Sweet Talk Boxed Set (Ten NEW Contemporary Romances by Bestselling Authors to Benefit Diabetes Research plus BONUS Novel) (68 page)

Even as that rebellious thought crossed her mind, she recognized that it was one more indication of how deeply her ex-husband was still imbedded in her head. It was time to free herself from the last of those taunting memories and move on.

When she arrived at Jaime’s in her cotton dress with its spaghetti straps and flowing skirt and a pair of kickass high-heeled sandals, she smiled in satisfaction at his thunderstruck expression.

“New look?”

“New outlook,” she corrected.

A smile tugged at his lips. “Are you hoping to seduce me, Emma Hastings?”

“The thought has crossed my mind.”

He grinned. “You don’t have to work that hard, but I’m glad you went to the trouble. You look fabulous. I love your hair like that.” His voice took on a low, sexy tone and his eyes darkened with a smoldering heat. “It makes me want to tangle my fingers in those curls and kiss you senseless.”

He sounded so serious, so hungry for her that her pulse scrambled. “Before dinner?” she said, barely able to squeak out the words. The whole slow, sweet seduction game was a new one for her.

“Or after,” he said, his gaze steady. “What’s your preference?”

She blinked at the question. She could barely form a thought, much less answer him.

“Now, please,” she finally managed, a hint of desperation in her voice. She wanted to move past the anticipation, past the insecurities and the million and one doubts crowding out her tiny shred of self-confidence.

As if he sensed just how skittish and uncertain she was, he nodded at once. “Let me turn off the heat on the stove.”

She trailed him to the kitchen. “Will dinner be ruined?”

He turned, a spark of amusement in his eyes. “Do you really care?”

She hesitated, then shook her head. “Not that much,” she confessed.

When burners on the stove were off and pots set aside, Jaime stepped closer. “You still have time to change your mind, Emma. I don’t want to rush you into something you’re not really ready for.”

He trailed a finger along her cheek in a gesture that had her trembling. She was ready for this. More than ready, in fact.

It was the possible consequences -- falling even more deeply in love with a man who was destined to leave -- that she wasn’t entirely sure she’d be able to handle.

And, yet, with his eyes locked with hers and his hand so gentle on her face, she moved forward and straight into his waiting arms.

***

“Were there fireworks? I definitely think I saw fireworks just now,” Emma said as she lay cradled in Jaime’s powerful embrace.

He chuckled. “I saw them, too, if that means anything. It’s possible the town was celebrating something, but I think it was just us, Emma. I think you and I together made something incredible.”

She thought so, too, and was annoyed with herself for allowing that bliss to fade away under wave after wave of panic. Live in the moment, she cautioned herself. Don’t ruin things by looking too far ahead. She sensed Jaime studying her with concern.

“What?” she asked.

“Your mind is racing ahead, isn’t it?”

She sighed and nodded.

“You do know that we have some control over what happens tomorrow or the next day or the day after that?” he reminded her.

“I wish I could believe that as strongly as you do.”

“How can you not? You took control of your life and got out of a bad situation. You wrote a best-selling novel. You’ve built a new life for yourself in Chesapeake Shores. You’re a strong woman, Emma. Every bit as strong as Quinn Anderson in your book. She’s not the woman you want to be. I think she
is
you.”

Despite his reassuring assessment, she wasn’t convinced. “Okay, for a whole year, maybe a little longer, I felt like I really was moving forward, that I had it all together,” she acknowledged.

“And then you were hit with writer’s block,” he guessed.

“Exactly, and I felt as if my flimsy hold on my life was slipping away.”

“Okay, I don’t know if this applies, but someone once told me that holding onto anything too tightly is a surefire way to lose it. I suppose that’s a take on the idea that if you truly love someone, you set them free, and, if the love it real, they’ll come back to you.”

Emma smiled a little at his words. “Listen to you, going all philosophical on me. I actually believe everything you just said. But I also know that panic does funny things. It’s not so easy to release your hold on something or someone when you’re scared.”

Jaime tilted her chin and looked deeply into her eyes. “You don’t need to be scared, Emma. I will always come back.”

She wasn’t sure how they’d come back to this same topic, but he was right. She was terrified that he’d go, get caught up in his own life again and she’d just become a distant memory of a lovely summer fling.

“How can you sound so sure of that?” she asked him.

“Because I know what’s in my heart. I know the kind of man I am. And I would never take a commitment like that lightly.”

“I want so badly to believe you, to believe in us and what’s happening right here and now.” Here, safe in his arms, she could almost make the leap.

“Then do it,” he encouraged, seeming to sense that she was so close to trusting in what they had. “Believe in us, Emma. I do.”

She drew in a deep breath and tried to absorb just a little of the faith he seemed to have, but in the end she couldn’t quite quiet the doubts that echoed in her head. Jaime wasn’t the one she didn’t trust. It was herself, her judgment.

And then, of course, there was her marriage, entered into with such blinding joy and hope. That had taught her well that sometimes the very best intentions in the world weren’t enough.

Chapter Eight

Jaime knew he had his work cut out for him convincing Emma that he was in her life to stay. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was so certain that she was the woman for him or why he was so determined to reach for the sort of commitment he’d never made before, but it felt right. Maybe it was just time. Maybe it was all that O’Brien influence, the sense they communicated that life was meant to be lived in loving pairs.

Or maybe it was simply that Emma had been irresistible from the very first moment he’d set eyes on her. She was intelligent, beautiful. complicated and sensitive. It was that last trait that could trip them up. She was too quick to react to the slightest shift in mood. Her feelings were raw and tender. And, to his deep regret, the hit her self-confidence had taken during her marriage was still very much with her.

He might wish he could magically change that, but he had to deal with what existed and all that pain, suffering and cynicism was still a force to be reckoned with. It was a pall that hung over even their happiest moments together.

And it was thick in the atmosphere as she drove him home from an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon, who’d pronounced his progress to be exceptional, removed his heavy cast and replaced it with a lighter cast that went only to his knee.

“A couple more weeks in this cast should do it,” the surgeon had said. “Then you’ll be ready for physical therapy. I know you’re chomping at the bit to get started with that, but you’re not to overdo it. You let the therapist set the pace. Is that understood?”

“Absolutely,” Jaime said, though he knew he’d want to push himself. He’d been idle for far too long. He’d never been one for going to a gym, but his daily life had been jammed with non-stop exercise of one sort or another and he’d always managed to squeeze in a run at the end of even his busiest days.

When Jaime had reported the conversation to Emma as they headed back to Chesapeake Shores, he’d expected her to be as thrilled as he was. She’d managed all the right words, but the light in her eyes had dimmed just a little and he’d known the doubts about their long-term future were flooding back.

He’d also known words weren’t enough, but he’d tried just the same, focusing on all the things they could now do together. “Pretty soon we’ll be able to take walks together, maybe even take that spin around the dance floor that I promised you,” he enthused.

“That sounds great,” she said, giving him a quick glance and an unconvincing smile before returning her gaze to the road ahead.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you weren’t happy about this news,” he said quietly, watching her closely.

Color flooded her cheeks. Again, she glanced his way. “I am happy for you. I know the inactivity has made you miserable and I know how much you’re looking forward to getting back to work.”

“All true,” he said. “But I’m not looking forward to leaving you behind, Emma. We’re going to work that out.”

She regarded him apologetically. “I’m sorry. You must be sick of having to reassure me.”

“I get it, Emma. I really do. And I’ll do it until you believe me,” he said.

But two days later, when Mick O’Brien stood in his living room early on Sunday morning and announced that he needed Jaime to fly out to Seattle to resolve a problem with his pet project, Jaime realized just how difficult it was going to be to keep that promise he’d made to Emma.

***

“I’m an idiot,” Emma announced to Shanna as they drank coffee before a meeting of the now-thriving book club, which had surprisingly eclectic taste. They’d read everything from autobiographies to horror in recent weeks. For the past couple of days, though, Emma hadn’t been able to focus on anything other than Jaime’s abrupt departure and what it said about how easily he could walk away from her.

“Why would you say such a thing?” her friend demanded. “Jaime cares about you. You know he does.”

“He says he does,” Emma conceded. “But he could hardly wait to get on that private jet of Mick’s and take off for Seattle.”

“Sweetie, he poured his heart and soul into that community that’s being built out there. The way I understand it, he needed to deal with some big permit snafu that was about to derail the whole project.”

Emma stubbornly refused to listen to reason. “Mick could have handled it, I’m sure.”

Shanna smiled. “I’m sure he could have, but Jaime was the one with the contacts. It’s his baby. Would you want someone to snatch your book away from you before you’ve written the final chapter and tell you not to worry, they’ll finish it up for you?”

Emma frowned. “Okay, I see your point. I’m just not quite ready to be logical.”

“Have you talked to Jaime since he left?”

“A couple of times,” she said. “Maybe three.”

Shanna smiled. “A couple of times, maybe three, and he’s barely been gone 24 hours? Is that all? That scumbag!”

“Okay, I’m being insecure and silly.”

“Just a little.” Shanna gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Let’s take a step back from this unexpected business trip he had to take. Have you two talked about the future? About what happens when his leg is fully mended, his therapy is behind him and he’s ready to go back to work full-time? Sooner or later you were going to have to deal with the long-distance thing.”

Emma shuddered just thinking about it. The closer that day came, the more she fretted about how impossible their situation would be to resolve. This trip to manage a crisis had reminded her of just how quickly reality would be setting in.

“Only to the extent that he insists he wants a relationship and that we’ll work it out,” she told Shanna. “I have no idea what he means by that.”

“And you’re frustrated because you wanted it all spelled out,” Shanna concluded. “Relationships rarely come in tidy little packages on a precise timetable, sweetie. This one has moved along pretty quickly. You’re barely been together a couple of months now.”

“And I’d known Derek for years and still didn’t realize what a jerk he was or how he was using me,” Emma said. “I should have my head examined for even thinking Jaime and I might be involved in something more than a casual fling. We all know the definition of insanity, repeating the same old mistakes and expecting a different outcome.”

“Is Jaime anything at all like your ex-husband?”

“Honestly, no,” Emma said, then added ruefully. “But apparently I can be pretty blind to someone’s flaws when I choose to be.”

Shanna had the audacity to laugh at that. “I’d say, if anything, you’re more determined than ever to find the slightest little flaw in people. That’s why you’re so worked up about Jaime right now. You think he’s not going to live up to his promises, but has he given you even the tiniest indication that he won’t? Be honest.”

“Not really,” Emma said. “But we haven’t really been tested till now. Isn’t that what flings are all about, just having fun and not taking anything too seriously.”

“Stop calling what the two of you have a fling,” Shanna commanded, sounding surprisingly impatient.

Emma winced, but didn’t back away from the characterization. “Weren’t you the very person who first told me Jaime’s reputation for flirting, that you couldn’t see him settling down?”

Shanna frowned at her, unable to deny it and clearly mad at herself because of that.  “Oh, what do I know? Obviously things changed when he met you. Anyone who sees you together knows there’s a whole lot more going on. More importantly, you have Nell’s blessing, something she doesn’t give lightly. She has a lot of experience recognizing the real thing when it comes along.”

Shanna’s expression brightened and a twinkle appeared in her eyes. “You should have heard her at dinner yesterday when she found out Mick had sent Jaime back to Seattle.”

Emma allowed herself a chuckle. “I’ll bet that was fun.”

“Not for Mick. Nell asked him if he was determined to ruin Jaime’s life.” Shanna added her best Nell impression, complete with a hint of an Irish lilt. “Isn’t it enough that you’ve turned the man into a workaholic in your image. Now that he has a chance at having someone special in his life, something you yourself claimed you wanted for him, you go and ship him out of town at a critical moment, just when there’s progress being made. I can’t imagine what you were thinking, Mick O’Brien.”

Emma could picture Nell taking on her beloved son with the entire family looking on, most of them taking sides and landing on hers. “How did Mick take it?”