Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
J ade flipped the sign on the bookstore to closed for an hour and jogged along the waterfront towards the resort. The colours were so vibrant, the blue of the water in the harbour, the white of the boats, red of the walkway, green and pinks of the plants that burst out of the planters. Seagulls squawked overhead, the sun beamed down from a cloudless blue sky and the air was crisp with the smell of the ocean.
What a frigging awesome day.
She’d spent the morning replying to emails asking her to give a talk to various groups; the school, who’d just received an anonymous donation to build a new library, the new mother’s group who were looking for book recommendations on the early years, and The Heritage Society, via Emma, who wanted to expand their reading into historical fiction. It was amazing how the bookstore had integrated into the community.
And she, Jade Taylor, still blonde, still inclined to clumsiness and dizzy moments, had led that change.
She wasn’t just managing a business, she was expanding it. Thanks to the evenings Liam had spent taking her through business planning and strategy, she even felt confident that she could replicate the success elsewhere. Okay, those fiddly spreadsheets weren’t totally locked down, but Liam had agreed she’d tripled the sales compared to the same time last year.
Her phone buzzed with a message. From Liam.
You have been spotted running away from your post. I hope you have a good reason. I hear the boss is an asshole.
Smiling to herself, she quickly typed back.
He used to be an arsehole. Now he’s very forgiving of his staff taking a quick break to calm the nerves of a groom-to-be
Liam sent a face-palm emoji, then:
Why does he get a visit and not the best man?
Her smile turned into a grin. The last few weeks Liam had definitely relaxed, let her see some of the man behind the very significant walls he’d built. There had been no declarations, not since he’d announced she could stay and manage the shop, if she wanted. Yet in little ways, she felt cared for. Appreciated. Like wanting to see her in the middle of the day even though they’d woken up together and would see each other tonight. Taking her to Smith’s Point to watch the sunset. Hiring two bikes to cycle back to Sankaty Head Lighthouse because she’d not seen it properly the last time. Including her when he went to see his grandma. Patiently helping her put together the Little Bay Book Shop business plan even though she wasn’t sure she would still be here to implement it.
Pushing the miserable thought to the back of her mind, she typed back a reply to Liam.
Do you need help deciding where to put a dozen fibreglass flamingos?
Liam sent another face-palm then a message.
If that’s what it takes to get a visit from you, I’ll buy a damn flamingo.
Oh yes, she felt wanted. It’s just… he hadn’t said he loved her. And time was marching on. Only two weeks before she was due back home and she really needed to make a decision. Could she leave her job, her family, on the whim of a you can stay if you want?
She’d achieved what she’d come to Nantucket to do. Could she risk her newfound confidence by hanging on here, when the reason she’d be staying was wrapped up in her feelings for him? What happened when he decided to get rid of the shop, get rid of her?
Her phone buzzed again. Liam.
Am I buying a flamingo?
Laughter bubbled and she pushed the worries aside. They had no place interfering with such a glorious day.
No need. YOU are enough. See you in a bit.
She hurried the rest of the way to the resort beach, the sight that greeted her enough to send the bubble of laughter whooshing straight out of her.
Waves lapped up the pale gold sand where Jeremy stood. Surrounded by a pile of pink flamingos.
‘Don’t say a word,’ he cautioned as he spotted her. ‘And nope, I don’t want to see that big sunny smile, either. Or the twinkle in your baby blues. This is a legitimate emergency.’
She tried to school her features into that of concerned friend. ‘Where’s your fiancé? Shouldn’t he be here to help?’
Jeremy pouted. ‘He told me the flamingos were my idea so I had to sort them.’
‘Ah, okay. And what, exactly, is the problem?’
‘The problem is the stupid things keep falling over on the sand.’
‘Right. And you need them to be on the sand rather than the grass because…’
‘Because we’re getting married on the beach.’ He looked at her like she was the crazy one. ‘That’s the whole point of a beach wedding. Otherwise, it would be called a garden wedding, or a wedding near the beach.’
At the scrunch of footsteps on the sand they both twisted their heads around to find Liam strolling up to them, shaking his head. ‘How many Haven Resort staff does it take to sort out a few pink birds?’
Her belly tumbled as his hot gaze fixed on her, the message clear. Sort Jeremy out fast or I’ll carry you out of here. ‘Three…’ She cleared her throat, liquid warmth pooling between her thighs as his gaze darkened. ‘Three staff,’ she repeated. ‘That’s if you’re joining us.’
‘Oh, no.’ Jeremy looked horrified. ‘I don’t want him hanging around, smouldering at you like some sex-starved adolescent. I saw the pair of you rocking that yacht this morning.’
Liam pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘For the love of God, tell me the problem so we can fix it and I can get my girlfriend to myself.’
Jeremy frowned. ‘You do know I’m gay and about to be married? No need for the possessive he-man act.’
Liam let out an exasperated breath and Jade giggled. ‘You two should be on stage. You’re the best comedy act out there.’
Jeremy took a bow. ‘Thank you, but this situation is far from comedic. How am I going to make my flamingos stand on the sand?’
‘Move them to the grass?’
Jade burst out laughing and Jeremy glared at Liam. ‘We’ve been through this. It’s a beach wedding, not a garden wedding.’
‘Fine.’ Liam waved at the area they were standing in. ‘This is where you want to get married?’
‘Yes.’
He tapped into his phone and held it to his ear. ‘Mike, Liam here. Can you come and build me a deck on the beach this afternoon? Yes. Thanks.’ He slipped the phone back into his pocket. ‘Any more issues?’
Jeremy swallowed. ‘Nope, that’s it. I guess I’ll just wait for Mike.’
‘Right, good.’ Liam marched up to her and clasped her hand. Smiling deeply into her eyes, he whispered, ‘Grab your coat. You’ve pulled.’
The reminder of their early meetings, when they’d traded corny chat-up lines, elicited another bark of laughter from her. Immediately followed by a deep flip in her belly. ‘Oh, goody.’
She held tight to his hand, leaning into him as they began to walk away. Why did it always feel like this? Thrilling, butterflies flapping, all combined with a giddiness usually only achieved with several cocktails on an empty stomach.
Suddenly, Liam halted and looked over his shoulder at Jeremy. ‘By the way, you’re in charge.’
‘Yes, sir, Boss Man. Least I can do.’
Liam turned around. ‘No, I mean you’re in charge from now on. You’re the new Resort Manager.’
Jeremy’s jaw gaped open. ‘You can’t promote me just because you want to sneak off to do some horizontal tango-ing in the middle of the afternoon.’
‘I can do what I like. I’m the boss.’ Liam shrugged. ‘To be clear, I’m promoting you because you’ll make a damn good resort manager. I’m doing it now so I can fuck my girlfriend in the middle of the afternoon.’
Jade did not want to think of the state of her underwear after hearing that statement.
‘Well, that was super clear. Crystal.’ Jeremy still looked stunned. ‘Oh, and I forgot to thank you for the decking,’ he shouted as Liam started marching in the direction of the hotel again. ‘Enjoy your… ’lone time.’
Laughter vibrated through her. ‘Where are you taking me?’
‘Somewhere I can lock the door.’
Oh God. Her stomach swooped. Sex. It wasn’t important enough to factor into her decision about whether to stay, of course it wasn’t. She could live without, but living with it, when the man providing it had such an insatiable appetite for it, for her… it was terrifyingly addictive.
He slipped a key card out of his pocket and her heart picked up a pace. ‘Here? In one of the hotel rooms?’ Where any of the staff could spot them going in together. Coming out, all sex dishevelled. ‘We can’t do that.’
‘Are you forgetting I own the place?’
Power, she thought dizzily as he opened one of the rooms with a quick, efficient movement. Why only now was she realising what a turn on it was?
* * *
He’d have to tell housekeeping to come back and change the sheets, yet as Liam threw his shirt back on, he didn’t care how much the staff might gossip about his mid-afternoon activity. He’d needed to see Jade, and when he’d seen her, sexy as sin in her pink capris, he’d needed to have her.
Had some of his primal need to own her been down to knowing Jeremy had been the recipient of her attention and not him? Yes.
And had some of it been down to the ticking clock that was sounding louder and louder in his head?
Without a doubt.
It was like he needed to pack a lifetime of being with her, into the next two weeks.
Unless she decided to stay.
Dragging on his pants, he zipped up before turning to help her fasten her bra. ‘For future reference, I prefer taking it off.’
‘I noticed.’ She glanced down, pushed her fantastic tits further into the lace, and honest to God, he felt his dick twitch. It was like he was sixteen again, but with a major difference.
He was happy .
Tilting her head up to his, he stared into her pretty blue eyes. ‘Have you made a decision yet?’
Her lids lowered. ‘No.’ She shifted away and bent to pick up her top from where he’d thrown it onto the floor. ‘But it makes sense for me to use my ticket and go home, anyway, at least for a while.’ Seemingly oblivious to the devastating hammer blow she’d just inflicted, she slipped the top over her head and stepped into her capris, her blonde tresses obscuring her face. ‘I haven’t seen my family in ages, and I need to catch up with work. Find out if it’s even possible to extend my stay here.’
Extend her stay. ‘So that’s it, then?’
‘Sorry?’
He forced his tone to stay measured, even. ‘You won’t even consider staying on permanently?’
‘Of course I’m considering it.’ Finally she met his eyes. ‘But are you asking as my boss, or my boyfriend?’
His stomach lurched. He was being unfair, he knew he was. How could he expect her to make a life-changing decision based on knowing him a few weeks? ‘Forget it. Of course you need to go back. Your life is there.’
‘Is it?’
She held his gaze and his heart gave a violent twist. What was she asking him? And why was he so fucking terrified of finding out? In business he was blunt, got to the heart of the matter, yet standing here he felt naked, vulnerable. He wanted to ask her to stay, to make a life here with him, but the walls he’d spent a lifetime building and living behind couldn’t be easily dismantled. It was one thing him knowing she’d snuck under them, another letting her know. He had to keep part of himself back. Otherwise, he wouldn’t survive her leaving.
‘Only you can answer that,’ he answered quietly. ‘If you want to stay, there’s a job for you and a place to live.’
‘And what about you? Will you be here for me?’
‘Do you want me to be?’
She looked him square in the face. ‘Yes.’
His heart tumbled in his chest. ‘Then I will be.’
‘For how long?’
For as long as you want me .
His walls were too strong to admit it, past experience shoring them up, pushing back against his desire to go down on his knees and beg her to stay. For him. For ever.
He could give her something to think about, though, and maybe it would be enough. ‘That’s an impossible question to answer,’ he told her roughly, cupping her face. ‘But you need to know that I care deeply for you. That I want you to stay. I want us to have more time together.’
Tears filled her eyes. ‘I want more time with you, too.’
Hope danced around the edges of his consciousness, but he pushed it away because hope had got him into trouble before. ‘You can’t stay for me, Jade, or for what I can promise you, because I can’t make those promises.’ He heaved in a breath, touching his forehead to hers. ‘I’ve never felt so unbalanced, like I’m spinning out of control, unravelling. In business I know exactly where I’m going, what I’m doing. Here, now, with you, I have no fucking clue about any of it. I’m terrified if you go home, you won’t come back. But I’m also terrified if you come back, you won’t stay. I don’t know if I can open myself up to that rejection.’
She let out a shaky breath. ‘I’m terrified that if I stay you’ll become bored of me, or realise it was only about sex.’ Her voice began to crack. ‘Or you’ll realise others were right after all and I’m just blonde and pretty with no substance. Then everything I’ve achieved here, the confidence I’ve gained, the belief in myself, will vanish and I’ll be left broken-hearted and just plain broken.’
Christ. He’d spent so much time thinking of it from his side, he hadn’t factored in her insecurities, her doubts. ‘Don’t we make a great couple.’
She let out a strangled laugh. ‘I know.’ Her lips brushed his. ‘But at least we’re talking to each other. If we keep doing that, and explaining how we feel, then we can get through this without hurting each other because I think we’ve both endured enough of that.’
He bundled her into his arms, squeezing tight, emotions spiralling. ‘It won’t be easy. I’ve spent my life hiding my feelings so I’m bound to fuck up.’ He leaned back a little so he could look at her. ‘If I do, you need to remember I would never intentionally hurt you. These last few months have been the happiest of my life, and that’s the honest-to-God truth.’
‘For me, too.’ Suddenly, she stepped back. ‘Crap, I’ve got to get back to the shop.’ She gave him a tremulous smile. ‘The boss doesn’t like us skiving off in the middle of the day.’
‘Really?’ He drew in a breath, tried to steady himself. ‘I thought he positively encouraged it. As long as the sneaking off is done with him.’
She smoothed a hand through her hair. ‘How do I look?’
‘Like a dream.’
Reaching onto her tiptoes, she pressed a kiss on his lips. ‘Flattery will get you everywhere you want to go. See you later.’ As she reached the door, she glanced over her shoulder. ‘And don’t forget, it’s Jeremy and Leroy’s stag do tonight.’
‘Bachelor party,’ he corrected. ‘Do we have to go?’
‘As best man, attending is the least you can do. You should have organised it.’ Her eyes softened. ‘But you did sort out his flamingos, so I think he’ll forgive you.’
He snorted. ‘Jeremy is far too much of a control freak to let someone else organise his night out.’
She winked. ‘Is he? Or is he just careful about who he asks?’
‘ You’ve organised it?’
‘Yep, and you can redeem yourself by swinging by the bookstore as soon as you’re done for the day. We’ve got about a hundred flamingo-pink balloons to blow up, a few jugs of pink-flamingo cocktail to prepare, and a gazillion flamingo decorations to put up.’
With that she blew him a kiss and sashayed out. He watched her with a bemused smile and, despite the flamingo-fest ahead of him, a sense of cautious optimism.
It was possible that the end of her three months wouldn’t mark the end of their time together, but instead be the start of a new, deeper relationship with no expiration date.