bed.

The doctor frowned. “I’d prefer you allow me to admit you. We can keep an eye on you and make sure you stay comfortable.”

Eli’s lips pressed together. “I’d prefer to sleep in my own bed. No way I’ll be comfortable in this place.” He pointed to Rosemary. “She’ll keep an eye on me.”

“I won’t be able to sleep a wink,” Rosemary protested.

“See there?” Eli said to the doctor.

“You’re refusing admission, then?”

Eli nodded. “For tonight I am. No use sleeping somewhere other than home until I absolutely have to.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Eli.” Rosemary let out the frustration that had built over the past couple of hours. “We go home, you might not wake up at all.”

He shrugged like it was nothing, and the firm set of his jaw told her there was no point in arguing. “That’s a chance I’ll take.”

The doctor moved to the computer on the stand beside the bed and brushed a key to bring it to life. “Well, in that case, let’s see about making you an appointment for tomorrow morning. How does ten o’clock sound?”

Rosemary glanced at her watch—8:38 p.m. The next thirteen hours and twenty-two minutes might be the longest of her life.

* * *

“Y
OU
THINK
IT
’
S
really this peaceful here, or does it just seem that way after three days in Chicago?”

Maggie stopped and listened for the owl again. There it was. She hadn’t caught sight of it yet, but it sounded closer.

“I think it’s really this peaceful.” Jeff stopped, too, and pointed in the direction of the answering hoot. “But being in the city makes you long for the quiet. Sometimes, I just take off and drive to get away from the noise. Even away from the ocean. Just absolute quiet.”

Another new factoid to add to her growing list of items she was learning about her ex—such as his passion for soccer and his love of cooking. During the two-hour drive, then the eighteen holes of golf and the steak dinner on the deck of the lovely lakeside restaurant, she’d come to realize her companion had changed in many ways from the boy she’d been married to.

In his younger days, Jeff had always been the party animal, frat boy, in constant search of action. And now he enjoyed quiet. She would’ve never guessed.

He took a sip of the wine they’d brought with them on their sunset stroll around the south end of the lake. “This place reminds me of our camping trips on Kentucky Lake.”

Maggie scratched her nose with a grin and held up her glass. “We’d need to replace these wineglasses with mason jars of Toad’s ’shine.”

Jeff barked a laugh at the mention of his fraternity brother’s nickname. “Toad! Haven’t thought of him and his homemade moonshine in years. I wonder what he’s doing now?”

“Probably running a distillery someplace, if he followed his passion.” They laughed in agreement. “You know,” she confided, “I’ve always figured it was during one of those camping trips that I got pregnant.”

Jeff paused to think about that for a minute and then held up his glass toward her. “Then here’s to camping on Kentucky Lake.”

Maggie clinked her glass to his. “And here’s to being much more careful this time around.”

They walked in silence as the top of the sun plunged below the surface of the lake, making the blue water deepen to shades of purple. They came around the bend, and the lovely house Jeff had rented—much too modern and chic to be considered a cabin—came into view.

“So you really don’t have any regrets?” she asked quietly, and the sad expression he turned her way told her he understood the unspoken completion of that question—
about us.

He took her hand, interlacing their fingers and continued walking. “I have lots of regrets, Mags.” He took a sip of wine, and she wondered if he needed it to give him the courage to be honest. “Marrying you,” he continued. “Having Russ. Those aren’t part of them. I regret not staying and giving our marriage more time.” Her heart did a backflip at his words. “We’ve obviously become different people from who we were back then. Maybe it could’ve worked out differently if we’d held on.”

“But we wouldn’t have become the people we are now if we hadn’t gone our separate ways. And I like how I turned out.” She took a sip and added, “And I like how you turned out, too.” She nudged a grin from him with her elbow.

They walked a little way in comfortable silence before she spoke again. “You know, it surprises me to hear you say you don’t regret our marriage. I always assumed you felt nothing but relief to get away from me.”

He shook his head. “I was relieved to get away from the pressure. I always felt ganged up on, like it was three against one.”

“It was,” she admitted. “To this day, my parents place the blame solely on you.”

Jeff shrugged off the comment. “My biggest regret will always be the time I lost with my son.”

Her hand tightened instinctively at the sorrow in his voice. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to see him more often. We did the best we could.”

He nodded, and they fell into silence again.

“I’m glad you came with me, Mags.”

She smiled. “Me, too.” It surprised her that the words came so easily. Having this peaceful time to clear the air with Jeff was something she’d needed badly, without even realizing it. She’d always been so afraid that being around him again would make her fall back in love with him. But it didn’t feel that way now. She
did
love him on some level. And always would. Russ gave her a love connection to this man walking beside her. What she was feeling was born of that connection. It was normal and certainly nothing to fear—no matter how hard her heart beat when he touched her.

“What do you have planned for tomorrow?” She steered the conversation away from the serious. They’d pretty much said it all these past few days, and there was no reason to keep rehashing the same conversation.

He gave her a suggestive grin.

“Besides that.”

“So I have to think about something else, huh?” They reached the beach area of the rental and each of them claimed one of the Adirondack chairs at the edge of the water where the waves would lap their feet. “How about golf in the morning? Maybe rent a boat and spend the afternoon on the lake?”

“That sounds like the perfect day.” She tried to take a sip, but her glass was empty. “I’ll get the bottle.” She stood, and as she passed between the chairs, Jeff took her hand and kissed it.

There was no reason to get worked up by all this attention. He’d always been demonstrative with his affection. It was one of the things that had drawn her to him. And it was one of the ways she saw his influence in Russ’s mannerisms.

She let her thoughts drift to her son and wonder how his day had been. What would he think if he found out his parents were at Lake Geneva together?

She laughed softly.
He’d probably be scarred for life, like every other kid who imagines his parents sleeping together.
Her own parents came to mind, and she pushed the idea away with a silent
ew
!

Retrieving the half-empty bottle, she made her way back down to the beach, but Jeff had vacated his chair. She looked around. Where was he?

“Psst.”

The stage whisper drew her attention to the lake. There she could make out Jeff’s head, bobbing in the dark water.

“C’mon in. Water’s perfect.”

She pointed toward the house. “I don’t have my swimsuit on.”

“Neither do I.” His deep laugh came ashore with the next wave.

Sure enough, his clothes were stacked in a neat pile on the seat of his chair.

Not needing a second invitation, she began to rid herself of her clothes very slowly, taking plenty of time to fold each piece precisely and lean over to place it carefully on the chair.

“You were one of those guys who tortured people in another life, weren’t you?” His tone was a blend of pleasure and agony.

Maggie shrugged out of her bra, then stepped out of her panties and stretched her arms skyward. “This feels
so
good after playing golf.”

“Are you coming in, or am I getting out?” he demanded.

“Isn’t there some rule about swimming after drinking?” She eased into the water, which was indeed the perfect temperature.

Jeff met her where the water was waist deep. Taking her hand, he led her a little farther out and then stopped to take her in his arms.

“Not to worry,” he said. “I have no intentions of swimming tonight.”

* * *

J
EFF
LAY
ON
his side watching Mags sleep. She looked beautiful and serene, the worry lines that too often creased the area between her brows gone for now. That she’d become a worrier was obvious...and a surprise. When they’d been married, she didn’t seem to worry about anything except Russ. Left worrying about everything else to him. A spoiled only child, she never gave a thought about tomorrow.