Chapter Seventeen
As soon as he nudged Tamara’s front door closed behind them, Gage’s hands slid to her waist and he started kissing her.
He stopped briefly to tug her emerald green T-shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor.
Next to go was the plain white bra. She automatically crossed her hands over her exposed breasts. Gently and swiftly he moved them aside.
‘You’re beautiful. Don’t hide from me. Ever. Let’s get rid of these too.’ Gage helped Tamara wriggle out of her black leggings. ‘I’m pretty sure my knee won’t cope with much more standing up. Would you mind if we shifted this to a level surface somewhere?’
‘Absolutely.’
He appreciated that she refused to patronise him by waffling on about only teenagers finding it a turn-on to make love up against a wall or in the back seats of cars.
‘There won’t be any carrying you romantically up the stairs either.’
‘Bloody good thing too. Any man stupid enough to try that needs his head tested. And he’d probably require back surgery afterwards.’ Tamara took his hand. ‘Come on, and I’ll show you my—’
‘China pig collection?’
‘Oh, much better than that.’
* * *
Gage was desperate to straighten his stiff knee, but was afraid of waking Tamara so lay there immobile.
He caressed the strand of her soft hair tickling his chest, but resisted the urge to wake her up.
It challenged his self-control to behave like a man of thirty-seven who’d been around the block more than a few times, instead of a randy teenage boy.
The stupid fears he’d clung on to about going to bed with a woman for the first time since his injury had proved to be exactly that — stupid.
Yeah, he wasn’t as agile as he used to be, but when he warned her his chandelier-swinging days were over, Tamara joked back that her Asda lampshade wasn’t strong enough to survive being used as a sex aid anyway.
He hadn’t been the only one with reservations and hers, which revolved around her body and previous less-than-stellar experiences in the bedroom, had proved groundless too. He hoped it wasn’t boastful to think that his intuition about what she might like, or might not, had something to do with it.
‘Feeling pretty pleased with yourself, Mr Bennet?’ Her wide blue eyes gleamed up at him. ‘Quite the creative one, aren’t you?’
‘I like to think I have my moments.’ He shifted slightly and stretched out his leg. ‘I hate to say this but—’
‘You could do with walking around before your knee freezes up.’ A gentle smile creased her face. ‘It’s okay. But nothing is stopping us doing this again whenever we want.’ A flush of heat raced up her neck. ‘If you want to.’
‘Want to?’ Gage’s eyes drifted down his body and her gaze followed.
The blush was instant and fierce now.
‘There’s your answer.’ His fingers danced over her warm skin, skin that smelled of him.
Tamara cleared her throat. ‘You must be famished, so would you like breakfast . . . or . . .’ Her fingers did the walking and a groan slipped out of him when she reached her target.
‘Definitely or.’
* * *
Tamara dragged the last bite of toast around to soak up the smear of sauce from the baked beans and popped it in her mouth.
Breakfast had turned into brunch, and not exactly a gourmet Sunday one either, but Gage insisted it worked for him.
‘For pudding I’ve got a couple of choc ices in the freezer. ’
The less-than-enthusiastic offer made him laugh. ‘Don’t worry. You know I’m not one for sweets.’
‘Christmas is one long round of temptations for me.’ She couldn’t help sighing. ‘Sweet things are the hardest to give up when I’m on yet another diet. And don’t try to convince me it’s foolish to keep fighting the scales. Not today.’
He placed a hand dramatically over his mouth, then swiftly removed it again. ‘I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this but I suppose we’ve been . . . busy.’ Gage smirked. ‘Since yesterday we’ve got more help in the shop.’
‘What do you mean?’ She was surprised when he told her about Emily. ‘That’s awesome.’
‘We even put all the Christmas decorations up inside the shop. She told me what to do and I followed orders.’ Gage said with a chuckle. ‘It worked well. Looks good too.’
‘I can’t wait to see it. Now do I get to hear about your ex-wife?’
‘And spoil a perfect morning?’
Tamara wrangled with her conscience. ‘As a compromise, go with the bare details.’ A selfish part of her didn’t want to hear too much about her last rival.
Gage’s countenance lost some of its cheer. ‘It sounds juvenile, but I’d gone through some rough times and coming back to no one waiting for me was the final straw.’
‘There’s nothing juvenile about that.’ She covered his hand with hers. ‘We all need to matter.’
‘Yeah, I suppose.’ Haltingly he ran through the story of meeting Victoria at a party and being amazed when she appeared to fall wildly in love with him too. A whirlwind romance led to a swift, glamorous wedding. ‘Real life didn’t work so well for us. We had little in common and soon drifted apart.’
‘You were defensive when I asked about kids the other day. Can you tell me why?’
He stared down at the table. ‘At the time I thought I wanted them. Turns out she didn’t. Simple as that.’
Something told her it wasn’t simple at all. Or the whole truth. ‘I see. Fair enough.’ Relief poured off him as though he’d expected more of an inquisition. ‘What can I do about Toby? Chloe seems to think it’ll work itself out.’
‘I don’t know her anywhere near as well as you do, but she doesn’t strike me as the sort of person who lets things drift.’
‘You’re right.’ Now it bothered her too.
‘I don’t suppose he’s off work today?’
‘I’ve no idea.’
‘We could both do with some fresh air, so how about a brisk walk?’ A mischievous smile played around his mouth. ‘You’ve told me about Melissa’s old house before and how lovely it is, but I’ve never seen it.’
‘Really? We need to put that right.’ Tamara played along. ‘The people who live there might not be home though.’
‘The exercise will still be good for my knee.’
She sniggered. ‘You mean it hasn’t had enough?’
Gage put on a stern expression. ‘You are a debauched woman, Tamara Pascoe.’
‘And who did the debauching? Does anyone even use that word these days?’
‘It suited my purpose. Come on.’ He levered up off the chair. ‘We’ve got a walk to take.’
‘I’ll get some shoes on.’
‘Not a bad idea. It’s chilly, so you might want . . .’ He smacked his head. ‘Stupid me. I’m talking to the woman who thinks coats are for wimps.’
‘I’ve got serious waterproof rain-gear.’ Tamara pretended to be affronted.
‘And I’ve got regular coats too.’ Using the word in the plural wasn’t strictly accurate.
One coat. A long black wool number she’d picked up for a fiver at a car-boot sale and kept for funerals.
‘It might be cool enough for a thin jumper over my T-shirt.’
‘Woah, don’t go mad. We don’t want you having hot flushes on the way.’
‘I’m not that old.’
* * *
‘You’ve got a lovely home.’ That sounded more like estate-agent talk than normal family conversation, but Gage was unnerved by Toby’s silent glares. At least dealing with the Taliban, he’d been armed and somewhat prepared.
‘We adore it, don’t we, Toby?’
Chloe’s forced cheerfulness was equally disconcerting.
When she’d opened the door, a brief burst of shock had been swiftly replaced by an overly effusive welcome as she’d ushered them in and gushed about how wonderful it was that they’d dropped by.
Tamara’s earlier determination had evaporated at that point, leaving him to stutter out a pathetic explanation about being out for a walk and stopping to admire the house.
‘I’ll make tea.’ Chloe sprang off the sofa.
‘I can give you a hand.’ Tamara jumped up too.
Gage steeled himself not to let the panic coursing through his body show. Beads of sweat popped out on his brow and if he dared lift his hands from his legs, it’d be impossible to disguise how badly they were shaking.
Left on their own he waited for Tamara’s son to speak, but nothing altered the young man’s mute glower. If he hadn’t taken the initiative, they’d still be sitting like two carved stone statues when their other halves returned.
‘Toby, if there’s anything you want to know about me, go ahead and ask. I promise I’ll answer as best I can.’ A couple of steadying breaths regulated his racing heartbeat and he ploughed on. ‘I care for your mother very much. She’s an amazing woman—’
‘I know that! You don’t have to tell me how wonderful she is.
’ His pale skin flushed with anger. ‘I know I’m being childish and selfish, okay?
Chloe’s been on at me about it for weeks.
Last night she had another go and I shouted at her.
Told her to shut up because she didn’t understand.
’ He grimaced with pain. ‘That’s not me. ’
‘We all behave out of character sometimes and you had good reason. Chloe will understand.’ He risked a fleeting smile.
‘Although I’m pretty sure she’ll make you pay.
Your mother is everything to you. I get that.
And I admire that you’re trying to look out for her.
’ Perhaps his sincerity resonated because Toby appeared to see Gage properly for the first time.
‘You don’t know me from Adam but if we could start putting that right, you’ll hopefully see I only want the best for her too.
I would never want to push you out of her life.
’ If anyone knew how it felt to be sidelined by family, he did.
Some of his background was public knowledge by now, but he’d assume the young man wasn’t up to date with village gossip and dive in.
By the time he finished sharing with Toby a brief recap of his childhood, his connection with Becky, and the highs and lows of his career in the Royal Marines, there was a subtle change in the atmosphere.
‘Where do we go from here?’ Toby sounded puzzled. ‘Sorry for being a dick. I’m just overprotective of my mum.’
‘Quite right too.’
The agreement brought out the other man’s engaging smile and his resemblance to Tamara was unmistakable.
‘We could have a drink together sometime and talk some more. And if you haven’t been in the shop yet, I could show you around?’
That last question was a misstep. Toby turned pink. They both knew he hadn’t ventured inside.
‘I was too pig-headed to come to the opening the other day.’
Gage cracked a smile. ‘Pigs’ heads are one thing we’re never short of around your mum.’
They were in fits of laughter when Tamara and Chloe walked back in.
‘Have you stopped being an idiot, Toby?’ Chloe didn’t mince her words.
Gage wouldn’t care to be in his shoes later.
‘Yeah, and I’m sorry I—’
‘Didn’t listen to your far smarter partner?’
‘Exactly.’
‘I’m just glad we’re talking again.’ Tamara’s voice wobbled. ‘We’ve all made mistakes.’
How true was that? Gage had certainly made his fair share. But the chance to put things right didn’t always drop into someone’s lap this way. Knowing this could’ve wrecked his relationship with Tamara made him turn hot and cold.
‘Teatime, I think.’ Chloe’s resolute tone made it clear the soul-baring part of the visit was over. Fine by him.