Book 12 Kisses After Dark #3
Shane picks up Katie for their second date and finds Sarah in Katie’s room. She invites Shane and Katie to dinner the next night, and Shane graciously accepts. “I love your mom and Charlie, too. They’ve become good friends since I’ve lived here. It’s never a hardship to spend time with them.”
He closes the door and steps closer to her. She’s riveted by the intense way he looks at her. “And it’s never a hardship to spend time with you either.”
Shane thought about her all day, but specifically about kissing. “Shane…”
Her first kiss turns into everything else, too, and they end up staying in with pizza and a movie afterward.
Shane receives a message from Mac, who’s going to the mainland for a few days.
He’ll fill Shane in when he returns. Janey fills Shane and Laura in about the miscarriage.
Shane leaves to pick up their dinner and runs into Ned Saunders at the restaurant.
Shane asks Ned about a rental since he’s staying on the island for the winter to work with Mac.
David checks on Lisa Chandler and sees Seamus O’Grady at the mailbox next door.
Seamus asks about Lisa and the boys as he glances toward the driveway next to his.
“I know you can’t talk about their private business, but if they need anything—anything at all—come to me.
Caro and I get a kick out of those kids. ”
“I’ll keep that in mind. You have a nice evening, Seamus.”
David likes how island residents look after each other.
He finds the Chandler boys running around in the yard.
They take him inside, where Lisa is sleeping.
The boys wake her up, and she’s surprised to see David.
Seamus knocks on the door to invite the boys over for dinner.
They wash up and head out, which allows David to examine Lisa.
He’s stunned to see tears rolling down her face.
“Everyone is so nice,” she says softly.
“That’s Gansett for you.”
“I think I’m really sick.” She looks down at the blanket that covers her lap. “As in really, really sick.”
“Why haven’t you come to see me before now?”
“I’ve been in denial. I kept thinking I’d shake it off the way I always do.”
“Do you mind if I take a listen?” David doesn’t like what he hears and convinces Lisa to rest while the boys spend the night at Seamus and Carolina’s house. Lisa agrees to see David at the clinic in the morning.
David is deeply concerned about Lisa and is sorry she waited so long to get medical help.
As a seasonal worker in several of the island’s restaurants, she didn’t qualify for insurance coverage.
He arrives home feeling exhausted and out of sorts but is excited to see Daisy after a long day apart.
She makes everything better just by being there.
As he parks next to his landlord Jared’s Porsche, Jared and his wife, Lizzie, come out of their house, dressed up for a fundraiser.
David suggests they host a fundraiser for people who can’t afford basic medical care.
They ask if he knows someone who needs help.
“Yeah, I actually do. I’ve got a young mom with two young boys who might be seriously ill. The boys are five and six.”
“What can we do?” Lizzie asks.
“Can I get back to you about that tomorrow when I know more about what we’re dealing with?”
“Absolutely,” Jared says. “Anything she needs, you let me know.”
“I was having a horrendously shitty day until about five minutes ago. Thanks, you guys.”
Lizzie hugs David. “Whenever you encounter something like this, you come to us, okay? We have everything we could ever want or need, and it’s my pleasure to spend Jared’s money on worthwhile causes and people in need.”
Jared snorts with laughter. “She’s quite good at it, too.”
“I don’t believe in doing anything if I can’t do it well,” Lizzie says.
“And that’s why I love you so much.”
“You two have a great evening,” David says, amused by them, as always.
“We’ll expect to hear from you tomorrow,” Lizzie says.
Smiling, David goes up the stairs to the apartment he shares with Daisy.
For the first time in her life, Katie Lawry wakes up to a man in her bed.
Shane kisses her forehead and then her lips. “Morning.”
“Morning.”
“Best night of my life. Hands down.”
“Really. Well… That’s quite nice to hear.”
It’s okay if he doesn’t feel the same way. He’s been married after all, and by all accounts was crazy in love with his wife. Of course, he’s had better nights than the one he’d shared with her.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he says, startling her.
“How do you know?”
“You’re thinking that I was married, so naturally this was just another night for me, but it wasn’t. It was really important—and special—for me, too. For many reasons, but primarily because I got to spend it with you.”
“And that’s the most perfect thing you could’ve said.”
He smiles. “I thought you might like that.” After another kiss, he says, “I really do mean it. I’ve been stuck in a bad place for a long time now, and it’s so nice to feel good again.
The time that we’ve spent together has made me feel very good, which is a huge improvement in a short time, so thanks for that. ”
“Happy to be of assistance.”
After a shower, they go downstairs for breakfast and run into Laura as they’re debating whether Shane should’ve carried her due to her injured foot.
“Are you two kids already bickering?” Laura asks from her post at the reception desk. “Shouldn’t you still be in the rose-colored glasses stage?”
“Who’s in the rose-colored glasses stage?” Abby asks as she comes out of the gift shop. “Oh,” she says when she sees Shane and Katie. “I know who. Come down and tell us everything.”
“While that’s a lovely offer,” Shane says sarcastically, “we’ll pass.”
“I’ll get it out of him and fill you in later,” Laura says to Abby.
“No, you won’t,” Shane says firmly. Though she was horrified by the idea of Laura “getting it out of him,” Katie laughs at their banter. They remind her of the way she speaks to her siblings now that they’re older and out from under the black cloud of their childhood.
“We’re going to breakfast,” Shane says. “Leave us alone.”
“Do I have to?” Laura asks, chin propped on her upturned hand.
Katie is amused by them and appreciates Laura’s invitation to an upcoming girls’ night out.
“She’s busy,” Shane says before Katie can reply.
“I am?” Katie asks him.
“Very, very busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Come with me, and I’ll tell you.”
Katie smiles at Laura. “Thanks for the invite, but it seems I have other plans.” Then she decides that she doesn’t like having him make decisions for her and tells Laura she’ll be there.
Katie and Shane go into the restaurant to have breakfast. While he took a seat, she took an interest in the menu.
“Katie.”
She glanced at him, hoping he couldn’t somehow tell that her heart was racing and her hands were trembling ever so slightly. This, right here, was why she’d avoided men all her life.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I was doing what I do with Laura. I shouldn’t have answered for you. If you want to go out with her and the others, that’s exactly what you should do.” He smiled. “I’ll find a way to get by on my own for the evening.”
His adorably heartfelt apology and innate understanding of what had upset her went a long way toward calming her rattled nerves. “Thank you for apologizing. That scenario…” She gestured toward the lobby. “Sort of a hot-button issue for me.”
“I understand. It won’t happen again.”
She stared across the table at him.
“What?”
“I… I didn’t expect that to be so easy.”
“Why not? I was way out of line and realized it about two seconds after I said it. You don’t think I’m going to fix that ASAP?”
Katie appreciates that he immediately understood the issue and fixed it. That makes him different from other men she’s known.
Katie goes to the clinic to talk to David about the job. David is walking a patient out. The woman is young, with long dark hair and doesn’t look well.
David escorts Katie into his office. “Another day, another bout of insanity. Tough case this morning. Thirty-one-year-old single mother of two. I suspect late-stage lung cancer.”
“Oh, my God. That’s awful. Was that her who just left?”
He nods and then grimaces. “She put off coming in because she couldn’t afford it.”
“I hate hearing that.”
“You and me both. Anyway… Let’s talk about you and your plans.”
Katie agrees to take the job.
Back at the Hotel, Katie greets Shane when he comes in from work.
He convinces her to go for a swim in the ocean, a place she’s always loved but has been afraid of since the near-drowning.
During their swim, they talk about how they’re staying on the island for now.
Katie notices the lights in Newport in the distance and says she’s never been. Shane decides to take her the next day.
During a great day touring Newport, Shane realizes he loves Katie.
As they’re walking from the ferry back to the Surf, someone calls Shane’s name.
He turns, realizes it’s Courtney and drops Katie’s hand.
Courtney asks to talk to Shane. She tells him things he didn’t know that have him reeling and rethinking everything he thought was true. The information weighs heavily on him.
Katie is hurt that he’d act embarrassed by her.
Laura hears why Katie is upset and goes out to give Courtney a piece of her mind.
Shane sends Laura away and talks to Courtney in the sitting room.
Laura convinces Katie to go out for girls’ night out.
As they’re leaving, Shane comes out of the room with Courtney and sends her away.
Laura tells Courtney to leave, that she’s not wanted there.