Hometown Star - By Joleen James Page 0,42

“I saw the way you were limping. You should have said something sooner. Because you didn’t, we’re doing things my way now.”

He scooped her from the truck, leaving Star no choice but to hang on. Once inside, he set her on the couch in the family room.

“Wait here,” he ordered with a stern look.

Star wanted to protest but kept her mouth shut. What good would it do? She wouldn’t win against Cade. He was a man on a mission, and his mission was to take care of her feet.

At the sound of Ron’s voice, Star’s ears perked up.

“Any update?” Cade asked his brother.

“John had the tests. They’ve released him. Destiny is on her way back here.”

“That’s good news,” Cade said.

“Sounds like it.”

“Trudy?”

“She’s good,” Ron said. “We had a relaxing day. How was the hike?”

“Great, but Star’s feet are pretty torn up.”

“That’s not good,” Ron said with sympathy. “City feet.”

“Yeah,” Cade agreed.

The men moved out of earshot. Star bent and removed her borrowed boots and bloody socks. She grimaced. Two red, raw sores marred her heels. She’d never admit to Cade that her heels had already been damaged when she’d walked home from his place her first day in Seward. Now it would be days before she could wear real shoes again. Thank goodness for flip flops.

Cade returned with a dishpan full of steaming water.

“I don’t know,” Star said skeptically. “That hot water looks painful.”

He set the pan at her feet. “You’ll feel better after you soak. He kneeled at her feet, his hands closing around them, his touch gentle. Her feet in his hands, he slid them into the water.

The warm water stung at first but quickly began to ease some of the ache.

“Soak,” he said. “I’ll be back.”

Star watched him walk away, her gaze sliding across his broad shoulders, down his strong back, and lower, to his rear end. When she realized she was practically drooling, she gave herself a mental check.

Yet, a nagging voice said, you want him. Use him. Make him your first. Be a modern girl. It’s just sex. Her mother had sex all the time. Brandi had sex. Tawney and Ruby Sue had sex. Everyone but her had sex.

She wanted to have sex with Cade. She couldn’t deny her urges any longer. For the first time she wanted to understand what the fuss was all about. If she made love with him, she’d have to live with the consequences. She’d return to her life and leave him behind.

In fact, he’d be the perfect partner, no strings attached. He’d become a memory, albeit, a great one. She could do it, because the alternative would be to leave here without sleeping with him, and that was a choice she didn’t want to make. Better to give herself to him, than to walk away and never know the joy of spending the night in his arms.

“How do you feel now?” Cade asked, snapping her out of her musings.

“Better.” She smiled, the choice clear in her mind. Loving Cade, even for one night, was worth the risk to her heart.

Cade grinned back. Star heated all over.

All over.

* * *

“It was awful, Star. Just awful.”

Star took a sip of her ice tea and exchanged an exasperated look with Cade before replying, “He’s on the mend now, Mom. Let it go.”

Destiny shook her head. “I can’t. I feel so responsible. I could have killed him. I had no idea I was that good in bed.”

Beside her, Cade made a funny sound and Star felt sure he was biting back a full–out belly laugh.

“Have some more wine.” Star refilled her mother’s glass. They sat around the outdoor table on the O’Briens’ back patio, enjoying the warm evening. Trudy sat nearby in her lounge chair, Ron beside her in a deck chair. The kids had gone inside, leaving the grownups alone to rehash the past twenty–four hours.

It had rained earlier, and the air smelled twice as sweet as usual. Star inhaled deeply, wanting to remember the scents, knowing she’d go back over this day a million times once she was back in Seattle.

Destiny chugged her wine. “I’m a wreck.”

“You’ve been through a lot,” Trudy said with sympathy.

“John was glad you were there,” Ron added.

“Yes, he was.” Destiny smiled. “He told me so over and over again. He’s asked me to come home with him, you know.”

Star choked, coughing. They all knew. This was the third time Destiny had delivered the news. She tuned out her mother and mentally counted the days she had