Rescue After Dark: A Gansett Island Novel

by Marie Force

  “I’m not in danger.”

  “How do you know that? If he comes here, it wouldn’t be hard for him to find you.”

  “He won’t come here. He doesn’t inconvenience himself. Ever. Coming here would be inconvenient for him.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “I’m sorry that it’s upsetting to you that I’m still married—”

  “That’s not what I’m upset about, babe. I’m worried about you. He’s put you through enough. You don’t need to be harassed by him after everything that’s already happened.”

  She propped her chin on his chest, a smile making her lovely face even more so. “It’s nice to have someone to worry about me.”

  “I am worried. He’s proven he has no regard for you or what’s best for you.” He smoothed the hair back from her face.

  “And you do?”

  “I do. I care. I don’t want anything to hurt you.” To his dismay, her eyes filled with tears. “Wait, what’s this?”

  “It’s just really nice to be with you.”

  Could she be any sweeter? “It’s really nice to be with you, too.”

  “We’re not supposed to get attached.”

  He gave a subtle tilt of his hips to remind her of how attached they’d already been.

  She laughed, and he went immediately hard for her again as he realized she was going to be a very big problem for him. Perhaps the best problem he’d ever had. Mason put his arm around her. “Talk to me. What’re you thinking?”

  “I wish he’d go away and leave me alone.”

  “You’re under no obligation to talk to him, especially after what happened the last time you saw him.”

  “I know.”

  “What’s your lawyer saying?”

  “Now that he’s out of rehab, she’s going to have him served with divorce papers. We’ve just been waiting for him to get out.” She turned those potent eyes on him.

  “You’ll stay here with me. If he comes to the island, it wouldn’t take much for him to find you at Eastward Look. He’d never think to look for you here.”

  “I really don’t think he’ll come here. Like I said, he doesn’t go out of his way for anything—or anyone.”

  “He’s a fool. Any guy who’s lucky enough to have you in his life should bend over backwards for you.”

  “Is that what you’d do?” she asked with a teasing grin.

  “Hell yes, that’s what I’d do. If I had you…”

  “What?”

  Mason stopped himself from sharing his true feelings—that if he had her, he’d never need anything else. If he had her, he’d treat her like gold every day. That if he had her, his life would be perfect. He couldn’t say any of that. Not yet. Not when so many things were still so unsettled for her—and thus for him, too. “He’s a fool.”

  She eyed him suspiciously. “That’s not what you were going to say.”

  “It’s what I can say right now.” He smiled as he drank in every detail of her exquisite face. “So my friends Quinn and Mallory are having a dinner party on Saturday night. You want to come with me?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Will you stay with me while your crazy ex is making noise about tracking you down?”

  “Yes, I will.”

  Mason smiled at her easy capitulation. “Are you always this agreeable?”

  She returned his smile. “Yes, I am.”

  “Somehow, I doubt that.”

  “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  He couldn’t wait to experience every aspect of her, good and bad, not that he expected a lot of bad. Things with her were so good, better than he’d ever had with anyone, and the only thing he could think about was how to keep her right here with him forever.

  If that made him a crazy fool, well, then, so be it.

  Chapter 20

  Mac returned to the hotel room after having gone to check on Luke, Syd and the baby. He was still rattled after hearing the details of the accident at the marina and blamed himself for the fact that it’d happened in the first place. The curbstone that would’ve stopped the car from going into the water had cracked over the winter, and he’d removed it, with plans to replace it. He hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

  As a result, two people they all loved had nearly been lost. He’d felt sick to his stomach ever since he’d heard about the accident, and seeing Luke and Syd, so visibly shaken by it all, had been hard to handle. He couldn’t imagine what Luke would ever do without Syd and Lily. Thank God they were all right.

  Tomorrow morning, he would ask Shane to get a new curbstone put in at the marina so that couldn’t happen again.

  Maddie was waiting for him when he came in. She held out a hand to him. “How are they?”

  Mac took her hand and sat on the edge of the bed. “Badly shaken, but okay.”

  “God, what a scary thing to happen.”

  “It’s my fault.” Mac hadn’t said that to anyone yet.

  She raised an eyebrow. “How do you figure?”

  He told her about the curbstone that had gotten cracked by a snowplow over the winter and how he’d failed to fix it in a timely manner.

  “Mac, come on. Syd hit the gas by accident. That’s what caused this.”

  “The curbstone would’ve stopped them from going into the water.”

  “Not if she hit the gas hard enough. The car might’ve still gone right over it. You can’t blame yourself for something that was an accident.”

  “I should’ve had it fixed right away.”

  “Come here.”

  “I’m here.”

  “Closer.”

  “Hang on a second.” He removed his clothes, brushed his teeth and crawled into bed next to her. “I’m here. What can I do for you, my love?”

  “Not blame yourself for an accident, nothing more, nothing less. It was an accident, Mac. Thank God Syd and Lily are all right, but it was an accident. Luke could’ve done something about that curbstone, or your dad could have. Tell me you know that.”

  “I do, but I just…”

  “You feel responsible for everyone, and that’s what is giving you unbearable anxiety. You can’t fix everything for the people you love. Despite your many heroic qualities, you aren’t actually Superman.”

  “I’m not? Really? That’s devastating.”

  “You’re the most heroic guy I know, always the first to step up for a friend in need. You take care of your own family, your siblings, cousins, parents, employees. But at the end of the day, you’re just one guy who can only do so much. The accident at the marina was not your fault. Do you hear me?”

  “I hear you.”

  “Do you really, or are you just saying that to shut me up?”

  “I’d never want to shut you up. Yours is my favorite voice in the whole world.”

  “I love you so, so much, Mac, even when you’re trying to be everyone’s hero. I just need you to be mine and to let that be enough for you.”

  “It’s more than enough for me.”

  “Let the rest go. Shit’s going to happen. We have to find a way to roll with it that doesn’t put us both in the clinic with anxiety issues.”

  “This getaway that our sisters were good enough to arrange for us was just what we didn’t know we needed. I’m still thinking about that massage this morning.”

  “Me, too, and I agree. This is something we probably need to do more often. We’re blessed to have so many people who gladly help us out in a crunch. When we feel ourselves getting too wound up, we need to take a breath and press Pause.”

  “Do we have so many people who’d help us out with five kids?”

  “We can farm them out.”

  Mac laughed. “Our own little stable.”

  “We had a really tough thing happen to us. Losing Connor changed our wiring. It’s made us more afraid than we used to be because we know now that horrible things can happen out of nowhere.” She placed her hand on his face, her touch affecting him the way it always did. “We
can’t be afraid all the time. That’s no way to live.”

  “You’re right. I know you are, but it’s hard to let go of the fear. I actually talked to my uncle Kevin about it a week or so ago.”

  “You never said.”

  “We ran into each other at Rebecca’s. Had some coffee. Got to talking. I straight up asked him how people get past being afraid of everything after something bad happens.”

  “What did he say?”

  “It was interesting, but then, talking to Kev always is. He was saying how our hearts expand to accommodate the new people. Our spouse, our kids, our grandchildren. We just keep adding to the love, which makes it so we have more people to be concerned about.”

  “That actually makes so much sense.”

  “It does. And he said when something happens to one of them, it’s a reminder that something could happen to any of them, and that adds to the anxiety.”

  “Also a very good point.”

  “Yeah, for sure.”

  “Did it help to talk to him?”

  “It did. At least I have a good reason for why I feel so on edge all the time lately.”

  “Your wife is expecting twins after having previously lost a baby. That’s a big part of it. Even after we successfully delivered Mac, we still worry about it happening again. I can’t wait for you to get the snip, and then we won’t have this particular worry again.”

  He winced at the casual way she threw around the word snip. “But we’ll have all kinds of other worries, and I have to do better about managing them. I know that. The thought of not being around to raise this gaggle of kids with you is enough to get my attention.”

  “I couldn’t do it without you. I couldn’t do anything without you.”

  “Yes, you could.”

  “No, I really couldn’t. Ever since that first day.”

  “When you were trying to get rid of me?”

  Maddie’s smile lit up her gorgeous face. “I wasn’t trying to get rid of you, per se.”

  “Liar. You couldn’t stand me and wanted me gone.”

  “I couldn’t stand you, but I thought you were hot.”

  “Is that right? You’ve never told me that before.”

  “Yes, I have!”

  “Nope. So you think I’m hot, huh?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I never should’ve said that.”

  “No, you really shouldn’t have. Now that I know you’re hot for me—”

  “That’s not what I said!”

  “You can’t take it back now, so don’t even try it.” He kissed her so she couldn’t object. “Let’s have a big party next weekend. I want to see everyone and be with our family and friends and tell them all how hot you are for me.”

  “I’m not having a party so you can tell everyone I’m hot for you.”

  “That’s fine. They already know.”

  She playfully smacked his face, which only made him laugh.

  “This might be the best day of my whole life.”

  “A few minutes ago, you were losing it over a curbstone. Look at you now.”

  “It’s all your fault. You do this to me.”

  “Who’s going to plan and provision this big party of yours?”

  “Leave it to me. I’ll take care of everything.”

  “Oh, dear God.”

  Over the next few days, Jordan dodged multiple calls from Brendan while she cared for Mason and the healing wounds on his hands. Her biggest challenge was keeping him from doing too much. Every time he overdid it, the cuts reopened and set him back to day one.

  He was enormously frustrated that he couldn’t do much of anything but rest on the sofa and watch movies with Jordan. Nikki had dropped off more clothes for Jordan and groceries so they could hunker down while he recovered.

  Despite his annoyance with the situation, Jordan had never been happier as she cooked for them, did their laundry, tended to his wounds and tried to keep him entertained so he wouldn’t go mad from what he was missing at work.

  On the third day around noon, Jordan took the phone out of his hand when Dermot called for the fourth time since breakfast. “Hi, Dermot, this is Jordan.”

  “I love your show.”

  Sitting next to her, Mason could hear Dermot’s side of the conversation and rolled his eyes.

  She smiled at Mason. “Thank you. Could I ask a favor?”

  “Of course. What do you need?”

  “I need you to not call Mason every five minutes, because he’s supposed to be resting and healing. Now, if it’s an emergency, that’s fine. But if you just want to chat, can you call someone else?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I can do that.”

  “I’d appreciate that.”

  “Do y’all need anything?”

  “Not right now, but I’ll let you know if we do.”

  “You do that. We can be there in a few minutes.”

  “Yes, you’re known for your rapid response time.”

  Dermot laughed. “Tell Mason to enjoy being stuck at home with his pretty lady.”

  “I’ll do that. Remember—emergencies only.”

  “Will do.”

  “Bye, Dermot.” Jordan ended the call and handed the phone to Mason, noting the amused expression on his face.

  “He’s going to talk about the time that Jordan Stokes scolded him for the rest of his life.”

  “I did not ‘scold’ him.”

  “Oh, yes, you did, and it was incredibly hot.” He lunged for her, but she darted out of his reach, as she had for three days, since their energetic lovemaking the other day had reopened many of his wounds. Moaning, Mason landed facedown on the sofa. “Come on…”

  “Not until you’re healed.”

  “Jordan.”

  “Mason.”

  “It’s mean for you to get me addicted and then cut me off.”

  He was ridiculously adorable when he was hot and bothered. “I haven’t cut you off. I’m taking care of you.”

  “By ensuring I’m hard twenty-four hours a day and not able to do anything about it?”

  “How am I ensuring that?”

  “By breathing.”

  “You’re the one who saved my life and got me breathing again!”

  “Best thing I ever did, but now I want you to use your second chance at life to put me out of my misery.”

  “The last time I did that, your hands were a bloody mess afterward.”

  “That was days ago. They’re much better now. I’ve got a much bigger problem than my hands thanks to you.”

  “It’s not my fault.”

  “It’s absolutely your fault, and I need you to do something about it.”

  That was how she’d ended up straddling him on the sofa and taking care of his very big problem while scoring an epic orgasm for herself at the same time. Nothing like killing two birds with one very satisfying stone.

  It wasn’t lost on her that she was becoming addicted to everything about him—from the way he made her laugh, to how he hung on every word she said, to the nearly spiritual physical connection that hummed between them every time they were anywhere near each other. She was falling fast and hard for him. Even as she told herself to take it easy, to not dive headfirst into a new relationship when she wasn’t even legally separated yet, tamping down her feelings for Mason would be like trying to keep the tide from coming in.

  On Saturday night, they attended the dinner party with Mason’s friends. Jordan loved Mallory and Quinn, as well as Quinn’s brother Jared and his wife, Lizzie. Also in attendance were Alex and Jenny Martinez, Paul and Hope Martinez and David Lawrence and his fiancée, Daisy Babson.

  Their hosts had cooked a yummy feast of Mexican food, including the makings for fajitas as well as enchiladas and taco salad.

  Mallory seemed to already know that Jordan was a vegetarian and made sure she had plenty of options to choose from.

  Jordan noted that, like Mason, Mallory and Quinn avoided the margaritas they’d made for their guests. She wondered if they,
too, were alcoholics. “Do you mind if I have one?” she’d whispered to Mason when Quinn made the first batch of frothy margaritas.

  “Not at all. Enjoy yourself.”

  She limited herself to two out of respect for the fact that he didn’t drink. The last thing he’d want to deal with was a buzzed or drunk date.

  “How’re the hands, Mason?” David asked after dinner.

  “Much better.” He was down to a few Band-Aids on the deeper of the cuts, but the others had healed nicely. “Jordan has done an excellent job of tending to them and making sure I didn’t do too much so they could heal.”

  “We might have a job for you at the clinic,” David said with a teasing grin for Jordan.

  “I’m the last person you want working there. In the past, I’ve been known to faint at the sight of blood.”

  “And yet you held up admirably while I was a bloody mess,” Mason said.

  “I made myself not faint so I wouldn’t be more trouble than I was worth.”

  The others laughed at that.

  “I have to tell you, Jordan,” Jenny said. “I love your show.”

  “Me, too,” Hope said. “Jenny and I watch it together. We’re addicted.”

  “That’s so nice to hear. Thank you.”

  “Will you be doing more?” Hope asked.

  “I’m not really sure. We’re contracted for one more season, but we may not do it. I’m a little skittish about attracting attention to myself in light of everything with what’s-his-name.”

  “I can definitely understand that,” Mallory said. “Being famous is probably much more fun in concept than reality.”

  “For sure,” Jordan said. “Not that I don’t appreciate how great the fans of the show are. They were amazingly supportive after everything happened with my ex. I’ve been talking to Gigi about the way forward. I’ve kind of lost the desire to live my life out loud. She’s also my attorney and is trying to get me out of the contract, but we’re not sure what’s going to happen.”

  “Well, I hope you get to stick around for a while,” Hope said. “It’s fun to have a star in our midst.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Jordan said, embarrassed to be called a star when she’d really done nothing to deserve that besides be married to a mercurial musician.