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Like a diet that had only lasted twenty-four hours, she wanted to give in and devour him. In the same way someone would consume jelly doughnuts or cheesy pizza or even an entire bag of chips. Comparing Harry to food in her imagination was not smart. Now she was hungryandhorny.
Before she could break her own rules, she murmured a hasty goodnight and hid out in her room. Later, she could hear him climbing the stairs. And she heard his shower running.
Fortunately, because she hadn’t slept well the night before, she was able to crash hard after her own shower.
When she awoke on Saturday morning, the weather was postcard perfect. Blue skies and white fluffy clouds. She checked her weather app. The temps were already in the upper seventies and climbing.
She chose a white tank top and paired it with a gauzy skirt of navy and pink, then added navy espadrilles that would be comfy enough to wear all day.
It was only when her stomach growled that she realized one flaw in her plan for the Fourth of July. At almost the same moment, her phone dinged.
Apparently, we both forgot we’d need breakfast. I dropped a little treat outside your room. H
Cate listened at the door and then stuck out her arm to grab the brown paper sack and the tall paper cup with a lid. Harry had been to the coffee shop in town! Her portion of the bounty was a slice of cinnamon coffee cake and fresh-squeezed orange juice.
She ate the yummy meal a little at a time as she emptied drawers and filled her bags. Though her grandparents were still gone, the house had provided the same warmth and peace Cate remembered as a child.
Healing had come to her slowly. The future seemed brighter now, and happiness more attainable.
It was impossible to separate Harry from the mix. His hand was on almost everything that had happened in the last weeks. Except for the store. That had been Cate’s decision, her dream. And she was proud of it. Even then, she had welcomed Harry’s input after the fact.
One at a time, she put her various pieces of luggage in the hall. On the dresser, she laid out the few things she would need for tomorrow morning.
It felt odd to be leaving. Even though she would return to Blossom Branch for the real estate closing and to visit her grandparents, today marked one chapter of her life ending and another beginning.
She had survived. Now it was time to grow.
When she went downstairs just before noon, her luggage had disappeared. Harry had clearly been loading the car.
As she peeked into the carport, he saw her immediately and slammed the trunk. “It’s going to be a tight squeeze tomorrow, but you can hold the carved bear on your lap.”
“No carved bear,” she said with a laugh. “I promise.”
Harry rounded the car, pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “I missed you last night,” he said, nibbling a sensitive spot beneath her ear.
She resisted the urge to say,ditto. “Thank you for my breakfast. I guess I’m not such a great planner after all.”
He tugged on her earlobe with sharp teeth. “You were distracted by my animal magnetism,” he said.
She could smell his warm skin and the soap he had used shaving. “You are so full of it.” Her heart racketed in her chest. It was hard to feign nonchalance when everything he said and did tantalized her senses. “It’s almost noon,” she pointed out. “Are you ready?”
“If you mean ready to take you without mercy in the playhouse, the answer is yes. That wouldn’t technically count as your grandparents’ home—right?”
“It’s a thousand degrees out there. And I know you’re kidding.”
The hungry expression on his face said otherwise, but Cate had to steer them onto safer ground. “We don’t want to miss the concert,” she said, kissing him lightly because she couldn’t bear not to kiss him at all.
“Lead on,” he said.
Was it her imagination, or did the man radiate sexual hunger? He was like a barely domesticated tiger, ready to snap and bite if she let down her guard.
Was she going to spend the day balanced on a knife-edge of danger and need?
By the time they strolled the three blocks into the center of town, Harry’s mood was less edgy. He found them a seat on the grass and leaned back against a tree, pulling Cate against his chest.
It was the most comfortable spot on the whole quad. And the most perfect. She would steal these last innocent moments with Harry because she knew the end was coming.
Unlike on her wedding day, she recognized the heartbreak ahead. This time she was prepared. Besides, she wasn’t in love with Harry. She had a deep, sexually exciting crush. He was her rebound guy. The one who had saved her and nursed her back to emotional health.
