Harlequin Superromance January 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: Everywhere She Goes\A Promise for the Baby\That Summer at the Shore (70 page)

Emotion caught at Jamie's throat as she explained. Though she'd been temporarily absent from Granddad's life, she knew he'd thought of her often. The kitchen was a reminder. He'd done it in the colors she favored, using natural stone and glass in the backsplash and putting in hardwood floors. When she'd first moved in, she found a card in the bowl of a fancy new stand mixer. She knew the message he'd written by heart.

Jamie,

You'll never know how much your visits each August meant to me. In a way it was as if my dearest Leah had returned, in your laugh, your insatiable love for the ocean and the understanding you had, even as a child, for the beauty of this place.

I wasn't a good father to your mother—however much I loved her, she needed more than a sorrowful recluse as her only parent. But I pray that I was a good grandfather to you and David. Perhaps Leah can tell me when we meet in heaven. I know it will be soon. These days I hear her singing to me more clearly than ever before.

Don't grieve, darling child. I will be with Leah, and we will both look in on you now and then.

Jamie's eyes burned as she remembered the loving words, and she ducked her head so Zack wouldn't see.

“Let's go in and sit by the fire,” she said.

Mist shrouded the house in a bank of fog so deep that the evening light was barely visible, though the sun wouldn't be down for a while yet. Zack threw another log on the fire while Jamie settled into her chair and picked up her sketch pad again. Marlin stared balefully at Zack on the couch before resettling on the space behind Jamie's head.

After an hour, she went in to make a pot of hot chocolate and brought Zack a mug along with her own. “You probably don't serve anything so homey over at Mar Vista,” she said when he thanked her.

“Sure we do, several kinds, including a comfort-food version like this. You can have room service deliver a pot, then sit and drink it in front of your own personal fireplace—gas, though, instead of logs.”

“Sounds like a nice thing to be able to do on vacation, especially when it gets cold and damp the way it is tonight.”

Zack leaned his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes. “That's what I thought.” He was silent a few minutes before rousing again. “I wish they still had the old fog horns here. There's something about the sound that I love.”

Jamie's hand jerked with surprise and she erased the mark she'd accidentally made with her pencil. She wouldn't have expected Zack to appreciate fog horns; they were too old-fashioned. Yet some of her dearest childhood memories were of lying snug in her bed and listening to the muffled, mournful call of a fog horn. That sound had meant that she was really home...because Granddad's house had felt like home more than anyplace else.

“You could put one in,” she suggested.

“I've considered it. Unfortunately, it would be more for me than anyone else.”

“I promise to enjoy it, too.”

He chuckled. “I'll see if my bank loan will extend that far.”

She glanced at him. “I accused you of being a wealthy jerk, but maybe you aren't. Not yet, anyway. Not until your loans are paid and Mar Vista's income belongs solely to you.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “You never accused me of being a wealthy jerk.”

“I'm sure I did.”

“Maybe you just thought it.”

“Possibly.” Stretching, she went to make another batch of popcorn. The evening was as different as it could be from the previous night at the Sunfish Grotto. It was full of cozy warmth, and if she didn't look at Zack too often, she could ignore the other kind of warmth, the kind that was settling deep in her belly.

* * *

Z
ACK
ATE
THE
last bit of popcorn from the bowl on the side table and gazed around the room. A few weeks before, the outside of Jamie's house had surprised him with its classic architecture. The inside was inviting, a real home.

“Is all the furniture and decor yours?” he asked as Jamie came back. “Or did it belong to your grandfather?”

“Most of it was his,” she said. “I got rid of a few pieces of furniture and bought a couple that suited my style better. Leah did a number of the paintings and there are others that belonged to my great-grandparents. I arranged things a little differently than Granddad, but he changed it every year or so anyhow.”

It sounded as if Jamie had left her marriage with few belongings, though she might have just wanted a clean break.

“Then George didn't make a shrine of the house, keeping it the way Leah had left it?”

A smile played on Jamie's lips. “No. It was the beachside land he wanted to preserve, the ocean always changing and always staying the same. Anyway, apparently Leah rearranged on a regular basis. He told me he found her shoving the bed across the room when she was eight months pregnant. It was the third time that year she'd rearranged the furniture.”

“He must have had heart failure.”

“Close to it.” Jamie got up to pull a book from the built-in shelves and sat down again, flipping to a page in the middle. She seemed to be making a comparison to something in her sketchbook, her forehead creased in concentration.

“What are you drawing?” Zack asked when she put the book aside. It appeared to be a book on Russian art.

“Just some ideas.”

He got up and glanced at the page. “What's that?”

“A bracelet. I had an idea about a Russian theme, but I don't know if I can make it work for silver casting.”

“It looks nice. I didn't realize you did that kind of jewelry. Maybe I should look at your stuff and see if it's right for one of our shops.”

“I'm sure it isn't.” She flipped to a blank page. “You also choose the stock for your stores? Is there
anything
you don't control over there?” she asked.

“Control? You've got to be kidding.” He sank onto the couch again and rolled his eyes. “Lately I've been much less attentive than usual. And it's odd, because things are going really well the last week or so. I don't know what made the difference.”

Jamie started laughing. “Of course it's getting better. You haven't been micromanaging everything to death.”

The comment shocked Zack and he sat for a moment in stunned silence. That was exactly what he'd been doing and it was utterly contrary to his normal management style.

“Damn, Jamie, how did you figure that out? You've only been to Mar Vista twice.”

She put the sketch pad aside and focused on him. “It was obvious from stuff you let drop. And I also overhear employees talking while they're shopping at the stand. But don't expect me to be your personal spy. I won't tell who said what.”

Zack held up his hands in mock surrender. “I don't want you to. If I'd had a better working relationship with them from the beginning, they might have told me on their own.”

She cocked her head in curiosity. “Is it really that different being an owner? According to Brad, you were great at management.”

He grimaced. “I have more on the line as an owner, and I've been determined to make it work, partly because of my...investors.”

“I didn't know you had investors.”

“Just two.”

“Your parents, right?”

He should have known she'd guess. “It's really important to them to show their support for anything Brad and I do. Don't tell anyone.”

“It's none of my business, and no one else's, either.”

Zack sighed. He felt like an idiot, not realizing he was the source of the problems at Mar Vista. Trudy had implied the way he was looking over shoulders had been causing stress, but he hadn't listened.

“I hate to admit it, but you're right. I've got good people in management,” he said. “I've known these men and women for years and I can trust their work.”

“That's great for them, but what about the locals?” Jamie persisted. “Couldn't you provide opportunities for advancement? They think you're only willing to hire them for cleaning toilets and pulling weeds.”

Zack nodded thoughtfully. In the beginning, it made sense to bring in management personnel that he'd worked with previously. They were experienced with how a resort functioned and could train the rest of the staff. But it was discouraging for employees if they never saw a chance to move upward. Hell, if he hadn't had those opportunities, he'd still be a bellboy.

All at once he winced, remembering the management positions that had opened
since
he had opened the resort. He'd continued to hire people he knew from outside the area without considering whether anyone local was qualified.

“Wow,” Jamie said. “Aren't you ticked off that I said all that?”

“No, I welcome valuable ideas.” Maybe he
would
have gotten furious before he'd gotten to know Jamie, but she had good insight into people, something he'd been struggling with lately.

Jamie checked the clock over the mantel and stretched. He gulped as the fabric of her T-shirt pulled tight against her breasts.

“How about a movie?” she asked. “I may not have cable television, but there's a selection of DVDs.”

What Zack wanted was to pull Jamie onto the couch and explore her curves in the firelight. A movie was safest, but he wouldn't have any excuse to look at her.

“Do you have another Scrabble game here, or is the only one back at the trailer?” he asked, deciding he'd enjoy teasing Jamie with a little sexy wordplay. “I'd like a rematch.”

* * *

B
RAD
WAS
FAR
more comfortable at Martine's Italian Restaurant than the Sunfish Grotto. It was nice, but not over-the-top elegant. Besides, Kim added all the elegance that was needed. God, she was beautiful. It made a man feel ten feet tall to escort such a woman.

“I'm glad you suggested coming here,” Kim told him as they ate their salads. “This place has the kind of character they write about in travel magazines. Look at that stained-glass window. It's got to be an antique.”

“Along with half the stuff in here,” Brad agreed. “I heard it's been around since the original owner came back from World War II, in love with the pizza he'd discovered in Italy.”

“We're so used to pizza that we forget it's relatively new to the United States. I think I read somewhere that the use of oregano jumped phenomenally after the war.”

“Never underestimate a soldier's capacity for enjoying food.”

The waiter took their salad plates and delivered the eggplant Parmesan they'd both ordered.

“We get our food more quickly here than at the Grotto,” Kim said. “Though I really enjoyed dancing with you last night.”

“It was great,” Brad answered, not sure of the appropriate response. Had Kim's manner always been this warm and intimate? Obviously she and his brother
didn't
have a future together, or want one, so the whole thing had been in his imagination.

Their conversation wandered through food and music, movies and books, never touching on anything personal. Once he might have been glad—now he wasn't so certain.

“I can't get used to reading a book on an electronic screen,” she complained at one point. “I prefer turning pages and feeling the paper beneath my fingers.”

Brad shrugged. “So do I, but it's easier to pack a gadget loaded with a ton of books into a duffel bag.”

Her eyes widened. “True. I hadn't thought of that. Are you, uh... How do you keep it charged?”

“I don't always. It depends on where I'm stationed.” He suspected that Kim had almost asked about his future plans regarding duffel bags and active service, but had shied away from the subject at the last moment.

Their waiter was amiable about them staying long after dinner was concluded, refilling their coffee cups each time they were half-empty. After a couple of hours, they ordered dessert before heading back to Mar Vista.

When they arrived, Kim glanced at the thick mist. “I know it's foggy and late, but I'd love a walk.”

“No reason not to,” Brad said. “I've got an extra jacket if you need something warmer to wear.”

“I'm fine. Are you sure you don't mind?”

“It would be a pleasure,” he insisted. And it
would
be pleasurable in one way...though immensely uncomfortable in another. The pain in his leg seemed minor compared to the ache of desire every time he looked at her.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

J
AMIE
STUDIED
HER
Scrabble letters. She'd won the first turn, but there wasn't much she could do with the tiles she'd drawn. Finally, she played the best word she saw out of the seven letters.

“RIDER,”
she said. “With the double-letter and double-word squares, that makes fourteen points.” It wasn't very high, but unless you drew fabulous letters, the starting player often didn't get a great score.

Zack grinned. “Great. I can get rid of an awkward letter right at the start.” He put an
S
and an
X
on either side of the
E
in
RIDER.

She raised her eyebrows. “You could have made the word
SIX,
and gotten more points with the double-letter squares.”

“What do you know about that?” he said with exaggerated surprise. “Guess I'm blind.”

“I don't mind if you move your tiles.”

“No. I'm sure there's an old rule saying you have to leave your letters where you first put them.”

“Right,” she agreed drily, wondering if he'd somehow managed to sneak the
X
out of the bag so he could yank her chain, or if that had been pure dumb luck. It was obvious what he was doing, and she was both flattered and wary. They were getting along all right for now, but that could change in a flash.

Feeling curiously melancholy, Jamie studied her letters. With either her
IST
or her
Y
she could build on Zack's word. She hesitated. It would open up the board to play more letters and send a message that she wasn't letting him get to her, but forming
SEXIST
would get her fewer points than playing the
Y
since it was worth more and she'd get a double-word score.

Slowly she put down the
Y
.

“Ah,” Zack said with a gleam in his eye. “Trying to make things more challenging, I see.
SEXY
gives me fewer openings to build from.”

His next word was innocuous.
AROUND.

Jamie earned extra points, putting in an
O
to make
DO
and
OX,
and figured Zack had decided to compete more seriously when he put down
Y
and
O,
making
SOY
and
OR.
But he sneaked in a few suggestive words when he saw the opportunity. Of course,
NECK
should have been innocuous, except she recalled too well the way he'd nibbled his way from her ear to her shoulder...and from the gleam in his eyes, he was remembering it, as well.

Zack's tactics distracted her, but she still won since he wasted opportunities for better scores in order to spell spicier words...including a few that her mom would blush to see on a game board.

“Another round?” he challenged.

She was pretty sure he meant an entirely different sort of game, but pretended he referred only to Scrabble. She dumped the tiles back into the cloth bag that she'd made years ago to make it easier to play.

When she drew the
X
midway through the match, she realized she could get a lot of points making a two-word match of
AX
and
OX.
On the other hand, she also had an
E,
with an available
S.

Jamie stared at the letters for a long time. Before she could make up her mind, a noise outside caught Zack's attention. He jumped to his feet, flicked off the light and hurried to the window. Jamie went to the one next to the front door and peered outside, too. Something had triggered the motion sensor, turning on the security lights. She stared into the foggy darkness for several minutes until the exterior light went off and didn't come on again.

Zack came to her side. “Anything?”

“Nothing. You know, those lights go on and off all night. Sometimes I sit on the porch and watch the show for hours. There are deer, coyotes, skunks, raccoons...all sorts of critters. That's why I don't let Marlin out at night. He might mess with a skunk, or a coyote could grab him for a tasty treat.”

“Really?” Zack stood close, his breath fanning the side of her cheek.

“Yes,” she answered, clearing her throat.

“Why would they want to pick so much fur out of their teeth?” His arm crept around her waist.

“They...they wouldn't know how thick it is until it was too late,” she managed to say. “Don't you want to finish the game?”

“We've already spelled
SEXY
and
NECK,
” he answered, his head dropping down to caress the spot where her vein pulsed wildly. “And I know how to spell
SHOULDER
and
LIPS
and...”

The rational part of Jamie's brain said that if she didn't want to play this new game, it was time to quit. Zack would respect her choice.

The problem was that she didn't want to quit; she wanted to touch and be touched. Her fingers traced Zack's lean rib cage and muscular shoulders. He was taking entirely too long to get to her mouth, so she started an assault on his neck while tugging his shirt free to touch bare skin.

He dipped a hand into the gap of her overalls and she barely breathed as he explored.

Zack groaned. “Should we adjourn to the couch?” he groaned, pulling her against him.

“We'd have more room in my bed,” she murmured, taking a breath and backing up with him into the hallway and through her bedroom door. “Unless you prefer the couch.”

“Lady's choice.”

His lips closed over hers while he unbuttoned his shirt, before working on hers again, only to get stymied by her overalls.

“What the...?” He stared at the buckles. “How do you get these things undone?”

She giggled as she unbuckled them. Zack took over when she was done, slowly pulling the old denim down to her thighs. There was little to hold them up at that point, and the overalls settled in a heap at her feet. The lacy briefs she was wearing made him gasp and he ran his fingers under the edge of the silky fabric. He took his time, nibbling her legs as he eased her panties down. When Zack reached her ankles, he tumbled her onto the bed and pulled the fabric free.

She reached for the bottom of her T-shirt, only to have him stop her, removing it himself in the same slow, deliciously torturous way he'd taken off her briefs. When his tongue finally began teasing her breast, she thought she might jump out of her skin.

“You...you're overdressed,” she managed to say, but he took considerably less time getting rid of his own clothing. She was more than ready for him, hardly able to stand it while he stopped to don protection.

“Should we turn off the light,” she said, panting as his weight settled over her.

“Not now. Maybe next time...or the time after that,” he murmured.

* * *

M
UCH
LATER
J
AMIE
listened to the lonely hoot of an owl that lived in the woods just south of the house. The moon shone through the high, open windows, illuminating the bedroom she'd chosen when she moved in the previous year. She'd decorated it according to her taste, not frilly, but simple, with touches of blue and white to lighten the beautiful old wood furniture she had collected from the other bedrooms.

Zack lay on his side next to her, deeply asleep, his arm resting on her bare hip.

Their first encounter in the trailer had been explosive; tonight had proved that wasn't a fluke. If anything, this time was even more intense...more than once. Zack had amazing stamina.

How could she feel so good, yet so bothered? She did
not
want to care for Zack Denning. From the moment they'd met, she had recognized he was the opposite of what she would want in a man, if she'd wanted one in the first place. Declaring romance a dead issue was so much easier than dealing with it.

Jamie frowned. Whatever was happening between her and Zack, it wasn't romance...or was it?

The whole thing was so frustrating. She did
not
want to be involved with a high-powered entrepreneur who measured success through his account books. If she was going to get involved with a guy, it should be with someone similar to Zack's brother. In some ways Brad even reminded her of Granddad.

By sheer logic, Kim was the best match for Zack, and Brad was the best match for her. Yet she felt only friendship for Brad, and he was head over heels for Kim.

Jamie turned her head to look at Zack's handsome face in the moonlight. She'd already decided she didn't want a casual, sexual relationship with him, or any guy, yet here she was, in bed with the man again.

Boy, did she have a talent for getting involved with the wrong man.

* * *

K
IM
WOKE
BEFORE
DAWN
,
not sure she'd gotten any quality sleep. All she'd dreamed about, all she could
think
about, was Brad.

She considered herself a rational woman. Lawyers had to be. Even in college she'd evaluated her relationship with Zack, analyzing and measuring how she felt and the goals they both had. She hadn't doubted his affection, but she'd left him when she'd realized how far down she came on his list of priorities.

Now, Brad...he was a man who could get his priorities straight.

She groaned and rolled over. Who could have guessed she'd get off balance this way? All her reasons for taking minivacations were a crock and it was time to face the truth. She'd wanted to see Brad. And now, since their double date with Jamie and Zack, she was sensing heat in his gaze...the kind a woman hoped for. The night before, they'd talked for hours after dinner, and then walked along the shoreline, returning to sit in a romantic garden near the pool.

Why hadn't he kissed her?

She'd sent every possible signal she knew, and Brad hadn't picked up on any of them. Was she so out of practice?

Kim glanced at the lit face of the clock. She'd told the registration clerk that she might stay till Monday, but hadn't made arrangements with her office.

Grabbing her cell phone, she dialed Chloe's work number to leave a message. “Hi, it's Kim,” she said. “Please shift my early appointment to one of the other partners and move everything else to later in the week. Please also apologize for me. Thanks.”

She disconnected and settled back. Maybe she could get more sleep. Bags under the eyes weren't the most attractive thing to present to the world...especially to Brad.

* * *

T
HE
VARIED
CHIRPING
of birds urged Zack awake. Jamie was still asleep; no doubt she was accustomed to the sounds of nature living on the edge of the salt marsh.

He gave a start as a feline head rose and stared at him. The cat had insinuated himself into the narrow space between their legs and Zack had a strange discomfort. It was an animal, for heaven's sake. What did it care if the humans in his household had sex or not, especially since he'd probably been fixed. Of course, maybe Marlin was jealous, no longer possessing the parts that could bring the pure enjoyment he and Jamie had shared the night before.

“Sorry, pal,” he whispered. “I really hope you find pleasures to make up for it.”

The cat blinked sleepily before snuggling closer to Zack and closing his eyes in contentment.

“Is something wrong?” Jamie asked quietly.

“No, it's just the cat.”

She glanced down and yawned. “He's decided he likes you.” Her eyes closed again and her breathing deepened.

Zack checked the clock. It was almost six-thirty and Jamie had to be at the stand by eight. Much as he wanted to stay and make love to her again, he knew her alarm would go off soon. The least he could do was brew a pot of coffee.

Marlin meowed a complaint as he eased from the bed, then thumped onto the floor himself and followed. Zack quietly found his clothing and dressed before heading to the kitchen.

Checking the cupboards, Zack discovered a whole shelf filled with different kinds of coffee. A handwritten note was taped to the inside of the door providing measurements. Intrigued, he carefully spooned various coffee beans into the grinder. For one dark-roast variety, the instructions said “3 beans only.” With a grin, he counted them, ground the coffee and started the coffeemaker.

By the time Jamie wandered into the kitchen, he had breakfast ready.

* * *

J
AMIE
STARED
AT
the toast and scrambled eggs with diced vegetables. Who'd have guessed that Zack could cook? “That looks good.”

“I figured we could both use a healthy start.”

He handed her a cup of coffee and poured one for himself. “Hell,” he exclaimed after tasting it. “This is good.”

“You used Granddad's recipe,” she said, recognizing the flavor.

“I thought you were joking before.”

“Nope. He experimented for years until he found one he thought was the best.”

Zack half closed his eyes and sipped appreciatively. Jamie knew how he felt. But she'd figured it tasted so good to her simply because she had a sentimental attachment to anything related to Granddad.

“Would you mind if I made a copy and showed it to Gordon?” Zack asked. “If he likes it, we could offer it on the menu as George Jenkins's Private Blend.”

“Fine with me.”

He jumped up immediately and scribbled down the information from the cupboard.

Jamie brightened as the coffee took effect, and tucked into breakfast with more energy. Zack sat again and ate with her, glancing at her now and then as though he had something else on his mind.

“I was wondering,” he said as they were finishing. “Why would your ex-husband target the fruit stand? Revenge?”