“I’m not even going to brush my teeth right now. I know I have a few beers in the fridge if Adam didn’t drink them. Want one when you get out?”
“Absolutely.”
She followed him to the living room where he snagged his overnight bag.
“I won’t be long.”
“Take your time.” She waved a hand at him.
He didn’t want to take his time in the shower alone. He wanted to hurry and spend all his time with April before they parted company again—maybe for good this time.
Seeing her again had only drilled home the point that he needed to get on with his life. She hadn’t offered any explanations for running out on their wedding, even though the heat still burned between them.
Sometimes he caught a look of regret and sadness in her blue eyes, but whatever feelings lurked in her soul they weren’t strong enough to overcome whatever objections she’d had to their marriage. He had to respect that.
He scrubbed his body hard with a washcloth as if trying to wash April Hart out of his pores. If only a little soap and elbow grease could do the trick.
He dried off and pulled on a pair of gym shorts and a white T-shirt—the more covered up, the better. Maybe he’d luck out and she’d be sound asleep after the events of today.
Did she really think he’d killed Jimmy when she saw him over his body? Not that the idea of April being engaged to a scumbag like that didn’t cause rage to boil in his veins. Adam and Jimmy must’ve really done a number on her—or she’d been so lost she wasn’t thinking straight.
Lost because of him? That’s how he’d felt without her—lost, half a man.
He shook his head and draped the towel over the rack to dry. He stepped out of the bathroom and dropped his bag inside the door of the spare bedroom, which she’d already neatly made up for him.
The TV hummed from the other room, and he poked his head around the corner. “Still awake?”
She twisted her head around while pausing the TV show. “I’m not tired. Are you? I think I still have adrenaline pumping through my body from finding Jimmy.”
He strode toward her and dropped on the other end of the couch. “I’m sorry. You must’ve loved him once.”
“Never.” She tightened her lips. “It was all fake. All make-believe, and I think I knew it even before the wedding day and my eavesdropping.”
“Why didn’t you make a run for it before the big day?” He crossed his ankle over his bouncing knee. Would she shut him down?
She shrugged. “Didn’t relish the idea of being a two-time loser.”
“Yeah, much better to be married to a man you suspected of criminal activity.” He rolled his eyes. “Do you have those beers?”
“Just waiting for you.” She half rose, but he sprang to his feet.
“I’ll get them.”
Her refrigerator contained a few bottles of water, a few bottles of beer and an expired yogurt. Why would it be stocked? She’d left this place to get married. Had they planned a honeymoon? Probably Mexico for a surprise visit to the bride’s father.
He twisted the caps off the beers and tossed them on the countertop with a clink. “Do you want a glass?”
“You know me better than that.”
He knew her better than anyone—or he used to.
He walked back into the living room on bare feet and handed her one bottle. She’d changed from the black leggings she’d worn earlier into short, pink pajama bottoms and a white top with spaghetti straps.
He pointed at the husky puppies on her bottoms. “Those look like Denali.”
“Why do you think I bought them?” She dropped her lashes and rubbed a thumb across a white dog printed on the material. “It reminded me of Denali and...”
Her voice died away in a whisper, and a knife twisted in his gut, engulfing him in the same pain that came on every time he thought about April.
He dropped to his knees. “Why, April? Why’d you do it? Why’d you leave us?”
Her sparkling eyes flew to his face, color rushing into her cheeks.
Okay, that had been a cheap shot throwing Denali in there.
She folded her hands around the bottle. “Would you believe me if I told you I did it to protect you?”
Clay curled his hands around her calves. “This sounds like the old ‘it’s me, not you’ excuse. In fact, that’s the reason you gave me two years ago.”
Leaning forward, she placed her hands on his shoulders. “Does it matter to you right now?”
Clay swallowed. Did it? To have this woman in his arms again, loving her, pleasing her, meant everything to him.
He closed his eyes. He’d just been telling himself to move on with his life. Making love with April was not a good step on that path.
She cupped his jaw with one hand. “I missed you so much, Clay.”
His lids flew open, and he found himself almost nose-to-nose with the one woman he’d loved more than life itself.
It didn’t matter why she left. It didn’t matter that she’d made terrible choices since then. It didn’t matter that she intended to leave him again once she found her brother.
He scooped a hand through her hair. This mattered. Only this.
He brought her in inches closer and angled his mouth across hers. Her warm, soft lips opened, and she invited him inside. His tongue explored her mouth, and she sighed against his kisses.
She dropped her hand to the neck of his T-shirt and hooked her fingers over the neckline, rubbing her knuckles along his collarbone. Opening her legs, she hooked them around his torso, almost coming off the couch and knocking him backward.
He steadied himself and planted a trail of kisses along her inner thigh. The dogs on her pajama bottoms wiggled, and he smiled against her flesh.
He tucked his hands beneath her derriere and hoisted her back up on the couch, following
