A Year of Loving Dangerously

David arched an eyebrow as he smiled. “Those are pretty salty words for such a pretty lady.”

She purposefully ignored him, which made him smile even more. This woman was a far cry from the girl he’d left behind. He was falling in love all over again.

“I’ll finish dressing now,” he said.

She almost glared. “Are you making fun of me?”

“No, ma’am.”

She sighed. “Yes, you are.”

“What would it take for you to change the subject?” he asked.

She lifted her chin, refusing to smile. “I’m going to the living room. When you’re ready, I will be waiting.” Then she marched out of the bedroom, leaving him on his own.

David hesitated briefly, then grabbed his wallet and keys before following her exit. This might be new and uncharted territory for him, but damned if he wasn’t looking forward to it.

Tearoom, indeed.

Two hours and a half dozen errands later, they walked into the restaurant. Almost immediately, Cara saw people she knew. They waved a hello, and she could tell by the looks on their faces that their curiosity was raised by the man at her side.

Earlier, she’d almost lost his company when she had gone into the hair salon to pick up a bottle of her favorite shampoo. One of the stylists had flirted, which he’d calmly ignored, but when the shampoo girl came by and pinched his behind, Cara thought he was going to bolt. Cara had calmly told the girl to go molest someone else, which had made everyone laugh, including David. After that, the rest of the morning had been fairly innocuous. But now there was this. She glanced at David, judging his expression. To her surprise, he was looking at her.

“What do you think?” Cara asked.

“It smells good in here,” he said.

She smiled. “The food tastes as good as it smells.”

“Then I think you made the right choice, and I think those people at the table near the window are trying to get your attention.”

Cara sighed. “Yes, I know. What do I do…about you, I mean?”

An eyebrow arched. “What do you want to do…about me, I mean?”

She grinned. “One thing has certainly changed since I first knew you. You have a wicked sense of humor. Now be serious. Is it, uh, safe to introduce you as David or should I—”

David slid his hand along the length of her spine and gave her a gentle push in their direction.

“I am who I am. If it was dangerous for me to surface, I damn sure wouldn’t have brought it to you.”

She looked startled, and he realized she hadn’t considered that aspect of his life having a negative impact on hers.

“Cara! Dear! How wonderful to see you.”

Cara smiled. Obviously they’d stood too long at the door waiting to be seated. Her friend Debra Shay had been too curious to wait.

“Good to see you, too,” Cara said.

“Well…aren’t you going to introduce me?” Debra asked, and then glanced coyly at David.

Cara smiled. “If you promise not to pinch him on the backside, I will.”

Debra giggled and patted David’s arm in commiseration. “Oh, no! You must have been at Ream’s Salon. That Janis female is lethal around good-looking men.”

David smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment,” he said smoothly. “I’m David Wilson. It’s a pleasure to meet one of Cara’s friends.”

“David, this is Debra Shay,” Cara said. “Ray worked with her husband, Roy.”

David nodded congenially while thinking that he felt like he was playing a part. Normal chit-chat, ordinary people, having lunch in a tearoom in Chiltingham, New York. It was a far cry from subterfuge and espionage. And then the hostess arrived and the moment ended.

“I’m sorry for the delay,” she said. “Please follow me.”

“Nice to meet you,” Debra gushed, giggling again as David and Cara were shown to their table.

David seated Cara, then took the chair beside her. As soon as the hostess left, he took Cara’s hand.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

She made herself smile. “No.”

“Why do I feel like there’s a but just waiting to come out?”

She sighed. “Because there is.”

“Then what?”

“This doesn’t feel real.”

He started to smile, which was the last thing Cara would have expected him to do.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“I’d forgotten that we used to think alike.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just a few moments ago I was thinking the very same thing. I feel like I’m acting a part and any minute now someone is going to yell cut and I’m going to turn back into—”

He caught himself before he said the word Jonah and looked away, but the message was clear. Cara put her hands over his and gave them a squeeze.

“It’s all right, darling,” she said quietly. “If you’re uncomfortable, we can go home. I’ll make us some sandwiches and we can—”

“Hell, no. I’m not fragile, just out of practice,” he said, and then handed her a menu. “Now, tell me what’s good.”

The smile on her face was worth every uncomfortable moment he’d had thus far. When she bent her head to study the menu, he watched her changing expression as devoutly as he’d watched the sunrises over the Rockies. He didn’t know how this journey was going to end, but he would never be sorry he’d made it.

“How hungry are you?” Cara asked.

He blinked. Telling her the truth about what he really hungered for would probably embarrass her, but when she started to blush, he figured she’d just read his mind.

A small grin tilted the right side of his mouth, then as quickly disappeared.

He leaned across the table until their foreheads were almost touching. “I’m starving,” he said softly

Her blush heightened. “Just don’t lick the corner of my mouth again until there’s a really good reason.”

His eyes glittered warmly as he sat back in his chair. “You’re safe for now,” he promised. “Now, since you’re the expert here, why don’t you order for me?”

“Really?”

“I think I’m secure enough as a man to let a woman order for me without feeling threatened. Besides, I’m curious as to what you think might appeal to me.”

“What if you don’t like it?”

He thought of the times he’d eaten grubs and insects to survive and decided against mentioning it.

“I’ll still eat it.”

She beamed. “My kind of man.”

The teasing disappeared from his eyes. “Sweetheart, I was always your man.”

Unprepared for the gentleness in his voice, Cara’s eyes teared, but she blinked them away.

“Just for that, you’re going to get their famous dessert, too,” she said.

“What’s that?”

She grinned. “Cake. It’s called Better Than Sex.”

David thought she was putting him on until she pointed to the dessert portion of the menu.

“No way,” he muttered, wondering what else had changed in this world while he’d been hiding behind the generations of Jonahs who’d gone before him.

“Oh, yes, and when you’ve finished your meal, I’ll prove it,” Cara said.

At this point, David’s sense of justice got the best of him. He’d never had a bite of food in his life that was better than making love to Cara—not even when he’d been starving.

“You just do that,” he whispered. “And I’ll be a really good boy and eat everything on my plate, but when we get home, I’m going to prove to you that there isn’t anything better than sex, especially when it’s with the right person.”

“May I take your order?”

Startled, Cara looked up. The waitress was grinning—proof that she’d overheard, at the very least, the last thing David just said. Cara glared at David and then rolled her eyes. This would be all over the tearoom before they’d been served their first dish.

The waitress waited, her pen poised above her pad.

Refusing to look at David, Cara gave their order. As soon as the waitress was gone, Cara glanced up, but he seemed preoccupied with a couple across the room. She turned to look and then sighed. It was Ben and Katie Murphy and their new baby girl. Probably their first outing since the baby’s arrival last month. She looked at David again. The pain in his eyes was unmistakable. Despite the fact that everyone in the room would see and put their own interpretation on the action, she reached for his hand.

Startled by her touch, David blinked, then turned his focus to Cara.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly.

He sighed. So she’d read his mind again. So what else was new?

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said briefly.

“Don’t, David.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t deny your feelings…not to me.”

“Okay then. What do you want to hear first?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “That I envy that young couple the life ahead of them, or that I want things I know I can never have?”

“I can’t give you back your youth, but I can give you a daughter…and grandchildren.” She held her breath, afraid to say the rest of it—that she would be his wife if he wanted it.

David made himself smile, unaware that the action never reached his eyes.

“You’ve already done that,” he said. “And I can only hope that they will forgive me as quickly as you have.”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” Cara said, refusing to admit her disappointment that he had mentioned nothing about the future of their relationship. “When they get to know you, they will love you.”

Before David could answer, he saw a woman approaching their table. From the look on her face, the curiosity was eating her up. He gave Cara a nod and then braced himself, thankful he was sitting down. This one looked as if she wouldn’t settle for a simple pinch on the behind.

“Ooh, Cara, who’s this big hunk and where have you been keeping him?”

Cara flinched and David saw it, identifying the woman as someone other than a friend. Whoever she was, she’d just become his enemy, too.

“Macie, I thought you were in Reno.”

“I just got back, and look, I’m a free woman again.” She wiggled the empty fingers on her left hand as proof.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Cara said.

“Don’t be! I don’t know what I was thinking when I married that Glen Harvey.”

“That he owned his daddy’s business?” Cara muttered, too low for anyone but David to hear.

“Well,” Macie said. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

It was the way Macie Harvey leaned over, displaying her more than ample charms in David’s face, that pushed Cara’s buttons. That plus the fact her husband, Ray, had confessed to having a brief affair with Macie between husbands three and four. Although she had finally forgiven Ray, she had never confronted the woman. Suddenly, now seemed like the perfect time to yank her chain.

She turned in her seat, giving Macie a beatific smile.

“Macie, this is David Wilson. He’s not only my childhood sweetheart, but also Bethany’s father. David, Macie Harvey. Elizabeth Taylor has nothing on our Macie for shedding husbands. I believe Glen was number seven…or was it eight?”

David was surprised but secretly pleased that she’d admitted their relationship. He stood and held out his hand.

“Mrs. Harvey, my condolences on your recent divorce, but as I’m sure you must know, time does heal all wounds, except those that kill you, of course.”

Macie blinked. She didn’t know whether to be insulted first, or run to spread this juicy bit of news. She opted for the news.

“Yes…well…thank you, I’m sure,” she said, giving Cara a fierce glare.

Cara returned the look, still wearing her smile. Macie was the first to look away.

“I’d better get back to my table,” Macie said. “I think my order has arrived.”

“Enjoy,” Cara said.

Cara’s eyes were glittering as she turned to David.

“Cara, honey?”

“What?”

“Remind me never to make you mad.”

She started to grin. “Why?”

“Because you shed blood better without weapons than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

She tossed her head and then smiled primly. “Thank you. It’s part of the gift of being a woman.”

“Old enemies are often the most difficult to dispatch,” David added, thinking of Frank.

“She had an affair with Ray. They thought I didn’t know.”

David’s heart twisted. So many things she’d had to endure, and all because he hadn’t come home. This time, he was the one reaching for her hand.

“This time, it’s me who’s saying I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “You didn’t do it. You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Oh, but you’re wrong,” he said softly. “It’s what I didn’t do that has caused the most hurt.”

Before she could answer, their food arrived and the tension of the moment dissipated.

“Hot beef sandwich and tuna salad, coming up,” the waitress said, setting the hot plate of thinly sliced roast beef on toast points with thick brown gravy in front of David and the plate of cold tuna salad on lettuce in front of Cara. “Eat hearty, folks, but remember to save some room. You don’t want to forget that dessert.”

David laughed.

It filtered through Cara’s anger, leaving her weak and breathless. It had been so long since she’d heard that remarkable sound.

“This looks great,” David said. “I don’t remember the last time I had this.”

He dug in with relish, rolling his eyes in appreciation.

Cara smiled and tucked into her own food, all the while thinking about cake and sex with the marvelous man at her right.

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