Her Hometown Hero(20)

"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.