Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
Beck lay awake next to Jessie, listening to the soft cadence of her breathing.
After spending just a few nights with her, he couldn’t imagine ever sleeping alone again.
His mind raced, and he didn’t realize he was grinding his teeth until they began to ache.
He sat up, took a deep breath, and released it.
Moving to the window, he surveyed the North Point property, wondering if Spector was out there somewhere watching them.
Had he figured out where Jessie was staying?
Beck stared into the darkness until his eyes began to water from the effort.
Turning back to the bed, he reached for his shorts and pulled them on.
He was tugging on his T-shirt when Jessie turned over looking for him.
“Peter?”
“I’m here, baby.”
She pushed unruly curls off her face. “What’re you doing?”
“I need to go downstairs for a few minutes.” He flipped on a nightlight for her. “I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t go.”
He sat on the bed and rested his hand on her satiny smooth shoulder. “I’ll only be gone a minute.”
“You’re looking for him. Spector.”
“No, I just—”
“Don’t lie to me, Peter. Please don’t.”
He replaced the hand on her shoulder with his lips. “I want to take a quick look around. I promise I’ll be right back.”
“I’ve been thinking…”
“About?”
“Well, I wondered if maybe we could bait him somehow. Let him see me and then maybe—”
“No. Not happening.”
“Why?” she cried. “I can’t stand waiting for him to make his next move. It’s making me crazy. At least this way I’d know when it was going to happen. I could plan for it and control it. With your help, that is.”
“It’s out of the question, Jessie.
“It’s my life.”
“And your life means everything to me, so don’t ask me to dangle you in front of a psychopath. Do you know what this guy has done to other women? Do you have any idea?”
“No,” she said in a small voice that tugged at his heart. “I told the cops I didn’t want to know.”
“Well, if you did, you wouldn’t be so willing to be used as bait. Believe me.”
Crossing her arms over her breasts, she sat up in bed. “If you’re going, hurry up so you can come back.”
“I don’t have to go. I was just feeling edgy and needed to do something.”
“I hate that feeling. That’s why I want to put an end to it. Can you understand that?”
“Of course I can, but endangering yourself isn’t the way to do it.
Let’s give the cops a chance to hunt him down.
Every police department on the island is looking for him, and New York is sending a couple of guys, too.
We’ll find him, honey.” He dropped his shorts, removed the shirt, and crawled into bed with her.
She cradled his head against her chest and ran her fingers through his hair. “What are we going to do about everything else?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know—you, me, us.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yes,” she said with a chuckle. “That.”
“Well, I sort of hoped you might marry me.”
Jessie gasped.
“What?” He tilted his face up so he could see her. “You don’t want to?”
“I want to. I really, really want to.”
Beck slipped an arm around her neck and brought her down for a passionate kiss. “That doesn’t count as my official proposal. I can do better.”
“I don’t want better. That was perfect.”
“No wine? No roses? No bended knee and diamond ring? What will people say?”
“They’ll say Jessica Stone landed herself one hot husband.”
He hooted with laughter. “Sure they will.” Linking his fingers with hers, he brought her hand to his lips. “I love you, Jessica Stone. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, Peter Beck. I’ll marry you.”
“What about your modeling career?”
Her saucy smile stopped his heart. “If you knock me up, no one will want me.”
“I will.” In a swift move, he turned them and spread her out under him. “I’ll always want you.”
She looked up at him, her expression a mixture of surprise and desire.
“One knock up, coming right up.”
Laughing, she hooked her legs around his hips to urge him on.
Liana awoke in a panic on Wednesday morning when she realized they had just four days left before she had to go back to work.
She turned onto her side to watch Travis sleep.
He hadn’t shaved since they arrived at the lake and had the start of a beard after three days.
Liana wanted to bottle him up and bring him with her so she would never have to be without him again.
But he had his business and his life in Portsmouth, and she would have to think about her own work again before much longer.
Resting her head on his chest, she put her arm around him, wanting to be as close to him as possible, to savor every minute she had left with him.
“Travis,” she whispered, dropping soft kisses on his chest. “Time to wake up. We have to go home.”
He tightened his arms around her but didn’t open his eyes. “Don’t wanna.”
“We have a wedding to get ready for,” she reminded him.
“Don’t care.”
She propped herself up on an elbow. “Yes, you do.”
“Can’t we stay here forever?”
“I wish we could.”
His eyes finally opened. “Do you, Liana? Do you really wish we could?”
“Yes.”
He ran his fingers through her hair. “Are you ever going to say it again, or was it a one-time thing?”
Her heart racing, she studied him. “It wasn’t a one-time thing.” She caressed his face, giving special attention to the stubble on his jaw. “We need to get going. We have to meet with Ben and Lucy at noon.”
“Yeah.” He turned away from her, got out of bed, and shut the door behind him when he went into the bathroom.
Sighing, Liana fell back against the pillow. She wanted to give him what he needed but was afraid she wasn’t ready yet to give him everything. Until she was it didn’t seem fair to be talking about love all the time. He knew how she felt, and for now that would have to be good enough.
After more than two days of waiting for a glimpse of Triana, the press corps went wild when they spotted them returning to North Point just before noon.
“Jesus Christ,” Travis muttered. “There’re three times as many as when we left.”
His security detail was no match for the crush of reporters and photographers who surrounded the SUV, blocking their way onto the property.
Liana reached for the door handle.
Travis lunged across her to grab her arm. “What are you doing?”
“I was just going to ask them to move so we can get by. They’re usually very polite to me.”
“Liana, look at them. They’ve been broiling in the hot sun for two days thinking we were somewhere on the property. Do they look happy to be finding out we weren’t even here?”
“What are we going to do? We can’t sit here all day.”
“I’m sure Beck has called the police by now.”
Liana bit her thumbnail. “This is awful for your business.”
“On the contrary. The club’s receipts were through the roof last week, most likely because the members were hoping to catch a glimpse of you.” He began to inch the car forward, forcing the photographers to get out of the way.
She worked on her bottom lip as they approached the North Point gate where several of Travis’s security staff attempted to clear a path for them.
Dash barked at the reporters through the window.
A few minutes later they cleared the gate and were able to enter the property.
“Wow.” Travis shook his head as he pulled into his parking space at the club and looked over at her.
“This is a whole new ballgame, Liana. I hope you realize that. They’re like a pack of rabid dogs.
Until you leave on Sunday, you have to stay on the property.
That’s the only way we can keep you safe.
And I want you to get serious about security when you go back to work.
They’re not going to drop this story just because you’re not here anymore.
It’s going to be like this from now on.”
“I’m afraid you’re right.”
“You can’t be without security. Not even for one day.”
“I know.” She got out of the car and went into the club to prepare for their meeting.
Travis watched her go, filled with frustration and fear and love. He punched the steering wheel before he got out to follow her.
The next two days passed in a blur as Liana saw to what seemed like a thousand details in preparation for Ben and Lucy’s wedding. She spent a great deal of time on the phone reassuring the jittery bride that everything was going to be perfect.
Beck did them a favor and drove Travis’s brother Evan to North Point for a visit on Thursday evening, and Liana fell instantly in love with the sweet young man.
Seeing Travis interact with his brother only made her love him more.
On Friday morning, her Aunt Edith called to invite Liana to a welcome home dinner for Brady and Enid that night.
“I’d love to come, Aunt Edith. What time are they due in?”
“Uncle Charlie’s already left for Boston to meet their noon flight,” Edith said. “I know she’d love to see you once more before you have to go back to work.”
“I’d like that, too.”
“So you’ve made quite the stir around here since you’ve been home,” Edith said. “The entertainment shows and the tabloids are all about you and that adorable Travis North. And did you see the cover of People magazine this week?”
“It’s been quite a nuisance actually.”
“I’m sure it has,” Edith said with a laugh. “Do bring him with you tonight, honey.”
“I’ll ask him. So how about Mom getting engaged? Were you shocked?”
“Floored! Just absolutely floored—and so relieved to find out she wasn’t losing it.”
“I know! Have you met David yet?”
“We will tonight. I can’t wait.”
“You’ll love him,” Liana assured her aunt. “He’s perfect for her. Did she tell you I’ve been helping out with a couple of weddings here at North Point?”
“She did. That sounds like fun.”
“It has been, but I have a meeting with the staff in fifteen minutes, so I have to run. I’ll see you tonight?”
“We’re looking forward to it.”
As Liana ended the call, Travis walked into the office carrying his golf clubs, which he propped in the corner. He had spent the morning entertaining representatives from the Newport County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
“How was it?” she asked, noticing with disapproval that he was sunburned.
“Pretty good. I let them win hoping they might be persuaded to beef up their out-of-state promotion of North Point.”
“Sounds like a good strategy. No sunscreen again, huh?”
“Didn’t need it,” he said with a grin at the face she made at him as he leaned across his desk for a kiss. “Who was on the phone?”
Liana relayed her aunt’s invitation to dinner.
Travis ran a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “Why don’t we just have them all here?”
“Because they invited us there.”
“But Liana, the media . . .”
“The media is not going to run my life.”
“I’m afraid you’re not taking this seriously enough, sweetheart.”
She got up, grabbed the files she needed for her meeting, and walked around the desk. “Guess what, Travis? I’m a full-grown adult, and I’ve handled my life pretty well up to this point. I don’t need you or anyone else telling me what to do.”
“Excuse me for being worried about your safety. By all means, do whatever you want.”
“Thank you. I will.”
“Great.”
“You’re welcome to come with me to my aunt and uncle’s tonight,” she said on her way out the door. “If you don’t wish to, let me know, and I’ll have my mother and David pick me up.”
“I’ll go,” he grumbled.
“Great,” she said, mimicking his tone.
Jessie found Liana working alone in Travis’s office and knocked on the door.
“Oh hey,” Liana said. “Come in.”
“I’m sorry to disturb your work.”
“I could use a break. How’s everything going?”
With a glance over her shoulder at the door, Jessie slid into a chair in front of the desk. “He’s driving me crazy,” she whispered. “He won’t let me out of his sight.”
“He’s worried. We all are.”
“And I appreciate that. Y’all have been so nice to me, but I can’t stand the tension. I feel like I’m going to snap. And Peter. . . Between the vandals and the stalker, he’s not sleeping or eating. He’s a wreck.”
“I wish there was something we could do,” Liana said, nibbling on her pen cap as she thought it over.
“There is something. . . I’ve been thinking about it, but I’d need your help.”
“Whatever I can do, Jessie. I’m happy to help.”
Jessie got up to shut the door. “Here’s my idea.”