by Marie Force
“Good to see you, Michael,” the Admiral said. “The flight was late, of course.”
“Bad weather,” Michael muttered.
“Can I get you something to eat?” Eleanor asked.
“No, thank you. I’m good.” He was so tired that the thought of eating made him sick.
“A drink then.” The Admiral walked over to the bar to fix Michael a scotch on the rocks even though he preferred a beer, and the Admiral knew it.
“Thank you, sir,” Michael said as he accepted the drink. He had known the Admiral for four years and had never once addressed him as anything other than Admiral or sir. Sometimes both.
“How’s the trial shaping up?” the Admiral asked.
“Everything’s going well.”
“You look tired,” Eleanor said.
“He’s beat,” Paige said, pouring a glass of white wine.
The Admiral continued like they hadn’t spoken, which in Michael’s experience was nothing new. “Got yourself an ace in the hole with that little girl. Bet you’re keeping a close eye on her.”
“Yes, she’s in protective custody.”
“They’d sure love to get their hands on her. No, you can’t afford to lose her.”
“We’re not going to.” Michael gritted his teeth against the urge to scream. Does he honestly think I need to hear that right now?
“Daddy, don’t bother him about the trial. He needs a break.”
“You brought your tuxedo?” Eleanor asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, Joseph, let’s give these young people some time alone.” She ushered her startled husband from the room. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
“Goodnight,” Paige and Michael said together.
“Well, that was totally unexpected.” Michael had anticipated no less than an hour of small talk with the Simpsons, with at least half of it devoted to a grilling about the trial.
“She could tell you didn’t want to talk about the trial, and he wasn’t going to let it go.”
“Have I mentioned I love your mother?”
Paige laughed. “She has her moments.” Glancing over at him, her cheeks flooded with color. “Can I kiss you now?” she asked in a small voice that tugged at his heart.
“I wish you would.” He put his untouched drink on the glass coffee table and reached for her.
The kiss was as hot and lush as the Florida night. For four years she had bewitched him with her unique blend of innocence and sensuality. She gave him all she had in every kiss, and after the long weeks apart she was even more open and giving than usual.
“Let’s go upstairs,” she whispered, flicking her tongue over his ear.
He hated having sex in her parents’ house, but they’d done it before and would no doubt do it again. Taking her hand, he followed her up the stairs to the guest suite over the garage, comforted by the fact that her parents’ room was almost a football field away from them.
She locked the door and pulled her top over her head. Her breasts were surprisingly full on her slight frame, and her nipples puckered in the air-conditioned room.
As he watched her strip down to a thong, Michael shed his suit coat and pulled off his tie. A tussle in the sheets with her would take him from exhausted straight to downright depleted.
Unbuttoning his shirt, she buried her fingers in his chest hair and swirled her tongue over his nipple.
Unable to resist her, he ran his hands down her back and cupped her bare bottom.
Lifting her against his erection, he drew a moan from her. “I love you so much, Michael.”
He had the wherewithal to grab a condom from his bag before he carried her to the big bed with the lace canopy.
Urging him down beneath her, she said, “Let me.” She rained kisses over his face and chest. “You’re so tired. Let me love you.”
He sucked in a sharp deep breath when her white-blond hair brushed his belly.
She unbuckled his belt and slid his pants and boxers down to the floor and then kissed her way back to where he wanted her most.
He groaned when she stroked him first with her hand and then with her mouth. Gasping, he reached for her.
“Not so fast.” She took him deep into her mouth, all the while stroking him with her hand.
He groaned. “Paige, please…”
“Mmm, I’ve missed you so much,” she sighed.
“You’re going to finish me off before we get to the good stuff.”
In a low sexy voice, she said, “Are you saying this isn’t good stuff?”
“No,” he panted. “Definitely not saying that.”
Laughing, she took him to the edge of insanity before she rolled on the condom and straddled him. Enveloping him in her heat, she arched her back to ride him with abandon.
When he felt her clutching him from within, he gripped her hips to meet her at the top, pulling her down to muffle her shriek with a kiss.
She fell on top of him like a rag doll, and Michael wrapped his arms around her, steeped in the scent of roses that would always remind him of her.
“That scream of yours is going to get us busted one of these days.”
She snickered. “You can make me scream legally before too much longer.”
“Eight months,” he said with a sigh.
She kissed his jaw, his chin, and lingered at his lips.
“Paige?”
“Hmm?” she said as she ran her tongue along his lower lip.
“Marry me now. Let’s not wait eight months.”
Startled, she stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
“Let’s just get married. We can go to Vegas or to a J.P. I don’t care. I just want us to be married. Now.” The urgency in his voice surprised even him, but if the strong reaction he’d had to Juliana was any indication, he needed to do something about this state of limbo he and Paige had been living in for far too long.
“Michael, it’s all set. The wedding’s all planned. You can’t just throw this at me now.”
“Then come home with me. I need you with me.”
“But I need to be with my mother before the wedding, and all my friends are here.”
Michael eased her off him so he could sit up. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What are you more excited about? The wedding or our marriage?”
“What the hell does that mean?” she asked, turning away from him.
“Look at me.” He took hold of her arm. “Marry me. Right now. No bells, no whistles. Just you and me.”
Her eyes flooded with tears. “You’re not being fair. I’ve dreamed about this day my whole life. You’d really deny me this?”
“Then come back to Maryland with me until the wedding. I can’t do this long-distance thing any more, Paige. I just can’t.”
Her expression softened as she brushed the hair back from his face. “You’re so tired. Why don’t you get some sleep? You’ll feel better in the morning.” She discreetly rid him of the condom and went into the bathroom to flush it. When she came back, she pulled the covers up around him and reached for her clothes. Once she was dressed, she leaned over to leave him with a lingering kiss. “I love you, Michael. I can’t wait to marry you.”
After she left the room, he realized she hadn’t answered his question.
Chapter 4
Jeremy froze and the water beat down on him. Blinking furiously as the shampoo slid into his eyes, he ducked back under the shower.
Juliana needed only that one frozen moment to confirm that she had stumbled upon what—or rather who—had been distracting him lately. A wave of nausea choked her as she walked out of the bathroom to find some clothes.
Knotting a towel around his waist, he came out a moment later still dripping. “It’s not what you think.”
She pushed past him, slammed the bathroom door, and locked it. After she scrubbed all traces of him from her body in the shower, she got dressed, her hands shaking as she fought the urge
to scream.
Dressed and waiting for her when she came out, Jeremy crossed the room to her. “Let me explain.”
She couldn’t even look at him.
“It’s nothing. She’s just a friend.”
“You’re lying,” she said in a small voice. “I saw it on your face.”
He took hold of her hand. “Let’s take a walk.”
She pulled her hand free of his grip. “Don’t touch me.”
“Juliana, please. Take a walk with me. Let me explain.”
Since she didn’t know what else to do, she slid on flip-flops to follow him outside. Accompanied by the roar of the pounding surf, they walked down a long boardwalk to the beach. Juliana continued to fight the need to shriek. This could not be happening. Not Jeremy. Not my Jeremy. He wouldn’t do this. Would he?
He walked along the water’s edge with his head down. Finally, he looked over at her. “You know I love you, babe. I love you more than anything. I always have.”
Juliana didn’t trust herself not to scream, so she said nothing.
“I’ve missed you so much since I’ve been here. It’s like my whole world is out of sync because I don’t have you with me. I had no idea how essential you are to me until you weren’t there every day.”
“So you decided to replace me?”
“Oh God, replace you? There’s no replacing you. You’re everything.” He paused, looking pained. “But that’s kind of the problem.”
She stopped walking. “What are you talking about?”
“I want us to get married when I get home.”
“What? After all these years you can’t just blurt that out when there’s clearly something else going on.”
He took her hands and gazed into her eyes. “I love you. You’re my family, Jule. I want to marry you and have babies with you. I want the forever we were always meant to have.”
Her breath caught on a sob. How long have I waited to hear that? “So what’s the catch? If you want all that with me, who’s this Sherrie person?”
He sighed. “She’s just this girl who hangs out with us. She’s nothing.”
“Then why is she calling you when you’re with me?”
His handsome face clouded with annoyance. “That’s a very good question.”
Juliana pulled her hands free and walked away.
He caught up to her. “Jule? I meant it. I’m not prepared to ask you properly this weekend, but I want to. Soon.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“If your ‘nothing’ friend Sherrie hadn’t called this morning, would we be having this discussion about marriage and babies and forever right now?”
He looked stricken.
“I don’t buy it, Jer. Where’s this been? You’ve had the chance to say all this for years, but you never did. My friends have been telling me forever that I needed to give you an ultimatum, but I never saw the need. Now I’m wondering if I’ve been a total fool.”
“In ten years there’s been no one but you. You know I haven’t so much as looked at another woman.”
“Until now?”
“That’s all I’ve done, Jule, is look.”
For some reason she believed him, but suddenly she felt cold all over. “You want to do more than look, don’t you?” she asked, her voice so soft it was almost lost in the roar of the ocean.
A tortured look crossed his face. “God, how can I say this?”
“Just say it! I can’t stand this!”
“I’ve never been with anyone else. Since I was seventeen, there’s only ever been you. I remember so vividly the day I met you. I took one look at you, and I was a goner. We should be married by now, Jule. I know that. It’s just sometimes I wonder what it would be like to, you know—”
Her heart shattered into pieces. “To be with someone else.”
His eyes glistened with tears. “I love you. In my whole life I’ll never love anyone but you.”
“But I’m not enough for you,” she said, choking on a sob. Had anything ever hurt this much?
“That’s not true! How can you say that after the way we just made love? It’s not about you being enough for me.”
She wiped the tears from her face. “Then what?”
“I’m afraid if I don’t get some shit out of my system now I won’t be faithful when we’re married.”
If he had punched her in the stomach he couldn’t have hurt her more. Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the sand as sobs overtook her. He couldn’t be saying these things. This was not happening.
He knelt down next to her and took her in his arms.
She didn’t have the strength to push him away.
“Jule.” He kissed her forehead and then her cheek. “Please. Don’t do this. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”
“What did you think would happen? That I’d just say, ‘Have at it, Jer? Sow your wild oats, and give me a call when you’re done?’”
“Don’t you ever wonder how it would be with someone else?”
“No!” She pushed him away. “No! No! No!”
He seemed taken aback by her vehemence.
“You’ve always been enough for me. It would never occur to me to wonder about other men.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
He buried his face in his hands. “Fuck.” His hands muffled his voice.
“You said it.”
“Look, let’s just forget all this, please? I’m a stupid ass. That girl means nothing to me. I swear to God.”
“I can’t just forget this, Jeremy!” She knew she sounded hysterical but didn’t care. “How can I live with knowing you want to be with someone else?”
“Because I’m telling you I won’t do anything about it.”
“So I’m supposed to go home and wonder what you’re up to down here? I don’t think so.”
“I thought you trusted me!”
“I didn’t know I couldn’t!”
“This is so fucked up! I’ve been faithful to you forever! I admit to having thoughts—and that’s all they were—thoughts—about someone else, and you act like I’ve been fucking my way through Florida or something!”
She whimpered.
He sighed and put his arms around her. “I’m sorry, babe. I’m so sorry. This whole situation sucks. None of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t taken this goddamned job down here. If I’d known it would cause all this trouble for us I wouldn’t have done it. The extra money’s not worth it.”
She rested against him because she didn’t know what else to do. He had been her world, her life, for so long that the idea of living without him was unimaginable. But how could she live with what he had said? Would she always wonder if he was thinking of someone else? Would he come to resent her because they met too soon? Did he already resent her for that?
“Hey,” he said after a long period of silence. “Why don’t we get something to eat? You’ll feel better when you eat.”
She got up to go with him, but she knew nothing would make her feel better.
Chapter 5
The ivory-frost Lenox gravy boat finally did it for Michael. After two hours of listening to Paige and her mother go on and on about eight-hundred-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and Tommy Hilfiger towels, the delicate china gravy boat didn’t stand a chance with him.
“Excuse me,” he said. Before Paige or her mother could utter a word, he got up and walked away. He rode the nearest escalator down to the first floor of Dillard’s. Wandering into the mall, he let his thoughts drift to the opening argument that had been running around in his mind during the endless morning.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we have before us what’s commonly known as an open and shut case. An eyewitness will testify that she saw the defendants shoot the three victims. We’ll introduce ballistics evidence that ties the gun registered to Marco Benedetti to slugs recovered from the victims. We can prove that both defendants fired a gun that fateful evening. You’ll
hear testimony from friends of the victims who heard them arguing with the defendants earlier in the day. So you’re probably asking yourselves: if this case is such a slam-dunk, what’re we doing here? (Insert dramatic pause.) We’re here because the Constitution of the United States gives everyone—even two cold-blooded killers—a day in court. Your job is to make sure they spend the rest of their days in prison.
I’ve got to write that down! Spotting a pharmacy across the mall’s main thoroughfare, he walked over to buy a notebook and pen. He had almost managed to get the whole thing on paper when Paige stormed up to where he sat on a bench next to a fountain.
“Michael! What are you doing?”
“Hang on a second.”
“I will not hang on a second! Why did you leave like that? What’s wrong with you? Don’t you care about the things we’ll have in our home?”
“Um, no, not really,” he said without looking up.
With a furious sweep of her hand she knocked the pad off his lap.
Leaning over to retrieve it from the floor, Michael wanted to reach up and throttle her. God, she could be such a bitch sometimes! “Cut it out, Paige.”
“You cut it out!” Her raised voice attracted curious stares. “What the hell is with you this weekend?”
“I’ll tell you what’s with me. I have a huge trial starting next week. I told you this wasn’t a good weekend for me to be here, but you and your parents planned this party without even asking me.”
“You know it was the only weekend we could get the club.”
“Oh, well, if that’s the case, who cares if it’s a bad weekend for the groom?”
“I don’t know why you’re being so unreasonable. It’s like you don’t even care about our wedding.”
“I don’t. I tried to tell you that last night, but you didn’t want to hear it. What I care about is the marriage, but I’m starting to seriously wonder if I even want that.”
She recoiled as if he had hit her. “Michael.”
Her mother joined them. “Everything all right?”
With her hand resting over her heart, Paige stared at her fiancé in stunned silence.
“Everything’s fine,” Michael said. “Are we done here?”