by Debra Cowan
“Who doesn’t.” She fluttered a well-manicured hand, somehow managing to look demure in her hospital gown.
“She has a point, Kit.” Harv Foley walked into the private room and eased down onto Liz’s bed as he pulled a small carton of chocolate ice cream out of a brown paper bag.
Liz’s eyes, the exact blue of their father’s, lit up. She took the spoon from him and waggled it at Kit as she opened the carton. “You shouldn’t give up on Rafe.”
Kit looked at her in surprise. Liz sounded more mature than she had ever heard.
“Rafe made you happy, Kit. You two are a good fit. He’s a doll, plus one gorgeous hunk of man. I don’t know exactly what happened when you guys broke up, but if it was because of me—”
“It wasn’t. Not exactly anyway.”
“That plus your guilt over Mom’s death?”
“Have you been going to a psychiatrist?” she joked.
“Ha. I just know how you are, and I know you’ve always felt responsible for what happened.”
“How could I not?” She frowned. “If it weren’t for me, you would’ve had your real mother, Liz.”
“You lost your mother, too, sis. I see it as a loss, not something you stole from me. You didn’t take Mom from me and you weren’t responsible for her death. It could easily have been Dad or I in the car with her that day.”
“Or no one,” Harv put in quietly, his round features somber.
Liz nodded. “And for the record, I’ve never felt deprived of anything. I had you, didn’t I?”
“Oh, Liz.” Kit’s eyes burned. “Thank you.”
“Thank you.” Her sister reached out and took her hand. “That’s a lifetime of thank-yous, by the way.”
Amazed and touched, Kit sank down on the corner of Liz’s bed. “Why haven’t we ever talked like this before?”
Liz popped another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. “You were too busy telling me what to do all the time.”
“Oh, please.” She noted how much improved her sister’s color looked today; her blue eyes sparkled like they had before that awful confrontation at the cabin. “So, if I told you things were going to be different from now on, that I had to take a more hands-off approach to your life, you’d understand?” She hoped Liz said yes because it was really time. “I’m not abandoning you, sis. I just think we both need to stand on our own two feet.”
“I hear that,” her sister said without missing a beat.
Kit’s eyes widened. “Do you know what I’m saying? No more getting you out of jams, no more intervention in your jobs or with your boyfriends.”
“I get it, sis. And I’m glad. I love you, Kit, but I know it’s time for you to live your own life.” She sobered. “It’s time for you to stop trying to save me from mine.”
“Oh, Liz, I’ve never felt that way.” Kit reached out and took her sister’s hand.
“I know.” Liz’s gaze was thoughtful. “But it’s true all the same. I know what I’ve cost you. I know what a pain I’ve been and I’m going to do better.”
Had her sister ever been so reflective? So decisive? “Wow.”
Harv Foley took both their hands in his big ones. “You girls have been the other’s whole world for a long time. Your mom would be the first to tell you to build one of your own.”
Kit smiled, noting the pride and encouragement she saw shining in his eyes. He’d been telling her the same thing for years, but since she had said goodbye to Rafe today, the words took on new meaning, opened the door to a freedom she wanted to experience.
“You’re right, Dad.” Kit wasn’t exactly sure how to proceed, but she would figure it out.
Liz gave her a level look. “I appreciate how you’re always there for me, Kit, but you’re the one who just told me things were going to be different. Get on with it.”
“I will. As soon as we get you home and settled—”
“I can do all that, hon,” her dad said. “Liz is coming along. Dr. Warren said she’ll probably be discharged in a couple of days.”
“But won’t you need—”
“Dad and I can manage just fine.” Liz capped her ice cream and dropped the empty carton into the wastebasket beside her bed.
“Are you sure?” The possibility of leaving before her sister had never entered Kit’s mind. Her heart urged her to go after Rafe, but what if he needed more time? What if she did?
“We’d like you to stay,” Liz said, “but we don’t need you. Rafe does. And you need him. Go.”
A flurry of excitement tickled her belly. Kit folded her arms, stared at her dad, then her sister. “When did you get so smart and mature?”
“When I was being chased by those two jerks from Alexander.” Liz’s reminder sobered them all for a moment, then she smiled. “Dad can stay. I’m out of danger.”
“She is,” Harv added.
“But you can’t say the same about you and Rafe.”
Harv chuckled. “Go, Dr. Liz.”
“If it were me,” Liz said, “I’d be getting to Tony as fast as I could. In fact, when I get out of here, that’s what I’m going to do. Not that you asked, but I think you should do whatever you have to in order to keep Rafe this time.”
Really liking this side of her sister, Kit grinned. “Got any ideas?”
“Something to do with naked and whipped cream?”
“Liz!” She burst out laughing. “That’s really more your speed.”
“I don’t know. You might like it.”
“I don’t know about the whipped cream, but you should definitely go, honey.” Harv Foley hugged her. “Definitely.”
Rafe had said he wanted to talk. She did, too. And she should go now. Today. Find out if this was the end or a new beginning.
She was afraid to go, but as she recalled the promise she’d made to him, she was more afraid not to.
Rafe should’ve been sleeping like a rock, but he wasn’t. He was restless and edgy after the twelve-hour drive from Colorado, and his eyes wouldn’t close. Even four hours after arriving home, he kept seeing the panic, the rejection on Kit’s face, kept wondering how badly he’d hurt her. How badly he’d screwed up.
As he’d promised, he’d called the hospital to tell her he had made it home all right. Liz had answered, saying Kit couldn’t come to the phone. She’d said she would give Kit his message and have her call, but she still hadn’t.
He got out of bed, went outside, shoved off his briefs and dove into the pool. The June night wrapped around him, warm and silky.
He’d thought he was doing the right thing by leaving, but if so, why did his chest feel ripped open? Why did it feel so wrong?
He stretched into his stroke, recalling the night he’d seen Kit out here, swimming for all she was worth. That same frustration pushed him now. He sliced through the water, going another length of the pool.
Due to the late hour, he had dropped Tony at Uncle Wayne’s house rather than the office. The FBI had arranged to put their chief witness against Alexander in protective custody until the trial was over. Even now, they were making their move on the mafioso to put the man behind bars.
Rafe turned, swam to the far end of the pool, his strokes smooth and measured. His uncle had informed him the FBI had found evidence that Alexander had killed a man in Kansas and run another woman off the road, just like he had Liz.
The case was wrapped up except for the trial, in which Tony and Liz would testify. Rafe would be called on to identify pictures of the two men who had tailed him and Kit, tried to kill them at the cabin.
Surfacing at the far end of the pool, he stared at the black velvet sky.
Kit. His heart ached. He wanted to know she was all right, wanted to make love with her and try to erase the memory of the last time they’d been together. That night when he’d taken her body, then withdrawn from her.
He turned and swam toward the opposite end of the pool, his muscles finally unknotting.
Today’s long drive had given him more than enough time to
think. He loved her, had always loved her. And he decided he’d rather have her any way he could get her than not at all.
He was ready to take a chance on them. No more ultimatums. They’d find a compromise, even if it meant seeing her only when her family wasn’t in crisis mode.
Cutting through the water, he pictured her face, her eyes soft and liquid blue, her sweet lips. He’d call her again. Now.
He reached the middle of the pool, stood and ran a hand over his wet face. That’s when he saw her.
Standing only feet from him, water barely covering her breasts. Her bare breasts, her bare body.
His heart kicked against his ribs. He blinked. Wondering if his mind had transferred her image to the water, he moved forward. “Kit?”
“Hi,” she said shyly. Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she stared at him uncertainly, then stepped toward him. Moonlight shimmered on the water, washed her in liquid silver.
“You’re here.” He couldn’t believe it. He sounded hoarse and winded and stupid.
“Yes. My dad drove me up to take a flight out of Colorado Springs.” She stopped inches away, water rippling around her, reaching out to lap against his chest. Her eyes were deep with longing and need and something he wasn’t sure he could name.
“What happened?”
“I told you I wanted to be with you and I meant it.”
“You should be with Liz.”
“This is why I didn’t call and tell you I was coming.” She reached him, ran her hand up his chest. “I didn’t want you trying to talk me out of it.”
He grabbed her wrist, as much to make a point as to steady himself. “You don’t have to give them up for me. I don’t want that.”
“I’m not. I thought about what you said. You were right. I was making a choice when I didn’t have to.”
He felt the heat of her under the water, the shadow touch of her body. Sensation hummed through him. He was already hard, his pulse throbbing. “I don’t want you to feel torn. We’ll work something out. I want you in my life, Kit.”
She pressed closer, her breasts nudging his chest and driving his pulse into orbit. “I want that, too. I need you, Rafe.”
His hand slid up her arm, trailed over her bare, velvety shoulder. “Was I an idiot? Want me to beg first?”
“You were right.” She dropped a kiss on his chest, looked up at him. “And I want you to make me beg.”
“Damn,” he said hoarsely. He pulled her to him, his hands curving over her bottom. She lifted herself and wrapped her legs around him.
Her center pulsed hot against his erection. “I hate what happened last time, darlin’. I want to make that up to you.”
“I like the sound of that.” She shifted, pressing hard against him.
“You’re really here.” He moved his hand between them, found her sleek and hot as he slid one finger inside.
She clenched tight around him, her hands moving down to stroke his erection. “I want to feel you. All of you.”
Her hand slid the length of him, and he nearly lost it right then. Using all his willpower, he held back, concentrating on watching the pleasure flash across her features. They touched each other, stroked. Harder, longer. Sinuous movements that took him to the edge, had her breath shuddering out.
She whispered his name, her gaze locked with his. “Now, Rafe. I don’t want to wait any longer.”
Somehow, he made it to the side of the pool, braced his back against the concrete edge so it wouldn’t scratch her and held her as she slid down on him, slow and steady.
A perfect fit.
She kissed him, sank down to take him even deeper.
His hands moved to her breasts. He plucked gently at her nipples and curved his hands around her fullness. “I love you, Kit Foley.”
Her eyes darkened; love and trust shone in the smoky depths. “I love you, too. I thought you’d never say that to me again.”
“I never stopped. I never will.”
“Me, either.”
For the first time, they made love with absolute trust. No shackles from the past, no concerns other than the rhythm of her body meeting his.
He watched her eyes, and the lock on his heart fell away. He gave to her the way he had before, completely, without inhibition. The way he thought he never would again. And she did the same, for the first time meeting him with full abandon. The stroke of his body into hers felt familiar, but there was a freshness, a deeper comprehension of years lost, regret buried that made their lovemaking seem new.
The same awe that had locked his breath in his lungs the first time he’d taken her still held him. He saw that same wonder in her eyes and a vulnerability shining out at him that he knew he’d never take for granted. They’d paid a ten-year price to get here.
They moved slowly together, making it last. Committing to each other with every stroke, every whispered word. Giving, taking, reaching.
His hands flexed on her hips. He remembered this, the velvet feel of her skin beneath him, the delicate woman taste of her. As she came apart in his arms, he stored away the memory of moonlight gliding down her arched neck. The sultry steadiness of her eyes on his, the way her hands urged him on, the open surrender in her face. And when he finally let himself go, they climaxed together.
She moaned deep in her throat, and he kissed her, catching his name as she clenched around him. Tight and deep and complete.
Breathing hard, he braced his weak body against the concrete. She sagged against him, her heart thundering in time with his.
She peeked at him through spiky lashes. “Miss me?”
He grinned and kissed her, hungry for the taste of her, making up for lost time.
She looped her arms around his neck. “I want to stay.”
“My bed’s big enough for two.”
“No, I mean I want to stay always.” Uncertainty slid into her eyes. “With you.”
He stilled, feeling goose bumps rise on her back as the water cooled around them. “Are you sure?”
She touched his face. “Absolutely.”
He lifted her so her eyes were level with his. “We’ll figure out a way to make it work.”
She kissed him, then pulled away breathless and tugged him with her to the steps. She got out of the pool, picked up a towel and wrapped it sarong-style around herself. As he climbed out behind her, she handed him one.
He held her close as they walked into the house. On the cool tile of the foyer, she stopped, lifted serious eyes to his.
“Hey.” His hand moved up to caress her bare shoulder.
She licked her lips nervously. There was a mix of doubt and excitement on her face.
“Kit?”
“I’m ready to commit one hundred percent. I want you to know that.”
“I know, darlin’.”
She took a deep breath; words tumbled out. “On my way from the airport, I called a Realtor about putting my house on the market. Dad is with Liz, and she’ll be living with him until she’s healed. And then…she’s on her own.”
Stunned at this gesture to show her commitment to him, to them, he smiled. His heart ached from sheer pleasure. “No maybes about it. This time we’re gonna make it work.”
“You think you’re up for it?”
“You bet I am.” Grinning, he pulled her with him down the hallway and into his bedroom.
He opened his closet. One side was empty.
She turned, questions in her eyes.
He moved to his six-drawer dresser and opened the three drawers on the right. All empty. He turned. “I wanted you to know you have a place here with me. Whenever you want.”
A smile curved her gorgeous lips. Her eyes glowed at him. How had he ever lived without that? “Are you sure?”
“You bet your life.”
“Oh, I was hoping you’d say that,” she breathed.
He took her in his arms. “I trust you, Kit. I want you to know that. I was coming in to call you when you gave me that little surprise outside.”
“I love you, Rafe Blackstock. And I’m never leaving again.”
His chest swelling with love, Rafe took the one step he’d sworn never to take again. “Wanna prove it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Marry me.”
She stared at him, disbelief in her eyes. For an instant, his heart stopped.
Then she threw her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. “There’s no getting out of it now, Blackstock. I’m here to stay.”
“It’s about time,” he said before covering her mouth with his.
IMPRINT: e-book Romantic Suspense Single
ISBN: 9781460840788
TITLE: STILL THE ONE
First Australian Publication 2012
Copyright © 2012 DEBRA COWAN
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permission of the publisher, Harlequin Mills & Boon®, Locked Bag 7002, Chatswood D.C. N.S.W., Australia 2067.
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