A SEAL's Kiss
Autor:in
Tawny Weber
Gelesen
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Kapitel
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Chapter 1
Two years ago
WEDDINGS GAVE HER the heebie-jeebies.
Patriarchal rules wearing the pretty mask of traditions and ancient promises that were rarely kept? Definitely not her thing.
A wedding night might be nice, all things considered. Champagne and rose-petal-strewn sex with a man who’d just promised to worship you forever? Not a completely horrible idea.
But to sign your life away to get it? To the same man, day in and day out, ’til death do you part?
Sage Taylor gave a delicate shudder.
She’d rather wear a three-piece suit and give lectures to businessmen on the merits of climbing the corporate ladder through backstabbing, undercutting and sexual favors. Or maybe be staked to an anthill naked while covered in hot fudge.
The only celebrating she wanted that included champagne and rose-petal-strewn sex would come—no pun intended—when she found a guy who could keep it up long enough to worship her until she melted. And who needed forever for that? All she needed was one good night.
Or maybe a weekend.
“What’d you think of the wedding, dear?”
Even though she was pretty sure Mrs. O’Brian couldn’t see the naked all-night-sex images playing out in her imagination, Sage still winced.
“It’s lovely,” Sage said, leaning down so the elderly woman could brush a parchment-dry kiss over her cheek. Not a lie. She’d never lie, especially not to the woman who’d taught her to read. But lovely was one of those nice, safe statements that could cover so many things.
Like the weather, with its bright sunshine and cool breeze. Just right for a springtime wedding in a winery.
Or the bride, one of Sage’s oldest and dearest friends, who looked so happy she glowed almost as bright as the sunshine.
Or the wine, Sage noted, taking a sip from the glass a passing waiter handed her.
“You made a lovely bridesmaid,” Mrs. O’Brian noted, holding her own wineglass up to peer at it with a connoisseur’s eye. “I’m sure your father was thrilled to see you at the altar. Any chance you’ll be there again soon? Perhaps wearing white?”
“Me? White?” Sage wet her lips, nerves dancing in her stomach. The soft green satin of her bridesmaid dress was as close to wedding accoutrement as she wanted to get. And pretty much as close to wearing white as she warranted. But that wasn’t the kind of thing you told a seventy-year-old woman at her niece’s wedding. “Um, well...”
“Sage? AnaMaria wants more pictures,” Nina Wagner said, tucking her arm through Sage’s. The other bridesmaid looked the part much better than Sage ever could. Of course, with her sleek black hair and model looks, Nina was at home in the strapless satin sheath in a way that Sage, with her dreadlocks and multiple piercings, could never appear.
“Ahh, pictures,” Mrs. O’Brian said with a wave of her hand. “Go, go. Smile pretty, girls.”
Sage went, went, as fast as she could move in the foot-pinching stilettos.
“You looked scared,” Nina said, laughing as she pulled Sage across the room toward the buffet.
“She thinks I should be getting married,” Sage said, shivering at the thought.
“That is scary.” Her arm still tucked tight through her best friend’s, Nina laughed even as she scanned the crowd, scoping out the possibilities. Probably looking for a groom of her own.
At her friend’s low hum of appreciation, Sage followed her gaze across the room.
As usual, Nina had scoped out the best-looking guy in attendance.
Chief Petty Officer Aiden Masters. Otherwise known as the geeky guy Sage had grown up with.
A protégé of her father’s, Aiden was chronologically three years Sage’s senior, and mentally thirty years older. But growing up he’d been a social infant compared to her natural ease with people. So while her father had nurtured his mind, she’d figured it her job to keep him from becoming a stodgy old man before he was seventeen. Clearly, from his ease at moving through the crowd, she’d done her job well.
It wasn’t just that he was one of the tallest guys there. Or that the contrast of his short black hair and hazel eyes stood out against the vivid white of his military uniform. It was that Aiden Masters was hot.
Under that uniform was a body that sent women into fantasy mode. Fantasies that, for some bizarre reason, most of them seemed to want to share with Sage. Worse, though, was when one of them managed to make their Aiden fantasy into reality. They liked to share that, too.
Sage was all for reaping the kudos on a job well done, but hearing about Aiden and other women tended to make her teeth hurt.
And the idea of Aiden and Nina?
Um, no.
No way.
Their energies wouldn’t match, nor did their personalities. For all her matrimonial goals, Nina was the eat-’em-up-and-toss-them-aside type. And Aiden, well, he might be a navy SEAL, but he still needed protection from some things.
“Aren’t we supposed to be joining AnaMaria for pictures?” Sage asked, turning her head toward the bride and groom who were posing under a grapevine arbor across the lawn.
“I just said that to rescue you. Have you already forgotten the cheesy chorus of photos that were taken before the ceremony?”
“How could I?” Happy to have distracted her friend, Sage made a show of grimacing and patting her cheeks to see if they’d recovered from all that smiling yet. She glanced over her shoulder at Mrs. O’Brian. The elderly woman was now in deep conversation with a group of people, giving their wine the same assessing looks, definitely not checking to see if Sage was really getting pictures taken. Still, Sage hated lying. Even little lies, since they were like snowflakes. Put enough of them together and they snowballed. And usually hit you splat in the face when you were least prepared.
As if hearing her thoughts, Nina rolled her eyes, pulled her cell phone out of the tiny purple purse hanging from her shoulder and wrapped her arm around Sage’s waist. Heads together, they smiled pretty and Nina snapped the shot.
“There. You had your picture taken. Now can we get on to the good stuff?”
And this, Sage realized, was what she’d missed about being home. Three months hiking through Tibet was awesome. She’d worked with a charitable organization focused on bringing health care to the women there and had been so touched, she’d written daily blog posts on her website, Sage Advice, that she’d later sold as a series of articles to three magazines to pay for her trip home.
But as great as that’d been, nothing could beat good friends who knew you inside out and had a history that went back to kindergarten.
“What’s the good stuff?” Sage asked, still smiling as she inspected the buffet. As to be expected for a Northern California winery wedding, the tables were heavy with appetizers of local produce, cheeses and gourmet delicacies.
“Your love life, of course,” Cailley Heath, the third bridesmaid said as she joined them, choosing a juicy red strawberry off the fruit bouquet shaped like a heart. “I want to hear all about sex in Tibet.”
“Shhh,” Nina hushed. When both Sage and Cailley gave her confused looks, she tilted her head toward the nearby table where two men were sitting, their heads together in serious discussion. Ahh, Aiden had found his other half.
He and Sage’s father tended to become inseparable whenever Sailor Boy was on leave. Discussing the latest theory in quantum physics or evidence of an ancient tribe that’d been discovered in a far-off jungle, no doubt.
Sage snickered, then teasingly shook her head at Nina.
She could have danced naked with every man in the room right there on their table, and they wouldn’t have noticed.
“What?” she teased. “You think my father has no idea I have sex?”
Not that it was a topic of regular discussion. Typical of the Professor, when it was time for the birds-and-bees talk, her widowed father had a local nurse chat with Sage, filling her in on all of the pertinent details.
After which her friends had filled her in on the juicy ones.
“Your dad might know you have sex,” Cailley teased. “But does Aiden?”
“I’m sure he does,” Sage said with an exasperated roll of her eyes, pretending the words her, Aiden and sex in the same sentence didn’t send a naughty thrill to all the wrong places. “The real question is, why would he care?”
“I dunno. The way he looks at you sometimes is pretty intense,” Cailley said, her tone turning serious enough to make Sage twitchy. She shrugged it off, though. Aiden didn’t look at her as anything other than a friend. A flaky, weird friend whose father was his mentor.
“He always looks intense. That’s just Aiden,” Sage said dismissively, focusing on the buffet instead. With all the choices, she wanted to try a little of everything here. Which would be much more satisfying than talking about a guy who even found ways to straighten the straight and narrow.
“Just as well,” Nina replied, filling her own plate with salad, no dressing. “A sexy SEAL might be fun for a fling, but he’d definitely be a bad idea for the long term. I want a guy who’ll be around all the time. Ready and willing to fulfill my every wish.”
Sage laughed, but Cailley gave a dissatisfied grunt.
“You’ve always known exactly what you want,” the blonde said with a heavy sigh.
True. While Sage had no idea what she wanted, and bounced from idea to idea, first in her one-year attempt at college, then later in her varied and sundry jobs throughout the country.
But Nina was totally focused on exactly what she wanted. After graduation, it’d been to get into UC Davis. After college, it’d been to get a job as a viticulture researcher at the local winery. And now, at twenty-five they all knew getting married was next up on Nina’s schedule.
“You know what you want,” Nina said in a soothing tone.
“I don’t think move out of my mom’s apartment and find a job that pays enough to cover my student loans is exactly knowing what I want,” Cailley said, her lower lip shifting into a pout.
Poor Cailley. Unlike Sage, who was happy to move on to the next job when one didn’t fit, Cailley was desperately trying to find that perfect match.
“Hey, I met this guy last week who used to work as a headhunter for a big corporation,” Nina said, snapping her fingers. “He’s got lots of training in career counseling. You should talk with him.”
Her pout forgotten, Cailley gave an excited yes.
“How about you, Sage? Did you want to talk to him while you’re home, too?” Nina offered tentatively.
“A career counselor? No, but thanks,” Sage refused with a laugh, taking her filled plate to a small table and settling in to enjoy the meal.
“You really should. If you don’t, you’ll just keep bouncing around, not getting ahead.”
“I’m fine with that. There is so much out there to see and do and explore.” The possibilities were endless. She wanted to find something that touched her soul. That made her spirit sing. All she had to do was keep looking until she found it. “Why dismiss any of the possibilities until I’ve tried them all?”
“Is that what you say about the guys?” Nina joked.
“Only until she finds the right guy,” Cailley tossed in. “As soon as that happens, Sage will settle down fast.”
Settle down? As in, quit searching for her bliss? Live in one place, for the rest of her life? Do the same thing day in and day out?
Sage shuddered. If that wasn’t incentive to avoid that particular guy, she didn’t know what was.
One year ago
“SERIOUSLY? A twenties-themed wedding?” Sage adjusted her headband, which kept trying to slide over her forehead, making her look like a drunken goth-style flapper. At least her bridesmaid dress was black, the beads glinting in the candlelight to match the blue tips of her razor-cut black hair. “What was Cailley thinking?”
“Well, Eric proposed at that Johnny Depp gangster movie, so they thought it’d be a fun, romantic way to commemorate it,” AnaMaria said, looking much more suited to the flapper theme with her cute red curls and matching lipstick. “You missed all the pre-wedding fun though. They had a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style picnic, complete with vintage cars and barbecue yesterday.”
“I feel horrible about that, too,” Sage said with a grimace. “I’d have loved to see the cars. My dad was talking about it all the way from the airport this morning.”
She didn’t want to admit that she’d barely made it for the wedding at all. Dave, her boyfriend until last week, had hocked her original plane ticket that would have gotten here a week ago. She’d found out the night before her flight was due to leave, then had had to work overtime at the coffee bar all week, call in a few favors and borrow against her next paycheck to replace it. She’d covered the last-minute fare difference by selling Dave’s drum set.
She’d thought she wanted a guy who needed her. That maybe being a part of helping him find his passion was her way to bliss. But there wasn’t much bliss to be found in giving a wannabe diva a free ride.
“So what’s the deal?” AnaMaria asked quietly after a few seconds.
“Deal?” Sage prevaricated. Sharing the fact that she’d just ended yet another unfulfillingly dead-end, soul-dimming relationship wasn’t her idea of wedding fun.
“Yeah. The deal. Just a month ago you were talking about how fun this visit was going to be. Two weeks ago, in between your call for donations to the animal shelter, you blogged about introducing the boyfriend to your friends. So...where’s the hot rock-star boyfriend? Why weren’t you here a week ago? And why do you look so bummed?” Clearly out of breath, but not questions, AnaMaria filled her lungs and looked like she was going to keeping going.
Sage held up one hand before the other woman said anything else and shook her head. This was a sitting-down sort of conversation, so she glanced around.
“Let’s chill,” she suggested, waving her hand to indicate one of the small tables in the corner.
“I don’t think the Seattle scene is really me,” she admitted when they were settled. She ran her fingers over the smooth satin tablecloth, letting the fabric cool her stress. “I thought I wanted something intense, you know. The rock scene, music, the passion of it. But I’m not finding what I need there.”
“Dave wasn’t passionate enough?” AnaMaria asked, scooting her chair closer and leaning her head in, making it clear that she was ready to hear any and all naughty details.
And oh, the details they were. Sage pressed her lips together, then shrugged. Why not? She hadn’t come away with much from the relationship, she might as well have fun now.
“He was passionate about his music. So much so that he could only get it up if his tunes were playing in the background,” she dished, leaning close to offer a wicked smile and a wriggle of her brows. “And mirrors. He liked doing it in front of mirrors.”
AnaMaria’s mouth rounded into an O.
“Well, that’s kinda sexy, right?” the redhead asked, her cheeks as bright as her hair now. “At least, I’ve heard it is.”
It was all Sage could do not to hug her close. For a woman married well over a year to a pretty hot cop, AnaMaria was awfully sheltered.
“The mirrors—plural, by the way—were always angled so he could focus on just him.” It’d been sexy the first time. Interesting the next few as she watched him flex and preen. Sorta like watching her own personal porn film. But the novelty had faded fast.
“Mirrors? Oh my.” Looking baffled, and a little intrigued, AnaMaria waved to the passing waiter, indicating she wanted whatever appetizers he was passing out. When it turned out to be stuffed mushrooms and bacon-wrapped scallops, Sage took a plate as well.
“But he was deep in the rock scene, right? You said you couldn’t wait to bask in the creative energy and grungy vibe,” AnaMaria asked after a few bites.
Sage’s lips twitched, wondering if it’d taken her friend all that time to find a safe response, or if she’d been trying to envision a guy who preferred sex with himself.
“In the four months we were together, he joined and left five bands, went through twelve tubes of eyeliner and had to be talked out of jumping off our first-floor balcony three times.”
“First-floor...”
“Balcony,” Sage finished, taking a glass of champagne from another passing waiter. “He liked the drama, but wasn’t a fan of anything physical. Like pain. Or work.”
“Except sex with mirrors,” AnaMaria intoned, grinning before sipping her own champagne.
“Exactly,” Sage agreed, figuring it was better to laugh through the pain. It was that or cry.
Was it too much to want a guy who was dedicated to what he did, had that deep passion for life—and the ability to please a woman without using strange kink? If he just had that, she’d put up with all of the negative qualities. Because if she was learning nothing else on this quest she called life, it was that everyone came with negatives. The trick was to find people who had more positives to balance that out.
Too bad she wasn’t having much luck on that score. She drained her glass in a single gulp, the bubbles hitting her fast.
“Sage, I want you to meet someone,” Nina said, her words as bright as her excited smile. The brunette slid into an empty chair and helped herself to a mushroom from AnaMaria’s plate. “He’s really cute, smart and single. You’ll love him.”
“How’d you know she’s single?” AnaMaria asked, shifting her plate farther out of reach. “Just a week ago she was sharing the awesomeness that was her rocker-boy.”
“He’s not here, is he?”
“So? That doesn’t mean anything where Sage is concerned. She never brings guys home. Even when she says she will, she finds a way to avoid it.”
“You’re right,” Nina said, her tone contemplative as they both turned searching looks on Sage. “Why do you think that is? Maybe she’s ashamed of us?”
“More likely she doesn’t want her guy to know she comes from such a normal upbringing.”
“Or perhaps she knows you’ll make inappropriate comments and embarrass us all,” Sage interrupted, rolling her eyes.
“There is that,” Nina acknowledged with a big smile, taking her next bite off of Sage’s plate. “So? What do you say?”
“To what?”
“To meeting this guy.”
“A fix-up?” Sage asked, cringing.
“Not a fix-up. A date while you’re home. What?” Nina said, her expression as innocent as she could make it. “Were you going to hide at your dad’s the entire visit?”
“I hadn’t really thought about it.” She hadn’t actually thought past where she’d snag some work to buy herself a plane ticket back to Seattle. Even though it was time to move on, she still had to pack up.
And figure out where she wanted to go next.
“So, give Jeffrey a chance while you’re here. A date or two. What’s the harm? You might find out you like him.”
“What’s he do?”
“He’s a doctor.”
AnaMaria laughed at the horror on Sage’s face.
“Um, no, thank you,” Sage said, waving both palms in the air to indicate the end of that train of thought.
“Why not? You’ve already tried the Indian chief. You might as well give a lawyer and a doctor a try.”
“He wasn’t a chief. He was a fire dancer,” Sage muttered. “And I’m not interested in professional guys. You know that.”
“I don’t see why not,” Nina muttered before launching into a soliloquy about this guy’s glowing traits.
Barely listening, Sage’s eyes cut across the hall to her father, who was drinking scotch and chatting with the groom’s father. As usual, it was weird to see the Professor without a book in hand. Her earliest memories were of him reading to her. She’d spent her toddler years after her mother had died playing at his feet while he worked at his desk, at home or at the university.
Her every memory of her father was colored by his dedication to learning. His avocation for amassing and honoring knowledge. A worthy goal, and something she was very proud of him for.
But that didn’t mean he was the kind of guy she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Been there, done that. She wanted spiritual instead of cerebral.
“Give him a chance,” Nina persuaded. “He’s really cute. And isn’t it time you tried someone new?”
“Like guys are flavors of ice cream?”
“Hey, you’re the one who’s vowed to avoid vanilla.”
“C’mon, Nina,” AnaMaria said, nudging their friend with her shoulder. “If Sage wanted a guy like her dad, she’d just hook up with Aiden Masters. He’s got all those qualities going on, plus he’s got the best body of any guy who’s ever come out of Villa Rosa.”
They all paused for a second to pay mental homage to Aiden’s hot body, then Nina waved her hand through the air as if dispersing the image from everyone’s mind.
“Aiden isn’t here. And he’s not Sage’s type. Jeffrey is here, and while he might not be the type Sage has gone for in the past, he could be now.”
“No,” Sage decided adamantly. “Maybe I haven’t figured out what kind of guy is perfect for me yet. But I do know what kind isn’t perfect. As much as I adore my father, I don’t want a guy like him. Dedication, focus and intensity are all well and good. But I want more than that. I want passion and creativity and drama.”
“Drama leads to guys jumping off the first-floor balcony,” AnaMaria reminded her.
Ugh. Good point. But Sage shrugged it off, focusing instead on the delight of building her vision.
“I want a guy who makes me shiver with his insights,” she expanded, staring at the white wall as if the image of that guy would coalesce there. “One who has excitement and dedication and a soul-deep hunger for exploring the depths of the human experience.”
AnaMaria and Nina exchanged glances, then Nina shook her head.
“If I were you, I’d settle on great sex.”
“Sex?” Sage repeated with a baffled look. How could Nina equate sex to a spiritual nirvana?
“Sure. With the right guy, you’ll get all of that and an orgasm. Shivers, excitement, and deep exploration. What more does a girl want?”
Sage contemplated the last few months of mirror-focused sex and sighed.
What more, indeed.
Two weeks ago
“AFTER ALL OF YOUR YEARS of plotting and planning, of saving bridal magazines and making lists, you eloped?”
“A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” Nina said, looking so content Sage couldn’t even teasingly chide her. “Besides, I didn’t think you could get back until summer and I didn’t want to wait that long to become Mrs. Jeffrey Philips.”
“I can’t believe you married my doctor,” Sage said, laughing as she wandered through Nina’s new living room. Filled with thick carpets, rich wood and silk-covered furniture, it was posh to say the least. She wasn’t surprised that after less than two weeks her friend had already unpacked and settled in. Nina was good at that.
“Well, you weren’t going to date him. I figured I’d give it a try,” Nina said, stretching out on the divan with a contented look on her face.
“You said you’d never marry a guy who had a job that might come before you, remember? I can’t imagine a doctor doesn’t put his career in the top slot.”
Nina’s shrug was as luxurious as the room itself. Clearly priorities were adjustable if the bank account was big enough.
Hey, that might not be her way, but Sage couldn’t fault her friend. At least she knew what she wanted. Unlike some people who had spent over a decade claiming they knew what they wanted—even if whatever that was changed from year to year.
Sage pushed her hand through her hair, recently dyed back to her original golden-blond. After three months of bouncing from job to job in Sedona, Arizona—the woowoo capital of the desert—she’d finally accepted that she actually had no idea what she wanted. Or where she wanted it.
So she’d done what anyone would do. She’d slinked home without a word to anyone. She’d hoped to sneak into her father’s house and hide until she’d figured out what was missing from her life. But she’d run into the new Dr. and Mrs. Philips at the airport, of all places.
“You realize now that I’m settled, you’re the last one of our circle still single,” Nina pointed out, inspecting her manicure as if checking to see if she were up to the coming task of taking care of that little problem.
“No. No, no, no,” Sage protested, sinking into the chair opposite her friend and offering a look of horror. “No fix-ups. You married the last guy you tried to fix me up with, which should tell you how bad you are at matchmaking.”
“I have other guys in mind this time,” Nina informed her. “I’ve been making a list since Cailley’s wedding.”
That sounded ominous enough to send a chill down Sage’s spine. A list that long meant Nina was determined. A determined Nina was a pain-in-the-ass Nina. And Sage just couldn’t deal with it right now.
Not while she was fighting the horrible suspicion that everyone had been right about her for years. That, instead of being a free spirit in search of bliss, she was really a wishy-washy flake who’d never be satisfied with anything.
“That’s sweet of you to think of me,” Sage said quickly. “But I’m not available.”
“Of course you are.”
“No. I’m not.”
Nina gave a pitying click of her tongue, as if Sage thinking she had any say in this was funny.
“You need a guy. I’m going to find you one. The perfect one,” Nina stated. “Even if we have to go through dozens to get there. Which is fine, since I have a lot of options on my list.”
Good God. Sage shuddered. She had to stop this. Now. There was no way she was going to get her head together and figure out why her life was so blah if she was fending off blind dates.
“I’m not available,” she insisted. Maybe if she pretended to have a boyfriend, Nina would leave her alone.
“Why? Because you’re dating some schmo who you’ll dump in two weeks? That’s fine. I can wait.”
“He’s not a schmo. He’s a great guy. The perfect guy.” After all, why would she date an imaginary guy who wasn’t perfect?
“Who?”
Sage shrugged, trying to look coy while her mind raced. She wanted Nina off her back, or she’d be fending off fix-ups from her, AnaMaria and Cailley until she left town. But she was lousy at lying. She was a great dancer, though, so hopefully sidestepping would be enough.
“Is it serious?”
“I wouldn’t say serious,” Sage prevaricated.
“Then you are okay to date other guys.”
“Although we are talking marriage.” The words flew off Sage’s tongue before her brain even realized they were an option.
She wanted to grab them back. Marriage? Her? Nina was sure to laugh in her face, grab her phone and arrange Sage’s first fix-up date before she’d even unpacked.
Before she could grab, or think up a better lie to cover up her first lie, Nina flew into a sitting position, going from mellow to shocked in a single breath.
“Who? Who’s the guy?” Eyes narrowed, Nina shook her head. “The perfect guy, who you’re crazy enough about to stick with for more than five minutes, and willing to consider marrying, which means introducing him to your father and friends.”
She made it sound like that guy didn’t exist.
Sage frowned. She might have a point.
Then, like a lightbulb flashing on, she had it.
“Aiden.” She gave Nina a triumphant smile. “Aiden Masters and I are engaged.”
* * *
FEELING A LITTLE SMUG and a lot relieved to be off the matchmaking hit list, Sage walked into her dad’s house, calling his name as she moved through the rooms.
She’d emailed last night to tell him she’d be here today. When she’d gone straight from the airport to Nina’s, she’d texted to let him know she’d be a few hours. His lack of reply hadn’t worried her. He always read her notes, but rarely replied.
But his lack of presence in his own house was starting to make her twitch.
She reached the study and stopped short, frowning.
She always found him in the study, buried in books, papers and his own brilliant thoughts.
Where was he?
“Dad?” she called again, heading back to the front of the house. “Are you here?”
“Sage?” Coming from the kitchen, her father pushed a hand through his hair, sounding confused. “When did you get home? I wasn’t expecting you.”
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
It’d only been eight months since she’d seen him. What had happened? He looked horrible. Like he’d lost weight, color and half his life force. Her feet felt like they were glued to the floor with dread as he shuffled over to wrap his arms around her. Instead of being engulfed in the usual bear hug, it was like being patted down by a skeleton. And what did he mean, he wasn’t expecting her? Her frown deepened and a heavy knot took hold deep in her belly.
Before she could comment, another man joined them in the foyer.
“Dr. Brooke?” she said in greeting, sounding as confused as she felt. She thought that while her father respected their neighbor as a skilled oncologist, he also considered the guy as boring as dried mud. Now they were coffee buddies?
“Sage, I’m glad you’re home,” the doctor said, his expression gravely relieved.
“What’s going on?”
She looked from her father to the doctor then back again.
“Dad?”
“Sweetie, I’ll explain everything,” he promised, patting her icy hand. Despite his horrible appearance, he looked like he’d just won the lottery, discovered a time machine and had spent the weekend with a roomful of exotic dancers, combined. His huge smile was at direct odds with the dread in her belly.
“But first, sweetie, I want all the details of your great news. I hear we’re having a wedding.”
