Mine After Dark

by Marie Force

  But he’d resisted that impulse, sensing it might make things worse rather than better. The incident had confirmed his earlier suspicion that someone had hurt her badly. The thought of anyone hurting her filled him with rage that he didn’t dare show her, lest he scare her off. That was the last thing he wanted to do when she seemed to be getting more comfortable with having him around.

  “What looks good to you?” he asked.

  “I’m leaning toward the cod.”

  “I was thinking about getting that, too.”

  The waiter came and took their orders, returning with an Amstel Light for him and a glass of pinot grigio for her.

  “I haven’t been here in years.” She took a look around the restaurant, which was busy for an off-season weeknight. “We used to come several times each summer. It was one of our favorites.”

  “I’m surprised I never ran into you before. I spent a couple of summers working for my uncle at the marina. We were probably here at the same time.”

  “When was that?”

  “About twelve years ago?”

  “I was here! I waitressed at the Lobster Pot that summer.”

  “No way. I’m sure I must’ve eaten there. That’s one of my uncle’s favorite places, and I lived with him and my aunt. He was always trying to feed me. They used to tease me about being too skinny.”

  “I worked there for six summers. I wonder if I waited on you guys.”

  “How funny would that be? But I think I would’ve remembered you. Did you know my cousins?”

  “I knew of the family and the marina, of course, but I don’t think I ever met them. They’re older than me, I think.”

  Nodding, he said, “They’re older than me, too.”

  “We used to come here the second school let out.” Her lips set into a grimace as she seemed to remember unhappy memories. “I couldn’t get here fast enough.”

  “You didn’t like school?”

  “That wasn’t it. I didn’t like my father, and we had to live with him during the school year. I counted down to summer vacation on Gansett.”

  “That must’ve been difficult for you, having to live with him nine months out of the year if you didn’t like him.”

  “It was hell. Thank God for Jordan during those years. We survived it together.”

  Riley was almost afraid to ask what he most wanted to know. “He wasn't… abusive, was he?”

  “No, nothing like that.” Sighing, she took a sip of her wine and seemed to be deciding how much she wanted to tell him. “My mom… She was an alcoholic with mental health problems that caused a lot of chaos while we were growing up. She wasn’t allowed to have us on her own, which is why we came here in the summers. Our grandmother had actual custody of us in the summer.”

  He had questions, but he didn’t ask them, hoping she would offer more.

  “My dad reacted to my mom’s issues by taking up with someone else while he was still married to her. By the time the whole thing came out, he had two kids with the other woman, and the court still gave him primary custody over my mother and her troubles.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Yeah, it was lots of fun, but it was a long time ago.”

  “Do you see your dad?”

  She wrapped her arms around herself in that protective pose he was coming to recognize as built into her DNA. “He and his new family are no longer in our lives,” she said, her shuttered expression keeping him from asking any further questions. “We haven’t seen him since the day we graduated from high school. Sometimes I think Jordan ended up with Zane because of my dad.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “She learned at an early age not to set her expectations too high.”

  “You must be crushed that she went back to him.”

  “I’m numb more than anything. That relationship has been the definition of toxic since day one. I’m glad to have him out of my life, but I sure do miss her. Even if I wanted to shake her half the time lately.”

  “It’s got to be hard for you to see her making questionable choices.”

  “It is, especially since she used to really listen to me, and now it seems his voice is the only one she hears.”

  “I still can’t believe he did what he did to her and she went back to him.”

  “I know. I wanted to tie her up and toss her in a closet when I realized what she was doing.” She took another drink of wine. “But instead of doing that, I focused on what I could control, which is my own life, such as it is.”

  “How about your mom? Do you see her?”

  “We’re in touch with her. She’s remarried and living in the south of France with an artist she met in Paris when she was there on vacation. They seem really happy.”

  “Good for her.”

  “She deserves to be happy after everything she’s been through.”

  Riley wanted to tell her that she deserved the same. “What did you do for work before you were Jordan’s assistant?”

  “We were both models,” she said sheepishly.

  Smiling at her embarrassment, he said, “I can see that. What kind of modeling did you do?”

  “I did makeup and catalog stuff. Jordan was all about the underwear. That’s how she first met Zane. He was a model, too. Before his music career took off.” She looked down at the table. “Because the modeling bored me, I also worked in restaurants and the hospitality business on the side. I still think about finishing college or doing something meaningful.”

  “You can do anything you want now.”

  “Yes, I can. I just have to figure out what that is.”

  “There’s no rush, is there?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “Then take your time and enjoy the break in the meantime.”

  “I’ve done nothing but talk about myself.”

  “Not true—and I’m interested in hearing about your life.”

  “Tell me about your life. Where did you grow up?”

  “Westport, Connecticut, which is about an hour outside New York City.”

  “Do your parents still live there?”

  “My mom does. My dad lives here now. They split almost two years ago.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah, it was sort of shocking since it came out of nowhere, at least for my brother and me it did. My dad told us later that it’d been a long time coming.” He shrugged. “It was much worse when it happened to you. At least we were adults and didn’t have our parents fighting over us.”

  “It’s awful no matter when it happens,” she said.

  “It was pretty awful.” Riley hadn’t really said that to anyone but Finn. He felt comfortable telling her because she’d been through it herself. “My mom cheated on him with a younger guy. It was all so… sordid. Finn and I were just saying how glad we are to be nowhere near Westport, where our family must be the talk of the town.”

  “How’d you end up living on the island?”

  “We came with our dad for our cousin Laura’s wedding right after my parents broke up. My dad decided to stay for a bit to regroup, and when Mac begged Finn and me to stay and come to work for him, we agreed to hang for a bit, mostly to keep an eye on our dad, who was really flattened by the divorce.”

  “That’s nice of you guys.”

  “We’ve always been really close to him, so it wasn’t a hardship to hang with him for a while, but it was funny to be living with him again. We’d forgotten how anal he is about cleaning. He also likes to communicate. A lot.” Riley rolled his eyes. “He’s a shrink.”

  She laughed. “Ahh, that must get uncomfortable.”

  “Extremely.” Smiling, he said, “He’s a good guy, though. Finn and I both respect him more than just about anyone. And now, he’s engaged to Chelsea Rose, who’s a bartender at the Beachcomber, and they’re trying to have a baby.”

  “Whoa. How do you feel about that?”

  “At first, it was kinda weird, but now I’m just like whatever. It’s his life, and if he wants to start a
ll over with a new family, it’s none of my business. Like Finn said, it’s not like he’s asking us to raise the baby for him.”

  She raised a brow.

  “What?”

  “It’s okay to say that you’re weirded out by the idea of having a sibling nearly thirty years younger than you.”

  “It is somewhat… unexpected.”

  “To say the least,” she said, laughing. “Do you like the fiancée?”

  “We like her a lot. Chelsea’s great, and he’s nuts about her. It’s all good. I’m glad he’s happy. She’s quite a bit younger than him and hasn’t had kids yet, thus the baby project.”

  “Ah, I see.” She sat back from the table when the waiter appeared with their entrees. “This looks delicious.”

  “The food here is the best.”

  They ate in companionable silence that had him thinking about how easy she was to be with. Their conversation flowed effortlessly, and he found just about everything she said interesting. He couldn’t recall ever being so immediately at ease around a woman, but he got the feeling she wasn’t quite as comfortable with him, which rankled. It wasn’t anything he could easily cite, just an overall feeling of disquiet that he’d sensed each of the four times he’d been in her presence.

  Was it him or something else? Was there something he could do or say to put her at ease? He wished he knew, because he’d literally do just about anything to convince her that he could be trusted, that he was nothing like her father or other men who might’ve hurt her. And what did it say about him that knowing someone had hurt her made him feel so murderous? He’d certainly never felt that strongly about a woman before.

  Until recently, he hadn’t given much thought to the fact that he’d never been in love, but at times, he’d wondered if that particular life experience wasn’t in the cards for him. Sure, he enjoyed women, had had his share of sex and had mostly coasted through life without messy emotional entanglements.

  His brother had an on-again, off-again girlfriend who was thankfully off-again at the moment. Finn had definitely been in love with Missy, much to the dismay of everyone who cared about him. Riley couldn’t stand Missy or the way Finn acted around her. The best part of moving to Gansett had been the demise of his brother’s relationship with her.

  “I was thinking about what you said about renovating your grandmother’s house,” Riley said, taking a chance along with a sip of his beer.

  “What about it?”

  “If you’re serious about updating it, I could help you with that.” He absolutely didn’t have the time to take on another project with the Wayfarer occupying most of his waking hours, but if it meant more time with her, he’d make it happen.

  “How do you mean?”

  “You want to do it. I know how, and Mac is brilliant at getting what we need to the island for the business. He could help us get whatever we need for your place. I work a lot, so it would be nights and weekends, but I’d be happy to do it for you.”

  “That is so nice of you to offer, but I want to learn how to do it myself.”

  “Like the actual work, you mean?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, well… I could show you anything you want to know.”

  “That might take a lot of time.”

  He shrugged. “I’m not going anywhere. Are you?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, rolling her lip between her teeth. “I have no idea what I’m doing long-term.”

  Riley knew a moment of pure panic at the thought of her leaving again when he’d only just gotten her back. Whoa… Where had that come from? All he knew for certain was that he didn’t want her to go, not yet anyway. “Maybe renovating the house could be your purpose for the time being, and when that’s finished, you could reassess.”

  He was a self-serving bastard, but whatever it took to keep her around. Why that was so critical, he couldn’t say. All he knew was that the gloom had lifted when she returned, and he liked how he felt when she was around. Beyond that, he didn’t know anything.

  She looked across the table, her big brown eyes full of vulnerability that touched him more deeply than any woman ever had. “You don’t want to do that when you’re already working ten hours a day.”

  “I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to do it.”

  “You’re serious.” Excitement replaced the vulnerability.

  “Yes,” he said, smiling. “You want to know how to do renovations. I know how. I’d happily teach you—and help you.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  The question hit him like a punch to the gut. Why indeed? “Because it would be fun.”

  “Really? It would be fun to do in your off time what you do all day?”

  “It would be fun to teach you how.” And it will keep you here for months, he thought but didn’t say. “I also have the equipment you need,” he added, waggling his brows in a teasing gesture that made her laugh and blush. Adorable.

  “I’d have to talk to my grandmother. It is her house and her money, after all.”

  “Of course. See what she thinks. What’s the first thing you’d want to do?” he asked as they perused the dessert menu.

  “The kitchen,” she said without hesitation.

  “You’d need to set up a temporary kitchen in another room with the essentials—microwave, fridge—”

  “Coffeemaker.”

  “Coffeemaker,” he said, smiling at the excitement radiating from her. He liked that look on her a lot. “Then we get a dumpster and rip everything out.”

  “Chip calls that ‘Demo Day.’”

  “Chip?”

  “Chip Gaines on Fixer Upper,” she said, looking at him like he had six heads. “He and his wife, Jo, are super famous for their home renovations.”

  “Never heard of them.”

  “Oh my God! For real? I idolize them. While you teach me about renovation, I’ll educate you on HGTV.”

  “Uhhh, okay,” he said hesitantly, even if he was anything but hesitant when it came to her.

  “I bet you’ve never heard of the Property Brothers either.”

  “Who?”

  “Oh God,” she said with mock despair. “I’ve got so much to teach you.”

  Yes, please, he thought. Teach me. Teach me everything.

  Chapter 6

  Mac spied on his cousin from across the big dining room. “Riley seems to be having a nice time.”

  “Mind your own business,” Maddie said.

  “What fun is that?”

  “I’ll give you fun, but you have to stop staring at your cousin.”

  “I just hope he’s being careful. The business with her sister is crazy, and I’d hate to see him caught up in that.”

  “He’s not dating the sister. There’s nothing to see over there. Focus on your own wife before she starts feeling unfriendly toward you right when this romantic dinner is about to pay off for you.”

  “Pay off how?” he asked, suddenly very interested in his own business again.

  “You’ll see when we get home.”

  “Check, please,” he said, signaling the waiter, who came right over.

  “Not yet,” Maddie said, glaring at her husband. “I want dessert, please.”

  The waiter left them with the dessert menu, which Maddie perused in great detail while Mac tried not to pout. She loved to torture him, and it’d been weeks since they’d last had a night to spend completely alone together. Her parents had taken all three kids, even the baby, to their house for a sleepover, which was a major undertaking that included getting Thomas to kindergarten in the morning.

  “Quit your pouting,” she said. “I pumped myself dry for two days for one kid-free night. You’re not going to rush me.”

  “Yes, dear.”

  She ordered a brownie sundae with two spoons as well as a glass of champagne to top off the evening.

  “I like to see you relaxed and enjoying yourself,” he said once he’d accepted that they wouldn’t be leaving quite yet.

&
nbsp; “I like having nothing to do but you.”

  Mac choked on a mouthful of beer that came out—painfully—through his nose, which made his dearly beloved laugh her ass off. “That was not nice,” he said after he’d mopped up the beer that was all over him.

  Fanning her face with her hand, she couldn’t stop laughing.

  He grunted out a laugh—how could he not? Her laughter was always infectious. Never more so than when directed at him, which was a frequent occurrence.

  The sundae arrived, and Maddie dived into it like a woman who hadn’t seen chocolate in months while she tried to lose the weight she’d gained carrying baby Mac.

  Mac sat back to enjoy her pleasure in the dessert.

  “You’re supposed to be sharing this with me,” she said around a mouthful of brownie.

  “It’s far more fun to watch you devour it.”

  She put down her spoon and patted her lips with a napkin. “I’ve had enough.”

  “You’ve barely made a dent. Get back in there, and don’t give up until it’s gone. My wife is not a quitter.”

  “Your wife isn’t going to fit through the door if she doesn’t lose some weight.”

  Mac scowled and reached for the spoon she’d abandoned. “No one talks trash about my wife, especially my wife.” He held up a spoonful of brownie and ice cream. “Take a bite.”

  Holding his gaze, she leaned in and let him feed her a bite.

  He took one for himself before dishing up another for her, continuing that pattern until the dessert was gone. Then he paid the check and held her coat for her. Before they left, they stopped by to say good night to Riley and Nikki.

  “I have an appointment in the morning, so I’ll be late,” Mac said. “Let the others know for me?”

  “Will do,” Riley said. “See you when you get there.”

  “It was so nice to meet you, Nikki,” Maddie said.

  “You, too.”

  “You guys have a good night,” Riley said.

  “You do the same,” Mac said, waggling his brows at his cousin.

  Riley rolled his eyes. “Get lost, Mac.”

  “I’m going.” He put his arm around his wife to escort her from the dining room.