Her Hometown Hero(43)

What if the two of them were rushing into this way too fast? It had all  seemed like a fairy-tale romance, almost from the beginning. What if it  all wasn't real when the magic settled down and regular life intruded?

"What has you looking so intense?" Spence asked, reaching for her hand.

"I love the way you hold my hand," she said, and he looked a bit startled.

"Are there different ways to hold hands?" he said.

"Well, not that I have a heck of a lot of experience in the hand-holding  department, but I have been watching couples lately, and before you can  tell me that's strange, I know it is, but most people just clasp their  fingers together. I love how you hold my hand so softly, and how you rub  your thumb along my knuckles." When he chuckled, she felt her cheeks  flush. Had that been a stupid thing to say?

"I don't even realize I'm doing it. I just love touching you, love the  little shudders that pass through your body when I hit a place that  feels good to you. I can't seem to ever get close enough to you," he  said as he flipped her hand over and began tracing the lines on her  palm, sending those shudders he'd just been speaking about right through  her.

"I feel the same way, Spence," she said, thinking now was a good time to admit her love.

Before she was able to say another word, the two of them were interrupted. "Spence? Spence Whitman, is that you?"

Sage turned to see a brunette wearing a perfect white outfit and a  red-lipsticked smile rush over to their table. No alarms bells were  ringing, but when she turned back to Spence and saw a big smile light  his face, she felt the tiniest stirring of jealousy. Knowing she was  being ridiculous, she repressed it and waited for Spence to introduce  her to his friend.

"Becky! I haven't seen you in ages. What are you doing up here?"

He dropped Sage's hand and stood up just in time for the woman to fling  herself into his arms. When the hug lasted just a bit too long to make  Sage ever be able to like this woman, she squirmed in her seat.

"I'm here with my parents. They were going on about being homesick, so  we flew in a couple of days ago. Had I known you were down in Sterling, I  would have called you," Becky said.

"How long are you here?"

"We're leaving tonight, darn it. But there's certainly time for a few  drinks before I go," she said, with her hand clinging firmly to his arm.

Sage was now fuming. Spence seemed to have forgotten that she was even  there, and he wasn't in much of a hurry to introduce her to this woman,  who wouldn't even look in Sage's direction. When the woman maneuvered  Spence to push Sage out even further, Sage thought seriously about  simply standing up and walking out.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Spence said as he turned back toward Sage. "Becky,  this is my . . . friend, Sage Banks. Sage, this is Becky Marshal. We  went to college together and then discovered she grew up only about  fifty miles from me. We've been close friends ever since."

Sage didn't know what to think about his "friend" comment, so with as  much dignity as she could muster, she stood up and held out her hand.  "It's nice to meet you, Becky."

Becky took her time but finally gave Sage her hand for all of one second  before saying a quick hello and then directing her attention right back  at Spence.

"So, drinks?" she said, and it was clear the invitation was for Spence  only. "My parents are over at the restaurant. You must join us."

"I would love to, but Sage works tonight, so after we warm up, we're  leaving," he said. There was clear disappointment in his tone.

"Are you working?" she asked.

"Not tonight, but I need to take Sage in."

"Our driver can take her," Becky said quickly. "I insist that you join  us. I want to hear all about what you've been up to lately-it's been  months since we spoke last. I'm sure Sage wouldn't mind." She turned and  gave a look that suggested that Sage would be an awful person if she  protested.

Though steam was practically coming out of Sage's ears at this point,  she pasted on the brightest smile she could manage before responding.  "Of course you should join your friend, Spence. I should head back now  so I can shower before going to work."

"I don't know," Spence said, but Sage could clearly see he would like to visit with his old friend.

"As long as I have a ride home, I'm all good," Sage told him.

"Great! Then it's all settled," Becky said, and slid her arm through  Spence's. "I'll let Daddy know. He's going to be so excited."                       
       
           



       

Sage walked beside the two of them as Becky chatted away, making Spence  laugh at some of her stories. Sage was clearly the odd man out and was  more than relieved when they stepped outside and Becky took them to her  car.

"I'll stop by tonight," Spence told her before bending down and giving her a quick kiss on the mouth.

"It was great to meet you, Page," Becky said, and Sage had no doubt the  woman had gotten her name wrong on purpose. She didn't bother correcting  her.

"You too, Becky."

Sage stepped into the car and soon was traveling away from the ski  resort. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. What  had begun as a flawless day had not ended the same way.

She really didn't even know what had just happened. Had Spence been  ashamed of her? Did she not stack up to his more worldly friends? Was  Becky an ex-girlfriend?

When she got to work and began her shift, the hospital too quiet, Sage  had plenty of time to think about their day. She was grateful she hadn't  told him how she'd been feeling, because right now she was thoroughly  confused.

When the night went on and Spence didn't stop by as promised, her mood  turned even more sour. Was their euphoric time together already coming  to an end? By the time her shift ended and she managed to drag herself  home and into bed, she had no answers. She'd just have to wait and see  what Spence would do next.





"Move in with me."

Spence was standing outside her open front door, letting the cold in  with her wearing nothing but a nightshirt. Mouth open, Sage stared at  him and tried to clear her head. The night before he'd taken off with  another woman, hadn't stopped in to see her, though he'd said he would,  and then he just shows up at her door and those are the first words out  of his mouth?

"What?" Maybe she'd just heard him wrong. She had to have heard him wrong.

"I said move in with me."

Sage wanted to throw something at him. She hadn't slept well even after a  long day's skiing and a longer night shift at the hospital, was less  than pleased with him right now, and he was asking her to live with him.  They hadn't even spoken of the future. They hadn't even said anything  about love. Yes, she'd spent a lot of nights at his place over the past  couple of weeks, but she also knew she could come back home at any time.  She couldn't just move in with him. Her grandmother would be  disappointed in her. She'd be disappointed in herself.

"This is not a wake-up kind of conversation," she said, her forehead creased with a frown.

He stepped inside her door, shut it, and then wrapped his arms around  her and nuzzled her neck. "You're never very talkative when you wake up,  are you?" He was acting as if everything was perfectly all right. Maybe  in his mind it was.

"No," was all she replied. She was busy trying to gather her thoughts,  to figure out what she wanted to say. She pulled away and tugged her  fingers through the tangled mess that was her hair.

"Are you hungry, Sage?" he asked, gripping her hand as he moved toward  the couch and sat, pulling her into his lap. As he continued nuzzling  her neck, she wanted to forget the unpleasantness of the entire day  before and just fall into the lovemaking part of their relationship.  When his hand climbed up her thigh, and then a finger found her heat,  she did forget-she forgot about everything but wanting him.

It was another hour before Sage was able to speak again. If only she  could forget her concerns, forget her worries. Then there would be no  arguments, no decisions, no heartbreak. She suspected she was in for  some real heartbreak with Spence.

"I hope you're feeling less . . . feisty now," Spence said as she leaned against him, her breathing still a bit erratic.

"Really? I thought you liked me feisty," she said, struggling just  enough on his lap to feel his arousal beginning to rise again.

"Mmm. Scratch that. You're right, I do like you feisty."

"I'm always right-I'm a woman."

"Are you going to answer my question? We're together practically every  minute, so it wouldn't be difficult for you to move in. It would be just  a matter of shifting a few boxes to my place."

Taking a deep breath, she pushed away from him. "I need to get up."