Whispers (Argent Springs) (16 page)

Annabelle narrowed her gaze, her eyes still huge
behind her glasses. “Are you okay? You look a little flushed.”

“Giving massages is a bit of a workout. I’m sure
it’s from that.”

Her aunt didn’t seem convinced. “If you’re sure.”

Erin slipped past her, not giving her any extra
time for inspection or speculation. “I could help you make Rick a tray if you’d
like.”

“I’m fine to eat with the rest of you.” Rick’s
voice came from the stairway, and Erin jerked around to face him. He’d donned
his clothes, although as he approached them, he still seemed a bit unsteady.

Her cheeks flared with heat again as he stared at
her. She couldn’t hope that he was so out of it that he wouldn’t remember their
brief encounter. The heat from it alone would be seared in her memories
forever.

“That’s wonderful, Rick.” Annabelle walked forward
and put an arm around him, probably to keep him from toppling over. “You’re
moving much better this evening.”

“Thanks to Erin’s massage,” he said as they passed
her in the hall.

Dear God. Where was a hole when a girl needed to
hide?

She hung back for a moment and then decided she had
to follow along and play the game as best she could.

Rick drove the few blocks to his shop as dark,
weighted clouds dusted snow across the tops of the mountains surrounding their
town. They wouldn’t be seeing any sun for a good four days, if then. By
morning, Argent Springs would be digging out from another storm, this one just
in time to mark the beginning of the skiing and snowboarding season.

The weather could be a real bitch, living in the
basin surrounded by mountains, but the rough conditions created mounds of
perfect snow, attracting snow-enthusiasts by the droves, so he couldn’t hate
it. The money visitors brought with them generated enough income allowing the
townsfolk to pay their bills for a good part of the year. By the weeks’ end,
their town would be full of tourists again.

Normally, he’d just walk to his shop even in
inclement weather, but his back was still giving him fits. Nothing like the
past few days when death seemed like it would be a blessing. Thank God for
miracle drugs and Erin’s magic fingers. He just wished he wouldn’t have screwed
things up between them so he could ask for another massage.

He stepped out of his truck, grateful for the lucidity
that a new day had provided. Frosty air greeted him as he headed for the
entrance to his shop. He’d left the house early that morning like he had for
the past few days, needing some time and space before he spent much time with
Erin again.

The past few days had been fucked up days full of
pain and sleep…and Erin.
Erin
. He might have been half out of his mind most
of the time, but the taste of her, the way she’d responded to his touch was
seared into his brain with astonishing clarity. It made him hard just thinking
about it.

He’d still been hazy that night at dinner after
his massage, but she’d avoided his gaze making the meal an awkward thirty
minutes of Annabelle trying to lead the conversation, while all he could think
about was that he’d had her breast in his hand only minutes before.

Guilt nipped at him. He worried that he’d
overpowered her and pushed her into something she didn’t want. But he hadn’t imagined
her reaction to him. He was sure of it. They’d both been pulled into something
that raged beyond their control…right?

The feel of her hands on his bare skin had pushed
him beyond reason, and when he’d stood and found himself caught by the
enraptured look in her hazel eyes, he couldn’t have stopped himself from
kissing her if he’d wanted to. And he sure as hell hadn’t wanted to. Then the
kiss had led to more.

Hell.

He’d never tell Annabelle any of this. If she
caught on to the fact he was the slightest bit interested in Erin, the crazy
old lady would be relentless until he was married.

Inside his repair shop, he shut the cold outside,
flipped on the “open” sign and headed back to his office to start a pot of
coffee. He had a damn long day, and he’d need sustenance to get him through.
Kellan would arrive soon to help him hoist the son-of-a-bitching engine that
had caused him so much pain.

At some point, he’d apologize to Erin, but right
now he had shit he needed to finish. He’d already been behind schedule when
he’d hurt his back, and now it was even worse.

*        *        *

Two hours later, Rick had the engine torn apart. Music
blared from his boom box, and he had the heat cranked up to keep him warm. His
back still ached from time to time, but, he had to admit, a bad day in the shop
was a hell of a lot better than a good day sitting in an office. That kind of
work would drive him insane.

He turned to grab a smaller wrench from his tool
box, his muscles reminding him he’d abused them. The discomfort was replaced
with a quickening when something familiar moving across the street caught his
attention. Auburn curls bounced as his current obsession walked down the sidewalk,
and unfortunately, Allen accompanied her. Of course his subconscious would immediately
notice her. Whether he liked it or not, Erin had been the focus of most of his
thoughts during the past couple of weeks.

Rick dropped the wrench back into his toolbox and
moved closer to the dust-covered window. The mayor pulled out a key, unlocked
the door and they both went inside. For a moment, he wondered why Allen would be
taking Erin inside the candy shop, but then he remembered Erin had volunteered
to man the shop while Nina recuperated.

He chided himself for jumping to the wrong
conclusion. Different people had been there during the past few weeks. It must
have been the sight of Erin with Allen that had thrown him off.

He stepped away from the window and picked up his
wrench again, positioning his body so he could glance across the street if he
chose to. As minutes passed, he found himself spending more time watching the
street than the engine, waiting for any kind of movement from the candy shop
across the way.

Just as the shop’s front door opened, the wrench
slipped from his hand. He tried to catch it, saw the mayor step out, and he grazed
his knuckle on the edge of the engine, scraping off the skin.

“Dammit,” he yelled into the lonely garage, his
voice competing with the music.

He absent-mindedly wiped his bloody knuckle on his
old t-shirt as he glanced out the window to see Erin step outside with Allen. Erin
had lost her coat, but she had a warm smile on her face. The mayor said
something, and she laughed. She bounced a little on her heels and crossed her
arms in front of her, obviously freezing.

Rick narrowed his gaze as Allen reached out and
rubbed his hands up and down her arms. He wanted to tell the man to keep his
hands off her, but he had no right. For all he knew, Erin loved the attention.

She nodded her head a couple of times before he
gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and headed down the street. She stayed in
the doorway of the shop watching the mayor as he walked away, and then she
turned her focus across the street toward him.

Shit
. He ducked and moved from the window.
The last thing he needed was to get busted watching her.

He forced himself to go back to work. He’d promised
his customer he’d have the engine rebuilt before the crowds came to town so
that he wouldn’t lose rental income, and he’d already lost too many work hours during
the previous days.

He managed another ten minutes of work before he
caved.

“Hell.” He grabbed a towel and wiped the grease
from his hands. He couldn’t focus knowing she was right across the street.
Things between them were as unsettled as fresh powder sitting on top of an old
crust of snow, and if he didn’t fix things, it would all come tumbling down in
his face. Regardless of how caught up in the moment they’d both been, he’d
taken advantage of her.

He would have made love to her right then and there
if she hadn’t stopped him. That made him an asshole, made worse by the fact he
wished she hadn’t stopped him.

He put up his “be right back” sign and made a
beeline toward the little pink shop. A bell chimed as he walked in, and Erin
glanced up from the counter, a solid punch to his gut when their gazes
connected.

“Hey,” he said, suddenly at a loss for words. He
hadn’t been alone with her since the
incident
.

“Hey,” she responded, a wariness in her
expression.

He stepped up to the counter, wishing he’d taken
the time to wash his hands instead of just wiping them. Wishing he didn’t reek
of gasoline. “I thought I’d come say hello since I remembered you were working
here today.”

A tentative smile lit on her lips as she studied
his face. She flicked a quick glance around the shop. “So much chocolate in one
tiny place. It should be illegal.”

Warmth spread through him. When she relaxed, when
she smiled…God, she was pretty. “You like chocolate, huh? What’s your favorite
kind?”

She glanced at the display case below her. “Hmm…I
think it’s the old-fashioned fudge. What’s yours?”

“Same. Why don’t you give me half a pound?”

She narrowed her eyes. “You intend to eat a half a
pound of fudge all by yourself?”

“No.” He pulled out his wallet. “I plan to share
it with a friend. Someone I need to thank for doing me a favor. I also owe her
a huge apology.”

Uncertainty filled her eyes. “Not me.”

He went to grab her hand and then remembered his
was still covered with grease. “Please let me. I want to thank you for that
massage. I’d probably still be in bed if not for you. And the worst thing was
that I took complete advantage of you when I kissed you and when I…”

Her cheeks had heated to a perfect shade of pink,
making her look beautiful and sexy at the same time.

“I overstepped the bounds of our friendship, and
I’m sorry.” A sudden desire to pull her into his arms and kiss her until they
were both senseless consumed him.

“Our friendship.” She stumbled on the words, and
he hated that he’d made her so uncomfortable. She cleared her throat and
focused somewhere to the side of him. “Let’s forget the whole thing, okay?”

Her reply was an unexpected dagger. It took her
words to make him realize he didn’t want to forget it. Didn’t want
her
to forget it. He wanted more.

But she didn’t.

A sickening thought overtook him. He hadn’t forced
himself on her, had he? Things might have moved faster than they should have,
but she’d been interested.
Hadn’t she
?

Her eyes were huge, vulnerable when she finally
met his gaze.

“Erin?” The world fell from beneath him. “I
didn’t…didn’t force you, did I? Things were really hazy for me, and I got
caught up in…everything. But if things were completely one-sided, I’m so
sorry.”

“No. I think we both just…” She put her hands up
between them. “I’d just like to forget it if we could.”

He nodded. She’d said she wasn’t interested, and
she’d obviously meant it. “I’m sorry. I’d still like the fudge, if you don’t
mind.”

She filled a box and exchanged it with him for his
payment.

“I’ll see you tonight?” he asked, hoping he’d find
a way to bury his errant feelings before then.

“Yes. Tonight.”

He walked out, wondering how she’d managed to get
under his skin when he’d been so careful around her. It seemed the more he
pushed her away, the more she affected him.

He needed a beer. Maybe a six-pack. And something
violent like a kick-ass movie or a boxing match. Too bad they didn’t have their
outdoor hockey team going yet and he could take his aggressions out on some of
the guys in town.

*        *        *

It took several minutes after Rick left the shop
for Erin’s humiliation to drain from her body. He’d worried he’d forced her
when she’d been the sober adult out of the two of them. She’d been the one who
should have had enough sense at the time to keep things on track between them.

God, why couldn’t they just be friends? Why was
this stupid attraction… friction… whatever it was constantly popping up between
them? Yes, he was good-looking, but she was a strong person capable of
controlling her emotions. Why did all of that go flying out the window the
second he arrived on scene?

She needed to own her actions, own her thoughts,
and stop being carried along by the potent chemical reaction between them. If
she’d changed her mind about wanting a relationship, that was great for her. It
had been a long time coming, and it seemed like she’d finally reached the
summit of a huge mountain and was ready to enjoy the downhill side of things.
But
that didn’t mean she should go chasing after a man who wasn’t interested. If
she did, she was asking for heartbreak all over again.

So, she wouldn’t.

She’d find a man who actually wanted her
attention. Maybe Allen. He seemed interested. Or maybe someone she hadn’t met
yet. One thing was for sure. She was ready to move on with her life.

*        *        *

A thick, heavy snow had been falling for quite
some time when Erin locked up the shop at the end of the day. She left the key
at the neighboring leather shop like Allen had instructed her and headed for
Annabelle’s.

The streets were quiet, most of the people already
tucked away in their homes or in the little hotel on the corner in preparation
for the snow dump they’d get that night. Another eighteen inches was expected
in town, with more in the mountains. Soft snowflakes swirled around her, and
when she glanced at the streetlights, the snow flitted like fireflies.

A hush had descended over the mountain town and
filled her with a peace she hadn’t experienced since…she couldn’t remember
when. The layer of snow on the ground muffled her footsteps, and all she could
hear was her breathing. She inhaled a deep breath, letting the chilly air
filter through her lungs, and then blew it out, the heat from her breath
fogging around her.

By the time she’d walked the few blocks home,
nature had stolen her stress and left her feeling more centered than she had in
a long time.

Her sense of serenity shattered when she opened
the front door.

The sound of raucous laughter hit her, emanating
from the back of the house, probably the atrium. A strong scent of lavender
hung in the air, and for a second, Erin wondered if this was what it had been
like back in Rosa’s day when the women had had a house full of customers.

She left her boots and coat in the appropriate
area and headed toward the noise. When she reached the atrium, she found
Annabelle dressed in her fancy poker clothes while she and two younger men
shared laughter and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

One of the guys, a blond with longer-hair caught
notice of her. “Hey,” he said with a European accent and a big smile. “You must
be Erin.”

All eyes in the room turned to her, and Annabelle
stood and walked toward her. “Erin, love. Come meet my new friends.” She tugged
Erin into the center of the room.