Page 19 of Heal Me
“Oh, shit, Kate,” he said, flopping back against the wall.
She slid down on top of him. “Oh, shit, is right.”
Ric stroked the satiny skin of her back. “Well, that was some very stimulating after dinner conversation.”
*****
His chest rumbled with laughter and Kate laughed with him as she thought of the absurdity of the situation.
She leaned back and looked at him. “We broke the bed.”
His eyebrows rose. “No,youbroke the bed with all that rocking you were doing.”
Kate put a hand over her mouth. “I couldn’t help it. It felt so good and it’s been so long.”
The enormity of what had just transpired hit Kate with the force of a hammer against glass and her afterglow shattered. She’d just had sex for the first time since Phil had died and she barely knew the guy. And it was her fault. She’d come on to Ric, not the other way around.
Kate’s cheeks flamed with embarrassment and regret over her actions, but she didn’t want Ric to see her discomfort. She forced a smile as she disentangled herself from him and stood up.
“We better get you home,” she said. “Your ankle has to be screaming by now.”
Ric sat up as she started gathering her clothing, but Kate studiously avoided his eyes as she stepped into her underwear and pulled on her jeans.
“Kate, what’s wrong?”
She sent him a smile that she hoped didn’t look as brittle as she felt. “Wrong? Nothing’s wrong. It’s just getting late and I have a really hectic day tomorrow.”
He stood up and Kate couldn’t keep her eyes off him any longer. He’d pulled up his sweatpants, but he was still bare from the waist up. In the heat of the moment, she hadn’t taken the time to appreciate his male beauty. His sculpted chest and shoulder muscles bunched and flexed as he hopped over to the table and sat down.
His fine, short golden chest hair caught the lamplight here and there and she thought that he looked more manly than a lot of the guys who waxed their chests these days. He leaned against the chair back and folded his arms over his chest, which drew attention to his huge biceps. Did the man live at the gym? She tried so hard not to compare him to Phil.
“Bullshit, Kate. There’s something going on in that beautiful head of yours. If you don’t want to talk about it, fine, but don’t lie and say that there’s nothing wrong.”
His directness was refreshing yet annoying. “Okay. I don’t care to discuss it.”
“Okay.”
He calmly shrugged into his sweatshirt and started putting the dirty dishes from supper into the basket as though nothing unusual had just happened. Kate was grateful to him for not pushing because she had so much to process before she talked about what had just happened between them. She should not feel guilty because she’d been with another man. Phil would want her to move on and enjoy her life. But she still missed him and she’d never been one to indulge in meaningless sex. She was scared of what this night meant. She couldn’t fall for the playboy.
She helped clean up the cabin and assisted Ric out to the truck before going back in to put out the fire and douse the kerosene lamps. The ride home was largely silent, but Kate had no idea what to say to alleviate the awkwardness.
When they pulled up to the Jeffries house, Kate put the truck in park.
“Ric—”
He put his hand on her forearm. “Don’t, Kate.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “For what it’s worth, up until the end, tonight was incredible. I’d like to see you again, but it’s your call. I’m also a good listener. Goodnight, Kate.”
“Goodnight, Ric.”
Tears stood out in her eyes as she waited for him to get safely to the door and go inside. As she turned around and headed back down the driveway, they spilled onto her cheeks and kept falling all the way home.
