3

      WHAT THE HELL was going on?

      Sage kissed him as though she’d realized he was the answer to her every sexual fantasy, and now she looked as if she was about to fall apart.

      While he could handle the kiss—even if that kind of thing was strictly off-limits—the falling apart was a definite cause for concern.

      And the Professor looked like... Well, Aiden looked again. He’d rarely thought of the other man as aging. Sure, in the twenty years since they’d first met, there was a little more silver at the temples and the once-robust physique was showing some softening.

      But now the old guy appeared to be three steps away from death. Gray-tinged skin seemed to sag from his bones and he looked as though he’d lost twenty pounds and half his hair in the couple of months since Aiden had seen him.

      Suddenly feeling as sick as his mentor looked, Aiden’s gaze cut to Sage. The quick, tiny shake of her head made it clear she didn’t want him to ask questions. He debated. He didn’t like waiting, and would definitely prefer to get his information from the Professor. The straight facts, untainted by the emotions emanating from his daughter.

      Sage’s lips trembled and Aiden sighed. He’d never been able to resist her. Even when he knew better. Even when he had no idea why she drowned herself in the emotional depths she did.

      This time was no different.

      As if she’d read his mind, and he was never one-hundred-percent sure she couldn’t, Sage gave a relieved smile.

      “Daddy, would you mind if I stole Aiden away for a little while? We haven’t seen each other in so long. I know you need to talk with him, but, well...” The words trailed off as she heaved a sigh deep enough to challenge her bikini top and Aiden’s resistance.

      Then, either for effect or to try and make his libido explode, she sidled closer, plastered herself against his side and wrapped one arm through his so her breast pressed against his bare bicep.

      Aiden bit back a groan. An instant erection over his mentor’s daughter while the older man was standing there was poor taste, to say the least.

      “I think I should speak with Aiden,” the Professor said quietly, not looking any happier about the idea of what he had to share than Aiden knew he was going to be to hear it.

      “Daddy, please,” Sage said, hitting three syllables on that last word. She threw in a fluttering of her lashes and stopped just short of sticking out her bottom lip. “I know it’s important, but can it wait just a little bit?”

      His face set in deep furrows, the older man only hesitated for a second before his expression changed from determined to relieved.

      “I think I’ll take a short nap, then. We’ll all meet for dinner?”

      He waited for Aiden’s nod, then gave them both an indulgent smile before slowly making his way inside.

      Sage waited for the door to close before she shifted away. She didn’t let go, though. Instead, after a frown at the sliding door her father had gone through, she tugged him around the corner of the house to the French doors, grabbing what looked like a silk towel off the patio chair as they went.

      “You know, if your dad had ever been able to resist that big-eyed pleading look, you might not be having to explain what hugely fabricated make-believe story you’ve dragged me into,” Aiden said, letting himself into the family room, crossing the Persian carpet to close the double doors before turning to face her. “Again.”

      “Again? You say that like I’ve dragged you into tons of make-believe situations,” she protested, shaking out the fabric, then shifting it this way and that until he realized it was a dress and she was looking for the hemline. He wished she’d hurry, since the sooner she found it, the sooner she’d put the damned thing on.

      “Shall I make a list? We could start with prom, when you told everyone I was your date so you could get out of going with that football player you didn’t like anymore.”

      “I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Besides, you had fun taking me to prom,” she claimed.

      Fun? Maybe.

      But it’d also been his first introduction to torture, realizing that Sage was everything he found sexy in a woman, and completely off-limits.

      Which put that night at the top of his most-regrettable choices list. For a Special Forces officer who’d served multiple missions during wartime, that was saying something.

      “Sage.” Through playing word games, he wanted information. And his expression made it clear he was going to get it.

      “You can be such a grump,” Sage said, pulling a silky dress of some sort over her head. He should have been relieved when the mossy green fabric covered all that tempting flesh. That he wasn’t, he figured, was due to her not giving him his usual buffer time between his typical instant lust for her and the point when his well-honed discipline kicked in.

      “A grump who’s engaged to be married, apparently,” Aiden pointed out. Better to take control of the conversation and get right to the point. Otherwise who knew where this discussion would meander.

      Despite the worry still etched on her forehead, Sage clapped her hands together and gave him a pleased smile. Why he’d expected her to look ashamed was beyond him.

      “Oh, good. You’ve already heard. That makes breaking the news to you easier.”

      Aiden tilted his head to one side and shook it a little, wondering if that’d shake his brain cells into the same odd configuration as Sage’s apparently were.

      “Do you regret nothing, ever?” he asked in wonder.

      “Regret? What’s to regret?” Suddenly as serious as he’d ever seen her, her face grew ferocious and her eyes fierce. She threw both hands in the air. “My father is dying, Aiden. Hearing that you and I were engaged was like giving him a huge dose of hope. Even his doctor said it’s been great for him. Why on earth would I regret that?”

      It was like taking a mortar shot to the gut.

      Fast, painful and devastating.

      For a second, Aiden couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t begin to process the immensity of her words, of what they meant.

      Clearly not quite the way she’d planned to break it to him, Sage slapped her hand over her mouth, her expression horrified. Then her eyes filled with tears. Before he could decide if he should hug her or run, she held out both hands as if to say wait. It only took her a couple of breaths to regain her composure, then she sank onto the couch and gestured that she’d wait until he had processed it all.

      How did someone