This Just In... (Harlequin Superromance) (17 page)

Sabrina didn’t look up when she answered and her voice was so low he wouldn’t have heard if they hadn’t been so close together. “Maybe.” She lifted her eyes to his. “That doesn’t mean I’m still not going to try and get my job back. You know that.”

Noah nodded, tamping down on the grand sweep of optimism that lifted his entire body. She hadn’t said she was staying. Not yet. But he saw the confusion in her eyes, recognized it for what it was. She did see a place for herself in Wheaton, with him. He lowered his mouth to her ear, his lips tickling the softness of her skin. “I don’t want you to go.”

A shiver went through her like the wake left by a sailboat. She twisted her head to look at him, a new light in her eyes. “Maybe you could come with me.”

His smile slid away. “I can’t.” He couldn’t leave the town, the residents. Just couldn’t.

The light dimmed and winked out. “Right. No. Of course not. I wouldn’t ask you to.”

They both ignored the fact that she just had.

* * *

T
HEY
GOT
HOME
LATE
that afternoon, well-fed, a little sunburned and ridiculously happy. The heavy discussion about leaving and staying had evaporated under the hot sun, leaving them with a sense of peace that things were going to work out just fine.

Noah kissed her on the lips, then on the strap line where her dress had been. “You need lotion,” he told her and kissed the spot again.

Sabrina tossed a look over her shoulder as she opened the door to the entry. “You offering to smooth some on for me, Mr. Mayor?”

“I think I could find some time in my busy schedule for that.”

She laughed and closed the door behind them. The entry was dim and cool. He followed her to her place since he’d already migrated clothing and some of his toiletries there. Even though it was only a small trek across the hall, it seemed silly first thing in the morning to climb out of her warm bed, tromp through the entry and get ready in his own place. Not when he could use those extra minutes in bed with Sabrina. And there was more than that, too; it was combining their belongings and their lives into the same space.

“What time do we have to get the kids?” she asked, taking the now empty picnic basket from him and carrying it into the kitchen.

“Not until seven.” He stepped up behind her while she unloaded the used plates and plastic cups and slipped his arms around her waist. “We still have a couple of hours.”

“Oh? Did you have something in mind?” She acted coy, but Noah saw her body react to his words. He slid his hands up her torso and cupped her breasts.

“I might.”

She leaned back against him. “Well, then lead the way.”

By the time they finished up everything Noah had in mind, which was quite a lot—she’d unleashed a creative side of him that he hadn’t known existed—it was close to seven. Damn. He’d hoped for at least another hour stretched out beside her, feeling her body move against him.

He was particularly unhappy when she rolled away from him and levered herself to a sitting position at the side of the bed, so he took hold of her waist and dragged her across the sheets.

“Noah.” She shook a mock reprimanding finger at him. “We have to go.”

“Just a few more minutes.” He tugged her back down against him, running a hand along her side and over her hips. Her skin was satiny smooth. He loved the way it felt beneath his fingers and did a little more exploring.

“Not that I don’t enjoy this.” Her words came in short gasps that informed him just how much she did like it when his fingers dived lower, searching and exploring. “But if you start this, I’ll expect you to finish and then we’ll be late and Marissa will kill us.”

True, but Noah wasn’t sure he minded. Marissa would understand. She’d told him she wanted him to be happy and this made him very happy.

Sabrina exhaled, her breath fluttering across his neck, making Noah’s entire body tighten with desire. Just a few more minutes. After another couple of well-placed strokes that had her arching toward him, begging him with her body, she agreed.

He was feeling rather smug about being on time when they drove over. Sabrina’s hand was on his thigh, just resting possessively, letting anyone who might look know that they were together, while she talked. She explained more about her upcoming series for the paper. “Did you know Mrs. Mann was a champion ballroom dancer? She still has some of her old costumes. Gorgeous.”

Noah slid a glance at her while she talked. God, she was amazing when she was passionate. Whether it was in bed or talking about her work. Her cheeks flushed and eyes brightened. He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips.

She smiled. “What was that for?”

“Because I wanted to.” Because Sabrina made him happy to be himself. When they were together, he wasn’t the mayor or a boss or a son or an uncle. He was just Noah. He liked it. “Do I need a reason?”

“No.” She leaned toward him, though the bucket seats and gearshift prevented her from getting as close as Noah would have liked. “But if I knew the reason, I could do it again.”

He kissed her palm. “There’s no reason.” He kept her hand tucked in his the rest of the drive.

Would have kept it even afterward had the kids not commanded all their attention as soon as they pulled up to the house. Their little bodies spilled over the front steps in a jumble of arms and legs and shrieks of delight, demanding attention and affection as if it was their right.

“Sabrina!” Daisy hugged Sabrina’s knees almost knocking her over. Noah put a steadying hand on Sabrina’s back. “Hi. Let’s play. Can I wear your boots?”

Sabrina was wearing the famous red boots. A couple of weeks earlier, Noah had noticed Marissa sporting an awfully similar pair in pink.

Paul was quieter than his sister and stood slightly behind her, waiting while Daisy finished what seemed to be a long and involved tale of dinner.

“Hey, Paul. Ready for the game tomorrow night?” Noah asked.

Paul nodded, his face lighting up. “Mom washed my jersey today.” He edged closer to them.

Noah had bought some tickets to the preseason junior hockey game playing in the neighboring town and they were making a boys’ trip out of it. Kyle, Paul and Noah. It was nice, just hanging out with the guys. In a few years, Scotty would join them, then Timmy. Maybe eventually Noah’s own kids.

He felt a warm glow fill him at the thought. His kids. He looked at Sabrina who was holding her own under Daisy’s exuberant greeting. She’d be a great mom.

He noticed Paul turn to look at her, too. The poor kid had a massive crush on her. Always hanging around, watching with moony eyes. Noah couldn’t blame him. The kid had good taste. While Daisy announced her ideas for the games they could play, Paul moved another half step close to Sabrina.

“Hi, Paul.” She noticed his approach and pulled him in for a hug, which Paul pretended he didn’t like. “Where’s Scotty?”

“Getting his diaper changed,” Paul said and then ducked his head.

“He made a stinky,” Daisy overshared. “It was gross. Daddy said they should leave it for you, but Mommy said no.”

“Remind me to buy your mother something nice,” Noah told her as the toddler in question came out the door holding his mother’s hand.

When Scotty saw Noah and Sabrina his eyes opened wide and his thumb popped out of his mouth. “Sabby.” He reached out for her. Noah didn’t even rate a glance. It appeared that Sabrina had won the hearts of everybody in the Barnes clan.

She picked Scotty up, planting loud kisses all over his face which made him laugh. “Me, too,” Daisy insisted, still hanging on to Sabrina’s leg. Sabrina bent down and kissed Daisy a few times, too. Paul sidled closer and allowed her to kiss him once on the cheek.

Marissa gave her a one-armed hug which was all she could manage with three of her kids draped over Sabrina. “Kyle’s just putting Timmy to bed.”

“He has to go to bed early because he’s little,” Daisy said. “But I’m a big girl so I get to stay up late.”

“Eight isn’t late,” Paul told her.

“It is, too.” Daisy put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Noah intervened before they could get going. He’d rather not spend the night breaking up arguments over who said what and the meaning behind it. “Why don’t you two go inside and figure out what we should play first?”

Happy to have a goal, the pair ran off. Noah noticed that Paul let Daisy beat him to the front door though he could easily outrun her. He’d probably let her choose the first game, too. Noah made a mental note to let Paul pick the first game. It was good for Daisy to learn that being louder and more demanding didn’t always mean getting her way.

Sabrina and Marissa chatted away on the front step while Scotty stood at their feet looking perfectly content to be there. Noah did, too.

The women were still feeling their way around their old friendship, building a new bond even as they polished up the old one, but they both seemed better for it. He couldn’t help counting it as a point in favor of Sabrina staying. Surely, she saw the same things he did. How the townspeople had opened up their arms and welcomed her back as one of their own. How she’d given them a piece of herself in return.

Marissa said something and the two of them broke into peals of laughter. Scotty chortled along with them and Noah smiled.

Sabrina was a part of Wheaton. She was happy here. She must see that.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

S
ABRINA
FROWNED
AT
George Cuthbert even as a laugh burbled up inside her. But really. George was the kind of man who took a mile with or without that first inch. It was important not to let him think he was getting away with something. That only fired him up.

“George. Do you want to do this interview or not?”

“Of course I do.” He ran a hand over his bald head, buffing the shiny top. “You think I got dressed up for the ladies here?”

She eyed him steadily, perusing the war uniform he was proudly sporting. “Yes.”

He cackled. “You got me, girlie. You know what they say about a man in uniform.”

She did, but she didn’t want to hear about it from George. Again. She pressed the tip of her pen to the notebook in her hand, having found the visual aid of taking notes seemed to keep George somewhat in line. “All right. Tell me what Wheaton was like before you left.”

As she’d told Noah, she hadn’t started her new series with George. But that hadn’t stopped his chest from puffing out with pride when she did ask him. Even now he was practically popping the buttons on his jacket.

“You told my boy how you feel yet?”

Sabrina’s pen stalled without writing a single word, and her breath was suddenly lodged in her throat. She maintained her calm front or did the best she could. “Pardon?” She met George’s gaze even though she wanted to look anywhere but at him.

“Noah. You sure you don’t got potatoes growing in those ears?” George shook his head at her. “You going to tell him how you feel or just pussyfoot around it?”

Tell Noah how she felt. She swallowed. “I’m here to interview
you,
not the other way around.” But there was a slight tremor in her voice that no manner of calm breathing could dispel entirely.

George snorted. “You at least told him you’re staying?”

Some of the banding around her lungs eased. This was something she could answer, easily and without delving too deep. “I’m not staying, George.”

He snorted again. “’Course you are.”

“No.” Sabrina swallowed, ignored the little button of pleasure that popped at the idea. Staying. Here. With Noah. With everyone. “I have a life in Vancouver,” she reminded George and herself.

A life she was dying to get back to, right? Of course she was. She was a city girl at heart. She only wore the red boots and casual jeans because she wanted to fit in while she was here. But really, her sky-high heels, late nights and glittery life were where she truly felt at home.

“You have a life here,” George said. He reached out a gnarled hand and placed it on her knee. For once, there was no attempt to grope or pat her in inappropriate places. “Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see that.”

“I’m not the one who needs glasses.” But her chest was tightening again. A long, hard squeeze that made it hard to catch her breath, hard to remember what she really wanted, what she’d fought for.

George patted her knee again. “Noah’s a good man. You could do worse.”

An understatement and one she didn’t want to analyze. “Thanks for the insight. Now let’s talk about you.”

With the threat that she’d interview someone else or place him on the third page instead of the cover like everyone else, Sabrina managed to bring George back around to talking about his time in Wheaton before and after the army. But the lingering discontent remained with her, tarnishing her good mood and making it difficult to focus. She even let George get in a butt pat as she left.

If that wasn’t the sign of a distracted mind, she didn’t know what was.

George was wrong, Sabrina told herself as she drove back to her apartment post-interview. Not about Noah, but about her staying. Out of the situation, freed to really think about it, she knew that now. She swallowed the burn rising up her throat. Probably had too much coffee today. Nothing more. Nothing more at all.

She knew she couldn’t stay. Yes, she’d made some changes to her life since she’d come back, but those were only temporary. And she and Noah knew where they stood. They would enjoy each other’s company while she was in town. Nothing more.

But her mind felt no calmer when she got home and she paced around the apartment unable to sit still or concentrate. Even the power of her soothing decor couldn’t ease the restlessness. She’d barely arrived and already everyone was assuming that she’d stay. Seriously. How long had it been? A couple of months? She mentally counted back and then paused. Four? Four
months?

And when was the last time she’d called her editor or Big Daddy? She swallowed. A couple of weeks? She rushed to her computer on wobbly legs and powered it up.

According to her Sent file, it had been a month. Sabrina sank into the chair. An entire month. And she hadn’t called them, either, because if she’d called she would have emailed to follow up. Her head began to throb. She’d let everything slip. Everything she’d worked so hard for. Released as though she’d never had it at all.

Sabrina shook her head, forced back the headache. There was nothing to get upset about. She’d been caught up in the simplicity of small-town life. It had been easy to rest, to lie back and just let things happen to her. No more. She opened up a new message and typed quickly before any of the self-doubt or confusion could take root and stop her. Then she pressed Send. Now all she’d have to do was wait.

But even after the email was long gone and the nerves battering her insides had quieted, she still worried whether she’d done the right thing.

* * *

S
ABRINA
HADN
’
T
EXPECTED
the call when it came the final week of September, three weeks after she’d sent her last-ditch email to both her editor and Big Daddy. She’d resigned herself to the idea that life wasn’t going to work out exactly as she’d planned, and though she wouldn’t say she was content, she could deal with it. It wasn’t as if she had much choice.

She told herself she could be satisfied here. Trish was giving her more assignments at the paper; she actually had come to enjoy her part-time work at the coffee shop; she loved her apartment; and of course, there was Noah. It wasn’t the city, but maybe it was time to grow up and recognize that part of her life was over.

And then she answered the phone and everything changed.

Sabrina swallowed her nerves. Well, it was done now. Her emailing and badgering and persistence had paid off. Everything was working out. So why did she feel sick inside?

Her apartment was quiet. Too quiet. Noah was still at work and she’d turned off the music an hour ago, finding it distracting. She turned her attention back to the computer screen to the article she was writing for Trish. To the last article she’d probably ever write for the
Wheaton Digest
and shook off the melancholy. She wasn’t leaving forever. She’d come back. Things had changed and she wouldn’t forget about her little hometown so easily.

But she still jumped when she heard the telltale crunch of Noah’s tires turning into the driveway, the sound of the front door opening, the thump of his footsteps as he came to her place instead of his own and slid the key she’d given him into her lock.

Excitement and apprehension warred within her and made the back of her neck tingle. She wiped her hands on her jeans as she rose to greet him.

Noah smiled as he set his briefcase down on the floor and strode straight to her, gathering her into his arms. “Mmm.” He buried his face in her hair and inhaled. “I missed you today.”

Sabrina’s hopes sang even as they sank. She loved it when he said things like that, letting her know that he thought about her, that she was part of his life. But today the feeling was bittersweet. She clung to him, her hands holding his shoulders, wishing she could put off her news for just a little while. Just long enough to enjoy the moment with Noah wrapped around her, whispering in her ear and following up his sweet words with tiny nibbles that made her entire body quake. But she would only be putting off the inevitable conversation, and she sensed that doing so would make things worse.

She pulled back, painting her face with a cheerful smile. “I got some news today.” News she’d hardly dared to hope for.

“Oh?” He kissed the side of her neck again.

She forced herself to lean farther back. He stopped nuzzling, a puzzled expression on his face. Sabrina kept her smile bright. It was good news, so there was absolutely no reason for the twinge in her stomach. “I heard from my editor at the Vancouver paper.”

His fingers spasmed at her waist, but he didn’t let go. He didn’t say anything.

Sabrina tried to ignore the sense of foreboding. There was nothing wrong. This was good news, and exactly what she’d been chasing for the past few months. Finally, her hard work had paid off. “They’ve offered me my old job.”

Noah stilled. His mouth grew tight, but he remained silent. It was up to her to fill the quiet that had invaded the room. His hands still held her, but she felt cold, as if she’d been abandoned.

She cleared her throat. “I know. I was surprised, too.” She reached up to stroke his face, but he didn’t get that usual sleepy, sexy look in his eyes. He just watched her.

“When?”

“When did they call me? Today.” She longed to press herself against him, but didn’t. Something in the tilt of his head warned her she might not like his response. She was glad she’d held back when his hands dropped to his sides and he took a slow step away.

“And you’re going.” His voice was calm. But not the normal sort of Mr. Mayor calm. No, this was a dangerous calm. Like the air before a lightning strike, full of static and the acrid scent of burning ozone.

Her lungs felt swollen, taut, like a balloon that would burst at the slightest pressure. She pressed a hand to her chest. Why was he watching her with those forlorn eyes? A sadness that went so deep she feared there was no bottom to it. They’d both known their relationship would end like this. Right? Sabrina brushed off the memory that every once in a while, when the night was dark and quiet and there was no one around to see her, she’d thought about staying forever. With him. “Yes. I am.”

“And you didn’t think to talk to me about it first.”

The truth was she had. When the job offer came over the line, her gut instinct had not been to say yes and ask when she could start, but that she needed to talk to Noah. Except she knew what Noah would say. That he didn’t want her to go, that he wanted her to give up all her big dreams and stay in this tiny town where she would never reach those lofty goals. So she’d forced down the apprehension and hastily agreed to the terms. “We did talk about it, Noah. You knew I was trying to get my job back.”

His nod was stiff, unfriendly. As if they were strangers. As if she was supposed to have done something different. But what option did she have? Noah couldn’t come with her. His life was here. He was the mayor and up for re-election in two months. He loved this town. And Sabrina couldn’t stay. Not really. She had to see this through.

Her throat felt scratchy. He hadn’t even said he loved her. And she hadn’t said it back. Exactly what did he expect from her?

“How did this come about?”

She clasped her hands together and tried to remember that this was a good thing, that she hadn’t done anything wrong, hadn’t given him false hope. “Actually, I probably have to thank you for it.” When he only looked at her, a quizzical lift to his brows, she continued. “The article I wrote about you at the festival. I sent it off to my editor and to Big Daddy. A sample of what I can do.” With the written promise that she’d be happy to do a similar feature on Jackson and Big Daddy if it meant they’d lift her ban. And they’d bitten.

“The article on me.” There was an angry slant to his mouth.

Sabrina flipped her hair over her shoulder, a gesture that was all nerves straining to break free before she broke down. “Yes. It was a great article. Everyone thought so.”

“I see.” But his icy eyes didn’t look like they saw anything. “So you used me.”

What?
“Of course not.”

But Noah was nodding, already judge and jury. “You said it was for the local paper.”

“It was.” That’s all she’d intended it to be. A great piece on a great man. She’d done it for him. Didn’t he know that? “Noah.”

He cut her off with a short wave. “When are you leaving?”

She sucked in some air. “Wednesday.” Two days, which probably wouldn’t give her enough time to pack everything, but she needed to get back to the city. She had to find an apartment to rent, drop in at the office and talk to her editor, get in touch with her old contacts and friends to see if they had any leads for future interviews. She reached out to put a hand on his arm, to touch him.

He stepped away so that her hand fell back to her side. “Did you even think about staying?”

Sabrina swallowed. “Noah. I...” She didn’t know what to say. “I have to go.”

“Of course you do.” The eerie calm disappeared, replaced by the composed, cool mayoral stance. He didn’t look like Noah anymore. He was all Mayor Barnes displaying polite authority and cool logic. “This is what you wanted.”

Sabrina nodded and prayed the indecision wasn’t shining in her eyes. Because she’d already accepted her old job. Already decided that she had to go back, if only to prove that she could. On Monday, she was expected in the office as though she hadn’t been missing these past eight months. “I can’t stay.”

“I understand.” His lips curved up in a semblance of acceptance, but his eyes looked flat, as washed out as the lake on a foggy morning.

Sabrina swayed on her feet. Part of her wanted to go to him, hold him close and whisper how much she was going to miss him and make him promise that he’d come to see her in the city. But she was frozen, a morass of indecision because Noah didn’t look like he wanted to be touched, had already backed away from her once. “Noah, we talked about this.”

“I said I understood.” For a moment, fury flashed out again and cracked through the room before he schooled his features in a composed expression.