Terms of Surrender

by Sheila Seabrook

  “Like that’ll work.” Harley stepped away from the rack and watched them, fascinated by all the energy packed into their tiny bodies. “Maybe we should go.”

  “Not on your life, lady.” Reaching out, Gage caught the girls by the back of their sundresses and held on. They strained to get away, choking themselves in the process. He gave Harley an easy smile. “Everything’s under control. Go ahead. Pick a few suits. Try them on. I’ll help you decide.”

  “In your dreams.”

  In the end, she chose a hot pink bikini sans polka dots. And as she held the suit up in front of Gage’s face so he could see her choice, she was rewarded with his jaw dropping open, his eyes practically popping out of his face, and his grip on the girls’ sundresses loosening.

  The twins disappeared under a rack.

  “You’re it.”

  “No, you’re it.”

  Gage closed his mouth, muttered something under his breath about the weather turning hotter, and went in after them.

  At least the girls were no longer miserable.

  A new bounce to her step, Harley headed toward the checkout counter.

  Oh, she was so going to make him wish he’d let her buy the one-piece suit instead.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  With his wrench in hand, Gage hunkered down to change the oil in his bike, far, far away from his houseguests and the domestic situation he’d avoided his entire adult life.

  What had he been thinking when he’d decided to buy the twins the plastic pool?

  Their excitement and laughter had been contagious, and for a few moments, Gage found himself wishing this family belonged to him.

  At which time reason returned.

  He’d ushered Harley and the girls out of the clothes store, stopped to purchase the pool, and loaded them all up in the truck.

  Back at home, while Harley fed the twins and put them to bed for naps, he’d set up the plastic pool and filled it, leaving it in the heat of the sun to take the chill out of the water.

  Afterwards, he’d escaped into the garage, one ear cocked for the sound of his temporary family, like an ogre desperate for companionship, yet too afraid of rejection to join in on the fun.

  Two hours later, the house erupted with the sound of Harley’s laughter, childish screams, and the overriding excitement of the new toy waiting for them on the lawn.

  He wouldn’t join them. As long as he remembered to keep his distance, they were safe. He’d have to remember not to repeat this morning’s shopping trip because he’d enjoyed it too much. It had reminded him of all the things he was missing by choosing this solitary lifestyle.

  A squeal from the house broke through his thoughts. The back screen door burst open, slammed shut. He winced, wondering if it would still be in one piece by the time the girls left.

  Mike.

  He needed to find his brother and convince him to seek professional help. The girls needed their dad, and Mike needed them so he could quit wallowing in self-pity and begin to piece together a new life.

  “Lisa, sweetie.” Harley’s voice came from the vicinity of the house. “Stay out of the garage. Uncle Gage will join us when he’s done working.”

  Not if he could help it.

  He paused to listen to the sound of water splashing and girls laughing.

  Family playtime.

  There’d been none of that in the house where he’d grown up, nothing to make a boy feel like he was wanted or loved. His dad may be tolerable now, but in those days, he’d been worse than an ogre.

  Gage blocked out the giggles and focused on the mechanics of his bike. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he felt the presence of another person. Glancing up, he saw one of the twins standing quietly on the other side of the bike, her stature barely tall enough to see over the edge of the seat.

  This one had to be Lisa because Laura would have announced her presence without any hesitation. “You shouldn’t be in here, sugarplum.”

  She cocked her head to one side, reminding him of her aunt. “Why not?”

  “There’s lots of dangerous things that aren’t for little girls.”

  “Can I watch? I p’omise to be good.”

  He eyed her, surprised good was in her vocabulary. Finally, against his better judgment, he caved. “I suppose. Don’t touch anything.”

  The sound of bare feet against the cement alerted him to the presence of someone joining them. He glanced up, expecting to see the other twin.

  Instead it was Harley and he got his first look at her in the two-piece suit. It set his mind reeling with lust and his body hardening with desire.

  When she spotted the twin, she approached them. “Lisa, you shouldn’t be bothering your Uncle Gage.”

  Gage straightened and let his gaze sweep down the length of her bare skin, her small breasts, her smooth skin. His voice was rough when he finally swallowed and spoke. “It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

  She stopped on the other side of the bike, twirling a tendril of hair around one finger, shifting from one foot to the other, no doubt unaware that the jiggle of her breasts was enough to ignite his body. “Are you sure?”

  Before he did something he’d regret, like maybe lunge across the bike seat, tackle her to the ground, and have his way with her, he hunkered down beside the bike again so he was at eye level with the younger twin. “You’ll be good and not touch anything, right, sugarplum?”

  Lisa nodded earnestly, her curls bouncing around her shoulders. She raised her chin to look up at her aunt. “P’ease, p’ease, p’ease, Aunt Harley. I p’omise to be good.”

  Harley smoothed one hand over the top of her head and leaned over at the waist so she was at eye level with the twin. As the swim suit top gaped open and revealed more of the rounded flesh of her breasts, Gage nearly had a heart attack.

  “Well, I guess if Uncle Gage thinks it’s okay, you can stay.” As Harley straightened, she met Gage’s gaze and stilled. Something dangerous flared in her eyes and a slow smile spread across her mouth. “Maybe when he’s done here, you can convince him to join us at the pool, sweetie.”

  Lisa gave a jump of joy, and with another pat on her niece’s head, Harley turned and headed back out of the garage.

  Gage wiped sweat off his forehead, certain that the temperature had climbed at least ten degrees.

  As he returned to work, Lisa came around to squat on the floor next to him, her keen gaze following his every move. When she stood up and moved away, he figured she’d gotten bored and decided to return to the pool. A moment later, he heard the clatter of metal against metal.

  He shot to his feet. “Lisa? What are you doing?”

  She turned quickly to face him, her hands behind her back. “Nuttin’.”

  He started toward her. “What have you got, sugarplum?”

  “Nuttin’,” she repeated, her gaze fixed on his face, her neck arching backward as he approached, her eyes widening with innocence.

  “Let me see what’s in your hand.” He stopped in front of her, mindful that he was a good deal taller, and probably more threatening than he could ever imagine. “Now.”

  His size didn’t seem to worry her. She pulled out her right hand and placed it palm up in the space between them. “See. Nuttin’.”

  “Let’s see the other one.”

  Quickly sliding her right hand out of sight, doing some sort of juggling act behind her back, she finally held up her left hand for his inspection. A hint of Laura’s belligerence showed on her face and in her voice. “Happy now?”

  “I want to see both hands at the same time, sugarplum.”

  Metal clattered to the floor. She thrust both hands up in the air. “See. Nuttin’.”

  He leaned forward to check the floor behind her. “What’s back there?”

  Clasping her hands behind her back, giving him a toothy grin, she did a one-footed jig, swinging her other foot back and forth in an attempt to kick away the evidence.

  Gage hunkered down, reached around behind h
er, narrowly missed getting kicked, and picked up his one-and-three-quarter-inch wrench.

  “I got a secret. I got a secret,” she sang and gave him a disarming smile.

  He held the wrench under her nose with hopes his frown would convince her he meant business. “What’s this?”

  She stopped dancing. Rocked back and forth on her bare feet. Tried to dazzle him with her pearly white teeth. Batted her lashes at him. “Laura says you’re gonna ’ex Aunt Harley.”

  Gage stilled, his heart lurching in his chest. “Pardon me?”

  “’ex. You know.” When he didn’t answer, she ogled him, crossing her eyes, sucking in her cheeks, and moving her mouth like a fish in a fishbowl. “Do I have to ’plain everything?”

  “Think of me as your dim-witted uncle,” he said dryly. “What’s ’ex?”

  “Kissy, kissy. Huggy, huggy. That sorta ’tuff.” When he didn’t respond, she gave up on the silly face, placed her hands on his shoulders, and leaned forward to look him square in the eye. “That’s why she has boobies and me ’n Laura don’t. Do you under’tand ’ex now?”

  He thought of Harley’s breasts in his hands and willed his body not to respond.

  Oh yeah, he knew all about sex, didn’t need a lecture from the kid.

  Kissy, kissy. Huggy, huggy. Where had his niece learned this stuff? “Don’t try to sidetrack me, kid.”

  She slid her arms around his neck, gave the tool in his hand a savage look, and rested her cheek against his. “I jest wanted to help, Unca Gage.”

  He moved his arm around her back, offering her support. “Tools aren’t for play. They’re for big people to work with.”

  “I’m big.” She pushed back, stood on her tiptoes, wiped a grease spot off his forearm, and smeared it across the baby soft skin on her cheek. “I’m gonna be even bigger someday, like you.”

  Panting like a puppy after a long run, Laura barreled into the garage, collided with her sister, and deliberately bumped Lisa out of the way. “Unca Gage. Unca Gage. Aunt Harley says to come fast.”

  Gage pushed to his feet. “What’s up, sugarplum?”

  She grabbed his hand and tugged. “It’s a ’mergency. We have to save Aunt Harley.”

  Gage allowed Laura to pull him out of the garage. As soon as he saw Harley sitting on the grass poolside, her feet dangling in the five inches of tepid water, her bikini leaving little to the imagination, he knew he should have put up more resistance.

  He kept his voice cool, his desire in check. “Forgot to put on your life jacket?”

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “Funny.” Sunglasses hid her gaze from him. As she turned her face up toward him, he noticed the tight smile on her mouth. “Look who stopped in for a visit.”

  Gage followed the gesture of her hand and saw his dad a few feet away, a trowel in one hand, the watering can in the other.

  Holy cow. He hadn’t even noticed him standing there, he’d been so wrapped up in Harley and her bikini. No wonder she looked so uncomfortable.

  Images from his youth flashed before him, an ever-present meanness that was there even when the violence was absent. He pushed the memories away, stepped around the pool, and took the older man by the arm to lead him away from the girls. “Dad, what are you doing here? It’s too hot for you to be outside this afternoon.”

  “Fran was worried about the flowers.”

  “Tell Mom the flowers are fine. I’ll water them.” Gage noted his pale complexion. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”

  A frown filtered across the old man’s face. “You don’t let them near the flowers, do you?”

  “No, Dad.”

  His dad turned toward the three females and wagged his index finger at the wide-eyed girls. “Mind me, Harley girl. You keep those young ’uns away from the plants or there’ll be hell to pay.”

  “Dad, there’s no need to threaten them.” As the old man tipped to the side, unsteady on his feet, Gage’s annoyance morphed into concern. He caught his dad by the arm. “Come on. Let’s get you home and out of the sun.”

  A few minutes later, he steered the truck into his parents’ driveway and turned off the vehicle engine, reluctant to go home and face temptation. “What’s Mom up to?”

  The old man reached for the door handle, and when the door swung open, the heat from outside decimated the air-conditioned cab of the truck. “She was washing the kitchen floor when I left.”

  Gage reached for the door handle. “Great, she must be feeling better. I’ll come in and say hello.”

  The old man shook his head. “Another time, son. You know how she hates to be interrupted when she’s working.”

  Still distracted by thoughts of Harley in her bathing suit, Gage nodded and restarted the truck. “Tell her to call me, will you?”

  Within minutes, he was back at home, the heat of the sun warm against his arms. He should have gone straight into the garage and hidden there for the rest of the day. Instead, he was drawn toward the poolside giggles.

  He pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and clicked off a shot of the girls splashing in the pool, Harley laughing at their antics.

  She looked his way, her smile reaching her eyes, and he zoomed in and clicked off another shot.

  “Gage, come join us.”

  He dropped down on the grass beside her.

  She tapped his knee. “Why don’t you take off your socks and runners and come swim with us?”

  Her irresistible smile combined with the beaming countenances of the twins, hope spilling from their eyes, was all the coaxing he needed.

  “It is pretty hot out here.” He peeled off his shirt, his shoes, and socks, and tried to focus on anything but the sexy woman at his side. “Do you girls have sunscreen on?”

  Harley picked up a tube from beside her and held it up for his inspection. “Everyone’s slathered and protected.”

  “’Cept you, Unca Gage,” Laura pointed out while she poured a bucket full of water over her sister’s head.

  The other girl sputtered and squealed and retaliated, and soon the water fight was on. Gage laughed, but as Harley came to her knees, the tube of sunscreen in one hand, a dab of lotion in the other, the antics of the girls faded to the edges of his vision.

  Her soft, sexy voice washed over him. “Laura’s right. We wouldn’t want you looking like a lobster at the supper table or we might be tempted to take a nibble.”

  He’d like to nibble on her. Instead, he shifted back, out of reach. “I’ve been out in the sun since early spring. I’m not likely to burn now.”

  “The girls think you should have sunscreen on, Gage.” She squirted another bit onto her palm, set the tube down on the grass and, rubbing the cream between both hands, shifted closer. “I think you should have some on, too.”

  Gage closed his eyes and prayed for a miracle. A rainstorm appearing out of the cloudless sky would be perfect. Unlikely, but hey, that’s why they called it a miracle.

  He felt her hands on his back. All decent thoughts vanished in a heartbeat, replaced by the image of her in her skimpy bikini as she knelt behind him and massaged the sunscreen onto his skin.

  She leaned forward, her breasts bumping against the back of his shoulders. “How does that feel?”

  It felt like he’d been in the sun too long. Hot and sweaty and maybe a little orgasmistic, too. In an attempt to contain his groan of pleasure, he gritted his teeth. “What have you been telling the girls about ’ex?”

  Her hands stilled on his shoulders. She leaned forward again, her breasts brushing against his back. “Excuse me?”

  “’ex. Kissy, kissy. Huggy, huggy. You and me making a baby. You know, ’ex.” He glanced over his shoulder at the stunned expression on her face. “I’m quoting Lisa, by the way.”

  A nervous laugh escaped her. She straightened and resumed the application of sunscreen, her touch no longer soft and teasing. “You mean sex?”

  “Yes. Lisa calls it ’ex.”

  “That’s because she can’t always say her s
’s.”

  “So?”

  “So what?” She sounded a little indignant. “You think I’ve been telling them about sex?”

  Gage thought of Harley’s soft lips on his and he strangled a groan of lust in his throat. “They got the idea of us kissing from somewhere.”

  “Well, you were the one who told them that I kissed you.” The heat of her hands swept across his back, momentarily distracting him. And when she leaned forward again, her forearms and breasts resting across his back, a wave of pure lust hit him square in the groin. “Are the twins getting on your nerves? I can try harder to keep them out of your way. Gosh, they’re like whirlwinds, so fast I can’t keep up to them.”

  He opened his eyes and saw that the girls were busy splashing in the pool, paying the adults responsible for them not a single bit of attention.

  “Faster than this?” He reached behind, caught Harley by the waist, and hauled her onto his lap.

  Surprised laughter spilled from between her lips. Gage glanced towards the girls again. They were still fixated by the water in the pool and didn’t notice the antics of the adults.

  Keeping his voice low so he wouldn’t attract the attention of the girls, he asked, “’ex. Do you need a demonstration or something?”

  She wiggled out of his arms, back to her knees so that she was between his legs, and reached to the side for the sunscreen. “Behave yourself.”

  Her breasts swayed and nearly popped out of her bikini top. Gage reached up, removed the sunglasses from her face, and recognized the teasing sparkle in her eyes. “I’m being a perfect gentleman.”

  She squeezed another dollop of lotion onto her palm, rubbed it between her hands, and Gage decided she was playing unfairly. As she set her hands on his shoulders, he reached up and covered her breasts with the palms of his hands.

  She stilled on a sharp intake of air. “The girls—”

  He peeked over her shoulder. “Aren’t paying any attention to us.”

  She checked over her shoulder before she faced him and resumed rubbing the cream into his shoulders, down his arms, and across his chest, never taking her gaze from his.