Harlequin Superromance November 2014 - Box Set 2 of 2: Christmas at the CoveNavy ChristmasUntil She Met Daniel

by Rachel Brimble

  Mary’s smile lit up features that were framed by a chic blond bob. Serena didn’t miss her deliberate change of topic and silently had to give her points for not letting her irritation at her daughters spill over into the rest of the conversation.

  “Yes, we did. It was lovely.”

  “Was there a good crowd? We were all here.” Jackie poured them each a cup of coffee from Mary’s Christmas-themed thermal carafe.

  “Thanks. Yes, there were about twenty people around the table, and it was wonderful to see how much everyone’s changed and moved on. They were happy to see Pepé.”

  Serena held the snowflake-patterned mug between both hands and took a deep sip.

  “Mmm, is this chocolate mint? Where did you get it?”

  Jackie laughed and looked at Mary, who had a definite blush on her cheeks.

  “It’s, um, kind of ‘vintage.’ I froze a few packages last year when the drive-through coffee place I liked went out of business. It’s still good, though, isn’t it?”

  Serena was a little shocked by that. The coffee drive-through had been owned by the psychopath who’d murdered Dottie. “Yes.” Serena thought for a moment. “By the way, the coffee stand’s open again.”

  It was Mary and Jackie’s turn to look shocked.

  “No, not that drive-through. Do you really think we’d... Oh, dear.” Mary shook her head. “It’s from a place near here, closer to Langley.”

  “Oh, that’s a relief.”

  “You really loved Dottie, didn’t you?” Jackie encouraged Serena to talk, but Serena didn’t want to discuss Dottie with Jonas’s family. It came too close to what mattered to her—and to his family. Dottie’s legacy.

  Her biological roots, which Jonas no doubt wished had never been disclosed. At least not until after he’d gotten the house.

  And then there was the matter of her working with Dottie the day of Dottie’s death....

  “Serena, I’m sorry. We’re sorry. We know you didn’t have anything to do with what happened to Dottie. It was such a blow to us at the time, so we probably came off as horribly rude at the funeral. But we never blamed you, not for a minute.”

  “Thank you. I know that—you’ve been so kind, and you’ve invited me and Pepé to so many things. I’m sorry I didn’t take you all up on it sooner.”

  “We’re glad you’re here today, Serena.” Mary walked over and gave her a hug. Serena hugged Mary back, and for the first time since Dottie had died, she felt like a door had reopened to her new family.

  * * *

  JONAS WATCHED SERENA working at the counter with his sisters-in-law and had the same feeling he’d had whenever the missile-warning siren went off in Kandahar.

  Panic.

  He was heading into deep water here, and he had no one to blame but himself.

  She looked so natural, as if she and Pepé had been part of his family forever.

  In a way, she had. Through Dottie.

  Grief clutched at his heart and he zoned out of his brother’s banter about the Seattle Seahawks football game on the oversize flat screen above the fireplace mantel. They’d all been here the past six months; they’d had a chance to get used to Dottie’s not being around. Hell, his stomach still sank any time he pulled up to the house and realized Dottie wasn’t inside baking him some of her trademark oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies.

  He couldn’t deny the anticipation of seeing Serena walk through the doorway, however.

  “Earth to Jonas.” John stared at him with a combination of annoyance, humor and understanding. “Women troubles on your mind, buddy?”

  Jonas shook his head. “I’d need a woman to have those kinds of troubles. Unlike the rest of you boys, I’ve got a life free of encumbrances.”

  “Yeah, it looks like it today, pal.” Jim elbowed Paul and cast a meaningful look toward the kitchen.

  They were right. He’d brought a woman, her boy and their dog.

  To his family’s get-together.

  “Hey, you all know the deal here.” He deliberately kept his voice low, not wanting it to carry over to the cookie elves. They were so busy laughing, rolling dough and cutting out cookies that he doubted they’d notice if he jumped up on the coffee table and shouted. It didn’t hurt to be careful, though.

  “We know what you think you’re doing, if that’s what you mean.” John kept his face straight, but the glint in his eyes told Jonas that John wasn’t being accusatory. Annoying, yes.

  “Don’t make this any more than it is. Dottie knew and loved all of us. And I know she’d be pleased that I brought Serena and Pepé here.”

  “Maybe not for the reasons you think.” Paul’s gaze remained on the game, since he was a die-hard football fan, but his quiet comment carried more weight than the others’ teasing.

  “What reason do you have in mind, counselor?” Jonas kept his tone light. No sense getting his brothers in a tizzy over what they seemed to think was his overinvolvement with Serena. Or maybe they thought he didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting the house.

  Or Serena.

  Where had that come from? He wasn’t trying to get Serena!

  Paul shouted at a fumble before he directed his attention to Jonas.

  Jonas was thirty-five and Paul was forty-three, but Jonas still felt like the little brother he’d been whenever Paul had caught him doing something wrong.

  Jonas was at once in awe and wary of his brother.

  “Dottie was a romantic at heart. Maybe she saw something in Serena she thought would be good for you.”

  “Doubtful.” His response was immediate. So was his physical reaction. He clenched his hands, itching to pound the quiet, knowing look off Paul’s face.

  “Ooooo, the lady doth protest too much.” Jim could be an annoying ass when he wanted to.

  “She’s hot, all right, but isn’t she practically related? I think any relationship between you two would be bad for your offspring.” John never missed a chance for a one-liner.

  Jonas fought to keep his jaw from clenching and smiled at his brothers. Judging how stiff his cheeks felt, he was probably sneering. He couldn’t control everything.

  “She’s not related to us at all. Dottie wasn’t related to us, except that Dad married her. Not that any of it matters—Serena’s a friend, and I’m trying to be her friend. I’m not going to get the house back with strong-arm tactics, so why shouldn’t I go after it in a nicer way for everyone?”

  He expected his brothers to sling more punch lines at him, to ridicule his actions. It was what they did; it was how they handled emotional hot-button issues they didn’t want to talk about openly. It was a childhood position they went back to even as grown men.

  Yet Paul, Jim and John remained quiet.

  “What, you don’t have an answer to the most sensible way to get what is rightfully mine?”

  Paul’s gaze was back on the game, but his lips twitched as if one of the players had turned into Peter from Family Guy. Jim had his stoic “don’t ask me” expression firmly in place. John stared at the floor, not meeting Jonas’s eyes.

  The prickle he felt at his nape whenever Serena was around prodded him.

  No.

  Yes.

  “I’m heading out to walk Ronald for a bit. Do you think it’s okay if Pepé hangs out in the house while I go?” Serena stood at the end of the couch, her face calm but her eyes throwing sparks that threatened to ignite Jonas’s humiliation.

  Why should he care if she overheard?

  Because you sounded like a complete idiot.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  SERENA MADE A hasty retreat with Ronald along the path she’d seen from the kitchen window of Paul’s house, leading out to the cliffs. She craved the solace of the woods that lay between the house and the rocky cliffs. Jonas’
s family didn’t need to see her come unglued.

  Since when had she started thinking of the Scotts as Jonas’s family and not Dottie’s?

  She knew all along that Jonas’s niceness stemmed from ulterior motives. He’d made it clear that he wanted “his” house back.

  It still hurt every time he confirmed his motives. And in front of his brothers!

  A bramble whipped her cheek and she swore at its sting.

  Her heart, too, felt as though it’d been flayed by thorns. Jonas wanted the house; he’d never considered it anything less than Dottie’s wish for him to have the place. Even Dottie’s amended will, signed six months before she died, wasn’t enough to convince him.

  But Jonas’s desire to get the house he’d dreamed about for the past two deployments wasn’t what angered her. It was her stupid, girlish response to him. She knew full well what he was about. Yet she’d let that little flame of hope stay lit.

  “Serena, wait!”

  Quick footsteps followed the shout, and when she whipped around she almost crashed into Jonas.

  She took a step back.

  “Pepé?”

  “He’s eating some real food after those cookies. The pizza and wings were delivered right after you ran out.”

  “I didn’t ‘run’ out.” Well, it wasn’t actually a run. “I needed to get moving after standing around eating all that sugar.”

  “Serena, I’m sorry. What you overheard in there wasn’t anything more than guy talk.”

  “Spare me, Jonas. You’ve made it clear from the start that you want Dottie’s house. No matter what.” Anger simmered and mixed with her awareness of him. The tang of Puget Sound hit her, along with the cedar scent of the forest—all ancient, primal, inciting her basest instincts.

  “Yes, I have. Before I got to know you and Pepé it was easier, believe me. I thought that buying the land around yours would convince you.”

  “It hasn’t and it won’t. Dottie wanted that land to go to me and Pepé. Pepé is what’s at stake here, Jonas. It’s his legacy as much as mine. You’ve got a lot to learn if you think getting between me and my son’s future is going to be a winning proposition for you.”

  As she stared at him, she saw frustration in his eyes and in the way he pursed his lips as if he was biting his tongue. His jaw was clenched and she shifted her gaze to his neck, his chest.

  But that wasn’t smart, because Jonas’s body was her idea of ideal masculinity, which only made her more frustrated with herself. Where was the woman who used to be able to manage her life, control where it was going?

  That woman died with Phil.

  Serena lifted her eyes to meet Jonas’s, bracing herself for his intensity. His gaze was intense, yes, but they also reflected her own frustration, and a good measure of...compassion.

  “Oh, no. We’re not doing this. Don’t feel sorry for me, Jonas.”

  She’d survived a lot in her life—young widowhood, single motherhood and Dottie’s murder. One man was not going to keep her from putting down new roots here.

  “Pity? You think that’s what I’m feeling?” His brows drew together and he looked away, drawing her eyes to his proud, strong profile against the late-afternoon sky. Her fingers tingled to reach up and smooth the short hair on his forehead, mussed by the wind. His hands were in his jacket pockets and his jeans fit him perfectly. The fading light bathed his face in a golden glow.

  He turned back to her—she didn’t remember seeing him like this before. His military bearing was nowhere in sight. This was Jonas straight-up, with his unique combination of integrity, strength and drive all aimed at her.

  “I’d never try to hurt you or Pepé, Serena.” Jonas’s voice vibrated with sincerity. “I want you to be able to trust me. I’ve never hidden my desire to get the house back. But I don’t want to do it in a way that causes you any stress.”

  “That leaves us at an impasse, Jonas. Pepé and I have made a home here—at the farmhouse.”

  She cursed the emotions roiling in her gut. Especially the one labeled “Jonas deserves the house.”

  “I never expected us to get along so well.” His statement pulled her back from her despair. She smiled—she couldn’t help it.

  “You call this ‘getting along’?”

  The compassion she’d seen in his eyes became something more potent, even dangerous.

  “No, this is what I call it.” She watched his lips form the words and that instant connection she’d felt before he kissed her the last time zipped through her, igniting her baffling need for him.

  He was going to kiss her and she was going to let him. It was broad daylight, without the dark of night they’d enjoyed on the Fords’ deck. This wasn’t a surprise meeting of their lips.

  They both knew what they were doing. They both wanted to do it.

  He hesitated before he leaned in, leaving a tiny gap between them. She dragged her gaze from his lips and looked back up at him. He watched her, waiting. He wasn’t going to make this easy for her. It had to be her choice, too.

  “Kiss me, Jonas.”

  He moved in, and her entire body reacted when his lips touched hers. The kiss was at once familiar and new and she thrilled to every nuance. When he teased her by sucking on her lower lip, she gave up trying to keep her hands at her sides and wrapped one around his neck, the other around his waist—still holding Ronald’s leash.

  She wanted to blame the way she felt on the fact that she hadn’t had sex in a long, long time. Or to assume it was because she’d been so focused on Pepé’s well-being over the past two years. She wished she could convince herself that this would feel as good with any man.

  Her heart knew better.

  Jonas moved his lips to her neck and she felt the soft bite of his teeth as he gently nipped at her and kissed her and made her dizzy with lust.

  Her reaction had everything to do with Jonas.

  She reached up and kissed his neck, as much as she could with his thermal shirt and pullover sweater in the way. The feel of his skin, its slightly salty taste and his distinctly male scent only served as a catalyst to her arousal.

  She groaned when he lifted his head from hers. His chest heaved as he allowed a few inches between them.

  “I’d say we get along well.”

  They laughed together and it was almost more intimate than their kiss had been.

  As they stood quietly together for a few more moments Serena used every tool she knew to keep her hands off Jonas, to keep from insisting he make love to her right here in the trees outside his brother’s house.

  Paul’s house. Her almost-boss’s home.

  “Crap, Jonas. Did we really just, um, almost lose it?”

  Jonas flashed her a grim smile. “Yes, we did.”

  “Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done.”

  “There’s nothing smart or stupid about physical attraction. It just is.” Jonas’s statement did what thinking about a cold shower couldn’t. He doused her desire with a single sentence.

  That was all it was for him. Physical attraction.

  “We need to cool it. We still have no idea how we’re going to work this out, Jonas. I don’t want to give up the house. You don’t want to believe I won’t change my mind. I’m not thrilled about the idea of you building a house so close to my land, even though you own that land now. And then your family— Pepé and I shouldn’t have accepted your invitation today. It’s just going to make it harder in the end.”

  Ronald barked and brought Serena back to the reason she’d come out here. She walked away from Jonas, half expecting him to return to the house, but he fell in step with her.

  “I’ve screwed this up, Serena, and I’m sorry. I’d really like a chance to be a friend to you and Pepé. No ulterior motives, no talk about the house.”

 
“That sounds nice, Jonas, but every time you and I are together and Pepé’s not with us, we end up getting into trouble.”

  “Whoa, you’re calling my kisses trouble?”

  “You know what I mean.” She refrained from nudging him with her hip. Despite everything, she felt an easy comfort with Jonas. Even when he infuriated her.

  “Pepé isn’t an adult. He won’t understand when you stop being our friend and he doesn’t see you anymore.”

  “Friendship doesn’t end like a romance, Serena. It can last a lifetime.”

  Jonas might as well have shot a lightning bolt through her. She wasn’t looking for a lifetime anything, not with anyone and especially not with the man who wanted her house.

  “I think we’re better off being acquaintances, don’t you?”

  “We’re past that. If you think about it, we’ve always had the Dottie connection.” His eyes were serious and full of determination. Serena had seen the same look in Dottie’s eyes. Jonas might not have been her biological son but for all practical purposes she’d made him hers.

  “You have me there.” She sighed. “I wish we knew why Dottie did this. Why didn’t she give me and Pepé something else, if she was so driven to give us anything?”

  “We might never find out. But Dottie had a reason—maybe to teach us to fight for what we want?”

  “For you that makes sense. You want your boyhood home back.”

  “And you want to keep your biological legacy.”

  She didn’t reply. They were nearing the house and Serena was ready to go home. Jonas’s hand on her arm made her stop.

  “I’m not your blood relative or Pepé’s, but I’m a link for Pepé, for him to know about his grandfather. For you to know about your father.”

  “I don’t need to know about my father. I found out what I had to from Dottie, for medical history purposes.” She wasn’t about to explain her sense of anger and loss when her mother had told her about the man who’d left before she was born.

  “Uncle Todd wasn’t the friendliest guy by far. But he did his best. Now that I know he had a child that he never claimed or supported, I understand his bitterness. It was with himself. I still don’t understand why Dottie didn’t urge him to go back and at least meet you and get to know you.”