At last he cleared his throat and spoke in a husky voice. “Guess I’d better let you finish.”
“Oh, I’m finished,” she said, slipping by him, shivering as she brushed against his body. “I’ll be in Brooke’s room, so you might not want to accidentally walk in there.”
His chuckle sounded a bit strained, but she didn’t look behind to see. She finished dressing quickly, and although Brooke invited her to stay for lunch, Emily felt too guilty for abandoning Monica, so she headed back into town before Nate emerged from his old bedroom.
Nate worked hard all day, trying to rid his mind of the tantalizing glimpse he’d had of Emily. She’d been damp from the shower, her supple back bare of tan lines after winter. He’d had just a side glimpse of the roundness of one breast, and the image lingered.
He had dinner with his family, and when Brooke and Josh headed back to the irrigation dams, he hung back a moment, bringing the last of the dishes into the kitchen.
His mom stood at the sink, her cane resting against the counter beside her, her hips swaying a little to the radio she always played when she worked in the kitchen. She had his dark hair though she now had to color it to keep it that way, but her eyes were brown. Sometimes it made him sad that his green eyes were from the father he didn’t want to remember. Same with his height. His mom barely came up to his shoulders, but her exuberance always made her seem larger-than-life. She’d been dealt several terrible blows in her youth, but you never knew it to talk to her. When her MS flared up, she was the first one to wander the hospital, talking to kids in the pediatric ward or sitting with chemotherapy outpatients. There were times in her life she had to use a wheelchair, but she got up every day looking forward to whatever chores she could do.
Now, as he set the dishes in the sink, she glanced at him with amusement. He immediately grew wary.
“So I missed meeting your Emily,” Sandy said.
Nate sighed. “She’s not my Emily. She’s a friend I’m helping out.”
“A friend?”
“Well, yeah. I know she stopped by today, but it was because of the flowers you ordered.”
His mom raised an eyebrow, but his father was the first to comment. “She had questions about her dad, of course. I told your mom all about it.”
“Hope she didn’t make you too uncomfortable,” Nate said, feeling more and more awkward. “It was probably good you weren’t here, Mom, or she might have grilled you, too.”
“ ‘Grilled’?” Sandy echoed. “Having a conversation has now become an interrogation? It almost sounds like you’re warning me away from her.”
“Not true,” Nate insisted.
“If I didn’t know better,” his mom continued, her mouth turned up with repressed laughter, “I’d think you were in charge of who I can visit with.”
“Of course not.” But he didn’t know how to explain his uneasiness, even to himself.
“You better get going, Nathaniel,” she said, nodding to the back door, “before I dissect whatever you’re not saying.”
He left quickly, hearing his mom and dad’s laughter.
After he and Josh had finished irrigating that evening, he took another shower back at his cabin and drove into town. He wasn’t sure what he meant to do, but he felt restless. Normally, he might meet a few guys at Tony’s Tavern and play pool, but the memories of Emily on that pool table were a bit too vivid. He could go dancing at the Outlaws and not lack for partners, but there was only one woman he wanted to concentrate on tonight.
He found himself parked in the alley behind Emily’s building, not knowing quite how he got there. This was probably a bad idea. Scout whined softly, as if sensing his uncertain mood.
“You stay here, buddy.”
He left the windows cracked open and rang the bell for the apartment. When he heard her voice, something inside him felt eager and randy and surprisingly uncertain about his welcome. He took off his hat.
She opened the door and smiled at him, her hair in soft waves about her shoulders. She wore workout shorts and a clingy t-shirt, and hell, he didn’t think she was wearing a bra. It took everything in him to keep his gaze on her lovely, expectant face.
“Nate, twice in one day?” she said, cocking her head.
“This one’s my idea, but earlier today, that was all your fault.”