Meant for Love (47 page)

In the dark, it was hard to see much, but it seemed small next to some of the other buildings and boasted a quaint front porch. They were past it before she could ascertain much of anything else.

Will pulled into a parking lot behind a large white Victorian house.

“Where are we?”

“I assume you’re staying at the inn since it’s the only place in town that takes guests.”

Cameron pulled out the confirmation message she had printed at home. “The Admiral Frances Butler Inn?”

“That’s it.” He cut the engine and got out of the truck.

By the time she emerged onto thankfully dry pavement, he’d fetched her luggage from the back. “Can you hand me the black bag? My running shoes are in there.”

He retrieved the bag she pointed to and dropped it in front of her.

“You don’t have to shoot the messenger, you know,” she said.

“What does that mean?”

“Just because you’re mad at your dad for hiring me doesn’t mean you have to be cranky with me.”

“You were irritating me long before I knew my dad had hired you.”

“You’re just full of charm, aren’t you?” she asked as she pulled on sneakers.

“So I’m told.”

“By
who
?”

He waggled his brows at her. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Actually, I really wouldn’t.”

“Suit yourself,” he said with a shrug as he led her into the back door of the inn. He seemed to know his way around, so she followed him through a series of hallways to the front desk where he rang the bell on the counter. The place smelled like potpourri and lemon-scented furniture polish.

An older woman came through the door wearing a housecoat, pin curlers in her hair and a warm, welcoming smile on her plump face.

“Hi, Will. What a nice surprise. What brings you in tonight?”

“Hi there, Mrs. Hendricks. I’ve brought you a guest. Cameron . . .”

“Oh,” the older woman said, resting a hand on her head as if she just remembered her curlers. “I look a sight.”

“You’re pretty as a picture, just like always,” Will said.

“Will Abbott,” Mrs. Hendricks said as her face turned bright red, “you could charm a bird out of a tree.”

Will sent Cameron a smug smile, as if to say “Told ya so.”

Cameron cleared her throat, hoping to remind Mrs. Hendricks that a paying customer was waiting to check in. “Cameron Murphy. Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Hendricks.”

The other woman finally looked at her and gasped. “Oh my! What happened to your face?”

Cameron raised her hands to her face, remembering the moment of impact and how her nose had hurt afterward. “What?”

“You have two black eyes,” Mrs. Hendricks said. “And your nose . . .”

Alarmed, Cameron looked around for a mirror. “What about my nose?” She walked across the small lobby to a framed mirror and shrieked at what she saw. Her nose was swollen and sure enough, dark bruises were forming under her eyes. “Oh my God!”

Turning back to find Will leaning against the counter and Mrs. Hendricks looking on with concern, Cameron marched back over to confront him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That my face was all banged up!”

“Um, maybe because I figured you’d hardly need me to tell you that something had smacked you in the face.”

“It must’ve been the airbag,” she said, remembering that moment of utter blackness. Had she passed out? She’d been ignoring the pain in her face as she tried to get her bearings with Will, but now that they mentioned it, her nose was throbbing rather insistently.

“The airbag would also explain the burn on your neck,” Will added.

“Burn?” Her voice was a shrill squeak. “What burn?”

He leaned in closer to her, and she swore her heart skipped a beat as she caught a whiff of his outdoorsy scent. The touch of his finger on her neck sent a shocking bolt of heat straight through her, landing in a tingle between her legs. What in the name of hell was that about?

“There.” As if he’d touched something hot, Will pulled back his hand and straightened out of that insolent slouch he did so well.

The two of them stared at each other for a long heated moment.

“Was there an accident?” Mrs. Hendricks asked, interrupting the intense interlude.

“She hit Fred,” Will said gravely.

Mrs. Hendricks brought a hand to her ample chest. “Oh! Is he okay?”

“He seemed no worse for the wear,” Will said. “Good thing it was a small car.”

“It was a
new
car!” Cameron said, wondering if anyone in this godforsaken town would care that her adorable little car was no longer adorable.

“Well, as long as he’s okay,” Mrs. Hendricks said as if Cameron hadn’t spoken. Then she turned to Cameron. “I can call Doc Edwards for you, if you’d like.”

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary.” All Cameron wanted was a warm bath and an ice pack for her throbbing nose.

“Could I borrow the phone to call Nolan about her car?” Will asked.

“Of course.” Mrs. Hendricks handed him the portable phone, and he dialed a number from memory.

While Cameron completed the check-in paperwork and handed over her credit card, Will filled Nolan in on the accident.

“Yep, she ran smack into poor old Fred.” A pause. “He seemed fine, but we might want to send the doc after him in the morning to make sure.”

Glowering at him, Cameron whispered, “The car. Remember the
car
?”

He met her glower with a scowl. “Now, about the car.”

Finally
, Cameron thought, signing on the dotted line for Mrs. Hendricks and accepting the key to her third-floor room.

Will handed the phone back to Mrs. Hendricks. “Nolan’s going to fetch the car tonight so no one hits it out on the road. He said to check in with him in the morning. The garage is across the street.” Pointing toward the front door. “That way.”

“Thank you.” Cameron forced herself to look up at him and all his beauty. “I appreciate your help.” His eyes, she realized were light brown, almost gold. Why did he have to be so spectacularly gorgeous and so outrageously cranky?

“You need help getting your stuff upstairs?”

The idea of him following her to a hotel room sent more tingling awareness rippling through her. “I can do it.”

But before the words were out of her mouth, he was already heading to the stairs with her bags. Uttering a quick thank-you to Mrs. Hendricks, Cameron scurried after him.

On the third floor, he deposited her suitcases outside Room 18. He stopped so suddenly that Cameron nearly ran into his broad back.

Turning, he caught her inches from his chest, and the awareness that had sizzled between them downstairs chose that moment to reappear. Cameron had never experienced such an overpowering need to touch another person. She rolled her hands into fists to keep from acting on the impulse.

“Listen,” he said, haltingly, “you seem like a nice enough person.”

“Wow, thanks.”
Charming?
Whatever.

His expression turned stormy. “What I was
going
to say is that things are apt to get a little heated tomorrow at the meeting. Don’t take it personally, okay? Our beef is with him, not you.”

“I’m here to do a job. Nothing about this is personal.”

“Good,” he said, apparently picking up on her double meaning as she’d hoped he would. “Let’s keep it that way.”

“Fine by me.”

“You might want to put some ice on your nose,” he said as he headed down the stairs.

Too bad he missed the gesture she made at his retreating back.

Pre-order
All You Need Is Love
now, and watch for Book 2,
I Want to Hold Your Hand
, in June 2014!

Who
’
s Who on Gansett Island

The McCarthy Family

“Big Mac”
 and 
Linda McCarthy,
 owners of McCarthy’s Gansett Island Marina and McCarthy’s Gansett Island Inn, are parents to:

• Mac McCarthy Jr.,
   married to 
  Maddie Chester McCarthy;
   father to 
  Thomas
   and 
  Hailey McCarthy
  

• Grant McCarthy,
   engaged to 
  Stephanie Logan,
  owner of Stephanie’s Bistro
  
• Adam McCarthy, 
  living with 
  Abby Callahan,
  owner of Abby’s Attic 2
  
• Evan McCarthy, 
  engaged to 
  Grace Ryan,
  owner of Ryan’s Pharmacy
  
• Janey McCarthy Cantrell,
   married to 
  Joe Cantrell
  , owner of the Gansett Island Ferry Company; mother of
  P.J. Cantrell
  

Judge Frank McCarthy
, brother to “Big Mac” McCarthy, father to:

• Laura McCarthy,
   cousin to Mac, Grant, Adam, Evan and Janey; mother of
  Holden Newsome
  ; engaged to Owen Lawry; manager of the Sand & Surf Hotel
  
• Shane McCarthy,
   cousin to Mac, Grant, Adam, Evan and Janey; works with cousin Mac at McCarthy Construction and helps at Sand & Surf Hotel
  

McCarthy Friends & Family

Owen Lawry,
 musician and best friend of Evan McCarthy; engaged to Laura McCarthy

Luke Harris,
 co-owner of McCarthys Gansett Island Marina and married to Sydney Donovan

Sydney Donovan,
 interior decorator; married to Luke Harris

Ned Saunders
, best friend to Big Mac McCarthy and fiancé of
Francine Chester
, mother of Maddie McCarthy and Tiffany Taylor

Tiffany Taylor,
sister to Maddie McCarthy, daughter of Francine Chester, mother to Ashleigh Sturgil; married to Blaine Taylor; owner of Naughty & Nice

Blaine Taylor,
 Gansett Island police chief, married to Tiffany Taylor; stepfather to Ashleigh Sturgil

Bobby Chester,
 estranged father of Maddie McCarthy and Tiffany Taylor, estranged husband of Francine Chester

Jim Sturgil,
 attorney, ex-husband of Tiffany Taylor, father to Ashleigh Sturgil

Seamus O’Grady,
 manager of the Gansett Island Ferry Company; engaged to Carolina Cantrell

Carolina Cantrell,
 mother of Joe Cantrell, engaged to Seamus O’Grady

Nora O’Grady
, mother to Seamus O’Grady

Shannon O’Grady
, cousin to Seamus O’Grady

Dan Torrington,
 celebrity lawyer and friend to Grant McCarthy; dating Kara Ballard

Kara Ballard
, operator of Ballard’s Launch Service; dating Dan Torrington

Officer Wyatt,
 patrolman with Gansett Island Police Department; boyfriend to Patty

Patty
, assistant to Tiffany Taylor at Naughty & Nice, girlfriend of Officer Wyatt

Dr. Cal Maitland
, former island doctor and ex-fiancé of Abby Callahan

Charlie Grandchamp,
 stepfather of Stephanie Logan; dating Sarah Lawry

Sarah Lawry,
 mother of Owen Lawry; dating Charlie Grandchamp

Mark Lawry,
 father of Owen Lawry; estranged husband of Sarah Lawry

Betsy Jacobson,
 mother of Steve who was killed in boating accident; friend to Frank McCarthy

Slim Jackson,
 Gansett Island pilot

David Lawrence,
 Gansett Island doctor, former fiancé of Janey McCarthy Cantrell; dating Daisy Babson

Daisy Babson,
 friend of Maddie McCarthy’s; dating David Lawrence

Jared James,
Wall Street tycoon, landlord and friend of David Lawrence

Marion Martinez,
 mother of Alex and Paul Martinez; co-owner of Martinez Lawn & Garden

Alex Martinez
, son of Marion Martinez; brother of Paul Martinez; co-owner of Martinez Lawn & Garden

Paul Martinez
, son of Marion Martinez; brother of Alex Martinez; co-owner of Martinez Lawn & Garden

Jenny Wilks,
 lighthouse keeper

Mason Johns,
 island fire chief

Linc Mercier,
Coast Guard officer who runs Gansett Island station

Truck Henry
, Daisy Babson’s abusive ex-boyfriend

Victoria Stevens,
 Gansett Island midwife

Rebecca
, owner of the South Harbor Diner

Chelsea
, bartender at the Beachcomber

Doc Potter
, island veterinarian

Chloe Dennis,
 owner of the Curl Up and Dye Salon

The Children of Gansett Island

• Thomas McCarthy,
   son of Maddie McCarthy; adopted son of Mac McCarthy
  
• Hailey McCarthy,
   daughter of Maddie and Mac McCarthy
  
• Ashleigh Sturgil,
   daughter of Tiffany and Jim Sturgil
  
• Holden Newsome,
   son of Laura McCarthy and her ex-husband, Justin Newsome
  
• P.J. Cantrell,
   son of Janey McCarthy Cantrell and Joe Cantrell