by Jill Sanders
He chuckled. “I did plan on doing some work too.” He nodded to the computer he’d set on her desk last night when he’d snuck in.
“What kind of work?” she asked, pulling on a dark cream skirt.
“Just something I’ve been working on.” He felt his face heat and tried to change the subject. “You look amazing this morning.”
“What kind of something?” She didn’t fall for the change of subject and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting. The fact that she was only wearing the skirt and her bra was a big turn on.
“I’m writing something,” he supplied.
“What? Like a book?” she asked, pulling out a blouse.
“Sort of.” He frowned and wished she’d move on.
“Really?” The excitement in her voice was intoxicating.
“It’s nothing really, just a cookbook and a guide on how to grow your own spices and herbs.” He shifted slightly in the bed.
“Why don’t we grow our own on the island? I mean, there must be plenty of space.” She started buttoning her blouse. “There’s room between the back door and the employees’ store.” She turned back to him. “Could you get me a list of things you’d need? I can have Rodney get them once he gets back. Maybe we can even put up a little greenhouse so you can grow year round.”
The enthusiasm in her voice grew and he could see her excitement.
“I was meaning to ask Sarah once she returned. I felt it was too early to, before the wedding.” He tucked his arm behind his head and watched her slip into a sexy pair of heels.
“Are you going to wear those for our date tonight?” he asked.
“Our…date?”
He smiled. “Forgot it already?” He made a tsking noise. “Our date night. You were going to wear that…”—he made a growling sound— “sexy dress for me.”
He watched her eyes sparkle. “Yes, I remember. Don’t you think it’s a bad idea now? Considering… everything?”
“You let me worry about that.” He got up from the bed and handed her the dress from the closet. “Just be up here in this, around eight.”
She took the dress and smiled at him. “That I can do. What are you going to do about food? Should I bring up…”
“I came prepared.” He nodded to his duffle bag. “Don’t worry about me. Go about your normal day and make sure to keep your phone with you.”
She walked over to him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “I won’t forget. Get some sleep. You look like you could use it.”
She turned to go. “Lilly.” She stopped and looked back at him. “Call him, find out what she wants, then call me on my cell.” He handed her the card for the PI that she’d given him earlier.
She looked down at it, slowly nodded, then took it and walked out.
His body was demanding that he crawl back in between the sheets, but his mind was too busy. So, he pulled his laptop to the bed and lay down as he did a little research on Lilly’s past.
Almost an hour later he found a report from the hurricane that listed all the lives lost and saw Cara Kincaid and David Kincaid listed with a surviving family member Caroline Kincaid. There were grainy pictures of the family, both parents smiling, while Lilly—Cara—stared at the camera as if she were already dead inside.
His eyes moved to the man who had tortured the young girl and he was thankful the man was already gone. He hated to think of what he would do if he wasn’t.
Still, he was torn, knowing her mother had sat back and allowed the abuse to continue. He had encouraged Lilly to contact the woman because he knew she needed the closure. Just as the call he planned on making later today to his parents would be for him.
He read report after report and found out everything he could about the hurricane. After seeing pictures, he wondered how a teenage girl could have ever survived such wreckage alone.
When his eyes grew tired from reading, he shut his laptop down and closed them for a while. When he woke again, he showered, dressed, and then sat at her desk and worked on his project.
He liked the idea of raising his own herbs on the island and took the time to make up a list for Lilly along with some basic plans for small, simple greenhouses.
When his phone rang, he answered after seeing Lilly’s name.
“How did it go?” he asked.
He heard her sniffle, then she sighed. “She wants to see me.”
“Why?” He waited.
“She says she wants to apologize for the past. She sounded really happy that I was alive. She insisted that she’d changed. Even said she’d found God and had started going to church. That it was part of her new life, closing out her old one.” He heard her chuckle. “Part of me wants to let her live the rest of her life letting it hang open.”
He thought about the phone call he was going to make after he hung up with her. “Don’t. You’ll just suffer along with her.”
It was silent for a while. “When did you get so smart?”
He smiled and then chuckled. “I’ve always been smart. Or so my mémère always says.”
“When am I going to meet her?” Lilly asked.
“When Sarah and Ben come back we’ll plan a dinner.”
“I’d like that. Well, I have to go. I’ve got several things on my list that need to be done before our date tonight.”
“Me too.” He glanced down at the crockpot and enjoyed the warm smells coming from it. “See you soon.”
After hanging up, he punched the number for his father first. That call didn’t take long. He refused to yield on his feelings and let everything out in the open. His father listened to everything, then acted as if he was bored instead of hurt.
When he hung up with him, he felt that he had barely scratched the surface of his emotions. When his mother’s phone rang, he held his breath and waited.
“H…hello?” She answered in English and sounded like she’d been crying.
“Mère?” He asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said again in English, which was strange, since he had never heard either of his parents speak English before.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in English.
“I’ve just gotten back from filing divorce papers from your father,” she blurted out, then broke into fits of crying.
He leaned back in the chair and realized he might run a little late for his dinner date.
Chapter Sixteen
By the time that Lilly returned to her room, she was nervous and excited at the same time. She’d changed into the dress in the bathroom at the end of her hallway, so no one would see her walk upstairs in an evening dress and ask her about it.
It was a lot harder sneaking into her room than she’d thought. She wondered how Adam had done it the night before. Then she remembered that he’d arrived before dinner had been over, when half of the employees were busy with the meal.
When she opened her door, the smell hit her and she felt her stomach growl.
Adam stood in front of her window, her desk pushed up against the wall, a white tablecloth covering it. Candlelight flooded the room with a soft glow.
Her desk was set like a table at a fine dining establishment, like their own dining room in the building next door. Two glasses of wine stood next to bowls full of what looked like chicken stew.
Soft music played from her radio, making the entire scene complete.
“How did you…?” She blinked, then turned and saw Adam for the first time when he stepped into the candlelight.
He wore dark suit pants and a jacket, with a crisp white shirt underneath. His hair was combed back and he was freshly shaved. He looked like her mind’s version of what James Bond would look like if he’d snuck into her room and cooked dinner for her.
“How did you do all this?” she asked, flipping the lock on the door behind her.
“You look amazing,” he purred. For the first time, she realized that his eyes were glued to her. She’d almost forgotten that she was wearing the dress he liked.
Sm
iling, she did a slow turn and he gave a low whistle.
“Thank you.” She moved closer. “I’m not sure how you managed to pull this off without leaving the room, but I’m impressed.” She sat down when he pulled out the chair for her.
“It wasn’t easy, but I think it turned out okay.” He sat across from her. “Shall we see?” He held up his glass of wine and she took hers. “To getting rid of the old and starting new.”
She smiled. “I like that.” She clinked her glass to his and took a sip. “Mmm, the good stuff.” She narrowed her eyes. “Which came from…”
He smiled. “My mémère’s wine closet.” He laughed.
She’d never really been on a date before. Once, when she’d first moved in with Sarah and her mother, Sarah had tried to take her on a blind date, but the evening had been a disaster, as the boy kept trying to grab her. Everything had been too fresh and raw from her past and she’d decided to never try dating again.
But with Adam the rest of the evening passed beautifully. Not only was the meal wonderful, but the conversation had flowed so smoothly that by the time all the food was gone, she had forgotten her nerves.
He pulled her up from the chair, pushed it aside, and danced with her across her small space, kissing her slowly until she felt her entire body melt.
He pulled back and looked down at her. “I thought that we would enjoy a movie together.”
She laughed. “Really? Because I was thinking…” Her hands pushed his jacket aside.
“Yes, that too, but… first things first. This is a date, yes?” He took his jacket off the rest of the way, then walked her over to the bed and let her sit down. He took one of her feet and slipped off her heel, slowly rubbing her foot until it relaxed. Then he repeated the process with her other foot as she moaned with pleasure. “Real dates include dinner, dancing, and entertainment.”
“Weren’t we on our way to… entertaining ourselves?” She smiled up at him.
He chuckled, then kicked his shoes off and climbed next to her, taking a moment to fluff the pillows behind her. Then he grabbed the TV remote and flipped on her set and DVD player.
“I have never seen this one before, but my mémère loves it.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned back into his chest as Breakfast at Tiffany’s started playing.
She wanted to tell him this was her favorite classic movie but decided against it and just sat back to enjoy the movie portion of her very first date.
The next morning, she woke up, stretched next to Adam, and wondered if her life could get any better than this.
Last night’s date had ended like most girls were warned against letting first dates end. Slowly making passionate love to the man she loved was something she had only ever dreamed of doing.
Now, she couldn’t imagine ending each evening any differently. She sighed and once again thought about spending the day in bed with Adam. Then she realized that the Robinson clan was due to disembark today. Glancing quickly at her window, she saw the hint of the sun coming up and realized that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
Starting to sit up, she was held into place by a hand covering her breast.
“Hmm, I like this.” He moved his palm slowly, making her giggle.
“Let go. I’ve got a million things to do today.”
“Cancel them all and stay in bed with me,” he said into her hair.
She pushed his hand aside and rolled out of bed. “Can’t. Besides, there’s too much…” She stopped dead when she noticed the green piece of paper by her door.
“What?” He was up in a second, glancing around. When he saw the note, he walked over and picked it up.
“You think this is a joke? I’ve been too nice. What happens next is your fault!”
***
“Son of a bitch!” He growled and stormed over to catch Lilly as she fell forward. He lifted her up and carried her back to the bed, stroking her hair and lightly calling her name until the color in her face returned.
“I…” She swallowed. “I thought he’d given up.”
He blinked a few times. “Why would you think that?”
She looked up into his eyes. “I don’t know. I guess I had hoped.” He waited. “I thought it was Kaleen,” she finally blurted out.
“Who’s Kaleen?” She sat up with her back to the headboard and tucked the sheet around her as if she was chilled.
“Tristen’s…”—she shook her head— “I guess she’s his fiancée.”
“Why would you think it was her and not him?” he asked, not trusting himself to touch her, to comfort her right now.
She glared at him. “I told you, it couldn’t be Tristen. We had a talk.”
“Right,” he said sarcastically. “And, because of this talk, you know that it couldn’t be him.”
“Exactly.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Okay, so why her then?” he asked.
She bit her bottom lip. “She said something to me the other day that made me think.”
“What did she say?”
“Just that she was a very jealous woman.” Again he waited. “You know, the note said…”
“Yes, I see.” He nodded and thought about it. “They’re leaving the resort today?” She nodded. “I’m shadowing you all day until they go then,” he demanded
“Like hell you are.” She jerked herself off the bed and stormed to the bathroom, then turned back towards him. “If it is Kaleen, then all of this will stop when they leave. If it’s not, you following me around like a… guard dog, won’t help anything.” She walked in and then shut the door behind her, leaving him no time to respond.
He sat and listened to her shower and came up with another plan.
When she came out of the shower, he walked over and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair. “This just has to stop.” Pulling back, he looked down into her eyes as he pushed a strand of recently dried hair from her forehead. “I’m cutting my four days off short and will go back to work. Besides, sitting in your room the entire time, it’s not exactly productive.” He sighed.
“What about working on your book?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I can’t concentrate knowing that someone out there is about to step up their game.” He leaned down and kissed her. “Plus, I wanted to get started on the greenhouse. I figured I’d head into town and get some of the supplies I needed.” He glanced out the window. “Looks like we’re going to have a beautiful day to work outside.”
“Rodney should be back sometime today, but if you want to start the work before talking to him, I have a corporate credit card you can put the supplies on. Come up to my office before you leave and you can put whatever you need on it.”
“Wow, Sarah must really trust you to give you one of those,” he joked, enjoying that he’d successfully taken the worry from her eyes.
She smiled. “We’re sisters. Well, sorta.” She frowned slightly.
“What?” he coaxed.
“It’s just… I didn’t tell her about the notes,” she confessed.
“I thought you told her everything.”
“Sure, about the break-in, being locked in the closet.” Her eyes met his. “About us.”
“Why didn’t you tell her about the notes?”
“I didn’t want her to worry.” She walked over and started pulling on cream slacks and a dark mocha shirt. “Besides, if I’d told her, she would have been on the next flight home instead of snorkeling or jumping off cliffs.”
He made a tsking noise.
“Oh, don’t judge me.” She turned and slipped on a pair of heels. “Now, if you’re quite done, I’m going to be late.” He chuckled. She walked over and stood by the door. “Do what you want. I have the card up in my office. You can swing by after breakfast.” She turned and disappeared down the hallway.
It took him less than half an hour to sneak out of her room and head back to the dock where he’d tied up his boat behind one of
the big yachts, where no one would dare look for it during the storm.
He made his way back to Silver Cove’s docks and settled the small boat back into his slip. Then he waited for the morning ferry to the resort with the rest of the employees that made the daily trek.
“You heading back to work so soon?” Carmen, the head housekeeper asked him.
“I’ve got a new project I want to run by the… temporary boss lady.” He smirked.
“That’s not all I hear you’re running by her,” someone else joked.
He chuckled and ignored all the other comments that flew around as they made their way towards the island.
Jerry, the ferryman, wasn’t present today. Instead, a different guy pulled up, causing the entire crowd to question where JT had gone.
“I’m Todd. Jerry asked me to fill in for him for about a week while he goes to LA to settle his movie deal.” Everyone made noises.
The entire population of Silver Cove knew that Jerry, aka JT Whistler, was one of the most popular science fiction writers of the century.
“Which book?” someone shouted out.
“I don’t know anything more,” the new man said. “He’ll be gone for about a week and he said to give out my number in case of emergencies.” He handed everyone a small piece of paper with his number on it.
Adam tucked it into his pocket along with the latest threatening note.
When the ferry docked, he made his way up to Lilly’s office and knocked.
“Come in,” she called out in a very professional voice. When he pushed the door open, he watched a wave of relief wash over her.
“Hi.” He coughed and walked in. “I have a new proposition to run by you,” he said loudly, then shut the door behind him. Her head tilted and her eyebrows shot up. “Sorry, too many ears in the hallway.” He winked as he walked over and kissed her solidly on the lips. “I missed you,” he whispered to her.
“Ditto.” She smiled up at him. “I have the credit card.” She handed him the plastic.
