Could This Be Love?

by Lee Kilraine

  Tansy batted Avery’s hand away and stepped around her. “Nothing happened, Avery. I’ve been feeling so crappy lately. I needed a little pick-me-up. Doesn’t it look great? We could be twins.”

  Avery stared at her sister trying not to let her face reveal her . . . huh, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Tansy’s new look. With her beautiful chestnut hair now bleached a brittle blond, she looked like Avery’s twin . . . if that twin lived in an alternate Rocky Horror Picture Show universe. Poor Tansy. Stress made people do crazy things. Oh, boy. Happy hour now sounded like a genius plan.

  “I do wardrobe and makeup for a living. Lying right now would be the cruelest thing I could do.” Pia shook her head. “That hair color does not go with your skin tone. The trick to changing your hair color is to stay in the same family, but just change the tone or add highlights. I’ll help you fix it if you want.”

  “There is nothing to fix. The ladies down at the salon tried to talk me out of it too, but I knew what I wanted and stuck to my guns. I love it. You don’t mind me borrowing your dress, do you, Avery?”

  “N . . . no, I don’t mind. It’s a little big on you though, isn’t it? And what happened to the rest of my clothes?”

  Tansy looked around the room, seemingly unfazed by the chaos she’d created. “I had to go through your whole wardrobe to find something that fit. Can’t the hotel maid clean it up?”

  “This little hotel doesn’t have maid service.” Pia narrowed her eyes at Tansy. “You seem to be feeling good enough. Maybe you could try cleaning up your own mess today.”

  The nervous glance Tansy threw her caught Avery off guard. Huh. She’d always thought Tansy was just young and irresponsible. Was it possible Pia was right and Tansy was taking advantage of her? Or was it the stress?

  “Avery, go down the hall to my room and shower and change down there. I’ll help Tansy and then we’ll hit happy hour. I do believe I need it now more than ever.”

  “But—”

  “Go. We’ve got this. Go. Shower. Primp.” Pia grabbed out one of the few dresses still hanging in the closet, shoved it into her hands along with her room key, and pushed her toward the door.

  “But she always—” Tansy sniffed and looked just like she had when their parents had sent them to bed without dessert.

  Glancing over at Pia, whose gaze dared her to baby Tansy, Avery shook her head. “You handle it, Tansy. I’m going to shower.”

  “I don’t see why I should—”

  Pia’s gaze speared Tansy in place. After a moment of silence, she took slow, measured steps into the mess Tansy had created. “On account of you being sick, I’m going to help you this one time while Avery showers.” Pia leaned forward. “But I’m tired of watching you take advantage of Avery. She’s the sister I never had, and I refuse to let you mess up her life.”

  “She’s my sister!” Tansy pouted with her hands on her hips.

  “Then act like it, damn it.” Pia stared Tansy down until her pout disappeared.

  Huh. Pia might have a point. Maybe it was time to stop being a pseudo helicopter parent and let Tansy learn to take responsibility for her own life. As soon as they got Tansy healthy, that would be Avery’s new plan. But right now Tansy’s pale face reminded her of her current plan: track down her missing family.

  “The faster we clean, the more time we have for you. I can’t fix your bad bleach job tonight, but I can make sure you don’t look like a little sister playing dress-up.”

  Tansy opened her pouting mouth, but one look from Pia and she shut it and shuffled into the bathroom, where she banged things around and grumbled under her breath.

  “She’s doing a half-assed job.” Pia shrugged her shoulders and began gathering the clothes scattered on the couch. “But it’s about time she cleaned up some of the chaos she creates.”

  Poor Tansy looked to be having no fun at all. Guilt tugged at Avery when she thought of her sister. “I always wondered how much my leaving Tansy hurt her. She’s such a fragile girl.”

  “You didn’t have a choice.” Pia gestured wildly with one hand toward the bathroom. “And Tansy isn’t a girl. She’s only three years younger than you. Old enough to be responsible for her own life and her own messes. Now, go shower.”

  “You would have made a great drill sergeant.”

  Fifteen minutes later, when Avery returned, Pia was putting the last few pins into the back of Tansy’s high-necked blouse and pencil skirt. “You cannot put your Kate Moss body into Avery’s Marilyn Monroe wardrobe. But we’ll make this work today with safety pins and a cute jacket to hide them.”

  “I’m not sure if that’s an insult, Pia, but since I look cute, I forgive you.” Tansy posed in front of the mirrored closet door, admiring herself.

  “I’ll sleep better tonight knowing that. One thing, Tansy.” Pia held Tansy’s gaze with what Avery called her “I’m mistress of the universe, don’t mess with me, bitch” look. “Don’t for one second think you’re going to mess up the thing Avery has with the movie star. You’re sleeping in my room tonight.”

  Oh, yikes. Avery’s gaze landed on the bed, and a rush of heat surged from low in her belly up to her cheeks. Could she handle another night with Sijan?

  “Somewhere in this town there’s a margarita with my name written in salt waiting for me.” Pia opened the hotel room door with a wide arm swoop in an attempt to get them moving. “I plan to have my lips wrapped around the rim of that glass in ten minutes.”

  ***

  Yadkin’s Depot didn’t have a happy hour. Until Avery asked the bartender what their happy hour special was. Turned out ladies drank free during happy hour, something the waitress, Cindee, seemed mildly surprised to hear. Avery ordered a glass of cabernet, Pia a double margarita, and Tansy a ginger ale with a lime.

  Joe, the bartender, was happy to regale them with the history of the former train depot. The wall behind the bar was the original brick from 1943 when the station was still moving lumber and grain through. Large glass windows had been installed into three of the depot’s four walls, giving the bar a light-filled yet industrial atmosphere.

  Avery left a generous tip on the bar, then followed Pia and Tansy over to sit at a large scarred oak table. She had the phone in her purse with the ringer set to its highest setting. And her purse in her lap. Open. Just in case. She glanced across the table at Tansy. Who wouldn’t want to throw a fit and toss things around at the unfairness of it all? She peeked into her purse to double-check how many bars her phone had.

  “Would you stop?” Pia elbowed her. “Here comes our second round of drinks. Oh and what a coincidence, here come the men.”

  “I haven’t even finished my . . . what men? I never called Sijan.” Avery glanced up from her purse, and there was Sijan standing directly in front of her. There might have been other men with him, but she didn’t notice. His silver eyes looked luminous in his tan face. His dark, close-cropped hair accentuated his rugged jawline. A wave of heat flushed from her head down. Way down. Sijan grinned his dimpled smile and she grinned back. “Well, hello. How did you find us?”

  “Climax is a small town with a well-run Grapevine. Everyone knows pretty much everything about everyone.” Sijan sat in the chair next to her and kissed her hello. He pulled back slowly, until they were staring into each other’s eyes. “Not complicated.”

  Not complicated? What kiss was he talking about? Avery saw a hand stuck out to her from the corner of her vision. She tore her gaze from Sijan to find a big, powerful-looking man with dark auburn hair and hazel eyes ready for an introduction. “I’m Hawk. I’m one of the owners of the gym down the block. And a cop. I work with Sijan’s brother Quinn on the local force.”

  “Henry Lee’s dad. I hope he’s feeling better,” Avery said, shaking his large hand. “Quinn? I think I met him a few days ago.”

  “You did,” all of the men chorused.

  Pia sat back to look at them all. “That must be some Grapevine.”

  Tynan winked at Pia and
said, “Oh, it is, so watch yourself, woman.”

  “Hey, I’m not the one who couldn’t hold my liquor last night,” Pia said. “I bet you got home and tossed your cookies all over your man card.”

  “Close, but see, I’ve learned.” He held his mug of beer up. “From now on, only the lighter stuff around you. You’re dangerous.”

  “Ow! Oh, everyone this is my little sister, Tansy.” Avery had been so flustered by Sijan’s kiss she’d forgotten to make the introduction until Tansy pinched her under the table. Avery watched her sister smile coyly at all three men before turning her smile brightly on Sijan.

  Tansy grabbed Sijan’s hand and sighed. “I feel like we’ve met before.”

  “That’s funny,” Hawk said. “I was just thinking that about your sister. I’m sorry, Avery. I don’t mean to stare, but I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

  Avery laughed lightly, squirming a little when Sijan and Tynan refocused their gazes on her. “I have one of those faces, right, Pia?”

  “She really does. She gets that all the time. Is anyone else hungry? Thirsty?” Pia looked around the table. “Excuse me, Cindee? Can we look at a menu, please?”

  The waitress hustled over with menus, looking a little harried. Avery glanced around, surprised at the crowd. The bar had been almost empty when they arrived. An attractive brunette wearing a figure-hugging pantsuit with a generous display of cleavage and a Priscilla Presley (after the divorce from Elvis) haircut walked over to their table.

  “Hey, Cindee, when did Joe start offering a happy hour with free drinks for the ladies?” the brunette asked.

  Cindee tipped her head toward Avery. “Since she walked in.”

  “Whoa. Quinn’s blonde?” The brunette leaned forward to shake hands with Avery. “I’m Barbara Jewel, and you and I were almost best friends. But then you let me down.”

  “Hello.” She frowned, not sure what the woman was talking about. “How did I let you down?”

  Sijan leaned in. “Everyone heard about you meeting Quinn. Barbara hoped you were going to help her beat out Delaney, her high school nemesis.”

  Avery turned her head to ask, “Beat her at what?” and found herself lip to lip with Sijan. Her gaze caught up in his. Up close, his gray eyes were a kaleidoscope of silver and yellow set in shining steel. The electricity between them sparked.

  “We need to go.” Sijan stood up, helping Avery up also. He grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket, pulling out a credit card. “Ty, tell Joe I’ll cover happy hour. There’s no way he thought it through when that fell out of his mouth. I’ll get the card from you tomorrow.”

  Tynan took the credit card and passed it over his shoulder to Cindee. “Looks like the hour just got happier.”

  Pia delayed Avery with a hand on her arm. She held her hand out in front of her, waiting. “Av. Hand it over.”

  “But, Pia, what if—”

  Pia reached into Avery’s purse and took the phone out herself. “I will sleep with it in my hand and the minute it rings, I’ll bring it to you. Promise. Now go. You two kids have fun.”

  As they made their escape, Tynan called out, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

  “That pretty much leaves everything on the table. Thanks.” Sijan wrapped his arm around her waist and escorted her out.

  It was a short walk to the hotel, but a small part of Avery wished it were just a little longer. She loved what this man did to her in bed, but what was growing ever clearer was that this—whatever it was between them—wasn’t just sexual. There was a connection that she’d never felt with a man before. And that was not a feeling she could trust. She could enjoy the hot, amazing love lessons without risking her heart, right?

  “Why are you shaking your head? Are you trying to make sense of this? Because I tried that all day,” Sijan said, stopping her and backing her up against a building. He looked down into her eyes, until she couldn’t look away. He took her hand and placed it on his chest over his heart. “Do you feel that? I swear to God, it beats faster when I’m near you. I can’t explain that. I can’t. But I can’t explain the beauty of a hanging curveball either, yet it’s one of the sweetest things to watch.”

  He felt it too. It wasn’t just sex. In her life, though, with her history, she couldn’t risk more than that. But if she ever found the courage to open her heart and trust a man . . . was it possible this could be the one? She ran her hand from over his heart up to his jaw, and he groaned and dipped in to kiss her. A wild, passionate, uncontrolled kiss that had her trying to catch her breath. “Do you think the Grapevine could handle it if we ran the rest of the way to the hotel?”

  “They would eat it up.” Sijan rested his forehead against hers. His hands moved up to cup her face along her jaw, fingers caressing into her scalp and neck. “We might be able to fool them with a fast walk.”

  They didn’t fool anyone.

  ***

  The hotel room door had barely shut behind them before Sijan pressed her up against the nearest wall and kissed her senseless. She had never melted from any other man’s kisses before, but Sijan could mop her up off the floor when this kiss was over. But before she melted, she wanted to collect on something she’d been thinking about since this morning.

  “Hey, you promised me ‘up-against-the-wall sex.’ Fork it over, buddy.”

  He laughed. “I was planning on us getting to know each other better before we got naked.”

  “I’m a very good multitasker. We can do both.” And just to help her case a little, she whipped her blouse off.

  “You fight dirty. I like that, but think again, darlin’.” He pulled his shirt off over his head, then unzipped his jeans and shucked them off. “Up-against-the-wall sex is fast and dirty. No time for chitchat. Now strip.”

  A flush coursed through Avery’s every artery, vein, and capillary like a high-speed train. She couldn’t get her clothes off fast enough. And it was everything Sijan had said it would be. Fast and dirty, but he’d forgotten to say how completely hot it was. She loved being “taken,” but maybe that was because Sijan had been happy to let her push his back against the wall and “take” him too. The more control she had, the easier she could breathe.

  Twenty minutes later, they were horizontal and decadently naked in bed. As much as she tried to keep their time together about sex, he kept making it deeper and more intimate. He was funny and romantic and drew out little wisps of her life, while sharing stories with her too.

  “Favorite season?” He held a white rose he had pulled out of the arrangement on the coffee table and slowly ran it across her bottom lip and down her neck. His silver gaze followed the petals’ velvet trail along her quivering body.

  “Winter. I like feeling cozy and safe on a cold snowy day.” Did he honestly think her brain was going to keep working much longer?

  He ran the dewy petals down over her left breast, lightly teasing her nipple. “Beach or mountains?”

  She closed her eyes, trying to think, but the fact that his mouth was right there . . . so close to her breast. Her mind and body were waiting for him to replace the teasing soft stroke of the petals with the warm, moist heat of his mouth. “The m . . . mountains. I like the idea of sitting in front of a warm fire, safe from the night. When I stand in front of the ocean, I feel small. And lonely.”

  He paused the rose as it touched the valley between her breasts.

  She opened her eyes to find him frowning down at her. Geez, why had she said that? Obviously he was shorting out her brain. “My turn. Dogs or cats?”

  “Dogs. Big ones. Not those little yippy ones that women put clothes on. That’s just wrong.” He shook his head, then refocused on the rose again, trailing its softness along her skin over to her other breast. The feather touch left goose bumps. “You?”

  “Me what?” What were they talking about? She was too busy watching his lips move as he spoke, trying to hold back a whimper when he ran his tongue along his bottom lip. Did he know how crazy he was making he
r?

  “Dogs or cats?” His lips took their time sliding into a grin. She managed to tear her gaze from his mouth to meet the sexy, knowing light in his eyes. Yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

  “Both.” Avery shrugged awkwardly, feeling her breasts move with the shrug. “I love animals. All kinds.”

  Sijan’s face moved from relaxed to intense on a breath. He tossed the rose over his shoulder. “You know you’re killing me, right?”

  This time, when she shrugged, he moaned and devoted all his attention to her breasts. Kissing, licking, sucking until she was the one moaning. Sijan didn’t ask any more questions for a while. Which was good because it was hard to answer when the man above her had stolen her power of speech. Sijan taught her a few new things, some she had never even dreamed about. And at least one she hadn’t thought was physically possible. Boy, did he prove her wrong.

  ***

  It was the second-greatest night of Avery’s life, until Sijan woke her up by turning on the bright bedside light and demanding, “Avery, would you care to explain why you have a pregnancy test kit in your bathroom?”

  “A what?” Avery sat up pulling the sheet up and shading her eyes until they could adjust to the light. She looked up at Sijan standing next to the side of the bed. “What are you talking about?”

  “This,” he said, shoving the small box in his hand closer to her face. “This empty pregnancy test kit. What’s going on, Avery?”

  Chapter Eleven

  For one second, Avery’s optimistic, believe-the-best-in-everyone attitude tried to convince her this was a dream. A nightmare. A pregnancy test kit in her bathroom? It must be Tansy’s. Oh, God, was Tansy pregnant and not seriously sick? Or pregnant and sick?

  She let it sink in what the box meant. This could be good news or horrible news. Oh lord, please let it be good. Either way, it meant, even if Tansy hadn’t lied outright, she hadn’t been completely honest with her either. Just like Pia had warned.