by Dana Marton
Kaylee shifted on her feet. “Can I sleep downstairs tonight?”
Jess could have kicked herself. “Of course.”
Her bed was the only bed left upstairs—Derek had helped her move her mother’s things downstairs Sunday, after their walk in the woods. Of course Kaylee wouldn’t want to stay up here alone.
So, in the end, Zelda slept in her new downstairs room, and Kaylee slept in Rose’s. Pam took the couch. She’d been up all night, first out searching with the Versquatchers, then taking Zelda to the hospital. They weren’t going to let her drive home blurry-eyed.
Derek stayed too. When Jess walked back upstairs after seeing everyone settled, he walked up behind her. In another minute they were in her room, the door closed, the first time she’d been alone with him since having sex in the woods. Since he’d told her that he loved her.
She still couldn’t believe it. Maybe he hadn’t meant the declaration. Maybe it’d been the adrenaline talking.
Suddenly she felt awkward—maybe even presumptuous?—taking her clothes off in front of him. She slipped into bed in the clean T-shirt and yoga pants she’d put on after her shower.
He showed no propensity for shyness. He stripped to the skin before joining her under the covers.
Oh. OK. Wow.
Jess’s pulse pounded. She still hadn’t recovered from seeing his magnificent, well-toned body naked at the river. Twice in one night might be too much for her heart.
A number of seconds passed before she collected herself.
“It’s nice to have everyone under one roof,” she said as they lay on the full-size bed, shoulder to shoulder. No room to move away. She did her best to ignore the mad tingles racing over her skin.
He solved the space problem by reaching over and tugging her into his arms, draping half of her over his hard body. Her head rested on his shoulder, one arm around his chest. As if they were a couple, as if they’d slept in the same bed a hundred times, and were going to do it a million more.
Maybe if she hadn’t been in love with him for half of her life, the casual embrace would have felt like a normal progression in their budding relationship—if, indeed, they were having a budding relationship, which was by no means certain. But with all her teenage fantasies crowding back into her brain, the idea of sleeping in Derek’s arms seemed momentous.
“So.” His voice came from above her head, but she could also hear it rumbling under her ear. “How soon do you want to get married?”
She looked up so fast, she smacked the top of her head into his chin. She could not have heard that right.
“I sink I bit my thong off.”
She rubbed the top of her head, but grinned, even as her heart raced. “Let me see.”
He kissed her—a long, languorous kiss that built bonfires in her veins and erased all previous thoughts from her mind.
“I think your tongue is fine,” she said when he let her go. “In my professional opinion.”
“I think more testing is needed to be sure.” He rolled her under him.
His weight on top of her felt heavenly, even if he was careful to keep most of it off her, bracing himself on his elbows. Something hard and massive pressed between her thighs, making his intentions clear to the point where she could no longer remain in denial about what was about to happen here.
Their previous sexual encounters by the cabin and then by the river had both happened in the aftermath of a rush of high emotions. One could say they’d simply gotten carried away. But now . . . if they did this . . .
“There are people downstairs,” she whispered, wanting him desperately and still having trouble believing that this was actually going to happen.
“I’m a Navy SEAL. Nobody will hear me coming.”
She groaned at the pun. But then somehow he made her clothes disappear, and things turned very serious very fast.
He worshipped her body in complete silence, until she was a writhing, mindless mess. She couldn’t stop moaning in pleasure. He solved that problem by sealing his lips over hers and putting his tongue through some serious testing.
Most of the time, in the past, she’d had sex with someone to prove to herself that she could. Or because she wanted the relationship, the partnership, the sense that she wasn’t alone, and knew that the man she was with needed sex to be a part of that.
Sex with Derek was easy. She didn’t have to think about it. She certainly didn’t have to force anything. She craved him as much as he seemed to crave her, certainly a first since her three days of hell.
Derek was . . . Making love to Derek in her old childhood bedroom was a seriously surreal experience. Soooo much better than her wildest teenage daydreams. He knew exactly how to make her body go wild. He owned her. There. She was as much of a feminist as the next person, but could think of no other way to put his mastery of her senses.
“I love you,” she told him in a ragged whisper, all she was capable of.
He looked up from her breast, from a glistening wet nipple he’d teased into an aching hard bud, his face tight with desire, his eyes brimming with hope. “Say it again.”
“I love you, Derek Daley.”
“I love you too, soon-to-be Jessica Daley.” He held her gaze. “After the navy, after all my wanderings, I wanted to come home. But then I realized this place wasn’t really home without you here.” He paused for a second. “It’s like when I write a book, and the beta readers and the agent and the editor, everybody loves it. But I know there’s something missing. I just can’t put my finger on it.” He paused again. “And then I find that one detail and add it in, and it pulls everything together, makes everything work, takes the book to the next level.” He smiled at her. “You take my life to the next level, Jess.”
He moved up over her body and kissed her senseless. When neither of them could breathe, he rested his forehead against hers, panting. She’d moved her knees up on either side of him, and he was cradled between her thighs, his hard length pressed against the most sensitive parts of her. With nothing between them. And it still wasn’t enough. She arched her back for even more contact.
He groaned, the most tragic and painful sound she’d ever heard. “I don’t have protection.”
“I have a birth-control implant.”
He raised his head. Hope filled his eyes. “I’m clean.”
“Same here.”
“So you don’t mind if I . . .”
She squirmed under him. “I’m going to scream if you don’t.”
“I wouldn’t want to be responsible for waking people up.” He shifted into position, against her opening. And then, in one smooth thrust, he filled her.
He stopped when he was all the way in, giving her a moment to catch her breath, giving her body a chance to stretch around his size and get used to him being inside her. Sharp pleasure raced through her body. She moved against him in blind passion, demanding more.
She’d had sex with other men, but she’d never made love with anyone else except Derek. Nothing could compare.
Derek was . . . everything—gentle yet demanding at the same time, masterful, patient while making her impatient, out of her mind for more, faster, harder. By the time they exploded in pleasure together, she could hardly breathe.
The past two days had been hell. Her heart was still full of grief over losing Chuck. Her body ached from hitting the water. But somehow, miraculously, Jess fell asleep with a smile on her face.
By the time she woke at midday, Derek was gone. True to form, everybody else was in the kitchen. At least half a dozen brand-new casseroles covered the table.
“Grabbing a shower.” Pam popped up from her chair. “I have to get to work.” She gave Jess a good-morning hug, then disappeared upstairs.
Zelda began sorting her neighbors’ gifts, her expression dazed. “I’ll never have to cook again.”
Jess walked to her for a hug next. “You deserve a break.”
Zelda didn’t look happy for a break. She looked heartbroken. Then she looke
d at Kaylee perched on a stool by the small kitchen island, and some of the grief eased from her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but a knock at the door interrupted.
Jess went to check. “Sheriff Rollins.”
He looked dead on his feet. He really did need to retire. “Miss Taylor.”
Jess stepped aside. “Come on in.”
He carried a briefcase and set it on the antique sofa table with care, then took off his hat. “Good morning, Zelda. Kaylee. I’m so sorry for your loss, you all.”
“Thank you, Sheriff.” Zelda came from the kitchen. “And thank you for gettin’ Jess and Derek safely out of the woods.”
The sheriff cleared his throat. “About that . . .”
He popped his ancient briefcase open.
Inside were half a dozen items, all carefully separated in plastic bags. Jess’s heart started pounding when the sheriff pulled out the first bag, her pink diary inside. “I think this might be yours. I’d appreciate a confirmation. If you can confirm without having to touch and open it, even better.”
Jess’s throat was suddenly too dry to even say yes, so she nodded. The doodled flowers on the cover, and the carefully calligraphed Mrs. Jessica Daley were definitely all hers.
The sheriff dropped the bag back into the briefcase and closed it. “He kept mementos.”
A cold shiver ran down Jess’s spine. “I left that diary in my room, under the mattress.” She thought of Crane in her bedroom and shivered again.
The sheriff watched her. “Any idea when and how he got into the house?”
“I don’t know when, but he . . . um . . . made friends with my mother.”
Sheriff Rollins shook his head with disgust. “Seems he did that with the other victims as well. Contacted the mothers and offered condolences and help.”
Jess shuddered. So freaking creepy.
“I’ll leave you all to your morning, ladies.” The sheriff turned to leave. “I’ll call with any updates as we find out more.”
“The body?” The words tore from Jess.
The man paused at the door to look back at her. “In the morgue in Burlington.”
Her shoulders slumped as she felt an old weight lift. He’s dead. This time, he’s really dead.
As the sheriff walked out, he added, “You wouldn’t want to see him now. Damn crows pecked out his eyes while Deputy Muller walked away to take a piss. If you pardon my language.”
For several minutes after the sheriff left, the three women stood in the living room, stunned and shaken.
Zelda was the one to speak first. “It’s over,” she said. “We’re startin’ new right here, right now. All of us.” She looked at Kaylee. “First things first, I’d like to be your grandmother.”
“And I guess I’m your brother,” Derek said from the door, grinning as he came in. He carried his laptop with a swagger. “Since my phone died in the river, nobody could reach me all morning. Chuck’s lawyer ended up sending me e-mail. Chuck named me as Kaylee’s guardian.”
“No foster care?” Kaylee seemed to be holding her breath, and Jess held hers, along with the girl. “Not even until paperwork gets done or whatever?”
“Not even.”
Zelda sank onto the couch, deflating with relief. Kaylee ran into Derek’s arms, crying. He held her like an older brother who’d just learned he had a younger sister.
Jess blinked the sudden moisture from her eyes. Thank you, Chuck. Thank you, thank you, thank you for thinking ahead and taking good care of Kaylee. Thank you for trusting her to Derek.
“We’re officially family,” Derek told Kaylee as the two pulled apart, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
Kaylee looked happy-stunned. “Holy carpal tunnel.”
His eyebrows snapped together. “New family rule number one: no writer jokes, smart-ass. I’m the boss.”
“Says who?”
“I’m sure it’s in the paperwork.”
Jess couldn’t take her eyes off the two. If she wasn’t in love with Derek already, she would have fallen then and there.
“On that note,” Derek said, “I think it’s time to grow our family.”
Kaylee stepped away from him. “Don’t look at me. I’m not going to be sixteen and pregnant. I don’t even have a boyfriend.”
“You’re almost eighteen, doofus,” Derek reminded her. “In any case, no boyfriend until you’re thirty.”
As Kaylee protested, Derek’s gaze found Jess. “Last night, I asked Jess to marry me.”
Kaylee dropped the protest and screamed in delight. A cry of pleasure came from Zelda on the couch. Pam shouted, “Yesss!” from the top of the stairs. While Jess shook her head and muttered, “No pressure.”
In less than a second, Kaylee was jumping around her with the capacity for excitement only teenage girls had. “What did you say?”
Everybody held their breath.
“I’m thinking about it,” Jess told them.
Pam, who ran down the stairs to join the melee, stopped in front of Jess, and turned thoughtful. “OK, you can think about it. I mean, you haven’t even had a celebrity affair yet.”
Derek growled at her. “Have I mentioned that it’s snowing outside? It’d be a crying shame, Pam Novak, if you found your ass in a snowbank.”
“Technically, Derek is a celebrity,” Kaylee pointed out. “He’s a New York Times bestselling author.”
“Thanks, sis.”
“Don’t mention it, bro. I got your back.”
Jess shook her head at them. From the corner of her eye, she caught Zelda wiping her eyes. Her expression seemed to say, Don’t make the same mistake I made. Don’t wait too long.
I won’t, Jess silently promised.
“I think she needs convincing,” Derek said, and walked over to kiss her.
Pam murmured, “Practically porn.”
While Kaylee cried, “Eew! Gross! Get a room!”
The only thing that came from Zelda was a happy little sigh.
Jess felt as if she was standing on top of a very tall building, about to take a leap. For once, she didn’t have to remind herself to restate and reframe. She felt no fear, only love and joy. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She breathed in courage, and she pushed away from the ledge.
Epilogue
THE LA NIGHT was balmy, not a cloud in the sky. The latest dance music filled the air, the wrap party at El Cid on Sunset Boulevard in full swing.
Standing to the side, Jess took a break from mingling with the production crew and the actors and actresses. People were finally letting go of the stress from the long shoot and were having fun, an umbrella cocktail in nearly every hand. Jess leaned back against Derek’s hard chest, and his arm came around her middle as he snuggled her even closer.
He nuzzled the soft spot behind her ear. “Best wrap party I’ve ever been to.”
“Not that you’re biased or anything.” Jess grinned as she watched Pam beaming at Eliot by the garden bar.
Eliot had set up his Taylorville stunt school/training camp more than a year ago, so every few weeks he spent a few days in Vermont. Pam’s firm did the accounting for his school. At Jess’s suggestion, Pam had joined a day of training—not that Jess was matchmaking or anything. At the end of the ten-mile run, Pam hadn’t thrown up on Eliot’s shoes. She’d fainted into his arms. The rest was history. When Eliot was in LA or off on a shoot, Pam usually joined him on the weekends. He was moon-eyed in love, and so was Pam.
On the other side of the pool that reflected the light of a hundred floating candles, Jess caught sight of Kaylee, home on one of her infrequent visits from the University of Maryland, where she was majoring in criminal justice. She was aiming for the FBI, and nobody who knew her had any doubt that she’d get there.
Jess had invited her to the party, and Kaylee had brought a boyfriend, which was a surprise, although not an unpleasant one. At least for Jess. Derek kept flashing the Navy SEAL death stare at the guy. Brad had been forced to sleep on the couch the night before.
Things weren’t looking up for him for tonight either.
He was brushing his lips over Kaylee’s in the shadow of a palm tree. Kaylee looked at him as Jess imagined she used to look at Derek back at around Kaylee’s age. Probably still did. God, how pitiful. She needed to practice her poker face.
Behind her, Derek growled, which meant he too was watching the young couple.
“She’s nineteen.” Jess patted his arm around her waist. “You know that, right?”
“She’s still my baby sister. Loverboy lays a hand on her, he’d better be prepared to lose it.”
“Lighten up, old man. Your book was just made into a movie, and Hollywood’s top stuntwoman knocked it out of the park. How about we focus on celebrating instead of chaperoning?” She turned in his arms, the hem of her turquoise silk dress dancing around her ankles.
Derek’s gaze captured hers, his expression turning mournful. “They don’t have a single private nook here. I checked already.”
She shook her head, trying not to melt from how hot he looked in a tuxedo. She seriously needed to get used to that. She couldn’t gape at him slack-jawed every time they attended a Hollywood party. “You know, there are other ways to celebrate.”
“None of them are worth a damn.” His palms came up to cradle her face.
She didn’t have time to so much as blink before his lips descended on hers. He kissed her until her toes curled in her Jimmy Choos.
“If you put it that way,” she said, embarrassingly breathless. “We could leave early. It’s not like I’m the star of the movie.”
“You’re always the star to me. My guiding star.” He kissed her again, this time with a promise of a very private celebration to come when they reached home.
“Let’s go tell the kids that we’re leaving,” he whispered into her ear.
She looked over her shoulder. “I don’t want to interrupt. Let’s text them.”
Leaving now. Take your time. See you at Rose and Zelda’s for breakfast.
The previous month, Rose and Zelda had moved to LA too. Most of Rose’s friends were already doing the snowbird thing and spending half the year in Florida anyway. She’d sold the farm, declaring she was ready for some sunshine nearer to her daughter, where she could run an effective campaign for grandbabies. She and Zelda bought a ground-floor condo near the water and went for long walks on the beach every day. They seemed younger each time Jess saw the two women.
