Read As If You Never Left Me (Crimson Romance) for Free Online Page A

huge, Rey. Now come on, before I change my mind.”
    • • •
    Joely pulled into her garage and shut off the ignition. Glancing in the rear-view mirror, she saw Rey’s headlights as his rental car stopped behind hers in the driveway.
    Unaccountably nervous, as if Rey’s opinion actually mattered to her, she got out of the car. He closed his door behind him and headed into the garage.
    “And I thought driving in New York was scary,” he said.
    She snorted. “That wasn’t scary. That was fairly tame.”
    “I’ll bet it’s scarier in the daytime, when you can see how far the road drops off on either side.”
    “Actually, it’s scarier in the dark, when you can’t.” She pointed toward the door that led into the house. “This way.”
    As she led the way, he scanned her small garage with what Joely interpreted as a critical eye.
    “It’s small,” she said, anticipating criticism. Their life in New York had been so different from what she had made for herself here. Of course he would find it strange. “It’s just me — I don’t need a mansion.”
    “It’s a log cabin,” he said, with some wonder in his voice.
    She smiled, pleasantly surprised. So that was what had captured his attention. “Yes, it is.”
    “That’s — so cool.”
    The odd, almost envious glint in his eyes caught her off guard. Rey was a city boy, born and bred — what was he doing getting excited about a log cabin? For a split second, she wondered if she really knew him as well as she thought she did. It was a disconcerting thought.
    “I think it’s neat.” She opened the door into the house, at the same time pushing a button to close the garage door. “I wish I could show you the view. It’s fantastic.”
    “Yeah, it’s a little dark right now.” Following her into the house, he laid a hand against the curve of her waist and said softly into her ear, “Maybe I’ll see it in the morning.”
    She twisted away from his touch, fighting an instinct to move into his partial embrace. “You’ll be back at the lodge in the morning.”
    “Are you sure about that?” His voice was velvet. She could almost feel it on her skin, like fingers trailing, leaving arousal in their wake.
    She turned and fixed him with the best glare she could summon with her blood heating up inside her. “Don’t push it, Rey.”
    Moving past him, she went to the refrigerator and pulled out makings for salad, tossing the head of lettuce onto the cabinet with more force than strictly necessary. Of all the things she didn’t want Rey to be right now, arrogant was at the top of the list.
    Giving him a dark look through narrowed eyes, she amended that. Sexy was at the top of the list, followed closely by desirable. Arrogant ranked third.
    “I’m sorry,” Rey said. “I’m a little nervous.”
    “Nervous?” Arrogant had just been kicked to fourth place by adorable. “Why would you be nervous?”
    “Why wouldn’t I be?”
    “This was your idea, Rey. If it’s not working, maybe you should back out.”
    The red bell pepper she’d just put on the cutting board rolled off and hit the floor. Rey picked it up and put it back, coming uncomfortably close to her again as he stepped closer to the kitchen counter. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
    Exasperated, Joely pulled a knife out of a drawer and set to work on the head of lettuce. “I don’t know. See if you can find the chicken in the fridge.”
    There was silence for a time as Rey pulled out the thawed chicken breasts and a pair of tomatoes. He helped himself to another knife and a cutting board, and within minutes they were following an old rhythm, one worked out over practice in the kitchen of their first apartment where the space had been limited, she cutting veggies for the salad, he assembling chicken cacciatore in a skillet on the stove. He swiped a handful of her chopped bell peppers, a handful of her mushrooms. She passed him a bottle of oregano before he asked for it.
    It wasn’t