She tossed her designer heels in the closet. This was no way to meet Maverick.
Jess would have worn jeans.
Why she'd chosen silk and diamonds made no sense. She wasn’t some Hollywood type and Maverick preferred simple.
She pulled the pins out of her updo and fluffed her hair as she went through her clothes, again.
This time she grabbed a white t-shirt and designer jeans. She topped it with a purple cardigan and brushed her hair out.
The necklace wasn’t so pronounced but she liked it. She grabbed her designer sneakers, shoved the phone in her back pocket, and knocked on Valentina’s door again as she asked, “How do I look now?”
Camila grinned. “Stylish. I like those jeans on you.”
Her heart beat fast. She backed into the hall as she said, “Stylish? Is that still too fancy?”
Valentina called out, “Don’t you go and change.”
Both of her roommates followed her as she headed to her room. “I need to look good and not like I moped around the house until he called.”
Valentina reached out and pressed her hand against Catherine's shoulder as she asked, “Why is he coming here again?”
Jess’s face was hot. Catherine was never this… excitable. She glanced at her friend’s black shoes as she ignored the heat in her cheeks and said, “To return my phone and we’ll go get coffee.”
And then the doorbell rang.
There was no time to change. She clutched her hands to her heart while Valentina said, “Sounds like he’s here, Catherine.”
The last thing she needed was more delays. Maverick might only want her company for two minutes, maybe a polite coffee and to go on his way.
Logically that’s all she should expect. She knew that. Better not to get her hopes up. She ignored the buzz in her veins and licked her lips. “I’ll go answer the door.” She rushed past her two friends in the hall and headed to the front door. She threw it open and stared into the hottest pair of brown eyes she’d ever seen.
He wore jeans that showed off those muscles of his. Her body melted like butter on a hot skillet, but then she looked behind him.
No baby or stroller. Just one hot man with shoulders larger than the width of her door and a chest she could lean on, and arms that could hold her and never let her go. Her entire body was now warm as she said, “Hi. Where’s Carter?”
“With Bob, downstairs.” He tucked his hands in his back pocket.
She raised her eyebrow and hoped he didn’t somehow know how her lips still ached for his kiss. “Oh, is Bob coming too?”
He brought her phone from his back pocket and handed it to her. “No. Here is your phone.”
Oh. Right. This was what they were doing. She took her phone and handed it back to him as she said, “Here is yours.”
Their fingers brushed and a spark raced through her. Her love for this man would never go away.
She knew that now. But she kept her feelings to herself and put the phone in her back pocket.
Maverick did the same but then stared over her head as he said, “Your roommates are looking at us.”
Her cheeks flamed.
Neither of her friends should see Maverick in the jeans he’d worn--his muscles were all on display. She turned around and stood in front of him as she nodded, “Right. Valentina. Camila. This is Maverick. We’re going now.”
She briefly brushed against his body, hers zipping with desire. He didn’t move away at all, but tipped his head like he wore a cowboy hat, though his brown hair was bare. “Nice to meet you both.”
She waved and gently nudged his wall of muscles out into the hall. She tugged the door behind her and then broke the physical contact. If she didn’t she’d lose sight of who she was. She glanced at the hall outside her condo as she said, “Finally alone.”
He reached out and took her hands. She stared at him as he said, “I’m glad. I needed to see you.”
This time her body ached like he’d dance with her again on the patio and she wanted him to hold her tight. Instead she stopped and crossed her arms as she asked, “Why?”
He pressed his hand against the back of his skull and said, “I was wrong to send you away.”
There was no excuse for her lying. None at all. She sighed. “I was wrong. I should have told you I was Catherine when I realized I cared for you.”
He reached out and cupped her shoulders, bringing her close as he said, “I shouldn’t have thought you were out to ruin my business.”
At least he believed her now. She smiled and for the first time all morning, she calmed down. “Oh. I would never do that, Maverick.”
He let her shoulders go but didn’t pull back. He lowered his head and their foreheads were close as he asked, “Do you want me to call you Jess or Catherine?”
Total honesty now. She pressed her lips together. Who was she? She knew that he preferred Jess, but that wasn't completely her. “I mostly go by Catherine…”
He met her gaze and said, “I can call you Catherine, if you’ll have me.”
Have? Something in her heart whispered that he wanted to be with her but was it true? She smiled and let hope wash over her like a hot shower as she said, “You can call me Jess.”
He stepped back and pointed toward her apartment door that was ajar as he said, “Jess…your roommates are listening. Walk with me.”
When she came home, she’d talk to the pair of them about eavesdropping. For now, she hit the button on the elevator and said, “Let’s get that coffee.”
Neither one of them said a word while they waited, but his pinky linked with hers as he stood next to her.
If she somehow found a way to be in his heart then she’d dance in the street and sing, though she had a horrible voice that resembled croaking frogs.
They stepped into the elevator and once the door closed, he reached for the lock. She pressed against his shoulder. “What are you doing?”
He didn’t touch it but his cheeks flushed. “I need to talk and this is the only place without an audience.”
Wait. Maverick blushed? She shook her head and pointed toward the camera as she said, “Except building security.”
“You win.” He stepped back, breaking their connection.
Her heart raced, and she pressed her hand to his muscled chest, feeling his was racing too as she said, “Just tell me, Maverick.”
The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. No one was there, but he walked beside her as he said, “Catherine, I never thought I’d meet anyone like you.”
Maybe just maybe her hope was right. He wanted her. She nudged his side and asked, “Like me?”
Outside the lobby, she saw Bob pushing a green baby carriage. Maverick walked her toward the lobby and a grouping of white leather couches where no one sat. “When my mom died because she was frugal concerning money, I swore to myself I’d never let myself get hurt by another woman like her.”
Huh? She cupped his face and said, “I’m not-”
“Let me finish.” He didn’t move her hand away.
His mother didn’t make sense. She lowered her hand and nodded. “Okay.”
He traced her sides as he said, “So I made a bad decision with Alicia. The only thing good out of that mess is Carter.”
And his son was now his, forever. The past few days were a dream in many ways but she just said for now, “I agree.”
He pressed his forehead to hers and a zap of energy grew inside her. “But I thought my heart was completely closed off and that I wasn’t ever going to love a woman.”
“Fair.” She stared at his lips as she said, “I’m not trying to push for anything more than you can give.”
He grinded his teeth and let out a sigh. “I’m doing a bad job of this.”
Now she really didn’t understand. He meant to share something with her, but she wasn’t sure what. “Of what?”
He stroked her cheeks, peering into her eyes as he said, “I love you Jess. Or Catherine. It doesn't matter.” And the
sense she was now somewhere else, in a world where it was just the two of them and the rest of the universe was gone took over as he continued, “Since you left I realized how stupid I was and wanted to ask if there is any way you can find a place for me in your life.”
Her life was with Maverick. She hadn’t lived until she’d been with him. She sighed and imagined that she’d hold Carter and Maverick forever. “And you can accept that I’m both Jess Taylor and Catherine Morgan?”
“Absolutely.” He shrugged. “And I hope you can accept I’m a package deal with Carter but I hope you come home, because you love me.”
Home. Yes. Her mouth tingled for a kiss but she didn’t want to move a muscle though her lips curved into a smile. “I told you I love you. But I also love your son.” Her gaze narrowed. “You were talking about your mother and then Alicia to explain what exactly?”
He laced their fingers together. “Why I’m stupid.”
She sighed and stepped in his arms that wrapped around her tight. “You’re not stupid. I understand wanting to protect your heart. I was anti-romance until I met you.”
His lips were close and she ached for him, but then his eyes widened. “Why?”
His closeness made her feel safe enough to share something she’d never said out loud to anyone. “Because my birth mother loved my father, who threw me away to punish her. Yet she still thinks he was the love of her life, which always made me feel like unwanted goods.”
His fingers caressed her cheeks, setting off an electric storm, and he said, “You don’t have to-”
“I know she loves me,” she interrupted. The last thing she needed was to give the wrong impression--she trusted him enough to share the rest. “I like being Jess. Tess, Tanya and Thomas took me in and made me feel wanted… my brothers, and my mother, Fiona, think of me as Catherine and expect me to not think about the past, but with you I was both Jess and Catherine and I didn’t feel like anyone but myself.”
His deep voice reverberated through her soul when he said, “Your life is complicated, but I’m willing to learn if you’ll have me.”
“Tell you what, come to the wedding with me. Meet the Morgans and then if you want, I’ll go back to the farm with you and Carter.”
His lips curved upward as he hugged her closer and said, “Okay, but one thing…”
Her eyes fluttered closed.
Finally his lips claimed hers.
The world dissipated and nothing else mattered.
Now she was in heaven itself.
As the kiss ended, he held her tight but said, “There is one more thing…”
The kiss wasn’t it? She had no breath in her body and her lips were tender and begging for more kisses. “What?”
He squeezed her sides as he said, “I need an accountant with me when I meet Colt this afternoon. I need to know fast if any of the proposals are good for Carter’s future.”
Wait. Did he intend to have her help his business? Her eyes widened as she asked, “You want me to go with you?”
He nodded, and their foreheads brushed again. “I love you and I’d like to be open to trusting each other.”
This meant she wouldn't have to ever go to work with her brother or her sister. Maybe she’d been searching for that all along. She batted her eyes. “Good, because I’m actually in need of a job, and I’m hoping the accounting position doesn't interfere with my nanny duties.”
He stilled as he asked, “You’d give up working at your family’s business… for me?”
If she had a life with him and Carter she’d find a way to be useful and really settle in on his farm. “I’d prove myself at Appleton. If I start at my brother’s bank, I’ll just be treated as a Morgan--I would prefer for you and I to work together.”
He didn’t move a muscle as he said, “I didn’t expect…”
Maybe she'd gone too far? Her heart plummeted, but she didn’t let him go as she asked, “So there is no position?”
He massaged her back and she glanced up as he said, “There is. Absolutely. I’m lucky to have you on my team, Jess.”
“Yay!” she said fast and then hugged him.
Once again though, his lips swooped in and took hers as his own.
In Maverick’s arms she had everything. Nothing else, including her extended family, mattered.
Two days later…
* * *
Maverick waited for Peter and Belle's ceremony to begin in a grand hotel that overlooked the turquoise blue Caribbean. The wedding arch had been decorated with lilies that perfumed the open lobby.
Earlier that morning, he’d made an unscheduled visit to his coffee farm on a neighboring island to make sure that the farm was following his company standards on organic farming methods--and he'd been pleased, but not surprised, to find everything in order.
Dressed for the wedding in a light gray linen suit with a white cotton shirt made to withstand the warmth of the day, he couldn't imagine wearing his heavy jeans in the tropical heat. The fabric of his suit made sense.
The setting was idyllic and so different from his Florida Appleton farm.
Where was the bridal party, specifically Jess? He stayed in the second row where he’d been escorted, surrounded by Morgans everywhere. He could see for himself that they were all normal people.
Alice Morgan and Colt Collins both spoke about farming and how they'd grown up like him, caring for the land. They commiserated with how hurricanes could mess with the orange crop.
At last he saw Jess coming toward him. She wore a teal knee-length dress and a small matching teal veil that could be straight out of a 1950s fashion magazine in her bridesmaid's outfit.
She walked over to him, though the wedding music hadn’t started.
Strange.
The last wedding he'd attended, the wedding party stayed out of sight until it was time for the marriage.
But the groom was in his black tux standing at the altar waiting which mean the wedding should start soon.
But Jess’s face was red and she walked without flowers in her hands.
He squeezed her fingers, sensing that she was stressed. “This is a beautiful setting.”
Her lips pressed together and she hugged him fast before she straightened. “Hopefully this is their last wedding, but I was told to come out and get instructions from Peter. Something is happening.”
Instantly he stood taller like he needed to protect Jess as he glanced at Bob and his wife who held Carter and asked, “What is it?”
She massaged her temples as she shook her head. “I have no idea. My family is… dramatic.”
No one else he’d ever met had their lives chronicled in newspapers as if the Morgans weren’t allowed to live normal lives. On her private plane to the island, she’d warned him that his life story with Alicia might be on newspaper stands or in tabloids now that they were together, but he couldn’t hide his son from that. All he could do was prove to Carter that he was loved and wanted, and that Maverick wouldn't change anything as he now had him in his life, forever.
The crowd began to murmur restlessly, and he stared down at the prettiest woman he’d ever met. She looked toward the groom, Peter, on his cell phone. Maverick massaged her lower back and hesitated. Was this drama related to what he'd read about the Morgans? He understood that it may or may not be true. He kept his voice low as he said, “The news said that Peter was in love with Jennifer Gonzales and that Belle was the interloper.”
Jess’s nose twisted like she'd just smelled onions as she tilted her head to stare at him and sucked in her breath. “Don’t believe everything you read.”
His mind raced but he didn’t step away from her. He stood at her side and glanced around, unsure how to protect Jess. “If it was that wrong, I’m very confused on how stories like that are told.”
“Jennifer has great publicists. She is an A list movie star these days. Her new movie is about Johnstown Flood and the classism that was so rampant during the Gilded Age, and how the rich elitists, who would h
ave been contemporaries of my ancestors, wanted a private estate so much that they caused over 2000 people to die.”
His workers had talked about the movie on his farm. He shrugged. “I haven't seen it yet.”
She used her nose to point toward a man in the front row talking to Colt Collins. “My brother Matthew said she might get an Oscar nod.”
He gently reached behind his head and rubbed. He didn't keep tabs on his ex. Why would anybody? “Why are you keeping track of her if she’s not important to your family?”
Jess’s cheeks reddened, and she glanced up at him like he’d just caught her stealing a cookie from a jar as a child when she said, “She’s about to film another movie with Matthew. She had my brother Anthony’s baby and pretended she was having Peter’s baby. My half-brother Anthony wants her still. She married my cousin for twenty-four hours and it’s all a big mess, as she married Camila’s brother, Chris the saint.”
He tried to process what she’d said. Jennifer and Peter weren’t meant to be. The actress had pretended to have Peter's child and now she'd married some cousin. He wasn’t sure he'd caught everything. “What?”
She sighed and continued like he’d understood. “Sorry, we don’t call him Chris as he’s always on a mission doing something, but Camila said her brother and Jennifer separated within twenty-four hours, and the divorce or annulment he’s seeking is taking forever.”
If he was right, he now understood the cousin wasn’t happy. Hopefully Carter wasn’t ever involved with the Morgans thirty years from now, but he kept that to himself as he said, “Your family is complicated.”
She leaned her head against his chest. “Here come Mitch, Axel, Damien, Galen and my mother, Fiona. Axel was with me the day my father had me kidnapped, and he told them all I died--he thought I had. Axel blamed himself.”
Again she spoke like he already knew half of what she said, when he didn't know any of it. She turned to her family. “Hi everyone. This is Maverick Appleton.”
He smiled politely as she pointed toward the older woman. “My mother, Fiona,” then the blond man with short business-style hair, “Mitch,” she gestured to the one he did recognize, the famous rock star with the long blond hair, “Axel,” and next a dark-haired man with stark cheekbones, “Damien,” she swiveled toward another dark-haired man who was broader in the shoulders and said, “and this is Galen.”
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