by Debbie Mason
The boat slowed, and she straightened in her seat. They were at least a nautical mile from Harmony Harbor, but she could see a hazy outline of the town’s harbor front in the distance and hear the buzz of a motorboat nearby. Marco steered toward a dock about a hundred yards from the heavily wooded island’s sandy shore. He powered down and then turned to look at her.
“I probably should have asked this before, but how do you feel about swimming from the dock to the shore? I don’t want to damage the motor by bringing her in too close. Sully would kill me if I put so much as a scratch on his baby.”
“I’m fine here. It’s just out in the ocean I have a problem.” She looked down at herself. “I guess I do have a problem. I don’t have a bathing suit.”
“Not a big deal. There’s no one around to see you. Just wear your bra and panties.”
“You’re not no one,” she said while trying to recall what bra and panties she’d put on this morning, and then she remembered. Daphne had not only helped pick out her clothes, she’d picked out her underwear. Theia hadn’t put on panties this morning. Underneath her uniform she wore a flesh-colored lacy bra and matching thong. Without thinking, she sighed and said, “I might as well be naked.”
“Sure. Works for me.” He stood up and tugged his Pie Guy T-shirt from his khaki board shorts.
“I don’t think we know each other well enough for that.”
He waggled his eyebrows. “We’re dating.”
“Fake dating,” she said, a second before she swallowed her tongue when he pulled his T-shirt over his head to reveal an eight-pack of glorious, tanned muscle less than a foot away from her lips. All she had to do was lean in…
“It’s beginning to feel like one and the same,” he murmured as he crouched in front of her. He raised his hands, and she thought he was going to undo her shirt. Instead he undid her life jacket. She barely managed to swallow a disappointed groan.
She had a feeling he knew how she felt when he took off her life jacket and said, “How about we forget about the fake dating and the Gallaghers and just enjoy the day together? No expectations. Whatever happens, happens.”
“Like what happens on the beach stays on the beach?” she said, tempted to throw all caution and hang-ups to the wind. She blamed it on the gentle rocking of the boat, the faint smell of suntan oil, the gorgeous man looking at her with heat in his eyes. She knew what she wanted; he seemed to know too.
“Yeah. Same goes for the water.” He remained crouched in front of her, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watched her undo the first button on her shirt and then the next.
“And on the dock?” she said, her voice low and breathy.
“Yeah. What about on the boat?” His gaze held hers as he smoothed his warm palms up her bared stomach.
“Definitely. Definitely on the…” She didn’t get boat past her lips, the word swallowed in a mind-numbing, toe-curling kiss.
* * *
Theia snuck into the manor at six in the morning, leaning back to wave at Marco, who waited in his truck to make sure she got in all right. He hadn’t known if the door would be locked. He’d reminded her to ask for a key before he gave her another one of his toe-curling kisses. Intimating there would be more days and nights like they’d just spent together.
She was onboard with that. She couldn’t remember ever enjoying spending time with someone as much as she enjoyed spending it with Marco. But now she was back to reality. It was like she’d had a mini-vacay from her life. She wished it could have lasted a bit longer.
Theia closed the door, a smile lingering on her lips.
“Thank goodness. We’ve been—”
She jumped, cutting off Jasper with a yelp. She placed a hand over her racing heart. “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”
“My apologies. I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you all right, Theia? We’ve been worried about you. Kitty feels terrible about how you heard the news. As do I.”
“I know, but really, it would have been a shock no matter how I was told,” she said, feeling a little protective of Marco’s grandmother.
“I hope you can forgive the part I played. I thought it was best in case you weren’t Daniel’s daughter as we suspected.”
“It’s okay, honestly. I’m sorry you were worried. Marco said you knew I was with him.”
“Yes, but we expected you back in a few hours, not the next morning.” He clasped his hands behind his back and looked down at his polished black shoes. “I suppose it’s your father’s place to speak to you about—”
“Jasper, I’m thirty-four. My mother gave me the birds and bees talk on my twelfth birthday.” The same day she became a woman. Five months before her mother died.
“Of course,” he said. His cheeks pinked. “But what I wanted to say…What Kitty and I wanted you to know is that the manor is as much your home as any of the children’s. In accordance with Madam’s will, your share of the estate is equal to that of your cousins and sisters.”
“Thank you, but it’s not necessary.” She wouldn’t take it. She couldn’t. Not when she’d been deceiving them this entire time.
“Please, promise me you won’t make any decisions right away. You are a Gallagher, Theia. As much a member of this family as anyone else.”
It seemed so important to him that she said, “I won’t. I promise.” She glanced around the lobby and spotted the coffeepot on the bar. “I’ll just grab a coffee and head up to my room.”
“I’ll send someone for your uniform. We can have it laundered and ready for your flight this afternoon.”
Crap. Now what was she supposed to do? It suddenly dawned on her how dire her situation really was. The last thing she should have been doing yesterday was hanging out with Marco. It made coming back to reality so much harder.
“Okay. Thanks. I’m going to head over to the hangar in a couple of hours. There’s a few things I want the mechanics to check out.”
“Nothing serious, I hope.”
It would be. There was no other way for this to play out. “If we have to make other arrangements for the party, I’ll let you know in plenty of time. I can drive to New York and get them if need be.”
“Let’s hope that won’t be necessary. Theia,” he called as she walked toward the bar. “Kitty and I were hoping you’d join us for dinner this evening. We’d like to discuss a small get-together to welcome you to the family.”
“Dinner with you and Kitty would be nice, but can we hold off on the get-together for a bit?” she said, her previously relaxed muscles knotting with tension. She still hadn’t decided if she would stay or go. There was nothing keeping her here now. She didn’t owe Caine anything. It was the only positive thing that had come out of this. She no longer had to work behind the scenes undermining the Gallaghers.
So maybe she owed it to herself to stay. She’d always wanted a big family, sisters, a father. Now she had them. She even had nephews. And a fake boyfriend she thought she’d fallen a little in love with last night. A little love was okay. She could handle a little love. It was the dancing-on-the-moon, wishing-upon-a-star kind of love that terrified her.
“My apologies. I can see you’re uncomfortable. I don’t blame you. Finding out you have thirty new family members can be a lot to take in.”
“Thirty?” she croaked.
“Yes, and I believe you’ll fit in beautifully. They’re going to love you.”
She was leery of the pronouncement. She’d heard it before. From her aunt. The only difference was that Jasper looked like he actually believed it. Her aunt never had.
“I’ll see you and Kitty tonight.” She started to walk away and then turned. “Jasper, do you think Kitty wants me to call her by her name or Granny?”
The corner of his mouth tipped up. “I’m sure she’d be honored if you referred to her as your grandmother. But may I suggest instead of Granny, you call her Grams. It’s what most of her grandchildren call her.”
“Okay. Good thing I asked.”
“F
eel free to come to me for anything. At any time. Your father…” He lifted a shoulder. “I suppose I don’t have to tell you. You seem to know Daniel as well as any of us do.”
She imagined she knew him better than they did. Daniel didn’t need to put on a show with her. He bared his soul, warts and all. Which meant it would be difficult for her to see him as a father figure. She had a feeling that’s what Jasper was tactfully trying to say, but it didn’t really bother her.
“Thanks, Jasper. I appreciate it. I’ll see you this evening around…?”
“Would six give you enough time to relax after your flight?”
“Yes. That’ll be great. See you then.” She grabbed a coffee before heading for her room. On her way up the stairs, she tried to figure out what she’d say when the plane everyone thought she owned vanished. The rate she gave the Gallaghers was ridiculously low because the job was part of her cover. But if she had to rent a small plane to fly the manor’s guests from here to New York, she’d either be operating so deep in the red it would turn maroon or charge a fee no one in their right mind would be willing to pay.
She walked into the tower room and nearly had a heart attack. There was a man lying on her bed.
She slammed the door. “What are you doing here?”
Caine jolted upright and then scrubbed his hands over his beard-stubbled face before moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “What do you think I’m doing here? And where the bloody hell have you been? I’ve been worried sick about you. I thought—”
“Cut the act. You don’t have to pretend with me anymore. I know, Caine. I know I’m a Gallagher, and don’t pretend you didn’t. You used me. Our friendship…None of it was real.” She cleared her throat of the emotion threatening to choke her. “But how did I fit in the plan? What was the endgame? How were you going to use me against the Gallaghers? Please, enlighten me. I think I deserve that much at least.”
He slowly came to his feet. “It wasn’t my idea. It was Emily’s.”
She held up a hand. “You can only use that excuse so often. You do have a mind of your own. You’re not a kid anymore.”
“You’re right. I do. Which is why I didn’t fire you every time my grandmother told me to.”
“Because I was a Gallagher. Because we were friends.”
“Best friends. And yes, her hatred of the Gallaghers runs deep.”
“How can you call yourself my friend when you kept this from me? I was in Ireland looking for my father. You could have ended my search with one word.”
“I barely knew you. But once I came to know you, to like and admire you, to know what it was like for you growing up with your uncle and cousins, I wasn’t about to tell you Daniel Gallagher was your father. You deserve better than him, T. Look how he’s treated his other daughters.”
“It was my choice to make, not yours.”
“I gave you that choice. Why do you think I sent you here last year? If just once you had said to me, ‘That Daniel’s a great guy, Caine. He’d make a wonderful father.’ If you said anything close to that, I would have told you.”
“I trusted you. You were my best friend in the world. You were my family. The one person I could count on. And now…” She turned her head to hide the tears filling her eyes.
“Don’t do this. I’m sorry. I made a mistake. A horrible mistake. T, please. Look at me.”
He reached for her, and she took a step back. He lowered his hands to his sides. “The thing I feared most was that I’d lose you to them. And now I have.”
“You have to go before someone finds you here.” He needed to leave before she broke down in front of him. She couldn’t stay strong for much longer.
“I don’t care. Out me to the Gallaghers. Out me to the world. The only person I care about is you. The plane’s yours. I was going to give it to you after you finished the job, along with the bonus.” He drew an envelope from inside his rumpled black jacket and pressed it on her. “Take it.”
When she didn’t move to take it, he tossed the envelope on the bed.
“They don’t deserve you. They don’t deserve an ounce of your love and loyalty.” He lifted his hand as though to touch her cheek.
She held up her hand. “Don’t.”
He bowed his head and then squared his shoulders, raising his red-rimmed eyes to hold her gaze. “They aren’t who you think they are. Be careful. Promise me that at least,” he said, just before walking into the master closet and disappearing from view. That was how he’d gotten in without anyone knowing. There were hidden rooms throughout the manor, most leading down into the tunnels and then out onto Main Street.
Theia sat on the end of the bed and picked up the envelope, emptying its contents onto her lap. There was a check for twenty thousand dollars and the ownership papers for the Cessna. No strings attached. He’d given it to her free and clear. She didn’t think he could break her heart again, but he had.
“What did they do to you, Caine? What did Emily do to make you this way?” She thought maybe it wasn’t so much what Emily had done to him but what she was holding over him.
Chapter Eighteen
The back door opened, and Marco turned expectantly from where he stood at his sister’s stove, frying chicken. He smiled at the woman who pushed mirrored shades on top of her head as she stepped into the kitchen. “Hey, pretty lady. I was getting worried you were going to stand me up.”
He’d been checking his watch every five minutes, which wasn’t like him. It was also kinda interesting considering his previous concerns about dating a Gallagher. But after spending the day and night together, the only thing he wanted to get out of was the fake part of their arrangement.
Admittedly, he’d felt a little differently the next morning when he’d dropped her off at the manor. Things weren’t quite so rosy in the cold light of day. His earlier concerns had been no match against the time they’d spent on the secluded beach, laughing, talking, swimming, and building castles in the sand. And later wrapped in each other’s arms. It wasn’t until they drove under the manor’s stone arch that his worries resurfaced.
He had a feeling Theia had a few doubts of her own. She hadn’t exactly brushed him off yesterday, but their conversation via text made it clear she was no longer basking in the afterglow.
“That makes it sound like a date. A date for two, not thirty.” She jerked her thumb at the back door as she walked toward him.
“There’s not thirty, cara. There’s fifteen, including us. And we are dating, remember?” At the pop and sizzle of the fat in the cast-iron frying pan, he lowered the temperature on the burner.
“They just sound like thirty people, then.” She leaned in and sniffed the chicken. “Smells good. What is it?”
“Pollo Romano. It tastes even better than it smells. But you didn’t answer my question.” His hands were clammy. He didn’t remember ever being this nervous waiting for a woman’s answer to a question. If he hadn’t known how he felt about Theia before, he did now. He was willing to take the risk. He’d talk to Liam. Figure out a way to deal if things went south. But first it seemed he had to convince Theia to take a chance on him.
“You didn’t ask me one.” She leaned against the counter, arms crossed. She was wearing an off-the-shoulder blue-and-white-checked top with white jeans “So you’re not just a pizza guy. You’re some kind of chef?”
“No. I’m just a guy who loves food and loves to cook.” He rested the tongs on the side of the frying pan and then reached for her. With his hands on her hips, he drew her slowly toward him, giving her a chance to object. When instead she moved closer, resting a hand on his chest, he lowered his head to where her neck and shoulder met and nuzzled her there. “Don’t try to change the subject unless you’re planning to dump me,” he murmured against her soft, sweet-smelling skin. “You smell even better than the pollo Romano.”
She laughed. “I don’t know if that’s the worst or the best compliment anyone has ever given me.” He gave her a gentle love bite, and her br
eath hitched. She angled her head to give him better access. “I don’t think you can dump someone you’re fake dating,” she said, her voice husky.
He smiled into her neck and then lifted his head. “I don’t want to fake date you anymore. I just want to date you.”
“Oh, I…” She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and then nodded. The breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding released. He had a feeling Sully had been right the other day. He had it bad. Though from her reaction, he didn’t think Theia did. That was a new experience for him. His sister would say it was about time. “We can do that,” Theia said.
“Are you sure? Because you don’t sound like you are. You don’t sound enthusiastic about it either.”
She looked up at him, a smile in her eyes. “I’m pretty sure.”
“Really? Maybe this will help clarify it for you, then.” He bent his head and kissed the tip of her nose and then her cheek, along her jaw and back to the tender place between her neck and shoulder.
“You forgot a spot,” she said.
“Just give me time. I’ll get there. I—”
“Hey, you can’t—” Liam walked into the kitchen carrying a pot. “Sorry about that,” he said, not looking sorry at all. “I was going to say you can’t hog the guest of honor.”
Theia tensed in Marco’s arms. He stepped back, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. She hadn’t wanted the Gallaghers to make a big deal about welcoming her into the family. She hadn’t been thrilled about tonight’s dinner but had reluctantly agreed when Marco had promised it would only be her immediate family and his. She was about to be less thrilled if the pot Liam had just put on the stove was a contribution from Marco’s cousin, as he suspected.
“So, let me guess. A few more family members dropped by unexpectedly?” he said.
Liam held up his hands. “Don’t blame me. It was your sister’s idea. You know Sophie. She likes a party. We haven’t had everyone over this summer, so she figured this would be as good a time as any.”
Theia leaned against the counter, her arms once again crossed. “How many?”