"What? You're kidding, right?"
"I wish I were. And he hasn't spoken to me since. He went to Seattle the next day and he's been gone all week."
"No phone calls, nothing, just flowers?"
"Yeah," Sage said, not even wanting to look at the freaking flowers.
"Well, that sucks. What kind of man doesn't even call? Hell, I remember when we were in middle school and you doodled his name all over your notebook: Sage and Spence forever," Grace said with an indignant scowl.
"I guess we didn't choose too wisely, because I recall that on your notebook it said Grace plus Camden equals forever."
"Yeah, we were supposed to marry the devastatingly handsome brothers and be related for life. Heck, we'd even have our children at the same time so they'd grow up together and be best friends just like us."
"Don't you wish life worked out so easily?"
"Yeah. But the real world never goes the way we want it to. Enough of that. I want to know how you feel. You lost your virginity. Was it good? Bad? Did he suck? I want details, lots of details."
Sage spent the next fifteen minutes filling Grace in on exactly what had occurred at Spence's house. Even speaking about it again had her hot and bothered. How could an experience that had been so good for her, have been exactly the opposite for him? She felt shamed and humiliated and didn't ever want to see him again.
"You have to talk to him, you know," Grace told her. "You have to figure out what in the world he is thinking. He had to have been shocked. Most women don't make it to your age with the V card still intact. Give him a chance to explain himself."
"He hasn't even tried," Sage said with a frustrated sigh.
"Then corner the man and make him speak."
"I can't even think about this anymore. Please, please, please tell me what is up with you and Camden, and let's not talk about me. You were having lunch together at the diner and your heads were bent together awfully close."
"It's not what you think."
"Sure, sure."
"No, really, Sage. We're just working together on something, or he's trying to work with me on something, but I don't want his help, but the man is a pain in the ass and won't take no for an answer."
"There's no way you are getting away with being so vague, Grace." Sage had lost all interest in decorating the tree.
"There's really nothing to tell," she said, probably hoping that would satisfy her best friend.
Not by a long shot.
"Grace, I know that look in your eyes and I know when you're hiding something from me. I will get it out of you!"
"Look, it's really nothing, but Cam seems to think it's something. I just can't talk about him right now. The man infuriates me."
Sage sat there, looked at the pain on Grace's face, and knew she needed to give her friend a break. Just like Sage didn't want to speak about Spence right now, it was more than obvious that speaking about Camden was too hard for Grace. They would talk to each other when they were ready, Sage had no doubt about that.
"Grace-" Just then the doorbell rang.
"I got it," Grace said hastily, acting as if there was a fire and she was going to be the first out of the building.
"You can run, but you can't hide," Sage called out after her friend.
"We'll see about that," Grace called back before Sage heard the door open.
"My, my, my, looky what the cat just dragged to our doorstep."
Sage had a sinking feeling . . .
"I come bearing treats."
Great. Spence's voice first thing in the morning was almost as sexy as late at night. Of course, thinking of night and Spence's deep voice made her think of beds and . . . Nope, not gonna go there.
"What kind of treats?" she heard Grace ask.
"Fresh hot coffee and pastries from the new bakery down the street."
"New bakery? I didn't know it was open yet," Grace said with suspicion.
"You got me-these are a few hours old. I picked them up before I flew out of Seattle. The coffee did come from the café, though. It was the good barista." He was obviously wearing a seductive smile, and he spoke with his most come-hither voice.
"You may enter," Grace said.
Sage scrambled to her feet. She was wearing pajamas-with little elves on them, for goodness' sake. Bad, bad, bad. No, she didn't want to seduce him, not after being rejected, but elves?
"Sage, we have company," Grace yelled two seconds before they entered the living room.
Sage's eyes connected with Spence's and her stomach sank. A week apart from him had done nothing for her libido. And he was clearly still feeling something as well, at least if the smoldering in his eyes was any indication.
Now she was confused, very confused. He could have made love to her all night, but he'd pulled away with no explanation, disappeared, and now was in her home bearing gifts and acting like no time had passed. What in the world was the man thinking? The real question was, did she really want to know?
It had been only a week. That was nothing. He'd been in surgeries that had lasted that long. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but still, he'd been through weeks that felt like mere days, but for some reason, this week had felt like a month.
Maybe it was the guilt for not speaking to her after their disastrous night at his place, or maybe it was because he couldn't get her from his mind.
Whatever it was, he knew their story was only beginning. He'd been shocked to find out she was a virgin. Of course he was. Most women didn't make it to twenty-one with their virginity intact, let alone twenty-six. He'd thought he was doing the right thing by stopping, but from the expression in her eyes, he had a feeling he'd taken major steps backward.
It was okay, though. He was confident he could win her back. After all, the two of them shared a powerful connection, and he wasn't going away until he explored exactly what that connection was and where it would lead.
Sage was standing in front of him in what should have been completely unflattering pajamas with freaking elves on them, and he was still ready to toss her over his shoulder and haul her to the nearest bed. He was losing his mind.
Her curves were hidden, though not invisible, in the soft flannel top, but hallelujah for the revealing flannel shorts. Her toned thighs were a thing of beauty, sparking the most inappropriate thoughts of kissing them . . . all the way up to her . . .
Oops. Time to halt that thought. He'd never found such childish pajamas a turn-on before, but they were sexier at this moment than the skimpiest piece of lingerie he'd ever seen. For once, he was seeing Sage's normally tame red hair piled messily on top of her head, and without a trace of makeup she looked fresh, young, and . . . innocent. Dammit. Too innocent for him-they'd already established that a week ago. If he was a good man, he'd turn and walk away before he could corrupt her further than he already had.
Yeah, right. He wasn't strong enough to do that yet. Obviously-he was here, wasn't he? Spence's eyes raked over her delicious body, a body he had felt naked, and he knew he was right where he belonged.
Shaking his head, he jettisoned such mushy thoughts from his brain. This was about conquest, about attraction, about simple animal lust.
He was overthinking this. Time to give her the goodies he'd picked up on a whim, do some light flirting, see if there was a chance of getting her into his bed to complete what they'd begun, and then getting the hell away from her apartment.
"Are you going to stand there all day," Grace asked, "or actually show us what's in the box?"
Feeling as if he was emerging from a deep sleep, Spence pasted on his winning smile again for Grace's benefit. He wasn't a stupid man-he knew that if he wanted to learn all of Sage's secrets, it would help a lot to have her best friend on his side.
"I hope you ladies like chocolate." He opened the lid and showed Grace the fresh-baked goods.
"Ooh, a man after my heart. Are you single, sugar?" Grace reached in and pulled out a chocolate-drizzled pastry.
"Hopefully not for long," he said, and his eyes roamed over Sage again. Her blush summoned images of how she'd appeared as he'd entered her. Squirming in pants that were suddenly too tight, he turned his attention back to Grace. That seemed much safer for his libido.
"Well, take a seat, Romeo," Grace said. "It seems my best friend has forgotten how to speak." She led him to the couch that Sage had just vacated, then gave her a wink. Sage looked as if she wanted to smack her friend, but she remained silent and moved over to the coffee table, where a number of ornaments were lined up. Spence took a closer look and had to grin when he noticed they were separated into groups by color and size. Sage picked one up carefully, walked over to the tree, and stood there in deep contemplation.