Montana Secrets (13 page)

 

G
RACE SLOWED FROM A JOG
to a walk as she headed back down the road toward the house. The air smelled like snow and had a bite it had previously lacked, so she knew it wouldn't be long before the ground was coated in white.

The sound of a motor came around the bend behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder when the vehicle slowed and pulled to a stop. Jake climbed out of the passenger side of a ranch truck, and with a shiver of unease, she noted Roy Bernard's smirking presence at the wheel.

“Hey!” Jake slammed the truck door, and Roy slowly pulled away, smiling as he tossed her a salacious wave. Grace ignored him.

“Thought I'd walk back with you,” Jake said, falling into step beside her. “And congratulate you.
I can't get over the change in Seth. You've worked a miracle.”

“It's no miracle, Jake. Seth's finally ready to move on, that's all. I didn't do much of anything.”

“Uh-huh.” His tone implied he didn't believe her. “Regardless, I haven't seen him like this since, well, I don't know when. A long time. Before Arie lost the baby. It's amazing.”

Jake's words stabbed a place deep in her heart, and like it or not, she was curious. Much more than she should be. “I saw pictures of her—Arie—in Lexi's room. She was beautiful.”

Jake nodded. “Those pictures are the only ones in the house. Seth boxed them all up after the crash, but Maura insisted those stay.” Jake kicked at a rock in the road.

She wanted to ask him a million questions, but something held her back. Did she really want to
know
how much Seth loved his wife? Want to think about him living and sleeping with someone else? Someone talented and beautiful and—

Jake glanced over at her, his expression serious and very much resembling Seth's. “Anyway, thanks to you, Seth's coming out of it, working in the office, fixing the tack. And now his therapy's going great. I couldn't believe it when I heard you telling him not to overdo instead of having to fight to get him to do anything.”

Leaves crackled and crunched beneath their feet and they walked for a little way in silence before Jake looped his arm around her shoulders and matched his pace to hers. “I owe you more than I'll ever be able to repay, Grace. Me and Maura both. She really likes you. She needed someone here, you know, to confide in and talk to. I'm afraid she's right, sometimes I don't get it.”

Grace chuckled. “You never did,” she said with a smile. “And I like her, too. You did good. I just feel sorry for her.”

“Hey!”

“I'm not kidding,” she teased. “I'm glad you found someone willing to put up with you.”

He squeezed her shoulders. “Ha-ha-ha. But as you're so amused, let's talk about you.”

“No thanks.”

“What? After seeing how well you and Seth are getting along again—”

“Jake.”

“I can't help but think it sure would be nice to have you as a sister-in-law.”

Her gaze narrowed. “Has Seth been talking to you about me?” Oh, now there was a mistake. Why did she have to ask
that?
“Forget I said anything.”

“Not a chance.” Jake's expression turned to one of pure delight. “So Maura and I aren't the only ones wanting this, huh? There
is
more to Seth mak
ing a comeback.” He practically did a little jig there in the road.

“Stop that!”

“He's a good guy, Grace.”

Like she didn't already know that. “I never said he wasn't, but—”

“No buts. Every guy that's showed an interest in you has gotten the cold shoulder. I understood at first because Seth had come on strong, but now—”

“Now's no different.” She ran a hand over her bound hair and moaned.

“Seth's a grown man. He's been married and he's been hurt. After his accident he was a little off balance, but who wouldn't be considering the circumstances?”

She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head back and forth. “Jake, you don't need to explain Seth to me, but you've got to realize
if
Seth's interested in me, it's
gratitude
and nothing more. Which is exactly what I told him when he brought it up.”

Jake's eyes widened and she hated the gleam she'd inadvertently put there by admitting she and Seth had talked about a…relationship. “Get that look off your face,” she ordered. “Seth is a good man, Jake. He's kind and sweet and gentle but—”

Jake burst out laughing.
“Sweet?”

She belted him on the arm.

“Ow! Okay, sweet. Whatever.”

“
And
he's a patient.”

“But he won't be a patient forever, and what's your excuse going to be then?”

She groaned. “You sound like Seth.” She rubbed her temple and shot him an irritated look. “You know you should be helping me instead of encouraging this.”

Jake tugged her close again, his arm loose atop her shoulders.

“You left Seth because things were getting too serious, too fast. I respected your decision, but now…Grace, you can't be afraid of tying yourself to someone.”

“Who says I am?”

Jake's face revealed his thoughts. “Seth won't hurt you.”

The few times Jake had tried to talk to her in high school about the bruises he saw on her wrists, she'd cut him off and threatened not to be his friend. And although he'd held his questions and his temper, she knew Jake had noticed the bruises had stopped when Earl died.

“Everything okay?” Maura asked as she walked toward them.

Jake flashed his wife a smile and a nod as he lifted his other arm for Maura to slide under. As if she sensed the emotions of the moment, Maura initiated a group hug, her gaze sympathetic as she studied Grace.

“If you're thinking about leaving, please, Grace,
don't,” Maura begged. “I don't know what we'd do without you.”

“Can anyone join in this?”

Seth.
Grace stiffened, and by the looks on Jake's and Maura's faces when she pulled away, she realized they were both aware of her turbulent feelings for him. Did everyone know? Did Seth?

“I've got two beautiful women in my arms and you show up?” Jake sighed. “All right, you can have one,” he said as he gently shoved her away.

Grace stumbled, her eyes wide that Jake would dare say, much less
do,
such a thing, only to find herself tripping over Seth's feet and landing on his lap. His arms wrapped around her, steadying her, and all of a sudden, she and Seth were alone on the road because Jake had swung Maura up into his arms and began walking away.

“Sorry, guys, urgent news just in. Lexi's spending the day at a friend's house so—” His eyebrows went up and down a couple of times and Maura's laughter filled the air as Jake's strides carried her quickly toward the house.

Grace stared after them, realized she was sitting there in Seth's lap unmoving, and attempted to leap to her feet.

“I don't bite,” he said, his tone urging her to stay. “What were you and Jake discussing that had you looking so upset?”

She shook her head. “Let me up.”

“Tonight if you can't sleep, why don't we go for a walk? We can bundle up and go sit by the stream. Might be the last of our good weather.”

The breeze rustled the dried leaves all around them and brought Seth's masculine scent to her nose. Spice and citrus. Cologne? That was new. Another little way he proved to be getting better every day.

“Well?” he murmured.

She nodded once, wetting her lips when she noticed Seth staring at her mouth. He raised a callused hand and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. His knuckles were gentle as they brushed her cheek. Effortlessly, he brought her lips to his.

Warm and musky, Seth's kiss made her forget all about their surroundings. Forget the warnings in her head. Forget everything but the security of his arms, the gentleness of his touch.

One palm cradled her face while the other simply supported her back where she sat on his lap. He didn't rush her, didn't push for anything more than a kiss.

And, oh, what a kiss it was.

She shifted sideways to attain a more comfortable position, bracing her forearms on his shoulders. Their kiss deepened, fierce in its intensity, then Seth pulled back, nose to nose, his gaze on hers as if to check to make sure she was okay.

When she didn't protest, didn't move, his mouth snagged hers again. And again. He kissed her over and over, from every angle. Sweet and gentle, deep and sensual. No kiss was ever the same. And she'd never enjoyed anything more. Just kissing. His hands caressed her spine, but he made no move to touch her anywhere else. After a long, long while Seth eased her away, his ragged breathing matching hers.

Her lips tingled, her lower body ached in an unfamiliar way, but she wasn't so naive she didn't recognize the signs.

Desire. He'd made her want more. Want
him.

Made her feel sexy and sensual. Not dirty.

Stunned by her emotions, Grace pulled away, tasting Seth in her mouth. And while she wanted to press her lips back to his, to see if the feelings would still be the same, she needed time to think, to cope. To come to a decision.

Seth let her go without comment, and she stood, the cold air chilling her. She wrapped her arms around her middle for warmth and began walking back to the house, Seth wheeling himself along at her side.

P
ROGRESS WAS A POWERFUL
rush, Seth thought days later. Especially when that progress came in the form of Grace's acceptance of him. He touched her as much as possible during therapy, since it was their main time alone together during the day. Light, teasing caresses to her arm or shoulder. A hand at her waist or hip.

He wanted her. He wanted her smile and gentleness. Her beauty and strength. He wanted all of her. Even her past.

Seth pushed open the door to the den and found Jake inside. His brother looked up, then sat back in the desk chair and grinned at him, looking much like Lexi's kitten when he saw a full bowl of cream that was his and his alone.

Jake whistled, shaking his head slowly back and forth.

“What?” he growled, not sure he was in the mood for Jake's teasing. Not when his nerves were strung tight from being so close to Grace and yet not close
enough. It took every ounce of energy not to rush her, push too hard. Or worry that if she did accept him and want to make love, he wouldn't be able to follow through with the act. Getting it up was no problem, but what if he couldn't
keep
it up?

His brother's smile widened. “I still can't believe the difference.” Jake chuckled. “I'm not complaining, it's going to take some getting used to is all.” He tossed the pen he held onto the papers in front of him. “What's up?”

Seth frowned. “What do you know about Earl Korbit? He was already dead when Grace and I dated, but you knew her before.”

Jake leaned an elbow on the arm of his chair and rubbed his jaw. “I know he used to beat up on them. Are you wondering why I didn't say something?”

Seth rolled himself over to the desk and picked up the horseshoe puzzle sitting on the corner. “You were her best friend.”

“I still am,” Jake corrected with a glare. “I've always stood by her, and before you scowl at me it was never like
that.
” Jake leaned back and teased him with another grin. “And if my own wife trusts me in that department, I certainly hope my brother does. Grace was…different. Tough as nails on the outside, but fragile on the inside.”

“That hasn't changed.”

“Earl's abuse took a toll,” Jake agreed.

Seth shook the metal pieces, frustrated he couldn't work the puzzle as quickly as in the past. “So why didn't you say anything?”

“Who says I didn't?”

Seth looked up when he heard the tension lining Jake's voice, the puzzle forgotten.

“I skipped out of school one day and went to the sheriff.”

“How bad was she?” he asked, his voice hoarse from fury.

Jake's expression darkened. “Black eye, fat lip, bruises on her arms, her neck. She tried to hide them with a turtleneck, and maybe for the teachers her excuses were enough, but not for me. I was sick of it and I told the sheriff what was going on.” His laugh lacked all traces of humor. “He took me into his office and sat me down and said, ‘Listen up, boy. We don't have a system for that here, so if you tell me I have to do something about a man
disciplining
his children, you ought to know what'll happen to them.'”

Jake ran a hand through his hair, swearing under his breath. “He went on to tell me every horror story he'd heard about foster care and state institutions for troubled or abandoned kids. How pretty girls were quickly accepted into homes because—” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I couldn't do it, Seth. I was more afraid of what would happen to her there than what
was happening at home. Earl hit them when he was drunk, but Brent told me more than once the rest of the time Earl was…decent. Which was a sight better than what she could've faced in one of the homes at the hands of some pervert.”

Seth nodded and tried to ignore the anger eating away at his soul at what Grace had endured, reminding himself Jake didn't know how bad it had actually been. Unless Grace made her secret public, it would die with him.

Seth swung his wheelchair around.

“Seth, wait.” Jake's stare was hard on his. “I know what you're trying to do with the studio. Grace probably told you Maura is upset and wanting a place of our own so you offered, but I don't want it. I want nothing that was hers.”

Seth stared at him, wishing for the millionth time he and Jake could find some common ground where Arie was concerned.

“Jake—”

“The house is fine. Maura will get over it as soon as her hormones calm down. We've lived here with Lex since she was born, we can stay for the baby. I want nothing to do with the cabin, not when the place reminds me so much of Arie.”

“You can't blame Maura for wanting a home of her own.”

“But I'll never be able to live in the studio and
not think about what happened. Or what could've happened. Her stuff can be removed, but the memory will always be there. The thought alone makes me want to—” Jake broke off with a curse. “I know you loved her, Seth, but that's how I feel.”

Seth swung himself around and headed for the door before he said something he shouldn't. Jake had every right to be angry. They all did. But he also thought Maura ought to know the truth.

“Seth?”

He paused, his hand on the knob.

“Take it slow with Grace. It's obvious she still cares for you, but her past with Earl…it's all inside her. Don't go too fast and give her an excuse to push you away again.”

 

T
HEIR MIDNIGHT RENDEZVOUS
became the norm. Sometimes she and Seth would sit and talk in front of the fire, or go outside into the cold, crisp air to walk around the ranch. But since that day Jake pushed her onto Seth's lap, they hadn't kissed. And now as Thanksgiving had passed and Christmas drew near, she found herself looking forward to their private time together more and more. And wanting things she shouldn't want.

Since telling Seth about Earl's abuse, she was more comfortable with him than she had been with any other person in her life. She only wished he'd
open up to her about his wife and address the tension Arie's name created whenever she attempted to bring up their marriage.

Grace was sitting in the living room when she heard the push-whirl of Seth's wheelchair on the hard-wood floors. He'd gained weight, strength and muscle mass, and was able to get himself in and out of bed without help. Since putting his mind to the task, his therapy had advanced better than she could've hoped and soon he wouldn't need her any longer.

So what would she do when it was time to leave? She groaned softly and stuck her fingers into her hair to push it out of her face.

“I know what you're thinking,” Seth said from behind her.

Her eyes widened and she swallowed as she looked over her shoulder. “Oh? And what's that?”

“You're plotting how to torture me next.”

She laughed, relieved that her thoughts weren't that easy to interpret. “Got that right. Tomorrow we begin water therapy. It's about time you put that whirlpool to work.”

His mouth curved up in a sinful grin. “Will you join me?”

She glanced at him and thanked the darkness for hiding her flaming cheeks. The flirtatious question hung in the air between them and her heartbeat accelerated.

“We'll, uh, see,” she whispered, unable to help herself. It wasn't unheard of for a PT to get into the whirlpool with a patient, especially if the patient was bigger and maneuvering him posed a potential problem. But getting in the whirlpool with Seth? Bad idea. Bad, bad, bad.

“I talked to your brother tonight. Brent called after you went to your room. I would've come to get you, but I hoped you were sleeping and I didn't want to disturb you. He said to tell you he aced the final he was worried about and he'd call tomorrow.”

“I'm sorry I missed him.” Grace turned to more fully face him, curling her legs up in the chair. “You know…you don't need to keep me company. I appreciate what you've done these past few weeks but…”

“But what?” Seth's inquisitive eyes were tender and compelling. “Trying to get rid of me?”

She looped her arms around her legs and hugged her knees to her chest. “Of course not, it's just—”

Seth pushed himself closer, right up to the edge of the wing chair where she sat. With her legs drawn up out of the way, he didn't stop until the front of his calves hit the cushioned leather. He leaned forward, holding her gaze as the air around them stilled.

“Just what? Are you afraid of me, Grace?”

She blew her breath out in a rush. “No,” she whis
pered firmly. “No, I'm not afraid of you.”
Terrified
was more like it.

“Does my chair bother you?”

“No.”

He
bothered her. Made her unsatisfied with her life, because after staying with Seth she realized she wanted more, wanted to stop traveling all over the country and put down roots. She wanted—she wanted—

“Good. Because I want to talk to you about us.”

Scared witless, Grace unwrapped her arms from about her legs and pushed his wheelchair away from her seat far enough to swing her feet to the floor. She stood, intending to walk by him to go to the kitchen, but he snagged her hand and wouldn't let go.

“Seth, please,” she begged, even though her body followed his urging to sit down again.

“I've been thinking a lot about you and what you've been through. I've been patient. Made sure I didn't do anything to scare you. I haven't, have I?”

The note of insecurity in his tone cut deep. He'd been more than patient. More than tender. “Yes, you have and I—”

“I'm getting better every day.”

She nodded hesitantly, agreeing. Did he want her to leave now? Was this his way of getting rid of her? Maybe that's why he hadn't kissed her.

“But it struck me today…really struck me…that
you're not afraid of me, the patient, but me, the man. Because you haven't been with anyone since Earl's abuse.” He paused. “Have you?”

She wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. Did she really want Seth to know everything? “No.”

He blinked once. “No? No, back off and leave you alone, or no, you haven't been with anyone else?”

She closed her eyes, her body so hot she'd surely melt. It was none of his business. None. “No… I haven't. I tried. W-With you and—and someone else, but…I couldn't.”

Seth reached for one of her hands and brought her fingers to his mouth. He kissed them gently, one by one, and she shifted against the leather cushion and tried to ignore the touch of his tongue.

“Seth, we had a past, but ethically—”

“Look at me, Grace.”

It took her a moment. A long, drawn out, I-can't-do-this moment, before she raised her gaze to his. Holding it was another battle all together, but she managed that, too.

“I'm not some young fool in heat like I was when we dated. We've talked about everything under the sun. Shared things we've
never
told anyone else,” he pressed. “But this—
us
—boils down to whether
or not I'm only a patient to you…and whether or not you think you can love me the way I—”

“You
are
a patient,” she hissed, looking away when she panicked and couldn't handle the intensity any longer. She was lying and they both knew it.

Seth tugged her forward in the chair, and off balance, her breath left her lungs. She watched, everything happening so fast yet in slow motion as his free hand lifted to cradle her face. She relished the warmth of his callused skin against her cold cheek, the gentleness he showed her when she expected—
expected
—brutality.

Was he really going to say he loved her?

Then he kissed her, startling her out of her turbulent thoughts. Still feeling more than a bit out of body, she was conscious of his thumbs stroking her cheekbones, adding to the dizzying, terrifying sensations buffeting her.

“Easy, Grace. That's it. Come sit on my lap.”

She whimpered softly and shook her head. Fearful, lost.

Remembering.

“Listen to my voice, sweetheart. It's all right. Let me hold you, Grace. I won't hurt you. I'll never hurt you.”

Seth's voice collided with Earl's in her head, battled, as he placed brief, tantalizing kisses on her
mouth. Tempted her to open her lips and nudge her tongue to his.

“I won't hurt you, honey. I'd never deliberately hurt you. Trust me…please, Grace, trust me.”

His mouth caught hers in another heady kiss, stole her breath and numbed her senses to the fact he scooped her off the chair and onto his lap with little effort. He was strong now, getting stronger, but she wasn't frightened of his strength.
Because this was Seth.

One kiss blended into two, two into a dozen, as Seth continued to hold her, rub her back and ease the tension lining her shoulders and neck.

She pulled away, wanting to initiate a kiss, but still unsure. His dark lashes rose lazily, his eyes hot and needy, but he gave her the space and time she required to follow through with her thoughts.

Grace licked her lips and his gaze dropped to her mouth, the look in his eyes—it should have scared her but it didn't. The look filled her with power, security. Love?

She ran her fingers over his lips. Soft yet firm. Seth's touch wasn't about pain or rape or domination. And the undeniable relief brought by the thought had her lowering her mouth to his for a kiss entirely her own to give.

His lips parted as she bent toward him and she smiled slightly, teasing. And like she'd known he
would, Seth merely waited patiently for her. He didn't press her or force the kiss, passing her last and final test with ease.

In response to his gift, she took his lower lip into her mouth and nibbled before she sucked the flesh as he'd done to her. Seth muttered her name, and the rough sound sent shivers through her. She slipped her hand down Seth's shoulder, lingered on the thick bulge of muscle in his upper arms before finding his broad hand. She squeezed once before lifting it to her breast, and Seth stilled, his entire body taut.