by Marie Force
“More like making plans.” She reached for him, and he came down on top of her, his lips hovering just above hers. “I will never have the words to adequately thank you for what you did today.”
“Neither will I.”
“Wait, what did I do?”
“You married me. You made me the happiest guy to ever walk this earth just by saying ‘I do.’”
“That was all it took?”
“Yep.”
“That was nothing compared to what you did.”
“I couldn’t stand to see you so worried. It was killing me.”
She touched the ring on his finger, loving the way it looked there. “We’re going to have to take these off, or we’ll give ourselves away.” They’d asked the people who were there today to keep their secret so as not to take anything away from the big day they had planned for next Saturday. Other than Paul, they planned to tell no one else about their first wedding.
“I know, but we can leave them on tonight.”
“Yes, we can,” she said, smiling up at him. “Can you believe we’re actually married?”
“No, I can’t. This whole thing has been like a dream. From the first moment your tomato hit my back, I’ve been living the sweetest dream I’ve ever had.”
She blinked back tears. “You saved me.”
He shook his head. “We saved each other.”
Trailing a finger down his chest, she looked up at him. “I had a surprise for you today, too, but yours totally trumped mine.”
“I love surprises, especially your kind. Do tell.”
“You know that other project we’ve been working on for a while now?”
“The house?”
She shook her head. “The other one,” she said, waggling her brows. Taking his hand, she laid it flat upon her abdomen. “Success.” Just as she would never forget what he’d done for her, neither would she forget the look of stunned amazement that overtook his face when he realized what she was telling him.
“Yeah?” he asked in a gruff tone as tears filled his eyes.
“Uh-huh. I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve been such an emotional basket case lately.”
“When did you find out?”
“This morning. I had planned to tell you at bedtime.”
He gathered her up into a tight hug. “Jenny… God, could this day get any better?”
“I can think of one way it could be better.” Jenny drew him into a deep, sexy kiss, expecting that to set him off the way it usually did, but everything was different tonight. He went slowly, kissed her softy, touched her reverently, worshiping her and making her burn for him, especially when he dropped his forehead to her abdomen, clearly overcome by the news she’d shared. Alex worked around the gown, easing it down to reveal her nipple, pushing it up to kiss between her legs and leaving it on when he finally entered her, after what felt like an eternity spent waiting for this very moment.
She’d expected to be married for years now, but her plans had been thwarted on another clear September day so long ago. All the pain and suffering she’d withstood in the ensuing years had led her to Alex and a second chance she’d never expected to have. He’d shown her what was still possible and had mended her broken heart with his unwavering love and devotion.
At times, he could be gruff and crude, but she loved those qualities as much as she loved his sweet, tender side. She loved everything about him.
“Jenny,” he whispered as he pushed into her and withdrew almost completely before going deep again. “I love you so much. So goddamned much.”
“I thought I knew how much I love you, but today…”
“I’d do anything for you—and our baby.”
And he’d shown her as much with what he’d done today. “I’ll never, ever forget this day.”
“Neither will I. This is the anniversary we’ll celebrate. Just us.”
“Yes.” She arched her hips into him, the now-familiar climb making her legs quiver.
“Come for me. I want to feel you tight and hot around me.”
He never held back, especially when they were in bed, and tonight was no exception. His words were as powerful as the deep thrusts of his body into hers, taking her right to the edge of madness the way he always did. She held on tight to him, her rock, her love, and let him take her away in a storm of desire and need and love so deep it could never be described in mere words.
And then he was right there with her, surging into her and taking his own pleasure.
After a long quiet interlude, he said, “What do you think of marriage so far?”
“I think it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Me, too, baby.” Kissing her, he said, “Me, too.”
The night sky was littered with stars that stood out in the complete darkness that covered Erin’s little corner of Gansett Island. Like she’d told Slim, when she’d first lived here, she’d been scared of the dark. But now, after more than a month of dark nights, she’d gotten used to it and had learned to embrace the peace and quiet.
She had her sore foot propped up on a cooler and a glass of wine in hand as she stared up at the heavens with tears streaming down her face—tears she deeply resented. How could she be anything other than thrilled for Jenny, the woman who would’ve been her sister-in-law but had instead become one of her closest friends?
They were bound by the tragedy that had marked their lives by taking the most important person to both of them away forever. It had taken years for them to recover their equilibrium after they lost Toby, and Erin was truly happy for Jenny that she’d found her second chance with Alex.
But… Seeing the love of her late brother’s life marry someone else had hurt worse than anything had in a very long time. It had hurt much more than she’d expected it to. As one of Jenny’s bridesmaids, Erin had been mentally preparing herself for Jenny’s wedding for months now. She wasn’t quite there yet, which was why today’s surprise wedding had left her reeling.
She brushed away the stupid goddamned tears that should’ve stopped a long time ago but still came despite her relentless desire to stop crying about things that couldn’t be changed. Toby would be so pissed with her if he knew she was still crying over him all these years later. Though she thought of him every day, it had been a long time since she’d cried over him. Hopefully that would count for something with him.
Erin was jostled out of her pity party by the roar of an engine coming up the long dirt driveway to the lighthouse. The motorcycle headlight found her in the darkness, giving her a whole new appreciation for how it felt to be a deer.
The engine died. “Just me,” a now-familiar male voice said.
She frantically wiped her cheeks so he wouldn’t know that she’d been sitting alone in the dark, crying for her dead brother. “You sort of scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry about that. What’re you doing out here alone in the dark? Thought you were scared of it.”
“I was scared. I’m not anymore.”
He took a seat on the grass next to her. “What changed?”
“I got used to it, I guess.”
“How’s the hoof?”
“Better today. The crutches are worse than the ankle.”
“I remember that from when I was on them once after I messed up my knee. Couldn’t wait to be rid of them.”
“Did you fly today?”
“Uh-huh. Five round trips. I’m spent.”
Something about the way he said that made her laugh. “Sure you are. You love every second of it.”
“I really do. Nothing I’d rather be doing. Well, almost nothing.”
Thanks to the low sultry tone of his voice, there was no way she could misunderstand what “almost nothing” entailed.
“How was your day?”
She started to say quiet and uneventful, but there was something about the blanket of darkness, the burgeoning friendship and how easy he was to talk to that had her telling him the truth. “I went
to a wedding.”
“On a Tuesday?”
“It was a special sort of wedding. Can you keep a secret?”
“Pilots are like bartenders. We keep everyone’s secrets.”
“This is kind of a big one.”
“I won’t tell anyone, Erin. You have my word.”
She couldn’t say how she knew, but instinctively she understood that he was the kind of guy who stood by his word. After all, he’d come back to check on her, hadn’t he? “Jenny and Alex got married today.”
“Wait, I thought their wedding was next weekend. I’m flying her folks over for it.”
“It’s still on. You know how I told you she was supposed to marry my brother, Toby? Well, apparently she’s been really stressed as the wedding gets closer. Even though she knows the likelihood is infinitesimal, she’s been afraid of something happening to Alex the way it did to Toby. Alex couldn’t stand to see her so wound up and worried, so he put together a wedding for today so they could get it done and she could relax and enjoy their actual wedding.”
“Wow, that’s pretty cool.”
“I thought so, too.”
“Is that why you’ve been crying?”
Erin closed her eyes against the rush of grief and pain and emotion that she hadn’t wanted anyone else to see.
Before she could formulate a reply, he said, “She was supposed to marry your brother, and today was hard for you.”
“Yeah,” she said softly. “As happy as I am for her…”
“I get it. I’m sure she would, too.”
“She’ll never know I was anything other than thrilled for her and Alex. They’re great together, and she’s certainly earned the right to be happy.”
“You’re a good friend to feel that way. She’s lucky to have you.”
“We’re lucky to have each other. We’ve been through the fire of hell together and come out on the other side, stunned and altered, but we survived.” She wiped her face and laughed. “How do you get me to tell you these things? I don’t even know you.”
“Pilots and bartenders,” he said, making her laugh again. “What do you want to know about me?”
“Did your mother name you Slim?”
“No, my grandfather did, actually.”
“I don’t mean to be insulting, but you aren’t exactly super skinny or anything.” He had the muscular build of a man who took good care of himself.
“Is that a fat joke?”
“Hardly! And you know it.”
“Yeah,” he said, chuckling, “I know. I was a skinny kid who had the same name as my dad, so my gramps started calling me Slim, and it just sort of stuck long after I wasn’t a skinny kid anymore.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Was your brother’s real name Toby?”
Surprised by the question, she said, “No, it was Tobias, after our grandfather, but he hated that name and always went by Toby. Why?”
“My real name is Tobias Fitzgerald Jackson Junior.”
“It is not.”
“It is, too.”
A sob hiccupped from her chest as disbelief warred with hope. Was it possible that her beloved Toby had sent a new Toby to her? Did things like that even happen? Who was to say they didn’t?
“I almost said something the other night when you told me his name had been Toby, but I wasn’t sure if I should.” In a cajoling tone, he said, “I can show you my license if you don’t believe me.”
“I believe you,” she said softly.
He reached up and took hold of her hand. “It’s kind of cool, right?”
“It’s way cool. I’m glad you told me.”
“In light of this incredible coincidence, you’re going to have to have dinner with me soon.”
Laughing despite the tears that continued to cascade down her cheeks, she said, “You don’t give up, do you?”
“Not on something worth fighting for.”
And here she’d thought Alex’s surprise wedding had been the romantic grand gesture of the day. Slim was giving him a run for his money.
“Does anyone call you Toby?”
“Nope. I’ve never gone by that. I was Tobias to my mother a few times during my reckless youth. Otherwise, I’ve always been Slim. But you could call me Toby if you wanted to.”
“Would you answer to it?”
“Probably not the first few times. I’d come around eventually if it meant getting your attention. So about this dinner you promised me. Still a yes?”
“I believe it is.”
“Really?”
His reaction made her giggle like the girl she used to be. “Really.”
“When?”
“I’ll let you know.”
He groaned. “You’re going to make me work for it, aren’t you?”
“A wise man once told me that anything worth having is worth fighting for.”
“That man needs to be stoned.”
Erin dissolved into a fit of laughter that morphed into a gasp when he ran his lips over the back of her hand. A jolt of awareness traveled up her arm that sucked the breath from her lungs. She’d never reacted to any man that way—ever.
“I’ll do the work if you promise it’ll be worth it in the end.”
“Define ‘worth it.’”
“Dinner, of course. What’s your dirty mind thinking?”
“Dessert. Does this dinner of yours include dessert?”
“It comes with whatever you want.”
“In that case, do your worst.”
“Game on.”
Chapter 19
Big Mac McCarthy entered the bar at the Beachcomber and took a look around, locating his younger brother at the far end of the long bar.
Chelsea, the bartender, caught his eye. “Thanks for coming, Mr. McCarthy.”
“I’m glad you called, sweetheart. How long has he been here?”
“Couple hours now.”
“Is he talking?”
“Not much. Just drinking. I told him no more after the last one.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Big Mac moved to the far end of the bar and slid onto the stool next to Kevin’s, nudging his brother. “What’s up?”
“What’re you doing here?”
“Same thing as you.” He accepted an icy bottle of light beer from Chelsea with a smile and a wink for her.
“Did she call you?”
“Nope.” He’d never toss Chelsea under the bus for doing the right thing.
“So you just happened to turn up out of the fog? Total coincidence?”
“No fog tonight. Beautiful clear night out there. You want to get out of here and take a look?”
“Nah, I’m happy here.” He noticed his glass was getting low and scowled. “Or I was until she shut me off.”
Despite having consumed a lot of alcohol, Kevin sounded remarkably sober. “You must’ve been here awhile for that to happen.”
Kevin’s shoulder lifted into a shrug. “Nothing else to do.”
“You coulda come to my house. I wouldn’t have shut you off. Lots of empty bedrooms upstairs if you ever need one.”
“You and Linda don’t need your miserable little brother underfoot.”
“Hate to see you this way, Kev.”
“Hate to feel this way. All these years I’ve spent counseling other people on how to save their marriages, and mine went up in flames right before my eyes. And the best part? I didn’t even see it coming. How’s that possible?”
“You didn’t think you had anything to worry about.”
“So I slacked off. I didn’t pay attention. Look at where that got me.”
“Have you talked to her at all?”
“Here and there. Mostly logistics about the house and the bank accounts and filing papers.”
“No talk of reconciliation?”
“Nope. She’s done, and with hindsight, I guess I don’t blame her. She got a better offer with a younger guy, of all things.”
“Is that what bugs you most
? That he’s younger?”
“The whole thing bugs me.”
“Do you know the guy?”
Kevin shook his head. “Someone she met through work, I guess. She swears nothing happened between them until she left me, but she’s talking physically. She’s been having an emotional affair with him for a while now.”
Big Mac signaled to Chelsea to bring Kevin one more drink, pointing to himself to let her know that he’d take responsibility for him.
A short glass of bourbon landed on the bar in front of Kevin.
He looked up, seeming surprised. “How’d that happen?”
“It’s all in who you know around here, my friend.”
“Another one of your groupies?” Kevin asked with the first hint of amusement Mac had seen in him.
“I like to call them friends.”
Snorting, Kevin said, “You always were popular with the ladies.”
“We’re not talking about me here. We’re talking about you and how we’re going to get you out of this funk you’re in. Your sons are worried about you.”
That got his attention. “They are? How do you know?”
“They’ve told me so. You haven’t been yourself since things went south with Deb. They’ve noticed it. We all have. I told them you’re grieving the end of something that meant a lot to you, and in time you’ll be back to your old self. I suggested they give you a little space to work things out.”
“Is that what you’re doing? Giving me some space?”
“I’m making sure you don’t do something stupid like get behind the wheel of a car after you’ve been here for hours.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Good to know.”
“Always the big brother.”
“I take my responsibilities seriously,” Mac said with a grin. “What can I do, Kev? How can I help you through this?”
“Damned if I know.”
“It’s going to take some time, but you’ll get past it. We’ll make sure of it.”
“What would you do if Linda suddenly up and left you for a younger guy?”
The very thought of it was like an arrow filled with fear landing in the vicinity of Big Mac’s heart. “I, um…”