Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom

by Magda Alexander

  She pulled out of the hospital parking lot and pointed her Jetta toward Wilmington, but this time, her destination was off the beaten path of high-traffic strip malls. The shopping list she’d made while researching ghosts that morning demanded a trip to a district marked by tobacco shops and seedy video rental stores.

  An hour later, she laid out her booty on the dining room table and powered up her laptop so she could follow the steps one website listed to “bless her dwelling.” She didn’t normally believe in spiritual stuff, but burning incense and placing bundles of herbs around the house couldn’t hurt. It probably wouldn’t help either, but she couldn’t see calling a priest before trying something on her own, and of the do-it-yourself remedies for ghosts, the herbal blessing seemed the least invasive. Some of the suggestions sounded creepier than putting up with a ghost. Anointing your walls with goat’s blood? Seriously? Ew.

  By the time dark started to fall, she’d placed fragrant bundles of rosemary, frankincense, lavender, sage, and vervain on every windowsill and tacked up sachets of the protective herbs over the front door and the sliding door in the kitchen. As she was making a sandwich for dinner, she realized she’d forgotten about the basement storm door. While she munched, she threw together one more herb bundle and walked around the house to set it on the outside of the doors. She could have put it on the stairs to the storm door in the basement, but that would have required making a trip down there. No, thank you.

  Finally, it was time to take a shower and get ready for her date with Emmett. As soon as she popped the top on her cut-grass-and-fresh-cucumber shower soap, her thoughts turned to her flirty church boy. He would be there in an hour to pick her up, and, judging by the horde of butterflies storming her stomach, she couldn’t wait to see him.

  Ever since that unexpected hug on the sun porch last night, she’d been craving his arms around her again. She shouldn’t want anything to do with a guy who was likely to either judge her or see her as a project, but her hormones hadn’t gotten the memo. When he’d gathered her to his chest after she’d had such a long day hanging around the hospital and worrying about Grandma Nina, he’d given her something she’d been so long without. Acceptance and security. It was like a comforting drug being near Emmett. She’d clung to him like a life preserver. Letting go after a minute had taken all her strength.

  Only after stepping away from him did she remember he’d sent Theo to do her lawn. She’d busted his balls for it, and he’d taken it like a man and joked with her about it. Charming bastard.

  And then there were the dreams she’d had about him last night.

  Finally, her subconscious had given Emmett the starring role he deserved in these crazy sex dreams. And it had been Uh-Maz-Ing. She would never forget the tender way Dream Emmett gazed into her eyes as he made love to her, how he held her so possessively, like he didn’t just want sex with her, but needed her for who she was, like he saw something…worthy in her.

  One encounter had been in the lawn chair on the back deck. Another had been in the bed. The last time had been in this very shower. She let her fingers wander south through the soap to bring the dream back to sharp focus, and her quick shower turned into a decadent, steamy affair.

  Afterward, she slipped into her favorite teal clubbing dress. Her breasts were on the big side, but perky enough that in dresses with a little support, she didn’t need to wear a bra. This dress was perfect. The spaghetti straps and swishy, short skirt made it seem flimsy, but the bodice was lined with a sturdy layer of spandex that held everything in place. She could dance her ass off in this dress. Finishing the ensemble, she slipped on a pair of strappy heels.

  Would her flirty church boy dance dirty, grinding like a porn star, or would he dance tender, holding her close and making her feel like the only important person in the room? Somehow, she could believe him capable of either, which was one of the reasons she was giving him the time of day in spite of his religious beliefs. Whichever kind of dancer he turned out to be, she was determined to blow off some steam and have fun with him.

  She did her makeup standing in front of the bathroom mirror. The last traces of her bruise disappeared beneath a thin layer of concealer. By tomorrow, she might not need makeup to cover it anymore. While selecting eye shadow, she considered her audience. This wasn’t Boston, and Emmett wasn’t a third-generation Italian-Bostonian in a wife-beater and baggy pants. She kept the eye makeup natural and skipped the eyeliner altogether. Instead of her favorite True-Red Revlon lipstick, she chose a shimmery rose to match the demure pink she’d painted her toenails for the occasion. A dab of blush and little bronzer across her cheeks and collarbones completed the deceptively wholesome look.

  Smacking her lips, she winked at her reflection. Feeling pretty and playful, she leaned forward and planted a kiss on the mirror. When she pulled back, the face in the reflection wasn’t hers.

  Her heart stuttered while she tried to make sense of what she was seeing. A boyishly handsome man with startled brown eyes looked back at her as if through a window. He wore a high-collared shirt and a brown top hat that matched his tweed coat. Laces at his throat might have been the ties for a cloak. His lips moved with urgent speech, but he made no sound.

  She didn’t stick around to try and lip-read. Instead, she screamed and ran from the bathroom.

  Chapter Eight

  A muffled voice came through the front door as she ran down the stairs. “Jade! Jade, are you okay?” Emmett appeared in the doorframe window. He was rattling the handle. “It’s me, Emmett. Let me in.”

  They made eye contact through the glass. Lungs locked with panic, she reached the bottom of the stairs and threw the bolt.

  He shoved the door open.

  She would have thrown herself into his arms if he hadn’t charged past her to glare up the stairs.

  “Are you all right? What happened?” His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. The sight of him ready to fight for her gave her a measure of comfort despite the impossible image she’d just seen in her bathroom mirror.

  Had that been Mr. Shadow? Had he figured out how to be more than a black shape on her wall? He’d looked so young, so…worried.

  “Spider,” she lied. What else could she say? She didn’t want to scare her date off before she had a chance to take her teal dress out for a spin. Besides, the thought of spending the evening at home made her shiver. She hugged herself and said with honest conviction, “I hate spiders.”

  Emmett relaxed and turned a concerned gaze on her.

  She forced herself to stop shaking.

  His eyes softened as he looked her up and down. He said, “Wow. Wow.”

  He bit his lower lip in an appreciative expression that had her preening and flushing with pleasure. Until she processed the discrepancy between his ensemble and hers.

  He had on a snug, western-style shirt with screen-printed, tattoo-style flames across the shoulders. The rolled-up sleeves showed off his muscular forearms. Faded jeans with a big oval belt buckle and perfectly broken-in boots completed the urban cowboy outfit.

  “I’m overdressed,” she surmised.

  “You look amazing.” He kept a second head-to-toe scan quick and respectful.

  She resisted the urge to spin around and reward him with a 360-degree view.

  “You want me to get it?” he said.

  “Get what?”

  “The spider?”

  “Oh, no.” Duh. Emmett looked so yummy, her attention span had become dangerously short. “That’s okay. Should I change? Where are we going? You said dancing.”

  “Don’t you dare change. We are going dancing. At Billy Bob’s. It’s a country western bar and billiards place.”

  “I should change.” She stepped toward the stairs, but he caught her with an arm around her waist and pulled her into an impromptu two-step. His warm hand on her back melted away her wardrobe concerns.

  “No. This works,” he said as they danced. His boots brought him to six-foot two. In her heels she was f
ive inches taller than her usual five-foot-six, which put her nose level with his neck. He’d splashed on just the right amount of aftershave. His shoulders rolled under her hands as he gyrated just enough to confirm he danced at least a little dirty. He pushed her out for a spin then brought her back in close. “This works just fine.”

  Ghost schmost. She had a date! Beaming stupidly, she grabbed her purse and let Emmett lead her by the hand to his shiny black Chevy truck.

  “I thought I’d get to ride in the street sweeper,” she joked as he opened the door for her.

  “On the first date? What kind of guy do you think I am?”

  They laughed together as he shut her door. The midsize truck was neat inside. When he got in, he said, “How’s your grandma?”

  She shrugged. “Okay. She’s reminiscing.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” He started up and pulled away from the curb. The radio was already turned down low, showing he’d put some thought into this date.

  “She’s not usually so mopey. She’s usually a firecracker. I think she’s scared.” It was too easy to talk to Emmett. “They’ll transfer her back to the assisted living place in a day or two. Hopefully by then, she’ll be back to her old self.” Pretty please.

  “Broken hips and blood clots happen a lot. She’ll be okay.” He gave her a half-smile with gentle eyes before changing the subject. “I saw your Boston College bumper sticker. Do you go there?”

  “Did, yeah. Graduated last summer with a B.A. in Classics.”

  “Classics?” he asked like he didn’t know what it was but had already decided he didn’t like it. “Like studying Shakespeare and stuff?”

  “No.” She was used to having to explain her degree, but miffed at his tone of disapproval. “A bachelors in Classics gets you a foundation in Latin and Greek so you know how to read and study classical works of Old-World literature. The program’s really demanding.”

  He held up one hand in a defensive gesture. “It’s not the program I have a problem with. That sounds really interesting. I just think too many kids are going to college these days.”

  “What?” That was a new one for her. Most people, even in her clubbing circle, seemed to accept that college was just something you did after high school if you were fortunate enough to have the means or determined enough to work your way through.

  “Yeah, like, everyone’s getting these degrees so they can move to the cities and work as stock brokers and computer programmers, and meanwhile, there’s fewer and fewer young folks making their way in the small towns. And the government is encouraging this by offering all these scholarships and requiring all high school seniors to take SATs. The media is in on it too. There’s nothing out there to make you feel good about choosing to work construction or taking a good, steady civil job like street sweeping.” He gestured with one hand while keeping the other on the wheel.

  “Tell me how you really feel.” Emmett’s rant was both ridiculous and endearing. It also took her mind off Grandma Nina. Sneaky dog. She was more than happy to let him lead her to lighter topics of conversation. “I take it you didn’t go to college.”

  “No way, no how.” He looked at her pointedly, but a twinkle in his eye told her he wasn’t taking this too seriously. “While most guys my age owe their souls to Sallie Mae, I’ve got a house, a truck, a business, and money in the bank.”

  “Hey, this girl doesn’t owe Sallie Mae or the government or anyone else for her degree. I worked my way through fair and square.”

  “Oh yeah, what’d you do for work? I’ll bet you ran yourself ragged trying to balance work, school, and your social life.”

  Crap. She’d been hoping to avoid that question. “It wasn’t too hard,” she hedged. “I managed with a few hours of sleep a night.”

  “See,” he gestured with his non-steering hand. “I knew it. You managed, but your body probably paid the toll.” His gaze drifted toward her chest, but he caught himself and returned his eyes to the road. “Anyway, now you know my dirty secret. I’m anti-college.”

  Relieved he hadn’t pressed for details, she asked, “What else are you against?” She braced herself, realizing too late that might be a dangerous question with a church guy.

  “Don’t get me started on PBS.”

  She snorted and relaxed into their banter. “So, this business-is that Herald and Son Lawn Service?”

  He did one of those masculine nods, a single, sharp lift of his strong chin. “Started it when I was twenty. Been building it ever since. I’ve got a team now that covers three counties. We’re not as busy right now as when the grass gets its second wind in September, but from March to mid-July, we do real good. I’m thinking of expanding to snow removal so I can keep my employees on December through February, when we do practically zero lawn business. Most of us do it on our own anyway. If we pool our resources, we could make more money.”

  It couldn’t be easy starting and keeping up a small business, especially starting so young and without any schooling. Emmett must have a good head on his shoulders. “What’s with the name? You got a son I don’t know about?”

  “I picked the name thinking ahead. Figured I was bound to have a son sooner or later. At least, that’s what I thought when I was twenty. Pretty crazy, huh?”

  She caught a wistful note in his voice. She could relate. Her life had certainly turned out different than she’d imagined when she was younger, the warm, fuzzy naivety of believing she could be a ballerina or a supermodel having long since given way to the cold practicality of needing to eat and pay rent.

  Wistfulness aside, his choice of name for his business made her smile. It fit with his humor. It showed he had a bold, irreverent streak. He was definitely nothing like she would have imagined based on his inviting her to church. He might be religious, but there was more to him than where he went on Sunday mornings. And she wanted to get to know every last inch of him. If he’d let her.

  Storefronts and traffic lights brightened the arterial street they were on. She didn’t recognize the area but would have to remember how they’d gotten here. There were bars and trendy storefronts mixed in with chain restaurants and antique shops. The strip was alive and eclectic. As soon as she started getting paychecks again, she would be coming here regularly.

  Emmett’s elbow rested on the console between the seats. She nudged it with hers. “Presuming you get around to having one, what if your future son wants to go to college and move to New York to be a stock broker or a computer programmer? Will you rename your business?”

  He grinned at her while they waited for a green light. “No. I’ll razz him mercilessly until he comes around.” He winked, and her heart stuttered.

  Jeez, the guy should carry a concealed weapons permit for that smirk.

  “So, you’re done with your degree. Does that mean you’re sticking around for a while?” he asked.

  “Why? Would you miss me if I went back to Boston?”

  He met her eyes as they moved forward again. “Yeah,” he said lightly, grinning as he looked back at the road. “I think I would.”

  She matched his light tone to mask how touched she felt. “Well, you’re in luck then, because I plan to stay. At least for a year.”

  There was no doubt in her mind Grandma Nina needed her. Even if she had her fancy-pants nursing home taking care of her physical needs, it couldn’t be clearer that she needed family around her. But Jade wasn’t sure she could handle small-town life long term. Maybe Jilly would move into the house with her when she got back from Peru. Then Jade could go back to Boston if she wanted, leaving Grandma Nina in Jilly’s far more capable hands.

  “So, you looking for work around here?”

  She shook away the melancholy that tried to cling to her good mood, and told him about her job search until he pulled into a parking lot so full they had to drive past the paved portion and park on gravel. As soon as Emmett cut the ignition, she opened her door to get out.

  “Oh, no you don’t. Sit,” he commanded. “Stay.�
�� He drew out the word as though talking to a puppy about to bolt.

  Moving around the bed, he came to help her out of the truck. Then he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and escorted her into the club like he was proud as hell to be seen with her.

  Billy Bob’s was packed from the industrial-style bar on the left to the sprawling billiards section to the right. Boots stomped and bodies twirled on a recessed dance floor straight ahead. The music was loud and twangy. As the bouncer checked their IDs, she smiled from ear to ear. The place had fun written all over it, and fun was exactly what she needed tonight.

  They started with a drink and some shouted conversation at the bar then moved to the dance floor. After about ten seconds, they’d claimed the center of the polished parquet like the prom king and queen.

  His lips on her ear so she could hear him, Emmett said, “Wow, you can dance!”

  You have no idea. “Right back at you!”

  During the fast songs, they spun around like they’d won two-stepping contests together. Slow songs had them chest-to-chest, brushing thighs and breathing each other in. Emmett nodded at several people he knew, most of them female, but he reserved his sexiest smile for her.

  When they went back to the bar for more drinks, a triple-threat of girls approached. They were dressed the same, but in different hues. The one in the pink tummy-tied shirt, low-rise jeans, and western boots said in a put-on southern accent, “Hey, Emmett, how y’all doing?” She giggled and the ones in blue and beige chimed in. All three beamed at Emmett and appraised her coolly.

  “Hey, Chelsea. I’m good. Real good.” He put his arm around Jade’s shoulders to the displeasure of the three. “This is Jade. Chelsea, Mara, and Erin,” he introduced. A blonde, a brunette, and a redhead. She wondered if they had a sitcom. “She’s new to town.” He inclined his head toward her. “Doesn’t know anyone yet. You girls be real nice to her. I’ll be right back.” He put his mouth by her ear and whispered, “Got to pee like a racehorse.”