by Nana Malone
No matter how sweet or how mad he was, she wasn’t leaving without some kind of answer.
Amanda leaned one shoulder against the door and pounded on the wood again. “Damn it, Dane, open up.”
The door opened and she caught her breath.
He was wearing nothing more than water droplets on his chest and a towel around his hips. Judging by the grim light in his eyes and the tightness around his mouth, he was still pissed.
“Go away, Grinch.”
They’d been friends for far too long to ruin it over her grandpa’s threat to haunt her for the rest of her life. Just in case Dane decided to slam the door in her face, she shoved her booted foot into the opening. Words escaped her before she could censor them. “I’m sorry for ruining supper last night. For not reading your note the moment you gave it to me. Please forgive me? You know I’m an idiot when it comes to Valentine’s Day.”
“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you tried to ruin our grandparents’ wedding.”
Okay, so he wasn’t pushing her out the door. Yet. She shouldered her way inside and as the door clicked shut behind her, she turned to face him. “I’m not trying to ruin their wedding. Or at least, I don’t want to.”
His frustration was evident in the tone of his voice. “Then what’s going on?”
Would he believe her if she told him about Grandpa George? She studied him, fresh from the shower, his hair still wet, his nipples pebbled from the chill of the outside temperature. A bead of water ran down his chest, over his washboard abs, and headed south toward the towel. A pleasant flush started deep in her mid-section and spread.
He chucked her under the chin. “Up here, princess.”
“Huh?” She raised her gaze past all that delicious male anatomy until she finally looked into his eyes and blinked. He’d been her best friend forever and right now, she felt small and mean and sad. “Please, Dane, forgive me. I can’t stand it when you’re mad at me.”
He sighed, and turned his back on her and walked away, leaving her alone and uncertain of whether she should leave or stay. But a few moments later, he returned and shoved a cup of steaming coffee into her hands. “You look like you need this.”
She let her gaze drop from his familiar face to the cup in her hands. And as the warmth seeped through her gloves and infused her body, she thought of what her mom had said.
Your dad just knows me. He gets me. He understands what I want or need, sometimes even before I’ve figured it out myself.
Amanda speared Dane with a narrow eyed look. “How did you know?”
With one finger, he gently touched the spot between her eyes. “Because you look grinchy and grumpy, and it’s not even noon yet. Which means you missed your morning caffeine fix.”
“Oh.” As she mulled over his words, he grabbed her by the shoulders and tried to turn her toward the door. But there was too much at stake to let him out of her sight, so she held her ground.
Obviously coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t about to budge, he released her and headed down the hallway toward the bathroom, whipping the towel off before he was even halfway there. “If you go away now, I promise to be there in fifteen minutes.”
Amanda sucked in her breath at the sight of his bare backside. Maybe she should get Dane naked in the backseat of a car.
She set the coffee cup on the divider near the front door, slipped off her boots and followed him down the hallway to the bathroom door. Leaning one shoulder against the door jamb, she watched as he pulled on jeans over his boxer shorts.
When he turned and noticed her in the doorway, he frowned, his jeans unzipped, his chest still bare, looking like a yummy half-dressed centerfold shot. “Are you still here?”
Amanda let her gaze sweep over his hunky physique. “It’s okay. I’ve seen you naked before.”
“Not since we were six.”
She grinned at the pained tone in his voice, and dragged her attention from his abs and chest, back up to his face. Best she leave before her hormones got out of hand. Besides, as long as he remained shirtless, she wouldn’t be able to think coherently and they had things to discuss. Like the note.
She smoothed the paper out and held it up so he could see. “You better show up, Dane, because if you don’t, I’ll hunt you down so we can talk about this.”
Pushing away from the door jamb, she retraced her steps to the front porch, slipped on her boots and grabbed the coffee cup just in case she needed an excuse to return.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he called out after her, his voice tight, controlled. “I just thought your grinchness would get a kick out of it.”
Amanda headed back across the street to the garage, where she waited for Dane, sipped at the coffee and let her thoughts fill with images of him naked. And feelings. Feelings that went back to their childhood. She’d always felt right when she was with him, content, fulfilled.
Special.
Un-grinch-like.
Did she dare take advantage of him? If it didn’t work out, could they return to the way things were now?
“What’s wrong, bumpkin?”
She jumped. Coffee sloshed out of the cup and it ran down the front of her jacket. She set down the cup and tried to brush the liquid away. “Why do you do that?”
Grandpa floated around the car and stopped in front of the workbench to examine the wedding decorations. “Do what?”
She huffed out a sigh. “Sneak up on me.”
“I don’t sneak.”
“You’re a ghost. It’s not like you come through the door like a normal person.” Amanda noticed the glum slope to his shoulders and she softened her voice. “What’s up, Gramps?”
“Ah, bumpkin, love hurts.” He sighed, heavy and sad, his expression shadowed with grief as he poked through the decorations. “I miss my life. I miss my wife.”
Amanda closed the distance between them and carefully moved the decorations out of his reach. “Grandma misses you, too.”
“No, she doesn’t. She’s marrying that bastard Morty and she’s forgotten all about me.”
“Not true. Look how she carries your urn around all the time.”
“Only because she wants to put me six feet under.”
Amanda felt her heart break for the man who had once carried her on his shoulders, swung her through the air and sang lullabies to put her to sleep. “It’s time for Grandma to move on.”
He plopped down on the stool. “She’s my one true love.”
“And you are hers. She loved you first, before she loved Morty. Isn’t that enough?”
“If she marries Morty, I’ll lose her forever.” He clenched his hands at his sides and surged to his feet, until he towered over her and she stepped back. “You promised, bumpkin. You promised to stop the wedding.”
“But you had her for fifty-one years.”
A noise at the side door caught her attention and she turned to see Dane in the doorway, his face in shadows.
“Who’re you talking to?”
Amanda forced a smile. “Just myself. I wasn’t sure if you’d show up.”
“I promised you, didn’t I?” The furnace in the garage clicked on, and Dane stepped out of the cold and closed the door.
“Tell him the truth about love, bumpkin.” Grandpa flicked on the radio and an old time melody drifted through the tiny speakers. “You die and get discarded with the trash.”
Dane tugged off his jacket, tossed it on the clean surface of the workbench, and picked up the radio to examine it. “Must have a short.”
Amanda glanced at her grandpa, who had started to dance around the room to the melody, his arms lifted to encircle an imaginary woman. His steps were smooth and for the first time ever, she noticed how handsome he must have been in his younger days. How could Grandma love Morty more than she loved the man she married?
Her attention turned back to Dane, who was focused on the radio as he searched for a loose wire. She studied his face, the crows feet around his eyes, the
smile lines around his mouth, the strong masculine angles belonging to a face she’d known forever.
Could they be both friends and lovers? Like her mom and dad? Like Gramps and Grandma? Or would that destroy the special bond they shared?
He set down the radio and turned back to her. “I can’t see anything wrong with this thing. Better tell your dad to get a new one.”
He flicked off the sound.
Grandpa reached through him and turned it back on.
Dane stared at it for a moment, then reached out and unplugged the portable unit from the wall.
Grandpa plunked down on the stool. “I need some entertainment to take my mind off Elvira’s wedding.”
Across the room, Dane stood with his hands in his pockets, tall and broad and somber, different from the boy she once knew and yet so much the same. She decided she had to go for it — go for him — and wiggled her eyebrows. “Wanna know a secret?”
One masculine brow hooked up and a reluctant smile crooked up the edges of his mouth. “You’re holding my Mandy hostage in the city and you’re just a cheap copy?”
“Ha ha.” She wiggled her finger at him and beckoned him toward the car. When he stood shoulder to shoulder with her, she leaned into him, felt the solid strength of his form and whispered, “Yesterday I caught my parents making out in the backseat of this car.”
Grandpa hooted. “Elvira and I used to — you know — like rabbits.”
Amanda thought, Go away, Gramps. And in a poof of white light, he vanished.
Dane shifted away from her and squinted at the car window. “Seriously?”
“Serious as a heart attack. I am never getting that picture out of my head,” she said, only to realize she’d already replaced the offensive image with a much better one of Dane climbing out of the shower to greet her at the door, wearing nothing more than a towel and a smile. Still, he looked so serious and uptight, she had to do something to loosen him up.
Unfortunately, grabbing him by the shirt front, mashing up against him, wasn’t an option ... yet.
Dane turned his head, caught her gaze and smirked. “It’s kind of cute.”
A snort of disagreement escaped her. “What? That my parents are screwing their brains out in the backseat of a car like a couple of teenagers? They have a bed. Not to mention they have a door they can shut.”
“You have to admit, there’s something really hot about pretending you’re sixteen again. Making out with your girl in the backseat of a car. Pretending it’s her father’s car and you’re doing it for the very first time.”
There was heat in his eyes and something more, something that made her knees weak and her heart ache. “I wouldn’t know. I never made out in the backseat of my dad’s car when I was sixteen.”
He paused ... and took the bait. “Your mom’s car?”
“Not even my date’s car. I was a poor, deprived, sex-starved teenager.” She shifted to stand toe-to-toe with him and even though he kept his arms at his sides, she grabbed his shirt front, tugged him toward the car and gave him her best leer. “Want to show me how it’s done?”
“Geez, Mandy.” Grabbing her wrist, he attempted to pull back, but she could tell he wasn’t trying all that hard. “Do you want to ruin our friendship?”
“No.” She softened her voice and hoped he’d understand. “I’m trying to figure out if you could be my first honest to goodness Valentine.”
The heat in his gaze turned up a notch and despite his lagging footsteps, he continued to follow her. “We might never be able to go back.”
“I know.” Doubt mingled with need but she had to know, had to find out. “Haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like to kiss me? I’ve wondered what it would be like to kiss you.”
Against the back of her legs, she felt the edge of the car seat. When he didn’t respond to her question, she let herself fall, toppling backward into the car and giving his shirt front a tug that pulled him down on top of her.
He landed with a soft satisfying bump and grind, managing to absorb most of his body weight with an arm on either side of her head. It was full body contact, more pleasure than she’d experienced in eons.
“Are you sure this is what you want, Mandy?”
“No, but I’m done thinking about it. Just kiss me already, will you?”
He lowered his head, his eyes wide open, the green flaring into molten lava, and at the first brush of his lips, she felt a zing all the way to her toes.
As his eyelids drifted shut and his mouth meshed with hers, Amanda realized she’d never felt anything so sweet or so heady. Everything inside her paused to feel the soft desperate slant of his mouth across hers, and to imprint the warmth of his lips on her memory.
He tasted of toothpaste and coffee, and she wrapped her arms around his back to hold him closer still.
There was passion in his kiss. A passion that infused her body with desire and need and hope. But when she tugged the tail of his shirt out of his jeans, he suddenly jerked back. “Whoa there, princess.”
She tunneled her hands under his shirt and felt the smooth warmth of his back. Her body pulsed with need and she wiggled against him. “Don’t stop, Dane.”
She could see the struggle in his eyes and on his face. Desire warred with common sense, and when he bent his head and kissed her neck, she knew desire had won the battle.
One by one, he undid the buttons on her shirtfront and as he pushed the material aside, cool air touched her skin and made her shiver. But then he lowered his head and through the thin material of her bra, suckled her nipple, and the heat of his mouth infused her once again.
Amanda swallowed a groan of pleasure, yanked the rest of his shirt out of his jeans, and along with the heat of his mouth, was rewarded with the warmth of his belly against hers.
Outside, a car door banged and Dane jerked up, pulling Amanda into a sitting position against his chest.
Heart pounding, she somehow found her voice. “We should probably lock the door.”
But the moment she glanced up at his profile, the moment he looked down at her, she knew they were done. Finished. Back to being friends.
If that was even possible.
Pride swelled inside of her, quickly followed by an ache that she knew would never go away. She took the easy way out, gave him a shove out of the car and without meeting his eyes, forced a smile. “Whew, saved by the parents.”
Sliding out after him, she turned her back on him, the heat of his body against hers still fresh in her mind, the woeful thought of the lost opportunity bringing tears to her eyes. One by one, she refastened the buttons on her shirt.
He might never let down his guard again.
“Mandy, look at me.”
His rough voice sent a shiver of longing up her spine. Closing the last button, she turned to face him, but couldn’t quite meet his gaze. So she focused on his chest. His shirt was wrinkled and still untucked, and everything in her body wept for the feel of him against her. “What?”
“I can’t do this. To you. To us.”
She shrugged. Chose to make it simple for him. “Absolutely. I totally understand.”
His gaze was intense, his frustration evident in the clench of his jaw. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?”
She looked into his eyes, deep into his eyes, and knew the only way back to their friendship was to treat the experience as nothing but an experiment. “You should probably get straightened up before my parents or grandma decide to come out here to check on our progress. Come on, let’s get this car decorated.”
His expression was closed, distant.
In the silence between them, she could hear her heart crack wide open.
* * * * *
Chapter Six
That evening, Amanda decided to walk downtown to the Cranberry Cove Restaurant, where her mom and dad were hosting the rehearsal dinner. As she maneuvered the slippery sidewalks, she thought about her encounter with Dane.
It had been hot. Beyond hot.
But there’d been feelings involved too, emotions that weren’t just one sided. And now it was obvious Dane was avoiding her. Even though she’d considered that this might be his reaction, it still hurt.
He couldn’t avoid her forever. Tonight, she’d see him at the restaurant, and again tomorrow at the Community Hall when they both stood up beside their grandparents.
And after that, it would be up to him to make a move because she was heading back to the city, where it might be lonely, but at least her heart was safe.
Her cell phone rang, drawing her thoughts away from how badly she might have screwed up. She glanced at the number on the screen, saw it was her sister and thumbed the talk button. “Hey, Steph. Where are you?”
“Still in Seattle. Work is crazy busy and I’m having problems getting away. How’s everything there?”
“Mom is driving Dad nuts with the wedding preparations, and Grandma is as nervous as a new bride.”
“Whether you’re twenty or eighty, getting married is a big step.”
“I suppose.” She steadied herself over a patch of ice on the sidewalk. “Are you bringing anyone to the wedding?”
“You’re kidding, right? You know Mom would start clipping out pictures of engagement rings and wedding gowns and baby strollers. How about you?”
“No way. She’s already given me the grandbaby lecture. You’d think she would’ve given up by now.” Amanda hesitated, wondered if she should mention her encounter with Dane or wait till she saw her sister in person. But she might not have another opportunity. Stephanie preferred to show up for family gatherings at the last minute, then escape the first chance she got. “Do you remember Dane Weatherby?”
“Sure. He’s that nerdy kid who used to live across the street. Morty’s grandson, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you know he used to have a crush on you?”
On another patch of ice, Amanda nearly lost her footing. She found her balance and stepped off the sidewalk onto some snow, then stood there. “No he didn’t.”
“Yes he did. You were oblivious because you had a crush on one of the football players.” The line crackled and cleared. “So what’s up with Dane?”
