Lori lifted her hand, then let it drift back to the mattress. "It … hurts me, to think of you having to go through that grief," she said. She shook her head as if the emotion puzzled her. "I know this is going to sound weird, but I wish I could have been with you. I wish I could have been here to help you through it."
Josh's heart twisted. In what other ways was Lori going to slay him? "I wasn't alone. I had my family with me. My parents, sisters, all the cousins and aunts and uncles. The worst part was…"
Lori reached out and brushed his hair off his forehead. "Was what? I want to know."
"The worst part was that I knew I had taken our time together for granted. There were things I didn't know about Kay. Depths I'd thought I had all our lives to explore." Or maybe he hadn't cared enough to explore them. Sometimes that thought tortured him, too. "Maybe I didn't love her enough."
Lori shook her head. "You loved her as a man of your age and experience loves." With one finger she touched the photo, tracing Josh and Kay's figures.
"I didn't understand her." The words slipped out. Lori's gaze met his. "Do you think we ever completely know someone's heart? Do you think it's possible?"
He sat up, the sheet pooling around his waist. "I think we have to be willing to show our hearts to those we love. Maybe not from the very first. Maybe not all at once." His gaze dropped to Kay's photo, her face smiling, her mind still a mystery. "But maybe … maybe she thought she couldn't trust me."
"No." Lori reached out and touched his forearm, her fingers circling firmly. "Take it from me, Josh."
"I wanted a partner," Josh said, covering her hand with his free one. "Someone to share with me dreams and fears." Then he groaned, realizing what he was saying. "How romantic is this? I want you to give us a chance and all I'm doing is talking about someone else."
Lori smiled. There was something in her eyes, a light, an understanding, that made her even more beautiful. "But your past is part of you, Josh. And I want to know all the parts. Every one."
He shut the photo album and dropped it over the side of the bed in order to gather Lori against his chest. The sheet covering hers dropped and his interest caught on what was newly revealed.
Her nipples hardened as he watched.
Bending his head, he kissed her cheek, her mouth, her ear. "I have a part of me that wants to get to know you better right this very minute."
She shivered, but there was amusement in her voice. "You're bad, do you know that?"
He reached over to turn out the light. "That's the part I'm talking about."
* * *
A few mornings later, Lori parked outside the Big Sky Five & Dime, across the street from the Hip Hop construction site. Since the day before, warm, dry chinook winds had been flowing off the eastern Rocky Mountains. Josh said the Native Americans called these winds "snow eaters," and Lori could see why. Melted snow ran in shallow rivers down the Whitehorn streets and her sneakers landed in a puddle of it as she stepped out of her car.
But the almost seventy-degree weather was glorious! She nearly laughed out loud at the glorious sensation of warmth brushing against her bare arms below her short-sleeved shirt. It was as if Montana's weather was reflecting Lori's own spring-like mood.
On a day like today, Lori thought as she pushed open the door of the Big Sky Five & Dime, anything was possible.
To cap off an already stellar morning, the first person Lori saw as she entered the store was her half sister Melissa, browsing through a rack of greeting cards. There was color in the other woman's cheeks and a smile curved her lips as she caught sight of Lori.
"Hello there," she said. "Is it just the weather or am I right in thinking that you look extremely happy?"
Lori didn't try to hold back her smile. "All's right with my world," she replied. "And you – you look happy and well. No repercussions from your illness?" Though she'd spoken with Melissa on the phone twice since her release from the hospital, this was the first time she'd talked with her face-to-face.
"Unless you call Wyatt's overprotectiveness a repercussion, then no." Melissa leaned toward Lori. "We met Josh at the Hip Hop earlier and I snuck away from the guy talk. This is the first time Wyatt's left me alone since I went into the hospital."
Lori remembered the strain on Wyatt's face when he was keeping his vigil at Melissa's bedside. "He doesn't want anything else to happen to you."
Melissa grimaced. "Believe me, I don't want another repeat either. But I need a little room to breathe, you know? Speaking of sharing space…" She wiggled her eyebrows in mischievous suggestion. "Josh let drop that you two are, um, keeping company."
Even though Melissa was her half sister, Lori wasn't quite ready to share the delirious state of her heart. "That's who I'm here to see," she said, sidestepping the issue. "I thought I'd bring some coffee over for him and the crew."
"Hey, good idea. I'll get some for Wyatt too, then maybe he'll forgive me for running off on him."
It only took a few minutes for the two of them to go to the Five & Dime's counter and get a couple of cardboard carriers filled with paper cups of coffee. Then, chatting away, they walked across the street toward the Hip Hop's doorless entry. The roof and exterior siding had been completed and now the men were working inside.
Still talking, Lori followed Melissa through the doorway, then her train of thought derailed, leaving her mouth hanging open with nothing coherent coming out.
Outdoors was warm, but it was even warmer inside the Hip Hop. So warm, in fact, that several of the construction crew had stripped off their shirts. But Lori couldn't look away from one man's naked torso. From Josh.
Standing on a ladder a few feet away, a tool belt slung around his slim, jeans-encased hips, Josh was hammering on a sheet of drywall. With each stroke, the heavy muscles of his back bunched then shifted, the fluid movements an undeniable testament to male strength.
A few weeks ago, such a demonstration of masculine power would have made her queasy.
Melissa laughed softly. "You're drooling from the corner of your mouth."
Lori swallowed. "I – I don't think so. I don't think I can be drooling and terrified all at the same time." Her stomach was clenching, twisting in a vain attempt to get away from the truth.
"Terrified?" Melissa said, her voice full of concern. "Lori, what's the matter?"
Lori inhaled a long breath, hoping a large dose of oxygen would cure her. "I'm, well, terrified that I'm not terrified." Shaking her head, she even managed a small laugh. "As crazy as that sounds."
"It sounds interesting," Melissa replied. "I reserve judgment on crazy until I hear more."
Josh's arm swung again, an energy-filled arc. The sunlight streaming through one window opening caught a bead of sweat rolling down the shallow valley of his spine. He grunted as the head of his hammer hit the nail. Lori's stomach clenched again.
"I—" Lori started, stopped, trying to gather her composure. "Men – their brawn, their force – used to make me nervous. Wary."
"And now?"
"Josh, he's made me understand – believe – that a man can be tough, but tender too. I … I think I'm in love with him." Lori looked at Melissa, not sure what the other woman would think.
Melissa's expression was serious. "Did you just figure this out?"
"I— Yes." Lori looked back at Josh. "When I walked in here, when I saw him, his body, his strength, I thought he was beautiful, not something to be wary of." She shrugged, helpless to explain it any further.
"I'm thrilled for you," Melissa said. "Josh and you are both lucky."
Lucky wasn't exactly how Lori felt. She stared at her half sister. "But what if…"
"I know he feels the same," Melissa said. "Don't worry about that." She nodded in Josh's direction. "Look at the expression on the man's face. Why do you think he's smiling?"
His head turned toward the women, Josh was descending the ladder. A few rungs from the bottom, he leaped down, sliding his hammer into a loop of his tool belt as he approache
d them. Melissa was right, he was smiling.
Lori swallowed, but found she was unable to speak again. She mutely held out the carrier of coffees.
Josh didn't need words, apparently, to know when something important was going through her mind. His eyes narrowed. "What's wrong, honey?"
"Nothing's wrong," Melissa answered for her.
His gaze still on Lori, one of Josh's eyebrows rose. Lori swallowed again. "I'm fine," she said, her voice a half-croak. "I brought the crew coffee."
"You're an angel." Josh smiled, then shouted for the crew to come over. As several men approached, including Wyatt, Josh bent near and kissed Lori's cheek. "The kind of angel a man could get used to waking up to," he whispered against her ear.
Lori's face heated, but she was saved from having to respond by the arrival of the men. The coffees were passed around and the group stood together, gulping down the hot stuff and talking about the construction's progress.
Josh had tucked his T-shirt in the back pocket of his jeans and now he pulled it free and slipped it on. Lori smiled, wondering what he would think about his "angel" if she told him how disappointed she was to lose sight of all that naked skin of his.
Catching her smile, he slanted her an inquiring look. She shook her head, biting back her grin. With a shrug, he grabbed up the last coffee then casually slung his free arm around her. With a little sigh, Lori leaned back against him. His fingers tightened briefly – sweetly – on her side.
After a few minutes of conversation, the construction crew began drifting back to their places. The last man started to leave, but then he turned back, snapping his fingers.
"Hey, seeing you two ladies together reminds me." The young man, Scott, gestured toward Lori and Melissa, who were standing side-by-side, sandwiched by Josh and Wyatt. "There was a guy asking after you this morning."
"Oh?" Melissa slipped Wyatt's coffee cup from his hand and took a sip from it. "Was it that restaurant supplier from Big Timber? He doesn't seem to believe me when I tell him I'll call him as soon as I'm ready to make my order."
"Nah." Scott shook his head. "He wasn't asking after you."
Melissa laughed. "I thought you just said he was." Scott shook his head. "I meant he was asking about Lori."
Josh's fingers twitched, just as Lori felt a cold chill rush over her skin. "Me?" she said, her voice croaking again.
"Yeah. He said he was an old friend of yours. That he wanted to surprise you." Scott grimaced. "Whoops. Hope I didn't just ruin it."
Lori's heartbeat jumped to panic-rhythm. Oh God, she thought. What am I going to do now?
Before she could form a coherent thought, Josh spoke up. "Scott," he said. "What did this man look like and what exactly did you say to him?"
At the clipped tone of his boss's voice, Scott gave a nervous roll of his shoulders. "I hope I didn't—"
"What he looked like, what you said," Josh interjected.
Scott rolled his shoulders again. "I'm not sure how old he is. Thirty-five, maybe? Thin, blond. He asked if I knew Lori. He asked if I knew where she lived or worked."
It was definitely David, Lori thought, a high whine starting in her ears. "What did you tell him?" she asked Scott.
Scott darted a look at Josh, then back at her. "I didn't think Josh would want some guy looking you up at work. I don't know where you live. But I did tell him that you spend a lot of time at the gym at the high school." His face reddened. "I've, um, noticed you running when I lift weights."
"Okay," Lori said. Though it wasn't okay. Nothing was going to be okay again.
"What's the matter?" Wyatt asked. "Do you know this man, Lori?"
"He's my ex-husband." Lori bit her bottom lip. "I, um, wasn't expecting to see him again."
"How do you think he found you?" Josh said, his face a stiff, unreadable mask.
Lori shook her head. "I'm not sure. I know I never told him about Whitehorn. But maybe my mother did."
Josh's eyebrows rose. "Your mother knew Whitehorn?"
Lori blinked, realizing she'd never told Josh about her mother growing up in the town. Just as she'd never told Melissa they were half sisters. "I—"
"Come to think of it, he did mention something about you too, Mrs. North," Scott suddenly said.
The hairs on the back of Lori's neck lifted and the whine in her ears jumped an octave higher. "What exactly did he say?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm.
Apparently she didn't do too good a job, because Wyatt cursed. Scott looked as if he wanted the particle board beneath his feet to open up and swallow him. "Just that he'd seen an article in the newspaper about Mrs. North's being in the hospital. That her photograph looked a lot like the woman he was trying to locate. That's why he stopped by the Hip Hop to ask about Lori."
Oh God, oh God, oh God. Lori took a step back, her gaze swinging toward Melissa and Wyatt. "You need to be careful," she said.
Josh grabbed her arm. "Lori—"
"No." She shook him off. "Listen to me," she said to Melissa. "David, my ex-husband, he's a dangerous man. And we do resemble each other. Be sure you let Wyatt take care of you."
"Lori." Melissa's expression was puzzled. "So we look alike. Several people have mentioned it to me already. But what does that have to do with—"
"It just does," Lori said, knowing she sounded crazy and not caring, not as long as Melissa and Wyatt heeded her warning. If David had made a connection between her and Melissa, if he knew – or guessed – they were family, then her sister could be in danger. She wouldn't put it past David to harm someone Lori cared about in order to hurt her.
"Lori, what's going on?" Josh asked the question on all their faces.
"I … I have something I have to do," Lori said. "You'll have to excuse me." She had to get out of Whitehorn. Leave right away before David discovered her or discovered for certain that Melissa was her sister.
Or discovered that Josh was the man Lori loved.
No one, especially not Josh who was as straight-forward as he was strong, was a match for the kind of deviousness David was capable of. "I'll see you back at the office," she lied to Josh. When he returned there, he would find a note, not Lori.
"You're not going anywhere without me," he said through his teeth.
She shook her head. "Back at the office." Then she turned and ran.
* * *
Chapter 13
« ^ »
Melting snow shushed beneath Josh's tires as he sped back to the office. His fingers squeezed the steering wheel during the short drive, only easing when he spied Lori's car in the construction office's parking lot.
He pulled in beside it, braked, then jumped out. His heart pounding against his chest, he ran toward the front entrance. Just as he reached it, the door swung open and Lori stepped out, her arms around a cardboard box full of her belongings.
Josh" s stomach cramped. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Lori stared at him. "I – I told you I'd see you here later."
He put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back inside, then slammed the door shut behind them. "Thank God I didn't believe you. Because you wouldn't have been here, would you?"
A guilty flush reddened her cheeks. "Well, I…"
Josh set his back teeth and gave a pointed look at the things inside the box she was carrying. Her purse, her coffee mug, her briefcase, the potted African violet he'd surprised her with last week. "Damn it, Lori," he said, more frustrated than he could ever remember. "What the hell are you thinking?"
She looked down at the violets. "I'm thinking this isn't working out very well. I need … I need a new job."
"What?"
"I said I—"
"I know what you said." Josh grabbed the box from her and set it on the floor. Then he grasped her wrist and tugged her toward the reception area. "Sit." He pointed toward one of the chairs.
Darting a nervous look outside the office windows, she perched on the seat. Even though it was near seventy degrees outside, the
temperature in the office seemed icy to him. To give him time to get hold of his temper, Josh stoked the small fire in the wood-burning stove. When it was kicking out some decent heat, he pulled a chair closer to Lori's and sat down at right angles to her, their knees almost touching.
"Now," he said. "We're going to solve this thing with your ex-husband."
Lori blew out an impatient breath of air, riffling her dark bangs in the process. "We can't 'solve' it, Josh. I tried, the police tried, the courts tried."
He waved off all that. "First, you're going to move in with me."
She shook her head. "No."
He held onto his temper. "Why not?"
"It won't solve anything."
"Of course it will," he snapped back. "It will keep you safe."
An expression crossed her face, sadness maybe, or defeat. "This is about more than just me."
Josh's eyes narrowed. "Yes. What's all this about Melissa?" He paused, thinking back to the conversation in the Hip Hop. "And Whitehorn. What was this you mentioned about your mother and Whitehorn?"
Lori lifted her hand, let it fall. "I guess I never told you that my mother used to live in Whitehorn."
Josh took a breath. "I guess you never did," he said slowly, his voice filled with irony.
"She grew up here. Then … then she moved to the South where I was born. When I was looking for someplace else to live, I thought of here because…" Lori shrugged.
"But you said David didn't know about Whitehorn?"
"I didn't think so." She shrugged again. "The last few months of my mother's life she spoke about a lot of things she had never told me before. Her childhood, her past. Personal things."
"Whitehorn was one of them?"
Lori nodded. "Before that, she'd always been very hush-hush about her life before South Carolina. It's why I never thought she'd have told David." Her gaze shifted toward the windows again. "I guess I was wrong."
Josh didn't even bother looking outside. Just let Lori's ex-husband come near her. He'd welcome the bastard to Montana in his very own personal way. "What exactly does any of this have to do with Melissa?"
IN LOVE WITH HER BOSS Page 15
