Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
T ravel Tuesday had been a flop, the rest of the week not much better, though Mary and Emma were doing their best to help.
‘Don’t you worry about tonight. There are flyers in the library, posters everywhere I was allowed to stick them, and some in places I wasn’t,’ Mary added on a hearty chuckle as they set out chairs in the bookstore ready for the presentation from the local romance author. ‘I also told the book-club president who messaged all the members. Steamy Saturday will be a triumph. We’ll be beating the crowds off with a stick.’
Jade caught Emma’s eye and the woman gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘Claire is bound to attract a lot of interest.’
‘Of course she is,’ Mary bristled. ‘The entire female population of Nantucket have read at least one of her books, and most of the men, too, though some of them just for the naughty bits.’
‘They weren’t naughty,’ Jade protested. ‘They were hot. Beautifully, orgasmically, hot,’ she added, eyeing up the bottles of wine she’d stashed by the till while trying not to think how much those descriptions also matched the real-life sex she’d had recently. Did posh Nantucket readers frown on alcohol while listening to a book talk, or did they enjoy glugging it down and discussing raucous sex scenes?
‘That, too.’ Mary sighed and patted at her short, greying hair. ‘I used to tell my Doug to read her latest, thought he’d get some ideas, but he’s such a slow reader he never reached the parts about tying me up and spanking me. Maybe if he had, we wouldn’t have divorced.’
Jade spluttered with laughter. She hadn’t expected that from the buttoned-up looking librarian. But she should have, she realised, because she’d been guilty of exactly what she hated others doing, making a judgement based on how someone looked.
‘Did you know Claire was friends with Ashley?’ Mary continued, unaware Jade was looking at her in a totally different light. ‘I’m sure that’s partly why she agreed to come and do a talk. She’ll want to help kick Liam Haven where it hurts.’
Jade had an unwanted vision of Liam holding the plastic knife she’d splattered in red paint and telling her he often thought of her holding his balls.
‘Hiya!’
She shook the image away and turned to greet the tall, dark-haired lady who’d just swanned into the shop looking, frankly, exactly how Jade wanted to look. Cool, sophisticated, elegant.
‘I’m Claire?—’
‘Our marvellously talented local author.’ Mary immediately set on her. ‘Are you a wine drinker? We have red and white. Oh and I brought two bottles of a really nice rosé. Jade will fetch you a glass. Maybe you’d like to try one of each?’ she added with another of her rumbling laughs.
Jade cleared her throat. ‘Um, thanks, Mary. I’ve got it from here.’ Ignoring Mary’s huff, she smiled brightly at Claire. ‘Let me take your jacket.’
‘Don’t worry about Mary,’ Claire whispered once Jade had dragged her out of the older woman’s clutches. ‘She just likes to be involved in everything.’ She smiled. ‘It was great to get your invite, thank you. It’s been a while since I did a talk. I used to do them at the resort, but since Ashley left I’ve not been asked.’
‘Ashley was the manager of the Haven Resort, right?’
‘Yes.’ Claire’s gaze swept across Jade’s face and she laughed. ‘Oh dear, I can see from your expression you’ve heard all the gossip. The Liam Haven haters believe he’s a cross between Satan, Casanova and Gordon Gekko. Now then, where can I freshen up?’
Jade showed her upstairs to the bathroom, wishing she’d had more chance to quiz her further. Deciding she needed a tiny break from Mary, she perched on the bed and took a moment to scroll through the messages on her phone before heading back down.
There was another one from Lauren on the family chat group.
You need to phone home soon, Sis. We want an update on the shop and everything else you’ve been up to. And I mean EVERYTHING xx
Guilt washed over her. She’d deliberately not phoned her mum back since their quick chat the other day, because what could she say? She didn’t want to worry her, and she couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing her yet again. She’d hoped if she waited, she’d be able to turn the bad news story into a good news one. Guess what, Mum, the shop was bought out and the new owner (who I absolutely didn’t sleep with) was going to get rid of it but by running a massively successful marketing campaign I managed to persuade him to change his mind .
She stared back at her phone and typed:
I’ll phone soon– just been sooooo busy xx
Just as she was about to put it away, her phone pinged with an email notification from [email protected]. Frowning, she clicked on it.
Jade
I hear you’re hosting a ‘meet the author’ event in the shop this evening. Hope you’ve removed all sharp, and not so sharp, implements.
Yours sincerely
The Boss
Damn the man. She didn’t want to smile, but she couldn’t help it.
She clicked on reply.
Dear Boss
All knives removed. Replaced with handcuffs and whips.
Yours sincerely
Temp manager of shop you want to knock down
The bathroom door opened and Claire slipped out on a cloud of sophisticated scent. ‘Okay, I think I’m ready.’
‘Great.’ Jade pushed her phone into her pocket and eyed her curiously. ‘Are you one of those Liam Haven haters you mentioned?’
‘I’ve only met him a couple of times, so I don’t know him well enough to like or dislike him.’ Claire winked. ‘Though I will say he is one seriously hot guy and, I don’t mind admitting, the inspiration behind a few of my heroes.’
Just as she was about to follow Claire back downstairs, Jade’s phone beeped with another email notification.
Jade
Was that an invitation to attend?
Yours sincerely
The Boss
PS: I’m much happier with you using the whip and handcuffs on me than the knife.
* * *
Liam tapped his fingers restlessly on the desk, his attention wandering, yet again, to his inbox. Why had he emailed her?
And why was he waiting for a reply like some hormone-driven teenager?
Sex, that was all it was. He wanted to have sex with her again. And maybe some fun because God knows, she was definitely that. She was also an employee who knew more about him than he should have allowed, and who was actively working against him, trying to fuck up his carefully laid-out plans.
So the wise course of action was to close his email and ignore the voice telling him he could walk back to his boat via the bookstore; he could check in on the presentation that he knew, thanks to Jeremy, was taking place right now with Nantucket’s illustrious romance author, Claire Kennedy. Just to see how many people had turned up.
Damn it. He shut his laptop with a snap and jumped to his feet. Minutes later, he found himself pushing open the door to Little Bay Book Shack.
The door chime sounded– shit that was loud– and everyone turned to stare at him. A sea of mainly female faces, expressions ranging from annoyance to surprise, horror to amusement. He scanned the space, desperately seeking out bright blonde hair.
‘Liam.’ Hearing his name, he turned to see a face he recognised, Ashley’s friend, the author. ‘Good to see you, do come and join us.’ Her mouth twitched in a way that made his stomach sink. ‘We were just discussing sex.’
Jesus Christ. His face must have spoken volumes because, from the back of the store, he heard a soft explosion of giggles. There was his blonde. The sole reason he’d apparently lost his mind and stepped into a presentation given by an author of romantic fiction when he didn’t even like books, never mind romance books.
Jade stood up and pointed to her chair, clearly indicating for him to sit on it. Taking a breath, he ignored the very interested stares of those already seated and weaved his way towards her.
Thankfully, Claire started talking again, diverting the attention back to where it should be. Even if that did involve asking the audience what they thought made a good sex scene.
‘I’m only taking your seat if you sit on my lap,’ he murmured.
She gave him a pointed look. ‘I don’t think that’s appropriate. Boss.’
He sighed, cursing his slip. It was hard to take the wise, stay away, course of action when she looked so cute, so perky, so tempting .
He watched as she eyed up the counter behind them and, in one nimble motion, levered herself onto it. ‘Ouch!’
A few of the women sitting within hearing distance turned in her direction and she gave them an apologetic smile. ‘I sat on the stapler.’
Deciding he preferred to stand, he moved behind her and bent to whisper in her ear. ‘You’ve sat on larger recently and not complained.’
She twisted to stare back at him, eyes a cool blue. ‘I got hurt then, too, the pain was just more delayed.’
He hissed in a breath. Why the hell had he come? Jade didn’t want him here. The readers who’d turned up to have an open discussion with their favourite romance author didn’t want him here, either.
‘Perhaps we should have a male point of view.’ Dread settled in his stomach as Claire’s eyes found his, humour dancing across her face. ‘Have you read much erotica, Liam?’
Erotica?
Jade let out a noise that sounded like someone strangling a cat.
‘I don’t read books.’
Claire continued to look highly amused. ‘Interesting. I suppose I assumed, as you’ve come to the Steamy Saturday book presentation, that you had an interest in the subject.’
Now Jade’s email about whips and handcuffs made sense. ‘My interest was in a presentation from one of Nantucket’s highly acclaimed authors.’
Claire laughed. ‘Smooth catch. We were just discussing the importance of an emotional connection between our characters during sex scenes as well as a physical one. Do you have a view on that?’
Three rows from the front, a woman he recognised as Mary from the library, gave a dismissive grunt. ‘I doubt Mr Haven understands the term.’
‘Which term?’ Claire asked, though he could have saved her the bother. He knew exactly where this was going.
‘Oh, I’m sure he knows all about sex. But he didn’t show much emotion when he forced Ashley back to Australia with his unborn child,’ Mary added.
Yep, right on queue.
‘With respect Mary, that’s a load of bollocks.’ Jade’s bold statement was met with a few gasps, and just as many sniggers. ‘Um, what I meant was, you’re repeating gossip as fact, and that’s not cool.’
‘Careful,’ he murmured. ‘You’re in danger of ruining my hard-earned reputation.’
‘You deserve it for what you’re doing to the bookstore,’ she hissed back. ‘But not for stuff that’s just rumour.’
‘Nobody forced Ashley home.’ Claire’s quiet voice cut through the murmurings. ‘And Liam is most definitely not the father of her unborn child. She would be appalled to hear the rumours circulating.’
Mary sniffed. ‘Well, you can’t blame us for believing the gossip. What has Haven ever done for this island? It doesn’t need more of his flashy accommodation for rich tourists. It needs houses for people who live and work here.’
The animosity was nothing he hadn’t come across before, yet as a ripple of hear, hear ran through the group, his insides scrunched inwards, as if absorbing the blow. Had it hurt more tonight because his guard had come down, thanks to Jade and Claire’s surprise defence of him?
Exactly why he needed to keep his fucking distance.
Yet when Jade’s eyes met his, sympathy swirling in their depths, he couldn’t resist tilting his head so his mouth brushed her ear. ‘Thank you.’
A shiver ran through her, enough to cause an answering tingle down his spine. He wanted to haul her back against him, to settle his mouth on the soft skin of her neck. To lift her into his arms and carry her up the narrow staircase behind them to the bed he knew was up there. But she was no longer the sexy stranger he’d found himself unbelievably drawn to.
She was a woman actively stirring up antagonism against him and his plans for expansion. A woman who’d defended him because she was fair, not because she liked him.
Ignoring the mutinous/curious glances of those sitting, he walked towards the door, pausing when he got there to catch Claire’s eye. ‘I apologise for interrupting your talk.’ With a curt nod at the rest of the room, he made a swift exit.
Flashy accommodation . The words jarred, rubbing against wounds that should have healed yet still felt raw. He had money now, but he still wasn’t accepted because it was nasty new money, not sophisticated old money. It shouldn’t bother him. He didn’t want it to bother him.
With a frustrated sigh he wrenched his phone out of his pocket and stabbed out a message to Jeremy.
Erotica? You didn’t think to tell me??
Within seconds a message pinged back.
Thought it would be a nice surprise.
With a grunt of annoyance, he messaged back.
Next time you think of surprising me, think again.