When a familiar arm slid around the front of her shoulders, for a moment she forgot everything and leaned her head back against Jamie. He kissed the side of her neck.
In the next second, she jumped away and turned toward him, angry. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Saying hello,” he said with an innocent grin. “Did you get any cake?”
“No. Your relatives have kept me on my feet all day.” She was frowning.
“And those look like such comfortable shoes.”
She wanted to stay angry at him but couldn’t. “Even my toenails ache.”
Jamie held up a set of car keys. “How about if I drive us home and I give you a foot massage?”
“Ecstasy,” she said. “Better than sex.”
“That’s because you haven’t been to bed with me yet.”
The look in his eyes took Hallie’s breath away for a moment. “There’s no ‘yet’ and I can’t leave with you. I’m here with Braden.”
Jamie glanced at the dance floor. “He doesn’t look like he’s suffering.” He caught Adam’s arm as he walked by. “Keep the boyfriend busy, will you? I’m taking Hallie home. Give him lots of cousins and mention the word ‘heiress’ often.”
“Will do,” Adam said, then bent and kissed Hallie’s cheek. “See you tomorrow.”
Jamie stepped back to let Hallie go ahead of him.
Turning, she tried to get Braden’s attention. She should tell him she was going to leave. No, she should stay there with him. Jamie telling Adam to say “heiress” was a low blow—but unfortunately true. Just minutes ago Braden had said the word in connection with Paige.
When Braden saw her, she made a motion toward the door and he blew her a kiss. He seemed to be okay with her leaving. She waved to Leland and he smiled back.
Jamie held the door to the big tent open for her. “Braden’s not exactly worried about your running off with another man, is he?”
“I don’t think he sees you as competition.”
“Then he’s a fool,” Jamie said.
Outside, she followed him through the many parked cars to a big black Range Rover. He opened the door for her, then stood back. It was a very high step up to get into the vehicle, and Hallie’s skirt was quite short and her heels very tall.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she said. “Mind giving me a hand?”
“No,” Jamie said. “I just want to watch.”
“What’s gotten into you tonight?”
“Can’t a man be a man?”
She didn’t understand what he meant and turned back to trying to figure out how to get into the big car without her skirt riding up to her waist.
Finally, Jamie took pity on her. He leaned his crutches against the car, put his hands on her waist, and lifted her up to the car seat. “Better?”
“Yes,” she said and turned around while he got in the driver’s side. On the console was a white bakery box. “What’s this?”
“Wedding cake. I thought we’d go home, open some champagne, and have some. Sound good?”
When she didn’t answer, Jamie turned toward her. It was late afternoon and the sunlight through the trees was nice. As always on Nantucket, the weather was divine. He knew that the air hadn’t been cleared between them. “Did you overhear my brother?” he asked, his light tone gone.
Hallie’s first instinct was to say no. It wasn’t polite to eavesdrop. But she didn’t lie. “Yes.”
“And that’s what you’ve been angry about?”
She gave a shrug.
Jamie reached over to take her hand. “First of all, my brother said all that, not me. Second, it’s his job to never believe anyone, and third, he’s very protective of me. He’s worried that I’m going to die at any second. He’d like to lock me away from everyone just to keep me safe.”
“Everything he said is true,” Hallie said softly.
“About Raine?”
“No! I like him but not like that,” Hallie said, then realized Jamie was teasing her.
“I’m glad because Raine has been crying a lot.” Jamie started the car and began backing out.
“Has he? Did you let him cry on your shoulder?”
“Are you crazy? If he rolled on top of me, I’d be crushed. I’d be back in the hospital with my whole body in a cast.”
Hallie was trying not to laugh. “I guess I’ll just have to let him cry on me.”
“So he’d crush both of us at once?” Jamie sounded confused.
Hallie’s laugh came out. “Oh! I’ve missed you.” She stopped herself. “I mean—”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’ve missed you too. I think some of the happiest times of my life were when you and I were alone in our little house. That’s the kind of thing soldiers fight for.”
Hallie looked out the window at the pretty buildings they were passing. Nantucket was so beautiful that it was like something created by heavenly creatures. Maybe it was the atmosphere, but she calmed down. “Braden says I’ve changed and I think I have.”
He was maneuvering the big vehicle down the narrow Kingsley Lane. “Changed how?”
She waited for him to park, then get out and come around to her side. Reaching up, he put his hands on her waist and lifted her down.
For a moment they looked at each other, faces close together, and it seemed natural that they kiss. Jamie bent his head toward hers, but Hallie turned away to get the box of cake out of the car.
He didn’t seem to mind as he followed her to the front door.
“Locked,” Hallie said. “Just like last time.” She told him of when she’d come home from shopping and her keys were missing and the door was locked. “I think I was meant to go into the tea room. I think…” She looked at him. “I think they wanted me to hear what your brother said.”
“And that led to you having that ring on your finger? Are you still trying to get it off or are you going to leave it on there?”
When she looked at him, she saw the seriousness in his eyes. “Right now Braden needs to have some security in his life. He doesn’t need to have his backup girl, the one who’s always been there, tell him she doesn’t want him either.”
For a moment she saw anger flash across Jamie’s eyes, but it was gone quickly. “That makes sense. Can I walk you down the aisle at your wedding?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “If you’re trying to be funny, you’re not succeeding.” Turning, she headed for the tea room doors.
“I never joke about the wedding of the woman I love.”
At his words, Hallie slowed her steps, but she didn’t stop. Just as before, one of the double doors into the tea room was half open. On the coffee table was one of Edith’s luscious teas. “Look,” she said to Jamie and opened the door all the way.
“I don’t know about you,” he said, “but I’m starving. Raine cleaned out the fridge and the Montgomerys, picky eaters that they are, ate everything at the wedding.”
Hallie was glad he was back to joking and wasn’t saying more about being “in love” with her. Right now that was more than she could handle.
The couch still had clothes piled on it. Jamie tossed a stack of sweaters onto a chair, sat down on the couch, and patted the seat beside him. “So what’s your cousin like?”
Hallie gave a sigh of relief that he wasn’t going to be serious and sat down beside him. This was like he had been, before everything became complicated with the arrival of relatives and a man who was kind of, maybe, her boyfriend. “Leland is great,” Hallie said. “We escaped everyone for nearly an hour and walked all around the property. He told me about his job and how he’s sick of living in hotels. He wants to settle somewhere and—Oh! I forgot. He said he stopped by here and left his suitcase and a box full of info for me.” Hallie started into the house through the pantry, but she found the box on one of the shelves. She picked it up and carried it back to the tea room and put it on the floor by the coffee table.
“Try this,” Jamie said and held up a little
sandwich for her to bite into. He ate the other half.
“That’s delicious. What is it?”
“Some kind of sea creature. I’m better with beef. So what’s in the box?”
As they ate, Hallie went through the contents. There were letters, an old scrapbook of newspaper articles about a man who was touted as one of the greatest actors of all time, and several theater tickets. In the bottom was a little bouquet of dried flowers wrapped in a silk handkerchief.
Hallie read aloud while Jamie fed her. “Mmmm, look at this,” she said, her mouth full of wedding cake. “Miss Emmeline Wells married Mr. Drue Hartley on the twenty-second of July in 1912. They’re my family.”
Jamie leaned forward and kissed the corner of her mouth. “You had icing right there and I couldn’t find a napkin.”
“There’s one on your leg.”
“So there is. What did Leland say about your ancestors?”
“Uh…” Hallie was having trouble recovering from his kiss. “Oh, yes. Drue was the youngest child and when he was nineteen he fell madly in love with a pretty young actress. His father, who was a very wealthy businessman, gave his son a choice of the family or pretty little Emmeline.”
“And he very wisely chose the girl,” Jamie said. “And that choice eventually gave birth to you. Did I tell you how much I like that dress on you?”
“No, you didn’t. But everyone else did. Braden said I could only wear it because I’ve lost so much weight. I don’t know how I’ve done it since we eat such high-calorie food.”
Jamie picked up the papers that were on the couch between them and put them on the floor so he could move closer to her. “He certainly does think a lot about weight, doesn’t he?”
“What are you doing?”
Jamie ran his hand down her bare arm. “So what’s your cousin planning to do?”
“I don’t know. He’s as unattached to family as I am. That’s why he dropped everything to come here to meet me. He may…” She trailed off because Jamie had put his hand on her waist and was kissing her neck.
“I’ve missed you every second we were apart,” he whispered. “I wanted them all to leave so we could be together.”
She leaned her head back to give him greater access to her throat.
He whispered as he kissed her. “I missed all our talks, our sharing time and food. I missed knowing you were in a bed close to mine. I remembered when I woke up with you in my arms.”
He was kissing her chin, her cheeks. His hands clasped her face and he kissed her closed eyelids.
“I don’t think we should do this,” Hallie said, but her voice lacked conviction.
Holding her face, he waited for her to open her eyes and look at him. “Are you going to marry a man who thinks of you as a consolation prize?”
“No,” Hallie said and with that answer, she felt a great relief come over her. She didn’t want to disappoint Braden or his mother, but she really couldn’t go through with it. “No, I’m not.”
Jamie started to put his lips on hers, but a clatter made him draw back. He looked on the floor and there, sparkling up at him, was the big engagement ring. It had fallen off Hallie’s finger. He picked it up and held it between his thumb and forefinger. He started to say something, but Hallie took it out of his hand and put it on the table.
“Okay, that’s it,” she said. “I’ve heard enough about your lovemaking. I’d like proof of life.”
Smiling, Jamie took her hand in his, grabbed a crutch, and made it to the stairs. He let Hallie go up first.
Once they were in the bedroom, she felt a little nervous. What now? she wondered. More up-against-a-wall? Or get into the bed?
But Jamie took over. He sat down on the edge of the bed, his knees apart, and pulled her to him. He turned her so her back was to him and slowly unzipped her beautiful dress. He kissed her skin as each bit was exposed, his hands sliding around her bare waist, then down over her hips.
Gently, he pushed the dress forward, over her shoulders, then down until it puddled at her feet.
Turning her around, he pressed his face on her bare stomach, kissing it, then put his arms around her, holding her close to him.
Hallie bent down, her face in his hair. She’d touched him in massages, but this wasn’t the same. “I’ve missed you too,” she whispered.
He looked up at her, smiling, and when she bent to kiss him, he abruptly pulled her off her feet to land on the bed in a flurry of covers.
“Now I have you on your back,” he said in a way that made him sound like a cartoon villain.
Hallie laughed and started to unbutton his shirt.
He brushed her hand away. “Nope. It’s your turn to be naked in front of me.”
“What a terrible idea,” she said, blinking rapidly at him.
Jamie began kissing her neck, his hands roaming over her body. She still had on her pretty white underwear, but he didn’t remove it, just ran his hands over all of her, feeling, caressing. “I’ve thought you were beautiful since the first day I saw you,” he said as his kisses moved downward.
He certainly did seem to know what to touch and how to do it, she thought as his hands and lips moved over her body. She wasn’t sure when the last of her clothing came off, but she was nude before him and he touched her body. His hands caressed her inner thighs so that she opened her legs for him. His lips on her breast made her arch her back.
When she was ready for him, she found that he had protection with him and he put it on.
When he entered her, she clung to him, loving the weight of his big body. He still had on his shirt and she could feel the buttons on her skin.
The size of him, the weight, the pure masculine smell of him, nearly drove her to a frenzy. She came before he did and he held her to him, caressing her back. Just holding her tightly to him, letting her feel the release in her body.
Gradually, he began his long, slow strokes inside her, waking her in a way she’d never felt before. It was as though something deep within her was coming alive.
She gave herself over to it, let herself feel only this man and this moment.
“Jamie,” she whispered.
“I’m here,” he said, his lips against her ear. “I’m always here.”
His shirt came off and she felt his hot skin near hers, felt the ridges of the scars. Her hands on his back went over the bumps and dents—and they made her smile. This was Jamie. This unique, fascinating man was Jamie.
When he came, he fell against her, holding her to him. As he lay in her arms, his body limp, relaxed, she had a feeling of power. He needed her. For all his strength and size, all his masculinity, with her he could release all that. With him, it was a matter of trust and possibly love.
They slept for a while, wrapped up together, so close they were like one being. In the early morning, Jamie became restless. A nightmare. As always, Hallie soothed him with kisses. He settled, but a moment later he woke up.
“Did I do it again?”
“Yes,” she said, smoothing his hair back from his face.
“I may never recover,” he said softly. His naked body was close to hers, his leg over hers, and she could feel the tension that was beginning to build in him. His tone was light, but she could feel that what he was saying meant a lot to him.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t,” he said. “I may always be plagued with nightmares. I can’t imagine that I’ll ever be tolerant of loud noises. If I hadn’t wanted you so much, I would never have gone to a family wedding. All those doorways and people and noises and—”
She kissed him. “I know. It’s all part of you.”
“The scars inside me will always be there. Years may dull them, but they’ll never go away. I can’t live like other people; I have to make concessions.”
Hallie wasn’t sure, but she thought maybe he was talking about the two of them being together past when his leg healed. She didn’t have a reply to that but just kissed him some more.
“I like you
r answer,” he said. “Your turn to be on top.”
Smiling, he rolled onto his back while holding her up, and set her down on him. He was ready for her.
Hallie woke to the sound of water running. The door to her bathroom was open and she saw Jamie in front of the mirror. He had just a towel around his waist and he was shaving.
He saw her in the mirror. “You finally woke up.”
She stretched luxuriously, not bothering to keep the sheet over her naked breasts.
Jamie paused in shaving to watch her. He finished, dried his face, then went to sit on the side of the bed.
“You in just a towel,” she murmured as she ran her hand over his arm. “That’s what got me in trouble the first time.”
He kissed her, but when it became deeper, he pulled back. “I don’t know how you want to handle this, but Adam just sent a text. Your boyfriend will be here in a few minutes.”
She was kissing his neck. “Who is that?”
“Glad you don’t remember,” Jamie said as he stretched out beside her.
Suddenly, Hallie sat up. “I forgot about Braden!”
“Understandable.” Jamie reached out to pull her down beside him, but she rolled to the far side of the bed and got out.
Jamie’s shirt was on the floor and she picked it up, put her arm in one sleeve, and turned the other one to the right side as she ran to the bathroom. “I forgot all about him,” she said through the door. “Where did he sleep? Oh, no! You don’t think he jumped in bed with one of your cousins, do you? His mom will kill me. I’m supposed to take care of him but I didn’t. This is terrible.”
Jamie was stretched out on the bed, a stack of pillows under his head. “No to all of it. Boyfriend is safe and virginal.”
Hallie looked around the door at him. “You can laugh about this, but Braden is my responsibility. I’m going to have to tell him that even his backup girl won’t marry him. And how do you know he’s safe?”
“From about a dozen text messages. Adam wrote that he took both Leland and the boyfriend—”
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