As If You Never Left Me Part 9

The eggs were just the right side of done when Joely emerged from the bathroom, her porcelain skin even lovelier under a light application of cosmetics. He took a moment to absorb the sight of her, then turned back to his eggs.

"We have to go," she told him, coming into the kitchen with her giant purse slung over her shoulder. "You don't have time to eat those."

"No problem." He snagged two more pieces of bread from the loaf and dumped the eggs out of the skillet between them, making a sandwich. "I'm ready."

She smiled a little, and he was encouraged to see the softness in it. "I forgot you need more than toast in the morning."

"I'm a big, strapping man. I need protein."

She laughed. He grinned and followed her out the door.

From behind the counter, Joely and Perry watched Rey as he studied the merchandise in the front jewelry cabinet. He was squatting on the floor in front of the case, and the position did such marvelous things to his thighs and b.u.t.tocks that it was hard for Joely to concentrate on Perry's earnest advice.

"Don't stand there drooling at him and ignoring me and tell me you don't still love him," Perry finally said, in half-mock exasperation.

"l.u.s.ting after him and loving him aren't the same thing."

"I'm sorry, hon, but that's not l.u.s.t." Joely looked at her in surprise. Perry shook her head with a tolerant smile. "There's something in your eyes I've never seen before."

"Really? What?"

Perry nodded sagely. "Fear. And l.u.s.t, my dear, does not inspire fear."

Rey straightened and turned toward the shop's high, wide back window, giving the women a view of his clean profile.

"Look at him," Joely muttered. "He's not even that good-looking. I mean, look at his nose. It's huge."

"Is he in proportion?" Perry's eyes twinkled lewdly.

Thinking about the wet cotton briefs and what they had failed miserably to conceal, Joely nodded. "More or less." She sighed again, then shook her head. "I can't throw him out. Not now. There's too much-" She broke off, unwilling to face the emotion her words had begun to evoke. "I have to give it a chance." Rey stepped closer to the window, and Joely looked at Perry. "Do you think it's the right thing to do?"

"I think if it weren't, you wouldn't be agonizing over it so much."

"You might be right about that." She crossed her arms firmly over her chest. Just then, Rey turned his head to look at her and smile. She smiled back, but she knew it looked forced, and her brow refused to unbeetle.

But her soberness only made his smile widen. He knew, she thought. Somehow, he knew exactly what she'd been thinking, and he knew what decision she'd made.

Well, good for him. That would save her having to actually tell him. Inexplicably angry, she wheeled and huffed into the office, slamming the door behind her.

Rey couldn't help laughing a little at Joely's vehement departure. He hadn't been able to hear what she and Perry had been saying, but he'd known d.a.m.n well they were talking about him. Joely was, he knew, agonizing over what could have been a simple decision. Keep him or kick him out. Yes or no. Why did it have to be so hard?

He wasn't being fair, though. He'd come out of nowhere, asking more than he should have. If he hadn't been so desperate to get her back, he never would have forced himself on her like this. But living without her had been like living without part of his heart. He needed her back, and it was hard for him to imagine she might not feel the same way.

In any case, it looked like she'd made her decision. He was going to get his probation period. The next question was, how far to push it? Did he dare imagine he might be able to get her into bed tonight? The thought made him weak inside. It had been nearly eighteen months since the last time they'd made love-his fault, for ignoring her those months before she'd finally packed up and left. And he hadn't touched another woman since the last time he'd touched Joely. His body hurt with his need for her. It was all he could do to keep standing there, nonchalant, smiling now at Perry, then returning his attention

to the gorgeous sweep of scenery out the wide window.

"It's pretty up here," he said, nodding toward the window, surprised his voice sounded normal rather than strangled and tortured.

"Yes, it is," Perry said. Something tight in her tone made him look at her. She had her arms crossed over

her chest and was regarding him with one eyebrow c.o.c.ked. "If you hurt her," she said, "I'll kill you."

Rey's smile fell off his face. He'd thought Perry was on his side. "I-" he started, then faltered under the intensity of Perry's glare.

The bell on the front door rang and a young woman came in, a little girl balanced on her hip. Perry cast Rey one last dark look. "I mean it, Rey."

Rey swallowed. "I believe you."

"Good."

Perry turned to her new customer then, her face changing from deathly threat to smiles and charm. Rey, disconcerted, shook his head.

Between the unpredictable weather and the unpredictable women, Colorado was a scary place.

Chapter Seven.

Joely left at eleven-thirty for lunch. Rey took advantage of her absence to slip into the office.

"Just want to check my e-mail," he told Perry, who gave him a dubious nod.

He wasn't lying-he did want to check his e-mail. He pulled out his computer and booted it up, hooking it into one of the phone lines with the cables he'd brought with him. He had to unplug Joely's computer to do so, but no one was using it at the moment, so it shouldn't make any difference.

Putting Joely completely out of his mind, he glanced over the half-dozen messages he'd received since yesterday. Officially, he was on vacation, but his boss, Bill, knew what he was up to and had sent several notes regarding the case they were building together. Rey still hadn't gotten pictures of Joely's pots, but that shouldn't be too difficult if they continued to give him free access to the shop. He dropped Bill a note to that effect, filing the other messages for later reference.

He was just about to shut the computer off when Perry stuck her head in.

"Hey, do you think you could watch the place for about five minutes while I use the bathroom?" she said.

Perfect. "Not a problem. I'll be there in a sec."

"Great." She let the door fall shut behind her. He snagged his digital camera out of the pocket of his computer case and slid it into his pants pocket. It was a tiny, slim little thing, perfect for this kind of work.

When he came out of the office, Perry nodded her thanks and scooted off to the bathroom. By the time she got back, Rey had taken twenty-five pictures of Joely's a.s.sortment of clay pots, in addition to helping four customers.

"Thanks," said Perry.

"Not a problem." He went back into the office, hooked his camera into his computer, and e-mailed the pictures to Bill with a note: "Look at Cherokee's new lineup. Check for wolves."

Joely stood in the tiny general store next to the gas station across the street from her shop. She hadn't even known, until five minutes ago, that they carried any form of birth control.

Since she'd been too embarra.s.sed to ask anyone where to look, it had taken her ten minutes of wandering around the little store before she managed to find the small selection of condoms. Now she just stood there staring at them, looking, she a.s.sumed, like a complete idiot, trying to work up the nerve to buy some.

She had to, though. There were some things she just wasn't willing to risk, not even to have Rey back in her life. Pregnancy was one of them. She wasn't really worried about anything else, not with Rey, but she definitely didn't want any of his strapping, healthy man-sperm to make her life any more of a debacle than it already was.

Finally, she just grabbed a box and shoved it under her arm. It occurred to her that might make it look like she was shoplifting. So she shifted it so it was barely visible and headed for the counter.

At the last minute, she realized she should have bought something else, too. Buying just a box of condoms was so-well, it made it look like she thought she was going to be having s.e.x tonight. If she'd bought some other things, like milk or ice cream, maybe the condoms would have looked like an afterthought.

It was too late. She was standing in front of the counter with her box of condoms, and she'd look even crazier if she turned around and ran. So she set the box down, feeling her face go hot.

"Hi, Ms. Birch," said the girl behind the counter, and Joely suddenly recognized her as a high school girl who'd worked for her for a few weeks during the summer. Could this get any more humiliating?

"Hi, Darla," Joely mumbled.

"I hear your husband's in town," said Darla brightly, then looked down at Joely's single item. Her lips clamped shut and she, too, blushed. In silence, she rung up the condoms and took Joely's cash. Joely grabbed the box and ran, not even waiting for Darla to put it in a bag.

After all this, I d.a.m.n well better get some, and it better be good.

With pictures sent and mission accomplished, at least for the moment, Rey decided to spend the rest of the afternoon away from the shop. It was getting hard for him to be in such close proximity to Joely, thinking about what might or might not happen tonight. In addition, business began to pick up right after she came back from lunch at twelve-fifteen, and he was beginning to feel like he was in the way.

Joely barely looked at him as he headed out the door. She looked like her lunch had been traumatic, and he wondered what could have happened. Maybe she'd tell him later. Or maybe she wouldn't. The thought bothered him. Once upon a time, they'd told each other everything.

He shoved his regrets aside. The more he thought about the past, the more he was reminded that his current situation was mostly his own fault, and that didn't help him focus on his purpose. He had to concentrate on the present, so the future would fall into place. He couldn't do anything about the past, so there was no point brooding about it. Besides, if everything went the way he planned, he'd make amends for much of what had driven him and Joely apart.

Right now, he needed to think about tonight. He was almost positive Joely was going to accept his proposal rather than throw him out of her house. This was a good thing. But he had to make sure it was going to work. He needed a plan.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of Joely's shop, he surveyed his surroundings, a.s.sessing his resources. There was a little country store that looked like it stocked basic necessities, a card and gift shop, a liquor store, a florist, the diner, and, a short way up the road, the lodge where he'd stayed his first night here. He smiled as bits of ideas started to b.u.mp together in his head. This could work. This could, in fact, work extremely well.

Two hours later, he stood in front of the desk at the Sky Mountain Lodge, ringing the bell. Several large paper and plastic bags sat on the floor next to his feet. Appearing from behind a door leading to a back room, Virginia tilted him a smile.

"Mr. Birch, right?" she said.

"You know d.a.m.n well it's Mr. Birch," he answered with a grin. "You never did explain why you threw me out."

She grinned back at him. "You didn't put your towels away."

"I most certainly did."

Still grinning, Virginia pointed at a sign on the wall. "'Management reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason,'" she read.

"Even spurious reasons?"

"That is correct, Mr. Birch." She had a definite twinkle in her eye. Rey leaned into the counter, matching that mischievous gaze with a conniving look of his own.

"I have a theory, Virginia," he said.

"And what would that be?"

"I think you threw me out of the lodge because you wanted me to end up in bed with Joely."

Her eyes narrowed, but she was still smiling. "Go on."

"It didn't work. I ended up on her couch, and my back is still paying for it." He straightened his spine, which responded with an obliging crack. Virginia winced. "Anyway, I'm thinking that since this was your plan, and since it didn't work the way it was supposed to, you might be willing to help me with my personal plan, which, in deference to you, I'll refer to as 'Phase Two.'"

She studied him reflectively. "Y'know, you could have charmed the pants right off me back in the day."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"As well you should. I was quite the catch."

"I'm sure you still are. So what do you think? Are you in?"

Her lips pursed as she considered. "You're right, you know, about why I kicked you out."

He nodded, trying not to look smug.

"But I'm not sure, now, it was the right thing to do."

"Why not?"

"Because I was sticking my nose where it didn't belong." She crossed her arms over her chest. "If I helped you out, I'd be doing exactly that again."

He offered his most charming smile. "Has that ever stopped you before?"

"You've got a point there." She uncrossed her arms, dropping her fists on her hips. "What do you need?"

"I just need directions to Joely's."