Stranded At Cupid's Hideaway. Connie Lane
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pink and about a foot long, no bigger around than a pencil. One end of it was crowned with a flamboyant pink feather.
Imagining the possibilities, he stared at the object for a moment or two before he glanced at Laurel. “I don’t suppose you—”
“Demonstrate?” She pulled her shoulders back and marched over to the counter. “Isn’t it just like you to ask. That’s the most immature, sexist, inappropriate—”
“I was going to say gift wrap.” His hands against the counter, Noah stood and gave her a smile that was as innocent as it was wide. “I was going to ask if you gift wrap.”
“Oh.” A blush rushed up Laurel’s neck and stained her cheeks, but he had to give her credit, she kept her cool. Crossing her arms over her chest, she stepped back, her weight on one foot. “It’s not working,” she said.
“It’s not?” Noah gave her a wink. “It used to work really good.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” Either she was one heck of an efficient worker or she was looking for something to do. On the counter was a stack of flyers advertising an upcoming sale at the Love Shack. Laurel grabbed them and carefully folded one after another. “You’re not going to embarrass me, Noah. So don’t even try. We’re both medical professionals. And we’re both adults. How about you cut the crap and we get down to business.”
Noah grinned. “And that business is…”
“Toothbrushes.”
“Toothbrushes. Yes, ma’am.” He nodded, the picture of compromise. “Can I get a bag or something?” he asked.
Laurel reached under the counter and came up holding a small pink shopping bag. “Here. Your bag.” She opened the bag and waited for him to fill it.
Noah took his time. He walked around the gift shop once more, checking things out. He was tempted to take a look through the antique wardrobe that took up most of one wall. The doors of the wardrobe were open, and inside was a variety of lacy lingerie. Pink. White. Lavender. Black. The colors and frothy fabric begged to be touched.
He didn’t. It was one thing teasing Laurel. It was another teasing himself with the memories the filmy clothing conjured. Laurel in lace. Laurel in satin. Laurel in nothing at all.
Shaking off the thoughts, Noah went to the toothbrush display. He plucked one from the rack and dropped it into the bag. He added a travel-size tube of toothpaste and a tortoiseshell comb, but it wasn’t until he reached for a small bottle of minty mouthwash that he realized there was a display he hadn’t noticed. A rack of condoms.
Noah glanced over his shoulder to where Laurel was waiting, the shopping bag open, her gaze fixed on the far wall.
Yeah, they were both medical professionals.
Yeah, they were both adults.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little fun.
He grabbed a pack of condoms and walked to the counter. It wasn’t until right before he dropped it into the bag that he read the package and saw that the condoms were glow-in-the-dark.
When Laurel looked at him, her eyebrows raised, he shrugged. “What? You never know.”
“Right.” She tapped her foot. “Are you done?”
“No.” Noah grinned and continued to explore. When he came to a display of edible underwear, he couldn’t resist. They were packed in plastic shrink-wrap, each pair different, each hung from a little satin hanger. He considered a bright pink bra, but one look at the expression on Laurel’s face and he knew she was right. It was too sexist. He thought about a purple G-string, bubble gum flavored, according to the packaging, and decided that was too blatant. The only thing that seemed just right was a pair of man’s briefs. Brief briefs. They were bright red and, if the package could be believed, tasted like candy apple.
Prolonging the moment, Noah strolled to where Laurel was waiting. He dangled the package over the counter between them, crooking his finger just enough to make the briefs swing back and forth. He watched Laurel’s gaze dip to the briefs and up again. He watched two spots of color rise in her cheeks. He watched her catch her breath.
“So,” he said, “what’s a nice doctor like you doing in a place like this?”
“Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing.” Laurel plucked the underwear out of his hand and tossed it into the bag. “I’m here because tourist season is over and the clinic isn’t as busy now. That gives me some time for myself. And it gives me some time to stop by once in a while and see if Grandma needs anything. When she’s busy, I try to help out as much as I can. And you’re here because…”
Her question hung on the air between them. When the silence dragged out to one minute, then two, she tossed the shopping bag on the counter.
“I can’t believe you just stopped by, Noah. No one just stops by an island in the middle of a lake in the middle of the fall. What’s going on?”
He gave her a lopsided grin. “A guy can’t get nostalgic?”
“A guy? Sure. A guy can get plenty nostalgic. But you’re not just any guy. You don’t do anything unless you’ve thought about it six ways and sideways.”
Noah let his gaze slip from Laurel to the case of sex toys. Her hand was on the counter, and he slid his over hers. “I’ve thought about you six ways and sideways.”
“No. You haven’t.” Laurel shook her head, but she didn’t pull her hand away. “You haven’t thought about me, and I haven’t thought about you. I thought we made that pretty clear the last time we saw each other. We promised—”
“We didn’t exactly promise.” Noah barked out a laugh. “I have a photographic memory, remember? Even if I didn’t, I think I’d remember that promise is way too nice a word to describe the things we said to each other. The way I remember it, you said you’d never waste another minute thinking about me,” he reminded her.
“And you said you were glad,” she countered. She pulled back her shoulders and looked him in the eye. “You said you’d already spent enough time worrying about a woman who wasn’t worth worrying about.”
“And you said you didn’t care because you didn’t want me worrying about you, anyway.” Noah skimmed his hand up her arm. “You said you could look after yourself, that you didn’t need anyone to tell you what you wanted out of life.”
“And you said that was just fine, because you weren’t going to tell me, anyway.” Laurel’s voice rose along with the tempo of her words. “You said that was great. It was terrific. It was really, really good. You said I should grow up and figure out what was really important. What was important to you, you said, was your career. And you weren’t going to throw it away on some backwater island where—”
“Where the only thing a doctor ever got to treat was broken bones and beestings. Yeah, I know.” Noah had no intention of getting pulled into an argument. Not the same argument. Not all over again. But if that was the case, why was his voice as loud as Laurel’s? He found himself clutching her arm a little tighter. “You said you were happy to finally get things out in the open.”
“And you said goodbye.”
Their words hung in the air, as bitter and painful as they had been four years earlier. Nothing could change the things they’d said or done. Noah knew that. Nothing could erase the pain or the regret. Nothing could bring back the years and the happiness they might have shared.
Nothing.
Noah loosened his grip on Laurel’s arm. He couldn’t change the past but he could, at least, do something about the present. The moment. The instant. And in that one instant, Laurel’s eyes were as pretty as ever, her lips were as full. Her breasts were as lush, and when she pulled in breath after shaky breath and they strained against her sweater, he knew it was one moment he couldn’t let pass.
As