He retrieved wine and glasses from the kitchen, then settled in on the couch next to her. Rufus had taken up residence at her feet.
After pouring her a glass, he said, “How’s your brother doing?”
“Really well. I’d forgotten how funny he is. And how easily he could wrap my mother around his little finger with his crooked smile and his silly jokes.”
“He’s a lot younger than you, isn’t he?”
“Eight years. I sometimes wondered if he was planned or an accident, but asking my mother about her sex life was not something I wanted to do. When he was first born, I followed my mother around, begging her to let me change him, hold him, rock him. Doreen was just the same, so he had three mothers for a while. Of course, then he grew up and became kind of a pest, and by the time I hit my teens, we were leading separate lives. But Jamie was always good about keeping in touch. Better than me, in fact.” She sipped her wine.
“How bad is his injury?”
“He doesn’t want to say. I’ll press him a little harder in a few days. Maybe he’ll be more willing to talk then.”
“Or not,” Joe said. “Sometimes talking about it makes it worse.”
She gave him a curious look. “You sound like you have some experience.”
“I wasn’t in the military, but I’ve seen some things I wish I hadn’t seen. And I certainly didn’t want to talk about them.”
“You don’t think it would have helped to get it out?”
“No, I don’t.”
She smiled. “You didn’t even hesitate. You’re not big on sharing.”
“Not things like that. Sometimes you have to compartmentalize to survive. And we’re talking about Jamie, not me.”
“Well, I hope he doesn’t suffer posttraumatic stress, but I know it’s hard to avoid. I just don’t want him to cover up his pain with so many jokes that we miss the fact that he’s really hurting.”
“You won’t let that happen, Charlotte. Your brother is in good hands.”
“So what went on with you today? Any updates on the case?”
“I do have a little news. Michaela Gomez is Constance’s biological daughter, given up for adoption at birth.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Wow! I knew there was something between those two, but I didn’t suspect that. How did you figure it out?”
“Jason did most of the work. It doesn’t mean that Michaela was responsible for the theft or Theresa’s attack, but it certainly creates doubt about Constance’s account of what happened that night. And if there’s some possibility that Michaela is the daughter of Edward Worthington as well, then—”
“You’re going there?” she asked.
“You’re the one who suggested there was something between Edward and Constance. Michaela was born about two years after Worthington’s wife died and Constance started working for him. We don’t have anything more than pure speculation at this point, however. Constance has lawyered up, and Michaela has disappeared.”
“If Constance has a lawyer, she must have something to protect.” Charlotte blew out a huge breath of relief. “This is great—the break we’ve been waiting for!”
Joe hated to burst her bubble. “Don’t get too excited. By your own admission, you were upstairs at the time Theresa was attacked. Even without Constance’s testimony, you’re a suspect.”
“But Michaela is, too. She passed me on the stairs when I went up.” She paused. “I wish I could remember if she was carrying anything, but it’s just a blur. Why did Constance try to hide the fact that she and Michaela were related?”
“She was nervous because their relationship was recent. Apparently, Michaela had shown up just a few weeks earlier.”
“Have you told the mayor?”
“Not yet. I’d like to get a few more facts lined up first. However, it’s possible that Constance will tell him. Theresa went home today.”
“I’m happy that she’s going to recover.” Charlotte glanced around. “Isabella isn’t here tonight?”
“She’s having dinner with Megan and spending the night with her. Nick is away on business. So it’s just you and me.”
She set her wineglass on the table and then slid a little closer. “You promised me dessert,” she said with a seductive smile.
Joe swallowed hard. His brain tended to stop working when she was within reach. “I have lemon bars in the kitchen, courtesy of Lauren’s bakery.”
“I had something else in mind.” She whispered in his ear, “You.”
His heart jumped. Then her lips were moving along his jawline, her tongue sliding between his lips. He put his hand through her hair so she couldn’t escape—not that she seemed to be interested in that. She was fumbling with the buttons on his shirt, her fingers slipping inside, her nails grazing his chest.
He threw off his shirt and pushed her back against the sofa cushions. He liked her under him, on top of him, surrounding him in every possible way. He cupped her face and took one kiss after another, never getting enough, and then he licked his way down her neck, across her collarbone, around the low vee neck of her T-shirt. She was soft and curvy and hot in all the right places, and he wanted to take his time to explore, but impatience was building inside him.
“We should go to bed,” he said with a groan.
“Too far away,” she said breathlessly.
“I—I . . .” He stuttered as she pulled her top up over her head and shook out her hair. Her bra was black and lacy, barely covering her tantalizing breasts. He pulled the edge of one cup down and tongued her nipple, delighting in the way it peaked for him, loving the way she pulled his head back down for more. He wanted to give her more. He wanted to give her everything.
“Don’t stop,” she said as he lifted his head.
“Condoms. Bedroom.”
“My purse,” she said.
He grabbed her bag and handed it to her. “Thank God.”
He shoved off the rest of his clothes as she shimmied out of her jeans, happy beyond belief when they were skin to skin, no barriers to his hands or his mouth—or to hers. Because Charlotte was as spontaneous and generous in sex as she was in every other part of her life. He liked the way she moved, the way she wrapped her legs around his back, the soft sounds that came out of her mouth as he loved her, the way she loved him back.
It took a while to come down from the high. An hour later, they were still wrapped up in each other’s arms on the couch.
“Dessert?” Joe suggested.
She gave him a happy, satisfied smile. “Again, already? I’m flattered.”
He grinned. “I’m always ready where you’re concerned, but I was talking about food this time. Are you hungry?”
She stretched in his arms. “We did work up an appetite, and I do love lemon bars.”
“Meet me in the bedroom, and I’ll bring you some. Do you want anything else—coffee, tea, water?”
“Some water would be good.” She stood up.
“I’m going to watch you so don’t go too fast,” Joe said.
“How’s this?” she said with a deliberately sexy sway of her hips.
“Nice ass,” he called as she sauntered down the hall. He grabbed his boxers off the floor and put them on, then went into the kitchen.
When he got to the bedroom with lemon bars and water, Charlotte was under the covers. He sat on the other side of the bed, putting the plate of lemon bars between them.”
“Yummy,” Charlotte said between mouthfuls.
He smiled at her sugar-sprinkled lips. “I’m glad I didn’t bring any napkins. I’m going to enjoy helping you clean up.”
She smiled. “I didn’t realize you had such a playful side. You were so serious when I first met you, and you’re still that way at times, but it’s nice to see this other side.”
“I deliberately put up some walls when I first moved here, especially where you were concerned. I was way too attracted to you, and I knew that could be dangerous.”
She stared at him, all humor go
ne. “I didn’t break your marriage up, did I, Joe?”
“No, Charlotte. I had plenty of reasons to end my marriage that didn’t involve you, and so did Rachel. That’s why I moved here and took the job. I wanted to force a change in my life. I had gone along with Rachel’s plans for most of our marriage. I moved into the house her parents bought for us, even though I wanted something different. I gave up some of my old neighborhood friends to hang out with the people at her tennis club. I tried to make her happy. I even sold my Mustang. Somewhere along the way, I lost myself. But I didn’t want to acknowledge the problems, because I didn’t want to fail.” He drew in a breath. “And I really think that’s all I have to say on the subject. Probably more than you wanted to know.”
“I want to know whatever you want to tell me.” She gave him a compassionate smile. “For what it’s worth, I know you tried to make it work. Because you don’t quit on people. And you loved Rachel.”
“At one time. I know you see yourself as being second, Charlotte, but that’s not the way I see you.”
“How do you see me?”
“As a beautiful woman who wants to trust, to fall in love, to give her heart, but doesn’t quite know how.”
She drew in a sharp breath. “That’s good. But I’m not the only one who’s wary. This is moving kind of fast, and neither of us knows where it’s going to end.”
“Maybe it won’t end.”
“Do you still really believe in happily ever after?”
He thought for a long moment, realizing the seriousness of her question. “I want to.”
“I do, too. I just don’t know if it’s possible.”
“Well, you have two choices. Never give your heart and never get it broken, or go all in and risk everything.”
“I want a third choice.”
He smiled. “That’s all I’ve got at the moment.”
She lay back against the pillows. “Changing the subject, what about your old friends? You never talk about the people you left behind in L.A., and no one comes to visit. Why is that?”
“Most of my friends were the guys I worked with on the LAPD. I had to make a break with that world. That might sound ruthless, but it was a survival instinct. I didn’t want to get pulled back in.”
“Now you have a new life here; you could reconnect. Invite someone to come up and go fishing.”
“I might do that. I would like you to meet Sonny. He and I met back in the police academy. He’s married with triplets now, and I’m the godfather to the oldest one.”
“I’d like to meet him sometime.”
“What about your friends?”
“The ones from college and medical school are scattered about. I never let anyone get that close to me, though. I was busy with school, then there was internship and residency and tons of pressure and competition. Friendships, relationships, they all suffered. When I came back here and caught up with Kara and Lauren again, I realized how much I’d missed having really close girlfriends. And I realized that my work can’t be my whole life.”
“So here we are,” he said softly. “A new chapter for both of us.”
“Yes,” she agreed, meeting his gaze. “Are you going to kiss me again anytime soon?”
“How about now?” He set the plate on the table and slid under the covers.
She rolled into his arms and pushed him onto his back. “My turn to be on top.”
“Honey, you can be wherever you want to be—as long as it’s with me.”
When Charlotte woke up just after ten on Saturday morning, Joe was in the shower. She stared up at the ceiling and sighed with pleasure. Joe had shown her a new way to greet the day that didn’t involve running five miles in a cold wind.
Each time with Joe was better than the last and not at all predictable. Sometimes he was impatient and rough, then sensitive and tender, then playful and teasing. She liked all of his sides, and she was teetering on the precipice of falling totally in love with him. Protecting herself had become a hard habit to break. Risking it all seemed both exhilarating and terrifying. But maybe she didn’t have to choose quite yet.
Sliding out of bed, she grabbed a T-shirt out of Joe’s drawer and pulled it on, then went into the kitchen to make some coffee. After getting the pot started, she gave Rufus a good scratch and walked out onto the deck. It was cold, with dark clouds hovering on the horizon. She shivered and quickly retreated into the warm house. She didn’t have much on her schedule today. She could go home, spend time with Jamie, and maybe take a nap before Lauren’s bachelorette party.
In the kitchen, Joe’s cell phone began to vibrate. She took a mug out of the cupboard, surprised when his house phone rang a moment later. Someone was eager to get in touch with him, but it wasn’t really her place to answer his phone.
Then the answering machine picked up.
“Joe, it’s Rachel.”
Charlotte froze.
“I have to see you. I have to talk to you. This can’t be over. I still love you. I was looking through our photo albums last night, thinking about how happy we were. I was wrong to throw it away. I miss you. I think we could still have what we wanted—a marriage and children. You know how much you wanted to have a child. I want to give you one now. Please, call me back, or come home. It’s not too late. Call me.”
Charlotte stared at the machine. There was such pain in Rachel’s voice. Would Joe one day realize he’d made a mistake? That he’d acted in haste? Would he want the children Rachel was promising to give him?
Joe had assured her that he was emotionally past his marriage, and she wanted to believe him. But Rachel’s voice ran around in her head, pleading for Joe to call her back. She’d almost been begging and Rachel had never struck her as a woman who would like to beg. She was sophisticated and opinionated and strong, but on this message she hadn’t been any of those things.
Charlotte licked her lips, wondering if she was the reason Joe hadn’t called Rachel back. Maybe they would reconnect if she wasn’t in the picture. Should she give them that opportunity?
She grabbed the clothes that were strewn all over the living room and quickly dressed. She’d just finished when Joe walked into the room, his hair damp, his cheeks shaven, looking heartbreakingly handsome, which challenged her desire to get away from him before she lost the will to leave.
“You’re not running out on me again,” he protested.
“I got coffee started. But I have to go to the hospital.”
“Someone is in labor?”
“Maybe, not sure. I’ll talk to you later.”
“What about tonight?”
“It’s Lauren’s bachelorette party. You’re going to Shane’s, right?”
“Right.” His eyes darkened. “What’s going on, Charlotte?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re running scared again.”
“I’m not running. I’m just leaving.” She kissed his mouth, then hurried to the front door. “You should check your messages, Joe.”
As the door shut behind Charlotte, Joe walked over to his answering machine with an uneasy feeling. The red light was blinking. A moment later, Rachel’s voice came over the line, and his heart sank. Charlotte had obviously heard every word. And the part about kids—damn. Charlotte wasn’t even sure she wanted kids, and now Rachel was offering to get pregnant to win him back.
But he knew what Rachel’s promises were worth.
This had to stop. Rachel always wanted what she couldn’t have. And as soon as someone else wanted something, she wanted it, too. He’d seen it happen a hundred times. Her desperation would turn into obsession. In the past, he’d try to help her get what she wanted or get back what she’d lost. He’d encouraged her to make up with friends she’d dumped in a moment of pique or because they weren’t important to her at that moment. Because sooner or later, she always wanted them back. And sooner or later, most of them came back.
But he wasn’t going back.
With shocking clarity, he realized that he rea
lly was done with her. The love was gone. He would always care about her and want the best for her, but he no longer wanted to be with her.
He needed to make sure Charlotte understood that he was fully committed to her. She might still have doubts, but he didn’t.
But first he had to call Rachel back. Avoiding her was only making things worse.
Her voice came over the phone a second later. “Joe,” she said. “Thank God, you finally realize that we need to talk.”
“Rachel, I’m done,” he told her.
“You don’t mean that,” she said in disbelief. “I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll even move to Angel’s Bay. That’s how much I love you.”
“It won’t work, Rachel. And you don’t love me. You just hate being alone.”
“I made a mistake. I pushed you away, and I didn’t mean to.”
“You outgrew me. We outgrew each other. You fell for Mark Devlin.”
“Mark isn’t with me anymore, Joe.”
“That’s too bad. I want you to be happy, Rachel—but it’s not going to be with me.”
Silence followed his words. Then, “You’re really sure, Joe? We had a lot of good years.”
“And those are the ones I’ll always remember.”
“I thought I could change your mind,” she said sadly. “But there’s someone else, isn’t there?”
“Yes,” he said honestly. “But our divorce has never been about anyone but us. Devlin wasn’t to blame. You wouldn’t have gone after him if you’d been happy with me. And I wouldn’t have stayed here in Angel’s Bay if I’d really wanted to make things work with you.”
“Thank you for admitting that,” she said. “Okay, Joe. I’ll let you go.”
“Good-bye, Rachel,” he said, snapping the phone shut with relief.
He’d finally convinced Rachel that they were over. Now he had to convince Charlotte.
NINETEEN
As Charlotte drove home, she wondered if she’d made the right decision. Joe thought she was running scared again, afraid to face what was happening between them, but that wasn’t it. She wanted more. She just didn’t know if she had the right.
Hearing Rachel’s voice had shaken her. It was one thing to know a couple was getting divorced and another to be in the middle of it. And even though she truly believed in her heart that she wasn’t responsible for their breakup, she was afraid that she could be responsible for Joe not giving Rachel a second chance.
Garden of Secrets Page 24
