by Marie Force
“Something tells me it’s not going to be working too well for them tonight,” Joe said.
“Have I been here long enough for Mac to get the kids in bed and suffer sufficiently without me?” Maddie asked.
“I think you need at least another thirty minutes and a glass of wine to ensure an adequate level of suffering,” Janey said.
“That sounds really good, but I’ve sworn off booze after the other night.”
“You’ve sworn off champagne. Not wine.”
“Isn’t champagne a form of wine?”
“Not in my house. Joseph, will you please pour Maddie a glass of wine?”
“I’d be happy to if it contributes to Mac’s suffering.”
“There’s some dinner out there for you guys, too,” Maddie said.
Janey shook her head. “You have to stop cooking for us.”
“You can’t make me.”
“I’m not going to try very hard, don’t worry.” Janey rested her hands on her distended belly and winced. “I’ve got a kicker in there.” She tried to find a more comfortable position. “Have you heard anything from Syd about the surgery?”
“It went well. She’s sore, but out of the hospital. They’re spending tonight and maybe tomorrow night in a hotel in Boston so they can be close to the hospital if there’re any complications.”
“How soon will she know if it worked?”
“Three or four months.”
“I hope she gets pregnant right away.”
“Me too.” Maddie accepted a glass of red wine from Joe. “Thank you, sir.”
“I was reading a magazine article about how most people are opting for in vitro rather than tubal-ligation reversal these days,” Janey said.
“They considered that, but living out here, it’s an ordeal to get to doctors for treatments. So they’re trying this first. If it doesn’t work, they may go that route.”
“I want to snap my fingers and give her twins,” Janey said.
Laughing, Maddie said, “If she gets pregnant with twins, I’ll tell her it’s your fault, and while we’re on the subject of twins, have you heard anything about how Laura is feeling?”
“Still pretty awful. She’s throwing up a lot. Owen said he’s going to take her to the mainland to see a specialist if it doesn’t let up soon.”
“That has to be so miserable, and while she’s planning the wedding, too.”
“I don’t think there’s much wedding planning going on right now. She told me it’s going to be a JP on the deck of the Surf with a buffet at Stephanie’s. That’s all she’s capable of at the moment.”
“Can’t say I blame her for keeping it simple. Thank God I never had the pukes with either of mine.” Maddie’s cell phone rang, and she groaned. “Fair warning, if this is your brother, I’m going to be tempted to ignore it.”
“You have my permission to ignore it.”
“Oh, it’s Tiffany. Mind if I take it?”
“Not at all,” Janey said. “Tell her I said hi.”
Maddie took the call from her sister. “Hey, Tiff, what’s up?”
Tiffany was talking so fast Maddie couldn’t hear her.
“Whoa, back up. Slow down.”
Tiffany released a deep breath that hitched with what might’ve been sobs. “Jim found out that Blaine is moving in with me, and he’s threatening to sue for full custody of Ashleigh.”
“What? Are you serious? He can’t do that!”
“He’s doing that,” Tiffany said, sniffling. “He sent a letter letting me know if we move forward with our plans, he’s going after custody. He doesn’t even want her, Maddie. Why is he doing this?”
“Because he’s a son of a bitch who doesn’t want you to be happy with someone else.”
“I don’t know what to do. What do I do?”
“Have you called Dan?” Maddie asked, referring to the island’s other lawyer, Dan Torrington.
“I left him a message, but he hasn’t called me back yet.”
“I’ll ask Mac to call Kara. He has her number. Maybe she knows where he is. I’ll call you right back.”
“Okay.”
“Unreal,” Maddie said to Joe and Janey. “Jim found out Blaine is moving in with Tiffany, and he’s going after full custody of Ashleigh.”
“Just when we think we’ve seen the full extent of that guy’s douchebaggery, he goes and tops himself,” Joe said, visibly disgusted.
Maddie pressed the top number on her list of favorites to call her husband. “Mac, I need you to call Kara for me. Tiffany is trying to get in touch with Dan, and he’s not answering his phone.”
“Is everything okay?”
Maddie filled him in on what was going on.
“Someone needs to have a conversation with that asshole,” Mac said.
“Not you.”
“I won’t be held responsible for my actions if my path should cross his.”
“Will you please call her?”
“Right now.”
“Thanks. I’ll be home soon.” Maddie put her phone in her pocket. “I can’t believe this. He divorces her and then pulls this crap when she moves on with someone else?”
“Typical Jim Sturgil,” Janey said.
“He can’t do this to her,” Maddie said. “Not after all he’s already put her through.”
“I’m sure Blaine will be all over it,” Joe assured them. “Dan will be, too.”
“I want Dan Torrington to shred Jim,” Maddie said as she got up to leave. She would call Tiffany back in the car. “That’d please me greatly.”
“That would please a lot of people,” Joe said. “I’ll walk you out.”
Maddie bent to kiss Janey. “Hang in there, kiddo. Call me if you need anything.”
“I will. Thanks for dinner.”
“Happy to help.”
Nothing on God’s green earth could get Dan Torrington to stop what he was currently doing to answer a phone that wouldn’t quit ringing. And then Kara’s phone started up, too, and the moment was totally blown.
“Goddamn it,” he muttered, making her laugh. He released her and winced when his still-recovering ribs protested against even that small movement. They’d waited weeks to get back to where they’d been before the accident, and now that they were finally there, the outside world was intruding.
“Let’s answer the calls, see what’s going on, and get back to where we were,” she said in that husky, sexy voice that had become the center of his world.
“Fine,” he grumbled, knowing there was no point in trying to re-engage her when they were both so distracted. Try telling that to his raging boner, which had yet to receive the “game-off” message.
She got out of bed to get both their phones.
Dan propped himself up on an elbow to get the best possible view of her sweet ass as she walked out the door to the living room, where they’d left their phones on the coffee table when a heated make-out session had finally, finally landed them in bed.
He’d had to assure her a hundred times that he felt absolutely fine and ready to pick up where they’d left off before the sailing accident that resulted in broken ribs and a broken arm. His arm was much better. The ribs were still giving him grief, but as long as he didn’t breathe too deeply, he had faith he could perform up to par. Or so he hoped…
He was about to die from wanting her. Long weeks of heated looks, tender care and devotion from her as he recovered had left him in a state of perpetual arousal. If something didn’t happen soon, he was convinced he’d spontaneously combust.
“It’s Tiffany,” she said, handing him his phone. “And Mac left me a message to tell you to call her.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off the sway of her breasts, the pink nipples, the razor burn he’d left on her white skin or the patch of auburn hair at the apex of her thighs. His cock was so hard he could pound nails with it as he took his phone from her.
“She’s called six times. Do I need to be worried?”
He scowl
ed at her, insulted by the implication. “Get your sexy ass back in this bed, and don’t ask stupid questions.”
She rolled her eyes at him but did as she was told. That was a first.
When he had her snuggled up tight against him where she belonged, he called Tiffany back so he and Kara could get some peace to finish what they’d started.
“Oh, Dan, thank God you called.”
The panic he heard in the voice of his friend and client alarmed him. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s Jim. He heard about Blaine moving in with me, and he’s threatening to sue for full custody of Ashleigh.”
“Hmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, he may have a case, Tiff.”
“What? Why? We’re divorced! He can’t tell me who I can live with and who I can’t.”
“No, but because he shares joint custody with you, he can say who his daughter lives with and who she doesn’t.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. What if I was getting married? Could he stop that, too?”
“Not as easily.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll get married.”
“Tiffany—”
“I’ve had enough of that dickwad telling me how to run my life. If he wants war, he’s going to get it. Are you able to help me respond to the letter he sent me?”
“Absolutely. Could I call you in the morning to figure that out?”
“I guess it can wait until then.”
Thank God, because he wasn’t leaving this bed until the morning and neither was Kara. “I’ll call you. Try to stay calm and don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”
“Thanks, Dan. I’m sorry to bother you. I hope I didn’t get you away from anything important.”
“I wasn’t doing anything important,” he said, squeezing Kara’s breast and pressing his cock into the cleft between her cheeks.
She laughed softly, as he’d hoped she would.
“Thanks again,” Tiffany said before she ended the call.
Dan turned off his phone and tossed it to the foot of the bed. “Now, where were we?”
“Nothing important, huh?”
“How did I know you’d have something to say about that?”
She turned over to face him.
“You ought to know by now that there’s nothing more important than you,” he said, kissing her. “Than this. Than us.” As he deepened the kiss, he drew her into his embrace, their legs intertwining, her hand on his back, one of his buried in her hair, the other on her breast. In anticipation of this night with Kara, he’d recruited his friend Grant McCarthy to help him cut off the part of the cast that had covered his hand. With his palm now full of supple flesh and tight nipple, he thanked the heavens above for hacksaws.
Just that quickly, they were right back to where they’d left off before the phone interrupted them, only this time the urgency was even more acute.
Kara drew back from him, her lips swollen from kissing him. “I’m so afraid of hurting you.”
He took her hand and brought it down to his erection, closing her fingers around him. “This is hurting me way more than the ribs are right now.”
“Dan, come on. Be serious.”
“I’m dead serious.”
Her laughter filled him with the kind of joy he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. Losing his brother in Afghanistan and then his fiancée days before their wedding to a tryst with his best man had hardened Dan’s emotions, made him remote and closed off in relationships. Kara had penetrated that wall and worked her way so deeply into his heart that there was no room left for bitterness or regrets.
There was only her. There was only right now.
Her phone rang again, and he groaned. “I thought you shut it off.”
“Ignore it,” she whispered, stroking him from root to tip and then running her thumb over the slickness at the top.
“Might be a good idea to take the edge off so I last more than thirty seconds.”
“You think so?”
Lying face-to-face with her on the same pillow, he gazed into her eyes. “Mmm. I’ve been dying for you for weeks now. My sexy nurse. Every time you walk in the room, I get hard. Every time you touch me, I need you.” He slid his fingertips over her arm and felt her muscles flex as she stroked him. “Every single time.”
“Thank you for not dying out there on the water. I would’ve hated to miss hearing you say that to me.”
Dan couldn’t believe it was possible to laugh when it seemed like his entire body was on fire. “Believe me, it’s my supreme pleasure to have survived and come home to you. I thought about you the whole time out there. I knew I was hurt really bad, and all I wanted was to see you again. One more time.”
Kara’s phone rang again.
Dan blew out a deep breath that was filled with frustration. He’d dreamed about being naked in bed with her again, and now that they were finally there, the interruptions were nonstop. “Do you think you could turn that off?”
Unfortunately, she released him to deal with the phone. “I thought I had.” She glanced at the phone. “It’s my mom. Twice in ten minutes. That’s not good.”
“Go ahead and call her back,” Dan said, resigned to his fate.
“No, that’s okay. We’re busy.”
“Trust me when I tell you it’ll keep.”
Kara glanced down at his erection, which was painfully hard, not that he’d tell her that. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He put his arm around her and snuggled up to her. The press of her skin against his was all he needed to maintain the status quo while she called her mother.
“What’s up, Mom?”
Dan was lying so close to Kara that he could hear everything her mother said.
“I thought you might like to know that your sister had her baby.”
“Good for her.”
Judging from Kara’s dismissive tone, the sister in question must be the one who’d married Kara’s ex-boyfriend.
“You don’t need to be snippy, Kara. She is your sister, after all.”
“Maybe on paper.”
“How long are you going to do this?”
“What am I doing exactly?”
“Acting hateful toward your sister for something that happened years ago. Holding on to that bitterness isn’t going to make you happy.”
“I’m very happy,” Kara said, her hand covering his under her breasts. “I’m beyond happy, in fact. But I still hate her for what she did to me, and I always will.”
“Please don’t say you hate her. And always is a very long time.”
Kara had nothing to say to that.
“Do you care at all about your new nephew?”
“Sure. He hasn’t done anything to me. I’m sorry he got such shitty parents, but perhaps the rest of you will see to it that he doesn’t end up as shitty as they are.”
“Kara…”
“I have to go, Mom. I’ve got better things to do than talk about them.”
“His name is Connor,” her mother said. “The baby is Connor.”
“Congratulations on your new grandson. I’ll talk to you soon.” She ended the call before her mother could reply and powered down the phone. Turning to face him, she attempted a sincere smile that failed miserably. “Now, where were we?” Her hand curled around his cock.
Dan covered her hand with his, stopping her from stroking him. “Please don’t act like that news didn’t rock you.”
“They don’t matter to me anymore. I refuse to get sucked into that rabbit hole again when I’ve only recently found the way out.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me, honey.” He brushed a strand of her auburn hair back from her face. “Tell me the truth. I want to know how you really feel.”
“I honestly and truly don’t care. Everyone is happy. What does it matter?”
“It matters that they’re still hurting you, even after all this time.”
“They aren
’t hurting me. I don’t care about them.”
Except she did. She cared desperately. Did she think he couldn’t see the effort she was making to control her emotions?
“Don’t lie to me. Don’t ever lie to me.” He immediately regretted his tone, which was angrier than he’d intended. But it made him damned angry that she’d been treated the way she had by the man she’d once loved and her own sister.
Apparently, his sharp words didn’t matter to her, because she caressed his cheek. “I appreciate that you care so much. I really do. But they don’t matter to me anymore, and they can’t hurt me unless I let them. I choose not to let them.”
“Knowing what they did to you is still somewhat new to me, so is it okay that I’m not over it yet?”
Her smile lit up her face and made her eyes crinkle adorably in the corners. “That’s totally fine.”
“The rest of your family… What do they say about the two of them together?”
“My parents have been weird about it from the beginning. They acted like it was no big deal that Kelly had taken up with my boyfriend behind my back. They had a kind of ‘shit happens’ attitude about it.”
“Seriously?”
“You have to understand, they’re all about family peace and harmony. The rift between Kelly and me has been really hard on them because they see it as a failure on their part.”
“Someone needs to help them get their heads out of the sand.”
“I’ve given up on that ever happening. When my dad gave Kelly away at the elaborate wedding they threw for her and Matt, it became very clear to me that if I stuck around Bar Harbor, I was going to have to be confronted with my sister and her new husband on a regular basis. Thus my move to Gansett Island.” She leaned in and gave him a kiss. “Best thing I ever did.”
“You really think so? Even after everything I’ve put you through?”
“I really think so.” Snuggling in closer to him, she said, “While I appreciate that you care, I don’t want to talk about them anymore. Not when I’ve waited so long to be with you again like this.”
“You’ve been waiting, too?”
“Oh, yeah. That first night we spent together… Let’s just say I’ve relived it a thousand or two times since then.”