Whispers (Argent Springs) (22 page)

“Yeah? It was good?” His grin matched hers. “Cause
I got a little…”

Warmth spread through her from their continued
emotional connection. “Trust me. I know. But you were amazing.” She gave a
small laugh, feeling better than she had in forever. She’d weathered his
frenzied storm and come out exhilarated on the other side.

He chuckled as well, obviously pleased with
himself. “I’m glad I could be of service, madam. And since I’ve paid for you
for the entire night, I say we see if we can find an available bed upstairs
where I can seek more pleasure from your willing body.”

Her smile turned into a full-on grin. “Whatever
you wish. I’m yours for the taking.”

*        *        *

“I’m glad you’ve decided to stay in Argent
Springs,” Rick whispered into Erin’s ear as he held her tightly to him, making
her feel cherished. Midnight had disappeared several hours ago, whisked away by
numerous rounds of wild and passionate lovemaking. She wondered if she’d ever
get enough of him.

“I belong here.” She captured his face with her
hands and kissed him. “I’ve been thinking about some minor renovations to the
house. Maybe even adding another building out back where I could provide
massage therapy and maybe another guest bedroom. Though it wouldn’t be as cool
for guests as actually staying in the house. But maybe for overflow?”

“That sounds like a big project,” he mumbled
against her hair.

“I was kind of hoping you’d be around to help me.”
All of her newest plans included Rick. Maybe she was a fool for expecting that,
but it just seemed right.

He hugged her to him. “I’d be happy to help.”

She lifted off his chest to see him better, loving
the angles and shadows of his face in the moonlit room. “You don’t think
Annabelle or Rosa would mind, do you?”

He laughed then, vibrations in his chest rumbling
beneath her. She couldn’t imagine anything more perfect than lying in his arms,
loving life.

“If they don’t like it, I’m sure they’ll let us
know.”

“I’m sure they will,” she said with a smile before
snuggling against him once again.

“There’s something else, you should know.”

She traced a finger over his chest. “What’s that?”

“I think I’m falling in love with you.”

She inhaled a quick breath. “Really?” She’d been
so afraid to bring up the subject.

“Really.” He kissed her hair. “Is that okay with
you?”

“More than okay.” She tugged his head toward hers,
kissing him with all the intensity glowing in her heart. “I love you, too.”

He rolled her over, trapping her beneath his
strong body as he kissed her back.

Nothing compared to the feeling of coming home.
She couldn’t believe she’d made it this far in life before she’d discovered
exactly where home was, but now that she was here, she’d never leave.

Erin awoke with a start, certain she’d heard a
loud noise coming from somewhere in the house. She’d fallen asleep on the couch
in the early afternoon, cursed with a stupid headache. “Rick?” she called out.

No answer.

She glanced at her watch, noting the time was
still a few hours before their guests were supposed to arrive. So what had
woken her?

Maybe she’d dreamt it.

She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the
couch. Her headache was still there, but not as bad as before. Thank God,
because she had stuff to do.

She made her way through the house, surprised to
find the scent of lavender wafting heavily through the air. She hadn’t smelled
it once since Rick had more or less moved into her bedroom two weeks ago. “What?”
she called out.

No answer. Not that she’d expected one.

Upstairs, she was surprised to find a book she’d
left on the hallway table now lying on the floor. She was certain she hadn’t
left it hovering on the edge where it might fall. Goosebumps raised on her
forearms. Surely, Rosa couldn’t have done something like that.

Before Erin could think further on the subject,
the doorbell rang. Perhaps her guests had arrived sooner than expected.

She retraced her steps downstairs and peeked
through the keyhole in the front door. A young woman with long blond hair and
bright red lipstick stood on the porch looking very impatient.

Erin opened the door. “Hi,” she said to the woman.

The blonde gave her a momentary look of surprise
before she glanced beyond Erin as though expecting someone else might be
standing there. “I’m looking for Rick.”

Erin brought her brows together. “He’s working
right now. Can I give him a message?”

“I already stopped at his garage, and he wasn’t
there.” She looked past Erin again.

“Well, I promise he’s not here, either.” Though
where he was, she had no idea.

The woman released a large, annoyed sigh. “Tell
him Melinda stopped by. I’m staying with Janice. He can find me there.” Without
a goodbye or anything, she turned, her high-heeled boots clicking on the
sidewalk as she walked back to a sporty-looking black Eclipse and sat inside.
It started with a roar, and like that, she was gone.

Erin shut the door, not quite sure what to feel. The
woman who’d broken Rick’s heart and then left had come back to Argent Springs.
What did that mean, if anything, for her new relationship with Rick?

She tried to reassure herself that she had nothing
to worry about, but a niggling doubt dropped into the pit of her stomach and
began to fester.

*        *        *

A rush of chilled air swirled into Rick’s garage
not long after he’d returned from lunch, and he glanced up expecting to see
Kellan.

Instead, Melinda stood just inside the door, a
warm look of expectant happiness on her face. A feeling of appreciation pinged
through him. She’d grown out her white-blond hair since he’d last seen her, and
she seemed a lot thinner. But her blue eyes still sparkled with interest.
“Rick.” She rushed toward him, acting like a person who’d endured a forced
separation from her lover and threw her arms around his neck.

Not knowing what else to do, he hugged her back
even as the shield around his heart deployed. “What are you doing here?”

She pulled back, smiling into his face. “I missed
you. So much.” She took hold of his chin and leaned up to kiss him.

He was the one who pulled back this time.
“Melinda…”

A pout formed on her ruby red lips. “I know. I
don’t deserve a kiss, and you have every right to be angry with me. I was gone
for far too long. But I’m here to make it up to you.”

Too long was right. “What exactly does that mean?”

“It means I’ve decided to put school on hold for a
bit. After we had our talk, I realized what I was about to lose and just felt
all sick inside. I had to finish the semester, but now I’m here.”

He turned from her, not about to be pulled into
her scheming, and picked up a wrench instead. “You said it yourself, design
school is your dream.” He slid the end of his tool on a bolt and tightened it.

She walked behind him, disappearing from his line
of vision. Then suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his middle, cuddling up
against his back, pressing her breasts against him. “I was wrong. You’re my
dream.”

Shit. His body had been used to responding to her
touch for a long time, and apparently now, his dick had disconnected from his
brain. He twisted in her embrace and set her away from him.

How did he get his point across without being a
complete jerk? “You can’t come back after all these months and pretend they
didn’t happen. You said it was your dream…and you left. I’ve moved on.”

An icy glaze frosted her blue eyes. “With that
woman at Annabelle’s house?”

“What difference does it make?” He wasn’t about to
discuss Erin with her.

Melinda stroked the fur running down the front of
her coat. “Do you love her?”

“That has nothing to do with why we broke up.”

Without warning, she wrapped her arms around his
neck and laid a possessive kiss on his lips. He nearly had to pry her off.

“What are you doing?” To his own ears, his voice
sounded breathless, and he cursed himself.

“Trying to prove there’s still something between
us. That you still want me.” She ran a hand down his chest and over his solid
erection. “I know you do.”

He backed away from her, putting the engine he currently
worked on between them. Shame swallowed him for reacting the way he had. “That
has nothing to do with us. Any pretty girl who kissed me like that would
probably get the same reaction. It only means I’m a man.”

She raised a brow, a satisfied smile on her face.
“You still think I’m pretty?”

He nearly exploded then. “God, Melinda. Stop
already. We had our chance, and it’s obvious we weren’t meant to be.”

“Why?” Her bottom lip quivered, and he feared she might
start crying.

He needed to finish this conversation and send her
on her way. “Because you left. And more than that, because you could go more
than eight months without seeing me. I don’t blame you for wanting to pursue
your dreams, but did you have to shut me out at the same time?” Anger took
over, and he gripped it like a safety line.

She sniffed. “That wasn’t my fault.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Of course it was. You’re a
free agent.”

She stepped closer, raising his defenses even
more. “I didn’t want to say anything to you, didn’t want to hurt you anymore. I
know how much you loved Annabelle.”

“What the hell does she have to do with this?”

Melinda bit her bottom lip, studying him before
releasing a big sigh. “She paid me to leave Argent Springs, Rick. Said she’d
give me part of her inheritance from Grandpa Henderson when all of it rightfully
should have been mine.”

He stood stunned for a few seconds, letting her
words sink in. “I don’t believe it. That’s an easy claim to make now that she’s
dead and can’t defend herself.”

“I can prove it. I have a copy of the check she
wrote.”

“I’d like to see that.” He knew for a fact that she
most likely would have been in line to inherit everything from her grandpa if
he hadn’t married Annabelle, but he had, and he had made it very clear in his
will what belonged to Annabelle, and what was Melinda’s. Rick had thought
Melinda had left that in the past, but obviously not. He tried to fully fill
his lungs and failed as acid churned in his stomach.

A sad expression lit in her eyes as she looked
from him to her purse. She pulled out her cell phone and pushed the screen
several times before holding her phone out to him. “Scroll through the next
couple of photos, too.”

Rick took her phone and glanced at the screen. The
picture was a vicious kick to his heart. Two thousand dollars dated January of
that year. The next screen was a similar check dated February. All bearing
Annabelle’s signature.

“She promised to pay me two thousand a month if I
left and didn’t contact you for a year. She wanted me to go to school, and I
figured why not? At least I could get some of what was owed to me. I could
finish school and then you could join me in L.A. At that point, there would be
nothing she could do about it.” She put a hand on his arm. “But she couldn’t
stop you from calling me, or she’d have to explain what she’d done. It kind of
backfired on her.”

All the conversations he’d had with Annabelle
about his love life came flooding back to him. She’d been adamant that Melinda
was no good for him, and it annoyed the hell out of him that she’d kept butting
in. It all made so much sense now. “
She paid you to leave
?” Her money
did not give her the right to interfere with his life.

Melinda cradled one of his hands between hers.
“I’m so sorry. I feel like I’ve lied to you, too. But I couldn’t refuse the
opportunity, and I knew we loved each other and she couldn’t keep us apart
forever. I did it for us.”

His brain felt like it might explode. All of the
times when he’d waited and wondered if she really cared, she had. Melinda
hadn’t betrayed him. Annabelle had. Just like his mother. “Fuck.”

She ran her fingers down the side of his face and
across his chin. “I love you, Rick. I always have. If it hadn’t been for
Annabelle, we’d probably be married by now. That house should have been mine.
Should now be ours.”

If she wouldn’t have left, he never would have
started this thing with Erin. He’d based all of his decisions on Annabelle’s
lies. God.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concern etched on her
face as she looked into his eyes.

“Yes. No. I don’t know.” He shook his head as
though the movement might help him clear it. “How could she do that to me?”

She snuggled up next to him, wrapping her arms
around his waist and laying her head against his chest. “I don’t know. I
suppose she thought she was doing the best thing for you. She was wrong.”

She tilted her head back, looking up at him with
crystal clear blue eyes. She slipped a hand behind his neck and pulled him
toward her. Her lips were soft and warm beneath his, and she quickly escalated
the kiss, her tongue demanding entrance to his mouth, her hand caressing and
making him hard all over again. He let her kiss him, trying to imagine what it
might have been like if Annabelle hadn’t interfered.

But thoughts of Erin crowded in. She was as
innocent as he was in the matter. And he loved her.

He ended the kiss, pushing her away from him. Her
chest heaved with excitement, her eyes flashing with desire.

“I need some time.” This wasn’t a cut-and-dry
situation, and he needed to figure things out.

“I understand. You’ve been living with a lie, and
it might take a bit of time to accept it.” She gave him a hopeful smile. “Can I
see you later? Maybe meet for dinner?”

He frowned. Erin expected him at home.
Home
.
God, this was such a mess. “I don’t know. I’ll call you.”

She pouted again. “Okay. You have my cell. I’m
staying at Janice’s house. You could always drop by there, too.”

He nodded noncommittally and watched her walk out
the door, his heart a tortured rock inside his chest.

*        *        *

Erin tensed when she heard the front door close.
She was pretty sure the couple who would be staying the night hadn’t returned
already. They’d barely left a half hour before, intending to take in some of
the town and eat dinner at Eleanor’s Restaurant.

That meant it could only be one person.

Rick.

“Hey,” he said, walking into the kitchen and
taking a big sniff. “Smells good.”

“It’s just soup,” she responded, not wanting to
meet his gaze. She was so terribly afraid of what she’d find there.

“Anything I can do to help?”

She shook her head. “Nope. It’s pretty much
ready.”

He moved closer and took her hand. “I was hoping
we could talk about something over dinner.”

She looked at him then, about to ask which topic
they’d be discussing, but one look and the red lipstick next to his mouth told
her all she needed to know. “Melinda?” she asked, her voice cracking on the
last syllable.

He seemed surprised. “Did she stop here?”

She nodded. “Sure did.”

“What did she say?”

She took a couple of calming breaths before she
answered so she wouldn’t lose all dignity and cry in front of him. “Can we just
stop with the crap and be honest?”

He drew his brows together as though he didn’t
understand.

“Melinda’s back, and you’d prefer to be with her.
I get it.”

He touched her shoulder, and she shrugged him off
with a vengeance. “I don’t prefer her.”

“Don’t lie to me, Rick.” Emotion pushed past her
barriers. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying, Erin.” His anger seemed to equal
the hurt pulsing through her, and she wanted to believe him. “I had no idea she
was coming back. She just showed up at my shop.”

“And you kissed her.”

“I didn’t kiss her.” He let go a heavy sigh, his
next words less heated. “She kissed me.”

“At least you’re not lying about that.” She
pointed to the side of her mouth, indicating that he had something on his face
in the same spot.

“Shit,” he said under his breath before he quickly
scrubbed his face, erasing most of the evidence.

“Just go to her. If you’re even questioning your
love for me, then I don’t want you.” She turned her back on him and picked up
the wooden spoon to stir the soup. “Just go.”

“It’s not that cut and dry, Erin.” He took her
shoulder and turned her toward him. “I found out today that Annabelle paid
Melinda to leave.”

“So?” He hadn’t professed his undying love for her
right then and there when she needed it so badly. He wasn’t reassuring her at
all, so what difference did it make? The hollow feeling inside her multiplied,
faster than it had when she and Craig broke up.