Her Hometown Hero(8)

That certainly didn't sound like a woman who wasn't feeling well. The  women had told the sheriff they were simply looking for a thrill.

When the pool owner had found out who had been up to the mischief, all  charges had been dropped. The three women had enjoyed themselves  immensely and were trying to figure out what their next big antic would  be. Sage really hoped they took so long to find a new way to get their  kicks that they would eventually forget about doing it.

"I didn't think you ladies were ever going to show!"

Sage jumped at the boisterous voice of Judge Whitman as he joined them at the car.

"I would never miss one of your parties, Martin," Eileen said. "I'm  ready for your special punch." The way Eileen fluttered her eyelashes  was enough to make Sage grin.

"Well now, Eileen, you'd best only take one cup this time," Martin  replied with a laugh. "You remember your impromptu table dance last time  you had a couple of glasses."

"That would have been just fine had little Stevie Walker not had a  camera," Eileen replied. "The brat posted it on that dangfangled  contraption of his where all the world could see me acting like a fool.  You remember when we were young-those blankety-blank computers were only  for the space people."

Sage struggled not to laugh. "You mean NASA, Aunt Eileen?"

"Now don't you mock me, girlie. I may be old, but I have real good  hearing, thanks to Doc Lamper's hearing aids." Eileen tapped her ear  pointedly.

"I would never think of mocking you," Sage said, wrapping an arm around the woman. "I love you far too much."

Martin put his arm around Bethel as the four of them made their way inside the barn.

"It's chilly out here tonight," Bethel said with a shiver.

"It's plenty warm in the barn." The wink Martin sent Eileen's way had  the woman blushing again. Sage really wanted to figure out when this  flirtation had begun. She would be more than pleased for both of them if  they became an item. There was no age limit on falling in love, and  both Martin and Eileen deserved a second chance at forever happiness.

Sage found it amusing that Martin always chose to have his parties in  the barn. His home was five times the size of a normal ranch house, with  so many wings she'd gotten lost in it a few times as a child, but his  man cave was in the barn, and he loved to have shindigs there.

Lights and music greeted them as Sage skimmed the room with her emerald  eyes. She spotted Camden dancing with Grace, and her eyes immediately  narrowed.

Grace had been in love with Camden for about as long as Sage had been in  love with Spence. The problem was that something had happened after  Camden had left for college that had changed Grace forever. She'd always  been confident, but she was different. And though Sage strongly  suspected that Grace still loved Camden, her best friend wouldn't even  say his name anymore.

However, Sage wouldn't be surprised at all if Grace confessed that her  affair with the Italian guy had ended because she'd wanted to come home  to Camden. Sage really hoped that wasn't the case, because she didn't  think Camden was capable of a real relationship. Heck, all of the  Whitman brothers seemed biologically defective when it came to staying  with a woman longer than it took for the bedsheets to cool down.

Not that she knew from personal experience, of course; but the Sterling  rumor mill never tired of the Whitmans. She tried to deny that she kept  one ear out for the slightest news on Spence, insisting to herself that  she was just curious-nothing more.

Sure, you're over Spence. Sheesh, her mind was mocking her again.

"I am," Sage muttered aloud, causing Bethel to glance at her with  concern. "I'm gonna get a drink, Grandma. You're in good hands." She  dashed off, intent on hiding in the corner for a while until Grace was  free.                       
       
           



       

If she could just avoid spotting Spence, her night would be perfect. It  was a very large barn, and if she stuck to the shadows, she had a chance  of getting her wish.





"Sage Banks is looking good tonight, wouldn't you say, Spence?"

Spence turned to see his patient from earlier moving off into a corner, a  drink in her hand. The name had been bugging him all week, but he  couldn't place it. Now, as his friend Hawk Winchester made the comment,  his memory came rushing back-the pretty redheaded sophomore who'd told  him one summer how much she loved him.

Hell, she couldn't have been more than sixteen and he'd just finished  his second year of med school. He'd given her a kiss on the cheek,  thanked her, and then forgotten all about her. What a strange incident  to remember.

Sage Banks was no longer a sixteen-year-old child-that was for damn  sure. She'd filled out in all the right places, and though he was a  doctor and had pretty much seen it all, he wouldn't mind seeing a hell  of a lot more of Sage. Could she be mad that he hadn't remembered her?  It had been a long time ago. But women didn't like to be forgotten . . .

"Oh . . ."

"Spill now. That's a guilty oh." Spence's best friend, Austin, had  spoken up as the three men looked at the woman in question, who was  clearly trying to blend in with the decorations.

"I blame it on a lack of sleep," Spence muttered, not knowing why he felt guilty. He had nothing to feel guilty about.

"Seriously, are you going to talk in riddles all night?" Austin asked as he took a pull of his beer.

"Sage was in a car accident earlier in the week and I was first on the  scene. It's been so long since I'd seen her last-heck, I think about ten  years-that I didn't recognize her. That hardly makes me the devil. But  from the looks she was shooting at me-they would have killed a regular  man-you'd think I'd done something a lot more horrible than forgetting  who she was."

Hawk and Austin laughed. "A regular man?" Austin finally said when he  was finished choking on the swallow of beer he'd just inhaled.

"You know what I mean," Spence said, grinning.

"Yeah, that you're an all-powerful immortal who makes women swoon."  Austin gave his friend's back a slap that would have knocked down a mere  mortal.

"Have your fun," Spence said. "Still, I don't see what all the attitude was about."

Hawk looked at Spence as if the guy were a dense little boy. "Probably  because she's been in love with you forever and you didn't even know who  in the hell she was."

"What?"

"Come on, man. Don't act so surprised. It's pretty damn obvious that  she's always carried a megawatt torch for you. We may be older than she  is, but the love-struck looks she always sent your way were pretty damn  obvious."

"You've got to be kidding me." Yes, she'd told him that she loved him,  but that had just been a crazy moment. They'd been too far apart in  years for her to ever have had serious feelings for him. "She didn't go  to school with me. She was too young to have a serious crush."

"Yeah, she is a lot younger," Austin said, as he tried remembering the  old days. "I recall when I came home from college with you for a visit.  She must have just been entering high school, because from what I  remember, her idea of flirting was bad-really, really bad."

Spence tuned his friends out as his eyes raked over Sage's delectable  form. Whatever she'd been like in high school, Sage Banks was very much  grown up now. Even though she was swathed in a thick sweater, he could  see she'd developed into an attractive woman. Hmm. Possibilities were  popping into his head. That he'd held that body in his arms-albeit to  move her from her wrecked car-wasn't helping tame his imagination any,  either. Now that he knew he was allowed to think of her sexually, his  fantasies were coming to life in rapid succession.

"I don't think she has a crush on me anymore," he finally said, not  realizing how much time had passed as he'd gazed at her with a brand-new  hunger. Then he turned back to Austin and Hawk and smiled. "But I do  think I could reignite some old flames."

"I would so love to see you knocked down-just once. If this girl was  shooting daggers at you because you had no clue who she was, there's no  way she's going to just roll over, forgive, and forget. I bet you twenty  that she turns you down flat."

"I want in on that," Hawk said, reaching for his wallet.                       
       
           



       

Spence had never been able to turn down a dare. "Make it fifty each," he  said to both of them. The sound of the men's laughter followed him as  he made his way across the barn to Sage's quiet corner.

Lucky for him. Maybe he could up the ante and get a little kiss, too. He'd have her eating out of his hand within five minutes.