by Annie Seaton
Now her legs brushed against the smooth cotton sheets and she snuggled into the soft mattress. Like everything else in his house, it was steeped in luxury. Egyptian-cotton bedding in white—just like you’d get in a five-star hotel. She leaned out of the bed and reached for her phone like she did first thing every morning. The same result as it had been every day for the past three weeks. There were no messages.
For a brief moment, she’d imagined there would be a message from Regan. A cheery message with a little smiley at the end saying everything was fine and she’d flown to Bali or something wild like she often did.
But nothing.
Her chest closed, and she fought the tears building in her throat. What if Jake was right? If Regan didn’t need her, she was completely alone. Maybe Regan was pissed with her over the situation with David? So when Gracie found out for sure, she’d go back to Ashby Downs, finish off her contract, and then head…where to? She really had nowhere else to go.
It was time she took control of her own life and stopped depending on others.
Confused thoughts ran through her mind and she buried her face into the pillow and gave way to the tears until the ache left her chest. She rolled over onto her back and watched the sunlight play across the wall while she thought about the day ahead. Pushing herself out of bed, she glanced outside. The sun was shining from a cloudless sky, and there was no sign of yesterday’s storm.
So now she would have the discussion with Jake and insist he take her in to town to drop off the paperwork for the position on the Midas. After last night, she had no idea what his reaction would be. Hopefully, he now understood she was capable of going for what she wanted and he wouldn’t treat her as though she was incapable of looking after herself.
I’m smart and I’m capable and if anything goes wrong, I‘ll just step off the boat and meet Jake and then we’ll go to the police.
Picking up her towel, she headed for the bathroom and turned on the jets of the shower repeating the mantra in her head, so she could convince herself before she started on him.
I’m smart and I’m capable.
At least worrying about their imminent conversation overrode all thoughts about their interlude in the pool last night. She tipped her head back to rinse the shampoo from her hair and the memory of Jake’s fingers tangling in the wet strands sent a delicious shiver tingling through her body.
It was going to be an interesting morning.
A few minutes later, she closed the door to the guest room and padded barefoot to the kitchen. There was no sign of Jake but there was an empty coffee cup sitting on the drainer next to the sink. The grocery bags were still sitting out on the bench top and she left them there. He was such an enigma—she still wasn’t sure if this was his house or if he was house-sitting for someone.
Gracie pulled out the packet of green tea bags she’d bought at the store and switched on the electric kettle before walking over to the window. Last night’s storm had left a mess on the lawn. Dead palm fronds littered the wet grass and more were hanging from the trees at crazy angles. Jake was at the side of the pool, pulling the dead fronds from the palm trees. He stretched up and grabbed the edge of the frond with some sort of long-handled tool before tugging it and letting it fall with a rustling crash to the ground, and then he carried the frond to a pile of rubbish near the high timber fence at the back of the garden. His limp was more noticeable this morning, and Gracie hoped he hadn’t injured his leg carrying her around. He’d shown her the scar on his leg last night, but this was the first time she’d observed him walking any distance.
When she’d made her tea, she stepped out on to the deck and settled herself into a swinging chair. A profusion of brightly colored flowers spilled from hanging baskets around the edge of the timbered deck and a sweet aroma from a white vine climbing the railing drifted across to her.
Closing her eyes, she tried to ignore the butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
I am smart and capable.
Jeez, if she was nervous about coming face-to-face with Jake this morning, what sort of a state would she be in, by the time she stepped on to the Midas?
“I can do it,” she chastised herself under her breath. She avoided confrontation whenever she could. It was the main reason it had taken her so long to break off the relationship with David. If you could call it a relationship, anyway. She’d only found the courage to do it when he had proposed and she had Regan’s threat of doing it for her hanging over her head.
She’d been a convenient housekeeper and babysitter for him. He’d been unimpressed when she’d not accepted his proposal and told her not to bother coming back from the coast unless she changed her mind.
“We’ll discuss it again when you come home,” he’d said.
Now she had a feeling the discussion she was about to have with Jake was going to be unpleasant too, but it had to happen no matter how difficult it was.
Smart and capable.
The timber steps creaked, and Gracie opened her eyes as Jake grabbed the post at the top of the stairs and swung his leg up awkwardly over the last step.
“Good morning,” he said with a grin. “Sleep well?”
Gracie dropped her gaze as embarrassment filled her. Her face heated and she cleared her throat. It had been a long time since she’d been in a morning-after situation with a man. Even after a year of seeing David, their relationship had remained unnaturally platonic. A brief greeting and farewell kiss was as far as it had gone, despite his proposal. She wondered why she had let it go on like that.
“Cat got your tongue?” Jake reached over and tousled her hair and she looked at him crossly.
“Don’t do that. You make me feel like I’m ten years old,” she said waspishly.
“Sorry.”
“Jake, can we talk?”
“Thought that’s what we were doing.” He pulled a chair out from the table and carried it over next to her swing before he sat and casually rested his feet on the railing. Her gaze followed his as he looked out over the garden to the view beyond the fence.
The sapphire water was dotted with a profusion of sails as boats headed out to the islands for the day. A slight breeze puffed in from the southeast and the water shimmered in the morning sunshine. Gracie looked up and watched as a small plane approached from the direction of Airlie Beach. The drone of the engine became louder as it flew over the bay in front of them.
Jake lifted his arm and waved as it passed low over the mangroves at the bottom of the garden and dipped its wing before it turned and headed out to sea.
“Hayman Island sea plane,” he explained. “My mate, Hank, likes to bring tourists over my place. He spins them a story about a media mogul owning the place. The one who went to jail a few years back.”
“And does he?” she asked. It was the perfect opportunity to have her curiosity satisfied.
“Does he what?”
“Own the place?”
He looked at her curiously. “Why do you ask?”
“Just wondered.”
“No. He doesn’t.” Jake didn’t say any more, and she sensed she had strayed into forbidden territory. He looked at her without smiling. “What did you want to talk about?”
“About last night?”
“Yeah?”
Oh, God, he wasn’t going to make it easy for her.
“The photos.” She swallowed.
Smart and capable, Gracie.
“When we were looking at the photos last night, I said I was going to take the job on the Midas.
“And I told you that I didn’t think that was a good idea.”
“That’s what we’re going to talk about.” Gracie swung her legs off the swing and stood up. “You can’t tell me what to do and if you won’t take me, I’ll find my own way into Airlie Beach.”
Jake laughed and it wasn’t pleasant. “No way, sweetheart.”
For a moment, she was tempted to stamp her foot but she walked over to him and placed her hands on his bare shoulders.
An earthy, masculine smell rose from his skin, which was slick with perspiration, and she ignored the jolt of electricity running up her arm. The cold gaze holding hers was enough to kill any reaction and she dropped her hands by her sides and clenched her fists until her nails dug into her palms.
“I will go to town, and I will work on the boat if there is a job. You cannot tell me what to do.”
“No.” He held her gaze and his eyes were flat and cold.
Gracie took a deep breath. She wouldn’t lose her temper. “If you won’t take me where I want to go, then you’re holding me against my will, and I’m sure you don’t want a charge brought against you.”
“Is that a threat, sweetheart?”
“No, it’s a promise. Now I’m going in to get my bag and the paperwork for the crewing company. I’ll meet you in the garage in five minutes.”
As she turned away and took a step toward the door, the legs of his chair scraped noisily on the timber decking. His hand landed on her shoulder and he spun her around.
“Are you crazy?” His face was so close to hers, his breath warmed her skin. “Your sister is in some sort of mess on the boat, your hotel room was broken into and there’s already been one body washed up in the bay.”
His fingers dug into her shoulders and for a moment, she thought he was going to shake her.
“Gracie, do you have any idea of the danger you might be putting yourself into?” He held onto her shoulder with one hand and he ran the other one through his short, dark hair in obvious frustration.
“Yes, I am well aware of all that. But my sister needs my help.” She put her hands up to grip his chin and hold his head close to hers. “Look, Jake. At least if I’m on the boat, you’ll know I’m there and if anything strange happens, you can go to the police. But I can’t go to the police until I’ve been on that boat and have had a chance to look for her myself.”
“Jesus.” He cupped his hands over hers and warmth shot up her arm, but she held his gaze unblinking. “You’re determined to do it, aren’t you, Gracie?”
“Yes. I am. I’m a big girl. It’s about time I stood on my own two feet.”
He rested his forehead against hers and she closed her eyes.
“Jake, I owe Regan so much. If she’s in danger, I want to help. If I get on the boat and find out she’s okay and just lying low for whatever reason…well, yeah…I’ll be pissed off, but at least I’ll know she’s okay.”
She dropped her hand from his face and moved away. Moving across to the edge of the deck, she put her hands behind her back and gripped the railing. They were trembling and she hung on to the timber while she stared at him. “So are you going to help me…?”
“I guess I don’t have any choice, do I?”
She let out her breath as relief overtook her. “Thank you.”
“But we’ll have some ground rules,” he said gruffly. “And you’ll follow them.”
“Okay, we’ll talk about it in the car.” She pushed away from the railing to go inside and get her bag but he stood in front of her blocking her path.
“Not so fast.” He slipped his arm around her waist, and Gracie’s breath hitched in her throat as she tipped her head back and looked up at him. The warmth from his bare skin seeped into her body and a lazy kick of desire swirled through her.
“I’ve got to go down and check on the boat in the bay and I need to have a shower before we go anywhere. So you’ll have to be patient.” His voice was gruff but she didn’t care because he’d agreed to take her. “And we’ll do more than talk about it. If you insist on going on that bloody boat, you’ll do it my way. Agreed?”
Gracie held his gaze before nodding.
“Agreed.”
…
Jake headed down to the bay to check the boat was still on its mooring after last night’s storm. The mangroves at the edge of the bay had sheltered the boat from the wind that had ripped the fronds from the palm trees in the garden. The tide was low and he cursed under his breath when his foot sank into the black mud in the mangroves at the edge of the bay. His knee locked and pain shot up his leg. The specialist had told him if he went easy for the first few months and let it heal, the pain would gradually lessen, but his knee would always be stiff.
Blasted leg.
Fucking stuff up.
At least they’d got the guy who shot him and he was doing time.
The pain fired up his temper, and he cursed himself for giving in to Gracie’s wide-eyed pleas. His gut had clenched when she’d looked at him with those exotic green eyes. He could have sworn he’d seen trust, and her open gratitude had terrified him.
Christ, I am such a sucker for needy women.
You’d think he’d have learned his lesson by now. He’d done his best to look after his mother when his old man had run off when he was just a kid, and that had been a dismal failure. Sick of having no money, she’d run off with the first bloke who’d shown an interest in her and last he’d heard a couple of years back, she was living in an apartment down on the Gold Coast.
Then there was the fiasco of his short-lived marriage. He’d done his best to look after Kelly but his commitment to the police force had got in the way and he’d done a lousy job there as well. He thought he’d looked after her just fine, but she’d upped and left with her best friend’s husband. Last he’d heard, she’d been down on the Gold Coast too. Maybe his mother and his ex-wife got together and discussed his failings. The stubble on his chin rasped against his hand as he rubbed his fingers over his face. And now Gracie wanted to put herself in this situation that he had a very bad feeling about, and he couldn’t do a damn thing to stop her.
Life had just been settling down and he’d been coming to terms with being out of the force and now this bloody woman had dropped on his boat in the middle of the night.
“Christ, I don’t know,” he muttered under his breath as he stared out at the boat, which bobbed in the gentle waves, secure on its mooring.
Now she was calling the shots and he’d be doing his damn best to make sure she didn’t get hurt.
As soon as he got back to the house, he was going to call Ben and get some information about Cabal and his boat…and her sister. If there was one sniff of danger, he would lock her up and she could lay as many bloody charges against him as she wanted.
All he wanted was his freedom back, the freedom to move without his leg locking up and the freedom to do what he really wanted in life. But he had a bad feeling that the innocent little blonde package waiting for him up at the house was going to be a bit of a hindrance to him before that would happen.
Chapter Ten
Gracie figured if she told herself enough she wouldn’t be nervous, she would be able to do this. It was almost 11:00 a.m. when Jake backed the car out of the garage and they headed to Airlie Beach. He’d come back up from the bay in a filthy mood and had disappeared into the study before he’d even headed for the shower. She could hear him talking to someone on the phone as she sat out on the deck waiting for him to drive her to town. It was hot and the air was still so she’d dressed in a white sundress. Jake had sauntered past her in the hallway with a towel slung low around his hips and his glance had flicked up and down her body.
Gracie ignored him. Not only was he bossy, he was moody, and she didn’t have to put up with it.
If he wanted to push her buttons, that was fine. Go for it.
She would ignore him.
She hadn’t asked to stay here, so if he wanted to get angry, that was his problem. Although if she was honest, she had to admit knowing he would be looking out for her while she was working on the boat did help settle her nerves.
“I’m going to drop you off at Cannonvale,” he said and she jumped as his voice intruded into her thoughts.
“Where we bought the food the other day. There’s a bus runs from there into Airlie Beach every half hour or so or you could catch a cab.” He turned the car out through the gate and waited on the road outside until the automatic gates locked
behind them before he drove off.
“Listen carefully,” he said.
Gracie flicked a glance across to him. He was determined they wouldn’t be seen together at the marina and that set a ruffle of unease coursing through her.
Who was he and what was his connection there? Why was he so keen she wasn’t seen with him? And what was with all the security at his house?
She bit her lip and watched him drive, waiting for him to continue. His skillful hands gripped the steering wheel and he navigated the car through the mess left on the road by the tropical storm.
Jake was concentrating on the road ahead. Branches were strewn across the narrow road and he paused for a moment before continuing. “I don’t want anyone to see us together, and it’ll give me time to get down to the marina before you do, because if there’s any chance they send you straight down to the Midas, I want to be watching.”
“Where from?” Knowing he would be around dispelled the sickness gnawing at her gut but she wanted to know how far away he would be.
“I’ve called in a favor and my mate’s bringing a boat into the berth opposite the Midas for a couple of hours. Where my boat was the other night. We’ll be sitting on the deck watching. You’ve seen how good the view is from there.” Jake reached into his pocket and handed her his cell phone. “If they don’t send you down to the boat, send me a text and I’ll meet you back at the car park behind the lagoon. Put your number in there and then put my number into your phone.”
Gracie scrolled through the contacts until she got to New Contact, smiling ruefully to herself as the names in his phone flicked down the screen. Apart from a Ben, the rest were women’s names and she figured it was his equivalent of the old-fashioned little black book. A fleeting wonder if he’d ever call her again skipped through her thoughts.
Not his usual type, she thought. Although he hadn’t held back in the pool last night. Not until he’d carried her in, anyway. He’d certainly looked after her needs, and she wondered why he’d left her alone in her bed. She shrugged and picked up his phone.
Adding her name and number, she ignored the unfamiliar shaft of jealousy that lodged in her throat. Who he saw and what he did had nothing to do with her. He was going to be around and help her until she found Regan, made sure she was okay, and then she would get the hell out of his life. It would be a pleasure to get back to Ashby Downs away from all the worry and danger…and Jake’s moods.