Island Affair (Escape Into Romance) (5 page)

"He owns a little bed and breakfast place in Tempest Beach. He is usually booked solid during the Christmas period. He says that it is good for him to keep busy." She paused and sighed again before continuing, "I think he's given up on me ever coming home for Christmas again. He doesn't even bother to ask any more."

She sounded so sad and it made him ache to comfort her. He moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her as he nuzzled his face into her neck. He could hear it in her voice how hard it had been to express that to him.

"You know before when you asked me why I am anti family and anti Christmas and I didn't answer you? I don't like to talk about my family much. We don't get along. I am an only child and my parents, in particular my father, had great plans for me. And when I didn't automatically fall in with those plans, well let's just say that things went badly very quickly. Suffice it to say that I don't spend any time with them any more."

Lacey rolled onto her side facing him. "That's so sad. You don't think you will be able to ever fix the rift?"

He hadn't moved his arm when she rolled over and it was still draped across her. "No I don't think so." He dragged her closer to him so that they were just touching.

She palmed his face. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it really is. I've come to terms with it. It was what drove me for a long time to become successful and now that I am... Well, it doesn't matter anymore."

"Yeah, but they are still your parents and..."

"Don't, okay? Please don't get into this with me." He looked at her pleadingly, hoping that she would take the hint and drop it. It didn't want to regret telling her his sad story.

She nodded her head. "Okay." She leaned in to place a soft kiss to his lips. Instantly the electricity arced between them. He smoothed his hand up over her rib cage and gently palmed her breast. She gasped and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

Lacey came awake slowly. She was so warm and comfortable and didn't really want to move. As consciousness took over her senses she became aware of the warmth all down her back and the sensation of a hair roughened male arm slung around her with the palm of the hand cupping her breast.

Desire immediately flooded her. She could feel Jonathan's breath wafting over the nape of her neck, sending chills down her spine. She had the greatest urge to squirm against the sensation but as she didn't want to wake him just yet she refrained from doing so.

They had ended up spending the night aboard the yacht as it was one of those beautifully clear and starlit nights. Great for romance. And they made the most of it by making love under the stars before heading to the master cabin where they also made love, repeatedly.

Lacey sighed. She was falling in love with Jonathan and she wasn't sure what to do about it. She had never felt this way about anyone before. And she doubted that she would ever feel this way about anyone else ever again. As she was contemplating her dilemma she felt him stirring behind her.

She shivered as she felt his lips brush feather light kisses across the nape of her neck. "Good morning." His raspy voice went straight to her core.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Like a baby." He yawned and she grinned. "We certainly were very active yesterday. I don't think that this old body can handle that kind of activity as much anymore."

She turned to face him. "You think that thirty-four is old? Come on, you're in peak condition in the prime of your life."

He laughed and hugged her to him. As she leaned back she watched his bright blue eyes darken and then he was bending his head towards her for a scorching kiss. But before it could take hold and burn out of control his mobile phone started to ring.

"Damn." He rolled over and grabbed the offending object. "Yes." He grinned at her as he listened to the person on the other end of the call. She watched as his face turned completely serious. "Yes, I understand. I will be there as soon as I can." He hung up the phone and immediately jumped out of bed.

He threw his clothes on as quickly as was humanly possible and left the cabin without a word to her. She stared at the closed door, not believing how fast his mood had changed. She wondered what the call had been about as she got out of bed and dressed quickly.

By the time she made it up on deck they were already moving along at a fast pace. She tried to make eye contact with Jonathan but he was extremely distracted with barking out orders. His mood was dark and she was apprehensive about asking him what the problem was.

She waited on the fringe of the activity hoping to find a suitable opening to approach him but in the end he approached her. She smiled at him but he didn't smile back. His face looked like thunder. "Are you all packed? We need to disembark as soon as we dock." He spoke in a clipped tone. This was getting ridiculous.

"Yes, I'm packed." He was about to turn and walk away from her once again when she said, "Jonathan..." He looked back at her but said nothing; his mouth was in a tight line. "What's going on? Why the rush to get back?"

She watched his Adam's apple bob up and down a couple of times as he swallowed hard. "My mother had a stroke. I have to get back to Sydney immediately to get to the hospital."

She lifted a hand to touch him but he backed away. She dropped her hand and leaned back. Without another word he walked away. She felt like her heart was breaking in two. He had shut her out again.

They reached the dock very quickly and there was a car waiting there to take them to the airport. She wondered about their luggage but found that it had already been stowed on Jonathan's private jet. The silent flight back to Sydney was excruciating. Jonathan spent the entire flight looking out of the window. Lacey gave up trying to engage him in conversation.

When they landed there were two cars waiting for them. Jonathan guided her to one of them and said, "My driver will take you home. Personnel will contact you on Monday about your resignation. They will take care of the details." With that he turned and walked away from her. She watched, speechless, as he climbed into the other waiting vehicle and drove off.

The days passed. New Year's came and went but Lacey was oblivious to it all. She hadn't been out of her apartment since returning from the island. She also hadn't heard anything from Jonathan. She had called the hospital and pretended to be Mrs. Tyler's niece to find out how Jonathan's mother was doing. Lacey was relieved to learn that it had only been a mild stroke and she was coming along well.

On about the fifth day of moping she had come to the realization that she was hopelessly, irrevocably in love with Jonathan. She also realized that he had no intention of ever loving her. She was an idiot. The one thing she had been protecting herself from had happened. Now what was she supposed to do for the rest of her life?

On the eighth day of moping she had had enough. She needed to get away; get out of the city.

She picked up the phone and punched in a number. She heard shuffling on the other end as the call was answered.

"Hello."

"Hi dad, how are you?"

"Lacey, love. I'm good, how are you?"

"I'm okay dad." She sighed at the lie.

"No you're not. I can hear it in your voice. What's wrong?"

"Can I come for a visit?"

"Of course! You don't need to ask. This is still your home. Yes, come."

"Thanks dad."

"Hi sweetheart, how was the trip down?" Patrick Craven seemed happy to see his daughter. It was a balm for her sore heart that he was so glad that she was visiting him.

"It was good dad, no problems."

"That's great." He pulled her to him in a bear hug and it felt so good to be with him again. It had been too long. He pulled back from her and gave her a long look. "You look tired. What's going on?"

"Nothing dad. Can't I just come for a visit because I miss you?"

He grinned at her. "Of course you can. But I still think something is wrong."

She couldn't put anything over him. "Shall we go inside dad?" She could see he wasn't fooled and knew that she would have to come clean with him about everything that had been going on. But not right now. She just needed a bit of breathing space.

After she got herself settled in one of the smaller guest rooms she went looking for her dad. She found him in the kitchen making tea. He wasn't alone. There was an attractive looking woman talking to him. They seemed to be having a quite intense conversation but went quiet when they saw her enter.

"There you are. I was wondering where you'd got to." He flicked a quick look at his companion. "Um... Lacey this is Isobella. Isobella this is my daughter, Lacey."

Lacey moved into the room and took Isobella's outstretched hand to shake. "It's so good to meet you Lacey. Patrick has told me so much about you." She smiled at Lacey.

"Well that's nice. I haven't heard anything about you though. Dad..." Her father put up a hand to stop her.

"Oh no, no. It's not what you're thinking sweetie. Isobella is just a good friend." But Lacey wasn't convinced, especially when she saw the hurt look on Isobella's face.

"Well, I have to go now, Patrick. I'll talk to you later. It was nice meeting you Lacey." The woman left the room in a hurry. Lacey gave her father an inquisitive look and he just shrugged.

"Come, sit down and have a cuppa with me."

They chatted for a while about inconsequential things, like the weather, the town, the people. Once they had exhausted all of the safe topics an uncomfortable silence descended upon them.

"So, are you going to tell me what is wrong?" Her father wasn't going to let this go. She was going to have to get into it whether she wanted to or not. He was only trying to be helpful but she wished he wouldn't keep asking.

She sighed. "I'm going to say this once and then I don't want to talk about it again, ever. Okay?"

He nodded but kept quiet. "It's Jonathan. He and I... We..." She couldn't continue. She felt the tears threatening to take over again.

Her father grabbed her hand and said, "It's okay sweetie. I think I get the picture."

She looked at him, blinking the tears away. "I have quit my job, so I'm at a bit of a loose end. Do you mind if I help out here for a while until I decide what I'm going to do? You don't need to pay me, I have plenty of money saved. I can afford to take several months off before I really need to look for work again."

He smiled at her. "That's fine, take all the time you need love."

He squeezed her hand as she returned his smile with a watery one of her own. They sat silently drinking their tea for a few minutes.

"So what is the deal with you and Isobella?" Her father choked on the mouthful of tea he was swallowing and started coughing. Lacey jumped up quickly to pat him on the back.

"Fairs fair. I told you what is going on with me. It's your turn to tell me what's going on with you."

Once he had himself under control once again he looked at her sternly. "That's a very dangerous thing you just did to an old man."

"Stop trying to change the subject, dad."

He sighed. "Isobella is a friend. End of story."

"Really? I think she might have other ideas about that." He looked at her with a puzzled expression and she thought that perhaps he was oblivious to Isobel's feelings for him. She just smiled at him.

Lacey spent the next few days throwing herself into working in the B&B alongside her father. At night she would collapse into bed exhausted but still unable to sleep. Then the tears would start to fall and eventually she would fall into an uneasy sleep filled with dreams of Jonathan.

She could feel her father's concerned gaze upon her more than once throughout the days that passed, but he kept quiet. She was grateful for that as her emotional state was so precarious right now that any little thing could set her off.

A week later she was starting to feel a little more normal. The routine of helping out with the day to day running of the B&B and the cleansing salty fresh air of Tempest Beach seemed to be doing the trick. She still missed Jonathan madly but the ache didn't feel quite as sharp.

She was sure that she would get over him in time and be able to move on but it was just the living through it that was tough right now.

She had just finished making up a recently vacated room and was entering the laundry to dump the dirty linens when she heard her father talking quite loudly to someone in the B&B entryway. It was unusual for her father to ever raise his voice so she was curious to find out who had upset her father to such an extent.

As she rounded the corner she stopped short. She was shocked to see that the person that her father was arguing with was none other than Jonathan. At her sharp intake of breath he spotted her and locked eyes with her. Her father turned to look at her.

"Lacey I'm sorry. I tried to get him to leave but he refuses to go."

Lacey was speechless. It had been over two weeks since she had last seen him and she found that she couldn't take her eyes off him. He looked pretty rough around the edges with several days' growth of beard on his face. His eyes were sunken and had dark circles ringed around them, like he hadn't been sleeping well. She refused to feel pity for him but her love for him was as strong as it had ever been.

Damping down those feelings she said, "What are you doing here, Jonathan?" She crossed her arms over her chest. Before he could answer her first question she went on, "Although I think the better questions to ask are how did you know I was here and how did you get here?"

He walked slowly over to her to stand in front of her but he didn't try to touch her. "To answer your questions, it wasn't hard to find out where you had gone, Lacey. Anyone who knows you well would have been able to work it out. I rented a car to drive here. And the reason I am here is you. I've been a jerk and I want to make it up to you."

Lacey stepped backwards away from him. "Oh no you don't. I haven't just spent the last two weeks plus working to get over you to have you come in here and think that you can say sorry and make everything okay once again. It doesn't work like that Jonathan. Now please leave, I don't want to see you or talk to you."