Sage: Take the Risk (F&L Story #3)

Sage: Parts 23 & 24

Part Twenty-three

Saturday, July 31, 2010.

Sage emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later to see Carey waiting for her. She squeaked when he grabbed her arm and pushed her back into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. “Get your hands off me,” she said, pulling away from him. Hurt flashed in his eyes. Good.

He pinned her with an angry, offensive glare. “I told you I was sorry, dammit. Why won't you believe me?”

She lifted her chin, noting how she still had to look up several inches to meet his eyes. “Because you don't really mean it. Tell me the truth, Carey. What you said last night was exactly how you feel about me, isn't it?”

“You don't know the half of what I feel about you,” he said, inching forward and drinking her in with his clear, blue eyes.

“Spare me the dramatics,” she said. “Save them for outside when we've got an audience.”

He flinched, his jaw clenched, and she had to shove aside the desire to soothe him. “Sage...” he warned, but didn't finish his statement.

“Listen, I get it,” she said hatefully. “You're a guy, and guys are perpetually horny. Maybe you regret what you said, but the fact is that it was the truth. You do only see me as some kind of virgin sacrifice for your male ego. That may not have been your ulterior motive for asking me to live with you, but it's still there. You were upset because I told my mother to buy you off, and you said things to restore your pride, but I'm telling you now. We'll continue this foolish ploy with our families, but this body – ” she waved a hand in front of her “ – will never grace your bed.”

“Goddammit, you're as bad as my sister!” he said angrily. She'd pushed him too far, and she felt bad – and kind of good – about that. “Why can't you just accept my apology? I am sorry, and no, I don't think you are a virgin sacrifice. Yes, you are beautiful, and making love to you will be a dream come true for me, but that's not why I'm doing all this. I care about you, Sage. I want you to get better.” He cupped her arms, sliding his fingers up and down her skin. His gaze softened, and he leaned forward as though to kiss her, but she knew he didn't want any such thing. Apparently, he'd been without a decent sexual release in so long – like four days was a long time – and he was grasping at straws. She ached to hold him, for him to hold onto her, but her pride stiffened her resolve.

Sage couldn't take the conflicting emotions any longer. “I don't want your pity, either,” she said, and walked away from him.

Back downstairs, the reception was winding down, and Carey, all back in character again, hugged her to his side and made their good-byes. Once they were clear from prying eyes, she tuned him out, and tried like hell to keep her eyes from leaking pitiful tears.

*****

Part Twenty-four

Thursday, August 20, 2010.

Three weeks later, Sage had barely said five words to him that didn't stem from their plan to fool the world. He came home from work in the late afternoons now that school officially started, tired and cranky, which stemmed from teaching not only his five health and P.E. classes but also an algebra class temporarily until that teacher was cleared from jury duty. After all that, he walked through the door every day to find supper in the oven, the laundry done, and the whole apartment smelling like cleaning fluid and strawberries.