“Wait, Hugh.” Mattie trembled with desire as she felt his hand glide over her breast and down to her waist. “There's something I have to tell you.”
“You're pregnant?” he asked eagerly.
Startled, she looked up at him. “Well, no. Not that I know of.”
“Too bad. Maybe tonight, huh?” He pulled her down onto the sand and rolled over on top of her. He unzipped his jeans.
“Hugh, I am trying to talk to you about a serious matter.”
He kissed her throat. “If it doesn't have anything to do with something really important like you getting pregnant, it can wait until later.” His hand moved down to her hips and he tugged at her slacks.
Mattie abandoned the effort to talk to him. When Hugh Abbott made love, he gave it his full attention. She found herself crushed into the soft, warm sand, her clothes stripped from her in a few swift movements.
And then there was nothing of importance in the whole world except the weight and feel of the big man looming over her, blocking out the moonlight, covering her, sheathing himself in her, filling her completely.
“Mattie.”
She clung to him as he carried her away on the wild, passionate ride into ecstasy. It would always be like this, Mattie thought fleetingly, a whirlwind of shattering excitement, a flashing, thundering, crashing, elemental explosion. A wild, free run with a wolf in the silver moonlight.
And she would never, ever tire of it.
A long time later Mattie felt water on her toes. She stirred beneath Hugh's heavy weight. “Hugh?”
“What's the matter, babe?” he asked in that tone of lazy satisfaction he always had after he'd made love to her.
“I think the tide's coming in.”
“It's okay. I can swim.”
She gave him a clout on his arm. “Smart ass.”
“Ouch.”
“Oh, my God, was that your wounded arm?”
“No, but it could have been.”
She relaxed as she heard the laughter in his voice. “Hugh, I really do have to talk to you.”
He groaned into her shoulder. “This is about Seattle, isn't it?”
“Well, yes, as a matter of fact. In a way it is.”
“Babe, I really don't want to talk about it just now.”
“We have to discuss this, Hugh. This is our future we're dealing with here.”
“Our future is with each other. Everything else will work out. Eventually.”
“You keep saying that.”
He raised his head reluctantly and looked down into her eyes. His own gaze was shadowed and intense. “I mean it. I've been thinking about it, babe, and I realize there's only one way to handle the problem we've got.”
“There is?”
He nodded. “I'm selling Abbott Charters to Silk. I'm moving to Seattle. For real. I just finished talking to Charlotte, and she says the job is full time if I want it. I told her I did.”
Mattie looked up at him and knew he was telling her the truth. “Oh, Hugh.” She framed his hard face with both hands and smiled gently. “That's very sweet of you, and I will never forget this as long as I live, but it's not the right answer.”
He went very still. “You got a better one?” he demanded fiercely. “Because I'm not letting you go, Mattie. And that's a fact.”
“Aunt Charlotte and everyone else is right when they say you belong out here, Hugh. This is the home you've made for yourself. You overcame enormous odds to build a new life out here, and I want to be part of that new life.”
“Here?” He stared at her. “You're saying you want to move to St. Gabe?”
“I want to live in that beautiful house you're going to build, and I want to have your baby, and I want to start my own business here. And I want to do it all right now. So I am going to go back to Seattle on the first available plane and sell Sharpe Reaction. And then I will pack up all my belongings and move out here to St. Gabriel.”
Hugh looked dazed. “But what kind of business are you going to build here?”
“I'm not precisely sure yet, but I think there's going to be plenty of opportunity for an ex-gallery owner with ties to the West Coast artistic community. I've got a few dreams I'd like to try. I'm going to look into the possibility of starting an artists' colony. A place where people like Shock Value Frederickson can come and get refreshed, maybe. For a price, of course.”
“You're going to invite all your artsy-craftsy friends to come out here?” Hugh was clearly appalled.
“They'll spend money, Hugh. Lots of it. They'll love St. Gabriel. And they'll love the idea of a Pacific island art colony. And on the side I think I'll open a tourist-oriented boutique. I'll feature Silk's paintings for starters. And I think I can persuade Evangeline Dangerfield to move out here and set up a clothing design business. I can sell her creations alongside Silk's.”
“The mind boggles.”
“You've said yourself St. Gabriel is on the verge of getting discovered. I'll make a fortune selling stuff to the tourists while you clean up with Abbott Charters. Silk will made a bundle on his paintings, and Evangeline will be able to go into a whole new line of work. We'll all get rich, fat, and happy.”
Hugh laughed softly, turned onto his back and pulled her down on top of him. “Life is never going to be dull with you, babe, I'll say that much.”
“Hugh, the tide…”
“Like I said, I can swim and I'll take care of you. Trust me, babe.”
She smiled and bent down to kiss him full on his beautiful, sexy mouth. “I do.”
“About time.”
Charlotte Vailcourt closed the folder on her desk, leaned back in her executive chair, and looked at Hugh, who was standing at the window watching the people on the street below. “An excellent proposal, Hugh. You have a talent for organization and planning. I imagine it will stand you in good stead as you build Abbott Charters.”
“I learned a lot from you, Charlotte. I appreciate it.”
“You have more than repaid me.” She paused. “I would like to be able to call on you from time to time as we implement this security proposal. Are you going to be available for the occasional consultation?”
“As long as it's occasional, I think I can manage to fit you into my schedule.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte murmured with a smile. She glanced across the room to where Valor lay on black velvet in the display case. “And thank you for bringing back the sword. It is a fine blade, isn't it?”
“If you like that kind of thing.”
Charlotte smiled in genuine amusement. “Well, I don't suppose I need to worry about the legend attached to it any longer, do I? One way or another, it seems to have been fulfilled.” She gave Hugh an odd, speculative glance.
Hugh shrugged. He was no longer interested in Valor. It was a good fighting tool that had been available when he needed it. That was all that mattered.
“What's Mattie doing? Still packing?” Charlotte asked.
“Today she went shopping for her trousseau with Evangeline.”
“This should be interesting. I can't wait to see what she's bought under Evangeline's guidance. Imagine going shopping with a professional call girl.”
“Ex-professional. Evangeline is a real businesswoman now. Mattie says she's bought an industrial-grade sewing machine and about half a million spools of thread to take out to St. Gabe with her. She's planning to ask Silk to design some fabric for her. You know, I think Silk's going to go crazy when he meets Evangeline.”
“You're going to have an interesting little group out there on St. Gabriel.”
Hugh turned away from the window with a smile. “You'll have to come out and pay us a visit.”
“I'll do that. You'll take good care of our Mattie, won't you?”
“Mattie is my life,” Hugh said simply.
“All she's ever really wanted is you. Since the day she met you.”
“All I ever wanted was her. It just took me a little time to realize it, that's all.” An image of R
ainbird dying on the point of a sword flickered in Hugh's mind. “You know, Charlotte, unlike some people I could name, I'm getting smarter as I get older.”
“That's what makes you a survivor. You've got good genes, Hugh. So does Mattie. When are the two of you going to have a baby?”
“As soon as I can talk her into it.”
“Think that will take long?”
Hugh laughed. “No, ma'am. Not long at all. She thinks I'll make a terrific father. Told me so herself,” he added proudly. A real home. The way it was supposed to be.
“I think you will, too. The world needs more good men like you. Mattie saw your true potential the day she met you.”
Hugh hid what he feared might be a telltale red in his cheeks by glancing at his watch. “I'd better get downstairs to my office. Time for another batch of bug juice. You know, I'm actually starting to like the stuff.”
“You like it because you know Mattie spends an inordinate amount of time and energy concocting it just for you.”
“That's how I knew for certain that she still loved me,” Hugh admitted. “I figured she wouldn't go to all that trouble to feed me right if she didn't care about me. You'll be at the wedding?”
“Wouldn't miss it for the world. Evangeline is designing the bridal gown, I hear. Should be a sight to behold. I wonder if it will be in red.”
Hugh was still laughing when he got off the elevator and walked into his office to pour himself a glass of bug juice.
Mattie paid for her cup of herbal tea and carried it over to the table where two extraordinarily good-looking men in their early thirties were waiting for her. Both men were wearing expensive Italian-cut linen jackets over their equally expensive designer shirts and trousers. Both had an air of casual, urbane elegance. Both also had physiques to die for. Mattie smiled to herself. It wasn't every day a woman got to sit down with a couple of hunks like this.
“Gentlemen,” she announced as she put her tea down on the table and seated herself on a delicate wire-frame chair, “do I have a deal for you.”
“We're listening,” one of them said equably.
“You've got our full attention,” the other murmured, sipping cappuccino with languid grace.
Mattie proceeded to lay out her plans in precise detail. She ran through the bulk of her proposal and then added a rider. “There's just one other thing.”
“Anything for you, Mattie, you know that.”
“I'd like a guarantee that for the next two years you will agree to show the works of Flynn Grafton.”
“Don't be ridiculous,” the first man drawled. “You don't have to ask us for a written guarantee. We would kill for Grafton's work. Saw it at the opening the other night. Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.”
Mattie nodded. “Good. I thought you'd agree. Then you like the overall arrangement?”
“You've got a deal, Mattie,” the second man announced. He glanced at his friend. “Right?”
“A deal,” the first man agreed, putting down his cup.
Mattie started to say something else but paused when the hair on the nape of her neck stirred. Instinctively she turned her head to see Hugh striding through the small espresso shop. His gray eyes simmered with a vaguely annoyed expression.
“Suzanne told me you were down the street having coffee with a couple of collectors,” Hugh said, surveying the two exquisite young gods sitting on the other side of the table. “Just what do you two collect?”
“Anything Mattie says we should.” The first man returned Hugh's gaze with interest. His eyes started low and traveled slowly upward to Hugh's broad shoulders. “She has absolutely fabulous taste, you know. We've never gone wrong when we've been guided by Mattie. Do feel free to join us.”
“Thanks. I was going to do that,” Hugh declared, sounding thoroughly disgruntled now. He dropped onto the seat beside Mattie and glowered at everyone.
Mattie grinned. “Hugh, I'd like you to meet Ryan Turner and Travis Preston. These two gentlemen are currently making a killing as stockbrokers. They have wisely decided to get out of the market while they're ahead and go into something with a little more class.”
“Is that right?” Hugh cocked a brow. “Just what are they going to do now to keep themselves in those spiffy duds?”
“They're going to take over my gallery. Meet the new owners of Sharpe Reaction.”
“A pleasure, I'm sure,” said Travis, his gaze lingering on Hugh's shoulders again.
“Yes, indeed,” Ryan murmured. “A great pleasure. Mattie, dear, you do have such wonderful taste.”
“Well,” Hugh said philosophically, “that's one less thing for me to worry about.”
“What's that?” Mattie asked.
“When Suzanne told me I'd find you sitting here with a couple of real hunks, I'll admit I had a few brief qualms. It occurred to me I might find myself having to defend your virtue.”
“Oh, God,” Ryan said, “I really do love the machismo, don't you, Travis? So utterly primitive.”
“Didn't you know?” Travis said to his friend in feigned surprise. “This is the one from Ariel Sharpe's Elemental period.”
“That explains it, of course,” Ryan said with a sigh.
Hugh looked at Mattie. “You know something? I think I've finally had enough of the wonders of life here in the sophisticated fast lane of the big city. It's time to go home.”
“Yes,” said Mattie. “I think it is.”
Mattie woke before dawn on the morning she and Hugh were scheduled to leave for St. Gabriel. She stretched and slowly opened her eyes, aware of Hugh's heavy, masculine warmth beside her. She glanced at the clock and reached out to touch her husband's shoulder.
“Hugh?”
“I'm awake, babe.” He curved his arm around her, drawing her down onto his bare chest. His gaze was sleepy and sexy and full of a very male contentment. “What time is it?”
“Four-thirty.”
“Time to get up. We've got a plane to catch.”
Mattie smiled and the fateful words she had spoken nearly a year ago came back to her. She said them again. “Take me with you, Hugh. I love you so much. Please take me with you.”
His hands caught in her hair, and he dragged her mouth down to his. “Don't you know I couldn't leave without you, babe? You're my whole world.”
This time they both caught the six o'clock flight to St. Gabriel and the future they would share together.
Silver Linings Page 32