Faking It (15 page)

Thomas took Maggie’s hand, then led her to a chair beside Erin. He settled on Maggie’s other side. “Remember that night we were all here and
you and Tess brought out that wine and lowered the lights?”

“We were going to light the candles, too, but Maggie caught on to us and chased us out,” Erin said.

“I asked her about that after you left. You see, I’d been thinking along those lines for the longest time, ever since your mom came back here to settle for a while.”

Maggie squeezed his hand. “He means since I gave up men for a while.”

“Right.” Thomas smiled. “I’d been wanting to talk to her about the two of us, but we’ve been nothing more than friends for so long. I never knew how to broach the subject.”

“Then you and your sister started with your nonsense and he wouldn’t let up about it,” Maggie finished for him.

Erin managed a smile. At last, a bit of happiness. “So you got together.”

“Not right away,” Thomas said. “I had to keep after her.”

“I was worried about losing him as a friend.”

“I told Tess that might be an issue.” Erin picked up a piece of honey cake, then took a bite. Sweet. She’d forgotten how good they tasted.

“Well, I’m happy to say we worked it out.” Thomas beamed. “I promised her my unending
friendship no matter what happened between us, then I seduced her.”

“Who seduced whom?” Maggie turned to Erin. “I seduced him.”

“Anyway, I don’t think either party needed much coaxing at that point.” Thomas scooted his chair closer so he could wrap his arm around Maggie’s shoulders. “The point is that I like that your sisters have settled for just one man.”

Maggie beamed. “I told him I thought I might give that a try myself.”

“That’s great, guys. I’m so happy for you.” Erin finished the cake, then brushed the crumbs from her fingers.

“So how are you?” Maggie asked. “Sophie says you haven’t been yourself lately.”

Erin told them all that had happened with Jack. “Bobby says he’s given up. When I was last with him I got the feeling he blames himself because he survived and his sister didn’t.”

“That’s horrible, honey.” Maggie touched her hand. “You have to go to him.”

“He won’t see me.”

“Ha.” Thomas leaned forward. “I have never known that to stop a McClellan.”

Erin stared at him. “You think I should see him, even though he doesn’t want me there.”

“He only thinks he doesn’t want you. Once you get there, I’m sure you’ll find a way to straighten out his thinking.” Thomas gave her an encouraging nod.

“How?”

Maggie laughed. “It’ll come to you. You’re a McClellan, aren’t you?”

Erin bit her lip. Was she truly a McClellan now? Could she embrace her gift? It all boiled down to Jack. He needed her. If embracing her gift was her best chance at helping him, then she was ready to do just that.

Confidence bloomed in her as she turned to face Maggie and Thomas. “Yes. I suppose am.”

“E
RIN
.” G
RACE
L
ANGSTON
smiled broadly and stepped back from her front door. “Come in. Come in. It’s so good to see you.”

“Thank you.” Erin stepped across the threshold into the entryway. She handed Jack’s mother a basket of pasta and sauces. “I thought you might enjoy this.”

“Thank you, dear. This wouldn’t by chance be a bribe to get you in to see Jack?”

“Would it work if it was?”

“Then I’d say that you don’t need a bribe. I’m thrilled that you’ve come. I would have called you on my own if you hadn’t contacted Bobby. Can I get you anything—a soda, a glass of wine?”

“No, thank you. I didn’t come here for you to entertain me.”

“I suppose you didn’t.” A pained expression crossed Grace’s face. “Bobby did tell you Jack isn’t seeing visitors?”

“He told me Jack didn’t want to see me in partic
ular, if that’s what you mean. But I intend to change his mind about that,” Erin said.

“Well, I’m rooting for you. I wish there was more I could do. I’m afraid he’s not going to be happy about this. At least, not at first.”

Erin touched her arm. “It’s okay. I accept full responsibility. How is he?”

“Physically he’s doing okay, but emotionally… Dr. Carmichael is concerned that he’s been slow to regain his strength. He has Jack doing physical therapy. Unfortunately there isn’t a way to repair the damaged part of his heart. Being sick has really shaken him. I’ve never seen him like this before. He’s always been the one we all looked to for everything.”

She pressed her hands together. “I can see now that I was wrong to depend on him so much. I think before the attack he was trying to show me that in the gentlest of manners, but I didn’t catch on until too late.”

“I’m sure it’s okay. Jack never wanted to let you down.” Erin glanced beyond Grace into the interior of the house. “Where is he?”

“He’s on the porch. At least he’s getting fresh air. I’ll show you.” She led Erin through a cozy living room to a set of French doors. “Erin, since you’re here, would you mind if Rose and I did some shopping? We’re almost out of some of the basics and it would give the two of you some privacy.”

“Please go right ahead.”

“Thank you, dear.” Grace squeezed her arm. “And good luck.”

After she’d gone, Erin squared her shoulders and pushed through the doors. Wind chimes stirred in a slight breeze. Jack sat in a chair that rivaled Aunt Sophie’s favorite lounger. A plaid blanket covered him.

He turned toward her. Surprise flickered in his gaze. He’d lost weight and strain etched his face. He lifted his chin and kept his expression neutral.

She shook her head. Silly man. Should she tell him she could feel everything he felt? His relief at seeing her reached out and touched her along with his deep joy, but overshadowing them both were the same feelings of guilt and despair she’d sensed in him in the hospital. He held on to his emotions, subdued them, but they were as clear to her as the November sky. He cared for her, and that was all she needed to know.

“Hi.” She moved toward him, telling him with her eyes how glad she was to see him.

He glanced away. “I’m not really up to company.”

“So I hear.” She set her purse on a glass-topped table, then helped herself to a spot beside him on the lounger, smiling inwardly when he scooted over the smallest fraction to make room for her. At this point she’d take anything.

She straightened the blanket. “So how are you?”

The muscles in his jaw bunched. “I’ve been better, if you really want to know.”

She covered his knee with her hand. “That’s why I’m here. Talk to me.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

He stared out into the yard. “Stacey was a gymnast. Competed on a national level. She was a star athlete. She used to come here with her girlfriends and they’d spend the whole day doing their flips and whatever you call them.” He pointed to the edge of an overgrown garden area. “There used to be railroad ties there. They used them like makeshift balance beams.”

He paused and pain rolled off him, until Erin’s throat tightened and her eyes burned. “One day she fell and she never got up.”

“Jack…”

“What kind of world is this where a sixteen-year-old with her whole life ahead of her dies like that?”

“You feel guilty that she died and you didn’t.”

He didn’t answer, but the sorrow in his eyes spoke for him.

“It was part of her soul’s journey to die young.” She touched his cheek and longing poured from him at the contact. “It wasn’t part of yours.”

He placed his hand over hers and the connection hummed between them. “I feel so lost, baby.”

“Let me help you. You are a good man. You love your family. You’re willing to die for them. No one could ask any more than that. You can’t keep beating yourself up over this.”

“For the longest time I tried to be there for them. I thought if I could do everything my dad and Stacey would have done, I could help make up for their loss. This illness has made me realize how impossible that is.”

“Your family loves you for who you are, not for what you do for them,” she said.

“I realize that. They’ve bent over backward for me these past weeks. Believe me, that’s been a little hard to take.”

He looked away. She took his face in her hands. “You have every reason to be here, to be taken care of. You have the rest of your life ahead of you and I want to be there with you. Please come back to me. I love you, Jack.”

Longing filled his eyes and for a moment he struggled with the demons of his past, then he spoke her name in a whisper rough with emotion. She kissed him, her lips caressing his, coaxing him to let go of his fears and walk with her into the future. Their future.

With a sound of surrender he swept her into his
arms and gave in to the kiss, his tongue tenderly stroking hers while his hands smoothed over her back, then delved into her hair.

She held on and kissed him with all the love in her heart. When his hand covered her breast, she pulled back, frowning. “I believe you need a doctor’s clearance to do that.”

He closed his eyes. When he opened them, desire shone in their depths. “But touching you, feeling your skin against mine, joining my body with yours is the strongest medicine. I want you, Erin. I have wanted you since the first time I saw you.”

“But your heart.”

“Love me, Erin.” He opened the blanket to her. As he gathered her close, she sighed.

“I can’t refuse you when you look at me like that.”

“I’ll wrap this over us both. They can’t see us here from inside.”

She smiled as she moved beneath the cover with him. “They’ve all gone. We’re alone. But we’re taking this slow and we’re stopping at the first sign of trouble.”

“Slow and easy.” His mouth covered hers and he kissed her as if they had all the time in the world, his tongue dancing slowly with hers.

This time when his hand cupped her breast she reached back and unhooked her bra, then guided him
up under her shirt. His fingers worked their magic on her, beading her nipple to a hard point.

Breaking the kiss, he moved to nuzzle her ear while she slipped her hands up under his pullover. She caressed his chest, circling outward until her fingers found the scar from his surgery. He helped her yank his shirt over his head, then she pressed her lips over the ridge of raised tissue and rolled his nipple between her thumb and forefinger until he stilled her hand.

She pulled back to look at him. “Are you okay? Do we need to stop?”

“I don’t want to stop. I need to see you.” He pulled her shirt off and dropped it on top of his, then her bra followed. “Straddle me.”

She did as he asked, and he hooked his fingers in her waistband and pulled her forward, urging her upward, bringing her breasts to the level of his mouth. She gasped as his lips closed over her and his tongue circled her nipple.

“Oh, Jack, that feels so good, but this is supposed to be about you.”

“But this is about me. This is about what I want, and right now this is what I want.” He took her again into his mouth and suckled her until she moaned and pressed against him.

His hands gripped her bottom. He caressed her, slipping his fingers between her legs to rub her
through her jeans. Then he tugged at her waistband and her pants loosened. Her zipper rasped.

“These have got to go.” He pulled the offending garment off first one leg, then the next, until she straddled him wearing just her panties.

He ran his hand over her hips, appreciation shining in his eyes. Then he pulled her close again and kissed her, slipping his hands down to cup her bottom. She opened his pants, then freed his erection, holding him with a firm grip.

She kissed his ear. “I want to kiss you here.” She ran her hand up the silky length of him. “Would that be all right?”

“I think I can suffer it.”

His soft moans floated over her as she loved him with her mouth. She explored every sensitive inch of him with her lips and her tongue before she took him into her mouth. He withstood several moments of her slow, steady loving before he gritted his teeth. “Sweet woman, stop and let me come inside you.”

She left him to retrieve her purse. “Allow me,” she said as she rolled a condom in place.

Smiling, she moved back up him, teasing him by rubbing her breasts against him as she removed her panties. Then she guided his wondrous cock inside her. She took him with slow, steady strokes, riding him at a leisurely pace, each stroke of her body drawn
out for maximum enjoyment as she caressed him with her inner muscles and brought the sensual tension coiling around them.

Holding his gaze, she let him see all the pleasure he brought her, not holding back a single moan or sigh. “It feels so good to have you inside me, Jack. I want to do this to you every day you’re able until you’re all better and then I want to love you some more.”

“Oh, baby, you’ve got the magic. I love what you do to me.” He held her hips and guided her as his breathing became shallow and his moans increased.

She loved him gently, tenderly, and he gave her back the same, whispering endearments as he held her close. She came a beat ahead of him, both crying out, then collapsing together under the soft blanket.

His heart thrummed steadily beneath her palm. Her gaze met his and warmth cocooned them. She snuggled close and kissed him, then drew back, her own heart brimming. “I love you, Jack.”

He nodded, half smiling as sleep claimed him. She lay beside him for long moments, stroking his chest and listening to the beat of his heart. Then she rose, careful not to disturb him. After tucking the blanket securely around him, she dressed, then kissed his forehead.

As she headed back to her car she stifled the little bit of disappointment that surfaced in her. So
she’d told him twice that she loved him and he hadn’t once returned the sentiment. It didn’t matter.

He loved her. She’d felt it in every fiber of her being as he’d made love to her. She’d seen it in the way he’d looked at her.

He loved her and one day he would say the words. For now she was satisfied in more ways than one. She’d come with a goal. Come hell or high water she’d meant to break through to him. She glanced back at the house as she pulled away and smiled.

Mission accomplished.

J
ACK CAME SLOWLY AWAKE
, wrapped in a dream that was too good to be true. Erin had come to him. She had touched him and she had loved him and she had spoken those magical words.

I love you, Jack.

He sat up and pulled the blanket tighter around him. She had said the words and he hadn’t said them back. The first time he’d been overwhelmed by the power of her words, too caught up in the emotion to form any word beyond her name. Then she’d said them again, it seemed, as he’d drifted to sleep, and he’d dreamed of her, dreamed of finding her and telling her he loved her, too.

He rose, shivering. Dusk had fallen and the tem
perature had dropped. He grabbed his shirt, then hurried to shower, energy filling him as it hadn’t…well, since the last time they’d made love.

He showered, then dressed, then whisked his cell phone from the nightstand. She answered almost immediately, her voice filled with warmth. “Jack. How are you?”

“Better, much better. Ready to conquer the world.”

“I’m so glad to hear that.” A myriad of voices sounded in the background.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“At my aunt’s. We’re having Nikki’s bridal shower. Want to come?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, if you’re up to it. I could come get you if you want.”

He hesitated, still hating to ask for help. “I can probably get Bobby to drive me, though I feel like I could do anything at the moment.”

“I want Bobby to drive you. If he can’t, call me and I’ll come get you.”

“Okay.” He grinned. “So you really want me to come to this bridal shower?”

“All the guys are here, too. Thomas, who we can’t pry off Maggie—that’s my mom—but the guy’s been waiting decades, so who can blame him? Then Dylan and Mason are here. Even Sophie has a date, one of
Mason’s uncles. If you come, I won’t be the odd one out anymore.”

He inhaled a deep breath. If asking for help meant he’d see Erin that much sooner, then it was well worth it. “Let me call my brother.”

“Tell him he’s welcome to stay and join the party,” she said.

“I will. Oh, and Erin, there’s something very important I have to tell you, but I want to tell you in person.”

“Okay. Hurry. I’ll text message you the address and directions.”

Hurry he did. Bobby was thankfully available. For once Jack was able to ask for help and not feel guilty. Bobby seemed pleased to be of assistance. The traffic lights shone favorably on them and they pulled up to Erin’s aunt’s house less than thirty minutes later.

“This is it, Bobby. There’s her car.” Jack nodded to her car, lined up with a number of vehicles pulled to the curb in front of the house. Anticipation rolled through him.

Bobby shook his head as they headed up the porch stairs. “I can’t get over the change in you. It’s miraculous.”

“Never underestimate the power of love—or in this case, the power of the McClellans, which I’m coming to believe is synonymous.”