Rafe put the phone on the dresser. He turned to reach for Sara to find her already there, climbing onto his lap.
“Someone told the Bachelor Blogger I’m here?” she asked.
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight. “Looks like it. But to be fair, nobody here knew you were in hiding.”
She pursed her lips. “I haven’t noticed any dangerous-looking strangers around town.”
He shook his head. “You wouldn’t know a stranger from a local,” he reminded her, laughing, but he sobered quickly.
“We should stay home tonight.”
“No, we should not! I’m not going to stop living my life.”
“I know. I had to suggest it anyway.”
She exhaled a long breath. “If someone’s after me, they’ll find me here or in town, but I won’t sit home in fear. Besides, there’s safety in numbers.”
“And I’ll be sticking to you like glue. Nobody will get near you tonight.”
And Rafe was a man of his word.
THE ANNUAL DANCE went along with the annual festival set on the great lawn on Main Street, across the street from the row of shops. Over the years, the bands who’d played as entertainment had run the gamut from unknown locals to an American Idol finalist who’d returned to his hometown to perform. This year boasted a pop band with a good reputation, and the lawn was jam-packed. Unlike Sara, Rafe knew exactly who belonged in town and who didn’t. But he had no idea which, if any stranger, wanted to hurt her.
He glanced around, assessing the scene. The older generation had brought lawn chairs to sit in while they listened, teens were grouped together near the makeshift stage and the rest of the town had gathered to mingle or dance.
Rafe and Sara stood together, listening to the pop music. He slipped his hand inside hers, ignoring the tug of emotion that said she belonged there, and pulled her closer beside him.
“Let’s dance,” she said, turning toward him and wrapping her arms around his neck.
“That’s one way for me to stick close.” He slid his hands around her waist, and they began to move to the music.
With a soft sigh, she snuggled closer, resting her head on his shoulder. The emotional kick in his gut grew stronger.
“This is nice,” she murmured.
“I’ll say.” He breathed in deep and took in the light, sexy scent of her perfume.
Her lithe body slid sensuously against him. Though she was toned and in shape, she was still soft and womanly in all the right places, and he curled his fingers into the indent of her waist. He was totally aroused as they swayed to the sound of the band.
“Are you always in town for the festival?” she asked, oblivious to his physical reaction.
“When I can make it. I usually come up here for a week or two every summer, so if I can time it right, I do.” Summertime was when he tried to be here most often to enjoy his house on the lake.
“And who would your dance partner be if I weren’t here?” Sara not-so-subtly asked.
He laughed. “I usually just hang out with my family or old friends.”
“You never brought Kim up here for the festival?” she asked of his ex-fiancée.
Was that a touch of jealousy he heard in her voice, or was it mere wishful thinking? He wasn’t surprised the subject had finally come up. They’d never really talked about it before. Then again, they’d never had sex before, either. He supposed more personal things were part of the deal. Even if he’d already put that part of his life behind him.
He turned his focus to Sara’s question. “I never brought Kim up here at all.”
“Mind if I ask why?”
“Not at all.” He just didn’t know how to sort through it all in order to explain.
Sara clasped her hands behind his head and moved her hips sinuously against his.
He found it difficult to concentrate on another woman with Sara in his arms, but she’d asked, so he forced himself to remember. He’d fallen fast and hard for Kim. She was sexy and had focused all her attention on him. He hadn’t wanted to share her with his family and their nosey questions—the complete opposite of how he felt about Sara, he realized with no small amount of shock. He liked having her here in his personal environment and space.
But he had no time to linger on that thought. Sara was waiting for a reply. “In the beginning of the relationship, I was too busy at SWAT to come visit here,” he said at last. “And I didn’t want to share her with everyone and the craziness that came along with visiting. Or at least that’s what I thought at the time.”
But he realized now that while he’d believed he was consumed with Kim, it had been a sexual thing, not an emotional one. He got the difference now, thanks to Sara.
“What happened after?” Sara asked.
They both knew she was no longer referring to why he’d never brought Kim here, but to the end of the relationship.
He exhaled hard. “I’m not sure. I know I enjoyed her company and being in a committed relationship. And in the beginning, so had she.” They shared the same taste in movies, in television shows, and though they both worked hard, they both wanted a family.
Eventually.
It was just that eventually became further and further away, at least for Kim. Something he didn’t want to mention to Sara and risk bringing up their differences. As for Kim, they’d never set a wedding date, and though he’d pushed at first, she’d resisted. Because she was younger and wanted to focus on her career. He understood, and he’d had no problem easily letting her off the hook. Too easily. Because when the excitement had worn off, he just hadn’t cared enough, and obviously neither had she.
“We both led active but parallel lives that rarely crossed paths,” he summed up for Sara.
If he’d been too busy with work to romance Kim, she’d been too focused on her career at an ad agency in New York to spend much time with him. And neither had seemed to care.
Sara remained respectfully silent, letting him gather his thoughts, but he couldn’t tear his gaze from her big brown eyes and lips he wanted desperately to kiss.
And he would, as soon as he ended this conversation. “I think Kim and I stayed together as long as we did because neither one of us asked much of the other. In the end we were comfortable, but we weren’t in love.”
Sara threaded her fingers through the back of his hair, and he felt the tug directly where it mattered most—reminding him that if he’d really loved Kim, his interest in his partner would have died down. He wouldn’t have been so tempted by Sara that he’d had to put distance and another shift between them.