Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
F rom the desk at the back of the bookstore, Jade watched the seagulls dive-bombing into the shimmering blue sea through the open doorway. Not a bad office backdrop. With a smile to herself, she glanced back at the computer and the document Daisy had put together, listing everything that needed to be done on a daily and weekly basis. She was slowly making her way through it, some of the items easy (make yourself a drink; big tick), some more difficult (check stock levels; she could count, but what was a good number?) and one or two of them made her stomach queasy (review budget, decide which new books to order for following month, devise and implement marketing plan to increase sales).
She got in a pickle working out if she could afford another pink top (yes, obviously), so being responsible for someone else’s money didn’t seem like the best idea. As for marketing plans… she didn’t even know where to start.
Her phone buzzed with an incoming message from her sister.
How’s it going in Nantucket? Sold any books yet?
Jade quickly typed out a reply.
Nope. It’s not exactly busy.
Why? Too many holidaymakers with other things on their mind besides reading…
What could be better than reading?!
If you have to ask, you’ve not had sex with the right person yet.
A tingle hummed through Jade as she responded.
After last night, maybe I can think of one thing…
She laughed as her phone lit up with an incoming call.
‘Oh my God,’ said Lauren. ‘You’ve only been out there one day and you’ve already found someone to shag?’
The smile slipped from Jade’s face but she reminded herself Lauren didn’t mean to make her sound cheap, easy. ‘It’s not like I went looking for a hook-up. It just happened.’
‘Yeah, I know. It’s just it happens to you far more than it does to the rest of us.’
Did it? Or was Lauren judging against her own, stricter values? ‘We didn’t actually have sex. Just… fooled around.’
It felt wrong, dismissing the evening like that, as if it had been trivial, inconsequential, when it had been frigging magical . Better than anything she’d ever experienced. So much so that she regretted not having sex, regretted giving in to her fear of feeling cheapened because now it felt like a missed opportunity. How many other chances would she get to have spectacular sex with an incredibly attractive man, on his yacht, under the stars? A man who’d actually shown her more respect, more care, than any of the guys she’d been out with.
‘So, spill the beans, what was he like? Are you hooking up again?’ Just as Jade was deciding how much to tell her, Lauren swore. ‘Damn it, I’m being bleeped. Another life to save. Take care and I’ll message you later to get all the dirty details.’
Life to save. Dirty details . After ending the call Jade swallowed, and swallowed again, but the bad taste was still in her mouth, the heaviness still in her stomach. Getting up from her chair she walked through the bookstore, taking in the shelves of bright book covers, and then to the outside where she took a deep breath. There was no room in her life for Lauren’s ugly comparisons when she had books and the ocean.
Glancing at her watch, she realised it was one o’clock already. Time to close up shop for an hour and take a break, because she’d worked sooooo hard. And, okay, she wasn’t saving lives, but this was a chance to live her life.
Switching the shop sign to closed for lunch , she locked up and glanced along the wharf. Which way to head? As it was her first full day, maybe she’d take Daisy’s advice and grab her lunch from Provisions on Straight Wharf. Apparently their sandwiches were to die for.
She smiled as she strolled across the wooden boardwalk. It was a beautiful day, the sky a vivid shade of blue, the breeze off the sea keeping the temperature down to pleasantly warm.
Taking a left, she headed into town. As she neared the historic district, the tarmac roads changed to cobblestones, and with weathered old colonial buildings lining both sides, it felt like stepping back in time. Main Street was wide, yet the cobbles on the road, the redbrick of the pavements and the rows of trees providing dappled shade gave it an air of intimacy, of a past rich with history. Everywhere she turned, planters brimming with flowers were set outside boutiques with Georgian-style windows displaying artisan crafts or designer clothes. Bustling café’s advertised homemade ice creams and fresh seafood. So many of the buildings were made from grey wood slats– she’d read that it was traditional for Nantucket, the wood being cedar shingles, which turned a soft grey as they weathered. Talk about New England charm– now she really understood what it meant. It was rustic and romantic, yet also rich and elegant. It was captivating .
Her pulse kicked up a gear as she spotted a familiar, tall figure walking away from Straight Wharf, a takeout coffee in his hand. Sporting a white linen shirt and chinos, his eyes covered by shades, Liam could have been a film star, or a model… and maybe he was.
Had she been rash, taking things so far with a guy she didn’t know? Day one and you’ve already found someone to shag .
Sod it, no. Lauren could think what she liked. She’d known the previous two guys she’d dated a few weeks before she’d slept with them. And look how well they turned out.
Last night had been special. She and Liam had shared confidences, connected in a way she hadn’t done with boyfriends she’d thought she knew inside out. When she’d left him in the early hours of this morning, she’d not felt cheap. She’d felt lucky to have spent a memorable night with a memorable man.
As if he sensed her staring, Liam looked up. He paused for a second before changing direction and walking towards her.
‘Hi.’ God, her mouth was dry, her heart pounding so hard he must be able to hear it. ‘Used any bad chat-up lines today?’
She watched as he slotted his free hand into the pocket of his trousers. His face was hard to read anyway, but especially now with those expensive-looking shades covering his eyes. ‘Is it hot out here? Or is it just you?’
It’s a joke . ‘Well, I did come outside for some fresh air, but you took my breath away.’
He smiled, wrenching the breath from her lungs and turning her joke into a reality.
‘Thank you for last night.’ She’d forgotten how deep his voice was, a low sexy rumble that sent a shiver of awareness down her spine. ‘I enjoyed it.’
‘Me, too.’
He pushed off his sunglasses and took a step towards her so he was just on the edge of her personal space, eyes raking her face before dipping down to her mouth. ‘Are you free tonight?’
Her body responded to the smouldering grey gaze with a wave of heated arousal. ‘Well, I don’t charge, if that’s what you mean.’ He raised an eyebrow and she cringed, embarrassment flooding her. ‘Crap, that was an awful joke. I was trying to play it cool, like pretend I’m not totally overwhelmed by bumping into the seriously hot guy I almost had sex with only a few hours after meeting him.’
His gaze was level, calm, but totally inscrutable. He could be thinking steer clear of the crazy woman , or she’s nuts but I still fancy shagging her… no, fucking her. That’s what he’d said he wanted. And oh God, why did her lower belly perform giddy somersaults at the thought?
‘So, tonight?’
She swallowed to ease the dryness in her throat. ‘Honestly, I’m not sure it’s a good idea.’
‘You’re here with someone?’
‘Oh, no, nothing like that. I’m single. Very, very single.’
He angled his head. ‘Then can I ask what’s stopping you?’
She wished they were back on the top deck of his boat where real life had seemed a million miles away. ‘I have a habit of sleeping with men who are bad for me. Not that we’d be sleeping together, but… well, you know what I mean.’
He glanced away, as if trying to work something out. ‘I used to have a similar habit, where women were concerned,’ he said eventually, gaze returning to hers. ‘It’s why I don’t date.’
You think tall people can’t feel small? Despite his outward confidence, he understood about being hurt. He was also sending her a very clear message. ‘So if tonight isn’t a date, what are you suggesting?’
He raised his free hand to cup her face, his thumb rubbing gently across her bottom lip. ‘A drink, Jade.’ His voice was a low rumble, his breath warm against her skin. ‘A drink and we’ll take it from there.’
Her belly tumbled, his pull impossible to ignore. ‘Okay, a drink. On your boat?’
He seemed to study her for a moment, eyes flicking across her face before he dropped his hand and slid it into his pocket. ‘Are you staying at the resort?’
‘Um, nearby, yes.’
‘Okay, meet me at the wharf. We’ll go from there.’
‘Go where?’
His lips curved. ‘The best place to have a cocktail in Nantucket.’ His eyes focused once more on her mouth before he took a step back. ‘See you later.’
As she watched his retreating broad back, the assured way he strolled down the cobbled street, she felt a hard flip in her belly. She would give herself tonight, and then she would focus on work, on the bookstore. On the reasons she came to Nantucket.
* * *
Liam gave himself a severe talking to as he strode back along the harbourfront to the resort. He didn’t date, he’d just told Jade that, yet instead of agreeing to meet her on the boat, something she’d even suggested, he’d lost his fucking mind and offered to take her for a cocktail.
Not only that, he’d just turned a mutually agreed one-night stand, into a two-night stand.
Christ, though, the sight of her, all blonde and curvy in a sundress that skimmed her thighs, pink bikini straps peeking from the low-cut top, had been enough to stop him in his tracks. He’d literally been unable to nod in her direction and keep on walking. Not when he’d thought of how gorgeous she’d look, sitting on Galley beach with a cocktail in her hand, a delighted expression on her face, because he could tell how excited she was to be in Nantucket. Yeah, a drink on his boat had seemed too cheap, too easy when she’d deserved more.
Temporary insanity, that’s what it was, brought on by intense sexual frustration after the best night of non-sex, ever. Sure, he’d come, and come hard, but not where he’d wanted to. Not between those sexy legs.
‘A woman is waiting in your office.’ May, who ran the front desk and also organised him with a ruthless efficiency he appreciated, interrupted his X-rated thoughts. ‘She said you’d be happy to see her.’
His first thought was his grandma– she was the only woman, the only person, he was ever happy to see– but she currently lived on Martha’s Vineyard and hadn’t left it by herself in over a year. ‘Thanks.’
Warily he walked towards the office, then let out a grim smile when he saw the woman sitting with her back to him. ‘Brought me the signed contract?’
Flo turned and stood, holding out a large brown envelope. ‘It’s here, but before I hand it over I want your assurance you will do right by the girl who’s just started her three-month stint in the bookstore.’
‘She’ll be compensated and given accommodation on the resort.’
Flo narrowed her eyes. ‘And her work in the shop? Surely you can let her continue while you decide what to do with it.’
There was no deciding– not when the decision was obvious. ‘You sell to me, and the shop and the wharf are mine to do what I want with.’
The older woman shook her head at him and he didn’t like how that felt, like he was being chastised. ‘I’m not talking about the legalities of the situation. I’m asking you to have a heart. To think about the wide-eyed, eager young lady who’s travelled all the way out here to run a bookstore on Nantucket.’
And now he was getting pissed off. ‘Maybe you should have thought about her before you agreed to let her come over.’
Flo nodded, her smile sad. ‘I fully intended to sell after her three months were up, but my sons need the money now, so I don’t have a choice.’
He’d like to bet her sons weren’t destitute, queuing up at food banks for their next meal. They didn’t need it, they wanted it. Jade was right, money didn’t automatically make a person important, but by God, not having it, made you powerless. ‘There’s always a choice, Flo. I’m not forcing you to sell to me.’
‘No, I know, but?—’
‘Are we doing this deal or not?’ he interrupted.
With a deep sigh she handed over the envelope. ‘Here. But try not to be a bastard about it. You could crush a young woman’s dreams.’
‘I’m not the one doing the crushing. You’re the one breaking your contract with her.’
Flo’s expression became pinched. ‘I wanted it written into our agreement that the current contract for Little Bay Book Shack remained until her time was up. Your lawyers wouldn’t do it.’
Because the wharf and the waterfront were all part of a carefully worked through plan that had already taken far longer than he’d wanted to come to fruition. ‘Maybe you should have got yourself a better lawyer.’ Or told your sons to stand on their own two feet for three months.
She looked daggers at him for a moment– again, water off a duck’s back– before turning sharply and marching out.
Immediately, he tore open the envelope, allowing himself a satisfied smile when he saw it had been signed. Before he got down to business, though, he pressed call on the first saved number in his contacts, Grandma. When her voice echoed back to him after three rings, he eased onto the chair behind his desk, muscles he hadn’t realised were tight, slowly beginning to loosen.
‘I wondered where you’d got to.’ Her tone was warm but gently reprimanding. ‘Thought you might have called last night.’
He took a second to close his eyes, to recall the image of him lying with Jade on the foredeck. ‘I got tied up in something.’
‘Um, must have been a good something.’
He frowned. ‘Why do you say that?’
‘I can hear the smile in your voice. Not often I get that. You’re usually in such a rush, dashing from one deal to the next.’
His smile– and fuck, he had been smiling– slipped. ‘I’m never in too much of a rush to talk to you. I’m sorry if it’s ever sounded like I am.’
‘You don’t need to apologise, you silly goose. I know you’re busy. Now tell me how you are.’
‘You realise nobody else on this planet would dare to call me a silly goose?’
‘Which is a shame, because that’s what you need more of, people standing up to you. Now answer the question.’
He had a sudden image of Jade, taking him to task over his poor chat-up line. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Really fine, or I’m saying this to shut my old grandma up , fine?’
A bark of laughter escaped him. ‘I know better than to lie to you, but I am okay. Just tired. The deal I was trying to make in Cape Cod hasn’t come off yet, but there are issues here I need to address so I couldn’t stay.’ He smiled, for the first time seeing the silver lining to his current problem. ‘In fact you’re going to be seeing a bit more of me over the next few weeks because I’m down a resort manager.’
‘Oh, no. Ashley?’
‘Yes.’ Because he didn’t want to get into a discussion about why she’d left, he moved the conversation on. ‘How’s Bardot? Keeping out of trouble I hope.’ Aware his schedule was becoming more and more manic, he’d bought her the beautiful Persian feline several years ago. She had friends and a housekeeper who popped in most days but he’d wanted– no he’d needed– to make sure she always had company. In common with the fifties sex kitten, Bardot had long blonde hair, a slinky walk and oozed style.
Immediately, the image of another knock-out blonde sex bomb filled his head.
‘Oh, she’s good as gold.’ His grandma gatecrashed his thoughts and with a flash of guilt, he forced his mind to focus on the woman he was talking to. ‘She’s curled up next to me right now. I swear she can hear your voice because her ears have perked up and she’s listening in.’
Probably expected him to suddenly appear with a bowl of the ridiculously expensive cat food his grandma insisted on giving the pampered puss. He remembered a time she’d fed both of them for a week for the price of one of Bardot’s damn sachets. ‘Tell Bardot I’ll see her tomorrow evening. And if you’ve nothing else better planned, I’ll see you, too.’
Her laughter tinkled down the phone. ‘As if anything would be better than seeing my darling grandson.’
Satisfied he’d made the one important person in his life happy, he ended the call. Switching back to business mode, he phoned his go-to architect.
‘Flo has signed the contract so you can dig out those plans for the waterfront cottages again. I want work to begin as soon as the legal team give us the okay.’