Caroline's Seduction (Montgomery Family and Friends) (15 page)

“Well,” Abigail said in a soft and friendly tone, “let me show you.  I have two sisters Annabel and Aubrey.  Annabel and her husband Jonathan and their two children live here in town.”  Abigail opened the photo album and flipped through a couple of pages until she came to a picture of a smiling couple standing in front of a gorgeous southern plantation house.   This is Annabel and Jonathan right after they were married and this is the house Jonathan bought for her as a wedding present.  You’ve been there several times including for my wedding reception last year.”

Caroline felt a tug of recognition.  Something about that story and the house rang a bell with her.  She strained trying to remember, but only got a headache for her efforts.     Maybe it was just the romantic nature of the story that struck a chord with her.  She watched as Abigail flipped through a few more pages. 

“And this is Aubrey and her husband Matt Hampton.” 

Caroline looked at the photo of the gorgeous blond and the undeniably sexy dark headed man next to her.  “He looks familiar,” she had a hard time keeping the excitement out of her voice.  “Maybe I’m starting to remember!”

“Maybe or it could just be because he’s a famous rock star.  You could have seen his picture anywhere over the past decade.   He and Aubrey live in Savannah, but Aubrey is a regular visitor here.  The four of us that is you, Aubrey, Annabel, and I were together at the last Urgent concert in Atlanta.  That was about two months ago.”

Caroline let out a long sigh.  “I don’t remember the concert, but I remember listening to Urgent when I was in high school.  That must be why he looks familiar.”

“Here are some photos from the last family barbeque.  “That’s Jay my son along with my daughter Emily and my husband Mason.  You meet Mason at the hospital.  Here’s a photo of you standing with my mother, Joyce Montgomery.  She thinks of you as her fourth daughter you know.”

No, Caroline didn’t know, but she kept the sharp retort to herself.  It wasn’t Abigail’s fault she couldn’t remember anything.  And Abigail was proving to be a true friend, visiting her at the hospital and now here at Kyle’s home.   

Abigail gave her an understanding look and patted her shoulder.  “My mom wanted to come visit you too, but I warned her it might not be a good idea right now.  You met me at the hospital with Kyle and the sheriff present.  They were able to vouch for my identity, but you shouldn’t be opening the door to anyone you don’t know right now male or female.  It’s just not safe.  I’m sure Cole will get to the bottom of this soon and things can get back to normal.” 

She spent the next hour looking through family photos with Abigail.  Finally she was resigned to the fact that while everyone seemed vaguely familiar she wasn’t going to have an instant recall of her lost memories no matter how much she might want to.

“I’m sorry Abigail.  It was very kind of you too bring these photos over and spend time with me, but it doesn’t seem to be working.”

“You don’t have to apologize about your memory.  I enjoy spending time with you regardless.  Just because you can’t remember me doesn’t mean I will stop loving you.  You’re still my sister just by choice instead of blood.”  She looked down at her watch.  “I have a few hours before I have to pick the children up from school.  Do you need to run any errands?  I don’t think it’s safe for you to be out and about by yourself at least not until Cole has found the men that hurt you.”

Caroline brightened.  “Actually before you came I was thinking about having a nice dinner waiting for Kyle and Sarah when they got home, but when I checked the kitchen there wasn’t much there.”

Abigail laughed.  “Jays mentioned that Sarah eats takeout a lot and it’s not by choice.  I’m sure you’re right.  They both could probably do with a home cooked meal.”

“Well I’m here all day with nothing else to do and I remember that I love to cook.   Would it be too much trouble for you to give me a ride to the market?”

“Not at all, actually I’ve been meaning to check out that new gourmet market just down the street.  We can go there.  Do you know what you need?”

Relieved to get out of the house, Caroline jumped up.  “I thought I’d prepare something simple for tonight.  Steaks, tossed salad, and roasted asparagus.  What do you think?”

“I think Kyle will be very sorry when you move out if you plan to feed him like that everyday.”

“Umm, you may be on to something there.  Let me grab my purse from upstairs and I’ll be ready to go.  And Abigail I really appreciate this.  Thank you.  Now if I only knew what time they planned to come home.”

Abigail smiled.  “I can help with that too.  Kyle understandably didn’t want Sarah waiting alone after school and he didn’t want to endanger you by asking you to pick her up, so I’m picking her up when I pick up Jay.  Kyle said he’d be by to get her around five-thirty.  It’s about a twenty minute drive from my house to here.”

“Six O’clock!  That gives me plenty of time then.”  Now that she had a timeframe to work with, Caroline felt even better about her plan to surprise the Wakefield’s with dinner.

******

Kyle put the key in the door and continued to listen to Sarah chat away about her day at school and how much all the students missed Caroline.  Apparently the sub was an ogre and they hated him already.  Most likely there was nothing wrong with the poor man.  He just couldn’t compare to Caroline, but Kyle was smart enough to keep that thought to himself. 

The aroma of sizzling steaks assailed him as soon as the door was open.  He usually took the time to take his briefcase and laptop to his home office, but this evening he found himself gravitating toward the kitchen and Caroline.  He had a sinking feeling that the home cooked meal couldn’t take all the credit.  He wanted to see Caroline.  He had been thinking about her all day.  He’d called Abigail Montgomery that morning to make sure she’d be able to pick Sarah up from school. He also wanted to see if she would check on Caroline.   He had been pleased to learn that she was already on her way to visit Caroline that morning. 

“Something smells good,” he complimented her when he walked into the brightly lit gourmet kitchen.

“Thanks!  Since you’re letting me stay here until it’s safe for me to do otherwise, I thought I would at least feed you.  Lucky for you one of the things I can remember is that I love to cook and I’m good at it too.”

“I don’t remember having all this food in the house.  You better not have left here and gone to the grocery store on your own.”  He sent her a scowl showing he meant business. 

Caroline glared right back.  She wasn’t afraid of Kyle or his dark looks.  “Abigail gave me a ride to the market.  Don’t worry.  I promise I won’t die on your watch, if that’s what’s bothering you.”

Kyle opened his mouth to respond, but thought better of it.  He didn’t want to antagonize Caroline.  There were much better things he could be doing to her.  That thought scattered his mind into several different directions.  He was brought back to Earth by Sarah.

Sarah rushed into the room and gave Caroline a big hug.  “All the students miss you.”  She dug through her backpack and came out with a large envelope.  She handed it to Caroline.  “My bio class signed this card for you.  Everyone in the class left you a message.  We can’t wait for you to come back to school.”

Caroline was touched by the thoughtful gesture.  “Thank you.”  She took the envelope and gave Sarah another hug.  Then she placed the card on the bar next to the stack of mail she had collected when she got back from the grocery store.  “I’ll look at it and read the messages as soon as we’ve eaten.  Why don’t the two of you wash up for dinner?  I just put the steaks on and dinner will be ready in about five minutes.”  She walked over to the gas stove and flipped the searing beef filets.

Kyle watched his daughter happily skip out of the room.  He couldn’t resist turning up the heat himself.  He walked behind Caroline who was still busy at the stove.  He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her neck.  “I thought about you all day today.  I couldn’t get any work done and that’s a first for me.”

Caroline felt at home in his arms, but some unexplained and forgotten inhibition was holding her back.  She shrugged her way out of his arms.  “I don’t want to burn the steaks on my first attempt to cook dinner for you and Sarah,” she used as an excuse to push him away.  She needed more space between them.  “Dinner in four you better hurry or Sarah and I will start without you,” she threatened.  When it worked and he moved out of the kitchen and down the hall, Caroline let out a sigh of relief.

Kyle knew then and there that his campaign to seduce Caroline back into his bed wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d thought or hoped.  Some deep-seated intuition made her weary.  It would however be worth the effort. He found himself whistling while he ran his razor over his five o’clock shadow, and changed into jeans and a tight fitting dark brown t-shirt.  He washed up and whistled his way back down the stairs and into the dining room. 

Caroline heard Kyle before she saw him.  She and Sarah were setting the last two serving dishes on the table in the kitchen alcove when he put in an appearance.  Caroline noticed right away that he had shaved and changed clothes.  He looked good in his business clothes, but he was really hot now.  She couldn’t help but notice how the worn denim hugged his tight backside and the t-shirt clung to his muscles.  It was obvious he worked out whenever he had a chance.  He was built like an athlete, and one of the things she did remember was that he’d played football while in college.   

Kyle decided to turn on the charm and pulled out Caroline’s chair for her.  “Everything looks as good as it smells Caroline.  Coming home to a home cooked meal everyday is a nice change.”  Kyle realized that was true.  He wasn’t just flirting, he really meant it.  Other than the time he spent with his daughter he’d rather be at the office instead of home.  If it weren’t for Sarah he’d probably live in his office.  He had a sinking suspicion that that was all about to change.

Twelve

“Wake up sleepyhead.”

Caroline heard the gentle command, but instead of waking up completely she snuggled deeper into the covers.  It was chilly outside of her little cocoon.  It was January after all.  She felt a flutter across her nose.  She rolled away from the annoyance. 

Kyle looked at the sleeping beauty in his guest bedroom and wished for about the hundredth time in the past five days that she was in his bed instead.  He sat down on the edge of the bed and feathered kisses along her jaw and ear.  “Sarah and I are leaving for the day.  I’ll make sure everything is locked up behind us.  Remember don’t leave the house by yourself and don’t open the door for anyone but Abigail or the sheriff.” 

Caroline finally opened her eyes and stretched out the kinks from a good nights sleep.  “I’ll be careful, Kyle.  I promise.  You don’t have to worry about me.  Maybe that way you’ll get some work done today,” she teased.  After all teasing Kyle had quickly become the highlight of her days.

“Maybe not,” Kyle replied.  “I bought you a present yesterday between meetings.”        Caroline was already falling asleep again and didn’t notice the change in conversation.  “Thanks,” she mumbled more interested in staying warm and languid then she was in the present Kyle had mentioned.  “I’ll look at it later.”

“You do that,” Kyle laughed, “and I’ll be sure to picture you wearing it later too.”

He was already out the door before his words registered.  Caroline abruptly set up in bed and her eyes spied a distinctive lavender, rose, and champagne colored gift bag.  It was stamped with the logo for Seductive Dreams Lingerie.  She pushed aside the delicate tissue paper protecting the hidden treasure inside and pulled out a silky soft turquoise satin pajama set.  The full-length pajama bottoms looked innocent enough, but the loose fitting sheer halter-top with the peek-a-boo keyhole opening between the breasts was definitely seductive. 

Her mobile phone rang and she answered in a breathless voice.  “This is Caroline.”

She was greeted with a chuckle.  “It sounds like you opened my gift.  I can’t wait to see you model it for me.”

Caroline scrunched her brows together.  “In your dreams lover boy,” she retorted.

“I think that’s the point of the store,” Kyle reminded her.  “And it’s working.  Every time I close my eyes I can see you and those pajamas both rumpled from being in my bed.”

Caroline let out a startled cough to try and hide the sudden surge of longing that welled up inside her.  “I can’t believe you’re having this conversation while you’re in the car with your daughter.”

“I’m not.  She’s in the car and I’m still in the garage.  I knew you’d open your present just as soon as I left the room.  I couldn’t resist a call.  I thought about going back upstairs, but Sarah will be very upset if she’s late for school.”

Caroline felt her body tingle at his suggestion.  She had to get off the phone before she made a fool of herself.  “Okay, thanks for the gift.  I have to go now Kyle,” and she abruptly broke the connection, but not before she heard his husky laugh coming through the line once more. 

Caroline stumbled through the day trying to force her mind to remember everything it had forgotten.  In the end all she had to show for her effort was a gigantic headache and furrows in her forehead that might become permanent if she wasn’t careful.  She finally gave in and laid down for a nap a few hours before Kyle and Sarah were due home.  She gave up on getting any rest when all she could see when she closed her eyes was swirling turquoise satin and Kyle’s impressive body. 

She threw together a chicken broccoli and rice casserole for dinner.  Nothing fancy, but it was warm comfort food fit for a chilly January evening.  Both adults were quiet through dinner, but Sarah in typical teenage girl fashion chatted nonstop about the school day.  When dinner was over Sarah discreetly excused herself saying she had homework to finish upstairs in her room.

Caroline felt her heart rate increase at the thought of finally being alone with Kyle.  She stood up and grabbed her dinner plate.  “And if you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of this mess before the food sticks.”  She walked into the kitchen and relief at her escape turned to dismay when she found that Kyle had followed her into the kitchen.  “Thanks, but I don’t need help.  I can finish up on my own,” she offered hoping to send him on his merry way.  After all what man really wanted to help with the dishes.