Page 12 of Slow Kind of Love

Chapter Four

“Benjamin, you need your hat.”

“None of the other kids have to wear one.” Her grandson groaned, and the expression on Benjamin’s face made Elise hide a smile. God, he was so like Boone when he was younger.

She grabbed the navy-blue knit hat off the bench by the front door and handed it to him. “Pretty sure they will.”

“But the sun is shining, and it’s not that cold.”

“It’s cold enough.” Elise tugged the hat down over his ears. “You don’t want to get sick, because if you do, that means you miss hockey.”

Benji sighed, a big heavy kind of sigh that signaled his disappointment…and acceptance of the inevitable. He’d spent the night, and they’d stayed up late watching old Disney movies and eating too much popcorn. It was one of the reasons they’d both slept in. The other? Elise didn’t want to think about.

“Now, go on,” she said, dropping a kiss to his cheek. “Your dad is waiting.”

Benjamin gave her a quick, fierce hug. “I love you, Nana.”

“Ditto,” she whispered back.

Benji grinned as he pulled away from her embrace, the dreaded hat already forgotten. “This is gonna be so fun. Come on, Pancake.”

The little gold-and-white fur ball barked madly, the high-pitched yelps enough to make her wince. He turned in circles as his excitement grew. Benjamin grabbed the dog’s leash and reached for the door. “Thanks for letting me take Pancake. See ya there, Nan.”

Heart big and full of love, Elise stood in the doorway and waved to her son, Boone, and his wife, Poppy, as Benjamin scrambled through snow drifts as big as he was with the dog practically pulling him, instead of taking the shoveled walkway to the waiting truck.

“See you later, Mom.” Boone grinned, shaking his head at his son.

Elise stepped back into the warmth of her home and shut the door behind her. A quick glance at the clock told her she needed to get her butt in gear or she’d be late to the fundraiser. And no amount of groveling would make Patti Spruce happy if she missed her volunteer hour at the church booth selling tickets to the hoedown next month. As treasurer of both the church and the town’s coffers, the woman took her job seriously, and put the fear of God into most folks with only a glance of an eye or tilt of the head.

Twenty minutes later, Elise was out of the shower dressed in a favorite pair of faded jeans along with a black knit sweater that was thick and warm. She blew out her hair and left it long, then took some time to apply some makeup. A little bit of mascara, nude eye shadow, and light pink on the lips. Elise stood back and studied herself for a moment. She’d never been a sun queen, even when it was in fashion, and it showed. Her skin was clear, though a bit of rosacea had appeared on her right cheek a few years back. Nothing a bit of makeup couldn’t hide. The laugh lines around her eyes and mouth weren’t bad—yet—but she didn’t mind them. With age came character.

Right? Her eyes narrowed. She was on the back end of forty, but didn’t feel it. Sure, her right ankle bothered her in the morning until the blood got to pumping, courtesy of some arthritis, according to the doctor. And swear to God she’d had a hot flash the week before, or maybe it had been because her oven was on self-clean and the kitchen was too damn hot, but other than that, she felt no different than she had when she was thirty.

“Come on, Elise,” she muttered as she stepped back from the mirror. She was being silly. She left the bathroom and grabbed her purse from the chair beside her dresser, pausing when a splash of color caught her eye. Something stuck out from between the dresser and the wall. Something lime green. Puzzled, she bent down and tugged on it, thinking it belonged to the dog, a toy, perhaps.

When she managed to pull it free, she took a step back and blushed, glancing around as if she were being watched. There was no one there, of course, but still…

Elise stared down at the scrap of cloth, her heart skipping, her cheeks flushing. Heated, she cleared her throat and tossed the piece of fabric in the wicker hamper to the right of her bathroom. She slowly exhaled and closed her eyes, which was the wrong thing to do because an image of Link’s hand slowly tugging off the skimpiest pair of underwear she’d ever owned slammed into her mind, and with it came a wash of desire that should have surprised her, but didn’t.

The first time she’d set eyes on the man, he’d kick-started things Elise thought were long dead. Hot things. Lustful things. It felt as if until that moment, she’d been under water, and when his eyes landed on hers from across the café, every single cell in her body woke up. And it hadn’t been a slow, soft awakening either. No, it had been animalistic and raw, and so intense she damn near forgot her head.

Any fear she had of meeting up with a man she’d met online had fled, and less than twenty minutes later, they’d had the hottest sex she’d ever had.

In the back of his car.

More than once.

Cheeks burning, Elise exhaled just as the doorbell rang out, the shrill sound making her jump. She forced the memory of Link and those damn lime-green panties from her mind. She drew a ragged breath through her lungs and took a couple of extra seconds to gather herself. She didn’t want to think about Link Major and all the ways he made her smile and ache and want.

She headed out of her bedroom and made a face as she thought of the fashionable young thing he’d been with at the Blue Elephant. She was right to push Link away. He was too young for her. He didn’t know what he wanted.

Besides, he’d already moved on.

The doorbell gave way to a couple of sharp raps of the knuckles, and Elise grabbed her winter coat off the rack as she headed for the front door. She had no idea who was out there, but she sure as heck she didn’t have time for them. She yanked it open to find David with his fist held up as if he were about to knock again.

“Hey,” he said, obviously startled.

“Hi.” She frowned. “I thought you were back in New York.”

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