KISSING IN THE RAIN

by Annie Rains

  She swallowed painfully. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. I’m leaving Blushing Bay when we get back, Gabe. I have a life in Asheboro, and a job I need to get back to as soon as possible. Dating doesn’t make sense for my life right now.”

  Gabe understood the sting of rejection now. It was a stupid idea anyhow. Kimberly knew and liked Jillian, and dating women in his niece’s life was against one of his rules.

  So, yeah, bad idea. But it still left him feeling deflated.

  Jillian’s breathing had slowed as she lay on his chest, using him as a pillow. He didn’t mind. The rain had stopped, and the wind had calmed considerably. The storm was finally passing. Once the sun started creeping back up, they’d load inside the boat and head home. This was far from his first rescue mission, but it was definitely his favorite. And from now on, he decided, he would have a condom or two in his emergency just-in-case kit.

  Jillian stirred against him. He tightened his grip, wanting to keep her as warm as possible. He felt protective over her. That had started when they were kids. He’d steered more than one of his buddies away from Jillian too. He wished he could’ve protected her from her ex. What kind of jerk-off husband would’ve left her feeling lonely? Some people were blind to what was right in front of them. Jillian was beautiful. Smart. Funny.

  And still off-limits. To him, at least.

  * * *

  He awoke the next morning at the sound of birds tweeting excitedly. No doubt a lot of food sources had gotten stirred up in last night’s storm.

  Feelings had gotten stirred up too.

  He glanced down at Jillian as she lay against his chest and was suddenly aware of his morning wood. Not an uncommon occurrence, but it was poking straight up, and if he didn’t move, it’d be the first thing she saw when her eyes opened.

  “Well, good morning to you too,” she said, a teasing tone in her voice.

  Gabe closed his eyes for a millisecond. “Sorry.” He shifted out from underneath her. “I’m going to go relieve myself now that the rain has stopped.” He stepped out of the tent and headed down the island, feeling like Adam walking naked on a little piece of paradise.

  His Eve was inside the tent. Except she was also the forbidden fruit he’d probably be fantasizing about for the rest of his life now.

  After taking care of business, he returned to find the tent empty. He guessed Jillian had gone to use the bathroom somewhere too. Hopefully, their little slithering friend was long gone by now, because he wasn’t sure Jillian would survive another run-in with a snake.

  “Okay. So, what’s for breakfast?” she asked, walking toward him in a pink lace bra and matching panties.

  It was like a Victoria’s Secret model had come to life right off the page. It’d been dark last night, so he’d only felt her curves. Now his eyes were free to feast.

  “Um, I have some jerky and water. We can grab a real meal once we’re back on the mainland.” Pulling his gaze away, he headed to the tent to grab his cell phone and the supplies. They’d eat and then load the boat and ride back to Blushing Bay.

  “My cell phone is dead,” he said, returning to sit beside her on the sand a moment later.

  She looked up with concern. “Oh no.”

  “It’s fine. We’ll just let everyone know we’re okay in person.” He winked at her. “How’s your head?” he asked, narrowing his gaze on the small lump on her temple.

  “Fine. No headache at all.”

  “Good.” He started pulling out the emergency food items.

  Jillian turned her attention to the water lapping up on shore. “It’s gorgeous out here. A night on an island sounds like a vacation.” She grabbed the piece of beef jerky he offered.

  “But last night was far from.” He bit at the jerky’s end and chewed.

  “In hindsight, it wasn’t the worst.”

  “So you enjoy freezing your butt off in the pouring rain and being terrorized by snakes?”

  She laughed. “Yeah, I guess it was pretty awful.”

  “Good company, though.”

  She nodded, meeting his gaze. “Definitely. So, have you decided what you’re going to do when you get back? About Kimberly’s dad?”

  “No. What do you think I should do?”

  Jillian chewed thoughtfully. “I think you should put the decision in Lorelai’s hands. You’ve been her overprotective big brother since we were kids, and that’s great. But she’s an adult, and it’s her life. So, I think she should be the one to decide what to do.”

  Gabe blinked. He hadn’t even considered that option. But Jillian was right. Lorelai should be the one to make this decision, even if Todd had contacted him instead. Lorelai was an adult. She was levelheaded and smart. She’d do the right thing, whatever that was. “You sure you’re not a therapist yourself?”

  Jillian scoffed. “After all the time and money I’ve spent this past year in a shrink’s office, I should have a psych degree on my wall.”

  “What about you? What are you going to do?” he asked then.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You said you’re leaving town.”

  “Oh, right. Well, I have to get back to work.” A light dimmed in her green eyes when she said it. She wasn’t excited about the prospect. “I’m due back tomorrow morning, actually.”

  “I know you said no to dinner, but can I at least buy you lunch before you go?”

  She frowned. “It’s a long drive. I should probably shower and get started as soon as we get back.”

  “Ouch. Rejected twice,” he said playfully. “Is this revenge for our teen years?”

  She laughed out loud. “It does feel kind of good to knock you off your throne. A form of therapy in itself.”

  “I know something else that would feel good,” he said, lowering his voice and setting his food down. He removed the remainder of her jerky from her hand too. “Why shower later when we can go skinny-dipping right now?”

  Her smile dropped. “Are you serious?”

  “If being on this island is all the time I get to spend with you, then yeah. I’m dead serious.” He leaned forward and kissed her mouth softly. It was hot and tasted salty from breakfast. “You chicken?” he asked, nipping at her bottom lip.

  She swatted him, then stood and dropped those lace garments he’d been admiring since last night. Smooth, creamy skin made his mouth water. “Last one in…” she called behind her, splashing into the water as the sun beat down on them. No trace of last night’s storm in sight.

  Gabe shot up and went after her, his morning wood fully back and ready for action. He’d probably have a case of blue balls for a month, but it’d be totally worth it.

  Jillian whipped her arm over the water’s surface, sending water flying over his chest and shoulders as she ran.

  “Oh, you’re so going to get it!” he called, needing his hands on her body. They might be limited in what they could do out here, but he planned on pushing those limits as far as he could.

  When he finally reached her, he pulled her to him, cupping her bare bottom in one hand. His other hand found her breast and squeezed softly. Then he picked her up, pulling her groin to his as she wrapped her legs around his waist. He kissed her as she rocked against him. What he wouldn’t give to be inside her.

  But if she wasn’t staying in town, then it was for the best he couldn’t. There was no such thing as sex without strings. Feelings were always in play, and he didn’t want to hurt Jillian or cause a setback on her road to finding love again. Because she would. Some lucky bastard would win her heart one day. Part of him wished he could have a shot at doing that.

  “God, this reminds me of high school,” he groaned. “Doing everything but.”

  She moaned as he kissed along the curve of her neck. “I didn’t really make out in high school.”

  “What? That’s crazy.”

  “I didn’t even get my first kiss until I was seventeen. I was a book nerd, remember?”

  He chuckled. “I wish I would’ve
been the one to kiss you.” And it’d been all he could do not to kiss her that day when she’d tried on one of Lorelai’s skimpy bikinis and had come into his room and shut the door behind her. She had been bumbling and stuttering, but he’d gotten the message loud and clear. She’d liked him, and even then, he’d liked her too.

  “I need you in the tent,” he gritted out. “So my hands can be free to touch you. All of you.”

  “Yes,” she said, not rejecting him this time. Good, because being shot down by her right now just might kill him.

  Jillian’s heart lowered a notch with each bump of the boat along the water toward the mainland. The island didn’t have all the luxuries of home, but it did have the luxury of escaping reality for a short time. It was everything she’d been looking for when she’d come to Blushing Bay. An escape that no book or therapist or pill could ever offer.

  Her gaze rested on Gabe as he drove. He had on mirrored sunglasses and a ball cap, and a full five-o’clock shadow sexifying his face. Even with only one contact lens in, she could see that.

  The boat slowed as they headed toward the loading dock of the Sawyer Water Recreation and Sports Center.

  “Why so glum?” he asked as he wrapped a rope around one of the pilings. “You are T-minus ten minutes until you have fresh, dry clothes.”

  She shifted in her partially dry sundress from last night. “Mmm. That does sound nice.” What didn’t sound nice was saying goodbye to him. They’d bonded over the last twelve hours, and her teenage crush had become something deeper.

  He reached a hand to hers. “Maybe next time you come to visit—”

  She shook her head. “We need closure, Gabe. Keeping things open just confuses everything. What if you want to date someone? Or I do? It just gets messy. What happened on the island stays on the island. That’s how it has to be.” She offered a wobbly smile. It was the only reasonable option. Neither of them could move forward unless they said goodbye today. And she needed to move forward.

  “Okay.” He helped her step off the boat and onto the pier, then followed her up.

  “You guys made it,” Jonathan said, jogging toward them. “I still have a job, right?”

  Gabe chuckled. “For the moment. Thanks for holding down the fort while I was gone.”

  “Your sister has already called three times, dude. You should probably call her before she sends out a search party.”

  Gabe was amazed Lorelai hadn’t already. “I will. First I need to take this one home.” He wrapped an arm around Jillian.

  “That’s okay. I can drive myself.”

  “You can’t half see, Little Miss Tough Girl.”

  She rolled her eyes, secretly loving his nickname for her. “I have glasses in my car.” Wearing glasses always made her feel like that book nerd she’d been in school.

  “Well, I’ll at least walk you to your car.” He took her hand and led her to the parking area. “I probably shouldn’t even kiss you goodbye, right?” he asked as they stood beside her driver’s side door.

  She looked up at him and gave her head a slight shake, even as her heart sped up at the prospect. “Probably not.”

  “I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve rejected me in the last few hours, but I think we’re more than even now.”

  She playfully punched his stomach. “Fair is fair.”

  Catching her hand and holding it against him, he gave a gentle tug. “Heck, I’m going to take my chances and kiss you anyway,” he said. Then he pulled her in and brushed his mouth to hers in a sweet kiss that melted her knees to butter. “Goodbye, Jillian.”

  “Goodbye.” Breathless, rattled, and more than a little confused, she climbed into her car and closed the door. Then she drove away before she could change her mind.

  5

  Gabe watched Jillian pull away and disappear, and damn if that didn’t leave a gaping hole in his chest. Heading back to his Jeep, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

  “Hey, sis,” he said when his sister answered her phone.

  Lorelai squealed on the other end of the line. “You’re alive! Oh, thank God. Are you okay? Is Jillian okay?”

  Despite his bad mood, he smiled. “Yes, yes, and yes. Any more questions?”

  “I was so worried about you two. That was one horrible storm last night.”

  “I am in the Coast Guard Reserves,” he reminded her. “I know how to handle a little squall.” Even though last night’s storm had been surprisingly strong. “The sailboat Jillian was in didn’t make it, though. May it rest in peace.”

  “Bummer.”

  “It’s okay. The main thing is that she’s safe. How’s Kimberly?” he asked.

  “Missing her uncle.”

  “Ditto. I’ll give her a big kiss when I pick her up this afternoon.”

  “You’re probably exhausted. You don’t have to—” Lorelai started to argue.

  “I want to.” He checked his watch. It was still early in the morning, and he had several hours before the elementary school dismissed. “Listen, Lorelai, I need to go home and shower, but I was hoping I could meet you for lunch. Think you can get away?”

  “Probably not any farther than the hospital cafeteria for a coffee and bag of chips, but sure. Is something wrong?”

  “Not exactly.” He cranked his Jeep’s engine and pointed it toward his small one-story house on the water. “Just something I need to discuss with you.”

  “You’re scaring me again,” she said with a nervous laugh. “This is twice in twenty-four hours.”

  “How about I bring you takeout from The Landing to make up for it?” The Landing was a popular restaurant in town that his cousin Sam’s wife, Abby, ran.

  “Deal. Just text when you’re in the hospital parking lot, and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

  “Will do.” He hung up the phone and continued driving. Jillian was right. Telling his sister about Todd’s email inquiries was the right thing to do. Jillian was as smart as she was beautiful. Her decision to end things today was probably the right decision too. And he respected it.

  Even if he didn’t like it.

  After showering off at Lorelai’s place and then packing her things, Jillian left Lorelai a note thanking her for her stay this week. She would love to stay a lot longer, but she had a life to get back to. A job. A lonely townhome and several potted plants that needed to be watered.

  She frowned as she drove out of town. Ever since she’d left Gabe in the parking lot earlier, there’d been an overwhelming ache settling over her body. Maybe she’d caught a cold out in the wind and rain.

  Or maybe it was something more serious. Maybe she’d done more than fall out of a sailboat last night.

  Which was stupid and crazy. You didn’t fall for someone over the course of one night. Unless you already knew them. Unless you’d spent several years as a teen girl watching him. He might have rejected her once, but he’d been nice to her a million times. He’d helped her with her homework and had taken her side against a bully at the bus stop once. Her feelings for him had never gone away. Last night, she’d realized they’d only been in hibernation.

  She made it as far as the COME BACK SOON sign as she left Blushing Bay and then she made a U-turn in the road.

  She didn’t want to go back to Asheboro. Or her boring corporate job. She’d found herself again in Blushing Bay. She’d felt a whole lot of somethings, which had been her goal in coming here.

  Pulling along the roadside, she looked up a local real estate agent’s number and dialed.

  “Hi, I was hoping to take a look at the little coffee shop and bookstore, Mocha Books,” she told the agent. “Is it still for sale?” she asked hopefully. It’d only been a day since she’d gone in as a customer, and now she was considering buying so much more than coffee and a few books.

  “It is. I can meet you in an hour if you’re available,” the woman told her on the other end of the line.

  “Perfect.” After hanging up, Jillian dialed the Sawyer Water Recreation and Sp
orts Center and made an appointment for a private sailing lesson with Gabe tomorrow. Jonathan hadn’t asked for her name or number, and she hadn’t offered it because she wanted it to be a surprise.

  An hour later, she pulled into the parking lot of the bookstore and a feeling of peace washed over her. She really didn’t even need to tour the building to know she was going to make an offer on this place. She loved coffee and books, always had. And she was tired of doing something she hated for a living. She wanted to do something she had a passion for.

  “Hi, Ms. Maready.” A woman in a suit offered her hand as Jillian stepped inside the charming little store.

  “Please, call me Jillian.” Jillian waved at the older woman behind the counter.

  “Oh, it’s you,” the old woman beside the cash register said as they walked in. She pointed a finger at Jillian. “I told you it would storm the other day, didn’t I?”

  Jillian laughed. “I wish I would’ve listened. . . Or, actually, I’m very glad I didn’t.”

  The old lady looked utterly confused, but Jillian didn’t care.

  “I’ll take it,” she told the real estate agent after a brief tour. An added bonus was that there were living quarters set up in the back room that would suffice for Jillian to live in right now. She’d made and saved a lot of money over the last several years working in corporate business. She’d been saving it for a rainy day, which had come in spades two days ago. “It’s perfect.”

  “Are you sure?” the agent asked, narrowing her eyes with concern. “Usually people take time to think things over. Not that I’m trying to talk you out of your decision.”

  “I’m positive. This is absolutely what I want.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Jillian arrived early for her sailing lesson, knowing Gabe would be dropping Kimberly off at her elementary school. She put on a wide-brimmed hat and wore her glasses. Jonathan had been none the wiser that she was his lost-at-sea customer from the other day. She told him she’d wait outside and loaded herself in the sailboat to wait for Gabe.