by D L Lane
When Gage dropped the damp material, she was looking at him in a way that took any pain his body might be feeling and turning it into a specific ache of want.
“Hey,” he said, pushing his need for Danica into the box where it belonged, sealing it up tight with an entire roll of heavy-duty duct tape.
“Hi.” Her cheeks flushed pink before she diverted her gaze.
“What are you doing?”
“I have to write a paper for English Lit class.”
“Oh, Mrs. Thompson.” He shook his head and ran his fingers through the sweaty strands of his hair. “She was a tough one, as I recall.”
“Yeah, but I like her.”
“Do you mind if I take a seat?”
“No.” Danica dropped her feet, turned, and sat up straight, allowing Gage to flop down beside of her.
“Sorry if I stink.”
There came that melodic giggle of hers. “You never stink.”
“I’m sweating like a pig, so I probably do.” His gaze shifted from her face and that sweet mouth to the text in her lap. “What’s the paper on?”
“The meaning behind Edgar Alan Poe’s poem, A Dream Within A Dream.” She brought the book up and glanced at it. “Do you want to hear it?”
“Sure.”
“Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow—
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream,” she smoothly read, causing every cell in his body to focus on nothing but her.
“Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand—
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep—while I weep!
O God! Can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?”
When she finished, she glanced over at him. “What do you think?”
“It’s beautiful if not sad, but what are your thoughts?”
“I think he’s talking about coming to the end of his life, and how it has been fleeting. A dream he can’t quite hold on to. A series of events and our perceptions of time.” She shrugged, the pink strap of her bra showing when the collar of one of her oversized dance t-shirts she wore when she practiced slipped over her creamy left shoulder. “I could be wrong.”
“You’re not,” he said, then unable to help himself, swiped a strand of hair from her cheek before he scooted the material of her shirt back in place, covering the temptation.
“So, you think I’m right?” Her eyes locked on his, that need somehow slipping out of the box he’d secured, making him place his hand over top hers.
“Yeah.”
She turned the hand not holding the book until they were palm to palm, fingers twining into his.
The rhythm of his heart tha-thumped hard behind the cage of his ribs, and it had nothing to do with his run.
“Danny…” Moving closer as if a strange force was pulling him, his face inches away from hers, two seconds from giving in to the longing to put his lips the one place he wanted them to be, a beastly H-O-N-K interrupted!
Gage jerked, straightening, then glanced over at Krystin, who was leaning on her horn with one hand, the other out the window waving like an insane person.
His tense shoulders didn’t relax until she stopped the horn.
“Hey, Gage! I’m having a thing tonight. My parents are gone for the weekend so, you know. Party! It starts at eight, but come by anytime, okay?”
He wanted to strangle her. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
Danica had let loose of him, the warmth of her leaving.
“You can come too, Danny,” she said, then added as if it pained her to extend the invitation, “if you want.”
“Thanks,” Danica said just as enthusiastically as the offer had been given, “but I’ve got homework, so I doubt I can come.”
“Aw…too bad.” Krystin smiled, but if it were sincere, it would only be due to Danny not attending. Danica tended to garner more male attention than she did without even trying.
“Okay, well. Catch you later, Gage!” Krystin tucked her head back inside the open window, then popped back out. “Oh, and I guess Jenny will be there. She and my sister are home from college for the weekend.”
He and Jenny had a casual hook-up thing going for a while, but Gage had decided a few months ago, when he’d finally admitted to himself he cared deeply for Danny, and not in a brotherly kind of way, he was done with the whole Jenny thing.
“Yeah, all right,” he said with a head lift, having no intention of seeing her or Jen if she was back.
“I better go.” Danica abruptly got to her feet.
“Uh, okay.” He frowned. “Do you want me to walk with you to your house?”
“No. I’m good. Finish your run.”
Gage, unsure of what had happened, wondered if someone had smacked him. “I’ll be happy to walk you home, Danny.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure I can manage. Bye.” Her words had been stilted and rushed.
Gripping her book, she took off in a dead sprint.
Girls make no sense most of the time. He palmed the back of his neck. Danica leaving the way she did had probably been for the best since he was about to cross a line with her, which he shouldn’t.
“Son. I need you to keep an eye on Danny for me.” Mr. Lorry’s words always came back to haunt him.
“Yes, sir. I will, Mr. Lorry, sir.”
“Yeah,” he muttered, getting to his feet. “I will.”
Chapter Eleven
With two perfectly contented babies, Danica pulled into her circular drive, seeing Howie come around the garage, leaf blower strapped to his back, waving. Once she parked, she rolled down the window as the kid came her way.
“Hi, Mrs. Harding,” he said, then smiled with a mouth full of metal.
“Hi, Howie. How are you today?”
“Pretty good.” His smile fell. “I’m sorry I’m late, but I got held up at your parents’ house, trying to help your dad with that shed he’s building.”
Danica grinned. “It’s not a problem.”
“Doctor Harding wanted me to shape the shrubs again, but I don’t know if I will get to it this weekend.
“There’s always next weekend if the good weather holds.”
“Yeah.” He shifted his weight. “Do you need help getting the twins inside?”
She almost said no, but changed her mind. “You know,” she said, “I could use the help getting all their stuff inside.”
“Sure.” He wiggled the leaf blower pack off his shoulders, put it down, then went around to the back of her vehicle as she pressed the button to lift the hatch. She then clambered out, going to open the side door, seeing two smiling faces looking at her.
“Gage sure has the magic touch,” she mumbled under her breath, then started in on unbuckling Ari from her car seat.
~
Thirty minutes later, the twins had gone down for a late afternoon nap, but regardless of the hour, Danica was pleased.
Walking into the kitchen to get the leftover lunch dishes out of the sink and into the dishwasher, she glanced around and frowned. The kitchen looked as if a bomb had gone off, highchairs askew, cabinet doors and drawers open, the wheat bread she had started to make herself for breakfast that morning still standing in the toaster, untoasted.
With a sigh, she went to the appliance, grabbed the stiff, air-dried food, then tossed the pieces into the tra
sh, her attention snagging on the movement outside the bay window.
Howie was raking leaves around their covered pool.
Nothing about the gangly blond with braces reminded her of the younger version of Gage, and she would be a complete sicko if it did. So, it wasn’t the boy but the yard work that pinged her memory.
The hum of the leaf blower started up.
Grabbing the kitchen cloth, Danica began wiping down her marble countertops, but she couldn’t help herself, her mind drifted to other places. To him.
Chapter Twelve
Before
The sound of the lawnmower starting made Danica’s heart pick up the pace. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror before she put her lip gloss tube into the drawer, got up from her vanity, and went to her bedroom window.
Part of her wanted to open the daisy patterned curtains wide, but she didn’t want to be obvious so, instead, she carefully slipped one panel to the side some and peeked out.
Gage was powerwalking the mower in front of him, having already done a couple of swipes to the front lawn that fast. At the pace he was going, he’d soon make quick work of the grass, moving to the back, meaning her spy game would be a bit harder to achieve, but she’d find a way. She usually did.
Why he’d chosen to do yardwork for a summer job, she didn’t know. Especially since he didn’t need to work. Gage’s parents were well to do and pretty much gave him anything he wanted, including a shiny red GTO when he turned sixteen. But that was the year he’d decided he wanted to do manual labor, and the year Daddy hired him, something she would have thanked him for if it wouldn’t have been suspicious.
Over by the birdbath, Gage stopped—the ppppppp of the mower still running, and tore the damp gray t-shirt he wore up and over his head, leaving his jet-black hair in a tousle.
Danica’s eyes went wide, hoping to seer the vision of all those working muscles in his back and the sweat beads glistening on the smooth span of his tanned neck into her brain. She’d never seen anything as beautiful as him and doubted she ever would again.
Slightly turning, he used his shirt as a towel, rubbing it over his rock-hard chest and rippling abs.
Her gaze slipped, taking in the way his basketball shorts rode low on his hips, showing the start of a deep cut to the muscle above his right one.
She blinked rapidly, placing a hand to her pounding chest, tasting an explosion of the berry flavor of the gloss on her lips, something putting a quiver in her tummy.
Then he fully turned, his head tipping up, looking at her window. She caught the start of a crooked little grin on his face before she dropped to a squat, hoping he hadn’t seen her, but the swaying curtain probably gave her spying position away.
“Crackers!” she spluttered just as her bedroom door opened, and Breckin stepped in.
“What are you doing, Danny?”
Trying to think fast, she spied one of her socks, reached and grabbed it. “Just getting this.” She held up the purple thing as evidence.
“Okay.” Her sister shook her head, long ponytail swishing.
“What are you doing?” Danica shot back.
“I was coming up to see if you wanted to go with Mase and me to the lake later. We’re going to have a cookout, and he wants to fish.”
“Just you guys?”
“I think some of the others are going, too.”
Like Gage? She didn’t ask aloud. “When are you going?”
“Sometime around noon.”
Getting to her feet, lone sock in hand, she shrugged. “Sure.”
“All right.” Her older sister looked at her and what was probably the remnants of heat on her cheeks. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You sure? You look a little flushed.”
“Just hot,” she said.
“Really?” Her sister arched a chestnut brow. “It’s like, sixty-five degrees in here.”
“I was doing sit-ups earlier,” she lied.
“Oh.” Breck looked at her a bit longer then said, “Make sure you bring your bathing suit. Some of us are going to go for a swim before the summer goes for good.”
“Okay. I’ll put it on under my shorts.”
“All right.” Her sister’s green eyes went from her face to her hand, gripping the sock in a stranglehold. “I’ll leave you to whatever it was you were doing.” Breck turned and went out the door—the sound of the lawnmower moving to the side of the house.
Tossing her head back, she stared at the ceiling, letting the cotton slip from her palm, going over her swimwear options. What would snag Gage’s attention the most? Sure, Danica couldn’t be positive he would go, but, if he did, she wanted to make an impression.
Mind made up, she went to her dresser, tugged out the drawer, and plucked up the two-piece pink polka dot one.
“If this doesn’t work, nothing will,” she said under her breath as she closed the drawer with her hip, and then headed for the bathroom.
Chapter Thirteen
After putting her hair up, Danica plucked one of the art deco earrings out of the black velvet box, bent her head, slipped the post through her pierced ear, then attached the back.
“You look stunning,” Marcus said, striding up behind her.
She met his gaze, the two of them framed in her vanity mirror. “Thank you.”
His warm palm curled over her shoulder then slipped down her bare arm. “Blue has always been your color, and this outfit is a particular favorite of mine. It turns your eyes into sapphires.”
The dark blue dress was gorgeous, with beautiful pearl detailing around the neckline that continued as an attached tasseled necklace down the open back, tickling between her shoulder blades when she moved.
Marcus kissed the side of her exposed neck, making a shiver traverse the canvas of her skin. “You never said where we were going tonight.”
She had been surprised and pleased when he’d come home early, saying to get dressed, he’d made arrangements for a baby sitter and was taking her to dinner.
“Canlis,” he whispered before his lips caressed her once more.
“I love that restaurant.”
He smiled. “I know.”
~
After more than a few pounding rounds to the heavy bag, Gage stopped, ripped off his gloves, grabbed the water bottle from the stand, and downed it. Mase was his usual gym companion, but since he and Breck were on their honeymoon in Maui, he was solo.
“Hi, Chief Harrison,” the new owner of the antique store, Felicia Sands said, hips swaying in her capri yoga pants, the bottom of her tied off graphic t-shirt showing her tight midsection as she sauntered his way. “You’re looking good.”
“Thanks.”
Gage was known to flirt. A lot. At first, he did it as a cover, a way to disguise the fact he was captivated by a too-young Danny, but as the years wore on, it became a sort of blanket, a way to stifle the pain. But after his unexpected visit from Alderman Jordan late that afternoon, who grilled him as to why the department needed new Kevlar vests, he wasn’t in the mood for anything.
“When was the last time our guys on the force needed those?” the jackass had asked.
“The fact none of my men haven’t been shot at really isn’t the point of having them, now, is it?” came his response, before the stupid discussion continued.
“Do you realize how expensive those things are?”
“I do.”
“Then why bother with new vests? Who in Cedar Point would pull a gun?”
“You never know what might happen. We do get visitors, and the occasional vagrant passing through.”
The scumbag had chuffed.
“Point being, Alderman Jordan, the proper safety equipment is necessary for law enforcement on the off chance someone does shoot at us.”
“I’ve always wanted to try the punching bag, but I’m afraid I don’t know what I’m doing.” Ms. Sands’ voice pulled him from his musings, his attention shifting back to her. She wa
s glancing up at him from beneath her lashes. “Maybe you could teach me?”
Oh, he caught the vibes she was tossing his way; he wasn’t obtuse, he just chose to ignore them, instead wiping the sweat from his face with the crook of his arm. “I’m not a very good instructor.”
“I doubt that.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Well, how about you and I grab a bite to eat or maybe a cup of coffee? The Choc-Oh! Cottage makes some of the best brews around. They even have the fancier stuff like Cappuccinos.”
“Yeah—”
Her face lit up. “Great!”
Gage lifted his palm. “Hang on, Ms. Sands.”
“Felicia.” She cocked a shapely hip. “No need for Ms.”
Gage put his empty water bottle down. “I was going to say, ‘yeah, they have great coffee’ but I can’t grab a cup with you.”
“Oh…” She pouted. “Do you have to work this evening?”
“No, but I do have plans.” He didn’t really, not unless you counted feeding his fish, ordering take out, and watching Monday Night Football on his big-screen TV plans.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She grinned, not put off in the least. “Perhaps we can get together another time?”
“We’ll see,” he said, though he should have crushed her interest in him. He had to be almost twelve years her senior, meaning she was too young for him, everything Danica wasn’t with her short black hair sticking up in spikes around her pixie face, and sleepy bedroom milk-chocolate eyes.
He was insane, he knew it. He’d never find a woman even remotely close to Danny, and he’d long ago decided not to try, knowing, even if he found a replica of her, the woman would be just that, an imitation—not her.
Ms. Sands placed her hand on his damp forearm. “I’ll let you go, but I hope to see you again soon.”
The woman wasn’t unattractive; however, even if he overlooked the significant age difference between them, her good looks didn’t matter. What put him on his guard when he was around her was a straightforward thing. She hadn’t been afraid to let people know she was, in fact, on the hunt for a husband, and being one of those was something he’d never be.
