Her lips lifted at the corners in a trembling smile of uncertainty as she rubbed her arms against the same hot ripples of awareness he was experiencing. “Would you believe I was in the neighborhood and thought I...I’d stop and say hi?”
Aislyn’s raspy, quivering voice cut him to the quick. He managed to keep himself in check, but fuck, having to do so grated on his conscience. Nothing had changed since he let her go; his family pack and obligations still took precedence and forbade him from risking exposure.
“No, but I’m glad,” he drawled, injecting a note of humor to make up for her failed attempt and to defuse the tenseness between them. “It’s good to see you, Aislyn. Come in.” Unable to resist only so much, he held out his hand to her. Gavin didn’t need his sharp vision and hearing to see the tautness go out of her slim shoulders and hear the release of her pent-up breath. She came up the steps and placed her clammy hand in his, the slight tremor in her fingers another telltale sign of her insecurity at this reunion. That bothered him as much as the fact he didn’t have the right to demand immediate answers.
Aislyn pulled out of his light grasp as soon as he led her into the great room with its floor-to-ceiling windows. Gavin stepped back to give her the space she seemed to need, waving a hand toward the leather sofa facing the river rock fireplace. “Have a seat. Can I get you anything?”
Instead of sitting, she paced the wood floor, inching further away from him, keeping her face averted, and he ached at the loss of their former familiarity. What did you expect after two years? Anger over the circumstances that had forced their separation resurged, tearing down the wall he’d erected to keep it at bay all this time. Her silence, agitated strides and palpable apprehension shredded his patience. To hell with rights; what the fuck happened to bring her here?
“Damn it, Aislyn, sit down and talk to me. You never used to have trouble expressing yourself around me.”
She whirled to face him, her eyes flashing with ire, her mouth set in those stubborn tight lines he remembered so well. “That was a long time ago. I didn’t come here to rehash our old relationship.”
“I didn’t think you did,” he returned coolly, chafing under her lack of immediate submission. “Why are you here?”
She hesitated, turning away from him again before relating the evasive answer he knew was coming. “My life got screwed up all of a sudden, and I don’t know how to fix the mess. I was hoping...” She took a deep breath that lifted her shoulders and looked at him. “You said to come to you if I ever needed anything. I could use a place to stay for a few days, just enough time to get my head together, so I was hoping you meant it.” Her stomach took that moment to growl and embarrassment flooded her face. “I skipped lunch,” she mumbled.
He remembered her healthy appetite, how she wasn’t one to go for a salad when he took her out. It had been a pleasure watching her enjoyment of food. “If that’s a new habit, it’s no wonder you’ve lost weight. You can get settled in the guest room while I heat up leftovers from dinner for you. Follow me then I’ll grab your bags.”
“Gavin.” He halted, noting the relief easing the tension around her mouth. “Thank you. I promise I won’t be an imposition, or stay long.”
Too late, Gavin thought but couldn’t bring himself to say aloud. “You could never be that, little one.”
****
Little one. Aislyn checked out the attached bathroom with the pleasure of hearing Gavin call her that endearment again still warming her. For the first time all day, she felt safe even though her dilemma remained unsolved. She had responded to seeing him again with the same rush of heated awareness that had rendered her incapable of considering anyone else to tutor her into submission all those months ago. At the same time, as she’d stood at the bottom of the porch steps gazing up at his familiar face and trying not to ogle his bare chest, she realized their breakup proved how little she had known about him and his feelings toward her. She didn’t realize how much she had been counting on him reacting to her sudden presence the same way he used to when they would meet at the club, by simply taking over, leaving her no choice but to go along with his plans or walk away. Instead, he’d stood there, looking down at her with an unreadable expression, leaving her to flounder over whether she’d made the right decision in coming to him.
Two years was a long time and feelings changed, but now that she was here, she didn’t want to leave, and still had nowhere else to hide out. Maybe, after taking a few days to feel him out, get to know him all over again, she might get up the nerve to ask for his help, hope he exhibited the same unfailing patience with her as he had treated her to when she’d been in his care as an inexperienced submissive.
The size of Gavin’s home hinted at his family’s success with ranching and other investments she remembered him mentioning. From the outside, it looked a lot like the other house she’d come to after driving through the open gates. She assumed that was Drake McCullough who had been waiting outside for her, Gavin’s youngest brother. He’d mentioned him, and their sister, Jan a few times, always with a hint of fondness she’d envied. As an only child and then an orphan, she’d longed for siblings, a family and all the relatives that went with one. He’d been nice enough, giving her directions
