When Fall Fades (The Girl Next Door Series Book 1) (28 page)

A playful smile etched tiny dimples in her cheeks, her skin shimmering and golden. She was, in a word, radiant. “What’s the matter, cat gotcha tongue?”

He nodded, his eyes never leaving her. “Apparently.”

“I’ve got to get in there. Here …” She held out her hand to him, and he reached for her.

When he gripped the phone his fingers brushed the smooth skin of her wrist. An electrical current jolted him out of his stupor, a tingling aftereffect lingered like static on his skin.

He had the strangest sense of déjà vu. As if the moment, and the vision of Sadie, reminded him of a dream he’d had. Thankfully he found his voice. “Before you go, I wanted to say I’m—”

“Sadie! There you are. You’re late!” A woman who looked remarkably like Sadie with a shorter haircut and fine lines around her eyes hustled over to where they stood. “
Oh my
… but you brought a
man
. All is forgiven.”

“Mom, no I—”

In a swift movement the woman linked arms with Archer and ushered him through the doors, filling every millisecond with talk to stifle any objections. “I’m Sadie’s mother, Lorelei Carson. You can call me Lorelei if you like or Mrs. Carson if you’re more formal. I’m so glad that you came. Sadie always tells me she’s not going to bring anyone to my fund-raisers, but I
always
save an extra seat at our table just in case. And now, look how lucky we are that you’re here. I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Uh, Archer Hayes, ma’am.” He shot a pleading look to Sadie for help, the cautions she had taken to avoid her mother suddenly making sense.

Sadie shrugged and rolled her eyes—mournfully following them in. 

“… and there’s a steak dinner. I hope you aren’t one of those vegetarians. Then again, you don’t feel like one,” Lorelei paused and gave his bicep a squeeze, testing her theory. “Oh! And there’s dancing, you do dance don’t you, Archer?”

“I … uh … I do, yes …” His panicked gaze found Sadie, who looked like she was starting to enjoy his discomfort, “… when forced.” He granted Lorelei a tight smile. She then indiscreetly glanced at Sadie and mouthed “wow.”

Sadie collapsed her head in her hands in an exaggerated gesture. Archer chuckled as Lorelei practically strong-armed them into their seats. Her mom continued to flit around the table, socializing without pause.

Archer leaned over and whispered in Sadie’s ear. “So,
that’s
your mom. I see the freeze out didn’t accomplish much.” He lingered a moment, catching the faintest trace of a sweet honeydew scent lifting from her skin.

“Never does. She’s a real piece of work, isn’t she?”

He nodded comically.

“Feel free to create an excuse if you need to leave. I’ll cover for you. I’m really sorry about this.” Her hushed tone made him want to edge closer than necessary. But she didn’t seem to welcome the closeness. Preoccupied with her fidgeting fingers in her lap, she seemed … self-conscious, embarrassed. Not quite herself.

Had he hurt her with his not-so-subtle nervous brush-off this afternoon?

What was his problem? She was an innocent who had opened herself up to some emotionally unavailable workaholic. It wasn’t her fault, it was his. More than anything he wanted to protect her heart, her pride, the fragile trust she’d placed in his hands just last night. And then this morning, when his restraint almost snapped under the tender assault of her lips against his skin and her soft curves in his hungry hands. He tightened his fists. Even though he couldn’t have her, he couldn’t let her think he didn’t want her—nothing could be further from the truth.

He leaned in again just because he could, his lips a breath from her ear. “Don’t be sorry. I get to enjoy a steak dinner and be the envy of every guy in the room.”
That
was more like it.

Archer was rewarded with a shy smile, a pink glow filling her cheeks.

“Well, well, Agent Hayes right?” Archer managed to tear his eyes from Sadie. Her brother, Finn, approached the table and extended his hand. He whispered to Sadie through a tight smile as Archer returned the shake. “Who’s the traitor now, lil sis?”

To which Sadie mimicked a smiling reply. “All the winners on your speed dial turn you down, big brother?”

Archer sneaked a curious glance between the siblings before he spoke. “Nice to see you again, Finn.”

Sadie’s mom must have overheard the “agent” part of Finn’s greeting because she starting gushing to a woman at their table about Sadie’s FBI boyfriend.

Sadie tipped her head back, exposing the long, elegant curve of her neck and groaned her mortification. When she came back from indulging her embarrassment, she leaned in and winced, her eyes breathtakingly vulnerable. “Did I mention how sorry I am?”

He leaned in more, this time brushing his lips against her ear. “Did
I
mention how incredibly beautiful you look tonight?” He was toeing the line, failing this exercise of control but he didn’t care. He should care, wanted to care. But he didn’t.

When she pulled back the smoldering look in her eyes was his undoing. That was it. The end of his solo mission. Emboldened by that steady, wanting gaze, he slipped his hand under the table and found her delicate fingers. The conversations around them continued as she traced circles in his palm, then she turned his hand over, placed it on her silky gown-covered thigh, and stroked her hand over his. Oh man, he wanted her. He saw her longing reflected back like the bluest sky on a clear, placid lake. His world was already upside down, so before he could think better of the repercussions, he withdrew his hand, stood, and pulled out her chair. When they drew a few curious glances he stated simply, “Excuse us for a minute.”

His heart boxed his ribs as he took her hand again, wove like a running back toward the end zone, and led her out of the room. Neither of them shattered the moment with words, there was no need for them. And he didn’t dare steal a glance at her for fear he would lose his nerve, but he wondered if she knew what was coming. He led her through a roped off area and found a dark corner in the closed exhibit.

She took charge, pressing him against the wall. His chest heaved against her palm. There was only a moment, one breath between them, and then they were locked together in a kiss.

Have. Mercy.

This was no sampling. It was an all-out feast.

His mind unhinged, and there were no consequences, no dangers. Nothing else but this. Nothing but Sadie. The woman who was single-handedly dismantling his carefully crafted existence.

It had nearly killed him not to kiss her last night when she’d spent hours in his arms. Now it felt like he’d die if he stopped. She was waking him up, and drawing him out of the dark shadows and into the sun where everything was impossible to trust because it was quite simply too bright and beautiful to last.

He’d never been indulgent in anything. Sadie was the exception. And while he could admit to himself that his intentions were careening down an overindulgent path, there was also something so tangibly honest and full of promise contained in the kiss that both thrilled and terrified him.

Chapter 27

Sadie Carson

W
as this really happening? One minute she thought he was blowing her off, the next the gloves had been thrown down and they were charging full speed ahead. She’d wondered if their first kiss had been an anomaly—wondered if anything would ever compare. But somehow this one—which was definitely more than one—was in a league of its own.

And though it was only a kiss, it was so much more. It was a force so strong it swept her away. It was hurricane Archer, its power unparalleled.

But this thing, this perfect storm, was destined for calamity. Their story didn’t get a happy ending. She wasn’t even sure she believed in them anymore. And that meant this was a moment to be savored because nothing could possibly measure up to the kind of fierce and unquenchable passion they created together. She might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

One kiss blurred into the next. Thorough, hungry kisses that grew more and more desperate. Straining closer, devouring with everything they had until they couldn’t breathe.

He broke away, letting his lips roam her face—her eyelids, her cheekbones, her jaw …

Her breath caught on a gasp, shivers shifting through her when he found a spot to claim on her neck behind her ear. The devastating combination of his tenderness and desperation literally loosed her knees. His arms wrapped tighter, and he lifted her before she buckled, capturing her lips again and swallowing her moans as her legs encircled his waist.

She didn’t remember making a conscious decision but suddenly his tie hung loose, and she was working the top buttons of his shirt open until her hands touched the hot skin of his chest. “Archer …”

He groaned. “You’re killing me.” Then took her mouth again in a ravishing kiss. The hem of her dress slipped up over her knees, his big callused hands repositioning to support her bottom beneath the fabric.

“
Mmm
.” She squirmed closer, gripping his shoulders for leverage, her softness undulating against all his hard tense muscles until she started to come apart.

“Sadie, we can’t … Not like this.” Archer breathed the words against her lips, and in contradiction trailed down her throat with hot, nibbling kisses, pressing her more firmly into the wall.

She knew he was right. This was completely unlike her. But instead of untangling her legs from his waist she heard herself say, “We’ll stop in a minute.”

Oh right, she could sooner stop the pull of gravity.

He laughed, a thick, husky sound that clenched low in her belly. “Right. Just one more minute.” She felt his smile against the dip of her cleavage, then felt the wet heat of his tongue trace over the sweetheart neck line. Tangling her fingers in his hair she held him to her chest, panting, feeling almost mindless but completely self-aware as passion poured through her veins.

“Archer, I’m—”

“Excuse me, I’m looking for my daughter.”

The familiar voice was like a slap. No. Way.
It was her mother. And by the sound of it, she wasn’t far away.

“Blonde, coral dress, with a, uh, tall, strong-looking fellow.”

“Holy smokes!” Pushing against his chest, Sadie wiggled back down to earth, attempting to smother a laugh as Archer lavished her neck with affection, completely undeterred. She gave him a playful, scolding look to which he shushed her and ducked down to kiss her again, soundly.

She pushed him back again before she was drugged brainless by his intoxicating kisses. “What are we gonna do? She could find us.” A giddy grin tugged at her face. She clamped her hand over the telltale swoon and the giggle that accompanied it. In less than two weeks she’d become a woman who giggled. What had become of her?

He shook his head with mock seriousness. “Never. This is a perfect hiding spot.” He set to work, trailing kisses from her ear to her mouth and locked in, slow and thorough sweetness stealing her breath, riling her senses, dismantling her resolve.

Lorelei’s voice grew closer, effectively dousing them with ice water.

“She cannot find us here. Look at us! How on earth will I explain myself?” Archer huffed quietly, a naughty smile tipping those undeniably kissable lips.

Sadie covered another giggle. If she looked anything like he did, disheveled and kissed-breathless, there would be no denying their clandestine rendezvous. Sure, if you wanted to get technical they were making out in a public place. Not exactly classy. But they were adults. And yet, like teenagers, they were hiding from her mother.

Slightly frenzied, but smiling like a couple of loons, she started buttoning his dress shirt and tightening his tie while Archer shifted the neckline of her dress to its rightful place and smoothed the layers of her skirt over her hips with hands that proved distracting all over again.

“You’re gonna have to stop touching me, double-oh-seven, or I’ll be forced to search your pockets for FBI-issued Bond gadgets clever enough to distract my pit bull of a mother. So tell me, got anything explosive in there?” She winked, because frankly she was having too much fun not to play ball. “I could justify frisking you for say, a penlight that causes short-term blindness or maybe an eraser that releases tear gas?”

He growled, the heat flaring in his eyes hot enough to singe her eyebrows clean off. “On thin ice, Carson.”

“Easy there, caveman.” She patted his chest then tried to snatch back her hand, but Archer held it against his heart. His big rough hand covering hers with fierce gentleness, speaking without words, cherishing the last moment of connection.

“I—I think …” She slipped her hand free in hopes of jumpstarting her brain, “… we passed some bathrooms about two hundred feet around that corner to the left. That is our destination. Do your business, and we’ll casually meet back at the table.” Now that the plan was established she lifted to her tiptoes and yanked a fistful of his tie so they met eye to eye. “Got it?”

“Dang, you’re hot when you’re bossy.” He winked, unleashing another playful little grin. “Swing for the fences, gorgeous.”

“I love it when you talk baseball to me. Makes my tomboy heart go all aflutter.” And then, because she couldn’t resist, she pressed one final kiss to his delicious mouth.

He sucked in a sharp breath, trapped her face in his hands for one stunningly perfect second, and then she turned away, peered around the corner, and hightailed it in heels across the clearing into the restroom without looking back.

Once inside, she frantically smoothed her hair, blotted at her pink, swollen lips, and adjusted her passion-rumpled dress just before the bathroom door swung open.

“Sadie! What are you doing? They started serving dinner ages ago.”

She attempted sincere surprise. “Oh, I thought I had more time. I just wanted to see a little bit of the museum and freshen up. I’ll be right in.”

Her mom’s eyes narrowed. “From the look on your faces when you and Archer left, I was sure you two slipped away to do some necking or something.”

“And yet you still came looking for us. That could’ve been awkward.” Sadie quipped, pulling off a surprising facade of innocence and sarcasm without technically lying.

“Maybe, but I think you could use a good kissin’. Might want to work on that, dear.” Her mother patted Sadie’s rosy cheek. “Now stop lollygagging, you can explore the rest of the museum later. Your dinner’s getting cold.”

“Hmm.” Sadie hummed noncommittally. But once her mother’s back turned she unloaded a silent sigh of relief, trying to keep the rapturous energy from revealing her and Archer’s stolen moment. And trying not to dwell on the regrettable mistake of falling head over heels for Archer Hayes and his life-changing lips.

Over the remainder of dinner, Sadie fought the urge to keep glancing over at Archer’s knowing smiles and sexy stare. She felt like their secret tryst, of sorts, must be broadcasting in high definition on their glowing faces, but luckily no one seemed to suspect a thing.

  As the night wore on Sadie dragged him by his tie to the dance floor where they danced and laughed to “What a Feeling” and “Love Shack”—two songs that gave a rather appropriate soundtrack for the events of the evening.

And then the band began to play out a lazy melody, bringing couples to the floor for the first slow dance.

“May I?” He lifted a dangerous brow and issued a rakish grin that, in combination, would be impossible for any living, breathing female to deny.

Without a word, she folded into his open arms. The whine of the ballad seemed so far away as they swayed in their own time. Relaxing into him, she rested her head and hands against his chest, and he cradled her like the most precious thing in the world.

All the other couples in the room disappeared. Sadie closed her eyes, savoring every moment, every shared heartbeat, drifting away on the heavenly scent of his clean, spicy skin.

“
Oh my darling, you look wonderful tonight …”

The lyrics of the song jarred her out of her euphoria and back in time. She untangled from his arms and looked down at her dress. The flowing coral chiffon of her strapless sweetheart gown morphed into tufts of golden tulle. Her heart hit a snag, turning to ice in her chest when she looked up into Ryan’s crisp blue eyes.

Broadsided, countless emotions slammed into her at once. Everything around her came to a screeching halt. Like a helpless crash victim, the only sound penetrating the panic was the dwindling of her pulse crying out for life support. She blinked. Blinked again.

But there he was, her first love.

Archer’s husky voice beckoned her out of the illusion. “Sadie, what’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost.”

The smoke screen faded, and Archer’s toffee-colored eyes parted through the mist, the ballroom around them swirling with noise and movement that had ceased to exist moments before. Tremors took hold of every bone, every cell. A wave of nausea crashed over her, and she stumbled back another step. Anxiety latched on with a vise, forcing her to the edge of a cliff that dropped off to full-fledged hysteria.

She’d thought that the panic attacks were long gone—thought the sporadic dreams were the last lingering symptom of her broken heart. But this was different than before. She was awake.

Her mouth struggled to cooperate. “I—” She shook her head, fought back burning tears. “I’m sorry, I have to go.” And without the slightest hesitation, she fled from the dance floor.

“Uh, oh.” Finn stood to intercept her. Tossing his napkin, he muttered to their father about the song.

Sadie dodged around him, swept her clutch off the table, and bolted from the ballroom. Throwing wide the entrance doors, she ran out into the night. Lightning fractured the charcoal sky, the crack of light granting only a moment’s warning of the impending wrath of the clouds.

The second she slipped behind the wheel of her Jeep, the clouds unleashed their violence. With shaking hands she jabbed at the ignition, cranked the motor to life, and gunned it out of the parking lot.

It was hard enough to see through her tears, but the torrential force of the storm made visibility impossible. There was no way she wanted to turn back, and pulling over to the scant shoulder was just as risky as driving blind on this stretch of the interstate. She’d be a sitting duck.

By the time she exited the highway, the roads were flooding, her tires losing hold, and the swiftness of the wind and water had her Jeep hydroplaning. Her brakes felt a little sluggish, mushy. And she found she kept pressing her foot farther down with little response. If she pushed any harder her spike heel would punch through the floor board and she could
Flintstone
it the rest of the way home.

“What the—”

She forced more pressure on the brake, scooting forward in her seat so that she could reach the vanishing pedal. She was gaining speed down the hill. The road would take a sharp curve before she would reach her street. The yellow and black sign announcing that the turn should be taken at fifteen miles per hour was a fast-approaching blur. “Come on!” She pumped the pedal again, and again, and again, this time with no results.

Forty-two miles per hour—with water on the road and no brakes.
Her mind scrounged for some sort of calculation or probability, but nothing came, and the time to think was gone.

Her breaths came in short, inadequate puffs, her heart fumbling as fast as the frantic windshield wipers that were sorely unmatched for the heavy downpour. Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel, heat pouring into her fists, flaring through her body as the road hooked to the left.

Jerking hard, the tires wailed and then released. A scream lodged in Sadie’s throat. It was a strange moment of calm. The ride a smooth drifting sensation. The white noise of the rain a deceptive lullaby. She stiffened her arms to brace for impact with a tree or the crash landing at the bottom of the drop-off as the Jeep sailed to the edge of the embankment and took the plunge over the side.