head. “I just don’t want any more charity if I can help it. I just don’t want to be pitied.”
“Nora,” he said loudly. “I don’t pity you!”
“I didn’t mean you treated me with pity, Tom. I mean I want to build a life for my girls, not rely on someone’s kindness to do it for me. I would, you know. I have—I’ve had to take charity to get by. But trust me, it feels better to stand on my own two feet.”
He was quiet for a moment, then he took a slug of wine. Not a sip but a couple of big swallows. “I’m not sure I’m ready for this,” he said.
“Well, there are still a few days,” she said. “I can’t get out of that little house overnight. Jed is coming tomorrow. He’s bringing me some sturdy boxes. I’ll get us packed up early this week. He’s going to come back, rent a trailer for the furniture in Fortuna and we’ll drive south. I’ll follow him to his house.”
“Have you told anyone else?”
She shook her head. “But I’m going to take a couple of days to say goodbye, to thank people for everything they’ve done to help me. And I’m going to remember this, you know? I’m going to damn sure remember what it’s like to need help and have a good person hold out a hand. Believe me, I’ll pay that back. I might not have the luxury of paying back in Virgin River, but I’m going to be paying back the goodwill.”
“I’m not getting this,” he said. “It’s too fast.”
She started to stand up. “It’s okay, Tom. I know I’ve blindsided you. You’ll get used to the idea.”
“I don’t think so,” he said, also standing. “Sit down—let me get the dinner out of the oven… .”
“Um, if it’s all the same to you, I’m not too hungry.” She slid a hand over her stomach. “Telling you all this had me nervous and kind of scared my appetite away. I still have lots of Maxie’s soup at home.”
“Salad, then. A little something.”
She shook her head. “I think now that it’s out and we had a chance to talk, I’m going to just—”
“No,” he said. He came around the table. “You can’t just go.” And he pulled her to him.
But she put her hands against his chest. “Tom, think about this. You really don’t want to—”
But he pulled her harder against him and covered her mouth in a blistering kiss. No test kisses this time, just the kill. She could taste his desperation and sadly, it matched her own. She hated this at least as much as he did—she had been foolish enough to hope that given time, they might actually come together.
“Don’t leave yet,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Let me do something. Let me feed you. Hold you. Rub your shoulders. Change your oil. Anything, please.”
She looked into his hot eyes; she was almost shaken. “Pedicure?” she asked.
He covered her mouth with his again, moving over her lips with passionate need. He licked open her lips and invaded her mouth and she welcomed him. Her arms went around his neck while his big hands slid down her back to her butt, cupping her and pulling her harder against him. He devoured her mouth and she not only cooperated, she met his fever with her own. It was a long time before he broke away. “Better than a pedicure,” he said softly, making her laugh.
“I think I know what you’re trying to talk me into.”
“Nora, I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll take care of you and you know, I care about you. You know I do. If I just wanted sex, I could find that. I need you. I have protection,” he promised.
And so did she. She’d been caught off guard twice; she’d been on the Pill since she started working part-time at the clinic in town. Even though she’d made the excuse that she didn’t want to take chances, what she really hadn’t wanted to risk was her heart. Well, hell, it was too late for that.
She met his lips again, running her fingers through his short hair, kissing him deeply and with promise. “Oh, Tom,” she whispered against his lips. And he lifted her into his arms and carried her up the stairs to his bed.
Chapter Twenty
This was not the setting he