Stroke of Love (26 page)

He sure as hell hoped so. Sage ended the call, whipped off his shirt, and threw his phone on his bed. Then he walked back outside to torture himself with sit-ups and push-ups.
See the need. Find a way. Fill the need.
Sage saw the need to fix his inability to come out of the depths of his work. Now it was time to square this shit away.

KATE PACED THE floor of her small room. Excitement and fear competed within her, sending the butterflies in her stomach into a wrestling match. She’d thought a cold shower would ease her nerves, but even after she was freshly showered and dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a blue cotton tank top, her insides were still caught up in a whirlwind. She flopped onto the bed, then sprang to her feet and paced again. She’d been playing her conversation with Sage over and over in her mind. She loved being with him. Adored him! But Kate was used to knowing where she was headed, what the future held, even if for only two years at a time. For the first time in her life she felt stuck. What would it mean to be involved with a company with Sage? How could they see how their relationship was going to work if she was living with her parents? She couldn’t get an apartment—what if they didn’t work out and her only option was to go back into AIA or a similar organization? She couldn’t be committed to a twelve-month lease.

A month-to-month lease?

She contemplated the option.
In New York?
How would she afford it? Would she be a volunteer? Would she earn an income? She had so many unanswered questions, and the only thing she was sure of was that she wanted to be with Sage. But she didn’t want to assume she’d live with him. Hell, she didn’t even know if she’d want to live with him.

She glanced at their mattresses in the screened-in area.

I want to live with him
.

It was crazy. How could she want that after two weeks? What would her parents think?
Oh my God. What will they think if I leave AIA?
How can I leave AIA?
There were too many loose ends, and what if Sage was just blowing smoke?
He’s not a
blow smoke
type of guy.
He gets shit done.

What if working together is too stressful?
It occurred to her that maybe he didn’t mean they’d work together. He was an artist. So would she and the other employees travel and she’d see him when she wasn’t traveling?
Ugh!
There were too many unanswered questions. This was all too much. She couldn’t plan a single thing without knowing the answers, but she didn’t want to push Sage, either.

I’m not asking you to run off and marry me. I’m saying that I want this relationship. I want to see where it goes.
What does that mean? She was right back to not knowing how they could have a relationship without being in the same city. Could she get a temporary job in someplace like New York? What would she do? Work in a soup kitchen? Work for another nonprofit? The idea of living in New York made her nervous. She needed air.

Kate opened the screened door and stepped outside, taking a long, deep breath.

“Feeling confined?” Sage came up the path with a handful of freshly picked flowers and floppy green leaves in one hand and a bag in the other.

She ran down the steps to him and jumped into his arms. He caught her between his forearms, and she lowered her lips to his.
Better. So much better
. She drew back, feeling like new air had been breathed into her lungs. Calmer air. “Sorry.”

“I’m not.” He kissed her again. “Will I get one of those kisses every time we get a semi-approval for a well? Because if the answer’s yes, the business model just got put into overdrive.”

She slid from his arms back down to the ground. “I just needed that.”

“I figured you were here mulling things over and driving yourself crazy.”

“Really? You figured that?”
How could you possibly know?

He arched a brow. “You’re the most organized person I know. The stuff I said today must have sent your brain into a tizzy. There are no lists, no places for checkmarks, no organization of any kind.”

“Okay, so maybe you know me a little.”

He pressed his hips to hers. “A little?”

“Maybe a lot. But there are things you don’t know about me. Maybe I’m okay with not knowing what comes next.”
And maybe pigs really do fly.

“Uh-huh.” He held out the flowers. “I was proud of you today.”

“Thank you. They’re beautiful.” They went upstairs into her room, and she filled a glass with water and set the flowers in them. She nibbled on her lower lip. She couldn’t ask him about everything
now
. He’d feel rushed, pushed, overwhelmed.
I’m going to lose my mind.

“Okay, where do you want me?” He looked around the room.

“What do you mean?”

Sage stood with a bag in his hand and a smile on his face. “We should talk. Do you want to go grab a beer and talk at the mess hall? Sit outside? If we stay in here, I’m not gonna talk. I can tell you that right now. You look too sexy with your eyebrows all pushed together and your eyes darting all over the room like you can’t figure out what to focus on.” He put his hands on her hips. “It makes me want to…” He kissed her.

Kiss me again. That makes me feel so much better.

“Love the nervousness out of you.” He kissed her again.

Oh God, yes.

His hand traveled down her hip and squeezed. Kate’s body melted against him as he deepened the kiss.

He pressed his cheek to hers and whispered, “I want to touch you until you can’t remember what you were worried about.”

“Yes,” she said in one long, heavy breath. That was the one thing she was sure of. All the questions about the job and her living arrangements could wait.

He pulled back, and Kate forced her eyes open. She reached for him, and he took a step backward.

“Sorry,” he said in a low, sexy voice that made her want to climb him like a tree and devour him. He reached for the door. “We have work to do.”

Kate watched him walk out the door and stifled her frustration. She forced her rubbery legs to follow him out the door, where she found him sitting on the step, the bag he was carrying set beside him and a satisfied smirk on his face.

“Was that your evil plan? Get me all revved up and then leave me wanting more?” She plopped down beside him.

“Nope. My evil plan was to rev you up so you’d stop worrying. The wanting more part was just a bonus.” He put his hand on her thigh, and it burned right through her shorts to her skin.

She lifted his wrist between her thumb and forefinger and moved it from her leg to his. “Let’s not tempt fate. I can’t be held responsible for how my body reacts to you.”

He grabbed her cheeks and kissed her hard. “God, I love you.”

Love! I think my whole body just went numb.

He held her stare, as if he couldn’t believe he’d said it either.

Sage looked down at his hands. “I can’t help it.” He lifted his gaze to hers. “I do.”

Oh God, yes! Me too! I love you too!
She could hardly hear past the adrenaline rushing through her. This was different from
I love your heart
. This was bigger—so much bigger. Kate wanted to memorize his face, the mixture of love and worry in his beautiful dark eyes, the way he rubbed his hands together, unsure, nervous. She wanted to remember the way the humidity mixed with the jungle plants, and Sage’s masculine, earthy smell sent a shiver through her. And as she said,
I love you, too
, she wanted to remember the look in his eyes.

“I love you, too, Sage.” His face lit up, and she could feel love coming off of him in waves.
That’s the look I’ll always remember. The look that says I’m everything to you.

He took her hands in his. “Do you know the song ‘Brave’ by Sara Bareilles?”

“‘Brave’? No, I…uh…uh.” ‘
Brave’?

“I think of the song every time I see you. The song is about being brave enough to say what you mean. Kate, you’re here without any family to lean on, without a best friend to help you through the hard times and celebrate the great times. You take care of so many people, and you set aside your needs to do it. You’re the epitome of brave.”

“You think I’m brave?”
Brave?
That’s…so big. Huge. As huge as
I love you.

“Incredibly brave. You’re an inspiration.” His brows drew slightly together as his eyes searched hers. “We’ve come together so fast, and I wasn’t sure if I’d scare you off by telling you how I felt, but then I thought of that song, and I thought of you, and I realized that I had to be brave. I
wanted
to be brave. I wanted you to know how I felt. I love you, Kate, right through to my soul.”

“You didn’t scare me off. You reeled me right in.” She wanted to jump up and down and scream,
He loves me! Sage Remington loves me!

He pressed his lips to hers. A long, slow, breath-stealing kiss, and Kate knew she’d never forget a single second of that evening.

Sage picked up the bag he’d been carrying. “I brought you a few things.”

Kate trapped her lower lip in between her teeth, trying to rein in her excitement. “You love me
and
you brought me presents? Quick, check my pulse.” She held her wrist out toward him. “Am I still alive? Where could you have gotten me anything?”

He laughed. “Don’t get too excited. They’re not that great. I ordered them when I ordered the supplies for the mural.”

“But that was before we even got together.”
You liked me enough then to get me presents?
She knew the answer, because she had felt the connection then, too.

“Yeah, and it feels like a year ago.” He took a leather day planner from the bag and handed it to her. “I know you love your clipboards, but this way you have something that’s dated, with places for your notes, resources, whatever you need.”

Kate ran her fingers over the distressed leather. She flipped it over to the front and nearly cried when she saw her name in the upper-right corner. “This is…Sage. This is beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it.” He dug into the bag and pulled out a stack of multicolored sticky notes. “To feed your addiction.”

She laughed. “You really do pay attention to detail.” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “I figured those notes would make you think I was a little bit of a freak.”

He pulled her in close and whispered, “I can’t wait to meet the freak in you.”

Goose bumps rose on her arms.
I don’t have a freak in me. Do I?
She hadn’t been with a man that she trusted enough to want to explore any freakiness that might be lurking inside her. One look at the desire in Sage’s eyes and heat rushed through her. She trusted Sage, and she wanted him—God, how she wanted him.
Brave
. She took his hand and allowed her desire for him to lead them inside.

“But I wanted to…” He watched her turn on the radio. “Talk about the nonprofit.”

“So did I, but…” She turned out the light.

“And our plans so you weren’t anxious...” Sage’s voice trailed off.

Brave, brave, brave. Be brave
. “Let’s lessen my anxiety without words, and talk later.” With her heart slamming against her ribs, she closed her eyes, falling into the beat of the sensual tune. Her hips found the rhythm, and her shoulders followed.

“Oh, baby,” Sage said in a low, sexy voice.

He pulled her to him, and she opened her eyes. Her cheeks heated, and she trapped her lower lip between her teeth to steel herself against her mounting embarrassment. She fought the urge to let him take over and shook her head slowly, hoping she looked seductive, her long hair brushing against her cheeks. She backed away from Sage, swinging her hips while wagging her finger from side to side.

“No, no, naughty boy.”

His eyes narrowed, and the edges of his lips curved up in a devilish, hungry grin. Knowing she was turning him on boosted her confidence. She turned her back and lifted her shirt up on one side, then the other; then she turned to face him, repeating the tease, as if she were a practiced erotic dancer, which surprised and aroused her. She moved around him, grinding her hips in to his, her palms flat against his chest as she shimmied down his body, inciting a titillating moan from Sage. She slid a tank strap off her shoulder and moved closer to him, rubbing her shoulder against his chest; then she lowered the other strap and let her shirt drop below her breasts.

“Kate,” Sage whispered hungrily.

Kate glanced down. Her shirt was stuck around her ribs.
I’m the worst dirty dancer ever!
Sage’s eyes roamed from her face to her breasts, where they lingered. She hooked her thumbs into the sides of her shirt, rocked her hips, and wiggled out of the shirt as if it were a skirt; then she swung it on her finger and tossed it at him. He grabbed it and took a step closer to her just as the song changed to “Walking on Air” by Katy Perry.
Shit!
Kate was determined to keep Sage’s interest. She closed her eyes again and found her groove, moving her hips and shoulders. Her head lolled from side to side. She moved faster to keep up with the chorus, unable to stop the smile from stretching across her lips. After the chorus, the beat slowed, and she hooked her thumbs in her shorts and shimmied out of them, tossing them at Sage. Wearing nothing but her pink lacy panties, she snagged a scarf from the window and looped it around Sage’s neck, using the two sides to pull his hard body against her.

“Mm.” He lowered his mouth to hers and grinded his hips against hers. Kate released the scarf and slid her hands beneath his shirt. She shimmied down his body and pushed his shirt up, kissing his hot skin on the way back up. With one hand, Sage reached behind him and pulled his shirt off, sending the silky scarf sailing down beside them. Kate ran her fingers lightly along his sides, feeling his muscles jump beneath her touch. She bit her lower lip again—it had worked before to take her out of her own head and calm her nerves, and luckily, it worked again. The beat of the music slowed, and with one hard tug, she opened the button of Sage’s jeans. He was breathing so hard, spurring her on. She slid his zipper down, then wrapped her arm around the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to hers. All of her embarrassment and her lingering nervousness worked itself out through that kiss. She licked along the curve of his lower lip, then took his lip between her teeth and drew back slowly. She was rewarded with a wanton moan.