Back for You (4 page)

Besides, the simple truth was, Cain was unfinished business. She needed
to purge him from her system so she could move on. No matter how much the very
idea scared her.

No, scrap that. She
had
to do it
because
it scared the shit
out of her.

And wasn’t that a pretty pickle to find herself in.

Thea sure didn’t make it easy.

But that was okay. She had no reason to. Nor did Cain expect, or deserve,
it. Not after the way she’d all but thrown him out of the bar after their first
meeting.

He grinned to himself. She’d never been shy about letting him know how
she felt. It was just one of the many things he loved about her.

In the succeeding days after that first meet, he’d racked his brains for
ways to show her he loved her. He didn’t want to bug her, but if he ever had
any hope of getting back together with her, he needed her to get used to seeing
him again, to having him around. So he began stopping by the bar every morning,
not staying long, just long enough to say hi and ask how she was. Of course,
she’d mostly glared at him, barely giving him monosyllabic answers.

But he hadn’t come empty-handed. He’d brought her a cup of coffee made
just the way she loved it. And to make it extra special, he’d also brought her
one perfect stem of her favorite flower, a peach-colored sweetheart rose.

At first, she didn’t drink the coffee and he suspected the rose ended up
in the trash, but after a couple of days, he’d spotted the rose in a glass
behind the bar, and by the fourth day he’d spotted her sipping the coffee while
he was still there. All good signs.

And it gave him hope.

That was when he’d also started dropping by later in the day. He’d ask
how her day was going, and he brought her a special treat, one she’d be
hard-pressed to refuse. He knew she had a sweet tooth and a strong weakness for
chocolate-covered cherries from Forsythia Falls’ local chocolate factory. So
every time he came, he brought her one beautifully wrapped piece, along with
another sweetheart rose.

And each time he came by, her smile grew a little wider, her eyes shone a
little warmer, and she talked to him just a little bit more, giving him hope
she was thawing toward him, a tiny bit more each and every day.

*

Okay, the room can stop spinning anytime now.

Sitting askew on the couch, Thea tried to focus on something, anything, but
this wooziness was a real problem. It was also beyond annoying. She hadn’t had
that
much to drink. Perhaps a skosh more than usual, but not enough to get more than
pleasantly buzzed.

Then again, the spinning room said otherwise.

Perhaps if she closed her eyes…

Her lids snapped back open. Nope, that made it worse.

There was a distinct possibility she shouldn’t have finished what was in
the pitcher. But there’d only been a teensy bit left. Seemed a shame to throw
it out.

Damn.
She was such a lightweight.

She sighed, wishing her friends were still there. She could’ve used their
distraction. But the movie was long finished, and Marcus had already taken Asia and Lexi home, so here she sat, curled up on her couch.

All alone with her fuzzy thoughts.

She needed to stop thinking about Cain, and how sweet he’d been in the three
weeks since he’d been back. How he hadn’t pushed anything between them besides
just seeing her and chatting with her every day, bringing her coffee, and
flowers, and special treats. It only served to remind her of how sweet he’d
always been, even ten years ago.

Besides, it was starting to drive her crazy that he wasn’t pushing things
any further. Had he changed his mind? Did he not find her as attractive as he
once had? Had he forgotten about their little kiss?

She sure hadn’t. She couldn’t seem to stop replaying it in her head. Nor
could she forget he’d said he still wanted her. And if that kiss had proved
anything, it was that she definitely wanted him.

She could still feel the way his hair curled on the ends, entwining like soft
tendrils around her fingers as if not wanting to let her go. Could still see
the delectable indentation at the base of his throat, his strong kissable collarbone,
his sexy forearms. She could still smell his warm, clean male scent.

Oh yeah, she remembered that hot kiss all right.

But then, his kisses had always turned her insides to mush, and emptied
her mind of everything except how good he made her feel. It had been that way from
the very first moment she’d met him. Even then, it was the hot steamy kisses in
that dark closet that had led to so much more. She got wet just thinking about
it.

Yep, the more she thought about it, the more she was convinced her
friends had the right idea about Cain. She’d love to climb all over his hard,
ripped body. Sex had always been good between them. Scratch that. It was better
than good.

It was off the charts.

Amazing.

Hot.

Scorching.

There was no reason they couldn’t pick up where that kiss had left off.

And
, she knew just where to find him. Within convenient walking
distance at the bed and breakfast just up the road. She even had the number in
her cordless phone’s directory. Why
not
go for it?

Her woolly brain tried to come up with a reason but for the life of her,
she couldn’t think of one.

And best of all, she was feeling very free. And daring.

And exceedingly horny.

Without further thought, she reached out to snatch up her phone, missing
it by a mile. Her second attempt knocked it to the floor.

Damn it
. She wasn’t usually this clumsy. Of course, the room
wasn’t usually doing this crazy tilt-a-wheel thing either.

Taking the path of least resistance, she slid from the couch to the floor
butt first, landing on the phone with a thud.

Well, at least she didn’t have to hunt around for the damn thing. She
jiggled and squirmed, maneuvering the elusive instrument out from under her
butt.

Man, this was exhausting.

Breathing hard from her struggles, she pondered the need to start doing
more intensive aerobics. Deciding she was comfortable right where she was, she called
up her phone’s directory, which entailed pushing the wrong button twice and almost
deleting the number once.

Taking a deep steadying breath, she forced herself to focus.

Success.

Feeling ridiculously proud of herself, she listened while it auto-dialed.
Thank God a friend of hers had stayed there once or she never would have gotten
this far.

At long last, after a confusing interlude with the stupid person manning
the switchboard, the phone in Cain’s room started to ring.

And ring, and ring. Was he out? He’d better not be out. It was vital she
tell him what was on her mind. Before she lost her nerve.

“Hello.”

Cain’s groggy voice set her heart racing with a combination of relief and
excitement. “
Cain!
I was worried you were out.”

A beat of silence greeted her. “Thea?”

“Bet you weren’t expecting to hear from me.”

Another pause. “No, I wasn’t. Are you okay?”

“I’m great. Never better.” She stifled a hiccup and giggled.

“You sound kind of strange.”

“I’m fine. I need to tell you something and it can’t wait.” The phone slipped
out of her hand. She groped around for it, putting it back to her ear in time
to hear rustling on the other end of the line. “Are you in bed?”

He chuckled. “Don’t sound so surprised. It’s after two a.m.”

“Really?”
When had it gotten so late?
“Well, you’re up now.”

At which point happy images bombarded her of Cain naked, in bed. Naked, and
up. Up being the operative word.

She all but drooled. It was more than enough to send her down pleasant
bunny trails of lust-filled thoughts. Thoughts of his hard, naked length on top
of her, working his muscular thigh between her legs, his hard cock probing her
hot center.

She shivered. “Want some company?”

Stunned silence greeted her question and another giggle escaped her lips.
Looks like she’d surprised him with that one.

“Thea, are you drunk?”

She grinned, feeling all sexy and saucy. And a wee bit naughty. “Maybe.
But just a little bit. Nothing to worry about.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Aw, come on, so I’m a little tipsy. Doesn’t change anything.”

Cain sighed. “It changes everything.”

Panic filtered through her pleasant buzz. It was crucial she let him know
how she felt, that she talk him into letting her come over. “No, it doesn’t. I
have to tell you. I still want you, Cain. I’ve never stopped wanting you. Never
stopped thinking about you.”

She thought she heard him groan, and pounced. “I can be over there in two
minutes.” That is, if the world would stop wobbling a little bit.

“Thea, you’re killing me here.”

“No need to torture yourself. I’ve missed your hot body, the way you
taste. Missed feeling you deep inside me.”

That time she was certain she heard a groan. “There’s nothing I want more
than to have you here with me right now, but you’re drunk. You’re going to
regret this call come morning.”

She scowled, thoroughly annoyed he wasn’t cooperating. “No, I won’t. And
don’t tell me what I think.”

Cain’s sigh of exasperation was unmistakable. “I’m not. Look, this isn’t
getting us anywhere. You need to sleep it off. But you’d better believe, if you
haven’t changed your mind by tomorrow, I’ll be all over you before you know
what happened.”

Oh God, yes please. “But I don’t want to wait.” Okay, that sounded a wee bit
whiny.

“God, Thea, neither do I. But I messed things up between us once, I’m not
going to do it again. Now go drink a tall glass of water, take a couple of
aspirin, and go to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Frustration chewed at her. When had he turned into a buzzkill? “Damn it
all. Why do you have to be all noble now?”

His deep throated groan made her insides melt. “Believe me, I’m asking
myself the same question. Good night, Thea.”

Before she could respond, he hung up, the dial-tone letting her know
she’d lost her chance, bringing her down from her happy little high with a resounding
thud. She couldn’t believe it. The jackass hung up on her.

She absorbed that for a moment and then awkwardly shrugged.

Well, at least he’d stopped her from whining again.

But damn it, when had Cain started taking the fun
out
of things?
He’d always been spontaneous and crazy? What the hell had happened to him? And
why the hell did it have to happen now?

If she’d been standing she would have stomped her foot in frustration.

Still grumbling, she bumbled her way up off the floor and staggered to
the kitchen for a drink of water, plotting all manner of mischief and mayhem on
Cain Marshall’s sorry ass the entire way.

The next time she saw him, he’d be sorry, that’s for sure. She’d make
sure of it.

Slumped over her desk with her head resting on her forearms, Thea closed
her eyes, thankful the headache from hell had lifted. If her eyes hadn’t felt as
if she’d just come out of a raging sandstorm, she might have felt more life-like.

But, she wasn’t complaining. Not really. As far as hangovers went, this
one hadn’t been too bad.

What
was
bothering her was the gnawing feeling in the pit of her gut
that the nebulous flashes of memory she kept having weren’t from some dream she’d
had last night.

It didn’t matter how much she told herself there was no way she’d say any
of those things to Cain no matter how much she’d had to drink, the uneasy
feeling of impending doom kept washing over her in ever-increasing waves. And repeatedly
chanting
it couldn’t have happened
wasn’t helping.

But really, it
couldn’t
have happened.
Could it?

Panic washed over her yet again in a rapid, heated flush.

Oh God.

Those memories
had
to be from a dream because if they weren’t
she’d have to kill herself.

For real.

She whipped her head up off her desk and proceeded to shuffle some papers
around, looking for some kind of distraction. But no matter what she did, she
couldn’t shake the horrible feeling she’d done the unthinkable.

A sharp rap on her office door interrupted her nicely escalating freak-out
session. Words weren’t anywhere near enough to express how grateful she was for
the distraction from her self-made hell. “Come in.”

The door swung wide, and typical of the day she was having, it revealed
the very last person she wanted to see. Almost as if she’d summoned him with
the power of her thoughts.

“
Cain.
”

His warm smile was tinged with a hint of wariness, unusual for him. “I
hope I’m not interrupting anything too important.”

Nope, nothing important. Just me having a freaking panic attack.
“What
do you want, Cain?”

His grin widened, as if he had a delicious secret, and the sick feeling
in her gut increased ten-fold. Her jaw clenched in anticipation of the worst.
She
hated
this. She just knew he was going to say something she didn’t
want to hear.

“How are you feeling today?”

Her freak-out meter went clear off the charts. “I’m fine.” No way was she
going to ask him why he was asking.

No way.

He nodded. “Good. I’m glad to hear it. I thought you might have a killer
headache today.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Why would you think that?”

He
wouldn’t
say it. He would
not.
She surreptitiously
crossed her fingers, her legs, everything that would cross, and for good
measure, sent up a prayer to anyone who might be listening.