The hem of my shirt rides up, and the feathering touch of his fingertips against the bare skin of my waist launches me into a different plane of reality. But before I can process it, Josh lifts his lips from mine just long enough to whisper, “I love you, Marissa.”
My eyes fly open.
At the same time, Josh freezes, then hauls himself back as if scorched. Our mutual, and completely absurd, reaction is to scramble to opposite ends of the sofa. We stare at each other, his expression of shock mirroring mine. Twice, he starts to speak—to deny what he just said, take it back, laugh it off? I have no clue, but he seems to think better of it.
If he was just caught up in the moment or was trying to make a play, he wouldn’t have pulled away. For all his faults, Josh has never lied to me. But it appears he hadn’t planned on telling me that particular truth.
This seems like a bad time to admit that I’m in love with him, too. The last thing I want is for him to think I’m saying it because it’s what he wants to hear.
Showing him might make a bigger impact.
With a deep breath to steady myself, I swing my legs off the sofa and stand up. Then I circle around the couch and head for the bedroom door, sensing his gaze on me. I glance at him. “Are you coming?”
“I—” He does a double take. “What?”
Turning to walk backward, I slow my steps. “Truth or dare?”
In what feels like slow motion, he rises and comes around to my side of the sofa, staring at me with a level of unchecked desire I’ve never seen in anyone before. If he keeps it up, both of us might spontaneously combust.
“Truth or dare?” I whisper as he comes within a few steps of me.
Josh stops, his whole body tense with the effort of restraining himself. It’s like he’s hanging off the edge of a precipice, and one word from me is all it will take for him to fall. “Both.”
My mouth goes dry. “Are you coming?”
When he lets go, I’m ready to catch him with open arms.
Chapter 13
Proof of Intent
Josh is sequestered with his father and brother for most of the next couple days, which leaves me in Sadie and Camille’s hands. They waste no time showing me all the highlights of Christiansted and going out of their way to make me feel at home. After some strategic pleading, Josh convinces Nelson to let him pick up his nieces from school on our second afternoon in St. Croix. By accompanying him, I get to join in on their long-standing, after school, ice cream date tradition.
If I wasn’t already in love with him, watching him interact with his nieces, alternately teasing them and asking heartfelt questions about school, would send me head over heels.
Josh and I manage to escape his family on the third evening, and he takes me to his favorite restaurant for dinner. Afterward, we head to the stretch of beach adjacent to his parents’ property, saying very little, at least with words, while we stretch out on a blanket to watch the stars wink into sight over the ocean.
“I forgot to mention,” he says as we walk back to the house, hand in hand. “Dad and Nelson have finally come around over my startup company.”
“Josh, that’s awesome! When will you be able to get it going?”
Spotlights aimed off the back of the house illuminate our path and reveal the thousand-watt smile I’ve come to expect from Josh when something elevates his mood from happy to insanely ecstatic. “I have to wrap up my current project. But then I’ll have most of the last quarter to get organized. Hopefully everything can launch after the first of the year.”
“What happens with your responsibilities to Mattingly Enterprises? They’ll have to hire a new corporate raider,” I tease.
He retaliates by poking me in the ribs. “I’m not the only person in the company who scouts out and handles the mergers. I’ve just taken on the most visible role in the past couple years. We have plenty of employees who are established and more than capable of doing what I do. I’ll still have to show for photo ops here and there. But I’ll have a lot more time under my own control.”
I lace my fingers more tightly with his. “So you shouldn’t have to travel as much?”
“Not unless I want to. I plan to do most of my work from a settled home base.”
“There’s always the guest house.”
Josh laughs. “True. But I was thinking of finding someplace that’s actually mine.”
My stomach drops. Given his attachment to his nieces and nephew, I imagine he’ll want to settle down somewhere in Christiansted.
Our conversation fizzles out as we enter the house and start upstairs. Blaming my wistful sigh on suddenly hitting a wall of drained energy, I leave Josh at the door to his office, where he needs to log into his email before calling it a night. Then I spend a little time repacking both our bags before crawling into bed.
Even though my mind is spinning, I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.
Camille and Thomas send us on our way the next morning after breakfast. We stand on the front steps, waiting for Butler Stephen to finish loading our suitcases into the trunk of the rental car. Josh exchanges a few final words of business with his father, then gives his mother a long hug and a peck on the cheek.
“Thank you for everything,” I say to both of them when it’s my turn to say goodbye.
Thomas shakes my hand, then leans in for the European kiss-kiss. “It’s been a delight having you here.”
Blinking, a little off guard at Thomas’s unusual show of affection for a near-stranger, I turn to Camille. She smiles at me, then pulls me close. “I hope you’ll be able to come again soon, Marissa.”
Damn it if I’m not fighting back tears. “I hope so, too.”
Camille holds on a little longer, until Josh gently extricates me with a reminder that we have a flight to catch. She kisses my cheek before she lets go, and Josh tugs me toward the idling car. As we start away from the house, the Mattinglys raise their hands to wave.
“We’ll come back,” Josh says.
I glance at him, but he has his eyes on the road. The phrase don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep comes to mind. But Josh has never said anything he didn’t mean.
So I almost believe him.
After briefly introducing him to Mel, Ava, and Caitlin the Sunday after we got back from St. Croix, Mel and Boomer come up with the brilliant idea of having the whole gang over for a beer and homemade pizza party the following weekend. It’s our social circle’s version of a wine and cheese party. But I know Josh won’t feel uncomfortable about the informal gathering.
“Your friend’s boyfriend isn’t really named Boomer, is he?” Josh asks as we head over to Mel and Boomer’s apartment.
I grin as I glance at him in the passenger seat. “It’s actually Ben. But the nickname has apparently stuck around since he was in high school.”
“Am I supposed to call him Boomer off the bat, or is there some sort of initiation ritual I have to complete first?”
“I’m not even sure he answers to Ben anymore. Nobody calls him that, except maybe his mother.”
Pulling into the parking lot of the apartment complex, I notice Caitlin’s Jeep out front. Ava’s car is nowhere in sight, which means she probably bummed a ride from Caitlin. “Looks like everybody beat us here. Are you ready?”
Josh waits until I put the car in park and turn off the ignition before he unbuckles his seatbelt and retrieves the two chilled six-packs of local microbrews from the floorboards. Then he flashes a smile at me and gets out.
I half expect all three of my best friends to be waiting at the door for us, but Boomer answers. He takes one look at the beer Josh carries, uncrosses his arms, and ushers us in. “Girls are hen-pecking in the kitchen.”
“Does that mean you’ve been hiding out in the living room?” I ask.
Mel calls out to us. “He’s been dying for you all to get here so he and Josh can do some manly grunt-and-scratch bonding.”
I check Josh’s reaction, which fortunately is one of amusement.
Boomer, however, feigns irritation. “Hey, it’s not my fault I’ve had to be the fifth wheel for the past three years.”
“Don’t worry,” Josh says, handing the beer to me. He pulls two bottles out and gives one to Boomer. “I can grunt and scratch with the best of them.”
Shaking my head, I join the girls in the kitchen. All three of them pounce on me as soon as I finish putting the microbrews in the fridge, hauling me toward the far end of the kitchen. From there, we can see the guys in the living room through the archway, but our voices won’t carry if we’re careful.
“So you were pretty vague the other day,” Caitlin says. “Tell us about your trip!”
“What’s to tell? We spent a lot of time on the beach, ate some really good seafood, swam in the ocean, visited with his family—”
“Hold up,” Ava interrupts. “You met his family? On purpose?”
I shrug, plucking an olive off the tray Mel has just set on the counter. “That was the point of going to St. Croix. He had some business stuff to take care of.”
Caitlin bumps her hip into mine. “Too bad you couldn’t have done the St. Lucia leg of the trip after the meet-the-parents bit. I would much rather end with something romantic than something work-related.”
“There was a fair amount of romance in St. Croix, too,” I assure her as I pop the olive into my mouth.
Ava folds her arms. “Romance, shomance. Come on, give us the juicy details.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I reply, crossing the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge.
“What Ava is dying to know,” Mel elaborates, “is whether or not you two finally slept together.”
Spinning around, I meet their curious, teasing stares and fumble with the bottle opener. “Oh, come on.”
“Totally slept together,” Ava says to Mel and Caitlin.
I toss my bottle cap into a bucket on the counter, intended for just that purpose. “That’s really not anybody’s business but mine and Josh’s.”
Caitlin makes a soft sound of contemplation. “Is it getting serious between you two?”
Isn’t that the million-dollar question? “He’s only here for a limited time.”
“She makes it sound like he’s the special at a fast food joint,” Mel comments to Ava.
I set my beer down on the counter. “I knew from the start that anything that happened between me and Josh was going to be temporary.”
“But you still met his parents,” Mel points out, eliciting nods of agreement from the others. “If you know it’s temporary, he must, too. Why would he introduce you to his family if there’s a time limit on your relationship?”
The other million-dollar question, but at least I sort of know the answer to that one. “He had his reasons.”
“Yeah,” Ava says. “Like being in love with you.”
I spin away to grab a bottle koozie from a drawer beside the fridge, hoping the movement will hide my sudden blush. The weight of my friends’ stares is heavy against my back.
“Is he in love with you?” Mel finally asks.
Caitlin adds, “More importantly, are you in love with him?”
Unsure if I want to confirm or deny anything, I turn around. “He introduced me as his girlfriend. So you can draw any conclusions you want from that.”
In the stunned silence that follows my remark, we catch the male conversation happening in the next room. Curious, the four of us set down our drinks and gather in the archway dividing the kitchen and living room. The guys stand with their backs to us, both with their feet planted and arms crossed as they stare at the wall-mounted media display that houses Boomer and Mel’s movie and video game collection.
“I refuse to acknowledge that the prequels even come close to the originals,” Josh says. “No self-respecting fan would.”
Boomer shakes his head. “I’m not disagreeing with you. I’m just saying a lot gets explained when you watch all of them in order.”
“What are they talking about?” Caitlin hisses.
“Star Wars,” Mel whispers back. “I’ve had this argument before.”
Josh takes a sip of beer. “I suppose you subscribe to the fan theory about the use of Force jumps to show—”
“It makes sense,” Boomer interrupts.
“Or it could just be a case of sloppy editing.”
At this, Boomer steps toward the media display and grabs a case, which he holds up as if it’s evidence in a trial. “Look, I’ll prove it to you.”
The four of us stare as Boomer pops a disc into the Blu-Ray player, then waves Josh to sit down on the couch.
“I think your boyfriend is a geek,” Ava says to me.
“Geek or nerd?”
“The difference is subtle.”
Before the guys can get comfortable and Boomer can hit play, the timer on the oven beeps. Mel spins with a sigh of relief. “Pizza’s ready, guys! You’ll have to schedule a man date if you want to hold a movie marathon.”
With twin groans of disappointment, Josh and Boomer stand and join us in the kitchen. After loading our plates with pizza, olives, and chips, everyone grabs a seat at the kitchen table and digs in.
“Hey, Marissa, did you hear?” Caitlin says after a few bites. “That house in Montford sold, the one you’ve been lusting after for two years.”
I set down my slice of pizza. “When?”
“There was a big article in the real estate section of the paper yesterday, so I guess everything must have finalized earlier this week.” She munches a couple chips, then washes down the bite with a swig of beer. “Too bad, huh?”
Noticing the slight frown that’s planted itself on my face, Mel pats my arm. “Not to burst your fantasy, but you were never going to be able to pony up the down payment, even if you were able to sell your house above market value.”
“I know.” Still, buying that house would have been a dream come true, in more ways than one.
Boomer picks up the conversation. “Did the paper say who bought it?”
Caitlin shakes her head. “It was an anonymous buyer. But whoever it was paid the asking price.”
“It was listed for a couple million,” Ava says.
“And the article said the buyer paid cash in full.”
We all freeze at Caitlin’s words, staring.
“Who has that kind of cash just lying around?” Boomer finally asks.
“Maybe it’s a good investment for someone who flips houses,” Josh offers. “Or plans to start a business in the area.”
Ava shakes her head. “The only businesses you really find in Montford are bed and breakfasts.”
“A lot of home-based businesses do pretty well,” he replies. “You never know.”
In the speculative pause in conversation, suspicion prickles under my skin. I risk a sidelong glance at Josh, but he keeps his attention on his plate. A host of questions bubble to the tip of my tongue. But before I can speak, Josh turns to Boomer and asks him something mundane about a local sporting event he saw advertised. The moment passes as my friends are all caught up in the new topic of conversation.
No one seems to notice that I’ve suddenly fallen silent.
As I drive Josh back to his hotel at the end of the night, I can hardly focus on the road. Aware of how carefully he studies me from the passenger seat, I have to grit my teeth to keep from blurting out a stupid question or two.
“You seem upset,” Josh comments when we pull into the hotel’s drop-off circle.
I glance at him. “What makes you say that?”
“You’ve been really quiet since Caitlin mentioned that somebody bought your dream house.” He looks out the window for a few seconds. “Most of the time, that means someone’s upset.”
“I’m not upset. I’m . . . surprised. Maybe a little disappointed.”
Reaching over, he rubs my arm. “I’m sure it’ll all work out. Maybe the buyer will need an interior designer.”
A frown pulls at my forehead. “And how would I go about landing that job? The buyer is anonymous.”
“Guess you could always go knock on the front door.” Josh gives me a half-smirk that immediately ties my stomach in a knot. “What are you doing on Friday?”
The shift in topic fogs my brain. “I don’t think I have anything planned. Why?”
“I have a work thing. Fancy cocktail party at the Grove Park Inn, the kind that will require me to wear a suit.”
“Don’t you wear a suit to work most of the time?”
“Different kind of suit.” His smile shifts as he turns on the charisma he doesn’t normally flash at me anymore. “Want to come with me?”
“I—”
My voice cuts out. Meeting the Mattinglys took our relationship up a notch. Hanging with my friends gave us another dimension. Accompanying him to a classy work event, where he probably has to do some schmoozing? I’m not sure what category that falls under.
I decide to up the ante before committing to anything. “The girls will be holding their grand opening in four weeks. They’ve got a big kick-off event planned, so maybe—”
“I’ll be there.” Josh softens his smile and leans over the center console to kiss me. “So, Friday. Pick you up at seven?”
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