"Yes, there have been a few. You see, the whole family started the project, before getting other investors. Again, people putting money to good use, instead of just watching it pile up. Since I've been the P.R. person, I've been at the groundbreaking and press conferences."
Eric leaned back, swirling his brandy gently in the snifter. Maggie thought he looked perfect sitting on her couch. Comfortable and relaxed and good enough to eat.
"You've said you want to get out of public relations. Do you have any idea what you'd like to do?"
With effort, Maggie pulled her gaze away from his hands that encircled the glass. She looked up to find his eyes on her face. "Do? Oh, work. I'm honestly not sure. I've thought about going back to school."
His face looked surprised. "That's funny. I've been considering going back as well."
"To focus on what field of study?"
"Robotics or artificial intelligence."
It was Maggie's turn to be surprised. "Sort of science fiction for real? That would be so cool."
He laughed, and then said, "Yes, for real. I've been interested in it for a while now."
"Tell me all about it," Maggie asked avidly.
"Well, I could," Eric said as he put his glass down on the coffee table. He moved closer to her on the sofa. "Or I could kiss you. I think some practice is in order."
She nearly dropped her brandy. "Practice?" she squeaked. "For what?"
"For the future," he said, and put his arms around her.
His lips were a gentle yet exhilarating pressure on hers. The kiss deepened, and she felt as if she were falling, falling through softness to land on something firm and yielding. Every thought had left her head, and it was as if she'd always been kissing him and always would be. It was a moment after he pulled away until she realized the kiss had ended.
"Maggie?" he asked softly.
"I'm here. That was--practice does seem like a good idea."
He leaned in and kissed her again, this time with more passion, and she felt her own desire building. Finally, he murmured against her lips, "I wasn't expecting that."
"Me either."
He sat back. "I think I'd better be going."
She sat up straight. "Now?"
"Yes, I definitely should leave." He stood up and looked down at her, ruefully. "I'm afraid I'm getting a bit too much into my role."
She stood up. "What if it wasn't a role?"
His green eyes blazed for a second, and then he smiled. "If it wasn't, you'd have a hard time getting me to leave you here tonight."
She opened her mouth to speak but he placed to fingers across her lips.
"You are under the influence of some very potent brandy. And I think you're not quite ready for what could happen between us."
"What could happen between us?" she whispered.
"Everything," he said, seriously. He walked to the door, with her following. "Sleep well, Maggie. I'll call you in the morning."
He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and walked out of the apartment.
Maggie stayed standing where she'd been for a full minute. Then she said to the room at large, "What the heck just happened here?"
Chapter 3
Maggie woke up the next day to the sound of the phone ringing. She finally found it in her jacket pocket from last night.
"Hello?" she answered, groggily.
"Maggie? Are you still asleep?"
It was Anna. "Not anymore. What's up?"
"What's up? Are you kidding me? You get a boyfriend and don't even tell us? That's what's up."
"Yeah, well, it happened kinda fast."
"Sam and I want you two to come over for dinner tonight."
"Uh, I'll need to check with Eric first, but that should be okay. I can't remember what days he's singing this week."
"So he is a singer? We'll all have to go see him perform."
"Anna..."
She heard laughter on the other end of the phone. "Just kidding. Try to come tonight or if not, we can aim for tomorrow."
"All right, I'll get back to you."
Maggie closed her phone and realized she and Eric had not exchanged numbers. That was a big oversight. She headed for the shower and finished waking up. She'd slept a long time, and blamed it on the brandy.
Pulling on her favorite jeans, boots, ivory sweater and a purple puffer coat, she dashed out the door and down the stairs. She popped into the bakery and picked up fresh cherry and cheese danish, and then headed for Eric's place. He'd mentioned at Frank's last night that he was staying at Lulu's cabin, and she knew where that one was. Different townspeople owned cabins they rented out to tourists, small compact houses with views of the sea.
She parked out front and walked up to the front door. Just as she was about to knock, she saw Eric running up to the cabin. He was dressed for running, and looked hot and sweaty, and yes, still gorgeous. He stopped in front of her, using a key to unlock the door.
"Come in. I didn't expect you."
"I didn't have your phone number and I had a question."
"Shoot, I didn't even think of phone numbers last night. What's the question?"
"Are you free tonight for supper at Sam and Anna's with me?"
"Sure. I'm only playing on Friday and Saturday for the next month."
"Okay, here," she thrust the pastry box at him. "Take these while I call Anna back."
Eric laughed. "It's a good thing I decided to run today. These look great. I'm going to shower."
He jogged off and Maggie moved further into the living room and sat in an old wooden rocker. Once she'd called Anna and given her promise that they'd be at supper, she rocked gently and looked out at the view. All the cabins along the beach were quite small, but each one she'd seen had been decorated in a cozy manner. They had tiny kitchens, with a bedroom, living room, bathroom and that was it. Maid service was offered in the summer. This place was probably just right for Eric.
She got up and scrounged around the kitchen until she found coffee and a coffee maker. She had it brewing when Eric arrived, barefoot in blue jeans and a sweatshirt that said Stanford.
"Coffee. And food. Then I'll dry my hair. We're going around town today, right?"
"Yeah."
They took their pastries and coffee to the little two-seater table that sat up against a wall in the living room. Maggie realized that Eric was staring at her with a frown.
"What?"
"Your hair," he said, and reached out a hand to touch it. "It's still damp from your shower. You know you shouldn't go out in the cold like that."
"It's so short it dries fast. And you do realize that you seem to have a fascination with my hair?"
He turned a bit red. "Short hair is appealing to me, and yours is interesting with all those curls. In fact, I'm thinking of cutting mine off."
"No! I mean, think about it. Your hair is so...uh...cool." She'd been searching frantically for a word to substitute for sexy.
He smiled at her. "Okay, I'll think about it. I'm going to go dry it now." He popped the last bite of pastry into his mouth. "Next time, I'm providing breakfast. We have to get some healthy food into you."
"Whatever," she said, waving a hand at him and eating the rest of hers. Maggie knew her usual healthy eating habits would have surprised him.
Eric walked away chuckling, and giving Maggie a view of him in jeans that sent her pulse into a gallop. The man was distractingly sexy, she decided. She was going to have to work harder at remembering he was only acting as she asked him to.
When he came back out he had on a brown cable-knit sweater to go with the great blue jeans. He grabbed his leather coat and they headed out to his car. Maggie knew better than to suggest hers.
"Where to first?" he asked, starting the car and then the heater.
"Let's head to Main Street, to the square. I'll introduce you around and you can get a feel for the place."
They easily found a spot to park right on the square. "It seems pretty quiet, today," Eric said.
They started the tour at an antique shop, and then walked around the square. They ran into Maelynne, coming out of Violet's Yarn Shop.
"Maggie! Is this your young man?" Maelynne asked, looking at them with an avid interest.
"This is Eric Stanton. He's new in town. You can hear him sing and play guitar at the Lobster Shack on the weekend. He's not from around here--he came from Seattle, Washington."
"Oh my! So far from home. Do you plan on a long visit?"
Eric had looked puzzled at how much information Maggie was giving Maelynne. He replied, "I'm not sure. It might turn into a permanent thing. For now, I plan to enjoy myself while I'm here." He smiled at Maggie on his last sentence.
Maelynne blinked, and Maggie could almost hear the wheels turning.
"We were going to check out Violet's place next, Maelynne, so we'd better be going. I'm showing Eric all around town today."
"All right, Maggie. It was wonderful to meet you Eric." She bustled off directly after that, and Maggie shook her head.
"That went well. Maelynne is the biggest town gossip. By lunchtime, everyone will have heard about you. That's why I gave her specific info, because otherwise she would just make stuff up. She really does irritate me, but I guess this once we can make good use of her."
Eric looked bemused. "I've never lived in a small town like this. I had no idea that gossip was such a big deal."
"In a small town, it's hard to hide much of anything. That's why I wanted to speak with Maelynne. By telling her what I did, she won't go looking for any other secret. Less chance of someone suspecting that we are not really boyfriend and girlfriend. Gossip is just a part of life here."
He chuckled. "That will take some getting used to. Now why are we visiting a yarn shop?"
"So you can meet Violet. She's a quirky little old lady, and sharper than you might think."
Maggie led the way into the shop, and was surprised to feel Eric take her hand in his once they were inside. When he held her hand, it made her fell all warm and kind of melty inside, like a really good chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven.
"Maggie, my dear, have you finally come to sign up for lessons?"
Eric asked, "Lessons?"
Violet came up to them, long silver-gray hair flowing to her waist, and held away from her face by what looked like antique hair clips. "I've been trying to convince Maggie to take up knitting or crochet, but she doesn't seem interested."
"My mother knits. In fact, this sweater is one she made for me last Christmas," Eric said.
Violet immediately reached out to touch the sweater on his arm. "Oh my, lovely work, absolutely lovely. And who might you be, young man?"
"Oops, I forgot to introduce you. Violet, this is Eric Stanton. Eric--Violet," Maggie said.
"I thought I hadn't seen you before, although your name is familiar." She paused for a moment, and then said, "I can't recall it now, but I'm sure it will come back to me later."
Maggie felt Eric's grip on her hand tighten and then relax.
"You know, Eric dear, yarn makes a simply wonderful Christmas present for a knitter. Feel free to come in and browse anytime for something for your mother."
"I'll do that, Violet. Thank you very much. That's a great idea for her."
Maggie grimaced. "Christmas presents! It's approaching too soon."
"Oh my dear, you must start working on your gift buying. Never wait until the last minute."
"Yes, I know."
Another customer came into the shop, and Violet moved away, saying, "So nice to meet you, young man. Come back again!"
Maggie and Eric walked back outside and Eric shook his head. "She's a pip, that one. I can see the mischief in her eyes."
Maggie laughed. "I know. There are stories about her as a young woman. She's had quite the life, and is still going strong. We're done with this side of the square. I want to make a left here, onto the side street so I can introduce you to Julia. Her business is around the corner."
She noticed that he hadn't let go of her hand as they walked to Julia's.
When Eric saw the building, he stopped walking and stood and stared. "What the--are those gargoyles?"
Maggie grinned at him. "Yep, they sure are. This is officially the ugliest building in Sully Point. It used to look worse when it was all dark red brick, but Julia had it painted this lighter sage color. It's a unique space, created by a warlock."
"A warlock?" Eric asked, blankly.
"Yes, or at least, he thought he was one. You know, a male witch. There's a pentagon shaped room--that's the part that juts off to the side and seems to make no sense."
"Julia's Place," Eric read off the sign out front. "And what happens at Julia's Place?"
Maggie tugged on his hand and they began walking up to the front door. "Computers. Everything to do with computers. Julia is a bit of a computer whiz, and she keeps everything up and running in town when it comes to high tech."
Eric had stopped again, and Maggie turned to look at him. "What is it?"
"Oh, nothing," he said, rather weakly. "So she's up on all the latest things in computing?"
"Sure. It's her calling really. She has a knack for computers."
"I see."
Maggie turned and walked up the last two steps and through the doorway. Julia was working at a table to one side of the large main room. "Hey, Julia. How's it going?"
Julia turned to them, long black hair sliding around her shoulders, straightening up her willowy body. "Maggie! I heard--"
She stopped talking and stared at Eric. Eric dropped Maggie's hand and tensed up.
"It can't be."
Maggie said, "What? Of course it can be. I finally found a boyfriend. This is Eric--"
"Stanton," Julia finished for her. "I'm totally blown away."
She reached out to shake Eric's hand. "You are my hero. They said you disappeared after the sale. Nobody's seen you since. And you end up here in my store. Unbelievable!"
Maggie looked from Eric to Julia and back again, utterly confused. "Guys...what's going on? How do you know Eric?"
Julia looked at her in surprise. "You don't know? Eric Stanton is the most famous man in all of computing at the moment."
"He is?" Maggie turned to look at him suspiciously. "Okay, come clean. Clearly, you haven't told me everything about you."
Julia frowned and then pointed them to the bay window where two curved sofas sat facing each other. "Let's sit down and talk."
Eric sat and gave a large sigh. "I knew I couldn't keep it a secret forever, but I never imagined such a small town would have a place like you have here, Julia." He turned to face Maggie. "And I'd have told you this eventually. I created some software that became very popular. My company--"
"Your company? You have a company?"
"I did. Not any longer. I recently sold the company for a lot of money. I came here, like I told you, to figure out what to do next in my life."
"A lot of money? Like how much?"
Julia looked interested in that question as well. She said, "There have been all kinds of rumors."
"Many, many millions."
"Millions? So, you're not a struggling singer," Maggie said with some reproach.
Eric shrugged. "Everyone wanted a piece of me when the sale finally happened. I was tired of being looked at or talked to solely because of the money."
Julia nodded. "I know what that's like. Here, you guys talk some more about this and I'll go get us all coffee." She stood up and walked quickly to the back where a small kitchen held the coffee machine.
"You could have told me," Maggie said. "I wouldn't have said anything to anyone."
"How was I to know that? Especially when we first met? I wasn't sure at first that you weren't another person out to see what you could get from me."
"I would never--"
<
br /> "I know that now. I do know that, Maggie. And I planned to confess all at some point."
"Did you lie about anything else?" She realized she'd moved further away from him on the sofa and was sitting stiffly, arms crossed.
He frowned and flushed a bit red. "I didn't lie to you. I just didn't tell you everything about me. Everything I've told you is true."
"Even about wanting to go back to school maybe, to do robotics?"
"Yes. I accomplished what I was after with the operating system I developed. It's time to move on to new challenges."
"So you're some kind of computer genius?"
He sat back against the sofa, and said simply, "Yes."
Julia arrived with filled coffee mugs on a tray with cream and sugar. "He really is a computer genius, Maggie. He's given everyone a new way to run their computers. Now that he's sold it to the only company that could rival the current giant, there may be some major changes in new computers."
They all took their coffee and sipped in sudden quiet. Maggie was trying to figure out her feelings. Did this change anything? Not really. So he had money, big deal. She knew from watching Sam and Anna, plus Julia and Cody, that money was there to be used, to help create things, to help others. It didn't change who you were unless you were weak-minded, and Eric was certainly not that. And he was right--he hadn't lied to her. She felt herself relaxing and heard Eric let out a breath, as if he'd been holding it. She realized then that he'd been watching her reactions closely.
"All right," she said. "I guess it doesn't really matter--the money, I mean. I was only upset because of thinking you lied, but you haven't."
"So we're good?" he asked, as he put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug.
"We're good," she said, smiling at him.
Julia beamed at them. "Why don't you two come over tonight for supper?"
"Uh, actually, Anna already booked us," Maggie said.
"Tomorrow night then. I insist. I want Cody to meet Eric, and for us to get to know you as a couple."
"You mean we're different people if we're a couple?" Maggie asked.
"Not exactly, but, well yes," Julia said, floundering. "Being with someone changes how you interact with everything and everyone."
Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) Page 4