by Nina Singh
He may as well go out onto the balcony for some fresh air. Maybe it would help.
Pulling the screen door open, he stepped into the moonlit night and watched the glitter of the ocean.
Jenna’s light was on next door.
Her screen door sat adjacent to his on the same balcony. Though her blinds were shut, it was obvious she was still awake. He could hear her shuffling about. Either she was a night owl or she was having trouble sleeping also.
Well, he wasn’t about to ask.
He’d been careless enough with her today. The last thing he wanted to do was knock on her door in the middle of the night.
He heard more muted sounds coming from behind her screen door. What was she doing in there?
Without warning, her screen door flew open and she stepped outside with a huff. She did a double take when she saw him.
“You’re awake,” she observed, her eyes wide.
“And so are you.”
He leaned over the banister, his arms resting on the railing. He didn’t want to think too much about the formfitting tank top she wore or how it offered a tantalizing view of her shoulders, nor the thigh-length boy shorts she had on. Or how they sat low on her hips. Hips he’d had his hands on just a few short hours ago. His fingers tingled at the thought and he shook it off.
“What’s keeping you up? The music? The sounds of laughter and partying?”
“None of the above,” she answered. “Sorry. You probably wanted some time alone. I’ll just go back in.”
Damn it. He wanted her to be more comfortable around him. She didn’t have to feel like she had to dash inside just because he was out here, too.
“Jenna. We are obviously both having trouble falling asleep. I’m out here to get some fresh air. So are you. There’s plenty of it for both of us. We can share our insomnia.”
She halted on the threshold and pivoted back. “Okay, then. But I don’t have insomnia.”
“No? You could have fooled me.”
“I can’t sleep because I can’t stop scratching. My legs in particular are in bad shape.”
He glanced down. “Sand fleas.”
“Is that what caused the coin-sized itchy welts all over my calves?”
He bit his lip to keep from smiling. It really wasn’t funny. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you. Some people are more susceptible to them than others.”
“Oh, I appear to be one of the lucky ones.”
“Is it bad?”
“I’m ready to scratch my skin off.”
He approached her. “Can I take a look?”
Even in the dim lighting of the half-moon, he could see her cheeks redden. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ll just go soak in the tub or something.”
She turned to step away but stopped when he leaned down to her feet. He studied her legs, trying not to notice the toned shapely flesh of her thighs and how they led up to feminine, rounded hips.
Yep, she had several angry-looking bites.
“Soaking won’t help,” he informed her. “The hot water might actually make it worse.”
“Great. Just great.”
“But you’re in luck.”
She gave him a look of disbelief. “Um. How so?”
“Last time I was here I had a couple of bites. Seema gave me something for them. Seemed to work really well.”
“Two whole bites, huh? And I’m the lucky one?”
He laughed and motioned for her to come inside his room. “Follow me.”
She hesitated. “That’s okay, Cabe. I don’t want to interrupt your night any longer.”
There she went again. Why was she so damn timid around him? Did she think he would bite her, too? Not that the thought hadn’t crossed his mind.
“There’s no reason to suffer, Jenna. I’ll just go get you the stuff.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked inside and to his bathroom. She was still waiting outside on the balcony when he returned with a tube of ointment.
He handed it to her. “This works wonders. Put a dime-sized amount on each bite. Here, I’ll help you.”
She looked mortified at the thought. “I can do it.”
“Fine.”
Taking the tube, she went to work on the numerous spots, some already on the verge of breaking open.
“It stings at first,” he warned just as she let out a cry of “Ow!”
“Sorry.”
Several moments later, she handed the tube back to him. “Thanks again.”
He sensed her hesitation. “Is there something else?”
She looked away, off to the side. “No. Good night.”
He reached out and took her by the arm to stop her as she turned on her heel.
“Jenna, what is it?”
She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. “I feel one just below my shoulder blade. It’s very itchy.”
“I see. You can’t reach it.”
She sighed. “I’ve been trying to scratch it all night.”
“To no avail?”
“I wouldn’t ask but—”
“It’s okay.” He gently turned her around and lifted her ponytail up. Apparently she even slept with her hair in a cursed bow. He fought the urge to untie the ribbon and release her thick curls.
Focus. Sure enough, right above her tank’s line, she had a nasty-looking bite immediately to the bottom of her left shoulder blade.
“That one’s a mosquito bite,” he told her. “It appears all sorts of things are attracted to you.”
Damn. Why in the world had he said that? An awkward silence fell between them before she finally broke it.
“I can’t even reach it to scratch it.”
“That’s because you’re not double-jointed.” He laughed but she didn’t respond. “I can’t see how you’re going to locate that one let alone reach it. Here, let me.”
Before she could argue, he uncapped the tube and began to apply the ointment.
His breath caught as he touched her. Her skin felt warm beneath his fingers. He found himself leaning in closer. The aroma of her hair teased him, a hint of strawberries and a subtle feminine scent that was distinctly her own.
“Jenna.” He whispered behind her ear, unable to help himself. His arm moved of its own accord to reach around her middle. She stiffened for the briefest of moments but then went totally lax against him. Her back against his bare chest. She felt like heaven and he knew he shouldn’t be doing this. Shouldn’t be holding her like this or touching her even. Hadn’t he just vowed as much? But he couldn’t seem to let her go. All he could do was repeat her name.
As if on cue, the clouds shifted and erased the faint moonlight they’d been bathed in. Only the dim artificial beams from the party lights in the distance afforded them any hint of respite from the dark.
“You were lying earlier, weren’t you?” he found himself asking foolishly. “When you said you weren’t curious about me. That you had no questions to ask.”
He felt her exhale a long, deep breath. Several moments passed before she replied. “Yes,” she finally admitted on a whisper.
She turned her head and his gaze fell to her lips. What would she taste like? He wanted desperately to find out.
“So do it now. Just ask me.”
“I don’t know, Cabe. It feels too much like gossip.”
“It’s okay, Jenna. We’re having a conversation. That’s very different.”
He felt her shrug. “I can’t help but see it that way. Your family has always been a source of gossip. So elevated, so unattainable.”
He’d help her. “And you want to know if any of the rumors are true?”
She exhaled under his arms. “There were too many rumors to keep track of. It
was more the general sense of the villagers talking as they stared at the castle.”
He let out an ironic chuckle, though he felt anything but amused at the moment.
She made no effort to turn around and face him. Thankfully. Talking was so much easier this way, with her in his arms, both of them staring off at the dark shadow of the ocean in the distance.
“It was far from a castle.”
His words had some kind of impact on her. She stiffened as he said it, suddenly tried to pull away. He instinctively held on to her, didn’t let her leave his arms. “What?” he asked, taken aback at her reaction.
“Says the crown prince.”
He’d offended her. How could he explain it to her? Did he even want to? That what she grew up seeing was a facade. A well-crafted, expertly framed image of the perfect family. The reality had been so very different.
“It wasn’t quite a fairy tale, Jenna. Please believe that.” At her silence, he added, “You don’t, do you?”
“You said on the beach that your trophies never meant anything. Are you trying to tell me your life was anything less than idyllic? How so? You’re going to have to explain it to me. Because it sure looked that way to me and anyone else in that town.”
The skepticism in her voice rang clear and loud. He swallowed, tried to gather the words.
“You know what?” Jenna said. “Never mind. Forget I asked. I only did because you told me to.”
“I know. And I meant it. I’m trying to answer in as truthful a way as possible.” He took a deep breath. It was true. Something about her, maybe her strength or her openness, made him want to confide in her in a way he hadn’t done with anyone else. Maybe it was the way she’d looked at him after they’d danced together on the beach. He wanted to open up more of him for her to see.
“We were supposed to appear that way,” he began. “It’s what we wanted everyone to see when they looked at us. Do you understand?”
She shook her head slowly, her soft silky hair skimming the stubble on his chin. “I’m afraid I don’t.”
“From the outside, we projected the image of the perfect little family.”
“But inside the castle walls?” she prompted.
Cold. It was the first word that came to mind. Followed by distant and unfeeling. “It’s hard to explain.”
Her spine stiffened slightly. “Cabe, are you saying that Tricia and James were...?” She paused to take a deep breath. “That they didn’t treat you well?”
Damn. She’d just jumped to the absolute wrong conclusion, that he’d been abused somehow. Physically or emotionally. That was also far from the truth. The truth sat somewhere in between.
He was really making a mess of this whole conversation. First he’d come off as the clichéd poor little rich boy. Now he’d led her to believe he’d been harmed by his very own parents. He should end this. He should just drop the whole thing and bid her a hasty good-night. But having her in his arms felt like some sort of balm. It felt right, her pressed up against him, numbing his senses. Dulling the pain.
If he stopped now, if he let her go and walked away, he’d never make his way back.
Not with Jenna. Not with anyone.
He’d never again find a way to open up about the darkness that hung over his perfect life like a heavy curtain, casting all sorts of shadows.
So he took a deep breath and just let it go. “I’m not a real Jordan, Jenna. I’m not really James and Tricia’s son.” The words hung thick in the air between them. Another layer pulled away from the fantasy.
What he didn’t say was that his very existence was a result of his parents’ greatest tragedy.
* * *
Jenna stilled. Trying to absorb what he’d just told her, no doubt. He couldn’t blame her. He knew no one at school ever suspected. James and Tricia were that good at hiding the reality. And so was he.
He finally turned her around to face him, grateful for the darkness that hid what his expression must have held. “I was adopted by James and Tricia as an infant.”
She lifted a shaking hand toward his chin. He resisted the urge to turn into it. “I didn’t know,” she offered.
“You weren’t supposed to know. No one is. We moved into town when I was a preschooler. Started the business right after.”
“It doesn’t make you any less their son.”
How many times had he heard that over the years from James and Tricia themselves? Just words. He’d always seen the truth in their eyes. The harsh reality: if they hadn’t tragically lost their real son, they wouldn’t have even known Cabe existed.
“Thank you for that. But it does.”
She sighed, hesitated before she spoke again. “Did it bother you so terribly? Because you never showed it.”
He shrugged. “The fact that I was adopted? No, that’s not what bothered me.”
“Other things?”
“Like I said. It’s hard to explain.”
“I know your father has always been very proud of you. Everyone in town knows that.”
“I worked hard and made sure of it,” he said. He’d tried so hard to earn their affection. He’d studied longer, played harder. Everything in his teenage power to make himself what he thought they wanted in a son. None of it was ever enough. “Still, there were those ever so rare times when I caught him staring at me,” he told her.
“Staring how?”
“It’s not important.”
“Please tell me.”
He let out a small laugh. “I don’t know. He just had this look on his face, you know. A look that made me wonder and think about the reality.” He’d spent his whole life trying to erase that look off his father’s face. But no amount of achievement had done it so far. Nor had any of it erased the chronic, haunting sadness in his mother’s eyes.
“What reality?”
The one that had shaped him since that fateful day when he’d turned fifteen, Cabe thought. That was the day the mystery fell into place just as the whole world around him crumbled. He wanted the knowledge of it off his chest, once and for all. His very heart told him that this was the moment, the chance he thought he’d never get. The woman in his arms was the key to lightening the burden. They’d grown up in such different ways but she’d be the one to understand somehow. Jenna would know what he meant when he told her that he’d been given everything he could have wanted as a child and teen. Except for one minor omission: genuine, honest parental affection.
He sucked in a breath and choked out the words. “That I would never have been their son if they’d had the choice.”
“Oh, Cabe. But they did choose you,” she said, her voice gentle and soothing. The situation was almost surreal, the way he was opening up to Jenna Townsend on a dark balcony in the middle of the night. Finally having the words out in the open combined with the heady way she said his name sent a surge of pure longing through him. Instinctively, he pulled her closer against him. She let out a soft moan and his gaze fell to her lips. What would they taste like? He dipped his head to find out. A mere brush of his lips against hers. Hardly a kiss at all. But it was enough to rock him straight through to his core. She sighed against his mouth and he wanted more, needed to taste her fully. He pulled her closer so that he could plunge into those lips deeper.
The band outside suddenly stopped playing and a loud cheer erupted, shattering the moment in a fast instant. The effect was like a splash of cold water. Cabe reflexively dropped his arms and for a moment they both stood frozen.
What in heaven’s name was he doing?
He ran a hand through his hair. “Jenna, I shouldn’t—”
Her sharp gasp cut him off. She stepped away as if struck by lightning. He almost reached for her but some small speck of sanity stopped him.
Without a word, she turned on her heel then fled int
o her room. He could only watch as she closed the screen door and pulled the curtain closed. In more ways than one. Her light went out an instant later.
Leaving Cabe in the dark shaking with need. And wondering what the hell he’d been thinking.
* * *
What in the world had she been thinking? She should have just turned right around and gone back into her room the second she saw Cabe out on that balcony. She’d tried but not hard enough. But then she’d never have known.
Jenna lay in bed and listened to the chirping of the birds outside as the darkness of dawn slowly evolved into a bright sunny morning.
She hadn’t slept a wink.
In a couple of short hours, she was supposed to meet Cabe for a working breakfast meeting. Calmly and professionally. She had no idea how she would pull it off. They had to address what had happened between them and everything he’d revealed.
He’d certainly dropped a bombshell on her. Cabe was not the Jordans’ biological son. And he seemed very affected by it.
There had to be more to the story. For instance, why had the three of them kept the truth so under wraps? And for that matter, Cabe may have been adopted but he still seemed to have led a charmed life. But the man she’d encountered last night seemed very different than the impression she’d always had of him as the high-achieving, handsome playboy.
His words echoed in her head. It was supposed to look idyllic from the outside.
He’d been drinking last night. It wasn’t any kind of excuse but it was more than what she’d had. She’d been stone-cold sober while practically melting into his arms. Oh, Lord. He’d kissed her. Well, almost. He’d touched his lips to hers and would have gone further before Jenna had found some semblance of sanity. The memory of it quickened her pulse and that just made her madder at herself.
The kiss didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t have. She would blame this magical location, being so far from home in such an enchanting place. So far removed from reality.
