Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (9 page)

Ben
looked
over
at
the two of them
,
feeling like an intruder
, wondering absently when a woman would look at him like Angela was eyeing Joel
. As the moon rose and shone on the water, he gathered his presents together, and said his good-byes.

The
boat bobbed gently next to the dock.
Angela look
ed
into Joel’s dark eyes as he moved closer to her
,
acutely
aware of the sexual tension his nearness created
dee
p in her middle
.

“Keep your distance,
Joel
, o
r I’m going to leave.” S
he started to
rise
from her seat.

“You lo
ok
so good, Angie. I can’t help it if I appreciate that. I was thinking now that you live so close—your practice just down the road from mine—we might pick up where we left off.”

“Where we left off was fighting,” she
gently
reminded him
and began
stacking
the dirty dishes.

“You know
I didn’t mean that. In fact,
now that
you mention it
, we didn’t always fight.”
He almost looked wistful when she glanced his way.

“No, we didn’t.” 

They
had
met as undergrads in biochem
istry
class
.
Her parents—her mother
, in particular
—assumed she wanted to become a nurse.
But Angela
had
insisted she wanted to become a doctor
.

“Being a nurse isn’t good enough for you?”
her mother had asked.

“It’s not that. I just want to do—more—more than I could as a nurse.”

“You’re limiting your choi
ce
of husbands, Ang
ie
. Most men don’t want a wife who is smarter than they are, makes more money than they do.”

But s
he
had
continued
her pre-med
track, and
Joel
had
chose
n
pre-vet med, against his father’s wishes. She often wondered if it was
Joel’s
way of
escaping
his father’s considerable shadow in the Sp
ok
ane medical community.

After graduation, she
’d
moved to Seattle.
Her mother’s
words
about marriage and a career were repeated many times as she went through med school
, but
she persisted,
and now, she almost had her own practice. Partnering with
a
physician
nearing retirement was a step she saw toward being her own boss.

But doing so had not answered her questions about her relationship with Joel. Her mother
had
kept pushing her to marry and have children.  Angela did not want to
hav
e what she perceived as a secondary life—wife of a successful husband, mother of bright children.
She wanted to maintain
her
own identity. Joel supported that, but was
she
strong enough to ensure that she was a full partner and not what she
had
watched her mother become
over time
? She wasn’t sure.

What had been a
dee
pening relationship with Joel
had
cooled when they were separated by distance and the respective demands of their graduate work. The summer she to
ok
an internship in Sp
ok
ane rekindled their romance, but also resulted in the conflicts that
had
split them up.
She
often
wondered why
,
when
he
and
their mutual friends
said they were so well suited. Now circumstances had brought them together again.

“Angie,” he whispered into her ear
, breaking her reverie
. “
I was wondering if we might—”

“Joel,” s
he interrupted
, knowing what he was likely to ask
. “Y
ou want a wife who will have your babies and stay home to take care of them. I
want to help women have babies,
not have them myself, at least not for a long while. You want to settle down, and Lord knows from the
look
s of this galley, you could use a wife, b
ut that person isn’
t me.” She stacked the dirty dishes in the tiny sink and returned to her seat.

“I’ve been reconsidering that.
”
He
pulled down the nearest paper lantern
.

“Oh?”

He
slid closer
to her. “I was thinking we
could set up light housekeeping
and bring in a maid to clean up
.” H
e kiss
ed
her
cheek and nuzzled her
neck
.

“What
part of
the word ‘no’ don’t you understand?”
But she let him pull
her
closer
.

“You didn’t hear me out.” He
began nibbling her ear lobe
as his hands slid around to encircle her
waist
. “As I recall, we were pretty good in bed
. And, we could do that without, you know,
taking the nex
t step—
making babies.”

“Joel,” she protested, slipping out of his arms. “You are handsome, and you have a
thriving
practice, and you would make someone a fine husband, and
probably
a superior father, but not
with
me. I
want
my own practice, too. Can’t you see that?”

“I can and I do, but I don’t see why we can’t combine that with marriage.”
He
circl
ed a strand of her hair
around his finger before releasing it
.

When he lo
ok
ed downcast at her silence, she continued
, her voice softer
. “How about this?  Let’s have dinner
every once in a while
and see if we want
to do anything else after that,
but no pressure for anything permanent, and nothing physical, either. We
can
just be
good
friends.”

“
How good, Angie?
I
love
the dinner part, but I’m not sure I can
resist touching you
.
Maybe friends with benefits?
”
A spark of mischief glinted in his eyes.

“Joel, no.”

“
You’re seeing someone else, aren’t you?
That’s why
you’re
so standoffish.” 
His hands stroked
her
arm
s
,
tell
ing
her how he felt. “I’ll bet it’s that fat old dentist
near the bridge
who needs to use mouthwash.”

She
couldn’t help smiling
at the imagery. “
My personal life i
s none of your business, Joel.” She gathered her light jacket and prepared to
stand up
.

“You
are
see
ing someone else.
I knew it.
Who
?
Maybe you’re trying out that
mechanic at the Te
xaco station. I’ve seen his abs.
That’s it, isn’t it? You’re after
the local
beefcake
showoff
!”

Before she could reply, he
add
ed. “
But he c
ouldn’t
possibly
satisfy you
like I can
. Maybe
two
guys
.
That’s it! Yo
u’re
see
ing
two different guys
—on alternate Sundays or whenever you’re not delivering babies
. How about you
throw both of them off the track
by
letting them see us together?” H
e laughed
wickedly
.

“Don’t be ridiculous
.
”
But s
he chuckled
in spite of herself. Then, wanting to change the subject to neutral territory,
she asked,
“When did you get this boat?”

“After my dad’s
estate
money arrived.  You like it?”

“It’s nice. 
What’s with
the name?”

“My dad always said I w
as his pride and joy
until I went to vet school.” He str
ok
ed the polished wooden bulkhead
near the cabin door. “N
ow
it’s
my
pride and joy.”

They talked a while longer before she asked him to take her home.
She suspected he was plotting
ways to
change her mind about limiting their social life to dinners only.
She wondered, too, if she was strong enough to stick to that
decision
.

Two days later,
Dannilynn
headed
for the woods not far from their home.
When
she reached a high fence
, she
pushed her bike between it and several large evergreens that hid two
broke
n cross pieces, allowing access to the field beyond. She climbed through the fence, and walked along a trail, feeling more relaxed as she moved. It felt good to stretch her legs
.
She
broke
into a trot and then a run and pushed herself
, racing
all out as she climbed the hill.
Funny, I can run when I can’t seem to ride my bike. What’s with that?
And, I don’t feel pregnant at all.
But she had to think, to make a decision, something she’d been putting off.

When she reached the top of the rise, she slowed
briefly
to catch her breath. She continued into the woods and stopped near a
meandering
stream.
A large log, growing moss in the shaded areas along its broad trunk, beckoned.
She let her jacket absorb the slight moisture in the log as she
stretched out on its length
, her arms under her head.
She
looked
up
at the stars
now
visible in the
dee
pening evening
dusk, and concentrated on the scent of the nearby trees and the twittering of the birds
. 
Peace. Now to think what to do.
But no solutions came to her.
Relax. Meditate. Maybe that’ll help.
She closed her eyes and
concentrated on the quiet sounds in the woods
.
Within minutes, s
he slid into sleep.

Danni
woke
suddenly
to the swipe of a large wet doggy
tongue
on her cheek and enthusiastic panting in her face
.

“Hey!” S
he sat up, pushing the
Doberman away before he could
wash her cheek again
.
Ben
held the other end of the long lead.

“What are you doing here?”
She squinted up at him.

“Move over, H
appy.” He pulled on the lead.
“I was a
bout to ask you the
same
thing.”

“
I was just listening to the birds, watching the stars come out
.” She smiled
up
at him.

“With your eyes closed?”

“I guess I
nodded off for a minute
.” She pulled her shirt down over her
low-rise jeans
.
Can he tell? Does he think I have a pooch
in front
, like Moni
ca
said?