Gansett Island Boxed Set Books 1-16 (Gansett Island Series)

by Marie Force

  David put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “What do you say we stash the rest of the food at my place and go for that walk on the beach I promised you?”

  “That sounds great.”

  They left his place a short time later, driving past the darkened house where Jared had gone back into hiding.

  “Don’t worry,” David said. “I’ll check on him tomorrow.”

  “Oh good.”

  He took her hand and held it all the way to the parking lot at Carpenter’s Beach on the island’s east side. Daisy wanted to tell him about the house and what Maddie had done for her, but decided to wait for their walk. They arrived at the beach where the sun had tucked in close to the land, ablaze in brilliant oranges and reds that fired the sky.

  “Perfect timing,” David said as they took the stairs down to the beach, which was deserted except for a group of seagulls dive-bombing the surf in search of fish. Still holding hands, they kicked off their shoes at the bottom of the stairs and walked to the water’s edge, where waves rolled gently to the shore. The glow of the sun on the water and the skirmishing, squawking birds made for a delightful view.

  “What a pretty night,” Daisy said.

  “Very much so.” He put his arm around her. “Let’s walk.”

  “I have to warn you that I’m a crazy beachcomber.” She pulled a plastic shopping bag from the pocket of her shorts and held it up.

  “What’re we looking for?”

  “I’ll know when I see it, but mostly cool shells, sea glass and driftwood. I love driftwood.”

  “I’m on it.”

  They scoured the beach for the next half hour, filling the bag with a variety of treasures. Daisy appreciated his enthusiasm for her project and praised every shell he found as better than the one before, which made him laugh.

  It was fun to be lighthearted and a little silly with a man. It was freeing to be able to share one of her simple pleasures with him and feel his genuine appreciation for what they were doing.

  “Check this out,” he said, holding up a starfish.

  “Is it still alive?”

  “Might be.”

  “Toss it back into the water. Maybe it still has a chance.”

  Rather than toss it, David walked it to the water’s edge and placed it in the surf.

  “Another life saved, Dr. Lawrence,” she said with a laugh.

  “I’ll add it to my tally.”

  “How many lives have you actually saved?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, seeming embarrassed by the question. “A few.”

  “I’d think you’d remember every one of them.”

  “I wish I did, but things move pretty fast and furious in an inner city ER, so it’s impossible to keep track. That was my wildest rotation.”

  “Which one was your favorite?”

  His smile faded a bit. “Oncology.”

  “How come?”

  “I really liked the doctors I worked with. I learned a lot from them, and the patients were very special people, so upbeat and positive, even when faced with terrible odds. I tried to remember their example when I was going through treatment.”

  “How’d you do?”

  “My depression had far more to do with how miserably I’d screwed up my personal life than it did with the illness. I tried to stay positive, but it was hard to be upbeat about anything after I lost Janey. I can really relate to how Jared feels right now. I hope I never feel like that again. Ever.”

  “I hope not either,” Daisy said softly, realizing in that moment she had the power to hurt him and vice versa. She hoped they’d both learned from their past mistakes and would tread gently with each other’s hearts. Leaning into him, she looped her arm around his waist and loved the feel of his arm heavy across her shoulders. “Something happened today that I really want to tell you about.”

  “I was just about to say the same thing.”

  “You first.”

  “Absolutely not. Ladies first. Always.”

  Daisy stopped walking and turned to face him. “You know the land Mrs. Chesterfield left to the town?”

  “What about it?”

  “The town council voted to use the land for affordable housing for people like me who work in the service industry. I found out today that Maddie put my name in for one of the houses, and I was approved.” She blinked back tears. “I’m getting my very own house, David.”

  He scooped her up and swung her around. “That’s amazing, Daisy! Congratulations.”

  She held on tight to him. “I’m so glad I can stay here. I was dreading having to leave after the season, but my rent is going up, and there’s no way I can swing it. I can barely swing what I’m paying now, even with the raise I got when I took the manager’s job.”

  “Now you don’t have to leave.”

  “Now I don’t have to.”

  He put her down but kept his arms around her when he leaned in to kiss her. “I’m so happy for you to have that worry off your shoulders.”

  “So am I. I’ve never felt so at home anywhere as I do here, and the thought of leaving was killing me.”

  “I’m really happy for you.”

  “Then why do you look so bummed?”

  He dropped his arms from around her shoulders, bent to pick up a flat rock and sent it skipping over the surface of the water. “I was offered a job in Boston today.”

  “Oh.”

  “I know. Ironic right? The same day you get a chance at a secure future here.”

  Daisy crossed her arms and stared out at the horizon, trying to absorb it all. “What kind of job?”

  “The opportunity to specialize in oncology and work with the doctors who guided me through my rotation in that department—and my own treatment.”

  “That was your favorite one.”

  “Yes, and I liked the other doctors in that practice a lot. I learned an incredible amount from them and, of course, I went right to them when I was diagnosed.”

  “So it’s a job you want.”

  “If I was looking to make a big change, I suppose it would be what I want.”

  “Are you not happy running the clinic?”

  “I love running the clinic, and being the island’s only doctor. Makes me feel needed, you know?”

  “I’m sure it does.”

  “Earlier today when I got the call about the offer, you know what my first thought was?”

  “What?”

  “I wonder if Daisy might like to move to Boston.”

  “That was your first thought.”

  “One of them.”

  “Boston. Wow. I’ve never thought about going back there since I left.”

  “I love it there. It’s a great place to live.”

  “I liked it while I was there, but I like it here better.”

  “For the most part, I do, too, but I don’t know… It might be time for a change.”

  Daisy had no idea what to say to that, and a staggering array of thoughts went through her mind as she followed him to an area between two dunes and helped him spread the blanket.

  He stretched out on the blanket and held out his arm, inviting her to join him.

  Settled against his chest, Daisy wanted to ask a thousand questions. Was he going to take the job? What if she didn’t go with him? What did it mean for them? Why did they keep butting up against so many obstacles?

  “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  “I’d rather know what you’re thinking. Are you going to take the job?”

  “If they had asked me a couple of months ago, I probably would’ve jumped on the opportunity. But now…”

  “What about now?”

  “Everything is different now, and it’s not just about me.”

  “You can’t make important career decisions based on what’s happening with us.”

  “Why the hell not? Would you take a job somewhere else and not consider me or how I might feel about it?”

  “Well, no, but that’s diff
erent.”

  “How so?”

  “You’re a doctor, David.”

  “Oh, right I forgot that.”

  She poked him in the belly, making him startle and gasp.

  Chuckling, he brushed his lips over the top of her head. “Your logic sort of stinks, you know.”

  “How so?”

  “Your job, your life, your dreams, your goals are no less important than mine.”

  “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but your job is way more important than mine. Today, for example, they brought Laura McCarthy to the clinic. I bet you helped her to deal with the dehydration and the nausea.”

  “Maybe.”

  “And I heard Carolina Cantrell fell into a thorn bush. I’m sure you had something to do with treating her, too.”

  “Possibly. You’re shockingly well informed.”

  “I was there when they took Laura from the hotel in the ambulance, and Mrs. McCarthy is good friends with Mrs. Cantrell, so she mentioned that at work today. Are they both okay?”

  “They will be.”

  “I ordered more cleaning supplies, put the laundry staff on notice that they’ve got to be quicker in getting the linens washed this time of year and set the schedule for next week. You save lives. I supervise maids. Your job is more important.”

  “Maybe my job is more important to people who are sick, but yours is more important to people looking for a clean bed and a break from their daily grind.”

  “You should’ve been a lawyer. You missed your calling.” She sighed and propped herself up on an elbow so she could see his face. “If you want this job in Boston, you should take it. It sounds like a great opportunity.”

  “It could be. Would you miss me if I went?”

  “Yes, I would miss you.”

  “Would you consider coming with me?”

  “I don’t know. I really like it here. What if I left my job and my friends and everything to go there with you and it doesn’t work out between us? What would I do then?”

  “I’d never leave you high and dry, Daisy. No matter what happens between us.”

  “Still… I’d be starting all over. Again. I don’t know if I could do that.”

  “Then we won’t do it.”

  “You can’t make a decision like this based on the whims of a woman who can’t even have sex with you!”

  Damn if he didn’t laugh, hard. He laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes when he finally caught his breath.

  “It’s not funny.”

  “You are funny.” He tweaked her nose. “You’re happy here. I’m happy with you. We’ll stay put. There’ll be other jobs if we get sick of island life.”

  She stared at him, unable to fathom that he would actually make a decision of this magnitude based on what she wanted rather than what was best for his career. “David, listen to me. You’re acting crazy—”

  He shifted suddenly, pitching her onto his chest and into direct contact with his lips.

  While she had many other things she wanted to say to him, the kiss suddenly demanded her full attention as his tongue pressed into her mouth and his hands in her hair anchored her to him. By the time he finally lightened his hold on her, she’d forgotten what she wanted to say, which she suspected was his goal.

  He turned his focus to her neck, kissing his way to her throat and along her collarbone, nudging her tank top off her shoulder.

  “I know what you’re doing.” He was making her breathless with strategically placed kisses as he held her on top of him in the waning daylight.

  “What am I doing?” he asked, dragging the tip of his tongue along her collarbone.

  She’d had no idea that was such a turn-on. “You’re trying to distract me so I won’t get to tell you it’s nuts to make a career decision based on what I want.”

  “Why?” His hands found their way to her breasts, cupping, shaping, arousing.

  “David,” she said with a protracted moan. She dropped her head to his chest, unable to hold it up any longer. “Will you please listen to me?”

  “I’ve heard every word you’ve said.”

  “But you’re not listening.”

  “I most certainly am too. You think I’m being ridiculous for making a career decision based on what’s best for you rather than what’s best for me. Do I have it about right?”

  She raised her head to look at him. His eyes were alight with amusement. “Yes!”

  “Okay, good. Can we go back to kissing and stuff now that we’ve cleared that up?”

  “We haven’t cleared up anything.”

  “You’re starting to make me feel like you want to get rid of me.”

  “I don’t. You know I don’t, but you need to think about this and make the right decision.”

  “I did think about it, and I’m happy with the decision. Okay?”

  “Is it really because of me that you’re turning down the offer?”

  “Um, may I decline to answer that on the basis that I want to end this conversation and get back to the other one I was enjoying far more?”

  “Answer the question.”

  He sighed deeply and brought his hands to the top of his head, running his fingers through his hair.

  As his erection pressed against her belly, she tried to move off him. Quick as lightning, he had his arms around her again, keeping her from getting away. “It’s a combination of things, but mostly it’s you.”

  Daisy shook her head. “That’s a lot of pressure to put on me.”

  “No pressure. Think of it as me saying I like being here because you’re here. Nothing more than that.”

  “Sure, nothing more than that.”

  “Can we get back to making out now?”

  “Could I ask you one more thing?”

  He moaned dramatically. “As long as it’s not about my job.”

  “Did you hear Tiffany and Blaine are getting married tomorrow?”

  “I did hear that. I saw him after work.”

  “Will you go with me?”

  “Since I’m giving up a job in Boston to stay here with you, I suppose I’ll have to go places with you once in a while.”

  She took a good long look at his face and realized that despite his playful aggravation, he looked more relaxed and at peace than he ever had before.

  “Do I have something on my face?”

  “You look good.”

  “So do you,” he said with an incorrigible waggle of his brows. “Good enough to kiss, in fact.”

  “You always look good enough to kiss. I’ve thought that from the first time I met you. I meant you look relaxed.”

  “Wait, back up… You met me almost two years ago when you were stung by a bee and broke out in hives.”

  “You remember that?”

  “I remember thinking how very lovely you were.” As he spoke, he combed his fingers through her hair.

  “Even covered in all those ugly red welts?”

  “Even then.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “You’d just started seeing Truck back then. I didn’t want to mess anything up for you.”

  “God, I wish you had.”

  “So do I. I’d give anything to have spared you what happened with him. Could I ask you about him?”

  “What about him?”

  “What did you see in him? I want to understand.”

  Daisy thought about that for a minute, allowing her mind to drift back in time to when she first met Truck. “He was fun and funny, and he really seemed to like me. I was lonely, and he was there.” She shrugged, hating to think now about how naïve she’d been—again. “He hid his demons really well for a long time.”

  “I didn’t mean to upset you by asking about him.”

  “You didn’t.”

  “Let’s talk about you and your sexy lips and the way your eyes get very big when you’re surprised and very narrow when you’re mad at me. Let’s talk about this insanely sexy tank top that’s been driving me crazy sinc
e the second I got to your house. And let’s talk about where we’re going to sleep tonight. Your place or mine?”

  That simply, he got her mind off the past and focused firmly on the future. “Yours.”

  “All right, then. Should we head there now before it gets dark?”

  “Mmm,” she said, leaning in to kiss him. “In a minute.”

  With his arms wrapped firmly around her, Daisy lost herself in the kiss. She squirmed on top of him, wanting to get even closer. His tortured groan and his hands on her bottom made her crazy with longing. By the time she drew back to look down at him, the daylight had begun to wane. “Could I ask you something?”

  “Anything.”

  “It’s kind of weird.”

  “I can handle weird.”

  “I try really hard not to think of that night when I was hurt.” She licked her lips and watched his eyes zero in on the movement of her tongue. “But when they brought me to the clinic, you saw what he’d done to me. And that makes me wonder if you ever think about that when you touch me there.” She lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. “See? I told you it’s weird.”

  “I don’t think of that. I think of how sexy and hot you are, how wet you are for me, how much I want to make you come. But I never, ever, ever think about what I saw that night. I swear to you.”

  His bluntly spoken words made her heart race with desire and love. How could she not love him? He wasn’t perfect. Not by a long shot. But it was becoming increasingly clear that he was perfect for her.

  “Thank you for letting me ask you that.”

  “You can ask me anything you want, anytime you want.”

  Emboldened by his words and the affection in his eyes, she said, “Have you ever had sex on the beach?”

  He smiled, as she’d hoped he would. “The drink or the act?”

  “The act.”

  “The beach is one of the only places I had sex until I went to college. The first time we got to do it in a bed was quite something.” When he realized what he’d said, he looked almost stricken. “And you didn’t need to know that.”

  “I like hearing about your life.”

  “But you don’t need to hear about my ex.”

  “She was a big part of your life.”

  “Yes, she was, but she isn’t anymore. You believe me when I say that, don’t you?”

  Daisy bit her bottom lip and nodded.