Anything for Her(35)

“What?” She separated herself from him enough to be able to see his face.

His eyes were different now, the same dark blue but more solemn, watchful. “That was making love. I don’t think I’ve ever done it before.”

Oh, dear God. A huge, painful lump caught in her throat and she stared at him. Was he saying he loved her?

But he didn’t, the Allie who wasn’t Allie protested. He couldn’t. He didn’t really know her. No one did. But if he thought he loved her...

What do I feel?

That was the scariest realization of all, because she had a very bad feeling she wanted him to love her. She thought he was the first and only man she’d ever met whom she could love.

But could she trust him? Was she allowed ever to trust anyone?

Her skin seemed to be cooling at shocking speed and she shivered.

Nolan sighed and tucked her back in his embrace, where she couldn’t be anything but warm. He didn’t say anything else.

* * *

NOLAN HADN’T GOTTEN half an hour’s work done when he glimpsed movement out of the corner of his eye. He loosened his fingers to silence the saw.

Sean stopped in the open doorway, Cassie trying to shove past him. He said something Nolan couldn’t hear.

He lifted the ear protectors from his head and pushed up the goggles, rubbing with his forearm at the deep creases they left.

“You’re here,” Sean said. Or repeated?

Nolan had the impulse to wince, and suppressed it. “Where else would I be?” he asked mildly. He’d be fine as long as he didn’t start grinning. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop, not with his body feeling so replete.

“I thought... Nothing.” His face brightened. “Cassie was waiting at the door.”

The dog’s tail lashed happily at the sound of her name.

“I’m afraid she spent all day there. I’ve taken her out several times, though.”

“Oh. That’s cool. Did you let her off the leash?”

“Yeah, threw the ball for her. She was good.”

“Cool,” he said again.

Nolan waited through several twitches and the beginnings of a squirm. “You need something?”

“No, I just wanted to tell you... But it’s no biggie.” He started to retreat.

“I’m already stopped. Tell me.”

“Oh. Well, see, there’s this meeting tomorrow night. At school.” He was apparently checking for parental comprehension. Nolan nodded encouragement. “It’s about basketball. The coach wants to talk to parents of freshmen before they go out for the team.”

“What time?”

“Seven.”

“Good.” He grinned. “I’m glad you decided to try out.”

“You weren’t planning to, I don’t know, see Allie tomorrow night, were you?” Sean asked in a rush.

“No.”

“Oh. I mean, it’s okay if you can’t...”

“I said fine. We’ll talk about it over dinner.” He pulled down and adjusted his goggles. “I need to get back to work now.”

Sean watched him for a minute even as he donned the ear protection again and picked up the circular saw with the electroplated diamond blade, necessary to cut granite.

With a good grip on the handle, Nolan gently began, letting the blade do the cutting. When his mind tried to summon the picture of Allie sprawled on her bed, her slender, lithe body naked, he ruthlessly shut it down. This work was too dangerous to allow himself to daydream.

He kept going until later than usual, trying to make up for the midday interlude. Even so, he was far from satisfied with what he’d accomplished when he finished. Usually he’d have been frustrated, but today... Nope, no regrets. Cleaning the guts of the saw with compressed air, then running it briefly to release more debris, he was grinning foolishly and damn glad Sean wasn’t here to see.

* * *

CHLOE KICKED AT the sand with her bare feet. The soles of her feet were baking, so she veered toward the incoming waves, grateful for the cool, wet, hard-packed sand left behind by swirls of foam. She didn’t want to be here. Resentment sizzled. Her parents could have left her in New York. Nobody cared if she was here. She couldn’t afford to miss two whole weeks of dance classes and rehearsals. While she was plodding along, the other girls were soaring.

And there they were, first dashing away from a wave then soaring above the beach and foamy fingers of water, bodies perfectly positioned. Jessica doing an exquisite cabriole, Rachel a grand jeté. They were both making harsh, cawing sounds, which seemed normal even as Chloe glowered at them. What made her maddest was that they didn’t fall back to earth as they should have.