Beach Reads Boxed Set

by Marie Force

  “For real.”

  “What do you do?” she asked.

  “I’m a prosecutor for the Baltimore City state’s attorney.”

  Her eyes widened. “Wow, that’s so cool.”

  “More like overwhelming—especially lately. What about you?”

  “Nothing quite so exciting. I’m a hair stylist.”

  “That sounds like more fun than putting people in jail.”

  Her smile engaged her entire face, and his heart skipped an erratic beat.

  “It is until someone hates their haircut, but fortunately that doesn’t happen to me very often.”

  “What do you do when it does?”

  “If they’re truly upset, we offer them a freebie next time, but usually they come back telling us they got all kinds of compliments on their new look.”

  Hoping to keep her talking, he ran his hand through his mop of wavy brown hair. “I could use your services right about now.”

  “You should stop by the salon sometime.”

  “Where do you work?”

  “Panache in the Inner Harbor.”

  “I wish I had time for a haircut. I’m going to trial in just over a week.”

  “Can you tell me about it?” She turned in her chair and pulled her legs up under her.

  “It’s the Benedetti brothers,” he confided in a low tone, thrilled to have her full attention.

  She gasped. “Oh my God!”

  Gang members Marco and Steven Benedetti were accused of gunning down three teenaged boys in the city.

  “My co-worker’s cousin was one of the kids they killed. Timmy Sargant.”

  “We’re going to get them.”

  “I hope so,” she said softly. “I really do.”

  “Attention in the gate area. Announcing the arrival of Flight 980 from Providence with continuing service to Jacksonville. For those of you waiting for the Jacksonville flight, we’ll begin boarding as soon as the thunderstorms clear out of the Jacksonville area.”

  “I wish I was going to Providence,” he said.

  “Why’s that?”

  “I’m from there. My family lives in Newport.”

  “How’d you end up down here?”

  “I went to Georgetown Law and met my fiancée, so I ended up staying here. Then her parents moved to Florida, and here we are living apart. How’d you meet your boyfriend?”

  “We went to high school together. We’ve been together ten years, since junior year.”

  “So then you’re… twenty-seven? You look older than that.”

  “You’re not supposed to say that to a woman,” she said, laughing at his sudden embarrassment.

  “What I meant is that you look much too sophisticated dressed all in black to be only twenty-seven. Is that better?”

  “Nice save,” she said with a grin. “We wear black in the salon—it’s the uniform.

  “I’m Michael Maguire, by the way, and I’m thirty-two.”

  Smiling, she reached out to shake his hand, and an odd current traveled through him at the feel of her soft hand in his. He had to remind himself that he was supposed to let go.

  “Juliana Gregorio. Nice to meet you, Michael Maguire, thirty-two.”

  “So how come you aren’t married to that boyfriend of ten years yet?” he asked with a teasing grin, not sure why the answer suddenly mattered so much to him.

  “We just haven’t gotten around to it, I guess. I’ve been asking myself that question more often in the months since Jeremy’s been gone.”

  “You will.”

  “We’ll see.” She nibbled on her thumbnail. “For some reason, I feel like there’s a lot riding on this weekend.”

  “Why do you suppose that is?”

  “I don’t know. Everything was going along pretty well for months, but he’s been kind of remote on the phone the last few weeks. I can’t figure out what’s up.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine when you see him. Paige’s parents are having an engagement party for us this weekend, which is the number one reason why I’d rather be heading north instead of south.”

  “You’re not excited about the party?”

  “I’m dreading it. It’s so stupid when you consider all the same people will be at the wedding less than a year from now.”

  “That’s true.”

  “It’s a waste of time and money—two things her parents have way too much of.”

  Juliana smiled, and Michael found himself riveted by her every expression. Her face flushed under the heat of his scrutiny, and she looked away. He wondered if she thought he was one of those weird strangers women were taught to fend off in self-defense classes. She’d probably run for her life if he acted on the urge to lean in closer for a better whiff of the earthy, spicy scent that was driving him mad.

  Reminding himself he was a grown man and not a hormonal teenager, he made an effort to keep the staring—and the sniffing—to a minimum and the conversation light. By the time the gate attendant announced their flight, he felt like he had known Juliana for years rather than an hour. Since the plane wasn’t full, they chose seats together.

  Her cell phone rang just as she took it out to turn it off. “Hi, Dona. I can’t talk. I’m on the plane, and I have to shut my phone off soon.”

  While pretending not to hang on her every word, Michael watched her stiffen with tension.

  “You promised me! You said you’d handle it!” Another pause. “I’ll call Vincent.” She ended the call and dialed another number. “Vin, you gotta help me out. Can you take dinner over and check on Ma tonight? Dona totally bailed on me.” Pause. “Vincent, I’m on an airplane. You’ve got to do it.” She lowered her voice. “Please.”

  Something about that softly uttered word tugged at Michael’s already over-involved heart, making him wish he could fix all her problems. What the hell is that all about?

  “Thanks, Vin. I really appreciate it. I’ll talk to you Sunday.” She shut the phone off, returned it to her purse, and stared out the airplane window.

  For a long moment, Michael debated whether he should say anything. “Are you all right?” he finally asked.

  “Yes. Sorry.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “It’s just my family. They drive me nuts. My mother, she needs… She has problems.”

  “That’s tough. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m sorry I have to deal with it every day of my life.”

  “Do you have brothers and sisters?”

  “Two of each, but they’re much older than me and mostly useless. How about you?”

  “I’m the baby, too. I have three older sisters.”

  “I’ll bet they doted on you,” Juliana said, seeming relieved by the shift in conversation away from her troubles.

  He grinned. “Oh, yeah, nonstop torture. They were forever dressing me up as their living doll. Don’t tell anyone that. It’ll kill my image.” Noticing how she clutched the armrest as the plane hurtled down the runway and lifted into the sky, he wanted to offer her a hand to hold but didn’t.

  “Are you close to your sisters?” she asked once they were airborne and she’d released the death grip on the armrest.

  “Yeah, all of them. They’re married with scads of kids who’re the most adorable kids in the world, of course.”

  She smiled. “Do you see them very often?”

  “I get up there every now and then, but it’s harder since Paige moved to Florida. Whenever I have a free weekend, I end up down there.”

  “Is your family coming to the party this weekend?”

  “They couldn’t get away for it, but that’s fine with me. My folks and hers don’t have much in common.”

  “You must be excited about the wedding at least.”

  He thought about that for a minute. “I’d be more excited if it hadn’t turned into such a circus. I’ve already heard enough about it to last me forever, and I’ve got eight months to go.”

  She laughed. “Big to-do, huh?”

  “The bigge
st of to-dos, which is not at all what I wanted. But she’s their only child, so I gave in.”

  “It must’ve been hard for you to get away so close to the trial.”

  “We’ve been working weekends for months now, so my boss wasn’t thrilled, believe me. But he’s a good friend of the Admiral’s. That’s Paige’s dad.”

  Juliana raised an eyebrow. “You call him ‘the Admiral’?”

  “Everyone calls him ‘the Admiral.’ He retired as commandant of the Naval Academy last year.”

  The stewardess came to take their drink order.

  “Can I buy you a drink?” he asked.

  “Why not?” She ordered a gin and tonic, and he asked for a beer.

  He paid for the drinks and saluted her with his can. “Cheers. Here’s to a good weekend.”

  “I’ll drink to that.”

  “Ladies and gentlemen, as we make our final approach into Jacksonville, we thank you again for choosing Southwest Airlines. Enjoy the weekend.”

  Juliana looked up, surprised by how fast two hours had passed as she chatted with Michael. The thought of seeing Jeremy in a few minutes filled her with nervous energy and excitement.

  “Are you ready?” Michael asked.

  He had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen and a sexy smile that made her tingle all over when he directed it at her. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Keep in mind that all guys suck on the phone. Paige is forever complaining that I never have anything to say.”

  Juliana appreciated his attempt to bolster her confidence.

  “How about you? Ready to put on your best party face?”

  He laughed. “I don’t have much of a party face.”

  “You’ve got five minutes to get one.”

  “When do you go back?” he asked.

  “Seven on Sunday evening.”

  “Me, too!”

  “We can compare notes,” she said, oddly relieved to know she would see him again.

  “I’ll look forward to it.”

  They gathered their bags and walked up the Jetway and through the terminal together. When she spotted Jeremy waiting for her, she looked over to say good-bye to Michael, who had made eye contact with his fiancée, a waiflike blonde with porcelain features and big blue eyes. She looked like she would break if hugged too hard and wasn’t at all what Juliana had pictured for him.

  “I’ll see you Sunday,” she said to Michael.

  “Have a good one,” he said, walking toward Paige as she went to Jeremy.

  “Who’s that guy?” Jeremy asked when she reached up to hug him. He was eight inches taller than her and still built like the football player he had been in high school.

  “Just someone I sat next to on the plane. How are you?” She looked him over for clues to what was troubling him lately, but he looked the same as he always did. He kept his curly blond hair cut short now that he was older, but when she met him it had been six inches high and unruly—a lot like he had been then.

  “Fine,” he said, leaning down to kiss her.

  She turned away from the scent of stale beer on his breath. “Have you been drinking, Jer?”

  “Just a few beers with the guys after work,” he said with a shrug. “Your flight was late, so I had time to kill.”

  Judging by the glassy look in his eyes, Juliana could tell that he’d had more than a few and was disappointed he had done that on the night she was coming to visit.

  Holding hands, they walked by Michael as he hugged Paige.

  Michael glanced up at Juliana, and the dismayed expression on his face made her sad for him.

  Chapter Two

  “Where are we going?” Juliana asked as she drove Jeremy’s Toyota SUV south from the airport and followed his directions past the exit for Jacksonville Beach where he lived in a small rented house with two of his co-workers from Baltimore. She usually stayed with him there when she came to visit.

  “I have a surprise for you,” he said with a charming smile.

  A rush of emotion reminded her of how much she loved him. “Really? Tell me!”

  “No, you’ll have to wait.” He reached for her hand. “It’s good to see you, babe.”

  “Is it?”

  He looked over at her. “Of course it is. Why would you ask that?”

  “You haven’t seemed all that happy to hear from me lately.”

  “It’s been so crazy here. There’s a lot of pressure to meet the next deadline, and the install isn’t going well. We’ve had one setback after another. Everyone wants to get it done and get out of here.”

  “Is that all it is?”

  “What’s with you, Jule?” he asked, exasperated. “Where’s all this coming from?”

  She focused on the road, annoyed that she’d had to do the driving. “Never mind. Let’s just have a good weekend.” These days, they were under so much pressure to make the most of the brief time they had together.

  He let go of her hand to change the radio station.

  They drove in silence for a while until he directed her to turn into the Sawgrass Marriott resort at Ponte Vedra Beach.

  “What are we doing here?” The lush landscaping and manicured golf course were beautifully lit. A sign on the lawn pronounced the course to be the “Home of the PGA Players Championship.”

  “I got a bonus last week and decided to splurge.”

  She let out a squeal of excitement. “For real?”

  Smiling, he glanced over at her. “Does that mean you approve?”

  “Definitely.”

  They checked in and were shown to a luxurious oceanfront room with a king-sized bed.

  She nibbled on her thumbnail while he tipped the bellman. “This is going to cost a fortune, Jer,” she said when they were alone.

  “Don’t sweat it, babe.” He pulled open the sliding door and stepped onto the balcony. “Come on out.”

  The surf pounded in the darkness as she joined him.

  He brought her closer to him and leaned in to kiss her.

  They’d been lovers for so many years that he was home to her, no matter where they were. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip, and she wrapped her arms around him, wanting him desperately. She just wished he didn’t taste like stale beer and smell like cigarette smoke.

  “I love you, Jule. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “Me, too,” she whispered as his cell phone rang.

  “Ignore it,” he said against her lips. When the phone rang again, Jeremy pulled away from her to turn it off. “Sorry about that.”

  “What if it’s work?”

  “They’re going to have to live without me tonight. I’ve got better things to do.”

  “Do you mind if I take a quick shower?”

  “As long as it’s quick, I’ll allow it,” he said with a smile.

  She left him with one last kiss and took her bag into the bathroom. After she showered, she stood in front of the mirror brushing her long dark hair until it fell in soft, shiny waves down her back. The ivory silk nightgown she bought just for this weekend with Jeremy made for a striking contrast with her olive complexion. As she brushed her hair one last time, Juliana suddenly thought of Michael and the strange look on his face when he greeted his fiancée at the airport. She wondered how his weekend was going so far.

  Emerging from the bathroom, her heart raced with anticipation and desire. She couldn’t wait to make love with Jeremy after so many weeks apart. But when she saw him sprawled out on the bed fast asleep, the disappointment hit like a fist to the belly. He’d had enough beer to knock him out for the night, and she knew from experience that there was no point in trying to rouse him.

  Juliana ventured onto the patio and curled up on one of the lounge chairs to listen to the pounding surf. Filled with frustration, she hoped Michael’s evening had gone better than hers.

  The bright sunlight streaming into the room woke her early the next morning. Stretching out the stiffness from a night in a stran
ge bed, she glanced over at Jeremy.

  Before this interminable separation, they had lived together for four years. People often asked her why they hadn’t gotten married, especially after they marked their tenth anniversary together. The only answer Juliana could ever give was that he hadn’t asked her. More than one friend recommended an ultimatum, but Juliana had never seen the need for threats. What they had was special, and it always had been.

  Jeremy transferred into her high school at the beginning of their junior year, and tugged her out from behind the dark clouds of life with a needy, alcoholic mother to life with him in the sunshine. With his quick wit and talent on the football field, he fit in right away with kids who had been indifferent to Juliana for years. Before she knew it, she’d been elevated from obscurity to half of a couple whose names were mentioned together so often that JeremyandJuliana took on the same easy cadence as peanut butter and jelly.

  After graduation, she pursued a career in cosmetology while he studied electrical engineering at Johns Hopkins. When all the couples they knew in high school either edged into marriage and families in the suburbs or broke up during college, they continued on with just an occasional discussion about marriage. Until he had been transferred to Florida for this endless year, they hadn’t spent a night apart in four years. And even though they had never actually taken the vows, Juliana considered them married in all the ways that mattered most.

  They had also discovered there was a lot more to making love than what they’d done as fumbling teenagers overwhelmed by a love they were too young to fully understand and hormones they were powerless against. Back then Jeremy lived with a single mother who worked second shift as a nurse, so they took full advantage of the ample opportunity to work on getting it right.

  Juliana ran a finger down his chest, and he gathered her closer. She kissed his shoulder and snuggled up to him.

  When he finally opened one blue eye, he winced at the bright light and seemed to realize all at once that he was still dressed in yesterday’s clothes. “Oh my God,” he groaned. “I totally conked out on you.”

  “Yep.”

  “I’m sorry, babe. Are you pissed?”