Angel Beach (Summer Romance Collection) (8 page)

“What does he think about you going off on a fishing boat?”

“He doesn’t know yet. In fact, I don’t plan on telling him until I’m walking out the door with my duffle bags.” I dropped my arm and took hold of her hand. “What about you? Now that you’re out of high school, where are you headed? Assuming you haven’t already joined a fishing boat crew.”

“I think my lack of experience would make that pretty hard.”

“Yeah, it’s your lack of experience,” I said sarcastically.

She let go of my hand. “What are you saying? You think I wouldn’t get hired because I’m a girl?”

“It wouldn’t be because you’re a girl. It would be because the rest of the crew would be guys and with you on board, with those lips . . .” She looked slightly pissed, but I could not stop myself from running my thumb across her bottom lip. I glanced down. “And those legs . . .” My hand dropped and my fingers lightly trailed up her thigh. Her eyes drifted shut. “Where was I? Oh yeah, and those lips . . .” I kissed her long and hard. She grabbed hold of my shirt to steady herself and moaned softly into my mouth. Eventually I lifted my lips from hers.

She gazed up at me. “Microbiologist.”

I smiled down at her. “Excuse me?”

“That’s what I want to be-- a microbiologist.”

I kissed her forehead. “Why am I not surprised?”

Chapter 13

Echo

Normally I didn’t mind working again in the afternoon, but today I wouldn’t have minded staying out at Emerald Beach with Jamison. Zach knew me too well. He’d known immediately that Jamison Freely would be a guy I could fall for. At the moment, the only major impediment standing between me and head-over-heels love for Jamison was his last name. Unfortunately, it was a major impediment, and I could find no way around it.

Jamison placed his camera on the backseat. “That should be enough shots of the area. It’s a pretty sweet beach. Riley, try not to drool on my camera.” His head nearly touched the headliner of the jeep as he sat in the driver’s seat. “Hey, we could pull off on that stretch you like so much and see if we can get pictures of the animals.”

“Great. I’d like that.” I pointed through the front windshield. “It’s just around the bend.”

I could feel him watching me. “You sure know this area well.” He faced forward and pulled onto the highway.

“I know every inch of Angel Beach. It’s my home.” I pointed ahead to a small turnout. “That’s the only place to stop.”

Jamison pulled the jeep off the road and turned off the engine.

“You must have a town that you consider home, a place that makes you feel the ache of homesickness when you think about it,” I said.

His long, black lashes lowered as if he had to give it some thought. He looked up and smiled. “Yeah, I guess I do.” He stared out the window as he spoke. “Remember that little house I told you about when we were on the beach? We lived there when we were still a family, and my mom was still around. It was a total dump, complete with terrible plumbing, water stains on the ceilings, and sticky carpeting, but we were happy.” He laughed once. “It’s weird but lately my brothers and I have been talking about the old house and memories of when our parents were together. I know this sounds crazy, but it seems that whenever we’re around your grandmother’s cinnamon rolls this whole weird, nostalgic thing happens, and we drift back to our childhood.”

I smiled. “Believe me, when you’ve been around my grandmother long enough, you learn to expect and accept a bit of mystery. So your mom left?”

He stared down at his lap again.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so nosy. My mom gave me up when I was little. Mimi, my grandmother, has been the only mom I’ve ever really known.”

“Mine didn’t really leave. She was driven off by Dad and his ruthless lawyers.”

“Do you still talk to her?” I wasn’t usually into prying, but suddenly, it felt like I was sitting in a jeep talking to a regular guy with an amazing build, a heart stealing gaze, and an unsurpassed talent for kissing—and I could almost forget that his name was Freely.

“Mostly on holidays. She has a whole new life now. I know she’s way better off without my dad.”

“Yes, but is she better off without her sons?” I stopped. It was one question too far, and obviously, it was a question he’d been grappling with his whole life.

His throat moved up and down as if he were swallowing something painful.

I needed to change the subject. “Let’s hurry. I see a massive sea lion on the closest rock.” I opened the door and pointed to Riley to stay put. “My dog can be a knucklehead near the highway. He has this delusion that he is immortal, and that cars will magically float over him.”

Jamison smiled back at Riley. “Sorry, Dude. Boss’s orders.

A stark, navy blue line cut the sky off as it touched the ocean. A sharp wind shot off the water’s surface and raced up the side of the cliffs. Down below in the raging, foamy water, the sea lion’s blubbery body spread across the surface of the rock. The pounding tide had no effect on the giant animal.

Jamison took his photo shoot assignment seriously, and I had to admit that I had more than my share of enjoyment watching him take pictures. The muscles of his shoulders and arms strained the cotton fabric of his t-shirt as he moved from angle to angle to get a good shot.

The on-shore breeze whipped up the side of the cliffs, and I struggled to keep the chill off my bare arms and keep my dress from flying up Marilyn Monroe style.

Jamison finished shooting pictures. He held up his camera and squinted at the screen. “Not too bad. Come see.”

In my haste to look at the pictures, I released the hold I had on my dress and it billowed up before I could regain control of it. “This darn wind,” I said as I awkwardly pushed down the front hem only to have the back fly up. Now my hair had started its own revolt. Through the long strands flying across my face, I could see Jamison smiling at the screen on his camera.

“That is, by far, the best shot yet,” he said in a slightly wicked tone.

Then it dawned on me that the picture was not of a sea lion. I lunged for the camera, but he held it up out of my reach.

“I promise you the only thing it shows are those awesome legs of yours.” He laughed as I jumped for it again.

“You’re just as bad as your brother.” I headed toward the jeep before my wind propelled dress flew up and over my head.

He jumped into the jeep and held the camera in front of me. He hadn’t lied. Only my legs were exposed. “See. Besides, this is just a private picture for myself. I promise.”

I sat back hard against the seat.

Jamison handed me his camera. “All right, you can delete it if you want, but I don’t have the heart to do it. Then you can give me your phone number as payment for the sea lion pictures.”

I lifted an eyebrow at him. “That is pretty low-- using an innocent sea lion to get a girl’s number.”

“Actually, the sea lion and I had the whole thing planned out. He’s my wing man.” He handed me the phone.

I pressed in my number. “I guess you can keep my picture. Just make sure you send the pictures of your buddy down there. I can’t resist a guy with a sturdy build, a pair of swim fins, and a bristly five-o’clock shadow.” I handed it back to him and hadn’t realized how intensely he’d been watching me.

He looked at me in a long moment of silence then spoke. “Every inch of you is incredible.”

I was not a girl to blush easily, but I felt my cheeks warm. “Not true actually.” I never dealt well with compliments. I turned enough for him to see the back of my shoulder where I had a long, rather ugly scar. “I even have hideous scars.”

“How did you get that?” he asked.

“It’s a long story, but it involves my skates, my neighbor’s sliding glass door, and pure stupidity.” I’d barely finished when his face lowered to my shoulder, and he trailed his mouth along the scar. He might have been a Freely, but he definitely knew how to make a girl breathless.

Jamison lifted his mouth from my shoulder. His gaze was glassy and dark. “I stand by my earlier claim that every inch of you is incredible.”

As much as I hated to admit it to myself, and as much as I’d tried to avoid it, Jamison was running off with my heart. He kissed me once more, doing nothing to lessen the heady feeling that had overcome me moments before when he’d kissed my scar.

It took me a dizzy moment to find my voice again. “I need to get back to work.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said sounding as disappointed as I felt. He started the jeep and drove me back to Rainbow’s End.

***

Mimi and Zach had already started work in the mixing room when I walked inside to change. Zach poked his head around the doorway when he heard me pull out my pans. “Well, look who’s back from her date with Mr.
Freely
.”

Mimi came out too. “Did you have fun with the Freely boy?”

My shoulders dropped with a sigh. “First of all, must you both constantly remind me of his last name? It’s as if I’ve found my Romeo and his friggin’ name is Montague. Let’s just call him Smith from now on. And why are you two suddenly so interested in my love life? Normally you could care less about my dates.”

Zach grinned at Mimi. “Did she just use the word
love
while referring to her time with her Romeo?”

“I’m sure that’s what I heard,” Mimi said.

I threw a dish towel at Zach’s head. “Both of you get out, or I’ll get my fins and go swimming and you two can make the filling.”

Of course my concentration was so off, it would have been better if Mimi and Zach had made the filling. If it weren’t for Mimi’s keen sense of smell, I would have burned at least two batches of brown sugar syrup. After that she kept coming out to check on me, which only made me more flustered.

While sweeping up some salt that I’d spilled in my unusual state of clumsiness, I’d convinced myself that in the end Jamison’s shine would wear off. I would tire of him, like I often did with guys that I was sure I liked at first. And even though he was far more appealing than any other guys I’d gone out with, his wretched family would help soften the impact of that appeal. Of course, by the time the last batch of filling had been labeled and stored, and I’d exhausted all my mental arguments about why I would tire of him, I’d come to the more realistic and terrifying conclusion that I was crazy about Jamison Freely.

Chapter 14

Jamison

After a long swim in the ocean, I fell fast asleep on the porch lounge until Reeve poured cold beer on my forehead. “Damnit, Reeve, what the hell is your problem?” I grabbed the beach towel from behind my head and wiped my face.

“Were you dreaming about the little bakery witch? You were smiling in your sleep.”

“Her name is Echo, and stop calling her witch.”

Reeve straddled the other lounge, and it creaked beneath his weight as he sat down. “Sounds like a witch’s name to me. She sure has cast a spell on you.”

I stood. “That’s because she’s amazing and you know it too. That’s why you’re so pissed about me hanging out with her.”

He laughed but I knew him too well. “I could care less if you hang out with her, but Pops is still going to buy up this strip of beach and then cinnamon girl will need to find a new place to live. Maybe you could go with her and help them bake.”

“Anything is better than hanging with you.” I headed to the house. “Is there anything to eat inside? I’m starved.”

“Just beer and tequila, but I’m driving to the next loser town to buy a barbecue for the party. Come with me, and we’ll stop at that burger stand.”

“I guess I’m hungry enough to drag along with you. And since when do you know how to grill on a barbecue?”

“I’m buying everything. Someone else can cook.”

I slid the door shut behind me. Matt was sitting on the couch with his headphones in his ears. He was singing loudly and completely off key. His laptop balanced precariously on his lap as he performed a couch dance to whatever he was listening to, and the television was blasting in front of him. He glanced up from his monitor. “Party this weekend! Can’t wait.”

I didn’t respond and walked into my room to shower and change. Matt and Reeve had their minds on a weekend of partying, but the only thing that occupied my mind was Echo. I’d never gotten hooked so fast on a girl in my life, but I was most definitely hooked. And it seemed that I’d finally managed to break past her initial dislike of me. But the more I thought about her, the more a feeling of dread consumed me. There was an icy pit in my stomach that nearly wiped away my previous hunger. The party worried me. Reeve and his friends could get out of control pretty fast. I didn’t want anything to screw up my chances with Echo, and Reeve’s wild weekend would definitely not help.

Reeve slammed his fist into the door once and jarred me from my thoughts. “I’m leaving, Jay.”

Matt stayed behind. Reeve and I climbed into the truck without speaking. He turned up the music volume loud enough that the windshield vibrated and then yanked the truck out of the driveway. An older couple from several houses down walked their two small dogs down the road as we rocketed past. The man shouted something at us.

“Why the hell do you have to drive so fast? It’s a small town not a damn highway,” I said.

“Yes, Grandma,” Reeve sneered as he pushed down harder on the pedal.

“That cop already hates you. He’s just watching for your truck.”

“Yeah, I had a conversation with Dad about that jerk. Dad said he’ll take care of it once he starts building the resort.”

“Take care of it? What the hell does that mean? He’s going to start offing cops for enforcing laws?” I laughed. “Sorry, but even Dad doesn’t have enough money and power to get away with that.”

“You’re such a stupid ass. He just meant he’s going to replace the Angel Beach police force with people more to his liking.”

I nodded. “Oh, I see. That way when you run down a tourist, Dad’s
special
police force is going to smile, pat you on the head, and tell you not to do it again.”

“Something like that.”

“Dad’s as delusional as you.”

Our street curved along the coast and then stopped on a slight hill. Once we’d reached the stop sign, we could see the tops of the shops and houses on the main road where Echo lived. My gaze went straight to the rainbow-colored awning. I seriously considered ducking down in the front seat so she wouldn’t see me riding with Reeve.

Reeve rolled through the stop. The tires screeched, and the smell of burned rubber surrounded us as he threw down the gas pedal. Everything from that point on was a hideous blur. We launched over the hill, and the nose of the truck headed down into town giving us a view of the entire street ahead. A group of black crows were busy dissecting a greasy paper bag in the center of the road when I caught a small flicker of movement from the corner of my eye. Echo’s dog, Riley, raced toward the unsuspecting crows. Before I could yell for Reeve to slow, a tall, lean figure dashed into the road to stop the dog. It was Echo.

“Stop!” I grabbed the steering wheel just as Reeve realized what was happening. His foot slammed the brakes, but at the speed we were traveling, it seemed impossible to stop in time. I glimpsed the full terror in Echo’s face as we careened toward her then swerved wildly into the curb and stopped. Reeve’s face was white, and I felt like puking.

“Did we hit her?” I’d never heard my brother’s voice tremble. It was obvious he was too terrified to look.

My movements were heavy and slow as if I was moving through a really horrid nightmare. I opened the door, stepped out, and walked on shaky legs to the back of the truck. Echo was standing on the sidewalk hugging her grandmother. Riley sat next to them still looking wistfully at the paper bag in the road.

I grabbed the edge of the truck to steady myself, and my tough as steel brother finally worked up enough nerve to step out of his truck. He walked to the back and stood next to me. Neighbors had run out of their shops to see that Echo was all right. Their harsh, hate-filled glares shot toward us like a spray of bullets, but only one expression sliced right through me.

Even from the distance, I could see the coldness in Echo’s beautiful eyes. That was it. She was done with me, and I could not blame her one bit. All that mattered now was that she was safe. The dread I’d felt earlier had not been about the party. It had been that dark, gnawing feeling that this whole thing never had a chance.

Reeve, apparently recovered from the trauma of almost killing someone, released a badly timed chuckle. “I told you they were witches.” He turned to climb back into the truck.

I grabbed his shoulder, pulled him around, and threw my fist into his face. Blood splattered from his nose as he slammed into the back of the truck. He jumped back to his feet and lunged at me with all his weight. I stumbled back several steps and could not regain my balance before his fist shot into my jaw and mouth. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth as I flew toward him. His elbow flew back and he rammed it into my stomach. I doubled over in pain and tried to regain my breath. Tires screeched to a halt behind me and a voice shouted to stop.

“Up against the truck now. Spread your arms and legs,” the police officer ordered. Another sheriff’s car pulled up and two more officers stepped out.

As my hands pressed against the hot metal of the truck, I dropped my head and watched the blood from my mouth drip a pattern down the front of my shirt while they searched me. From the number of voices murmuring behind us, it was obvious the entire town had gathered to watch the arrest of the Freely brothers. At this point, I didn’t give a damn. I just wanted to get the hell out of Angel Beach.

Reeve and I sat in cold silence in the back of the squad car. I could not bring myself to look out at the spectators as we drove past. I could not bring myself to look at Echo. Hours earlier I’d been laughing with her and kissing her and thinking how badly I wanted her, and now she was out of my reach forever.

Like everything else in a small town, the police station was only several blocks away. An officer flanked each of us as we walked up the steps to a nondescript, ivory building with a flag and marble memorial plaque hanging outside.

The uniformed woman behind the counter looked up and her eyes widened. No doubt two arrests on the same day were rare in Angel Beach. She stood to get a better look at our faces. “Take them into the examination room, and I’ll get the first aid kit. They need to be free of blood before you book them.”

My lip was cut open, but after running my tongue along my teeth I was glad to know they were all still in my head. Reeve actually looked worse. It was the first time I’d looked at him since we’d fought. I’d definitely broken his nose, and dark rings were forming beneath his eyes. At least one thing had gone right this afternoon.

His obvious agony made me smile, and a shock of pain ripped through my mouth. I raised my cuffed wrists and pressed my palm against my lip. “Shit, that hurts.”

“Good,” Reeve snarled.

“At least I don’t look like a pathetic raccoon with a bulbous nose.”

He shrugged. “Chicks dig a guy with a fighter’s nose.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, Bro. You got damn lucky back there. You could have killed her.” Reeve’s face dropped, and I could have sworn that I actually spotted a glimmer of guilt but he didn’t respond.

After a hasty clean up and shabby first aid treatment, we were handed back over to the arresting officers. Both Reeve and I had had our share of run-ins with the law but never a full on arrest. The clerk fingerprinted us and took our mug shots.

Reeve glanced over at the officer who’d cuffed him. “Hey, Deputy Fife, when do we get our phone call? I need to let my dad know that we’re behind bars in Mayberry.”

The officer’s expression soured, and he walked up so that he was nearly toe to toe with Reeve. When he realized just how much bigger Reeve was, he took a cautionary step backwards. “Deputy Fife, huh? Listen here, Richie Rich, as far as you’re concerned, I’m Clint Eastwood and you just made my day.” He pulled up keys from his belt and opened the tiny cell.

Reeve motioned to me with his head. “I want a separate cell from this guy. He’s friggin’ nuts.” The officer had had enough. He gave Reeve a push, but it was as effective as pushing on a brick wall. Reluctantly, my brother walked inside. Then the officer motioned for me to follow him.

“It smells like piss in here,” Reeve snarled.

The officer slammed shut the door and grinned into the cell. “I guess you’ve never roomed with a urinal before. Enjoy. I’ll let you know when we’re ready for your phone calls.”

I sat on the edge of the steel rimmed cot. The odor inside the cell was a disgusting mixture of cleaning fluid, urine, and sweat. The atmosphere fit my mood perfectly-- dark, depressed, and hopelessly heartbroken.