Close Up (12 page)

Stepping outside in the cold night air, she welcomed the breeze. It had been hot in the gallery and she was flushed with warmth and stress. But then she jumped when Sean came striding toward her, looking like a witness to a murder. His breathing was erratic, his face white, his eyes panicked.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, scanning him for injuries. He almost looked as if he’d had his fingertip chopped off or something equally shocking and painful, but there was no obvious indication of bleeding or trauma.

“Your mother and my security guard are making out in my car.”

“What?”

He stopped walking and bent over, palms on his thighs as if he needed a minute. “I left them playing cards an hour ago. How does that happen? I mean, she’s...and he’s...” Sean laughed. “I find it fascinating in a bizarre sort of way. How do you give off the vibe that quickly that you’re both on board with a little tongue tango?”

Kristine wasn’t sure what to say. It didn’t surprise her. But it was so mortifying she felt she needed to apologize on behalf of her free-spirited mother. “I’m sorry. She likes meeting new people.”

“That’s one way to put it.” He shot her a look of amusement. “And I hereby award you a badge of courage for enduring a childhood being raised by her. She’s nuts. You know that, right?”

“Yes.” That wasn’t news. “She’s, well, she’s Ebbe.” Kristine’s personal cross to bear. “I’ve been gone so long that I’d forgotten what it’s like to deal with her up close and personal.”

“At the moment, Jason is dealing with her up close and personal, so we have a reprieve.”

True.

She sighed. “I just wanted to talk to you for a second and go right back in, but once again, my mother has horrible timing.” Here she was, trying to be professional, and her mother had the power to sabotage that, unintentionally or not.

“Don’t worry about it. I will deal with the situation. I’ll go knock on the window and suggest they exchange numbers for later use, and that Ebbe go home.”

“You will?” She was relieved, knowing she needed to get back inside and be present, allowing June to see her doing her job. But Ebbe seemed like something she shouldn’t foist off on him. Her mother was her problem and she should be the one to deal with it. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“I offered. Don’t worry about it.” He moved closer and cupped her cheeks. “I care about you, you know. I want to help you.”

A lump rose in her throat, and damn it, she felt the sting of tears in her eyes. “I care about you, too.” She did. She had never stopped. Sean had been the gold standard for all the men she had dated since, and none had lived up to him. But that didn’t mean it made sense for them to allow nostalgia to confuse the present situation. They belonged in each other’s pasts, not futures. “But I don’t want to feel like I owe you.”

A flicker of annoyance passed over his face. “Life isn’t a balance sheet. I can do something nice just because I care about you without expecting anything in return.”

She didn’t want an argument. She knew he had a point. “Fair enough.”

“Give me your number. I’ll pick you up at six tomorrow morning.”

That made Kristine forget all about the emotions he inspired in her. “Six? What am I, a rooster?”

He grinned. “Insert cock joke here.”

Damn it, she wanted to blush like a sixteen-year-old as the image of him over her, both of them sweaty and flushed with excitement, rose in her mind. This was definitely going to be an interesting weekend. “Ha-ha.”

“Just so you know, my plan is to seduce you.”

“I think we’ve already established that.” It also seemed to her they were very comfortable with each other when the vibe was sexual. Nothing seemed to have changed there.

“No.” He shook his head slowly. “I mean,
seduce
you. By Sunday night you won’t even remember your name. I’m going to make you scream for me.” His thumb dragged across her bottom lip, and she shivered from the tickling sensation and his nearness. “Think you can handle that?”

No. But she had done enough ducking and running in her life. If she wanted the divorce papers signed, if she wanted closure, and to move forward truly free as a mature adult, she needed to do this. For Sean, for herself. For her undersexed girl parts.

“I think I will be fine,” she assured him.

“Because remember, the cabin’s located on an island and there’s no way off unless you know how to drive a boat.”

She didn’t. Though the idea of taking off in the middle of the night across Lake Vermilion to escape Sean’s sexual prowess amused her. “It’s two days. Unless there is a reason I shouldn’t trust you, I can handle roughing it.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “I don’t remember you liking it rough.”

The seduction thing was kicking in already. Kristine wished she weren’t standing, so she could cross her legs and quiet the ache stirring there. “Maybe more than one thing has changed in ten years.”

Ha. She could flirt right back.

It seemed to work. He made a sound in the back of his throat.

The back door to the gallery whipped opened. “Oh, there you are,” June said.

Kristine jerked a little, startled. Oh, right. Her job. “I’m sorry. I was talking to Mr. Maddock. Be right in.”

“Can you cover for me? I’m going to sneak a cigarette.”

That surprised Kristine, and made June feel more human to her. Knowing her boss wasn’t perfect was unexpectedly reassuring.

“Sure, no problem. Give me two minutes, not a second more.”

June smiled in relief. “Thanks. I’ll go grab my lighter while you finish up.”

The door snicked shut and Kristine glanced at the parking lot. “And I suppose I’ll see you at 6:00 a.m. But I won’t be wearing makeup so prepare yourself.”

“All natural. Just the way I like it. The way I like you.”

Why did Kristine feel as if she was being swept out onto the lake by the sheer force of Sean’s personality?

Because she was.

“I love the way your lips taste without lipstick, the way your skin is soft and pale.”

At that moment, she vowed to wake up early and put a full face on. This wasn’t the Sean Show. He may have talked her into this insanity, but she was going to do it on her terms.

“Calm down. Now good night.”

She strutted to the back door, feeling she had reestablished the power position.

He ruined her moment of triumph by giving a wolf whistle.

Kristine rolled her eyes in the dark. Yep, he had definitely found his less-serious side in the past decade. All she had found was her prickly side.

This trip was going to make about as much sense as sunscreen in a rainstorm.

9

S
EAN PULLED INTO
the parking lot of the address Kristine had given him. It was a dingy-looking apartment building, not in a bad part of town, but certainly not in the trendy uptown area where he had expected her to be living, close to the gallery and cool restaurants. Her neighborhood was tired, the building low-slung, the bushes overgrown, the ground littered by cigarette butts and other debris. For some reason, it made his chest tight. He felt a little guilty for the luxury of his own condo and then wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t worked his ass off for what he had. Kristine hadn’t been ambitious or materialistic in the same way he had been, so clearly that hadn’t changed.

She was happy, wasn’t she?

He didn’t know.

Which thoroughly rubbed him the wrong way.

He should know.

How bizarre it suddenly felt that she had popped into his life a decade ago, altered it forever, then disappeared. He didn’t know anything about the past few years: what she had experienced, the hurts, the triumphs, the heartache. None of it. The path had brought her to this apartment building, but what were the steps she had taken to get here? He wanted to know.

As he walked across the parking lot, he punched her number on his cell phone. She answered with a breathless, “Hello?”

“Are you sleeping still?” he asked, not particularly surprised. She’d had a hectic day prior.

“No, I’m just finishing up my packing.”

“All you need is jeans and a sweatshirt. I have bug spray. We can pop into the grocery store in town before we cross the lake if there’s anything else you need.”

The one-and-only time they had gone to his family’s cabin, on their honeymoon, Kristine had definitely been a city girl, but she had been game to jump in feetfirst and live without the comforts of modern conveniences like plumbing, TV and phone reception. On that trip, they had stayed a week, and she had brought sexy panties, three bikinis, a single pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a sweatshirt. This trip, she didn’t even need the bikinis given it was fall, so when she opened the front door to her apartment and came out rolling a substantial suitcase, Sean blinked.

“What the hell is in there?” And God, what was she wearing? She looked like a forties pinup girl for
Field & Stream
magazine. She wore a flannel shirt tucked into dark denim skinny jeans, with feminine hiking boots. There was a scarf artfully arranged around her neck, hovering above a substantial display of cleavage. His mouth watered as he reached to take her suitcase, marveling at the weight of the bubble gum–pink bag.

“I had a bit of a shoe crisis,” she told him. “I was worried that the pair I’m wearing might get wet or muddy so I brought a spare. Then flip-flops to dash off to the outhouse in. Plus slippers for the cabin. I’m sure it’s cold.”

“For two days?” Sean watched her pull her apartment door shut behind her and check to make sure it was locked. When she turned back to him, he realized she was wearing lipstick and mascara. She even had on eyeliner. “You look mighty pretty for Tower, Minnesota.”

He had grown up in Tower, the oldest of three boys, raised by hardworking parents, his mother a home health aide and his father in construction, when there was work. His grandfather had been a miner, spending the majority of his adult life in the dark underground. Growing up, it had been a goal of Sean’s to leave his hometown, and go where there were better opportunities for employment, but he still yearned for that simple life. It had been a good way to grow up, the small town atmosphere neighborly and reliable.

Kristine had married him in the church on Main Street, before they had taken the boat to the island where his family’s shack was located. He wondered what Kristine would think of the changes he had made. Most likely, she would be pleased, given the size of her suitcase. The original cabin was just a woodshed now since he’d built a better house.

“I may have overpacked,” she admitted. “But I panicked. I figured it gets cold up north, so I need layers. Lots and lots of layers.”

They walked to his car together and Sean popped the trunk. “So basically you’re telling me if I want to have any fun at all I’m going to have to peel you like an onion?”

She shot him an amused look. “Just don’t cry when you do it. That might make me feel self-conscious.”

Sean laughed. “I won’t cry. Promise.” He went to put her suitcase in the trunk, but she stopped him.

“Wait! I need my blankie for the car ride.”

Why was that somehow the cutest thing he’d ever heard in his life? Sean mentally eye-rolled. He watched as she bent and unzipped her suitcase after tipping it on its side.

Out came a pillow and a fleece blanket, which revealed a layer of items below that boggled his mind. There were a lot of toiletries. Creams and jars and a blow-dryer, and were those
rollers?

“Kristine, are you running away from home?”

“Be quiet.” She handed him her pillow and blanket. “Hold these.”

He did, bemused, as she zipped her suitcase back up, giving him a fabulous shot of her ass in those stretchy jeans.

“Okay, I’m good.” She sounded breathless and she started to pick up her suitcase.

“Let me get that.”

“I can do it.”

“I want to do it.” He pushed the pillow and blanket back into her arms. “Go sit down in the car.”

For a second, she hesitated, but then complied. He put her suitcase in the trunk next to his overnight bag then got in the driver’s side. Hoping to initiate some sort of catch-up conversation without saying something corny like, “So what have you been up to the past ten years?” Sean pondered what to use as an opening question. But as he pulled out, he realized Kristine’s eyes were already closed, her head propped against her pillow on the window.

She must have gotten up pretty damn early to put on mascara and pack, and after a day like yesterday, he imagined she was exhausted. He decided to let her fall asleep for the four-hour drive to the cabin. If he had anything to say about it, she wasn’t going to sleep much once there, so he could let her build up her strength. By the time he turned into the drive-through and got himself a coffee and hit the highway, she was asleep.

Sean glanced at her from time to time as he drove north out of the city. He took in the pert profile of her nose and her pillowy lips. Asleep, she looked younger, despite the makeup, more like how he remembered her. Less...anxious. The carefree girl he had known seemed to have been muffled by life’s burdens. He had a feeling life had been harder for her than for him. He had worked a ton, yes, but he’d never faced that deep-seeded worry that sprang from being only one paycheck away from financial disaster. He had spent his whole childhood seeing the lines increase on his parents’ foreheads as year after year they struggled to make ends meet. Kristine wore that same expression, and it made him both sad and determined to do something about it.

As he drove, his brow furrowed. This wasn’t good. Feeling responsible for Kristine’s happiness and security was bad news. He was supposed to be getting her out of his system. That’s what he did—he was a solutions man. Just because he hadn’t met anyone else in the ensuing years didn’t mean that Kristine was somehow “it” for him, and his old marriage was clearly holding him back from allowing another woman into his life.

Which meant the solution was to purge her from his system. Get closure. Get answers that would satisfy all those questions that had lingered and clearly affected him more than he had realized.