All in all it was a very relaxing evening, but an informative one, as well. Liz fit with these people. Easily. Happily.
And he had, too.
It was time for him to get their relationship on track. And since they were doing things differently this time around, he wouldn’t slyly seduce her. He intended to actually tell her he wanted to be more than her friend, ask her if she agreed. To give her choices. To give her time.
Exactly the opposite of what he’d done when he met her six years ago.
The back door slid open. A little kid of about six yelled, “Hey! There’s a jacket in here that’s buzzing.”
Everybody laughed.
An older girl raced up behind the kid. “Somebody’s cell phone is vibrating. It’s in the pocket of a jacket hanging on the coat tree.”
Cain rose. He’d been so caught up in being with Liz that he’d forgotten his cell phone, hadn’t cared if he missed a call. “I think that’s mine.” He glanced at Joni with a smile. “It’s time for me to be going anyway. Thank you very much for inviting me.”
Joni rose. “Thank you for coming. It was nice to meet the guy who’s stirred up so much gossip!”
Not exactly sure how to take that, Cain faced Liz, who also rose. “She means about fixing the houses.” She slid her hand in the crook of his elbow. “I’ll walk you to the door.”
Liz waited as Cain said his good-nights. Together they walked into the house and to the foyer. He lifted his suit jacket from the coat tree and the phone buzzed again. He silenced it without even looking at caller ID.
She nearly shook her head in wonder. She’d been worried about how he’d handle this party, how he’d get along with her friends, and she needn’t have given it a second thought.
He opened the front door. “Walk me to my car?”
Her breath stuttered in her chest. If they hadn’t had such a nice evening, she might have thought this was her perfect opportunity to tell him about their baby. But they had had a nice evening. A quiet, comfortable, relaxing time. She’d seen how hard he worked to get along with her friends. And she’d appreciated that. Her sad revelation was for another time.
She pulled her keys from her pocket. “How about if you walk me to my car?”
He smiled. “Sure. I just thought you’d be going back in.”
“Nope.”
“You know Ellie’s going to give you the third degree. Might as well get it over with tonight.”
“Not necessary. She’ll call me before I even get home.”
He laughed. Her chest constricted with happiness as unexpected feelings rippled through her. She hadn’t fully admitted to herself how important it was to her that he like her friends. But it had been. Seeing him interacting with the Friend Indeed people had filled her with pride. She couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever been this relaxed and she knew she’d had something to do with that. She’d helped him get beyond his guilt and helped him acclimate at A Friend Indeed, and in the end he’d become the man she’d always known he could be. Warm. Caring. Wonderful.
When they reached her atrocious little green car, she turned and faced him. Their gazes met and clung and she suddenly realized asking him to walk her to her car might have seemed like an invitation for him to kiss her good-night.
Her heart stilled. Her breathing stalled in her chest. Part of her screamed for her to grab the door handle and get the hell out of here. The other part was melting into soft putty. She’d loved this man with her whole heart and soul. He’d suffered the torment of the damned and she’d had to stand by helplessly. Now he was back. Almost normal, but better.
Was it so wrong to want one little kiss?
As his head slowly descended, she had a thousand chances to change her mind. A million cautions pirouetted through her brain. Every nerve ending in her body flickered with something that felt very much like fear.
But when their lips met, it was like coming home. The years melted away and he was the Cain she’d fallen in love with. Cain before he’d been burdened by guilt over his brother’s death or the drive to succeed to bury that guilt.
The Cain she knew loved her.
He was her Cain.
Her lips came to life slowly beneath his. His hands slid to her upper arms, to her back and down her spine. She stepped closer, nestling against him. For the three years of their marriage she’d longed for this feeling. For the three years they’d been separated, she’d tried to forget this feeling. The warmth, the connection, the spark of need that ignited in her and heated her blood. Nobody had ever made her feel what Cain made her feel.
And she was finally discovering part of the reason was that she didn’t want anybody else to make her feel what Cain could. She wanted Cain.
He pulled away slowly. She blinked up at him.
“Good night.”
His voice was a soft whisper in the warm summer night. Her lips curved upward slowly. A kiss. Just a kiss. He hadn’t pushed for more, hadn’t asked her to follow him home, or if he could follow her. He’d simply wanted a kiss.
“Good night.”
“I’ll call you.”
“Okay.”
She opened her car door and slid inside. He stepped back, out of the way, as she pulled her gearshift into Drive and eased out into the night.
A little voice inside her head told her not to be so happy, because she hadn’t yet been totally honest with him.
But she would be.
Soon.
For now though she wanted to bask in the warmth that flooded her because he’d kissed her.
Cain couldn’t remember ever feeling so good or so hopeful about his life. It wasn’t simply because Liz had feelings for him and had admitted them in the way she kissed him. He was also a changed man. He hadn’t pretended to like her friends. He liked her friends. He hadn’t been bored, nervous, or eager to get away to get back to work. Somehow or another over the past weeks, his longing to make up to Liz for their horrible marriage had reordered his priorities. He’d done what he felt he needed to do to pay penance for their bad marriage and as a result learned to work with Billy and for a cause that genuinely needed him.
And when the dust settled, he was changed. When he looked ahead to their future, he could see them making it work this time.
Driving home with the top down, thinking about some of the brighter days in their marriage, he almost didn’t hear his cell phone ring. He’d shifted it from vibrate to ring when he directed the last call to voice mail as he’d walked Liz to her car. Though it had taken a few rings, eventually the low sound penetrated his consciousness and he grabbed the phone. Somebody had been trying to get a hold of him for the past hour, but he hadn’t even cared enough to check caller ID.
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