by Vivian Arend
“You better. Now go away. I want to drink some more.”
“Thanks, Janey.” He grinned as he stared into the distance. “If you ever need the same favour with Len, you let me know.”
“Fuck off,” she sang sweetly. “I can arrange my own seduction without your help.”
He turned off the power and snuck away, careful to stick to the shadows and not let the girls discover he’d been eavesdropping.
Only putting what he’d learned into action was a hell of a lot harder than he’d expected. Yes, he’d known he’d fucked up, but he had apologized already.
Obviously it hadn’t been sincere enough.
The next morning he shifted uneasily on his feet and waited for Katy to answer his knock. It was just past ten. Late enough she would have had time to sleep in a little and dress, because he didn’t need any temptation to mess this up.
It sort of worked. She was awake. The woman who pulled the door open had bright eyes and a rested face; only she was still wrapped in a mass of soft terrycloth. Her robe ended at mid-thigh, and Gage snapped his gaze back up to safer territory.
He swallowed hard. “Hi.”
She lifted one brow in a perfect Vulcan imitation. “Hi.”
Gage paused. “How you doing?”
Katy nodded. “Good.”
Ah, fuck it. “I’m so sorry, Katy. I was an ass, and I had no right to butt in and go around your wishes.”
The door wavered a little as she hung on it, rocking slightly. “Go on.”
Go on? Wasn’t that enough? Gage struggled for more. Oh, his brilliant idea. He lifted the toolbox in his hand. “I can fix things.”
Katy snorted and opened the door to allow him in. “You still need a coffee, don’t you?”
There was no smell of caffeine on the air. “You’re not drinking coffee right now, are you?”
She padded toward the kitchen. “No.”
Gage made a flash decision. “Then neither am I.”
Katy turned slowly to face him, her expression one of disbelief. “Why would you do that?”
He lowered the toolbox to the floor and followed her into the kitchen. “Because you love coffee, and if you have to give it up, I should too. As support for you while you’re pregnant.”
Katy rolled her eyes at him. “You can drink it, Gage. It’s not going to kill me to have to smell coffee.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I want to do this. To…” He scrambled for words. “To experience a little of what you’re going through.”
“You want to go through delivery as well?” she asked dryly.
“Hell no.” Gage grinned as he reached for the fridge door. “I’m not that brave.”
There were tons of fruit and veggies and juice before him, so he poured himself a glass and offered Katy one.
She watched with a bemused attitude from where she’d pushed herself up to sit on the counter. “What are you doing, Gage?”
“Apologizing.” He lifted his glass to her. “Trying to find a way to truly be there for you and make up for my stupid move at dinner a while back.”
She tipped her glass toward him and they both drank deeply. Katy put her glass beside her on the counter and glanced toward the front hall. “You brought tools.”
“Yeah.” Gage leaned a hip on the counter beside her. “Wanted to have them around in case there was anything I could help with.”
She shook her head. “Nothing broken. Nothing leaking or stuck. Sorry. Thanks for the offer, but I’m good.”
Her feet kicked lightly as she watched him, her gaze lingering on his hands. Gage moved cautiously, afraid to spook her. “Okay. But have you thought about anything you need changed to get ready for the baby?”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it.”
He gazed out the window. “Maybe there’s something there I could help with. If you’d like. Up to you, though.”
God, this beating around the bush was going to kill him.
Katy didn’t say anything for a while. Then this strange noise escaped her, and he whirled in a panic to check her. “Katy, you okay?”
Her shoulders were heaving. Heavy motion rocked her body, and he worried for a moment she was having some kind of seizure. Then she tossed her head back, and an enormous laugh burst free, echoing off the walls of the kitchen and driving into his soul.
Katy laughing was one of the things he’d come to treasure over the years.
Laughing at him? Not so much. “What?”
It took her a while to settle down, and she hiccupped a few times as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Oh God, Gage, this isn’t you. So earnest and willing and…a total pushover. What the hell are you doing?”
What the heck? “I thought you wanted me to apologize.”
She nodded, then shook her head. “I did, and I don’t. I mean you were so out of line after I’d asked you not to interfere.” She lifted her hand to touch his jaw where the final tinge of a bruise was slowly fading. “You got worked over by my brothers that night. I’m sorry for leaving you to them.”
Gage stood stock-still as her soft fingers caressed his cheek. “I blew it more ways than one that night.”
“You did.” She patted his cheek gently then leaned forward to whisper, “But I’m ready to forgive you. Only for heaven’s sake, stop acting like some ball-less dweeb.”
Gage was the one to laugh this time. “That’s blunt.”
Katy shrugged. “It’s the new Katy—I tend to speak my mind a little sooner. So here’s the deal. You will not fuck up and go against my express wishes, and I’ll stop my brothers from beating on you.”
Gage nodded. “And you’ll let me get involved in your life, however it will help you the most. Whether that’s getting things ready for the baby’s arrival, or being there to rub your feet or…” He’d spotted the circle on the calendar on the wall. “Or going to prenatal visits with you.”
She hesitated. “I don’t know how I feel about that.”
“That’s not true.” Gage laid a hand over hers where it rested on the counter. “Come on, new Katy, tell me what’s racing through your mind.”
She stared down at their fingers. “I’m afraid to let you in, then find out you’re not the dad, but Simon is. I’m afraid to have you around and then have you take off down the road.” Her head lifted and those beautiful eyes stared into his soul. “I want you to be there for more than just the baby.”
Gage stroked her fingers lightly. “I’m here. In spite of your fears.” In spite of his own. “I wanted you before the baby was in the picture, and I’ll want you no matter what.” That much he could say with full and complete honesty.
The moment hung between them. Anticipation and longing right there. All his concerns and worries were overwhelmed by the need to have Katy make the decision for him. To be with him, and give him a chance.
Even though her accepting him would open up a world of nightmares—facing those would be worth it. Had to be worth it. He’d chosen to be a better man than his father, and this was the place that he made his stand.
Katy moved so slowly, but finally she did move. Leaned toward him and rested her head on his shoulder. He slipped up a hand to brush the inch-long hair over her scalp, the softness against his palm like satin.
She leaned away. “Okay.”
His heart raced like an out-of-control train. “Okay?”
She nodded. “You can come to the prenatal with me. And you can do some stuff around here, to help get things ready for the baby.”
Gage waited, then got tired of waiting. “And us?” he demanded.
Her tongue snuck out quickly as she moistened her lips. “Well, I suppose we could start seeing each other.”
He wanted to toss his fist into the air and shout, but that might freak her out. So instead he picked her up and twirled her. Hugging her close as she laughed.
“Put me down, silly.”
Gage lowered her carefully, reluctant to allow her warm, soft body to leave cont
act with his. “Does that mean we can go on a date?”
“Yes.” She got an evil look in her eyes. “It also means I’m going to make you keep your promise.”
He paused. “Which one?”
Katy slipped out the kitchen door. “No coffee.”
Damn. “Not a problem.”
“And don’t think you can cheat,” Katy warned as she found a spot on the couch and curled up. “I’m going to tell the boys, and Janey, and once I tell Janey everyone in Rocky will know. You try sneaking up to the window at Tim Hortons, and before you can say ‘double double with a pack of Timbits’, I’ll be on your ass.”
He lowered himself onto the open space next to her, leaving room between them. There would be time to make a move on the physical side of things soon enough, now that she was letting him in.
Letting him have a chance to do the right thing, and more. “No cheating, I promise. Now you want to tell me what you’re thinking about for the baby?”
She leaned back, the sunshine in the window making her soft and edible, and incredibly beautiful. “You have any plans for the day?”
“You are my plans.”
Her smile bloomed, and Gage’s heart swelled a little.
It wasn’t what he’d expected to be doing, talking baby rooms, but in the big scheme of things—it was right.
Except for that itch between his shoulders that poked him every now and then as Katy shared. And the ache in his gut that said he was a fool.
Gage ignored all the voices taunting him and focused on Katy. Focused on the future he wanted more than anything, even as his past sent out warning signs and threatened to break him.
10
She still wasn’t a hundred percent sure it was the right thing, but damn if having Gage Jenick shower attention on her wasn’t a huge turn-on.
He’d hung around all day Saturday. Done every single thing she’d even glanced at in terms of cleanup or repair around the house—or at least what he could do without buying more materials than what he’d brought along in the back of his truck.
There was a new list on her fridge labeled To Buy, the sight of it a little unsettling.
“I can’t afford too much, too soon,” she warned. The idea he’d had to build a closet organizer for the baby’s things was a good one, though. It would free up floor space in the tiny room. She considered her budget and how far she could tweak it before it screamed in protest.
Gage sat back on his heels, the hammer in his hand abandoned on the floor. “I don’t mind buying stuff.”
A rumble of discontent struck. “You’re doing it again.”
“Am not.” He folded his arms across his chest.
A snort of amusement escaped her. “How can you deny it when you don’t even know what I’m talking about yet?”
“From your expression, you’re about to give me grief, and I know I haven’t done anything wrong in the last five minutes.”
His logic made her smile. Katy’s butt was firmly planted where he’d pointed her at the start of their session. He’d carried her mom’s old rocking chair from the porch into the baby’s room. The worn wood under her fingers like a touchstone as she stroked it. “You can’t go spending money I don’t have.”
“I’m not.” The grin he shot her was far too cocky and adorable. “I’m spending my money, that I do have, to fix up the baby’s room.”
“Gage…”
He rose to his feet and snuck next to her chair. Trapping her wrists under his fingers, he moved in close. “Do you have any idea how much I earned per hour up north?”
The words whispered past her ears. Nearly as intoxicating as the heat of his breath caressing her cheek as he leaned over her.
Katy met his gaze—determined not to look away. “Doesn’t matter. I still don’t want you spending lots of money. It makes me uncomfortable.”
They hung there for a moment, nearly close enough to touch. One small rock was all it would take to have their lips meet. Katy held herself completely immobile to avoid being the one to make the first move.
When he straightened, relief and disappointment wrestled for top billing.
Gage nodded, a slow dip of his head. “I can respect that, but there’s a difference between me feeling obligated to spend money I don’t have, and being pleased to spend money I do. So let me know what you feel comfortable with, and I’ll try not to push you too far, too fast.”
He tweaked her nose then dropped back into position to carry on fixing the floorboards.
His arm moved in a smooth rhythm, biceps flexing as the hammer fell with repetitive ease. The temperatures outside her little house had fallen below freezing, but the first thing Gage had done that morning was restock the wood pile and get the woodstove blazing.
The heat in the room—Katy wasn’t sure if it was the fire or her crazy hormones.
Damn, the man was easy on the eyes.
“I’m going to make some supper.” She paused in the doorway, glancing back in time to see him jerk his gaze off her butt and toward the floor. “You are staying for supper, right?”
He whipped out the dangerous smile. “I’ve got no plans to head anywhere else.”
She paced down the hallway, a trickle of happiness rising. For a moment there, she’d thought he was going to kiss her. Maybe later tonight.
Now that the nausea was gone, her libido was working overtime.
Dinner was half from the freezer, half fresh cooked, and by the time she’d put the completed pot of spaghetti and reheated sauce on the counter, Gage had joined her in the kitchen.
He breathed in deep. “Heavenly.”
“Twofer cooking.” She pointed at the open cupboard, and he grabbed down plates. “Janey and the girls and I started it years ago. We cook up double batches and freeze the second serving, then we switch them around. Means we get to try new meals, but don’t have to fuss with cutting back recipes for one person or end up eating the same meal too often.”
“So you trade? Smart move.” He loaded his plate then glanced around. “Table?”
Katy hesitated. She wanted something a little less formal even though it broke every rule she’d been raised with. “Want to watch a movie while we eat?”
Gage’s eyes widened. “Katy Thompson, you heathen.”
She hip-checked him lightly. “I know. Don’t tell my dad.”
He pressed a finger to his lips briefly, then tilted his head toward the couch. “Sit, and I’ll bring the drinks.”
Warm fire in the stove. Warm food in her belly.
Katy was going to blame the heat enveloping her on those things. Not on the warm body nestled against her side. After they’d gotten rid of their plates, it seemed the couch had grown smaller. Or it had developed a hollow in the middle that rolled her toward Gage.
Somehow they’d ended up with their thighs touching.
She wasn’t even sure what movie they were watching. People raced after each other, guns went off. A wall exploded, but she’d lost track of the actual plotline as Gage stretched an arm along the back of the couch.
A snicker escaped before she could help it.
He leaned forward slightly. “What?”
“Aren’t you supposed to yawn or something before you do that?”
Confusion stretched across his face. She shifted her shoulders, rubbing his biceps softly.
“Ahh.” The light went on in his eyes. Gage waggled his brows. “Only if we were teenagers. Now? We’re grown-ups. I get to move a little faster.”
Oh lordy. Katy’s breathing kicked into higher gear.
Gage adjusted position until he held her chin in his fingers.
“Hmmm.” His thumb caressed her lower lip. “You said we haven’t even had a first kiss.”
Katy made an attempt to speak, but no sound emerged. Instead, she licked her lips and tried not to hold her breath. Passing out would be a bad idea right now because she really, really wanted to kiss him.
Gage’s gaze danced over her face. “I suppose this is
as good a time as any…”
Katy couldn’t agree more. She sat motionless as Gage leaned toward her, slowly bringing their lips into contact. A gentle caress of his lips over hers with increasing warmth, increasing pressure. She found her fingers threading their way through his hair, and she was no longer reclining against the back of the couch. No, she was forward on the couch, trying to get as close as possible.
The kiss continued as Gage teased his tongue along her lips, briefly dipping into her mouth before taking everything up a notch.
Katy was no longer warm, she was on fire. His lips left her mouth to dust a series of kisses along her jaw. Teeth nibbled at her earlobe, his tongue delicately tracing the curves of her ear. A shiver shook her from top to bottom as she luxuriated in his careful attention.
Slowly she became aware how tight a clutch she had on his shoulders, desperately tugging him back in an attempt to reconnect their lips.
She found herself being lifted then lowered into his lap, their torsos touching while pleasure wrapped around them like a cozy blanket. She was enjoying herself far too much to protest. Especially when she slid her hands up his chest, palms directly over his rapidly beating heart.
She wanted more. Wanted to straddle him and be able to feel the hardness now nestled against her butt cheek. She wished that solid bit would make contact with other parts of her anatomy. Parts that would very much appreciate more pressure.
With one hand he still controlled her head, lining them up so their lips could mesh perfectly. “Katy,” he breathed past her cheek as they separated barely an inch. “Mmm. You taste as good as I remember.”
Katy worked to settle her breathing. “I kind of liked it myself.”
Then she laughed as Gage pulled his phone from his pocket and clicked on his camera. He grinned at her briefly.
“Gage Jenick, what’re you doing?”
“I’m making memories,” Gage said. “And I want proof.”
He lifted his hand in the air and twisted the camera toward them. A click sounded, and her amusement grew. Selfies. Too funny.
He pulled the phone close and showed her the picture. Her cheeks were flushed, and his eyes glowed with heat. They looked as if they’d been interrupted in the middle of a heavy make-out session, which…hello.
