Gansett Island Boxed Set Books 1-16 (Gansett Island Series)

by Marie Force

  His intent had been to show her he was in it for keeps and to make her feel more secure in their relationship as they moved in together. He’d realized his strategic error when his marriage proposal had resulted in a stricken expression on the gorgeous face that had haunted his dreams for so many years. She’d told him then that she needed more time, and they hadn’t spoken of it again since. The unanswered question hung in the air between them.

  Kara’s arrival at the marina and the additional work their deal with her would generate in the off-season also cemented his decision to turn down the offer from the yacht restoration school. He and Mac had too much going on for him to leave the island for a month, and with Syd busy and happily engaged on the hotel project, this wasn’t the time to uproot them. There’d be other opportunities to teach the class.

  When he pulled into the driveway, he was relieved to see her Volvo parked in its usual spot. He had no doubt she was happy with him and their life on the island, but he wouldn’t be truly satisfied until the one who’d gotten away had his ring on her finger.

  It was old fashioned, he knew, to think that way, but he needed to hear her say “I do.” In the meantime, he kept waiting for something to happen that would screw it all up, and that was no way to live.

  Reaching into the glove compartment, he withdrew the jeweler’s box he’d hidden there more than a month ago. He’d bought the ring in Newport, the same day he’d gone to talk to the boat restoration people about the course they wanted him to teach. Syd had been too busy with the hotel project to come with him, so he’d taken advantage of the opportunity to shop for a ring.

  The large emerald-cut diamond was housed in an elaborate antique setting that had seemed right for her somehow. It was strong and fragile at the same time, like her. He wanted to put that ring on her finger in the worst way, but more than anything, he wanted her to want it as much as he did.

  Even her father had given his blessing over beers on the Donovan’s porch. Mr. Donovan had come right out and asked Luke if he planned to marry his daughter.

  “As soon as she’s ready,” had been Luke’s reply. They’d come a long way from the time when Mr. and Mrs. Donovan hadn’t thought he was good enough for their only child.

  “Good,” Allan Donovan had said. “She seems happy again since she’s been with you. I like seeing that light back in her eyes.”

  “So do I,” Luke had said.

  He couldn’t risk extinguishing the light with another clunky attempt at a proposal. He had to do it right this time. With that in mind, he reluctantly returned the ring to the glove box and locked it up until she was ready. He hoped he would recognize ready when he saw it.

  Her dog Buddy came rushing out to greet Luke with sloppy wet kisses to his face. “Hey, pal, did you have a good day?”

  Buddy barked in response, which made Luke laugh. They had the same exchange every night when Luke got home from work, and it was another part of his new routine that he looked forward to each day.

  He stepped into the living room that Syd had spent most of the summer redecorating. What had once been a dark and gloomy space had been painted a bright shade of cream. The new furniture was navy with maroon accents. Syd had removed the blinds on the windows to take full advantage of the sweeping ocean view. By letting in the light, she’d done the same thing for his home that she’d done to the rest of his life.

  They planned to attack the kitchen next and there was talk of eventually adding on to the house. He liked that she was making long-term plans for the place and took that to mean she planned to stay. Everywhere he looked, he saw her touch as he made his way to the back bedroom she’d turned into an office for her decorating business.

  She was bent over a book of swatches, making notes in the sketchpad she carried with her everywhere she went. You never knew, she would say, when inspiration will strike. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a high ponytail that exposed the tender curve of her neck, one of his favorite places to kiss. He zeroed in on that spot and pressed his lips to her soft skin.

  She gasped and then relaxed, tipping her head to give him better access. “You’re home early.”

  “I was missing you.”

  “That’s very sweet of you to say, but I hate to tell you, pal, you stink like gas.”

  He immediately pulled back from her. The stockbroker she’d married the first time around had certainly never come home stinking of gas. As soon as Luke had the thought, he regretted it. How pointless to be jealous of the dead man she’d chosen over him the first time around. That was ancient history, and it was better left in the past where it belonged.

  “But that’s okay,” she said, turning to smile at him. “Because I was missing you, too.”

  “I’ll grab a shower.” He went into the laundry room and stripped off his work clothes, dumping them directly into the washer with a healthy dose of detergent. When Syd’s arms came around him from behind, it was his turn to startle.

  “I didn’t mean to be insulting,” she said, punctuating her words with kisses to his back.

  “I know. I should’ve left the clothes outside.” He turned to her and looped his arms around her, instantly aroused by her nearness. Studying her face, he ached with wanting her. He kissed her and rested his forehead against hers. “Let me take a shower and then we can finish this conversation.”

  She replied with a mischievous grin and released him. “You’re on.”

  Luke rushed through a shower and shave, emerging from the bathroom to find her reclined on the bed, waiting for him.

  She held out a hand to him.

  Knotting the towel around his hips, he took her hand and stretched out next to her.

  She snuggled up to him, her head on his chest and her hand on his belly. “You worked hard today.”

  “Always do this time of year getting the marina ready for winter.” He took her wandering hand and brought it to his lips. “How was your day?”

  “It was. . .interesting.” She told him about breakfast with Linda and the girls and the letter from Jenny, the new lighthouse keeper. When she mentioned what she’d volunteered to do, Luke immediately tensed.

  “Why does it have to be you?”

  “Why not me? I certainly understand what she’s been through.”

  Luke chose his words carefully. “You’re doing so much better. Is it wise to reopen that wound?”

  She looked up at him. “I hear what you’re saying, and I love you for being concerned, but now that I know she’s out there and hurting, I have to see her. I can’t explain why, but when I heard her story, I knew I had to do something.”

  As he thought about what she’d said, Luke combed his fingers through her hair.

  “Can you understand that?”

  “I think it’s great that you want to reach out to her, but I want you to be careful you don’t set yourself back in the process. You’ve seemed so much better lately. Happier, lighter.”

  “I have been happier,” she said, caressing his chest. “So very happy. In fact, I wanted to talk to you about that.”

  “About how happy you are with me?” he asked with a teasing smile.

  “Yes.”

  Luke all but stopped breathing while he waited to hear what she had to say.

  “That question you asked me a while back. . .”

  “I handled it all wrong. I know that now. You weren’t ready.”

  She propped herself up on one elbow and looked him square in the eye. “I think I might be now.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded.

  He jumped up. “Hold that thought.”

  “Luke! Where’re you going?”

  “I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

  Still wearing only the towel around his waist, Luke ran out to the truck. His hands were shaking as he unlocked the glove box and retrieved the ring. He went back inside and stopped himself in the hallway to take a deep, cleansing breath. When he had managed to calm down, he rolled his shoulders and retur
ned to the bedroom.

  Syd was sitting up on the bed with her legs curled under her. She eyed him warily.

  With the ring box enclosed in his fist, Luke crawled up the bed to her.

  She looped her arms around him and kissed him. “What’re you up to?”

  As his heart hammered in his chest, Luke drank her in. Sometimes he still couldn’t believe that she’d come back to him, that she was here to stay, that the feelings of peace and joy she’d brought with her might last a lifetime.

  “The last time I did this all wrong. The timing was terrible. I didn’t have a ring. You weren’t ready. This time,” he said, reaching for her left hand and bringing it to his lips, “I want to do it right. Sydney Donovan, undisputed love of my life, will you do me the great honor of being my wife?”

  She blinked back tears as she placed her hands on his face and gave him the sweetest kiss he’d ever received. “Yes,” she whispered against his lips.

  Relief flooded through him, making him tremble. He pulled back from her to open the box and remove the ring.

  She sucked in a sharp deep breath as he slid it onto her finger. “Oh, Luke, it’s gorgeous! I love it!”

  “I love you, and I always will.”

  “I love you, too. Thank you for being patient with me.”

  “I would’ve waited forever for you.”

  With an exuberant squeal, she threw her arms around him. “We’re engaged!”

  Luke closed his eyes and held on tight, absorbing the moment as the fear finally released its grip on him. “When do you want to tie the knot?”

  “Can I think about that and get back to you?”

  “Whatever you want, baby. Anything you want.”

  Chapter 6

  After a couple of hours spent working up the nerve, Laura sent Justin a text, asking if he could meet her at six on Friday at his favorite Providence restaurant. She said only that she needed to talk to him about something. Her hands were clammy by the time she sent the message. Placing the phone on her bedside table, she went into the bathroom to brush her hair and freshen up.

  The phone chimed to indicate a new text. Her mouth went dry with anxiety when she picked it up to see what he had said. One word: Fine.

  “Well,” she said. “That’s that.” She rested a hand on the still-small baby bump and was rewarded with a ripple of movement that made her smile. The baby’s tiny movements reminded Laura that her brief marriage hadn’t been a total loss.

  She went downstairs to see what Owen was up to and found him in the kitchen standing watch over a pot on the stove. “That smells amazing! What did you make?”

  “Sauce from scratch,” he said proudly, lifting the lid for her to take a whiff. “My grandmother’s recipe.”

  The combined aromas of garlic, basil and oregano had her taste buds standing up to take notice. “My mouth is watering,” she said as she slipped onto a stool at the counter.

  The review earned her a big grin from the chef. “I have to boil the pasta and then we can eat.”

  They’d fallen into the habit of having dinner together every night. They took turns cooking and some nights they went out, but it had become a standing date. One of the things she liked best about being with him was that it was easy. Neither of them had ever said the words—let’s have dinner every night. It just happened. Everything with him was comfortable, except for one thing—the itchy, restless feeling that came with unfulfilled desire.

  If she looked at him, she wanted him. It was that simple. But then she remembered what he wanted—a life free of encumbrances, which made her wonder why he’d want to get involved with her and her many encumbrances. She shook off those unpleasant thoughts. It was better not to think about the inevitable day when the freedom of the open road would beckon him.

  She cleared her throat. “I didn’t know you could cook like that.”

  “Neither did I. Don’t get too excited until you try it. It might taste like crap.”

  “If it tastes anything like it smells, we’ve got a winner. Do you like to cook?”

  “I haven’t really had much chance being on the road so much. I used to make a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and pizza and stuff like that for my siblings, but I haven’t done much cooking since then.”

  Since he so rarely spoke about his family or childhood, Laura was intrigued by the insight he’d shared. “Why were you cooking for them?”

  “My parents were busy. They were out a lot, and I was in charge of the troops.”

  “How old were you then?”

  “I don’t know. Twelve maybe.”

  “You were twelve years old in charge of six younger siblings?”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “No wonder why you’re so good at taking care of me.”

  “Am I good at taking care of you?”

  “You know you are.”

  He poured the lemon-flavored sparkling water she favored into a wine glass and put it in front of her.

  Laura smiled up at him. “Exhibit A.”

  Shrugging, he said, “Close your eyes and pretend it’s chardonnay.”

  He was so adorable and so effortlessly charming. It never failed to touch her that he took such good care of her, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to him. He was always one step ahead of her, thinking of what she might need before she knew she needed it. A girl could fall madly, deeply and irrevocably in love with a guy who paid that kind of attention to her.

  “What’re you thinking about, Princess?” He puckered his lips in a mockingly serious expression that was so far out of character for him it made her laugh.

  Because she couldn’t very well scare the life out of him by telling him she was thinking about falling irrevocably in love with him, she said, “Nothing much.”

  “Did you talk to your dad?”

  She nodded. “He said to feel free to toss his name around with Justin. I hope it doesn’t come to that.” She looked up at Owen. “I’m meeting Justin Friday at six in Providence.”

  “We’ll take the three thirty boat. I’ll make a reservation for the car.”

  Laura released a sigh of relief. She hadn’t even had to ask him. “You know you don’t have to come.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  Her heart began to do that odd pitter patter thing that often happened in his presence. When it first started happening, she’d chalked it up to pregnancy. Now she knew it had nothing to do with pregnancy and everything to do with him.

  He put down the spoon he’d been using to stir the pot and wiped his hands on the towel he’d tossed over his shoulder. When he was satisfied that his hands were clean, he used them to frame her face, compelling her to look up at him. “I know I have absolutely no right to say this, but I don’t want you seeing him by yourself.”

  She shook her head. “You have every right to say anything you want to me.” In an attempt at levity, she added, “I’d say you earned it after scraping me off the bathroom floor every morning for weeks.”

  “Which was entirely my pleasure.”

  “You’re easy to please.”

  “You make it easy.”

  He stared into her eyes for a long, breathless moment as a hectic band of color slashed his cheeks, letting her know she wasn’t the only one tormented by the attraction zinging between them.

  When he looked at her in that particular way, Laura’s mind went blank, taking with it all the reasons this was a bad idea. She reached up to link her fingers on the back of his neck, drawing him down to her.

  “Laura. . .”

  As she pressed her lips to his, she realized this was the first time she’d ever reached out and taken what she wanted from a man. And oh how she wanted this man.

  The kiss was chaste and sweet and even hotter than it had been earlier, which was saying something. When he would’ve pulled back from her, she tightened her hold on him. Their eyes met and held. He looked as undone as she felt, which was strangely comforting. Tipping his head ever so slightly, he kissed he
r again. This time he slid an arm around her waist and drew her tight against him.

  Laura melted as his nearness set off a riot of reactions that registered in all the most important places.

  He brushed at her bottom lip with his tongue, coaxing his way into her mouth.

  The moment their tongues connected, Laura forgot who she was, where she was and why this could lead to disaster if he suddenly decided he wanted to be somewhere else. She couldn’t get enough, no matter how tightly she held him or how enthusiastically she met the thrusts of his tongue with her own answering strokes.

  A growl rumbled through him that threw gas on her already out-of-control fire.

  Her fingers burrowed into his hair and held on tight. In the far recesses of her mind where sanity lived, she wondered if she might be hurting him. Even farther off in the distance, she thought she heard someone call her name. Because investigating would mean stepping away from the most incendiary kiss of her life, Laura ignored it.

  “Um, oh, sorry,” the voice said, closer now.

  Laura tore her lips free and turned to find her friend Stephanie standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Her face was bright red with embarrassment.

  Owen kept his arms firmly around Laura and buried his face in the curve of her neck. His lips and breath sent a delightful array of shivers skirting over her sensitized skin.

  “I brought the, um, book I told you about,” Stephanie said as she put the book on the counter, “but I can see you’re busy, so I’ll just be going now.” She backed away from the doorway, flashed Laura a big grin along with a thumbs up and was gone.

  “That was embarrassing,” Laura said.

  As if she hadn’t spoken, Owen raised his head, gazed into her eyes and kissed her again, softer this time but with no less urgency. Reaching behind him he killed the flames under the pots.

  Laura waited breathlessly to see what he would do next.

  With his hands on her hips, he lifted her onto the counter, stepped between her legs and pulled her in tight against him.