Season for Love

by Marie Force

  “Thanks. We’re excited, to say the least.”

  “I’ll bet you are. I want to hear all about it—every detail.”

  “You got it. We’re going to the doctor next week to find out how far along she is, due dates. That kind of stuff.”

  “I can’t wait to hear.”

  “Me, too. So what time are you heading to the island?”

  “I guess that depends on whether the ferries are running.”

  Seamus gave a thumbs-up to let her know he’d already checked, and they were good to go.

  “Text me when you get there,” Joe said.

  “I will. Give Janey my love, and tell her congratulations from me.”

  “Will do. Talk to you soon.”

  “Love you.”

  “You, too.”

  Carolina ended the call and bobbled the phone between her hands. She was filled with nerves and morning-after regret.

  Seamus came to sit next to her on the bed and handed her the mug.

  Grateful for the distraction and the badly needed caffeine, Carolina tried to focus on the coffee—anything to keep her eyes off the tempting sight of him.

  “I take it congratulations are in order.” His eyes sparkled with mirth. “Grandma.”

  She choked on the coffee.

  He took the mug from her, put it on the bedside table and patted her back. “Okay?”

  Nodding, she shrugged off his embrace, wishing he would catch the hint and take his big, naked body elsewhere so she could get up and grab a shower. Even after what they’d shared during the night, she wasn’t prepared to prance around naked in front of him.

  Apparently, he had no such hang-ups, but he was eighteen years younger. Her eyes were drawn to the penis that hung large between his legs even when he wasn’t aroused. Remembering the first time he’d pushed that big member slowly into her tight channel made her mouth water with desire. She tore her gaze off that part of him and sought a safer place to plant her eyes.

  When she looked up, she found him watching her carefully, waiting for her to make eye contact. Damned if he didn’t seem amused over her visual tour of his body.

  “What’s got you all worked up, my love?”

  “I’m not your love. Don’t say that.”

  He curled a lock of her hair around his finger and brought it to his nose. “I sure would like you to be.”

  “That’s not going to happen! Did you hear what my son just told me? I’m going to be a grandmother!”

  He had the audacity to laugh! He actually laughed!

  “What the hell is so funny?”

  “You are,” he said, leaning in to nibble on her neck. “Congratulations, by the way. Sexiest grandma I ever met.”

  She swatted at him, but that didn’t deter him. “Stop that! Have you heard a word I’ve said?”

  “Uh-huh.” The neck nibbling continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I heard every. Single. Word.” He punctuated his words with more kisses and the slide of his tongue over her sensitized skin. “And every moan and sigh and scream, too.”

  Mortified by the reminder of how completely she’d come apart in his arms, Carolina tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t be pushed. “Please, Seamus. I enjoyed last night. I really did. But I can’t do this. I just can’t.”

  He tugged the covers free of the iron grip she had on them, exposing her breasts. Her nipples reacted instantly to the cool air and the heated promise in his gaze. His attention shifted from her neck to her chest to the valley between her breasts. While his lips were busy on the front of her, his hands slid down her back to cup her ass and arrange her under him. The man, she’d discovered during the night, was a master multi-tasker.

  “Did you hear what I said?” she asked, breathless from the tug of his lips on her tender nipple.

  “I heard ya, love.”

  “Then why—”

  He sucked hard and stole the words right off her lips.

  Her back arched as her body betrayed her yet again. Before she had a chance to figure out how she’d so thoroughly lost control of the conversation, her fingers were buried in his hair to hold his head to her chest, and her legs were wrapped around his hips as he made love to her yet again.

  By the time he finally let her out of bed to take a shower an hour later, Carolina was royally screwed—in every possible way.

  Maddie made chocolate-chip muffins and coffee in preparation for her meeting with the ladies who’d agreed to help plan the Thanksgiving dinner to benefit the island’s summer employees. She used to be one of the struggling year-round residents who relied on the tourists for income, before Mac McCarthy came along and changed her life in every possible way. Now that her fortunes had improved so dramatically, she was anxious to give something back to the people she’d once worked and commiserated with when times were tough.

  Her sister Tiffany came through the sliding door from the deck a few minutes later. Maddie had asked her to come early because she was anxious to talk to her. Tiffany hadn’t been herself in recent weeks, and Maddie was concerned about her baby sister.

  “Hey,” Tiffany said.

  “Hi, honey.” Maddie crossed the big, open great room to greet her sister with a hug and kiss. “How are you?”

  “Good.” Tiffany tossed her denim jacket on a chair. “Busy.”

  “How’s the store coming along?”

  “Fine.”

  Maddie poured coffee for both of them and slid onto a barstool next to Tiffany. “When do I get a sneak peek?”

  “When it’s ready,” Tiffany said, as she always did when Maddie asked about the store. She was dying of curiosity to see what Tiffany was doing with the former location of Abby’s Attic, but so far Tiffany had kept the details to herself.

  “How’s Ashleigh liking preschool?”

  “She loves it as you well know. You see her every day when you drop off Thomas.”

  “They both love it.” Maddie stirred some cream into her coffee. “So, have you seen Dad?” Their father had recently resurfaced more than thirty years after he left his family on the island and never looked back.

  “Once. He said he’d call, but I haven’t heard from him. What about you?”

  “He’s left me a couple of messages, but I’m not ready to talk to him. I hate that I’m the only thing standing between Mom and Ned getting married—”

  “She doesn’t expect you to do anything you don’t want to do. She and Ned seem perfectly thrilled to be living together.”

  “Yeah, they do.”

  Tiffany reached for one of the muffins and pulled the top off.

  “I’m worried about you,” Maddie said. “You’ve been very distant lately.”

  “Have I?”

  “What’s going on, Tiff? You know there’s nothing you can’t tell me.”

  Tiffany focused on her coffee and muffin for so long, Maddie suspected she wasn’t going to say anything. “Something happened.” The words seemed to burst out of her in a rush of air and relief.

  Instantly on alert, Maddie said, “What?”

  “Blaine.”

  “Ohhhhh,” Maddie said, instantly relieved and desperately curious. Since Blaine Taylor was the island’s police chief and Mac’s good friend, Maddie knew that whatever happened had most likely been a good thing. “Well? Are you going to tell me?”

  Tiffany’s face turned bright red. “We…um, well… We kinda kissed. And stuff.”

  Maddie, who had never before seen her fearless sister blush, stared at her, astounded. “What kind of stuff?”

  “The good kind of stuff, but not the stuff. If you know what I mean.”

  “Huh,” Maddie said, still nearly speechless. “When was this?”

  “A while ago. Early September.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I haven’t told anyone.”

  “So, like, did you run into him or something?”

  “Or something. I got arrested.”

  “What?”

  Tiffany held up
a hand to keep Maddie in her seat. “It was no big deal. I snuck into Jim’s place, wanting to talk to him, and he accused me of breaking and entering.”

  “That bastard!”

  “You don’t know the half of it. Anyway, Blaine showed up and told Jim it doesn’t count as B&E if the door is unlocked.”

  “Then how did you end up arrested?”

  Tiffany averted her gaze, looking ashamed. “I might’ve slashed the tires on Jim’s precious Mercedes on the way in.”

  Maddie rocked with laughter. “Oh, that must’ve pissed him off!”

  “Seriously. It was well worth getting arrested.”

  “Why wasn’t any of this in the paper?”

  “I guess Blaine decided not to file a report. He did me a huge favor.”

  “Good for him.” Maddie had always liked the sexy policeman, but now she really liked him. “So when did the kissing—and stuff—happen?”

  “When he drove me home.”

  “Oh.”

  “It was…”

  Maddie reached for Tiffany’s hand and was shocked to find it freezing. She rubbed it between both of hers. “What, honey?”

  “Insane.”

  “In what way?”

  “It was like…we were possessed or something. He made me. . you know…in my kitchen.”

  “Oh,” Maddie said, fanning herself. “Wow.”

  “Yeah.” Tiffany focused intently on her muffin.

  “So did you…return the favor?”

  She shook her head. “Unfortunately, he got called away to an accident before I could. I haven’t seen him since.”

  Hearing that, Maddie experienced a profound sense of disappointment, as if she’d been the one to have an explosive encounter with a man she’d never seen again.

  “It’s just as well,” Tiffany said with a shrug. “Nothing good could come of that in the midst of my ugly divorce. He’d be crazy to want to be involved with me right now.”

  “Sweetie,” Maddie said, clutching Tiffany’s hand, “he’d be crazy not to want you. Look at you! You’re a walking, talking sex kitten.” Maddie had always envied her sister’s lean, lithe dancer’s body and silky dark hair. “I’ve seen how he looks at you like a hungry tiger.”

  “Meow,” Tiffany said with a weak smile.

  Maddie laughed. “It’s not that he doesn’t want you.”

  “Then why haven’t I heard from him since the most explosive sexual-encounter-in-which-no-one-actually-had-sex of my life?”

  “Could be anything, but I doubt it’s because he doesn’t want you. He was as into it as you were, right?”

  “Ah yeah. You could say that.”

  “Do you want me to have Mac talk to him and see if he can gather some intel?”

  “God, no! Jesus, don’t breathe a word of this to Mac. I’d never be able to look at him again. Promise me!”

  “I promise, but I hate to tell you Mac is aware that you’ve had sex.”

  “He doesn’t need to know I had near-sex with his friend.”

  “Relax. I won’t say anything if you don’t want me to.”

  “I don’t.”

  Maddie sipped at her coffee as she studied her sister.

  “Why are you staring at me?”

  “I’m wondering why you haven’t sought him out. It’s not like you to hold back when you want something.”

  “Because.”

  “Oh, okay. I see now.”

  “Stop being a smart ass!”

  “Can’t help it. It’s in our DNA.”

  “I can’t go chasing after him. The whole thing was too…intense. I was a disaster for days afterward.”

  “Why, honey? Was he rough with you?”

  Tiffany blushed again. “Kinda, but I loved it.”

  “So then why were you upset?”

  “Because! If I’d stayed with Jim, I would’ve lived the whole rest of my life without knowing that is possible. I had no idea. If that’s what you have with Mac, I’m in awe—and envy.”

  “Oh, baby, come here.” Maddie gathered her sister into a tight hug. “That’s what I want for you—the kind of all-consuming passion that you forget your own name in the midst of it.”

  “Is it like that for you guys?” Tiffany asked, her voice muffled by Maddie’s hair.

  “Yeah.”

  “Every time?”

  “Uh-huh,” Maddie said, laughing.

  “How do you survive it?”

  Maddie released her sister but kept her hands on Tiffany’s shoulders. “I don’t just survive it, I crave it.” She smoothed Tiffany’s hair back from her face. “There’s no chance of anything else happening with Blaine?”

  “Not right now. Not with the divorce moving so painfully slow.”

  “I thought Dan Torrington was helping you with that.”

  “He is, but Jim is fighting every step of the way. It’s draining. Dan suggested arbitration. Apparently, it’s quicker than waiting on the courts, but Jim is fighting that, too.”

  “I’m sorry it’s such an ordeal.”

  “It’s fine,” Tiffany said with a sweep of her hand. “At the end of it, I’ll be free of him and have primary custody of Ashleigh. That’s all I care about.”

  “I hope you’ll also get a boatload of money that you richly deserve for putting his ass through law school while you worked two jobs—and carried his child.”

  “Dan is working on that, too. Naturally, Jim is fighting that part the hardest. He cares more about his goddamned money than he does about his own daughter.”

  “I know it seems hard to believe now when everything is so chaotic, but someday soon the divorce will be final, and you’ll be free to do anything you want. Including our oh-so-sexy police chief.”

  Tiffany stuck her tongue out at her sister. “Very funny.”

  “You won’t be laughing when you’re naked and horizontal under him.”

  Tiffany shook her head and put her hands over her ears. “I can’t even think of that, or I’m apt to spontaneously combust.”

  Maddie laughed at the tortured expression on her sister’s face. “Mark my words, your day is coming. The two of you are going to incinerate the entire island when you finally get together.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  What Maddie was about to say was lost when Linda McCarthy came breezing through the sliding door. “Good morning, ladies. I brought chocolate-covered strawberries!”

  “Do I have the best mother-in-law ever?” Maddie asked her sister. Once Linda had found out chocolate-covered strawberries were one of Maddie’s favorite treats, she’d made them often for her daughter-in-law.

  Knowing Linda had been anything but friendly to Maddie when she first started dating Mac, Tiffany rolled her eyes at Maddie when Linda looked away. “The best ever for sure.”

  “Did you hear that Sydney had the loveliest visit with Jenny out at the lighthouse?” Linda asked Maddie. “She’s coming to the party at Luke and Syd’s tonight.”

  “I did hear. Syd said Jenny is terrific.” Maddie offered one of the strawberries to her sister. To Tiffany, she said, “Jenny lost her fiancé in the World Trade Center.”

  “Oh God. How awful.”

  “I’m so glad we reached out to her,” Linda said. “I can’t wait to get to know her better. Now, as for the fundraiser, I was thinking we can open the marina restaurant for the occasion.”

  “That’s what I had in mind,” Maddie said.

  “Maybe we could even make it an annual tradition,” Linda said.

  Maddie hugged her mother-in-law. “Even better.”

  “I only wish I’d thought of it sooner. Of course the folks who support the summer economy struggle in the off-season after the tourists leave. Why didn’t we ever do this before?”

  “All that matters is we’re doing it now, and that we do whatever we can to take care of them in the future.”

  “You and I need to talk at some point about getting you back to work, young lady,” Linda said.

  Maddie had t
hought long and hard about her position as head of housekeeping at McCarthy’s Gansett Island Inn and had dreaded this conversation with her mother-in-law—and boss. “About that…”

  Linda raised a brow in inquiry.

  “Mac and I have talked about it, and I’ve decided to stay home with the kids while they’re little. Maybe when they’re older, I could come back to the family business?”

  “As much as I hate to lose you, I completely understand. Of course you want to be with my precious grandbabies while they’re small. I can hardly blame you for that. And there’ll always be a place for you in the family business. Heck, you and Mac and Luke will be running the whole show before too much longer.”

  “I’d like you to consider Daisy to replace me.”

  Linda seemed startled by the suggestion.

  “Before you discount her, she’s very smart and capable.”

  “She hides that rather well behind her skittish, deer-in-the-headlights personality.”

  “She hasn’t had an easy life. Trust me when I tell you she could more than handle the job. I’d make sure of it.”

  “I’ll certainly consider it.”

  “Thank you. Now, how about some coffee?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  Chapter 16

  Other than a quick phone call to assure her father that she was fine after the ugly confrontation with Justin, Laura stayed quiet on the much smoother ride back to Gansett. Though it was dark and rainy and cold, the wind had died down, making for smaller seas. Her thoughts were jumbled and confused as she continued to think through what had transpired on the mainland.

  To his credit, Owen didn’t push her to talk when it was obvious she didn’t wish to.

  The baby was particularly active today, as if he or she was aware of its mother’s agitated state. It wasn’t good for the baby for her to be upset. She knew that, of course, so she tried to focus her thoughts on the upcoming tasks at the hotel. Mac and his team would begin rebuilding the deck in the coming week, and she had a meeting with Syd on Monday to go over some decorating ideas for the third-floor suites. Also on Monday was the appointment and ultrasound with Victoria, the midwife, at which she’d have the option to learn her baby’s sex. She hadn’t yet decided if she wanted to know or not.