by Leigh Duncan
“I’m serious,” Dan said. He dropped his chin so he could look Bryce in the eyes. “If you go forward with the project, it’ll be without me.”
It took another long pull from his glass, but the development’s leader managed to sound blasé when he asked, “Funding problems? I hear you’re invested in some community outreach program. You should drop that, stay with us. The poor will always be there. Chances like this don’t come around often.”
It was Dan’s turn to scoff. There had been a time when acceptance by people like Bryce meant the world to him. But no longer. Sensing the situation called for a bold statement, he said, “I’m pulling out. Completely.”
“Oh, I get it.” Bryce practically sneered as his facade slipped. “I can’t say I’m surprised. I took you into the group because Jack insisted, but I always knew a man with your background would never measure up. Too bad. You’d have made a killing.”
Dan let the insult roll off.
“Protecting this land from development has become important to me. There are dozens of other locations that would suit your needs. I have a list and, if you want, I’ll work with you to find a great spot.”
More ice cubes clinked. The level of bourbon in Bryce’s bottle dropped another inch.
“Don’t bother. We’ll find someone to replace you.”
“Really?” He had expected Bryce to go ballistic.
The man’s indifferent attitude raised Dan’s suspicion. “Someone like Chase?” he asked.
“Mmph. Maybe. He is one of us, after all. Did I mention that he and his wife have reconciled?”
“The man’s a menace,” Dan said with slow, careful deliberation. “It’s another reason I wanted to speak with you. I took one of his patients back into surgery this afternoon and replaced the mitral valve he supposedly repaired. She would have died otherwise.”
No one could do condescension better than the head of the medical society when he put his mind to it.
“You’re a heck of a fine surgeon, Dan. We’re lucky to have you at the hospital, but that comment only proves my point. Someone with the right background would know we never mention another doctor’s problems. We fix them.” His voice dropped to a guttural undertone. “And if you want to protect your practice, you’ll keep our business to yourself.”
An hour later, Dan grabbed a soda from his own fridge and stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the ocean. Sometimes, he decided as he sipped straight from the can, being a member of the inner circle wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be. Bryce and the development cadre could call it whatever they wanted; at the end of the day, they were still bribing a public official. That potential scandal left him feeling more in need of a shower than he did after a hard workout.
He stood, listening to the waves roll ashore. He’d put a lot on the line by withdrawing from The Aegean group. But at least he’d left the project with his honor intact.
His heart was another matter. He was afraid he’d gone and lost that to Jess and her son. They’d taught him far more than how to catch a fish. And now that he’d torn down the last barrier between them, he intended to go all in and prove to Jess that a forever kind of love was in their cards.
Watching Dan’s easy gait as he made his way down the dock, Jess stopped to remind herself that this was not a day when they’d celebrate each catch with a kiss. Not with school on holiday and her son onboard. Still, it couldn’t hurt to enjoy the view while her child was busy loading their lunch supplies into the ice chest. In faded jeans and a windbreaker over an On The Fly T-shirt, couldn’t possibly know how sexy he looked. The sight of him warmed her from the inside out.
“Hey, Dr. Hamilton,” Adam called sooner than she would have liked. A wide smile broke across the boy’s face as he waved.
“Hey, yourself, tiger.” Footsteps echoed across the wooden dock until Dan reached the idling boat. “Permission to come aboard, Captain?”
“If that’s coffee…” Jess looked into his warm eyes and almost forgot what she was saying. She swallowed and fixed her gaze on the tray he balanced in one hand. “Permission granted.”
While she settled their travel mugs and a juice box into cup holders, Dan made the tricky act of stepping down from solid wood onto bobbing fiberglass look as if it was something he’d done all his life, instead of only once before. The boat dipped and swayed as he walked with a sailor’s gait across the open deck to her side.
Dan leaned down. “There’s something important we need to discuss in private.” He tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “How about coming over to my place this evening?”
Though the brush of his fingers against her cheek sent a shiver through her midsection, she knew they’d have to wait for another night to finish what they’d started in her kitchen.
“I can’t. Evy’s at her daughter’s.” Other than when her folks visited, she’d never left her son with anyone but Evy and Sam, who were so close they were practically related.
Adam wedged himself between them. “Do you like PB and Js, Dr. Hamilton? I helped Mom fix them.”
Laughter glinted in Dan’s dark eyes as he looked down at the boy. “Depends on the jelly. Strawberry or grape?”
“Grape,” said Adam.
Dan chucked the brim of the boy’s baseball cap.
“When’s lunch?” he asked. Turning to face Jess, he said, “Why don’t you both come over? I’ll fire up the grill. I make a mean burger.”
Adam’s eyes widened. “Can we, Mom?”
“Sounds good,” Jess said, though she was a little confused by the mixed signals. The conversation she’d thought Dan had in mind wasn’t fit for five-year-old ears.
“Get settled in now,” she said to Adam, “and we’ll head out.” She poked Dan in the ribs. “You’re a surgeon. You took to fly fishing like you were born for it. You spend your spare time helping foster kids. And you cook, too?” She sighed and placed one hand across her heart.
“Is there anything you can’t do?”
Humor faded from Dan’s handsome features. “I haven’t been around little kids much. I think I could use some practice in the dad department.” Looking as if he’d said more than he’d intended, he crossed to the other side of the boat and took a seat beside Adam. Jess shook her poor, confused head as the two guys commenced a good-natured argument over who would make the biggest catch.
After talking it over with her son, she’d reluctantly eased the boat’s “no bait” rule. If Adam caught a small fish on a fly line, he could use it for bait. Only, he had to put it on the hook himself. His excitement about the idea had mounted all week. But by midmorning, when he stood on the gently rocking deck with a squirming fish in one hand, a sharp hook in the other, the boy had changed his mind.
He tossed the tiny fish into the water. A move which made them all laugh and eased her fears about the way her son handled peer pressure. The rest of the morning passed quickly. Fish were caught, measured and returned to the river. Lunches were devoured, and almost before she knew it, there was just time for one small detour before they returned to the dock.
A hundred yards out from the power plant that produced much of the county’s electricity, Jess throttled back the motor. She bent her knees to accommodate the boat’s dip and rise as it rode on two-foot swells. One hand on the wheel, she pointed to a weathered sign.
“Adam, what does that say?”
The little boy ratcheted the zipper halfway down his life vest and back up again. “Go slow ’cause there’s manatees.” His head tilted to one side. “Do I hav’ta keep wearin’ this, Mom?”
“That’s the rule.” She checked the water behind them, making sure they went slow enough that they left no wake. Boaters who sped through a manatee zone faced stiff fines.
“But why, Mom?”
Busy at the wheel, she was tempted to use the dreaded, “Because I said so,” but bit her tongue and said nothing. Without correction, the current and a light wind would drive the twenty-two-foot boat ashore. Keeping it
in place demanded her attention.
“I like those fish,” Dan intervened from his seat on a storage compartment that doubled as a bench. He pointed to a cluster of particularly colorful figures on Adam’s life preserver. “What’s that one?”
While Adam stopped to examine his jacket, Dan returned her grateful smile with a fleeting look so full of promise she felt an answering stir of desire. As her heart rate shifted into overdrive, she was sure he’d read her feelings on her face and she ripped her gaze away.
Three months ago, she’d been all but certain she’d never fall in love again, yet she no longer questioned the way she felt about Dan. And once more, she wondered how much longer she could keep her love for him a secret.
Adam tugged Dan’s sleeve, demanding his attention. The finger he pointed at one of the purple figures on his vest bore traces of peanut butter and jelly. “This one’s a manatee.”
“Cool,” Dan said. “Have you ever seen one?”
“Uh-huh. They’re hu-u-ge!” The boy spread his arms as far apart as they could reach. “They eat grass.” His little face scrunched with concern. “Not people. Right, Mom?”
“Right,” Jess answered without leaving her post behind the wheel. The gentle giants were often called sea cows because they grazed on vegetation along the bottom of the river. She aimed with her chin and cut off the ignition. “And I think one has found us.”
Ten feet off the front bow, a smooth patch appeared in a trough between two waves. With a snort and a puff of wind, a wide gray head poked out of the water.
Adam rushed to the side of the boat and stretched out a hand. “C’mere!” he cried.
“No touching,” she reminded. Laws prohibited feeding and petting of the endangered species. She took a hasty step toward him as her son leaned out over the rail, intent on getting as close as he could to the seal-like snout.
Dan beat her to it. “Hey, big guy. Watch out there.”
His hand grasped the straps of Adam’s life vest, and Jess’s steps slowed.
She’d spent a few sleepless nights fretting over how a single man with his background would adapt to the care, feeding and constant need for supervision her five-year-old required. She needn’t have worried. If anything, Dan was as protective of Adam as she was.
She set the anchor and joined her two favorite guys at the side where they watched as a thousand pounds of mottled gray flesh circle the boat until it reached the motor. To Adam’s delight, the sea cow scratched his back against the propeller’s rounded fins.
Glad that she’d powered down, Jess shook her head. “Not the smartest animal in the kingdom.” Nearly every adult had a scar or two from a run-in with a boat.
“Too bad we can’t send them all to manatee school. Right, Adam?” Dan leaned down to the boy. His voice took on a cartoonish absurdity. “Lesson number one, class—boats bite.”
When Adam laughed as if the joke was the funniest thing he’d ever heard, Jess didn’t even try to hide the way her eyes misted. Her son deserved a man in his life. One who came home from work armed for a sock-ball fight and who’d relate to her son in ways that were different—not necessarily better, but different—from Adam’s relationship with her. Someone like Dan.
Exactly like Dan.
Her throat tightened as Adam repeated the punch line and broke into fresh gales of laughter. While he marched up and down the length of the boat, periodically shouting, “Boats bite!” Dan slipped an arm around her waist. She leaned against him and stole a quick peek at the man who made her heart melt. Yearning stirred within her when her cheek rubbed against the morning stubble that shadowed his jaw. She longed to run her fingers over its sandpaper roughness. But one look at the pint-size kid rounding the bow and heading in their direction, the one who didn’t miss a trick, and she folded her hands. At nearly the same moment, Dan’s fingers slipped from her waist.
Manatee, she reminded herself. Concentrate on the manatee.
Now was not the time to try and decide whether she and Dan were thinking along the same lines or if she was simply misreading his intentions.
“Can he fish with us again, Mom?” Adam begged after they had waved goodbye to Dan at the dock. “Can he? Okay, Mom? Tomorrow, okay?”
“He has to work, honey,” she explained. “And so do I.” She held the door while the boy scrambled onto his booster seat and fastened the belt.
“You always have to work.” Adam crossed his arms and threw himself back against the upholstery. “I don’t want burgers for dinner. I want nuggets ’n’ fries. You never take me to the drive-through.” Fatigue made his small voice tremble.
A nap would restore his good spirits. That, plus a phone call from Sam and an invitation for Adam to have a sleepover with Sam’s grandson changed her expectations for the evening. After promising they could go to Dr. Hamilton’s another time, she punched a number she’d programmed into her speed dial. She smiled when Dan answered on the first ring.
“Long time, no hear,” he joked.
“Change of plans. Adam’s going to spend the night with a friend. You still want company?” She held her breath and waited.
“Even more so. But if it’s just the two of us… That menu could stand improvement. You like champagne? Oysters?” He rattled off a half dozen other choices known for their sensuous qualities.
This time she had no trouble deciphering Dan’s intentions. Or deciding if they were on the same track as hers.
They were. They so definitely were that she wondered how she’d make it through the long afternoon.
A store full of customers helped. Before she knew it, her little boy was rested and off to Sam’s. And not too much later, she was half listening to the weather forecast while she dabbed on a bit of blush and powder. She was ready to walk out the door when the picture on the television switched from weather maps to a familiar stretch of coastline. The fresh-faced young man on the screen said, “A local property is at the center of controversy as the legislative session wraps in Tallahassee. We’ll have the complete details for you at eleven o’clock.”
Mindless of the wrinkles the move put in her freshly pressed slacks, Jess sank onto the edge of her bed. Had the session ended? Her next question was so critical it made her tummy quiver. Had funding for the cove been approved? Quickly, she reached for her cell and called Bob, confident their man in the capitol would know the score.
When he didn’t answer, she left a message asking if he’d been out celebrating or drowning his sorrows. She could scarcely stand the suspense. But no matter which way things went, she knew right where she wanted to be when she heard the news.
The matter of Phelps Cove was up in the air, but Dan’s invitation left no room for doubt.
Dan turned when the doorbell rang. He surveyed the apartment one final time. Candles lit. Appetizers on the counter. Woman of his dreams at the door. Check, check and triple check. A quick glance at his reflection in the window of the microwave reassured him that, despite his galloping heart rate, his hair wasn’t standing on end. He walked to the door, mentally preparing himself for the night ahead.
Tonight he fully intended to say those three little words. The ones that had never crossed his lips before.
But by morning, he planned to say them so often they’d feel familiar in his mouth, though the intensity of his feelings would never fade. Of that, he was certain. He couldn’t imagine his life without Jess and Adam in it and tonight he planned to show—and tell—her how he felt.
Wanting to savor the moment, he opened the door wide and stepped back. For a second, he could only stare at the woman who stood in light spilling from his apartment. She’d left her hair down, the soft curls framing her sweet face the way he loved. Her lips were glossy and kissable. A blue top shimmered against her golden skin and cream-colored pants hugged her hips, reminding him of the curves and smooth legs beneath.
“Permission to come aboard, Captain?” she asked.
When her cheery greeting hit a false note, he attributed it to ne
rves. Which was okay since he had a few of his own. He opened his arms.
“C’mon in,” he teased, hoping to put her fears to rest. Folding himself around her smaller figure, Dan breathed kisses into her hair. His senses filled with the citrus fragrance that was as much a part of Jess as her breezy nature. She tipped her head and his mouth closed over her willing lips.
His body responded the way it always did whenever she was within a half mile and he quickly dialed it back a notch. His fingers grazed her soft cheek.
“There’s crackers, wine, cheese. Dinner’s in the oven. Or we can…”
The decision was hers. Even if the frustration of needing her drove him to summon the men in the white coats rather than live for another moment without her, he would not push.
A wispy tendril had fallen onto her forehead. Searching her face, he brushed it back. The faintest shiver of doubt rushed through him at the look that clouded her dark eyes. He skimmed one hand down her slender arm.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” she answered, though clearly, it wasn’t.
Her anxious look triggered all his alarms and put his plans for the evening on hold. Time to go to work, he told himself. It was his job to diagnose her problem and excise it. He tested a short list of possibilities while he poured wine and they moved onto the balcony. When questions about Adam and the shop failed to ring any bells, he dug deep, reaching for a scenario that, however unlikely, was still better than the fearful idea that had taken root in his chest.
“This isn’t the part where you confess to a torrid love affair with some guy you met on the Internet, is it?”
The question brought her head around. “Hardly,” Jess answered. The trace of a smile crossed her lips. “Sorry. Guess I’m not very good company.” She drew in a breath deep enough to strain the fabric across her breasts. “I caught a blip on the news about Phelps Cove. It sounded like there’d been a development. You don’t know what’s going on in Tallahassee, do you?”
As a matter of fact, he didn’t, and his mouth turned down at the edges, letting his dissatisfaction show. Since his resignation from The Aegean, he hadn’t heard so much as a peep from a single member of the investment group. He had no idea if they’d continued with their bribery plan, but he didn’t think they’d really be that stupid. The risk was too great, with no guarantee of success.