Long Simmering Spring (16 page)

Cole moved his mouth away from hers and bent his head, nibbling on a peaked nipple. Her sensitive flesh responded instinctively, sending a shock of fire through her body. And that was all it took.

Without warning, she shattered around him, light flashing behind her closed eyes. He drank her gasp into his open mouth, her soft cry fading out almost as soon as it had sounded.

Julie drifted back to reality slowly. Cole had shifted her into a spooning position, lying down, her back once again pressed to his chest. Her head rested on his inner arm, but the soft blanket was still underneath the rest of her body. She opened her eyes slowly, acclimating to the pitch-black darkness that had crept up around them.

Then Cole shifted, and something hard and hot pressed against her backside.

“Oh,
Cole
,” she said, turning and reaching for him, “please let me.” She looked up into his eyes, black mirrors in the night.

“Don’t,” Cole said in a low rumble as he grabbed her hand and held it immobile. “This day is for you. There’s a reason I wanted to be here, not at your house.”

Because then they wouldn’t have stopped. And he knew she really didn’t want to stop.

“Let’s keep going,” she urged. She couldn’t allow him to focus only on her pleasure while suppressing his own.

“No,” he said, pulling her close and speaking low and dark into her ear. “When we make love, it is not going to be on a blanket outside in the dark. I want to see every inch of your body,” he growled. “We’re going to need hours.”

His precise words were like a shot to her senses. She shuddered and then offered up her lips. He pressed his to hers without taking things further—his kiss chaste, yet with such passion behind it that it almost blew her away. Then he tucked her head against his chest and she breathed in deeply, trying to imprint his scent on her brain. They lay like that for a long while, the night growing cool around her as she remained warm, curled in Cole’s arms.

After a while, he spoke. “Let’s get you home.”

He helped her up, folded the blanket, tossed it in the trunk of his car, and showed her to the passenger seat. Then he drove slowly to Star Harbor and when they reached her house, they walked together to her front door.

“So,” he asked. “Did you like feeling like a bad girl tonight?”

Julie reached up to wind her hands around his neck. “Yes,” she whispered, just before she kissed him deeply, the way she knew he liked. He returned the favor, wrapping his arms around her waist.

After she unwound herself from him, he quirked an eyebrow. “Maybe we can do it again, sometime,” he said, wry humor in his tone.

She gave him a secret, sultry smile, brushing her hand from his shoulder down the hard planes of his chest and stopping at his belt buckle. “We’ll see.”

She was rewarded when he let out his breath in a long hiss. The joke was over, and it was a secret pleasure to see that his control wasn’t always kept in tight check.

“Woman,” he growled. “You’d better get inside and upstairs now before this night ends differently than the way I’d planned.”

He was just standing there, hands by his sides as he tried not to touch her. God, she wanted him! “Let me cook dinner for you next Saturday night,” she found herself saying. Cole was staying with her, but he’d kept a low profile—eating dinner with Val most nights and simply showing up when she was done working. Now that she’d gotten a taste of what he could be like, she wanted more.

“Dinner sounds good,” he said slowly. “Is seven all right?”

“Perfect.” She reached out her hand. He took it and squeezed gently.

“Perfect,” he agreed.

Suppressing a smile, she fished her keys out of her purse and opened the door, letting them both into the house. He walked her to the stairs, where she turned back to him. “Good night, Cole. Thank you for a completely wonderful day.”

When Cole smiled back, that little coil around her heart squeezed tighter. She was falling for him. And it felt good.

CHAPTER 13

The afternoon of the second Saturday in April was breezy, and a cool wind blew through the streets of Edgartown, a prime tourist destination on Martha’s Vineyard. Much like Star Harbor, Edgartown oozed New England charm with its beautiful Victorian-style whaling homes and its quiet, tree-lined streets. Julie peered out across Water Street from underneath the shade of a large umbrella at a sidewalk café. A few early tourists walked up and down the sidewalks, shopping, laughing, and eating ice cream. A cashmere shop across the way had its windows open and next door, a tiny antique furniture shop displayed an elegant iron chaise outside. Julie sighed softly, reached for her iced tea, and leaned back in her chair.

“You feeling okay, Julie?” Lisa asked from a nearby seat.

“Oh, definitely. I’m so glad you and Mitch invited me to spend the afternoon with you on the Vineyard.”

“Our pleasure,” Mitch said, adjusting his Red Sox baseball cap over his nut-brown hair. “It’s great to have a day off from the lab, and man, do I need the time to recharge! Not that my research on bioluminescent phytoplankton isn’t scintillating, but a guy’s gotta take a break.” He crossed his arms behind his head in an easy gesture.

Lisa rolled her eyes as Julie laughed.

“Did your presentation at the Spring Fair go well this morning?” Lisa asked.

“Yes. The Kingsport EMTs were great, and I think folks really responded well to the demonstration.”

“I’m glad. Stuff like that is actually good for business. Gets our name out there so people won’t go to Barnstable for their primary care.”

Julie nodded, not as much caught up in her work as she would have been, say, a month ago. If doing a demonstration at the Star Harbor Spring Fair helped business, great. If not, her practice would survive. Just as she’d told Cole when he’d asked her to participate, she’d done it for Star Harbor. And truth be told, for him, too. She smiled, remembering how happy Cole had been with the turnout. When she’d left him at the fair, everything was going smoothly.

“It was a good call to head to the farmers’ market,” she said, changing the subject as she nudged the canvas tote at her feet, which was filled to the brim with fresh vegetables. “And that homemade apricot jam. Mmmm . . .” she said, remembering the sample she’d tasted at the market. “I should have gotten more than just the one jar.”

“Speaking of sweets,” Lisa interjected, “when we’re done with our drinks, what do you say we get some fudge at Murdick’s?”

“That’s so touristy,” Julie responded, wrinkling up her nose.

“Of course! That’s why we came. So
we
could be the tourists in a waterfront town,” Lisa said energetically. “Besides,” she added, winking, “all the cool kids have fudge.” She pointed surreptitiously to a skinny little kid on the sidewalk who was happily chomping on some of the sweet confection.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me,” Julie said, laughing. “But only if we can get Rocky Road. And we have to hurry. I want to make the next ferry home, and it’s at least a thirty-minute drive back to Vineyard Haven.”

“You got it.”

Julie finished her drink fast and they dashed to get some fudge before hopping in Mitch’s car. Unfortunately, as they were driving up to the ferry terminal, they heard the boat’s horn.

“Darn, we missed it,” Julie said, glancing at her watch.

“It’s okay,” Lisa said, as Mitch got in the line for vehicles. “We’ll just catch the next one. It’s only another hour.”

Julie sighed. “I have dinner plans. I should have told you that before.”

“A hot date?” Mitch asked, waggling his eyebrows at her in the rearview mirror.

“Something like that,” she said as Lisa turned around to give her a wink, her smile a mile wide.

“So just call him and tell him you’ll be late,” Mitch suggested.

“I’ll text him,” Julie said as she and Lisa hopped out of the car and walked over to the ferry terminal to get their tickets
.
“I’m pretty sure he’s still at the Spring Fair, and it won’t be an issue. If we catch the five-forty-five ferry, I’ll make it, though barely.” Being pressed for time wasn’t ideal, but she’d just have to manage. She’d taken a big risk by asking Cole to have dinner with her at home, and of course it had to come back to bite her in the butt. But she was aching to take their relationship to the next level, and so far, Cole didn’t seem to be making any moves in that regard.

She’d expected a brief, passionate fling, and then to get back to her usual grind. But Cole had surprised her. That maturity in his gaze, his unwillingness to simply jump into bed—it all just made her like him more. They’d grown so close, and in such a short time, something she’d never found with anyone else. And in just the last few weeks, she’d been feeling more alive—more present—than she ever had before, and Cole was making that happen. He was more than just entertainment, and she needed to acknowledge that. She wanted—needed—to show him more of herself.

There was a little voice inside her head that told her she was falling too hard, too fast, but she pushed it aside. It wasn’t in her nature to do things halfway. It was either everything or nothing—including when it came to love. And so even though Cole had the power to break her heart, she couldn’t be afraid to take chances.

After they bought their return tickets, Julie pulled out her cell phone.

Julia Kensington: Hi. Going to be a bit late.

In less than 20 seconds, the phone buzzed.

Cole Grayson: Is this your way of telling me you don’t want to have dinner?

Julia Kensington: No way. We’re on. Come over at 7:30 instead.

Cole Grayson: Just call me when you get back so I’ll know when to head over.

Julia Kensington: Ok.

Cole didn’t text back right away, so she tucked her phone back into her pocket.

Lisa had gone back to the car, so Julie walked over to a newsstand and purchased a copy of the Barnstable
Patriot
to read while they waited. An opinion piece on page three about the perils of prescription drug abuse caught her eye.
Ah, crap!
Prescription pads.
With everything else unfolding, it had slipped her mind. She’d already made some phone calls regarding the missing pads, but she wanted to tell Cole, too. Maybe he’d have some suggestions on what to do. Thinking that Mitch and Lisa might enjoy a few moments alone, she stayed in the terminal, read the paper, and breathed in the salty air until it was time to board the ferry.

As soon as the boat arrived in Falmouth and Mitch and Lisa had dropped her off in the ferry terminal parking lot, she got out her cell phone.

Julia Kensington: Back on the Cape
.

Cole Grayson: Heading over now
.

Satisfied that she’d done her duty, Julie waved goodbye to her friends, hopped into her own car, an old station wagon, and eased onto the road leading to Star Harbor. It was just getting dark and the glow of the sun setting over the trees made the sky look like strawberry sherbet, but she didn’t have time to enjoy it. She had to get home, fast.

When she pulled into her driveway, she glanced at her watch. Six-fifty. Not too late, but she hadn’t even changed her clothes, let alone started dinner. Leaping out of her car, she grabbed her packages. With full arms, she shut the door with her hip and walked briskly up the steps to her front door. She put one bag down and fumbled in her purse for her key. But when she heard a branch crack close by, she nearly dropped everything else she was holding.

Quickly, she turned, her key in her palm, clenched in her fist, ready to confront whoever—or whatever—was out there. As she strained to see into the darkness of the nearby woods, her heart started beating madly. Blood flashed through her veins.

Then, softly, Cole stepped out of the woods and slowly walked toward her.

“Good Lord, Cole, you just took two years off my life!” she said, still breathing hard. “Why are you skulking around like that?”

“Were you here at all this afternoon?” he queried softly. “I didn’t see you after you left the Spring Fair.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” she said.

“You didn’t answer mine,” he countered.

Pushing back at her irritation, she said, “Look, I’m sorry I’m late. I thought my texts were pretty clear. Just come on in. I’ll get dinner started.” She turned to open the front door. Almost in a heartbeat, Cole vaulted up the porch stairs and stood right next to her, his hand on the door.

“I was worried about you and you’re blowing me off.” That little crease between his brows was back.

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“I’m not. Come here.” He gestured with his hand for her to follow him around the porch to the back of the house. This was not the way she’d envisioned their evening going. She trailed him reluctantly, half angry that he was acting so dictatorial and half angry at herself for following along. They reached the backyard and looked over the porch at the grass.

“What am I looking at?” Julie asked, peering into the dimming light.

“The grass.”

“The grass,” she repeated dully.

“Not just the grass. Look closely. There.” He pointed with a finger at some grass that had been tamped down. “You see that? That call you made about the peeping Tom got me concerned, so I came over early to check out your place again. Someone’s been up here between when I left for the Spring Fair and now. The trail of smashed grass runs from the toolshed to the clearing at the edge of the bluff. You didn’t hire anyone to do work around the house, did you?”

Julie shook her head and looked at Cole. “No.” She swallowed. “It means whoever came up here either skirted the grass from the road or came up the cliff wall. Are you sure a person did this, and not an animal?”

“Positive. Now please tell me if you were here at all this afternoon.”

He was still pushing this even though he knew she was safe. But could she fault him? This was part of his job—to be worried about people. “I went to the Vineyard with Lisa and Mitch.”

“When did you leave?”

“Right after the fair.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “So you weren’t here at all. Good.”

“Good? I thought you were angry I
wasn’t
.”