Harlequin Superromance January 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: Everywhere She Goes\A Promise for the Baby\That Summer at the Shore (73 page)

“I know. Tim is a bug. Someday he'll get smashed on somebody's windshield. I hope it's a garbage truck.”

Grimly she began sweeping up the splinters of glass on the living-room floor. Outside, Zack nailed boards over the window while she filled the trash can with glass, then ran the vacuum to get the smaller splinters. When she switched it off to move a chair, Zack tried to pull her into a hug.

“I'm okay,” Jamie said, shrugging away.

“For pity's sake,” he exclaimed. “Letting someone close enough to give you support doesn't make you weak.”

“It doesn't make you strong, either,” she snapped.

“Maybe it does, if it's two people making each other stronger.”

“Yeah, well, that sounds nice, but I live on the other side of the mirror.”

Zack gestured around the house. “Do you want to be so fiercely independent that you're just like your grandfather, a strange old hermit who was eccentric as hell?”

“How
dare
you?” she snarled.

“
You
called him ‘eccentric,' and if I hadn't said you were like him, you wouldn't have had a problem with it. But I will admit one thing—even if your grandfather was alone, at least he was memorializing a magnificent love. All you're doing is turning your back on the world because you don't trust yourself to be strong unless you're alone. Why would you let a jerk of an ex-husband have that much power over your life?”

“You don't have a clue what my life is about, so don't try any mumbo-jumbo, pop psychology on me,” she declared. She shoved the vacuum toward him. “You want to help so much? Finish cleaning up.”

She stalked to her bedroom and slammed the door. He didn't get it. Sure, she'd been hurt by her failed marriage, but Zack was the problem, not Tim. She wouldn't have even met Zack if he hadn't gone ballistic over Granddad's fruit stand for fear it might damage the image of his precious resort.

He might have cleaned up his act with his employees, but Mar Vista was still his obsession. He lived, drank, slept and literally
ate
everything connected with it. And who knew when he'd get irrational about some other dumb thing?

What did he expect her to do? Go nutty and throw herself into the arms of a guy who cared more about a piece of real estate than he did her? He might be a magnificent lover, but as soon as she needed him for something, he'd probably say he had to play golf with a guest or check registrations. She had more self-respect than to remain involved with a man of that sort...a man who could easily break her heart.

The sooner he was out of her hair, the better.

* * *

J
AMIE
TRUDGED
THROUGH
the next week. The broken window was repaired. She put up signs saying she was relocating, which piqued her customers' curiosity. The ones who knew about the dispute with Mar Vista tended to be annoyed at first, but cooled off once they heard the details. Others were disappointed, while acknowledging the new site would be convenient. But everyone agreed it was great to keep the shore and dunes undeveloped for people to enjoy.

Zack showed her several plans for the building, and offered to have them altered, even to incorporate the little blue trailer. She considered it, then decided to retire the trailer to the barn where her grandfather had kept it every winter. Maybe, someday, if she got ambitious, she'd take it on a road trip, visit Yellowstone and travel Route 66 like her grandparents had on their honeymoon. In the meantime, she needed to forget her
other
associations with it.

Zack was excruciatingly polite. He came each evening without fail, spending the night on the couch. Marlin split his attentions between the two of them; he was going to be miserable when Zack was no longer there.

Aside from the two incidents at the house, nothing more happened, and Tim seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. Curt had checked with her ex-husband's office and they said he was out of touch on a business trip. On the next inquiry, they explained he was taking an extended vacation. Jamie knew Tim had plenty of vacation time saved, but she doubted he'd abandoned his plan to intimidate her so he could go sit on a beach in Hawaii.

At night, she slept poorly; it was hard knowing how much comfort and pleasure was available on her living-room couch. But hard as it was, she had to think of the long-term instead of what she immediately craved.

* * *

A
FTER
SO
MANY
days of being near Jamie without touching her or getting any closer, Zack was suffering extreme frustration. He had tried to get her interested in the plans for the new fruit stand, but she'd barely glanced at them and said they were fine and to pick the one he thought would work best. He couldn't tell if she was angry, or simply too tired to care. It was obvious she wasn't getting much rest and he missed those few days when their fatigue had come from giving each other pleasure.

He also hated seeing Brad's grim demeanor. What was going on between Kim and his brother? There was no evidence of an argument, and they weren't the type to hold grudges anyway. So what could it be?

“Has Brad said anything about Kim? Did something happen?” he asked Jamie one night as they sat in the living room in a semblance of cordiality.

Jamie's face warmed, becoming less remote. “He hasn't mentioned a problem, but he doesn't talk about Kim anymore. At first he did—that's how I knew he had feelings for her. Now he sticks to baseball, or telling stories about places he's been, kids he saw overseas, that kind of thing. When he talks at all, that is. He's quieter now than when he first began coming by the stand.”

Zack tossed aside the book he'd been pretending to read. “I really thought we'd gotten them together.”

She regarded him with more sympathy than usual. “They still might figure it out.”

“I'd like to light a fire under his ass and get him to San Francisco somehow. I considered asking him to hand deliver something for me, then realized that might be too obvious.”

“A little,” Jamie agreed in a dry voice.

“Any suggestions?” he asked.

“No. I'm going into my workroom to cast some pendants. Maybe I'll think of something.”

“Sure. I'll...finish my book.”

Zack would rather have watched her work; he enjoyed seeing the deft way she handled the molten silver and how the pieces she'd designed emerged for the final finishing touches. After a couple of times, though, she had said it made her nervous to have someone observing her, so he'd left her alone.

He stood and looked out the windows into the dark woods that half circled the house. The night before, Jamie had irritably exclaimed she wished Tim would do what he was going to do so the waiting would be over. With everything in limbo, Zack almost felt the same. It was his private desire to personally catch the slimy bastard and plant a fist square on his nose.

* * *

K
IM
STARED
INTO
her fireplace at the flames dancing over the gas log. There hadn't been any need to light it for warmth; San Francisco was in the middle of an unusually warm June, but she'd craved the cheer and energy of a fire.

She'd accomplished little at the office for more than a week. And just as she'd begun to find her focus, she'd gotten a call from Zack asking her to draw up a very specialized contract. Jamie was to receive unlimited free use of a building on a new piece of Zack's property. In return, she would leave the beachside parcel unoccupied, and he agreed to do the same for all of the adjacent land.

The compromise surprised Kim, especially since it appeared to be Zack's idea. In fact, he'd become almost passionate about keeping the land natural for people to experience, saying Jamie had mentioned it was her grandfather's original plan and that was what had given
him
the idea. It didn't necessarily mean Jamie was happy about the arrangement, but at least she'd agreed.

Zack's enthusiasm surprised Kim even more than the compromise; if she hadn't known better, she'd think he was changing. Yet it was hard to imagine him no longer being utterly driven and intent on success.

So she had written up the contract and sent it to Mar Vista—her one real accomplishment that week. But it had stirred emotions about Brad that she had been trying to ignore. Even while performing the simplest of tasks over the past week, she'd found herself replaying the hours they had spent together. Finally, she had to ask one of the partners to review her recent briefs and contracts. It wasn't fair to clients otherwise. Thankfully, so far they'd found nothing amiss except for a few grammatical errors.

Picking up the phone, she called her mother in Southern California. They chatted about inconsequential subjects until her mother grew exasperated.

“Kim, this isn't like you. Why don't you get to the point?”

It made her smile. Her mother should have been a lawyer. Her dad always said it was Mom who'd passed on the analytical brain that powered his daughter's law career.

“No...there wasn't any particular reason.... Well...that's not true,” Kim admitted. “Wasn't Dad in the navy when you two met?”

“Yes, you know he was.”

“Did he worry about being with you because of that?”

Her mother was silent a long moment. “He was aware of it. The Vietnam War was over, but there was always a chance something could happen. He didn't want me to be one of those women you see on TV, trying to be stoic as she watches a flag-draped coffin come off an airplane.”

“The two of you got together anyway.”

Her mother's voice became soft. “Kim, honey, have you become involved with a military man?”

“Uh...yes. Sort of. He's holding back.”

“And you think he might be worried that it's unfair to you.”

“I honestly don't know. But he was badly injured, so he's especially aware of the dangers in today's world.”

“Brad Denning?”

Kim closed her eyes; how had her mother guessed? “Yes.”

“I've always had a feeling about the two of you. He's a fine man.”

“He won't even kiss me. We do things together and he's pleasant...but that's all.”

“Who says you can't make the first move? If I'd waited on your daddy, right now you'd still be a young law-school student.”

Kim laughed.

“Just one thing, honey,” her mother continued. “Be sure you're ready for what you're getting into. For the spouse of a soldier, a police officer, a fireman...any of those careers...it takes a toll. Be fair to yourself and to Brad, and don't get so carried away by romance that you forget the reality of what will come in the years afterward. Talk to your aunt. She came very close to losing Graham in that embassy incident.”

The reminder was sobering, and Kim knew it deserved serious examination.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

J
AMIE
OPENED
THE
large envelope Zack had given her that morning; inside were legal papers regarding the land use. As far as she could tell, the agreement was simple and straightforward. In drawing it up, Kim Wheeler had avoided the legalese that could mean anything or nothing to a nonlawyer.

Deciding she should be smart, Jamie dropped it off at the office of her grandfather's attorney and met with him the next day. Zeb Barney had known Granddad for years, and was one of the few people who'd visited him during the isolated winters at the house.

“It's a fair contract,” he told her. “Denning is giving up more than you are, and putting money in also, for the land and building.”

“Then you think it's safe to sign?”

“Certainly, and I admit it makes me feel good to know that whole section will stay the way it was when I was a boy. It's also what George would have wanted.”

“That means the most to me, too,” Jamie agreed.

“He still would have put your welfare first.”

Her throat grew tight with grief. “I know, but I think this is a good compromise.”

Afterward she stopped at the bank to discuss handling deposits, now that she'd hired a woman to run the stand. Presently Susan was working at the trailer for a few hours in a trial run. Susan came with high recommendations, and since Jamie had said she could have her daughter with her, it was exactly the kind of job the young mother had been looking for to supplement the family income.

It felt strange to be an employer. Before making the decision to hire someone, she'd felt an urge to consult with Zack, only to immediately dismiss the idea. Maybe getting your life tangled up with other people wasn't such a horrible thing, but that didn't make it smart to rely on them.

Finishing at the bank, she ran by Curt's office to check in, but there'd been no developments in her vandalism case and Tim was still the invisible man.

“If he comes through here, we'll deal with him,” Curt assured her. “I've also talked with the police in Miami, so they're aware of the situation.”

“What about Gus Hewitt?” she asked, wondering if he'd be going after the fruit stand again. “Has he made bail?”

“Nope. We're mostly holding him on a parole violation. I figure he's staying in jail for a reason, probably to make Gardiner nervous enough to offer hush money.” Curt chuckled. “Old Gus doesn't know it won't do any good. The lab lifted your ex-husband's fingerprints off the instructions he sent to Gus. I, uh, neglected to give that information to Gus, so don't tell anyone.”

“Not a word.”

Back at the stand, Susan was happily finishing up a sale. “I love this job,” she exclaimed. “It would be even nicer if it stayed near the beach, but the other location is good, too. There are those trees and it has a pretty view across the valley. And when my daughter goes back to school this fall, she'll have a place to come in the afternoon and do her homework.”

Susan's enthusiasm was one of the reasons Jamie had hired her. Once she'd left for the day, Jamie sank into a chair and watched the ocean for a while. Maybe she'd leave the chairs here. It would be a nice place for people to come and sit and watch the water. She'd ask Zack if he minded the idea; he probably wouldn't. They were attractive and would blend into the landscape.

She had a steady flow of customers for the rest of the afternoon, with the final flurry of off-duty Mar Vista employees between three and four. Lately they'd had a change of attitude concerning their employer. They were delighted with a new policy offering advancement potential, and the time he'd spent with one of their own at the local hospital had given a jump start to their approval.

It was another reason she was glad Susan would be taking over the stand soon. The last thing she needed for her peace of mind was to constantly hear about Zack Denning or Mar Vista.

* * *

A
S
B
RAD
COMPLETED
his third full round of the property for the day, he thought it might be time to request a physical review and get on with his life. He'd begun running the route, recalling his basic training, and it was going well. It wasn't that he felt 100 percent, but he was making rapid progress, and he hated the uncertainty of wondering what he was going to do next.

Back at the resort, he dropped by the office to see if Zack wanted to kick back with a cup of coffee.

“Hi, Brad,” Trudy greeted him. “A guest came by looking for you earlier.”

“A guest?” His senses went on alert. Unless his parents had decided to make a surprise visit, Kim was the only guest who'd be looking for him.

“It's Kim Wheeler.” Trudy confirmed his conclusion. “She was hoping you might be free for dinner. Apparently, she tried your cell phone, but it was off.”

“Is she in the same room as before?”

“No, it was occupied, so they put her in 108, two doors down. She said to come by if you have a chance.”

Brad went upstairs to shower and change, then walked slowly to Kim's room. It was an unusual time of the week for her to get away from the office, unless Zack had needed her for legal purposes.

At 108, he knocked. A second later Kim opened the door and waved him inside. “Want a beer or something?” she asked. “I had room service deliver several options.”

“Are you expecting someone?”

She smiled. “Yes. You.” In a swift move, she wrapped her arms around him and landed a kiss that began hot and progressed to sizzling.

“Holy cow,” he gasped when she finally loosened up on him. “What was that about?”

“If you don't know, you're even rustier with women than you say you are. Look, Brad. I accept that you're a soldier and I'll admit the idea of you returning to active duty scares the hell out of me. But if that's why you're keeping so much distance between us, quit shielding me. I've had some long talks with my mom and my aunt. If they can thrive as navy wives, I can handle it with a marine.”

“You're not... I mean, it's not the same as when your dad and uncle were in the service.”

“No, it's not, but so what? We are both consenting adults and you can't tell me that you're not attracted to me.”

“You... I need to think.” Brad grabbed a bottle of beer and drank down half, chewing on what to say. Kim had virtually proposed to him, and while it was tempting, it wasn't that easy.

“You think too much—that's your problem,” she said.

“I'm trying to be realistic. You're a lawyer with a five-star reputation in a tough city. Zack told me that you have meetings with the mayor of San Francisco, for God's sake. The last thing you need is a banged-up soldier hanging around. I don't even know what I'm going to do with my life or what I'm good for....”

Sparks practically flew from Kim's eyes. “That's insulting. How could you imagine your physical condition has anything to do with me wanting to be with you? And as for what you're going to ‘do' with your life, if you can't serve on active duty, how about teaching or another assignment? Surely the military can use a highly trained officer with battle experience in places that don't require you to bench-press a battleship.”

Bench-press a battleship?

Brad's sense of humor asserted itself. He despised self-pity even more than he hated being pitied by other people. He'd admired Kim forever...wanted her without realizing it. She felt the same for him. Apparently, it was time for action.

He pulled her close and returned her kiss with enough heat to melt one of those battleships.

“Not bad, soldier,” she murmured as his hands roamed around her waist and rib cage.

“So, what else did you talk about with your mother and aunt?”

She gasped as he neatly dispatched her blouse, but tried to talk in a normal voice. “They just gave me a few tips and some really valuable advice.”

“What advice?” he said, sinking down upon the bed with her.

“Mostly that I didn't have to wait for you to make the first move.”

“Mmm. I knew I liked those two women.”

* * *

Z
ACK
STUDIED
THE
new structure for Jamie's fruit stand. It was half-completed and rested on land along the main drag out of town. It looked good—obviously more permanent than the trailer, but that wasn't a bad thing. They'd gotten permits to tap into the water main and bring electricity in, so there was a restroom and an indoor room where someone could relax or fix a snack, though the display space was a roofed area outside. He'd also bought a walk-in commercial cooler, where the stock could be stored, if necessary, for short periods.

A paved driveway provided a clean area for deliveries and the Mar Vista pickups. The project didn't have the resort's grand size or luxury, but it was attractive and functional.

“Hey, Zack.” It was Jack Sawyer coming around the corner with his long lanky stride.

Instead of getting contractors, Zack had decided to use the Mar Vista maintenance staff to build the stand, making Jack the supervisor. In his off time, the man was a freelance contractor in Warrington, so it seemed a good way to demonstrate his intention to give the local employees advancement opportunities. Jack was a total professional, with a sense of humor that he'd let loose once he grew more comfortable around Zack; he had made more than one joke about Zack and Jack building a shack.

“You guys are doing a great job,” Zack said.

“Thanks. We're all putting a token inside the walls. I'm putting in a stick.”

“A stick?”

“Sure. Sure, the stick that hit the cow that kicked the dog that chased the cat that ate the rat that chewed a hole in the house that Jack built.”

Zack grinned.

They discussed the flooring for the interior and decided on a quality laminate since it would be more durable and attractive than some of the alternatives. A low decking would provide the flooring for the outside sales and display area.

“We're knocking off now,” Jack said at length. “But I'll have the crew back early tomorrow. A few days should do it.”

“Terrific. I'll let Ms. Conroe know.”

“She's a nice lady. A shame some louse had to make things hard on her.”

Zack followed the truck back to Mar Vista. He stopped by the office to read a status report from Trudy and sign a few letters.

Jamie had insisted on providing dinner that night and was expecting him at nine. The later hour was her idea, not his; she'd probably decided it was a way to limit the time he spent at the house. It was so frustrating. He was certain Jamie still desired him, but she wouldn't acknowledge it and kept pushing him away.

The extra hours did provide an opportunity to take a run on the ocean bluff. Now that he wasn't spending every second trying to perform everyone else's job, he could do some personal things. Sixty minutes later, he arrived back at the apartment and decided he'd have to get out more often. The adrenaline burn felt good.

In the parking lot, Zack did a double take—Kim and Brad were headed toward his car, hand in hand. Somehow he'd missed seeing Kim's name on the reservations list. She looked as happy as he'd ever seen her and the pair kissed before Brad opened the passenger door. As Brad came around to the driver's side, he spotted his brother; Zack grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.

Feeling even better, Zack trotted up the stairs to his apartment. Somehow Kim and his brother had gone from nowhere to okay in nothing flat.

The phone rang and it was Gordon, asking if he
really
shouldn't provide food for that night. To placate the generous chef, Zack suggested appetizers and a dessert; after all, if they didn't eat them, Jamie could stick them in the refrigerator for another day. Gordon seemed pleased and Zack suspected he saw himself in the role of matchmaker, using food to smooth the road to romance.

Romance.

Brad and Kim finally had gotten it right and he had a feeling it wouldn't be long before Kim was not only a friend, but a sister-in-law.

As for Jamie?

Zack's mood sobered sharply. Years ago, Kim had broken up with him, saying she refused to come second to his ambition. As a brash college student, he'd dismissed her reasoning out of wounded ego—after all, what was wrong with ambition? But brutal honesty made him admit that she
had
come second...and not even a close second.

Was that the problem with Jamie? She'd seen him as a determined entrepreneur, attempting to have a woman thrown off her land because he didn't like the appearance of her business. In the beginning, he'd used various business ploys on her to try to get control of the situation. Was it any wonder she hesitated to trust him?

He wanted her in a way that threatened to disable him whenever he thought of how she touched him in bed. More than that, he enjoyed simply being with her, and appreciated her humor, intelligence and insight.

Jamie deserved to come first and he had to decide whether he was ready for that kind of commitment...assuming she even wanted it from him.

In the meantime, he was determined to protect her while Tim Gardiner was on the loose. And tonight he had some other good news to share—Jamie would surely be pleased that Brad and Kim had finally gotten together.

* * *

J
AMIE
DECIDED
HER
pride had gotten the better of her. She'd insisted on preparing the evening meal as a move toward self-reliance or something—she was a little hazy as to the reason—so now she was stuck. Also, it was awfully domestic, cooking a meal for Zack Denning, a man she'd been trying to push away for more than a week.

Having him sleep on the couch every night was an exercise in torture. She'd never expected to like Zack, much less feel anything stronger for him. It would have been so much easier if he'd stayed a rude, arrogant jackass, demanding things he had no right to demand.