Getaway (Shivaree)

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An Excerpt From: GETAWAY

Copyright ? CARA MCKENNA, 2010

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

?You
almost done over there?? he called.

?Just
about.? She turned off the faucet. ?I?m having a glass of wine, if you want
one.? She pulled a bottle from a cupboard to show him.

Shane
got lost in his head for a moment, lost in the memory of a hundred
hangovers and the face he?d never be able to divorce from the taste of red
wine. Natalie must have read his mind, as her shoulders slumped and she set
the bottle down. She crossed the living room to sit on the arm of the
couch.

?Sorry.
That a sore spot??

Shane
did his best imitation of a bored shrug. ?Nah. Don?t worry about it.? He
imagined kissing her later, tasting wine and how it?d make him feel? Fuck
it. He?d driven cross-country to escape that man. He wouldn?t let a goddamn
beverage get to him now.

?Go
get yourself a glass, Miss Natalie.?

She
squinted at him as she stood. ?Why do you always call me that??

?It?s
your name, ain?t it??

She
headed back to the kitchen and set a glass on the counter. ?Why the ?Miss?
bit, I mean? I feel like you?re making fun of me or something.?

?It?s
considered polite where I?m from.? Shane watched her uncork the bottle and
pour herself a healthy glass before grabbing another beer from the fridge.
She crossed the floor and handed him the bottle.

?Thanks.
You want me to call you something else??

She
shook her head. ?No, just wondered what that was about.?

Shane
took a deep drink, cold beer to balance out the warm, dry heat of the fire.
?How about you move down south with me and I?ll make you a missus?? A
tease, but Shane didn?t mind the thought of such a thing.

She
laughed. ?Yeah, right.?

He
glanced at her over the bottle as he drank, one
fucking beautiful sight in the firelight. ?Why not? Natalie Broussard?s got
a nice ring to it. Plus our kids?d be so damn
good-looking.?

?Oh
yeah, you and me and our brood of surly babies.? She sipped her wine. ?Gimme a couple more bottles of this and maybe that won?t
sound like the worst idea ever.?

Shane
cupped a hand over his crotch. ?Thanks a lot. Didn?t know it was possible
to get kicked in the nuts without a foot being involved.?

?You
know what I mean. We?ve got thousands of miles and a weird bit of history
between us.?

?I
like our history,? Shane said. More than he could tell her. Natalie was the
one woman he knew?the sole person?who could begin to understand what he was
going through, post-Gabriel.

She
sipped her wine. ?You didn?t like me much at first.?

?I
fixed your truck and gave you a place to sleep.?

She
shrugged. ?Yeah, you did. Even after I kind of crapped all over your
wishes.?

?Damn
straight.? Shane took a drink, fixing her with a cocky look.

?The
other thing we?ve had between us is Gabriel.?

Shane
flinched at the name.

?Literally
between us,? she added. ?If you?re looking to move on, I?m not the cleanest
break you could pick. In fact I?m probably the worst.?

?You
trying to tell me you ain?t interested??

?In
marrying you and birthing your many gigantic, angsty
children??

Shane
laughed. ?Nah?just, you know, interested in me?? He bobbed his eyebrow at
her, kept it up until she laughed.

?Too
complicated.?

?Sex
was great though, right??

She pursed her lips, stared into her glass.

Shane
frowned. ?Feel free to lie.?

Sighing,
she aimed her eyes toward the ceiling. ?The sex was awesome, Shane. Duh.
But I?m not ready to just jump right in and be like that with you again.?

?Why
not??

Her gaze
dropped to meet his. ?It?s just messy. We?re
messy.?

?And
we?re drinking.? He held his bottle up to illustrate. ?Things?ll
be less complicated after you have another glass.?

She
smirked and shook her head. ?Shameless as always.?

?Not
as shameless as some houseguests.?

Her gaze
drifted away again. They sipped their drinks, watching the news until
Natalie stood to check on the roast.

Shane
leaned into the cushions and let the smells and the warmth and the comfort
of female company wash over him. He nodded off for a while, waking to
Natalie?s hand squeezing his shoulder.

?Dinner?s
ready.?

Shane
glanced at the hearth. ?You let the fire practically go out.?

She
headed back to the kitchen. ?I don?t know anything about fires, Shane. You?re
the man. That can be your job while you?re here.?

He
stood with a grunt, feeling the last few days? driving and anxiety in his
stiff back and achy muscles. He added a couple logs to the embers and met
up with Natalie as she was carving the beef.

?That?s
another man-job.? Shane elbowed her out of the way. He sensed the eye-roll
he couldn?t actually see in his periphery. Elbows and eye-rolls, him and
her to a tee.

?Meat
and fire and trucks and whiskey,? she said through a sigh. ?You?re just a
walking stereotype of American manliness.?

Shane
laughed. A combination of sleepiness, gratitude, intimacy and alcohol led
him to add, ?Yeah, except for that whole banging-another-guy thing.?

?Yeah,
I guess that one doesn?t quite fit the mold.? Natalie accepted a thick
slice of roast and scooped vegetables from the dish.

Shane
swallowed, determined to use this visit as practice for wrapping his head
around everything he?d been struggling with for the past year. ?Meat and
fire and whiskey and good old, patriotic cock sucking,? he said grandly. ?Drape
a flag on me and cue the bugles.?

She
gave him a sarcastic salute and he grabbed his bottle and followed her to
the dinner table.

He
felt small just now, naked and vulnerable. It felt surprisingly nice. He
trusted Natalie. He had to, or else why would he have come here? As close
as they were to strangers, she knew him better than any other living
person, save one. It would?ve been a depressing thought if he wasn?t here
with her now. ?Thanks for taking me in,? he said.

?Happy
to have you. Sorry this didn?t happen at a nicer time of year though.?

?Not
your fault your forbearers settled in such a miserable place.?

?Ahem,
humidity? Mosquitoes? West Nile virus? Hurricanes??

?Louisiana?s
got enough troubles lately without you adding your two cents,? Shane said.

?True.
And you?re right, it is sort of miserable here this time of year. I didn?t
realize it until I?d spent a winter in Miami. It never occurred to me that
in some parts of the world, people don?t have to shovel their cars out.?

?In
the South we drink to cool down,? Shane said, taking a sip of beer. He
nodded to her glass. ?You kids drink to warm up.?

Natalie
smiled and swallowed. ?Actually, I should own up and say the summers here
can climb into the nineties, and it gets humid and there?s
tons of mosquitoes.?

?See??
he said, triumphant. ?You?re going to love moving down and being my wife.?

She
shook her head and Shane let the conversation trail off, the drone of the
TV and the crackle of the fire filling his head; warm, home-cooked meal
leaving him sleepy and content. He stole a glance at his hostess every few
seconds, eyeing the threshold of her bedroom door and wondering how long it?d
take him to get himself invited there. Not long, he hoped. She owed him a
hell of a rebound.