Love in Bloom (14 page)

That macho attitude again.  Taking the soft cuff in her hand, she leaned toward him.  He didn't move.

She dabbed his forehead, his cheekbones, but when her ministrations slipped to his neck, he grabbed her wrist.  "Enough, Paige."

It was a warning, but she felt reckless.  She ran the material from his chin to his shirt collar.  He closed his eyes and said sharply, "Paige..."

It was more than a warning this time.  She dropped her hand into her lap.  "I don't want you to catch a cold."

"As hot as I am at this moment, that could never happen."

She wasn't exactly sure what he meant and she wanted to find out.  "The rain should have cooled you off."

"I'm talking about you, not the weather.  Each time you touch me..."  He swore.  "We've got to get home."

He put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking place.  After a few miles, he switched on the radio and she knew he didn't want to talk.  She put the jacket around her shoulders, breathing in Clay's scent, rested her head against the seat, and tried not to think.

The storm became more severe the farther they drove.  Paige could hardly see through the windshield and could imagine the difficulty Clay was having.  But he didn't pull over.  They traveled slowly but surely.

Eventually, he turned onto the road leading to Doc's.  Suddenly Clay screeched to a halt.

He swore when she braced her hands on the dashboard, then murmured, "Sorry."

She caught her breath and asked, "What's wrong?"

Clay motioned through the windshield.  "There's a tree across the road.  They must have had a worse storm here.  We'll have to go to my place and get dried off until it's cleared."

He didn't sound happy about it.

When they arrived at Clay's, they ran from the detached garage to the house.  Inside, Paige shook off Clay's jacket.  "Now it's wet, too."

"It doesn't matter."  He motioned to the upstairs.  "Go on.  Take a hot shower so you don't get sick.  There's a robe on the inside of the door.  Drop your clothes outside and I'll throw them in the dryer."

"I should call Doc."

All business and practicality, Clay said, "I'll call him and tell him what's going on.  He can let me know when they clear the road."

Trying to stop shivering, Paige went straight to the upstairs bathroom, undressed, and dropped her clothes outside the bathroom door.  It felt strange to have someone taking care of her.  She'd been on her own most of her life.  Even when she'd been with her parents, they'd expected her to take care of herself.  And she had.  Proudly.  But Clay caring about her felt...nice.

The hot shower warmed her to her bones.  After she toweled off, she reached for Clay's robe.  It fell to her feet.  She wound the belt around her waist twice, feeling as if she were wrapped up in an oversized velour blanket.

She found a blow dryer under the sink and used her fingers to push her hair into order.  Without a brush, the result was a fluffy brown mass framing her face.  Coming out of the upstairs bathroom, she passed Clay's bedroom and couldn't help peeking in.  The four poster pine bed looked king-size.  It would have to be for Clay to be comfortable.  The room had stark white walls broken only by the forest green and navy patterned drapes and bedspread.  It was a masculine room.  A picture of herself and Clay intertwined on the bed flashed before her eyes.

Paige quickly went downstairs.  Shep lay in front of the fireplace as if he expected Clay to start a fire any time.  Paige smiled until she stood in the doorway to the kitchen and saw Clay.

He was making a pot of coffee and his back was to her.  He'd changed into a clean T-shirt and jeans.  His hair was still damp but looked as if he'd taken a comb through it.

He heard her when she moved toward him.  Turning, he gestured to the table.  "There's a pair of socks if you want to--"

His eyes slowly ventured from her fluffy hair to her bare toes.  His eyes darkened and seemed to burn into her.

She took a few more steps.  "Did you call Doc?"  Her mouth was dry and the words came out in a bumpy cadence.

"Yes.  He was glad to know you were safe."  Clay's voice was husky.

"Of course, I'm safe.  I'm with you."

At that, Clay shook his head.  "Paige, do you know how absolutely enchanting you are?"  He reached for the lapel of his robe and straightened it carefully.

She cleared her throat.  "It's a little big."

He slid his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face.  "I've been trying not to touch you."

She wished he'd run his fingers through her hair again; it felt so good.  But she tried to concentrate on their conversation.  "Why?"

"Because I know I shouldn't kiss you."

Her throat tightened.  "Would it be so terrible?"

He exhaled a huge sigh.  "No."

"Clay..."

"When you look at me like that--"  He tilted her head up and bent his.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The touch of Paige's lips broke Clay's control.  His arms slipped from her face to her back and pulled her closer.  Her kiss was tentative, and for a moment he thought about stopping.  Then she sighed and the idea of his tongue touching hers swept restraint to a back corner of his mind.

When she raised her arms and threaded her fingers through his hair, he thrust into her mouth, demanding she respond.  Her tongue slid over his then danced around it, inciting fires he'd thought would never burn again.

The inside of her mouth was seductive satin, the taste of her was as sweet as summer-ripe fruit, the feel of her in his arms created loneliness so deep, he sought to assuage it any way he could.

He'd intended to kiss her once, lightly, and let her go.  Yes, it would have teased him.  But he knew his own boundaries.  He could tell when easy desire escalated into hungry passion.  And he knew he could stop before the passion took over.

Before he could have stopped.  Before Paige.  As her tongue feverishly stroked his, the desire flared into passion, and then blazed into a ferocious elemental need.  Clay lowered his hands to her waist, and as their bodies met, even with the barrier of clothes, the universe exploded.  Paige's response changed, becoming almost frantic.  Her fingers massaged his scalp and caressed his neck as she arched toward him.  Could she possibly know what she was doing to him?

The world tilted.  Reality went berserk.  His mind spun as fast as all his senses.  He was caught between needing and knowing he shouldn't.  There was a threshold he shouldn't cross--one that led to intimacy and truth and heartache.

Clay knew he'd shut off this kind of passion.  He'd shut off the hunger and yearning in order to make himself an emotionally comfortable life.  Paige had wiped the comfort away.  She'd shaken up his space and he was still trying to put a lid on the effects.  So what the hell was he doing kissing her?

The kiss was more than it should have been, less than he wished it could be.  Red-hot need laced his body until the desire surging through him aroused him to a height he'd never experienced.  What about Paige reached down inside him, took hold, and wouldn't let go?  She was just a woman.

Just a woman?  No.  A special woman.  Too vulnerable.  Too caring.  Too...dangerous.  He could lose the simplicity he held on to with both hands.  He could lose himself.  He couldn't take that chance.

He ended the kiss and lowered his arms.  If he kept holding her, he'd want to hold her forever.  Control wasn't so hard to maintain.  Physical distance led to emotional distance.

Paige's expression was bemused.  His robe gaped at her breasts and the creamy flesh made his fingers itch.  He longed to touch her.  He backed up.  Physical distance was all he needed.

"Clay?"

"What?"  He regretted the sharpness of the question, but he couldn't be tender now, not if he was to keep from kissing her again.

"Tell me how you feel."

So honest.  How could he be just as honest and not hurt her?  "I'm sorry I let that happen."

She looked deflated, disappointed.  "I see."

No, she didn't, but this is the way it had to be.  "Your clothes should be dry by now.  I'll get them."  He started toward the basement door, trying to still his shaking hands.

"Would you like me to start a fire in the fireplace?" Paige asked tentatively.

A fire, shadows, warmth, flames flickering on Paige's face.  Talk about temptation.  His first thought was no way.  But then he looked at her bare feet, her arms wrapped around her as if she was cold.  Maybe the hot shower hadn't taken away her chill.

"That's fine.  There's kindling in the box behind the sofa."

She nodded.

Clay opened the door to the basement.  She was one capable lady.  One kiss wouldn't throw her off balance for long.  As he descended the steps, he told himself that's what he believed.

****

Two days later, Paige was cooking supper when the telephone rang.  She looked at it expectantly, hoping the caller would be Clay.  She hadn't heard from him since he'd brought her home after the storm.  Soon after she'd started the fire, Doc had called, saying the township office had sent men to remove the tree blocking the road.

The time she'd spent with Clay after the kiss had been awkward and stilted.  She blamed her inexperience with men for believing the kiss had affected Clay as much as it had her.  She'd felt excitement from the top of her head to her toenails.  Her breasts had tingled and she'd wanted to press them against Clay.  She relived the moments when his desire was hard against her.  Her own deep, dark arousal had astounded her.

Somehow in the midst of all that, she'd known Clay possessed a strength she needed and that her feelings for him went deeper than she ever could have imagined.

But then he'd said...

She picked up the cordless handset and saw "out of area" on the caller ID.  Her mother asked,  "Paige, are you there?"

"Yes, Mom."

"I'm not having much success getting volunteers long distance.  So I'm coming to the States for two weeks."

Paige's stomach lurched.

"There are a few doctors I want to speak with in Los Angeles," her mother went on.  "They might be interested in working here for six months or a year.  I'm also going to give presentations to classes of residents.  Maybe I can wake up their social consciousness."

"You're flying just to Los Angeles?"

"Oh, no.  Texas and Ohio, too.  Then I thought I'd end up in Langley and we could fly back together."

Paige's heart skipped a beat.  "When will that be?"

"Around the beginning of July.  I can't give you exact dates because I'm going to mine the wealth wherever I find interested doctors."