Chapter 2
Chapter Two
J ade was in love. Seriously, she didn’t think the sight of Ryan Gosling emerging naked from the sea would make her swoon any more than her first view of Little Bay Book Shack.
The view coming into Nantucket had been jaw-dropping enough– long stretches of sandy beach, large, grey-wood houses and a gorgeous, stubby white lighthouse with a black top perched at the harbour entrance. But this, the wooden shack sitting proudly on the wharf ahead of her, white Georgian windows and grey tiled roof to match the soft grey wooden slats. Wow, just wow. A mix of quaint and elegant, of historic yet endearingly cute, the sight snatched the breath from her lungs. The entire waterfront rocked a row of similar-looking grey wooden buildings set on a red brick walkway, interspersed with olde worlde lampposts and dozens of flowerpots that burst with colours; pink, white, purple, yellow. All set against a backdrop of glinting blue sea.
It was so tasteful, so pretty. So vibrant. So different to anything she’d ever seen.
George expertly manoeuvred the boat alongside the jetty and jumped off, securing it before giving a hand to the other customers– a pair of newlyweds who’d kept looking at each other instead of the awesome views, and a couple in their fifties dressed in what her gran would call ‘posh’ clothes; loose flowing trousers for the woman, chinos and a blazer for the guy. Once they were all happily on their way, two porters from the resort wheeling their luggage, George turned back to Jade.
‘Do you want some help with your case, honey?’
She looked at the short distance to the bookstore and laughed. ‘I reckon I can manage.’
‘Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. Be sure to look out for me and the wife. Nantucket’s a small island, we’re bound to bump into each other.’
He took her hand and helped her off the boat. She didn’t miss the way his gaze kept firmly above her shoulders. Good on him, and lucky Emma.
Heaving in a lungful of fresh, salty air she started to walk along the small wooden pontoon. The wheels of her case made a clickety-clack noise as they bumped over the planks, sounding loud over the backdrop of waves lapping gently against the jetty.
With every step she took towards the shop, excitement pushed up against the nerves. When she finally came to a halt in front of her home for the next three months, her heart was thumping against her ribs.
Shack didn’t seem the right word. It was more an upmarket, two-storey cabin. Roses wound around the trellis to the right of the front door which was painted in a shade of subtle off-white she suspected she’d find on a Farrow rich brown skin to Jeremy’s freckled white, dark hair to Jeremy’s ginger. Also, quieter and more serious, which probably explained why Liam felt more comfortable dealing with him.
‘Usual?’ Leroy asked, slipping behind the bar.
Liam nodded. They often conversed like this, a single word, a look, a movement of the head.
Raising the glass– a double Macallan 18, neat– in salute, Liam wandered off towards the beach. Discarding his flip-flops, he walked into the sea and savoured the first sip of the smooth and slightly sweet whisky. Also ridiculously expensive, but that’s why he’d first chosen it. When you didn’t have money but were trying to bluff obscenely rich people into investing in you, drinking ludicrously expensive whisky was as important as wearing a Tom Ford suit and custom-made shirt. Six years later, and he’d developed a taste for the damn stuff.
An exclamation of surprise to his left caused him to turn, and that’s when he saw her. The sexy blonde from the boat. She’d sunk into one of the sprawling sofas set on the sand and from the way she was frantically wiping at her sundress, she’d managed to spill her drink down herself.
Instinctively he set off towards her. He wished he could say it was the gentleman in him, wanting to help, but he knew himself better than that. This instinct was primal. Jade had oozed sex, and his body had suddenly decided sleep could wait.
‘Jade. We meet again.’
She jerked around, her expression shifting from surprise to embarrassment to something that looked like the same crackling sexual awareness he was experiencing. ‘Oh, it’s you. Kicked anyone else off your boat recently?’
He felt a flash of shame. His grandma would slap him if she knew how rude he’d been. ‘I apologise for earlier. You caught me at a bad moment.’ He indicated towards the now empty cocktail glass in her hand. ‘Can I buy you another?’
She nibbled on her bottom lip, which did not help his straining libido one little bit. ‘That would be great, thanks. Unless you’re doing it to watch me throw another cocktail down my dress, because let me tell you, once is definitely enough.’
I’m doing it because you fascinate me . And turn me on . He reached to take the glass and as his fingers curled round hers, his gaze wandered to the V of her dress. Immediately lust shot through him, every cell in his body now wide awake and primed to go. Inhaling, he breathed in the scent of coconut, of something floral, mixed with the sweet smell of cranberry juice. ‘Sea Breeze?’
‘It is a bit windy, sure, but it was more a case of misjudging how squashy these sofas are.’ She winked and he found himself smiling back. Fuck, she was an almost irresistible combination of sex bomb and funny. ‘How did you guess what I was drinking?’
‘I recognise the smell.’ He inhaled again, shifting ever so slightly so his body touched hers, feeling another pulse of heavy arousal at the quick intake of her breath. ‘I’ll bring a towel, to mop the rest of it off.’ Stepping back, he looked down at where her dress now clung to the luscious curve of her tits and swallowed, hard. The things he could suddenly so vividly imagine doing to clean her up, had no business being spoken out loud.