Out of Bounds (19 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I
F
HE
’
D
BEEN
SURPRISED
at the clear spaces upstairs, he recognized the basement as the work of the same collector who’d put together Wonders. Boxes were stacked from floor to ceiling around all four sides of the large space. A big garbage can rested next to a table covered with packing tape, markers and strips of colored dot stickers. Posy seemed to have been using that area as a command center.

Posy devoured her roast-beef sandwich and then apologized. “I didn’t stop for lunch,” she said. “I had a fantasy that I was going to get through the basement before I went to bed tonight.”

He put the second half of his sandwich down and wiped his mouth on a paper napkin. “So let’s do it. Show me what you need.”

The boxes stacked near the stairs all had to be moved to the garage, so they spent the next half hour shuffling up and down the basement stairs. He had two cartons of books balanced in his arms when Posy started down the stairs toward him. He turned to face the wall and she slid behind him, one of her hips brushing across the back of his jeans. He was grateful she couldn’t see the effect that touch had on him.

When they’d finished that, Posy got glasses of water from the kitchen and they ate cheesecake from the paper containers. She boosted herself up to sit on a steamer trunk and he settled on the floor in front of her.

The wall behind her was lined with plastic tubs labeled with her name. Posy—age 8. Posy—artwork, elementary. Posy—sophomore.

“What’s with all the boxes?” He gestured with his fork.

She blushed pink. “My mom is a collector,” she said. “She never threw anything out.”

“When you sell the house, what happens to all that?”

“I’m getting rid of it. Those boxes we just put in the garage are for the Goodwill. The guys are coming tomorrow. I’m getting a Dumpster delivered for this and the ones I stacked near the stairs. That will leave just—”

“You’re throwing all this away?” he interrupted her, putting his plate down and walking over to the bins. He ran a hand over the outside of the stack. There must have been close to fifteen of them, all full of Posy’s childhood. Her mother had cared enough to save and sort and store all this for her.

“I told my mom she had two choices, come home and help or let me make the decisions. She’s not here, so it’s all going out the door.”

He was tempted to crack open a tub and look inside. Just to see what kind of things her mom had kept, what kind of things Posy didn’t see a need to even sort through before she threw them away.

She set her plate down and joined him.

“Don’t you want to look? Maybe keep some of it for yourself? For your kids?”

Posy shook her head. “I know how it seems. Like I’m throwing this out to spite my mom.” She kicked the bottom of the tub in front of them. “But that’s not me inside there. It’s my mom’s story of me. Who she wanted me to be and who I hardly ever was.” She pointed to a tub labeled Posy—dance. “See that one? She made me take dance lessons right along with Chloe and all the other little girlie girls in my class. I was awful. One year at the recital, I was doing a jump and I overshot my mark. I landed practically on top of the piano player and broke his wrist. I was so mortified, but I thought at least I wouldn’t have to dance anymore.” She touched the tub again. “Wrong. She made me go right back to lessons the next week.”

Wes put his hand on her shoulder. “That’s a terrible story.”

“I don’t need this, Wes,” she said. “When it’s all gone, my mom might still have compulsive issues, but without the house or the store, they won’t be as bad. She’ll be able to manage without me. I’ll be free.”

He leaned down to kiss her. He didn’t understand how things got so wrong between her and her mom, but he wanted her to know he was there. That he heard her, even if he didn’t understand.

* * *

P
OSY
LEANED
INTO
HIM
, letting his arms and chest support her. His hands skimmed down her back and she pressed closer to him, to the support of his frame.

She wanted to believe Wes understood but she doubted he could.

She looped her fingers into his waistband just above his hip bone, letting her fingers slide down between the fabric and his skin. He moaned against her mouth and she pressed her palm flat, sliding her hand from his hip around to the front of his jeans where his erection pressed against his zipper.

His hands dipped inside the V-neck of her shirt, his long fingers sliding under her bra to touch the sensitive skin of her breast. His touch jolted her and she moved against him, more insistent, wanting more than he was giving.

When he moved his hand, she missed the contact even though their mouths were still joined and her hands were on him. And then he was cupping his hands under her and lifting, spinning them, holding her tight against him.

She’d known he was strong, but hadn’t expected this. He pulled her tight against him and then his lips moved from her mouth to her jaw, to trail down her neck. She lifted her head to give him better access to the places he was so skillfully attending to and glanced across at the tubs.

Reality slammed into her.

She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed backward, forcing him to let her slide down.

“I can’t do this here. Not with Mom’s storage all around me.”

“Okay, then where? Upstairs?”

She shook her head. He didn’t understand. Kirkland made her nuts. She wanted to be with him in her real life, not here, where everything she was working to remove from her life pressed in tight.

“I have to go back to work tomorrow for a few days. I’m doing an inspection at our hotel in Niagara Falls. Come with me.”

“Take Your Lover To Work Day?”

“My boss doesn’t mind if I travel with someone else on the inspections. It helps with the cover story, actually. We can have two nights away from here for ourselves.”

He hesitated. “I don’t know if I should go away right now. We’re close—”

“Please come with me,” she said. “I want you to.”

“Two days. We have to be back in two days.”

“No problem.”

He nodded.

They went back upstairs together and he convinced her that a good-night kiss was necessary. That led to a little more than a kiss, but he finally went back to his apartment, leaving her alone with Angel.

She slept in the guest bedroom again, her dreams full of Wes and a hotel room far from Kirkland.

* * *

M
ADDY
WAS
BEHIND
the Guest Services desk when Posy came in. She handed her a set of house keys and Angel’s feeding and walk schedule. Posy had told her not to worry if Angel got out, but she hoped Angel wouldn’t escape. She’d only be gone two days. Making these plans for Angel made it clear that she was going to have to do something about the dog if her mom wasn’t going to take her back. She remembered Travis with his net and his trap and then how funny Angel looked when she jumped from the arm of the couch to fling herself on Posy whenever she came home.

She didn’t have to sort the dog out yet.

“Hey,” Posy said, “do you know where my mom is?”

Her cousin carefully smoothed the shiny wood surface of the desk. “I do, but she doesn’t want to receive visitors.”

“Well, maybe you can pretend to forget that just long enough to tell me where she is.”

“I can’t,” Maddy said. “Our hospitality rules forbid it.”

“She’s taking advantage of you,” Posy said. “She’s taking advantage of you and putting you in the middle. Don’t let her do that to you.”

“She’s been genuinely upset,” Maddy explained. “The surgeon was out of the country for a week or so and she hasn’t been able to get in touch with him. I think she’s worried he’s dumped her.”

“It’s entirely possible he never existed in the first place, you know?” Posy rolled her eyes. “I don’t want her putting all her eggs in his basket, anyway. She needs to look for an apartment here in Kirkland, one that allows pets!”

“Okay. Her house isn’t going to sell that fast. We have time to work on this.”

“Can I write her a note?”

Maddy passed her a sheet of paper and a pen.

Dear Mom,

Angel’s fine, thanks for asking. I heard the surgeon is playing hard to get. You should think about doing that, too. Why don’t you come home, help me deal with Wonders, and then we’ll rent a place for you downtown. You don’t want to stay silent forever, do you?

Your daughter,

Posy

She thought she’d be able to calm down before she picked Wes up, but the anger stayed with her, coiled right under her skin.

It wasn’t about the fundraiser or even about being left holding the bag with the house and the store. No, she was furious with her mom for hiding behind Maddy. The number of decent relationships she had in Kirkland was small. Why did her mom have to take her issues and store them at Maddy’s retreat house?

She’d told Wes she’d pick him up at his office, so she parked in a visitor’s spot and went inside the town hall. She was a few steps before the conference room near the mayor’s office when she heard a burst of laughter. Curious, she glanced in as she was about to go by. She stopped when she saw Wes at the front of the room in the center of a small knot of men. The mayor was there and his assistant. A few of the others she recognized from the town board. She watched as they listened to Wes and then laughed again.

Wes’s face was lit up, from the spark in his eyes to the sexy twist at the corners of his mouth. She knew exactly why those guys were hanging on his stories. He was magnetic.

Being able to pull people in, make them feel special, read them and give them back what they wanted was a gift. Wes had that gift in spades.

She ducked back around the corner of the doorway and waited until the meeting broke up. Wes walked through the door with the mayor on one side and his assistant on the other. “Posy!” he said. “I’ll be there in one minute.”

She nodded and went outside to wait for him at her car.

Seeing Wes in his element had inflamed her anger. With all his gifts and all his strengths, there must be a thousand and one jobs he could do, and do well. Why should he be stuck here in Kirkland, doing his brother’s flunky work? He deserved the chance to discover his own life.

She’d worked up a decent head of steam by the time he came out. He had a leather duffel over one shoulder and a blue fleece in his hand. Seeing him walk toward her car, knowing he was packed and ready to spend two days with her... His swagger and the light in his eyes when he waved to her... All of a sudden, the anger she’d been feeling turned to lust.

* * *

S
HE
GOT
A
SPEEDING
TICKET
halfway to Niagara Falls. Wes tried to switch seats with her but she wouldn’t give up the wheel. Getting out of Kirkland had never felt as good as it did that day, with Wes along for the ride.

They were about ten minutes from the hotel when she said, “This is an unannounced visit. I mentioned that, right?”

He nodded.

“So we’re undercover.”

“Fake-mustaches undercover or just not flashing our employee ID undercover?”

“I don’t think I’d remain unnoticed long if I were wearing a fake mustache.”

“So I’ll wear the fake mustache and you can use the fake accent.” He leaned against the door, turning his shoulders to see her better. “How’s your French?”

“I’m much better with Transylvanian,” she said. Then she added in her best vampire-inflected tones, “Very nice to meet you, my dear.”

“Oh, that’s perfect. No one will ever suspect you’re not an actual Transylvanian. Bravo, Posy.”

“What I started to explain, Wes, is that on these inspection visits, it’s important for me to assess all the amenities. I hope you won’t mind.”

* * *

T
HE
EXTENDED
-
STAY
SUITES
at the Hotel Marie in Niagara Falls had hot tubs in the room. Wes dropped his duffel on the floor and took in the view from the sweeping windows, out over the town and the falls beyond. Then he turned back to the hot tub bubbling in the corner of the room opposite the fireplace.

“When you told me we had to assess all the amenities, did you know the room had a hot tub?”

Posy nodded. “Guilty.”

“You’re a tease,” Wes said.

“Guilty again.”

She pulled the thin white sheer over the window to give them privacy without blocking the light. Then she was in his arms and before long they had stripped off their clothes and were inspecting the hot tub. The jets were all in working order and the temperature was perfect.

He wanted to stay in the tub forever. The bubbling water covered Posy, naked and eager in his lap. But before he was really ready, he found that he couldn’t wait.

They laid towels on the rug in front of the fireplace and made love. This time there was no hesitation. They made the most of the excellent amenities in their suite.

For the next two days, they were absorbed in each other. Posy completed her inspections, making surreptitious notes on her iPad and snapping pictures with her phone. Sometimes she made him pose in front of whatever she was really photographing. He didn’t mind. It gave him an opportunity to flex for her and he knew she got a kick out of that.

He saw a new side of Posy. She was as smart and competent as ever, but she laughed more easily and the armor she wrapped around herself in Kirkland was gone. She didn’t look for insults. He loved seeing her relax, but the contrast with the way she could be in Kirkland was jarring.

She seemed unable to fit in when she was in Kirkland, but seeing her at the hotel, he realized it wasn’t that she couldn’t fit in in Kirkland, it was that she wouldn’t.

Any hope he’d been holding on to that there might be some way he could persuade her to stay slipped away.

He savored every second of the vacation, maybe more than he would have if he’d thought they stood a chance when they got back to town.