Page 112 of Turn the Tide
He heard the casual words, but her eyes said he’d hurt her. Which he’d always known but hadn’t wanted to admit because it made him feel worse than he already did. She stepped away and lurched over to the small double bed wedged in the corner. She pulled the ratty wool blanket off and wrapped it around her shoulders, then sat on the bed, stretching her leg out in front of her.
He sat beside her. “I was never good enough for you, Sarah,” he began.
She threw up her hands. “Seriously, Marco,” she said, drawing out each letter of his name. “Are we still on that? I told you then, and I’ll tell you now: it never mattered to me who your parents were, or whether you had money or anything else. I liked you. For you. Period. The fact that you didn’t believe me, that you thought I was somehow lying to you, made me furious.” She tossed her head, and her wet hair flowed over her shoulders, making the sparks flying from her green eyes even more impressive. “I can’t believe you thought I was that shallow.”
Her words humbled and shamed him. He tucked the blanket around her where it had slipped down, turned so he could see her face. “I was in love with you, and it scared me to death. I’m sorry I hurt you.” He took a deep breath and finally told her the whole story, ten years too late. “I never planned to stand you up. I bought a suit at the thrift shop and saved up to have it dry-cleaned. One of Mama’s friends altered it to fit, and Mama made a corsage for you out of some flowers I bought at the grocery store.” He looked away.
“I was ready to leave when Pop came staggering home. He was drunk. And when he was drunk, he was mean. He took a swing at Mama, and I got in the way of his fist. Then he came after me for interrupting. After that, I couldn’t leave, or it would have gotten worse for Mama and the little ones. By the time he finally fell asleep and Mama and I got him and the other kids tucked into bed, the dance was almost over.”
Her soft hands reached up and cupped his cheeks. He expected pity and couldn’t bear it. Instead, Sarah’s eyes were filled with understanding. “Of course, you couldn’t leave your family to face that alone. I would have understood.” She paused. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged. “How could I? I was ashamed. And it felt like proof that our worlds were too different and I shouldn’t try to reach for more.”
She shook her head as though she couldn’t believe the nonsense she was hearing. Her chin came up. “I cried myself to sleep that night, you know, especially after Daddy rubbed it in, saying he’d warned me what would happen if I associated with those ‘not of my station.’” She made air quotes around the last phrase.
Her honesty undid him, and the hurt he’d caused her dug deep into his heart. Before he’d thought it through, he pulled her into his arms and settled his lips on hers, desperate to soothe that long-ago ache in the only way he knew how.
She stiffened in his embrace, and he thought she’d shove him away. Which he deserved, no question. But she didn’t. Instead, the stiffness left her spine and she sank into the embrace, pulling him closer and wrapping her arms around his neck. He deepened the kiss and sighed in relief when she opened her lips and their tongues met and danced. The years melted away as the taste and feel of her soothed all the aches in his heart he hadn’t realized he had. No one had ever felt like Sarah, had ever loved him the way she had. She saw all the way into his heart in ways no one else ever had and, miracle of miracles, had liked him anyway. Was it possible she still did?
As the heat built between them, the reality of their situation hit him and he froze. He couldn’t take advantage of her in her weakened condition. What kind of man did that? But when he inched backward, she muttered, “Don’t leave me,” and pulled him closer.
Those three words were his undoing. His lips never leaving hers, he slipped onto the bed beside her and tugged her against him, ever mindful of her knee. She reached around and pulled the blanket over them both and then ran her hands under his soggy shirt, trying to push it aside. He hissed in a breath as her cold hands touched his skin, then covered them with his own when she would have pulled away.
***
Marco kept his eyes on hers as he sat up and yanked his T-shirt over his head, the heat in his gaze sending another shiver racing over her skin.
“Let’s get those wet clothes off. I’ll keep you warm.” He grinned when he said it, and she rolled her eyes at him.
“Then hurry up already,” she said, pulling her top over her head. “It’s freezing in here.”
Insecurity raised its head, and she wondered briefly if this was simply Marco being practical. But then she saw the way he looked at her, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He made her feel beautiful in ways nobody else ever had. He cupped her cheek, then ran his hand slowly down her neck, skimming between her breasts in their sturdy cotton bra. His eyes followed his hand all the way to her belly, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. When he looked up, their eyes met and held, and the years disappeared. This was Marco, the other half of her heart.
He shucked his pants and then slid hers off before he retucked the blanket around them both, sighing as her bare skin came in contact with his. Her answering sigh as their lips met again wrapped them both in their own little world, where nothing and no one existed but the two of them.
Sarah gripped his shoulders and hummed, low in her throat, when he suddenly rolled on top of her and then plundered her mouth like a starving man. Instantly, the fire between them roared to life as though they’d been together only yesterday. She nuzzled his jaw, planting kisses on his cold skin as he did the same along her neck, nipping at all her favorite places along the way.
Her heart pounded as she ran her hands over his back, then lower, gripping his backside through the wet fabric. He shivered, but not from the cold, and she felt an answering flare of heat build in her belly.
How many lonely nights had she dreamed of exactly this, of Marco’s arms around her, making her feel safe and protected and cherished? As his hands roamed over her skin, Sarah let her anxiety go, adrift on a sea of emotion and surprised wonder.Marco.
Something like a gunshot sounded from outside.
***
Sanchez realized what was happening and rolled them off the bed and shoved Sarah under it. She cried out when she hit the wooden floor, but he didn’t let go, simply held tighter.
A huge live oak tree crashed to the ground outside the cabin, shaking the ground like an earthquake. Glass shattered, and branches, leaves, and rain came through the gaping hole in the opposite wall where the small window had been.
Heart pounding, Sanchez looked down at Sarah where she lay half under him, eyes wide in the gloom. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? Anywhere new?” he amended.
Despite her throbbing knee, she sent him a lopsided smile. “Can’t tell with you squashing me.”
He grinned sheepishly and backed off, then eased her out from under the bed. He waited while she moved her arms and good leg, checking. When she held out a hand, he lifted her up onto the sagging mattress, then helped her back into her damp clothes. He tucked the blanket around her again before slipping into his own clothes. He met her eyes and saw the same mix of longing and uncertainty he was feeling reflected back at him. But all of that would have to wait.
He crossed the room and eyed the tree outside the window. At least it wasn’t blocking the doorway. Outside, the wind picked up yet again, rattling the tiny cabin as he checked the radar on his GPS. “There’s another rain band moving through. Looks like this should be the last one, though.”
His phone buzzed with an incoming text.
He read the message, then looked over at her. “Freddie beat up some poor guy he’d carjacked. They found the man behind the diner where Patty used to work. Pete’s with him now, and Hunter’s headed toward the trailer to meet us.”
“You need to go, Marco. Now.”
His jaw clenched, indecision warring inside him. “I don’t want to leave you here alone.”
Her expression was mutinous. “Will you be able to live with yourself if something happens to Donny while you’re hiding out here, worried about me?”
