by JoAnn Ross
He bent his head, kissing her with a rough tenderness that almost managed to make her forget the trauma of the past few hours. “Let’s get out of here and go home.”
“Home,” she agreed fervently.
* * *
Tess woke slowly, luxuriating in the feel of Nate’s arms around her. It felt so good to be home after those two unbearably long days in the hospital. She’d tried to tell them that it was only a little concussion, certainly nothing to worry about. She’d fully expected Mike to put up a fuss and want her to be hospitalized, but when Nate had instantly sided with her father and the doctors, insisting that she remain in the narrow, lonely bed until all the appropriate tests could be done, Tess had known she’d met her match.
During the time she’d been missing, her father and Nate had become not merely friends, but allies, as well.
She stretched lazily, looking down into Nate’s handsome face. As her gaze drifted down his body, she wondered if she would ever be able to look at this man without loving him. Wanting him.
In the spirit of compromise, they’d decided to spend Monday morning through Friday afternoon in Portland, then Friday night through the weekend, and holidays on Sunset Point. Tess understood that there would be times when Nate would require the inspiration provided by the rugged coastline for his work. During those times they’d simply have to work things out.
What was most important was their love. And as the captain had already demonstrated so clearly, where love flourished, anything was possible.
Deciding that making the man she loved breakfast in bed would be a romantic gesture—she was an intelligent woman, surely she could follow the instructions in one of Nate’s many cookbooks—Tess crept carefully out of bed and slipped into a short satin robe.
As she passed the study, the letters on the computer screen caught her attention. Which was strange, because Nate hadn’t written last night.
Neither of them had gotten a great deal of sleep. She certainly would have noticed if he’d slipped away from their bed to write.
As she read the message on the screen, Tess began to laugh. When the sound woke Nate, he followed it to the office.
“I was dreaming of Orchid Island,” he murmured as he came up behind her and pressed a kiss against the top of her head. “Making love on the beach with you.”
The light touch of his lips thrilled her all the way to her toes. She turned around to smile up at him. “I can’t wait.”
“Nice of Schiff to free up your calendar by plea-bargaining at the last minute.”
“Wasn’t it?” Tess murmured happily. Who would have suspected that she would be grateful to Melvin Schiff for anything?
“Come back to bed, and I’ll show you what I was dreaming of us doing.”
“But I was going to cook you breakfast.”
Alarm sprang into his eyes. “Why don’t I cook breakfast instead? Later.”
She punched him playfully. “Coward.”
“You bet your life. I leave all the bravery to my fiancée.”
Nate frowned as he ran his fingers lightly down the side of her face. The angry bruises were fading to a deep, mottled yellow, but he knew he’d never forget how Tess had looked when he’d carried her back to the sheriff’s department SUV.
It was probably just as well Tess’s kidnapper had killed Jensen. Because it was a toss-up who’d wanted to do the job worse—Mike or himself.
“How’s your head?” he asked suddenly.
“Dizzy.”
Nate’s eyes narrowed. “I’m taking you back to the hospital.”
Tess went up on her toes and pressed a quick, hard kiss against his frowning mouth. “I don’t need to go to the hospital, silly. I’m always dizzy when I’m standing this close to you.”
The deep lines on his forehead eased. “I wonder how many people owe their love story to a ghost,” he murmured, plucking at her lips.
His words brought back Tess’s reason for being in the room in the first place. “Look at this,” she said, turning to point at the computer screen.
It’s time to weigh anchor. May your winds always be fair,
and may you find your way to a safe harbor.
“Does that mean what I think it does?” she asked.
Nate nodded. “I think he’s gone.”
Tess sighed, surprised to be a bit saddened at losing her great-great-grandfather just when she’d begun to get used to the idea of him. “Do you suppose he’s with Isabella?”
“I can’t imagine him being anywhere else.”
“What a nice ending,” she said with a soft smile. “Although I adore your writing, darling, I have to admit that stories with happy endings are my second favorite kind.”
“So what’s your first favorite?”
Tess laughed as she twined her arms around his neck. “Ones with happy beginnings.”
To read about Donovan Quinn and Lani Breslin’s story in Sun Kissed, the first book in the Orchid Island series, please visit joannross.com.
Escape to paradise on Orchid Island, the sun-drenched jewel of the Pacific, where the air is scented with flowers, warm translucent waters kiss shimmering sugar sand beaches, and quaint towns harkening back to the island’s past are scattered about an unspoiled, lush green landscape.
From its soaring mountain peaks to its turquoise lagoons, Orchid Island wraps visitors in its warm embrace and offers endless opportunities for romance to bloom.
Other Books from JoAnn Ross
The Shelter Bay Series
The Homecoming
One Summer
On Lavender Lane
Moonshell Beach
Sea Glass Winter
Castaway Cove
Christmas in Shelter Bay (Cole and Kelli’s pre-novella in A Christmas on Main Street)
You Again
Beyond the Sea (title changed from A Sea Change prior to publication)
Sunset Point
The Castlelough Series
A Woman’s Heart
Fair Haven
Legends Lake
Briarwood Cottage
Beyond the Sea
Sunset Point
Shelter Bay spin-off Murphy Brothers Trilogy
River’s Bend
Hot Shot (Sawyer and Austin’s story), coming in early 2016
Orchid Island Series
Sun Kissed, November 2015
About The Author
When New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross was seven years old, she had no doubt whatsoever that she’d grow up to play center field for the New York Yankees. Writing would be her backup occupation, something she planned to do after retiring from baseball. Those were, in her mind, her only options. While waiting for the Yankees management to call, she wrote her first novella—a tragic romance about two star-crossed mallard ducks—for a second grade writing assignment.
The paper earned a gold star. And JoAnn kept writing.
She’s now written around one hundred novels (she quit keeping track long ago), has been published in twenty-six countries, and is a member of the Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll of best-selling authors. Two of her titles have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine and her books have also been published by the Doubleday, Rhapsody, Literary Guild, and Mystery Guild book clubs. Although the Yankees have yet to call her to New York to platoon center field, JoAnn figures making one out of two life goals isn’t bad.
Currently writing her Shelter Bay series (set on the Oregon Coast, where her high school sweetheart husband proposed), her River’s Bend series (set in Southern Oregon ranching country, where she grew up), her multi-award winning Irish Castlelough series, and her tropical Orchid Island series, JoAnn lives with her husband and two fuzzy rescued dogs, who pretty much rule the house, in the Pacific Northwest.
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