Season for Love

by Marie Force

  “It’s been on that corner for a hundred years,” Linda said. “My husband told me this is the first time it’s been fully renovated since it was built.”

  “I believe it,” Syd said. “It’s fallen into disrepair, especially since Owen’s grandparents retired and moved to Florida.”

  “When I was a kid, I used to dream about owning the Surf,” Maddie said. “I’d imagine grand tea parties and ladies in fancy dresses on the big porch.”

  “I think Laura said something about offering tea parties,” Stephanie said.

  “We should have one there,” Maddie said, “all of us, when the Surf reopens.”

  “That’d be fun,” Syd said. “What do you think, Jenny?”

  “Sounds good to me. I’m a tea-party regular. I have nieces.”

  Syd suddenly remembered the tea parties in her own past. Her daughter Malena had been a big fan of the tea party.

  Maddie sent her an empathetic smile, seeming to know exactly what Syd was thinking.

  “So you’re not the only one who got engaged this week, Syd,” Grace said, nudging Stephanie.

  Linda let out a most unladylike shriek. “Grant McCarthy! I’m going to kill you!”

  That set the other women into a gale of laughter as they cajoled Stephanie into showing off her new ring.

  Jenny and Kara exchanged wide-eyed glances at the goings-on.

  “What’d I do?” Grant asked as he came into the living room to face his mother.

  “You got engaged and didn’t tell me?”

  “You didn’t tell your mother?” Stephanie asked, incredulous.

  “I, uh, well, I was going to.”

  “Idiot,” Stephanie muttered as she accepted a hug from her future mother-in-law. “He’s an idiot.”

  “I have no doubt you can fix the mess I made of him,” Linda said.

  “I’m afraid it’ll take the rest of my life.”

  “I’m right here,” Grant said. “And I can hear you.”

  “Good,” Stephanie said. “Now go tell your father before he hears it through the grapevine, too.”

  “Dad, Mom and Stephanie are being mean to me,” Grant said as he went back into the kitchen where much celebrating and backslapping ensued after Grant shared his news.

  “That’s not all the news,” Mac said. “Luke, do you have a speakerphone handy?”

  “Sure, let me get it.”

  Everyone was focused on the kitchen as Mac punched in a long-distance number and set the phone on speaker.

  “Hey, brat,” he said, signaling to the others to stay quiet.

  “You’ve got the wrong number,” Janey said.

  “What’re you all grumpy about?”

  “I’m not feeling very good. And why are you calling me from Luke’s house?”

  “Because a few of us got together tonight, and we were sharing some good news. Did you hear Grant and Stephanie got engaged?”

  “No way!”

  “And Luke and Syd.”

  “Wow! That’s fabulous news. Congrats, you guys. Joe says congrats, too.”

  “Thanks, Janey,” Luke said.

  “We hear you have some news of your own to report.”

  “Mom has a big mouth.”

  “I can hear you, Jane Elizabeth McCarthy Cantrell,” Linda said.

  The gathering tittered with laughter.

  “Hi, Mom,” Janey said meekly.

  “So what’s your news?” Mac asked.

  “You already know.”

  “But everyone else doesn’t.”

  “It appears that somehow I’m pregnant.”

  The news was met with whoops and hollering.

  “Yay, Janey!” Maddie said. “I’m so glad Thomas and Hailey will have another cousin close in age. But I thought you were going to wait until you finished school.”

  “So did I. That’s a whole other story.”

  “She can’t keep her hands off me,” Joe said.

  That got everyone laughing again.

  “Congratulations, you guys,” Evan said. “I’m going to be an uncle! Again!”

  Grace went to him and gave him a celebratory hug.

  “Who’s going to be an uncle?” Owen asked as he came in holding Laura’s hand and yet another six-pack of beer.

  “I am,” Mac, Grant and Evan said together.

  “I’m pretty sure it’s not Adam, so that leaves Janey?”

  “You got it,” Janey said. “Knocked up while still in vet school.”

  “Oh, Janey,” Laura said, leaning toward the phone. “That’s so exciting!”

  “See?” Joe said. “That’s what I said, too.”

  “Of course it’s great for you,” Janey said to her husband. “You’re not the one slogging through vet school while knocked up.”

  “Why don’t we let you two have this argument in private?” Mac said, grinning at the others. “Congratulations, brat. And Joe.”

  “And stop using the words ‘knocked up,’” Big Mac said to his daughter. “I can’t bear it.”

  Amid much laughter, shouts of love and congratulations, Mac ended the call with his sister.

  “I’d say all this good news calls for some champagne,” Big Mac said. When everyone had a glass, he raised his. “To love.”

  “Hear, hear.”

  Sydney snuggled into Luke’s embrace as Grant hooked an arm around Stephanie and hugged her tight against him.

  “To love,” Luke whispered in Sydney’s ear.

  Sydney smiled up at him, at peace with her past, content in her new life and excited about the future.

  “He’s looking at you,” Maddie whispered to Tiffany.

  “Huh?”

  “Blaine. He keeps stealing glances at you. Every chance he gets.” Maddie gave her sister a nudge. “Go talk to him.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Of course you can. Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “You don’t understand.”

  “What don’t I understand?”

  Tiffany turned away from her sister.

  Maddie poked her the way she used to when they were kids and she wanted to get a rise out of her younger sister. “Go. Talk. To. Him.”

  “Shut. Up.”

  “You shut up.”

  “No, you.”

  Maddie laughed at the familiar exchange, also a holdover from childhood. “What have you got to lose?”

  “Only my dignity. When I think about what happened with him…”

  “You want more of it?”

  “That’s not what I was going to say!”

  “So you don’t want more of it.”

  “I didn’t say that either.”

  “I hate that Jim did this to you,” Maddie said, shaking her head.

  That got Tiffany’s full attention. “Did what?”

  “The Tiffany I know and love wouldn’t think twice about going after something she wants. My Tiffany took notice of Jim Sturgil in high school and set out to make him hers. She started a dance studio when she was barely a kid and made a go of it. When she had a baby and needed a job while her husband was starting his practice, she started a day care business that was also a huge success. My Tiffany goes after what she wants. She doesn’t sit in the corner wishing things were different.”

  “I know what you’re doing.”

  “What am I doing?”

  “You’re trying to piss me off so I’ll march over there and do something stupid that I’ll regret tomorrow.”

  “You won’t regret it.”

  Tiffany shook her head, and Maddie was astounded when Tiffany’s eyes filled. “I’m sorry.” She put her arm around her sister and pulled her close. “It’s none of my business.”

  “You’re right. I’ve become a total wimp. I’m afraid of my own shadow.”

  Maddie couldn’t stand to see Tiffany so defeated and hated her ex-brother-in-law for what he’d done to his wife’s self-esteem. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “I really want to talk to him. I do. Not here, tho
ugh. Not with an audience.”

  “Why don’t you go out on the deck to ‘get some air’? I bet he’d follow you.”

  Tiffany shook her head. “Too obvious.”

  “I could go in there and tell him you’d like to talk to him.”

  “And that’s not obvious?”

  “I’m having flashbacks to high school here.”

  “I know. It’s ridiculous. Don’t worry about it. If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen on its own.”

  “If you say so.”

  Carolina should’ve brought her own car. She realized her strategic mistake the second she stepped into Luke and Sydney’s cozy home and came face-to-face with the one man she most wished to avoid at the moment, especially with Linda “Hawkeye” McCarthy at her side.

  “Miz Cantrell,” he’d said in that annoyingly sexy brogue as he bowed gallantly over their joined hands. “How lovely to see you. I didn’t know you were on island.”

  As a jolt of electricity traveled from his hand up her arm, she wanted to wipe that smug I’ve-seen-you-naked smile off his face.

  “Nice to see you, too, Seamus.” She pulled her hand free. “How’s business?”

  “Excellent. Even in the off-season, the people keep coming and coming and coming.”

  The reminder of how many times he’d made her come the night before paralyzed her. “Th-that’s good to hear.”

  His smile told her he knew his comment had struck a bull’s eye. “And how’s Joe?”

  “As you well know, since you speak to him several times a week, he’s just fine.”

  His amusement at her discomfort was apparent in the devilish glint in his eyes. Fortunately, Linda had been distracted as she greeted Evan, Grace, Grant and Stephanie and hadn’t noticed the tension between Carolina and Seamus.

  “Knock it off,” Carolina hissed at Seamus.

  “Knock what off? What’d I do?”

  “You know exactly what you’re doing.”

  “Let me drive you home.”

  “Not happening.”

  “You know you want to.”

  Before she could think of a suitably dismissive comment, Linda had come back to claim her. Carolina managed to steer clear of him after that, but she was acutely aware of his every move—and the fact that he hardly took his eyes off her. Every time she glanced into the kitchen, her gaze met his. Each time, she immediately looked away, but her nipples tightened, her sex ached and her face burned with mortification.

  She had to get herself under control before Linda tuned into what was going on. That was the last thing she needed. Linda was already curious enough about Carolina’s young lover. If it ever got back to Joe that she was sleeping with the man he’d hired to run the business in his absence… The thought of it made Carolina want to die on the spot.

  Good lord, what had she been thinking? Letting her mind wander back twenty-four hours, it was clear with hindsight that she hadn’t been thinking at all. She’d been under the influence of Irish charm. That was the only possible explanation for her actions.

  “Are you all right, honey?” Linda asked, squeezing Carolina’s arm.

  “I’m fine but in need of the restroom.” She had to get out of there before she burst into tears or did something equally embarrassing, such as grab Seamus O’Grady by the arm and drag him out of there so she could have her wicked way with him. Again. “Be right back.”

  She kept her head down as she wandered into the hallway to find the bathroom, which was occupied.

  “Feel free to use the one in our room, Carolina,” Syd said, pointing to the last room on the left.

  Desperate for a private moment to recover her composure, Carolina thanked Sydney. Her heart raced as she rushed through the dark bedroom to the adjoining bathroom and closed the door, leaning back against it to drag deep breaths into her straining lungs. This was utter madness! She couldn’t be in the same room with him without getting hot all over. She’d lived without sex for thirty years! How was it that one night with a randy Irishman had her panting like a bitch in heat?

  Mortified by her thoughts, she splashed cold water on her face and studied her reflection in the mirror. Nothing on the outside had changed, but her insides resembled the aftermath of a tornado. The more agitated she became, the madder she was with Seamus for doing this to her. She’d said one night. One damned night. What about that didn’t he understand?

  “You need to make him understand, before it’s all over the island that you’re sleeping with your son’s employee,” she whispered to her reflection. “Get it together!”

  After a few more deep breaths, she felt ready to rejoin the party. Hopefully, Mac and Linda would be up for an early night. She opened the door and gasped with shock when Seamus pushed her backward into the small bathroom and closed the door. The sound of the door locking echoed like a gunshot.

  “What’re you doing?”

  He grabbed her hips and yanked her into him. “This.” His lips came down on hers, hard and determined.

  Carolina intended to push him away, but her arms didn’t get the memo. They looped around him as she returned the kiss with a frantic urgency to match his.

  Cupping her ass, he pushed his erection against her and had her on the verge of explosive release in a matter of seconds.

  The fear of knowing they could be discovered at any second made the whole thing even hotter, if that was possible. If she’d been looking for proof that she’d taken leave of her senses, here it was, wrapped around her.

  When he tugged on the button to her jeans, Carolina realized he intended to have sex right there in Luke and Sydney’s bathroom. Turning her head to break the kiss, she said, “Stop.” With a hand to his chest, she pushed him back. “Stop.”

  “Let me take you home.” His voice was raspy as his lips burned a trail on her neck.

  “No.”

  “Please, Carolina. Tell them you don’t feel good, and I’ll offer to take you home.”

  “I can’t. Everyone will know why we’re leaving.”

  “No one will know anything other than your son’s employee is giving you a ride home.”

  “I told you this isn’t going to happen.”

  His fingers dug into her hips as he pushed his hard cock against her throbbing core.

  Remembering how he’d stretched her almost to the point of pain made her whimper with the need for more.

  “It’s already happening.”

  “Seamus, please. I can’t do this.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  Her head dropped onto his chest as her fingers gripped his belt loops.

  “If you mean it, love, you might want to let me go.”

  He paused for a heartbeat, giving her a chance to release him.

  Almost against her will, her fingers tightened their grip on his jeans.

  He chuckled as his lips moved over her neck.

  “Don’t get all full of yourself,” she snapped, annoyed by how easy she was with him. “This doesn’t change anything.”

  “It makes me so hot when you’re bossy. Like last night when you told me to fuck you harder. So hot.”

  Furious with herself as much as him, Carolina let him go, reached around him and opened the door to a rush of cooler air. “Leave me alone.”

  With her hands trembling and her heart beating so hard it felt like it might burst, Carolina took a minute in the hallway to pull herself together before she rejoined the party.

  Linda pounced immediately. “Are you all right? Your face is all red.”

  “I feel like I’m coming down with something. Would you mind terribly if we left early?”

  “I’ll give you a ride,” a voice behind them said in a lilting Irish brogue. “I was getting ready to leave myself. I’m on the eight o’clock boat in the morning.”

  Carolina closed her eyes, seeking forbearance. She couldn’t whack him—or murder him, for that matter—in a room full of people.

  “Are you sure you don’t mind, Seamus?” Linda asked. “I
don’t mind taking her.”

  “I’m going right by her place on the way to the Beachcomber,” Seamus said with a crafty grin.

  Her place was in the complete opposite direction from the Beachcomber, and he knew it. Since Linda had been looking forward to the gathering, Carolina hated to drag her away early. “Thank you,” she said to Seamus through gritted teeth. He was so going to pay for this, except that was exactly what he wanted.

  “If you’re sure,” Linda said, giving Carolina a speculative glance.

  “No trouble a’tall,” Seamus said. “Shall we, Miz Cantrell?”

  If looks could kill, he’d be so dead.

  His decadent mouth curled into the charming smile that’d gotten her into this mess in the first place.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow to check on you,” Linda said, giving Carolina a hug.

  “I’ll be fine. I’m sure it’s just a bug that’s going around.”

  “Of course it is. What else would it be?”

  Carolina left Linda’s question unanswered. As she and Seamus said good night and thank you to their hosts, Carolina plotted his imminent demise. She was going to slice him into tiny pieces and ship him back to his homeland in a shoebox. And then she was really going to hurt him.

  Chapter 19

  “Where the heck have you been all day?” Evan asked Owen.

  “I was…busy. Why?”

  “I’ve been trying to call you. I need to talk to you.”

  Owen took a drink of his beer and fixed his gaze on Laura, who was huddled across the room with Grace and Stephanie. He wondered if she was spilling their secrets to her girlfriends. In the past, women who kissed and told bothered him. In this case, however, he wanted the whole world to know that she was his and he was hers and they were officially together. For keeps.

  “Hello? Owen, are you listening to me?”

  “Sorry, what were you saying?”

  “What the heck is with you, man?”

  “Same thing that’s been with you since you got together with Grace.”

  Following Owen’s gaze to Laura, Evan scratched at the stubble on his jaw. “Is that right?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You and my cousin. Who’d a thunk it, huh?”

  “Not me, that’s for sure. But now it’s all I can think about.”

  “I know that feeling,” Evan said with a laugh. “I like you guys together.”