The diner door closed with a jangle of bells that seemed mockingly cheerful in light of the tension still vibrating in the air.
Kate stared out the plate glass window long after Janet and Larry had disappeared from view. How was she supposed to convince her sister that Larry wouldn’t change? Real love didn’t hurt. The promises Larry made and the apologies he piled on his abuse didn’t make up for his rough and demeaning treatment when he lost his temper.
“Are you hurt?”
The deep male voice shook her from her troubled thoughts. She spun around to find Gage watching her with those glacier-pale eyes. Wiping her hands on her apron, she managed a grateful smile as she shook her head.
“I’ll be fine. Just bumped my elbow.”
He stepped toward her as she hurried to the counter to finish cleaning up for closing. When he wrapped his large hand around her wrist, she gasped, as much startled by the electric tingle that raced through her from his touch as by his unexpected approach. “Let me have a look. I’m familiar with first aid.”
Kate felt the heat rush to her cheeks, and she silently cursed her Nordic genes that made her flush at the slightest provocation. Having Gage’s wall of testosterone towering over her as he gently probed her elbow was more than enough to start butterflies swirling inside her.
“I don’t think anything’s broken,” he murmured as he examined her arm.
“Told you.”
When he angled his gaze to meet hers, Kate flashed a teasing grin. He arched one dark eyebrow, and a dizzying combination of attraction and intimidation buffeted her. With his thick, wavy brown hair, broad shoulders and square jaw, Gage definitely had masculine appeal. But his piercing blue eyes and unsmiling mouth rattled her, especially since she didn’t have a lot of experience with men to begin with. She didn’t fear him, per se. After all, he’d come to Janet’s rescue, stood up for them against Larry. His chivalry went a long way, in her book, toward excusing a stern persona.
As if she were looking for a man … Kate gave her head a quick shake. She had no business sizing Gage up. He was only a visitor in town, and until she convinced Janet to leave Maple Cove, perhaps go back to Ohio where they had grown up, she had to make her sister her priority.
Besides, when she chose a man, she’d be looking for someone sweet and warm and kind. Someone safe. No temper-prone Larrys or gruff Gages for her. No thank you!
Gage released her arm and narrowed his eyes. “Tell me about him.”
Chapter 2
Kate blinked. She’d been lost in her own thoughts, and Gage’s request felt like a non sequitur. “I’m sorry?”
“Your sister’s husband. What’s his story?”
Kate’s shoulders sagged. “Oh. Larry.” She puffed her bangs off her forehead as she circled the end of the counter and started putting away silverware. “Well, clearly the guy acts like a jerk sometimes.”
His steady gaze held hers, showing no reaction to her comment. He showed little if any emotion at all, in fact. For not the first time, meeting his stoic expression brought to mind the craggy rock cliffs of the surrounding mountains. Hard. Cold. Unmoving.
“Go on,” he prodded.
Kate twitched a nervous grin, embarrassed to have been caught staring. And what about him staring at you?
“He’s not always like that, mind you.” Kate sighed and jammed a handful of drinking straws in the dispenser. “By tomorrow he’ll be apologizing all over the place and making her promises …” She let her voice trail off, wondering why she was telling this stranger her sister’s private business. With a quick, embarrassed grin, she shrugged the topic away.
“And he convinces her to stay.”
She cut a startled glance to his and nodded.
“Sounds like typical battered wife syndrome to me.”
Battered wife syndrome. A chill raced down Kate’s spine. Though she knew the truth about Janet’s marriage, hearing the harsh but honest term applied to her sister was unsettling.
“Has she called the police on him?” Gage asked.
Kate hesitated. Did she want to get into this with a man she just met? “Uh, yeah. She has. So have I. For all the good it does.” She gnawed her bottom lip and sighed. “Larry went to school with the guys on the force. They’re his buddies. They don’t do anything about him.”
Gage’s dark eyebrows drew together, and his light blue eyes turned stormy. His muttered curse rumbled like approaching thunder. Kate’s hands stilled on the countertop, and she tipped her head, studying him. “Why do you ask?”
His chin jerked up a notch. “Someone should do something about him. He can’t be allowed to hurt her, or you, and get away with it.”
“I’m trying to help her. I moved out here from Ohio about a year ago to be with her. She’s the only family I have, and I can’t let her—” She dropped her gaze to her hands when her voice cracked.
An awkward silence passed, filled only by the clatter of dishes from the kitchen where Pete was preparing for the next morning’s breakfast.
“Janet is lucky to have you.” The words were spoken so softly, she could almost believe she’d imagined them.
Lifting her head, she met a penetrating stare that seemed more caring now than icy. His pale blue irises were flecked with navy, which warmed his eyes and softened the hard edge he projected.
Or maybe she was just seeing what she wanted to see. Was she so desperate for a man that she’d conjured tenderness and warmth in a stranger who’d yet to crack a smile for her?
Sucking in a deep breath, she rallied herself. “I believe I promised you a piece of my apple pie.”
Glad for the distraction, Kate took the pie down from the pastry stand and cut Gage a thick slice. “My best friend in Ohio was the Amish girl who lived next door to us. I learned to bake from her mother. I spent hours with them every day. Spent more time at their farm than at my own house, in fact. Anyway, Emma’s mother taught me to cook and people around here seem to think my desserts are pretty good. But judge for yourself.”
She slid the pie in front of him and handed him a clean fork.
Gage cut a bite, shoveled it into his mouth and chewed slowly. Kate held her breath, as if his verdict had the power to end or salvage her baking career.
His eyebrows lifted, and he nodded, licking flakes of crust from his lips.
Kate’s gaze zeroed in on the quick sweep of his tongue, and a fuzzy warmth swam through her, settling low in her womb. Dear heavens, why did such a simple thing seem … erotic to her?
Another flood of heat stung her cheeks. She wasn’t used to a man having this sort of effect on her.
After he swallowed, Gage turned the fork in his fingers idly.
“Well?” She canted toward him, all too eager for his assessment.
His stony expression shifted, his lips twisting wryly, and a sultry heat lighting his eyes. “Only thing I’ve ever had any better was sex.”
“Oh. I—” The heat in her cheeks shot straight to the roots of her hair. Her hand fluttered to her mouth, and she covered a stunned laugh. “I, uh … thanks. I’ve never … had my baking compared to sex before.”
His cheek twitched, and she’d have sworn she heard a chuckle rumble from his chest.
“Well, I’m finished back here,” Pete called to her as he shuffled out of the kitchen. “You’ll lock up when you leave?”
Gage