Spending the evening with Gabe confirmed for Lauren that since her divorce, she’d gone into a kind of lazy hibernation. She’d quit volunteering at the surf club, rarely joined her mother for the tai chi classes she’d always loved and avoided socializing regularly with anyone other than her two closest friends. It hadn’t been a deliberate pulling away, more like a reluctance to go out and put on her happy face.
That needed to change.
Lauren knew if she was going to find someone to share her life with, she actually needed to start having a real life.
But that real life didn’t include her sexy neighbor.
On Friday night she went to the movies with Cassie and Mary-Jayne, stayed out afterward for coffee and cake and got home by ten.
There was a light on next door. Lauren ignored the fluttering in her stomach and headed inside. As soon as she’d crossed the threshold, she heard Jed’s whining. Minutes later she discovered her great plan of leaving him locked in the laundry was not such a great plan. It was, in fact, a disaster. He’d somehow chewed a hole in the back door, and his big head was now stuck between the timbers. Lauren groaned, cursed her brother under her breath for a few seconds and then attempted to pull the dog free. But he was lodged. His neck was wedged around the cracked timber, and she didn’t have the strength to pull him free.
Surprisingly, the dopey dog was in good spirits, and she patted him for a moment before she grabbed her phone. She could call her father? Or perhaps Mary-Jayne might be able to help?
Just get some backbone and go and ask Gabe.
She reassured the dog for a little while longer before she walked next door. The porch light flickered and she sucked in a breath and knocked.
Gabe looked surprised to see her on his doorstep.
“Lauren?” He rested against the door frame. “What’s up?”
He wore faded jeans that were splattered with paint, and an old gray T-shirt. There was also paint in his hair and on his cheek. She wanted to smile, thinking how gorgeous he looked, but didn’t. Instead, she put on a serious face.
“I need help.”
He straightened. “What’s wrong?”
“It might be better if you just see for yourself.”
He was across the threshold in seconds. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Jed, on the other hand...”
“What’s he done now?” Gabe asked as they headed down the steps.
“Like I said, you need to see this for yourself.”
A minute later they were in her house. They moved to the laundry and were facing Jed’s bouncing rear end. And Gabe was laughing loudly. Really loudly. In fact, he was laughing so hard he doubled over and gripped the washing machine.
“It’s really not that funny,” she said crossly and planted her hands on her hips. “He could be hurt.”
“He’s not hurt,” Gabe said, still chuckling as he moved across the small room and knelt down beside the dog. “The goofy mutt is just stuck.”
“Exactly. He’s wedged in and I can’t pull him free.”
He examined the door. “Do you have a hammer?”
“A hammer?”
“I need to knock a bit of this plywood out the way,” he explained.
She nodded and grabbed the small toolbox under the sink. “I think there’s something in here.”
He opened the box, found the small hammer and got to work on the door. Jed whined a little, but Lauren placated him with pats and soothing words while Gabe made the hole large enough for the dog’s head to fit back through. It took several minutes, but finally Jed was free and immediately started bounding around the small room, whipping Lauren’s legs with his tail.
“Oh, that’s good,” she said on a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”
“He looks okay,” Gabe said, smiling. “But your door’s not so lucky.”
Lauren glanced at the door. The hole was bigger than she’d thought. “I’ll need to call someone to fix it on Monday.”
He nodded as he rose to his feet. “Sure. I’ll board it up for you now so you’ll be safe over the weekend.”
Lauren’s insides contracted. The way he spoke, the way he was so genuinely concerned about her, melted what was left of her resentment toward him.
Admit it...you like him.
A lot.
Too much.
“Ah—thanks,” she said quietly and moved Jed out of the small room.
Gabe followed her. “Be back soon,” he said as he strode down the hallway and headed out the front door.
He returned five minutes later with a large square piece of plywood, a cordless drill and a box of screws, and quickly repaired the hole. Lauren watched from her spot near the door, absorbed by the way he seemed to do everything with such effortless ease. Nothing fazed him. He was smart and resourceful and sexy and warmed the blood in her veins. Gabe made her think of everything she’d lost. And everything she was determined to avoid.
“Lauren?”
His voice jerked her back to earth. He was close. They were sharing the space in the narrow doorway, and Lauren’s gaze got stuck on his chest and the way the paint-splattered T-shirt molded his chest. Her fingertips itched to reach up and touch him, to feel for herself if his body was as strong and solid as it looked. She remembered how he’d pulled her from the pool at the wedding and how his hands had felt upon her skin. It had been a long time since she’d felt a man’s touch. Longer still since she’d wanted to.
Memories of Tim swirled around in her head. She’d loved him. Adored him. She’d imagined they would spend their lives together, loving one another, having children, creating memories through a long and happy marriage. But he’d never, not once, made her knees quiver and her skin burn with such blistering, scorching awareness. Even the fleeting desire she’d felt for James seemed lukewarm compared to the way Gabe made her feel. Her sex-starved body had turned traitor, taunting her...and she had to use her head to stay in control.
“I was...I was thinking...”
Her words trailed off when she looked up and met his blistering gaze. There was so much heat between them. Undeniable heat that combusted the air and made her stomach roll.
“Thinking?” he asked softly. “About what?”
Lauren willed some movement into her feet and managed to step back a little. “Your jacket,” she muttered and turned on her heels and fled through the kitchen and toward the guest bedroom.
When she returned, Gabe was in the hallway, tools in hand.
“I forgot to return this,” she explained and passed him the dinner jacket he’d given her the night of the wedding and which she’d since had dry-cleaned. “Thank you for lending it to me.”
“No problem.” He took the garment and smiled. “Well, good night.”
“Ah—and thanks again for freeing Jed.... Your saving me from disaster is becoming something of a habit.”
“No harm in being neighborly,” he said casually.
Too casually. She knew he was as aware of her as she was of him. But they were skirting around it. Denying it.
“I guess not. Good night, Gabe.”
He left, and Lauren closed the door, pressing her back against it as she let out a heavy sigh. Being around Gabe was wreaking havoc with her usual common sense. He wasn’t what she wanted. Sure, she could invite him into her bed for the night. But that was all it would be. He’d called her Commitment 101, and he was right. He’d told her he didn’t do serious. He didn’t want a relationship. They were too different.
* * *
When she arrived at The Wedding House the following morning, her mother was there before her, as was their part-time worker, Dawn.
“You look terrible,” her mother remarked, clearly taking in her paler-than-usual skin and dark smudges beneath her eyes. Lauren wasn’t surprised she looked so haggard—she hadn’t slept well. Instead, she’d spent the night fighting the bedsheets, dreaming old dreams, feeling an old, familiar pain that left her weary and exhausted.
“Gee—thanks,” she said with a grin. “Just a little sleep deprived because of Jed, but I’ll tell you about that later.”
Irene smiled. “Are you heading to the surf club this afternoon? Or do you want me to go? We have to have the measurements for the stage and runway to the prop people by Monday, remember?”
She remembered. There was a fund-raiser at the surf club planned for two weeks away, and although Grace was the event organizer, Lauren volunteered to help in her sister-in-law’s absence. Since she was organizing a fashion parade for the night anyway, it wasn’t too much extra work liaising with the staging and entertainment people and the caterers.
“I’ll go this afternoon,” she said, and ignored the silly fluttering in her belly. All she had to do was measure the area for the stage and change rooms for the models. It was not as if she would be hanging around. It was not as if she had a reason to want to hang around.
“If you’re sure,” her mother said, her eyes twinkling.
Her übermatchmaking mother knew very well that Gabe might be there.
“I’m sure,” she insisted. “And stop doing that.”
Her mother raised both brows. “What? I just want to see my only daughter happy.”
“I want to see me happy, too,” Lauren said, and instructed Dawn to open the doors.
“I’m concerned about you,” Irene said, more seriously.
“I’m fine, Matka,” she promised. “Just tired, like I said.”
The models for the parade had started coming into the store for their fittings, and that morning Carmen Collins crossed the threshold and held court like she owned the world. They’d gone to school together, and the self-proclaimed society princess made it her business to insult Lauren at every opportunity. But the other woman knew people with deep pockets, and since that was what the fund-raiser was about, Lauren bit her tongue and flattered Carmen about the tight-fitting, plum-colored satin gown she was wearing in the parade.
“I do adore this color,” Carmen purred and ran her hands over her hips. “So are you modeling in the parade?”
“No,” Lauren replied and saw her mother’s raised brows from the corner of her eye. “I’ll be too busy with the show.”
“Pity,” Carmen said with a sugary laugh. “You do look so sweet in a wedding dress.”
Lauren plastered on a smile and pulled back the fitting room drapes. “Maybe next year,” she said, clinging to her manners as though they were a life raft. “I’ll have the dress pressed and ready for the show.”
The other woman left by eleven, and her mother didn’t bother to hide her dislike once Carmen was out the door.
“Can’t bear that woman,” Irene said, and frowned. “She was an obnoxious teenager and hasn’t improved with age.”
“But she married a rich man and knows plenty of people who’ll donate at the fund-raiser,” Lauren reminded her mother. “That’s all that matters, right?”
Her mother huffed out a breath. “I suppose. Anyway, we’ve only got three more of the models to come in for a fitting and we’re done. So off you go.” She shooed Lauren and smiled. “I’ll close up.”
Lauren grinned, hugged her mother, quickly changed into gunmetal-gray cargo pants, a pink collared T-shirt and sneakers and then headed to the Crystal Point Surf Club & Community Center to measure the space she’d need for the catwalk.
The holiday park was filled with campers and mobile homes, and she drove down the bitumen road that led to the clubhouse. Almost a year earlier, the place had been gutted by fire, and the renovated building was bigger and better with much-improved facilities. She parked outside, grabbed her tape measure and notebook and headed through the automatic doors on the ground level.
And came to an abrupt halt.
Gabe was there.
Wet, laughing and clearly having a good time in the company of a lifeguard, a young woman who Lauren vaguely recalled was named Megan.
“Lauren?” he said as he straightened from his spot leaning against the reception desk. “What brings you here?”
She held up the tape. “Benefit stuff,” she said, and tried to ignore the way the safety shirt he wore outlined every line and every muscle of his chest and shoulders at the same time as the little green-eyed monster was rearing its head.
Snap out of it.
“Do you know Megan?” he asked and came toward her.
She nodded. “Hello.”
“It’s Mimi,” the girl corrected cheerfully, showing off perfectly white teeth and a million-dollar smile to go with her athletic, tanned body. “No one calls me Megan except my parents.” She laughed and gazed at Gabe a little starry-eyed. “And you.” Then she turned her attention back to Lauren. “So Gabe said you might be filling in for Cameron while he’s away if we get too busy. The beaches have been crazy today.... Gabe just pulled an old man in from the rip.”
Lauren smiled and looked at Gabe. That explained why his clothes were wet and why he had sand on his feet. “Is the man okay?”
“Shaken up, but fine,” he replied and smiled. “But I wouldn’t call him old. He was probably only forty.”
Perfectly toned and tanned Mimi laughed loudly. “Ancient,” she said, and grabbed Gabe’s arm, lingering a lot longer than Lauren thought appropriate. “Well, I’d better get back on patrol. See you.”
She breezed out of the room with a seductive sway that Lauren couldn’t have managed even if she’d wanted to.
“Do you need help with that?” Gabe asked, looking at the tape in her hand.
Lauren shook her head. “No.”
“So you’re organizing the benefit with Grace?”
She looked at him. “The fashion parade. Why? Are you interested in modeling?”
He laughed. “Ah, no thanks. I did promise your brother I’d help out setting up, but that’s all.”
Lauren placed the retractable tape at one end of the room, and when it bounced back into her hand, he walked over and held it out straight for her. “Thanks,” she said, and pulled the tape out across the room.
“If you need models, perhaps Megan can help?” he suggested and came across the room.
“Mimi,” she corrected extrasweetly, and placed the notebook on the desk. “And I think I have all the models we need.” Lauren remained by the desk and raised a brow. “She’s a little young, don’t you think?”
He frowned. “No. She’s a strong swimmer and a good lifeguard.”
Lauren flipped the notepad open without looking at him. “That’s not what I meant.”
The second he realized her meaning, he laughed loudly. “She’s what, nineteen? Give me some credit.”
Lauren glanced sideways. “She’s perky.”
“And a teenager.” He moved closer. “Why all this sudden interest in my love life?”
“I’m not interested,” she defended, and shrugged as she faked writing something on the notepad. “You can do what you like. Although, everyone knows that interoffice romances can be tricky and—”
Lauren was startled when he touched her arm gently. Mesmerized, she turned to face him. Side by side, hips against the desk, there was barely a foot between them. She tilted her head back and met his eyes. His gaze traveled over her face, inspecting every feature before settling on her mouth. It was intensely erotic, and her knees quivered. The hand on her arm moved upward a little, skimming over her skin, sending jolts of electricity through her blood.
Her lips parted...waiting...anticipating...
It had been so long since she’d been kissed. Too long. And she knew he knew that was what she was thinking.
“I’m not going to kiss you,” he said softly, his gaze still on her mouth. “Even though I want to, and it would certainly stop you talking nonsense about Megan.”
“All I—”
“Shh,” he said, and placed two fingertips against her lips. “Keep talking, and I will kiss you.”
Lauren knew she had to move. Because if she didn’t, sanity would be lost, and she’d fling against him and forget every promise she’d made to herself. The fleeting attraction she’d experienced the first time they’d met six months ago had morphed into heady, hot desire that was slowly becoming all she could think about.
And it’s not what I want....
Mindless passion was dangerous.
And if I’m not careful, I’m going to get swept up in it all over again....
“You promised,” she reminded him on a whisper. “Remember? No making passes.”
“I know what I promised,” he said, and rubbed his thumb against her jaw. “I did warn you I could be a jerk, though.”
Lauren took a deep breath. “You know what I want.”
“And you seem to be of a mind to tell me what I want,” he said, still touching her lips. “Which is not, I might add, a teenager with a silly crush.”
“She’s more woman than teenager, and—”
He groaned. “You really do talk too much.”
If the automatic doors hadn’t whooshed open, Lauren was certain he would have kissed her as if there was no tomorrow. And she would have kissed him back. Vow or not.
”Gabe,” Mimi’s squeaky voice called frantically from the doorway. “I need your help.”
He dropped his hand and stepped back. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s a lady on the beach who’s had a fall, and I think she might have broken her ankle.”
Gabe moved away from her and grabbed the first-aid bag. “Okay...show me where.”
He was out the door in a flash, and Lauren took a few seconds to get her feet to move and follow. By the time she reached the first crest of the sandbank, Gabe was already attending to the elderly woman. He was crouched at her side, one hand on her shoulder and asking her questions while Mimi unzipped the first-aid bag.
Lauren moved closer to assist. And took about ten seconds to realize that Gabe didn’t need her help. He knew exactly what he was doing.
* * *
It wasn’t broken, but his patient, Faye, had a severe sprain and probably tendon damage, and as he wrapped her ankle, he instructed Megan to call for the ambulance. The woman was well into her eighties, and her tender skin was bruising quickly. She needed X-rays and the type of painkillers he couldn’t administer.
Gabe wrapped her in a thermal blanket to ensure she didn’t go into shock and stayed with her and her equally elderly husband until the paramedics arrived. The beach was busy, and he sent Megan back onto patrol and remained with the couple...excruciatingly aware that Lauren was watching his every move.
Once the ambulance arrived, it was about a fifteen-minute process to get Faye from the beach and safely tucked inside the vehicle. Her husband chose to travel in the ambulance, and Gabe accepted the old man’s car keys for safekeeping and was told their grandson would be along to collect the car within the hour.
His shift was over by three o’clock, but he lingered for a while to ensure the remaining bathers were staying between the boundary flags, as the water was choppy. Megan took off for home, and Gabe headed back to the clubhouse to lock up. He found Lauren in his office, sitting at the desk and writing in her notebook. He watched her for a moment, thinking that an hour earlier, he’d been on the brink of kissing her. It would have been a big mistake. Definitely.
“Did you get your work done?” he asked when he came into the room.
“Yes,” she replied and collected her things together.
“I gather this benefit is important?”
She nodded. “It will raise money for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Cameron said you’ve been working with the program, too.”
“A little,” he replied, reluctant to tell her any more. Like the fact he volunteered his time to help coach an under-twelve’s swimming and lifesaving team twice a week.
“You and Cameron put me to shame.”
“How so?”
She shrugged and stood. “He’s always been community focused. Not...self-focused. You’re like that, too, otherwise you wouldn’t be doing this job you’re clearly overqualified for, or do things like volunteering with the kids from the Big Brothers program.”
Discomfiture raced across his skin. So she knew. “It’s nothing, really. Just a couple of hours twice a week.”
“It’s more than most people do,” she qualified. “More than I do.”
“You’re helping with the benefit,” he reminded her. “Raising money for the program is something important.”
She shrugged again. “I guess. You know, you were amazing with that elderly lady. Cameron was right about you...you have a talent for the first-aid side of things in this job.”
Gabe’s insides crunched. He could have told her the truth in that moment. He could have told her that she was right. But that it wasn’t talent. It was experience. He could have told her that for ten years he’d worked as a doctor in the E.R. at the finest hospital in Huntington Beach. But if he did, she’d want to know why he left.
Why I quit...
And how did he tell her that? One truth would snowball into another.
And Gabe wasn’t ready.
He wasn’t ready to admit that an innocent woman and her baby had died on his watch.