"Tell me every detail about the construction man," Reny exclaimed, pressing her cheek against Jamie's.
"There isn't much to tell," Jamie lied. "He's a dark, cynical man with a past and I decided he wasn't going to be much fun." Well, at least that part was true. Aidan was a dark, cynical man with a past, and she could hardly say their interactions had been a picnic. Except of course those kisses that melted her common sense too.
Reny nearly purred with delight. "So, he is a free man then?" Reny asked, her greedy little mind working a mile a minute. "Sometimes those blue-collar types are rolling in the dough. And they are so much better looking than these stodgy prep boys who inherit their money." She paused and a wily smile widened across her face. "They're better kissers too."
Jamie felt her cheeks flush and turned away from Reny, pretending to find a thread on her dress. She didn't want to admit she felt uneasy about Reny's interest in Aidan. She wasn't jealous. That would mean he meant something to her, and he didn't.
"So, is our brawny builder rich or what?" Reny was insistent.
Jamie had known Reny for years and had long accepted her rather base and artificial manner in choosing men, but it bothered her to hear her talk about Aidan so callously.
"Oh, I don't know Reny. I didn't ask to see his check book," she said with slight annoyance.
"You're in a mood today," Reny said, clearly ruffled. She flung her red hair across her shoulder, "Are you sure you aren't interested in him?"
Jamie didn't want to incite Reny's anger. She was too popular in their elite social circle, which included many of Jamie's clients and charity supporters. But she didn't want to confide anything in the gossipy Reny either.
"Reny dear," Jamie said gravely, "I had a mishap with a job for a difficult client. Nothing major, but you know how it is with some people, a scratch on the wood floors and they can't hold their scheduled dinner party."
Reny was easily persuaded. Perhaps she preferred a convenient lie to the truth.
"You run along now and take care of those mean old clients, and we'll catch up later. I hear Conrad will be in town for the Cancer Society Gala. I assume you two will be going together? Maybe you could announce your engagement then. Wouldn't that be splendid?"
Jamie had completely forgotten about the Gala. And Conrad.
"I've got to run. Thorn's in the car," Jamie said turning to go.
With a gracious wave she left the lovely Reny puzzling over who was Thorn? No doubt the rumors would be flying soon.
~
Aidan wasn't happy about the approaching hurricane. He was standing on a ladder, laboriously attaching shutters to his home. It was a tedious task, but he was glad to have something to occupy his hands and his mind. Since this morning he'd been far too preoccupied with the memory of Jamie's sweet smile and soft, warm kiss.
He hoped this hurricane wasn't going to hit them. Seabrook had taken a bad hit two years ago and some of the old homes had been completely destroyed. Just in case, Aidan planned to send Ross and Jo to a safe inland hotel and intended to join them as soon as he finished boarding up his home, which was perilously close to the ocean.
Hurricane Dean had gone from a weak storm to a deadly category four hurricane in thirty hours the news said. A category four storm could seriously damage his house and it would easily flatten Jamie's aging cottage into a pancake. Staying in Seabrook was definitely out of the question.
She wasn't back yet. He'd called Jamie twice this afternoon. The weather was squally already and he worried about her driving on the blustery, wet highways. No doubt traffic was terrible as the seaside inhabitants rushed to move inland before the hurricane blasted Seabrook's defenseless coastline.
When Travis's blue SUV pulled up in Aidan's driveway, he was mildly irritated. He'd tired of Travis's incessant curiosity concerning Jamie. He knew Travis meant well. But if he asked him one more question about her, he was going to have to slug him.
"Need a hand, buddy?" Travis asked, walking up to Aidan's house.
"Wouldn't mind one if you haven't got anything else better to do with your time."
Travis grabbed a metal shutter from the stack next to the ladder Aidan stood on. "I have much better things to do. Unfortunately, this storm is getting in the way."
Aidan's laugh was humorless. "I know what you mean." He looked down at Travis and grabbed the shutter he handed him. "Did you help Kerrie board up her place?"
"Yeah, of course. Why do you ask?"
"Just wondering" Aidan said as he lined up the holes in the stucco and the shutter.
"What about you? Making sure our prodigal daughter is prepared for this hurricane? Her house doesn't look up to it. Nor does she. She's a skinny thing," Travis said, "but very sweet."
Aidan gave him a scornful look.
Travis disregarded Aidan's angry frown. "Maybe I should be protecting her from you."
"Where did you see her?" Aidan asked as he viciously screwed the bolts into the concrete.
"With Kerrie at The Watering Hole. What a beauty! Yes Sir, what a beauty. She's got to be a temptation. I don't know how you do it… why I think every guy in the place was eyeing her…"
"Hand me that hammer" Aidan snapped.
Travis snickered as he handed Aidan the hammer. "Exactly what I thought," he mused. "I knew eventually you'd have to crack."
Aidan ignored the taunt. "She's an attractive woman I'll admit, but I've got Ross to think about. He needs a wholesome, motherly woman in his life. Not some tempting tigress," Aidan said, thinking of Jamie's rain drenched lips against his.
"She's a tempting tigress?"
Aidan gave him a fierce look. "I didn't say that."
"Just because she's attractive doesn't mean she won't be a good mother. Gee, Aidan, do they have to look like a hyena to be a good mom?"
Aidan gave him a dirty look. "Of course not. But Jamie's a city girl. Ambitious, career driven…"
"You're ambitious and career driven. You're also a great father. I don't see the problem, buddy."
"She wants to buy Villa Milagros."
"Oh," Travis said with disappointment. "Why?"
"Heck, if I know."
"It's a valuable piece of property, and she does work with the Palm Beach circle-"
"And I don't run with the Palm Beach crowd. Look at you for heaven's sake!" Aidan gestured to Travis's casual shorts and sneakers.
Travis's looked down at his clothes thoughtfully. "I do work for the Coast Guard, remember? Deep, dark ocean, boats, diving in shark-infested waters? Black tie just wouldn't work out there, Aidan," he said, chuckling.
"Apparently it works for Jamie Connolly. What would she want with a small town like Seabrook where our biggest gala is the Oktoberfest fish fry on Sabina Beach?"
"She must have come home for some reason," Travis offered.
"It's none of my business. Or yours." Aidan glared at Travis from the ladder. "All I know is that in less than twenty-four hours a hurricane could hit Seabrook. And I can't finish putting up these blasted shutters if you don't stop distracting me talking about women."
Travis smiled and changed the subject to football. The two men finished putting the shutters on Aidan's house and Travis left to work the hurricane shift required of all Coast Guard personnel.
Aidan quickly showered and dressed. He packed a few essentials then drove to Jamie's house feeling slightly edgy. Her sleek, silver sports car was parked outside and he breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled up to the cottage. He went to the door and knocked. No answer. He turned the door knob. The door was unlocked. He opened it quietly.
"You Jerk!" Jamie yelled out as one of Thorn's squeaky toys sailed past Aidan's head. "You low down, dirty rotten scoundrel!"
Aidan ducked just in time as another whizzed by, missing him by inches.
"Hey!" Aidan said, shielding himself as she reached for Thorn's rawhide bone. "Slow down."
Jamie had seen him walk through the front gate. She was ready for battle. She was so enraged, so in
censed she'd grabbed the first thing she could find, hoping in the very least to shock him into meekness. So far, it wasn't working.
In a matter of seconds, he was beside her and in an empty living room there was no barrier to put between them.
"Don't you get near me… you scoundrel," she said miserably.
The faintest trace of amusement colored Aidan's expression. "I think that's the first time I've ever been called a scoundrel. I expected something more creative from a designer."
He reached out then, drawing her hands sweetly into his as he pulled her dangerously close to him.
Aidan looked down at her and at that moment she hated his height, his size, and all his swaggering masculine appeal. She vibrated with fury, but her lips betrayed her as the memory of his kiss flashed through her mind.
"Don't you dare kiss me."
"I like my women willing. You were completely willing this morning."
His women? Her face burned with rage and embarrassment and the agonizing nearness of him. "You double crossed me," she said, spitting the words out with vehemence.
He let her go. She knew an inexplicable flash of regret as his warmth left her hands. He ran a calloused hand through his hair leaving it ridiculously ruffled. He was so beautiful, so handsome, so perfect. How she despised him.
"Villa Milagros has been sold."
"Yes." Her voice was tight.
For once the man looked at a loss.
"What kind of man are you to kiss me so lovingly while you are stabbing me in the back?"
"I wanted to buy the house long before you ever showed up in Seabrook. We both wanted it and someone had to lose. It has nothing to do with our-" he hesitated.
"Our…?"
He ignored the question. "I made my bid before this morning's… events."
"I never had a chance to make another bid on it with your local boys at the bank watching out for you."
"I don't know what you're talking about it," he said.
"Yeah, right. I'm going to fight you and fight your little Seabrook testosterone club," she said.
"You're talking nonsense. I don't know why you want Villa Milagros so much, but this time you're not going to get your way. I'm going to raze it to the ground."
Jamie felt the color drain from her face. "What?"
"And don't tell me that you didn't have the same idea. The lot is prime waterfront. It was a matter of time before someone snatched it up to develop it."
"Develop it? No!" The very thought of it made Jamie ill.
"What else would you do with it? The house has been vacant for years. It is probably filled with racoons and squirrels. Who would want to live in it?" Aidan asked.
"I would," she said.
Aidan looked at her puzzled. "Well, you won't. I'm tearing it down the moment I sign the papers."
She couldn't bear to lose the house. It was like losing her mother all over again. "If you want a fight, I'll give you the fight of your life. Let's go to court and see if justice really does prevail. But I'm warning you, my attorney will prevail."
"I guess you won't be doing your own fighting then," he said.
He left then, letting the door slam loudly behind him. She knew a pang of anguish she hadn't known since the day her mother had died.
"Scoundrel" she said softly.
And for the first time in a long time she felt the sting of tears on her cheeks.
~
Aidan was waiting for Ross at school. They'd let the kids out early on account of the impending hurricane so Ross was especially excited when he came crashing onto the seat of his father's truck.
"Did you give the puppy back yet?" Ross asked.
"Yes, I did."
"Will he be okay in the hurricane?"
"I'm sure he will be." He realized he'd never found out where Jamie planned to ride out the storm.
"Can we go visit him now?"
Yeah, Aidan thought, wouldn't that be a great thing to expose to my kid? A woman who throws squeaky toys when she's angry? Ross might be able to teach her a thing or two about self-control. The mention of Villa Milagros and all the awful memories the name stirred in Aidan made his stomach churn. And the look on Jamie's face when he said he planned to tear the house down deeply disturbed him. She'd looked almost forlorn.
He was perplexed by her move back to Seabrook, her desire to live in the old abandoned house, and her connection to the vilest man he'd ever known. Except he was beginning to think she didn't really know Conrad Malcolm too well, didn't know the type of sleazy back-alley deeds he committed. Despite her worldliness and glamorous associates, he was willing to bet she was still an innocent. Leave it to him to fall for another innocent.
"Daddy?"
"Sorry buddy, with this storm coming everyone is too busy. We'll have to do our visiting another time, all right?"
"Okay" Ross said.
"I'm taking you to Jo's. I'll meet you later after I finish up at the house."
Jo came out to the truck to meet them when Aidan pulled up in her driveway.
"How are you, Ross?" Jo asked cheerfully.
"We found a puppy named Thorn this morning in our yard, didn't we Daddy? But he had to go home to the lady from the beach."
"Is that so?" Jo listened as Ross told an animated story about the puppy, glancing not too covertly at Aidan.
"And how was your day?" she asked Aidan.
Aidan's smile was forced. "Terrific."
When a man was irritated with a woman, the last person he wanted to tell was Jo if he had any brains. If Jo knew it was the beloved Jamie Connolly of designer fame irritating him, he'd never hear the end of it.
"You don't seem terrific," Jo said.
"I am. I need to get back and finish fixing some things at the house. Then I'll meet you at the hotel inland. I've booked a suite."
"If you get stuck in Seabrook, you'll be too busy trying to stay alive to do anything else, fixing or otherwise" she said with a knowing smile.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Aidan, I've known you for too many years for you to fool me. You may fool everyone else but you can't fool me. Now go on, don't let her get away."
Aidan laughed despite the way the day was going. "I keep telling you Jo, you watch too many soap operas. I hope you aren't exposing my boy to that stuff."
"Go on and try not to be too much of your arrogant self," Jo said.
As Aidan drove away, he wondered if there was something that everyone else knew that he was missing. He shook his head. Women never ceased to confound him. He fussed with the radio, hoping to hear the latest hurricane bulletin. Somewhere along the southeast coast Hurricane Dean was going to hit land in the early morning hours. He turned the radio down and checked the time. Now there was more to worry about. It was nearly five already, which meant only a few more hours of daylight.
He turned off the expressway toward his house but he wasn't going home. He was going to Jamie's house and come hades or high water or squeaky dog toys, all of which were a definite possibility, he was going to talk some sense into that woman. She wouldn't stay in her crumbling cottage if she had any sense. A category four hurricane could blow the deteriorating roof off that decrepit house and drag her out into the whirling storm. She wouldn't be safe in her home. And he knew with sudden clarity she wouldn't be safe with him either.
But that is exactly where she would be staying. With him.
Chapter Seven
It was nearly dark when Aidan finally pulled into Jamie's driveway. The wind had picked up dramatically and it was raining sporadically. According to the latest bulletins on the radio, Hurricane Dean, with its 135 mile per hour winds, internal tournedos and enough rain to flood the entire county was headed right toward them. Hurricane Dean? What a ridiculous name for a hurricane. They should have named it Hurricane Jamie, he thought wryly. Yes, Hurricane Jamie did have a certain ring to it.
He didn't bother knocking. A surprise attack was best considering his earlier welcome.
; "Jamie?" he called out as he stepped into her aging palace. He searched the house but found it empty. No Jamie. No Thorn. Maybe she wised up and decided to pack up and leave. No, he remembered seeing her impractical little sports car still parked in the driveway. Perhaps she was staying with Kerrie. Travis said he saw them together at The Watering Hole so he gathered they must be old friends.
He dialed Travis from Jamie's kitchen phone. "Hey Trav, where are you at?"
Travis's words were garbled through the turbulent connection. "I just finished evacuating Sabina Beach. Idiots trying to surf… like always."
"Where's Kerrie?" Aidan shouted above the crackle.
"Kerrie? She's a reporter, where do you think she is? Darn fool's going to get herself killed covering this storm."
Aidan had forgotten that Kerrie worked for the Seabrook Press. The chances of Jamie being with her were slim to none. "Jamie's not with her then?"
"No. She was asking me if you two were together. You'd better get yourself inland," Travis shouted over the wind. "In a couple of hours, the gusts will be too strong to drive through. It's a bad one, Aidan. You don't want to be in your house if it hits."
"I'm not leaving until I find Jamie," Aidan snapped.
Travis's chuckled deeply. "You picked a heck of a day to fall in love. I hope it's not an omen as to how your relationship will be."
Aidan ignored the jibe. His concern for Jamie outweighed all else at the moment. "Call me if you hear anything," he barked before disconnecting.
Aidan checked his watch. It was after six. He peered out the front window. Daylight was fading fast while the squalls were increasingly stronger. They had maybe an hour left before it would be too unsafe to drive. He wandered through the house, making sure all the windows were locked tightly and then sat on Jamie's bed, watching through the window for her return.
He was exhausted from boarding up his house and gave in to the temptation to lay down while he waited for her. Her bed was filled with the scent of her, sweet and flowery. His mind wandered into a dreamy fantasy, filled with images of Jamie dazzling him with her enchanting smile.
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