She nodded. “But we kissed this past weekend. Several times, and not in a way friends would kiss.”
“That’s true,” Lyle agreed.
“Now I’m confused.”
“Don’t be.” He leaned closer to her over the table and captured her hand in his. “I was honest with you in Beaufort when I told you that I was attracted to you that first summer. But I didn’t tell you everything.”
Monique wondered what else was there to tell. What he had told her had taken her by surprise. Was there more? “What didn’t you tell me?”
He held her gaze steady when he said, “That not only was I attracted to you but that I had begun developing feelings for you as well.”
A shiver ran up Monique’s spine. She cleared her throat and asked. “Feelings? What kind of feelings?”
“The kind a man would have for a woman he cared seriously about.”
She had another question. “How serious?”
“Real serious.”
Monique blinked, not sure she comprehended what he was saying. So she decided to ask. “Are you saying that you thought you were in love with me?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. You acted mature for your age, which was one of things that attracted me to you.”
“Okay.” Monique drew in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “So when did you get over those, ahh, feelings toward me?”
He looked at her seriously and said, “Who said I’m over them?”
Monique sighed deeply. “Lyle, be serious.”
“I am serious. I’m as serious as a heart attack. I am also being totally honest with you, Monique, which is only fair. I fell in love with you that summer, and I never stopped loving you. I thought I had after Arnie called to let me know you’d gotten married, since it wasn’t good to yearn for another man’s wife. But when I saw you again a couple of weeks ago, I realized that deep down I still cared for you.”
“But—but there were those summers before I met Paul, and you never came back to visit, not even to call when I got older before leaving for college.”
“Yes,” he said sadly, “and there’s a reason for it.”
Over the next twenty minutes, he told her about his sister Carrie and went into more details with her regarding the situation than he had with Arnie. He wanted to make sure Monique understood that although his time and attention had been given to his sister, his heart still belonged to Monique. But her marrying Paul had made it too late to do anything about it.
“I never knew,” she said sadly, holding her head down. She couldn’t help but admire Lyle, his father, and his brothers for sticking by his sister the way they had and for the role they played in making sure Carrie felt safe and secure. Monique also regretted not knowing about Lyle’s feelings for her.
She then thought of Paul and the five good years they’d shared and said, “I loved Paul, Lyle. I don’t regret any of the years I spent with him.”
“And I wouldn’t want you to, Nicky. I believe he was placed in your life for a particular reason, and I’m sorry for your loss. But you’re alive, and so am I.”
Monique took another huge swallow of her orange juice. Her body suddenly felt tense, nervous. “Why did you decide to tell me all of this?”
“Because you said we needed to talk.”
“B-but—”
“And the reason you wanted for us to talk,” he said, ignoring her interruption, “was because I had started kissing you and you were confused as to why. The reason I’m being so brutally honest with you and telling you everything is because I believe honesty is the best policy. I’m not like my brother Lance used to be. I don’t know how to work a woman or play games with one. I deal with openness and directness. That’s the doctor in me. You ask a question, and I will answer it as sincerely as I can. Whether or not you’re ready for the answers I give is not my decision to make. It’s yours. I just didn’t want you walking around thinking I was coming on to you, kissing you every chance I got, because I couldn’t control any male urges and saw you as an easy and convenient mark. That’s not it at all.”
Monique nodded, knowing she would have eventually assumed that. “Thanks for explaining things to me.”
He leaned back in his chair. “You’re welcome. Now I have a question for you.”
“What?”
“How do you feel knowing that I’m in love with you?”
Monique wasn’t sure how to answer that. So instead she said, “This is rather complicated.”
“It doesn’t have to be. I’m not rushing you into anything, Nicky. And I can certainly understand if you’re not ready to get seriously involved with anyone just yet. But I am asking that while we’re here on the island together that we continue to spend time together, get to know each other all over again, and go from there. If you decide when your summer here is over that I was just a fond memory, then that’s all well and good and I’ll survive. I’ve done it before where you’re concerned and I’ll do it again if I have to. My work has become my other love, and if it has to be, it will continue to be so.”
He then leaned in and added, “But if you think there’s a chance you might grow to love me back, then I’d like to know that as well. I know my way to Louisiana; in fact, I’m just a few hours from where you are. I can handle a long-distance romance if you can.”
Monique shook her head. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything for now. Just let me continue to do what I’ve been doing.”
She lifted a brow. “Which is?”
“Trying like hell to capture your heart.”
33
“Did you enjoy your weekend?”
Faith consciously crossed her fingers beneath the tennis racket she was holding and smiled up at Shane, knowing she was about to tell an outright lie. “Oh, yes, I had a wonderful weekend. How was yours?”
“So-so, but it could have been better had you come over. I had a lot of things planned for us to do.”
She could just imagine, but a part of her wanted him to tell her anyway. “Things like what?”
“Grill some ribs, watch a movie, play a game of cards, Jet Ski—”
“Jet Ski?”
“Yes.”
“Shane, I just recently learned how to swim. Surely you didn’t think you would have gotten me out on the water trying to do something like that.”
He chuckled. “Sure I did. I have a gut feeling you’d be good at anything you set your mind to doing.”
Faith wasn’t so confident about that as he seemed to be. She held up her tennis racket. “Well, can we take just one thing at a time? Right now I want to put my concentrated efforts on learning to play tennis.”
And for the next hour or so, she did exactly that, determined to capitalize on those practice sessions she’d done over the weekend.
“You’re getting better and better,” Shane said, wiping sweat off his brow with a towel. “You’re doing an excellent job with your strokes.”
“Thank you.”
“Any plans for this afternoon?”
She slipped her racket into the cover and glanced up at him. “Why do you ask?” Like I don’t already know.
“I thought that you might like to take advantage of my private beach again.”
“Sounds nice, but I’ve already made plans. Thanks for the invite.”
“Anytime. Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I want to.”
She didn’t say anything while they walked side by side to the parking lot. He commented about a recent news event, and she listened, adding her thoughts only occasionally. She enjoyed listening to the sound of his voice. It had a sexy tone, one whose tempo could caress every part of her body. She wondered if he ever thought of being a disc jockey. He would definitely croon a lot of women to sleep every night.
They had gotten a few feet from her car when she heard someone calling her name. She turned to find Shannon wa
lking toward her.
“Someone you know?” Shane asked, and it was then she realized how close he was standing to her.
“Yes, one of my girlfriends who I’m here with for the summer.” When Shannon came to a stop in front of them, Faith raised a surprised brow. “Shannon, what are you doing here?”
Shannon smiled brightly. “Looking for you. I wanted to see if you’re interested in going shopping with me.” She then glanced over at Shane, and her smile widened when she said, “Hi.” She offered him her hand.
“Oh, sorry,” Faith quickly said. “Shane, this is my good friend Shannon Carmichael. Shannon, this is Shane Masters, my—”
“Tennis instructor,” Shannon finished for her. “Nice meeting you, Shane. I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.”
“Thanks.”
Shannon turned her attention back to Faith. “Well, what about it? Do you want to go shopping? I looked for Monique, but she left to go jogging and hasn’t returned.”
“She’s probably having breakfast with Lyle ,” Faith said. “Sure, I’ll go shopping with you, since I don’t have any plans for this afternoon.” Oops. Too late Faith realized she’d been caught in a lie. A quick glance at Shane let her know he’d been the one who caught her. She had told him just minutes ago that she did have plans for the afternoon.
Their gazes locked and held for a moment, and then he said, “I’ll let you ladies go enjoy your afternoon. I’ll see you next week, Faith, for another training session.”
She nodded. “All right.” And then she watched him walk away, feeling lower than low.
“He’s gorgeous.”
“What?”
“I said that he’s gorgeous. Gosh, look at his tush. Maybe I should be taking tennis lessons.”
Faith frowned, not liking Shannon’s interest in Shane. “You already know how to play tennis.”
“Yeah, but if all the instructors look like him, then ...”
Faith’s eyes reflected annoyance. “All the instructors don’t look like him, and he’s not really an instructor. He’s just someone I met who offered to teach me how to play.”
Shannon looked surprised. “Why would he do that? I’m sure there’s more on this island for a gorgeous hunk to do than to teach someone to play tennis.”
Faith shrugged. “In that case, maybe I should feel lucky.”
“Maybe you should.” And seemingly as an afterthought, Shannon added, “And there’s only so much you can get from pleasure reading, Faith. Especially, when it’s a romance novel. Once in a while, you’d want to try things out for yourself.”
Before Faith could comment, Shannon said, “Come on, we can take my car.”
Five stores later, and Shane was still on Faith’s mind. She could only imagine what he thought of her. Although it had been a little white lie, a lie was a lie, and she knew he was a man who appreciated honesty. She had determined that fact after he’d shared with her what his fiancée had done to him just weeks before the wedding.
“Okay, what’s going on? You’re too quiet.”
Faith glanced over at Monique. She had joined them after getting the message Shannon left on her cell phone. Shannon was in the dressing room trying on several more outfits that she had picked out. “Shane Masters caught me in a lie.”
Monique’s brow rose. “What kind of lie?”
“He invited me over to his place to enjoy his private beach again, but I told him I’d made plans for this afternoon. That was before Shannon showed up and asked me to go shopping with her. Right in front of him, I told Shannon that I’d go because I didn’t have any plans for the afternoon—a direct contradiction to what I’d told him earlier.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, I know,” Faith said, putting a dress back on the rack after deciding it was way too small for her, although the tag said it was her size. “Now I don’t know what to do. He probably got the impression that I don’t want to spend any time with him.”
“Do you?”
Faith glanced at Monique over the row of clothes. “Yes. No. Hell, I don’t know. He’s scares me.”
Monique frowned. “Scares you in what way?”
“I can see him as someone I could really start liking, someone I could get close to, want to sleep with ... so on and so forth.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No, not exactly but we only have so many weeks on the island and—”
“Aren’t we supposed to have fun, enjoy ourselves, not live up to anyone’s expectations but our own?”
“Yes, but—”
“But nothing, Faith. If you like him, then what’s the problem? What are you holding out for? An engagement ring?”
“Of course not!”
“Okay, then.”
Faith glanced over at Monique. What she’d said made sense. “Who made you an expert on issues of the heart all of a sudden?”
A slow smile touched Monique’s lips. “Trust me, I’m far from being an expert. I have my own issues to work out.” And then knowing she needed to tell someone and Faith was the one she wanted to tell, she looked past Faith’s shoulder to make sure Shannon wasn’t coming and whispered, “This morning Lyle told me he’s in love with me.”
Faith blinked. “What? He said it? Just like that?”
“In a way, yes. I thought it was time we talked, considering what happened between us this weekend.”
Faith’s eyes widened. “What happened this weekend? Did the two of you sleep together?”
“No, but we kissed, plenty of times, and they weren’t the friendly kind, either. They were the type that’s usually followed by the taking off your clothes.”
Faith swallowed. “But things never got that far?”
“No. Lyle was able to keep things under control. But still, I wanted to know why things had shifted between us. I kind of figured we were attracted to each other a little, but I hadn’t figured on the explosion I got in Beaufort.”
Faith nodded. “So, how do you feel about him wanting to be more than just a friend?”
Monique let out a frustrated sigh. “That’s just it. I don’t know how I feel. I never thought of loving any other man but Paul.”
“Yes, but even you said that Paul would want you to be happy.”
“Yes, but in my mind being happy meant going out occasionally, having a good time. Falling in love means something altogether different. People who love each other want permanency. Forever after.”
“And that scares you?”
“Yes,” she said, lowering her voice even more. “I had that before, and I lost it. I wouldn’t want to go through the pain of that happening again.”
“Oh, Monique, things won’t necessarily be that way. But then you know as well as I do that life’s a gamble.”
“Yes, and that’s what has me too afraid to take a chance with my heart again.”
34
Randolph Fuller glanced over to where the group of young people were presently involved in a serious game of volleyball. His heart swelled with love and pride for all of them. There was his own son, Trey, and his stepdaughter, Haywood. The two had decided a few years ago that they were in love and had gotten married. Then there were his biological daughter, Randi, as well as Zach Wainwright, whom he considered a godson; and his niece, Anna.
Anna.
Had it been only a little more than a year ago that they had finally found her after a thirty-four-year search, a search that he and Noah refused to give up on even when others said they should.
“You’re okay, sweetheart?”
Randolph turned and met his wife’s curious expression. Jenna was the woman he had fallen in love with the moment he’d seen her on Howard University’s campus so many years ago, and she was the only woman he’d loved since. She was and always would be his one and only. She was his soul mate.
He smiled and reached out and opened his arms for her. “Yes, I’m okay. How’s Quad?” he asked of their grandson, who would be celebrating his second birthday in abo
ut six months.
Jenna smiled as she walked into his arms. “He’s fine, but he fought sleep all the way.” She glanced over to the spot where Randolph had been staring earlier. “How’s the game going?”
He shook his head and chuckled. “Real serious about now. The guys have the advantage and they know it, but then so do the girls. See how they’re dressed.”
Jenna did and laughed. Both Haywood and Anna were wearing cutoff shorts and midriff tops that showed a lot of belly. Evidently they thought they had a chance of winning if they made themselves the center of attention rather than the volleyball. “I bet what they’re wearing was the scorekeeper’s idea,” she said of their twenty-year-old daughter, Randi. When it came to fashion, Randi Jenna Fuller was as daring as they came.
Randolph grinned. “You’re probably right. And you were right about something else as well.”
She lifted a brow. “What?”
“Zach wasn’t going to waste any time letting Anna know how he felt.”
Jenna nodded. “Do you think he’s told her about his political aspirations yet?”
Randolph shook his head. “No. He said he was going to wait to do that. He wanted to give her time to adjust to his feelings for her first. He wants to marry her, and how she feels about him entering politics will determine if he throws his hat into the ring or not. He really loves her, Jenna. Did you see that finished painting of her?”
“Yes, I saw it. It was beautiful.”
“That painting was done through the eyes of a man in love.”
She smiled. “I can tell that, too. Leigh and I had that figured out that night he brought her to you and Noah and we were all sitting in the study asking questions, trying to figure out why it took thirty-four years to find her. He was so protective of her, so caring. I knew then it would just be a matter of time.”
Randolph pulled her closer into his arms. “I know that Ross and Gramma Mattie are overjoyed at the thought of a Wainwright marrying a Fuller. I can feel their presence, even now.”
“So can I.”
A few minutes later he said, “How about if we leave the big house to the young folks tonight and spend the night in our favorite place,” he said, staring down at her. Whenever he brought her here, he wanted to spend time totally alone with her. She knew the place he meant. It was their special cottage, located a few miles from the big house.
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