Beach Lane (15 page)

“I agree,” Susie said. She stood up. “I’d better get home, though I’m honestly not sure why I’m rushing. If Mack even makes it home before I’m asleep, he grabs a quick bite and is right back out the door.”

Shanna frowned. “Are you okay with that?”

“It’s great to see him so excited about work again. He’s throwing himself into getting this paper off the ground. I just wish I could be involved somehow. Maybe then I wouldn’t be freaking out quite so much about him spending all this time with the gorgeous Kristen.”

“Tell him that,” Shanna advised. “Be a part of it, if that’s what you want, Susie. Don’t let him shut you out, even unintentionally.” A wicked gleam lit her eyes. “Or you could greet him in one of those scraps of lingerie I bought for you. That ought to keep him from heading right back out the door.”

“Are you suggesting I use sex to keep my husband’s attention?” Susie asked, not sure whether to be indignant or intrigued by the idea.

“It’s a surefire solution,” Shanna said. “Worked like magic with Kevin when he started spending a little too much time in Annapolis working with Thomas’s foundation.” She rested a hand against her belly. “How do you think we wound up pregnant?”

Susie chuckled. “That’s quite a recommendation,” she agreed, then hugged her friend. “Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime. You know that.”

Susie headed straight home, pulled the sexy black lingerie from her drawer and eyed it speculatively. But when she went to put it on, it no longer fit. The steroids she’d been taking had added pounds. More than she’d realized, in fact. Looking in the mirror at the material that now stretched far too tightly across her butt, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. Nor did the scrap of lace in front do much to conceal the abdominal scar from her surgery. The bra wouldn’t even hook in back.

She grabbed her favorite terry-cloth robe from the closet and belted it tightly as the tears streaked down her cheeks. She was still sitting there when she heard Mack’s key turn in the lock. “Susie!”

She brushed uselessly at her cheeks. “In here,” she said. “Give me a minute. I’ll be right out.”

But he didn’t wait. He walked in, caught a glimpse of her face and his expression fell.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, panic threading through his voice.

Unable to reply, she held up the lacy panties as if the sight of them alone would explain.

Mack merely looked puzzled.

“They…” Her voice caught on a sob. “They don’t fit. Nothing sexy fits.”

She saw the relief in his eyes and knew then just how badly she’d scared him, though he was clearly struggling to sympathize.

“I’ll buy you ten new pairs of panties tomorrow,” he offered.

She frowned. “That is so not the point.”

“Then what is? I’m trying here, Susie, but you have to help me out.”

“I’m fat. I wanted to be sexy and seduce you, but now I can’t.”

He shook his head. “You are far from fat. You’re still the most beautiful, sexiest woman I know. Frankly, all that lace just got in the way. I was terrified of ripping it to shreds.” He slipped a hand inside her robe. “Give me a good, sturdy terry-cloth robe anytime. No straps. No tricky hooks. I just have to loosen the belt a little.” He suited action to words. “Then slide it down one shoulder.”

His gaze fell on her exposed breasts. “And there you are,” he said, his breath hitching in a way that reassured her as his words hadn’t. “Ripe, gorgeous and all mine.”

“Oh, Mack,” she whispered, shrugging out of the robe and clinging to his shoulders.

He was right. Lingerie only got in the way. This, his skin against hers, was all that mattered—that and the unmistakable love she saw shining in his eyes.

Mack hadn’t realized until sometime in the middle of the night that he’d never called Kristen to let her know he wasn’t coming back to the paper. Not that he owed her an explanation. He was the boss, after all, but they’d planned to go over the website design one last time to make sure every element was exactly right. They hoped to go live with it next week, and there were still plenty of decisions left to be made. Though he trusted her judgment in this area, he wanted to be involved in every aspect of the paper’s launch online and in print.

There was already a lot of buzz about it around town. Local businesses were even more eager than he’d anticipated to have an outlet for advertising their products and their sales. Realtors loved having access to both online audiences and those who still preferred to get their news and their housing options from a paper. Mack was feeling more and more confident about the venture’s prospects.

When he walked into the offices he’d found just off of Main Street in a row dominated by accountants, insurance agencies and other service-oriented businesses, Kristen glanced up from her computer. She frowned when she saw him.

“Decide to play hooky last night?” she asked lightly, though there was no mistaking the edge in her voice.

“I should have called,” he apologized. “Something came up.”

“I’ll just bet it did,” she said knowingly. “Your wife got jealous of all the time we’re spending together.”

Now it was his turn to frown. “Susie’s not like that. She’s totally on board with what we’re doing. She knows it takes a lot of hard work and long hours.”

“But when you left here, you were planning to come back. Why the change of plans? What did she do? Something to make you feel guilty, I’ll bet.”

Mack didn’t like the direction of the conversation. It hinted of a possessiveness that was totally inappropriate. Even though he might be oblivious to a lot of what went on in women’s minds, he was smart enough to read between the lines.

“Kristen, what’s this really about? I thought you and I had an understanding. You moving to Chesapeake Shores and taking this job is strictly professional. There’s nothing between us anymore. If you think otherwise, if it’s going to be a problem, then we need to reassess the situation.”

She inhaled sharply at his direct words, then sighed. “Sorry. I did sound like a jealous shrew there for a minute, didn’t I? You’re a newlywed. Of course there are going to be times you want to be with your wife. I just wish you’d called to let me know. I hung out here for hours.”

“You’re right about me letting you know. I’ll be more considerate in the future.”

She hesitated, then met his gaze. “Working with you like this, it’s harder than I expected it to be,” she admitted. “I thought all those old feelings were dead and buried, but I guess they’re not, after all. I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t become a problem.”

“Maybe if you met Susie, had dinner with us or something,” he began in an attempt to try to give her some perspective on exactly where she stood in his life.

She was shaking her head before he could finish. “Not just yet, okay? I’m not quite ready to deal with you and the whole wedded-bliss thing.”

“But Kristen, I am happily married. That’s reality.”

“I know. I get it. That doesn’t mean I want my face rubbed in it just yet. I will respect the boundaries, though.” She sketched an exaggerated cross across her chest. “Promise.”

“That’s good enough for me. But if this gets too uncomfortable for you, say the word and I’ll do whatever it takes to help you land another job. I’d hate not having you here, because you’re the best at this whole internet news business, but I don’t want to screw with your head.”

She grinned at that. “My head’s just fine, thank you. You may be sexy and intriguing and all that, but there are other fish in the sea. I just need to get my stilettos on and go fishing.”

Mack laughed. “Now, there’s an image that’ll make a man’s heart take a dive. If you drove a pickup, you’d be some guy’s ideal.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “My convertible suits me just fine.”

“That’ll work, too,” Mack said. “Want me to fix you up?”

“Absolutely not,” she said, looking genuinely horrified. “The day I need an ex to start finding my dates for me, I’ll throw in the towel and surround myself with cats.”

“Something tells me that’s not going to be your fate,” he said candidly. “If you’d get out of this office for a couple of hours, you’d have the men of Chesapeake Shores swooning all over you.”

“Good idea. Where do the singles in this town hang out?”

“The bar at Brady’s draws a good singles crowd on the weekends. We get a lot of sophisticated out-of-towners there, too.”

She nodded. “Brady’s tonight, then,” she said cheerfully.

But the shadows in her eyes suggested she wasn’t nearly as happy about the prospect as she tried to sound.

15

L
aila rolled over in bed, debated waking Matthew and decided against it. It was easier to slip out in the middle of the night without his entreaties that she stay. In fact, it was getting more and more difficult for her to leave him at all. She’d tried to do it back in the fall, to walk away from what she knew was a terrible mistake.

She’d refused to join his family on Thanksgiving until Jess had pressured her to come. Even after she’d agreed to attend the awkward holiday meal, she’d tried to keep some distance between her and Matthew. He’d challenged her on it, they’d argued and she’d left. She’d been a little surprised that no one in the family had picked up on that. Then again, the focus had been on Mack and Susie and the obvious tension between them.

Even after last night—yet another amazing night—she knew she had to end it. Right now it was all about making love, about the way Matthew made her feel like an incredibly sexy, desirable woman, but she could envision a time when it could turn into something more. That scared her to death. Matt was too young to be ready to settle down and she was starting to hear her biological clock ticking so loudly it could probably be heard across town.

“Laila?” he murmured sleepily just as she pulled on her boots.

“Go back to sleep,” she said softly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Most nights that was all it took to have him wrapping his arms around a pillow and falling straight back to sleep, but apparently not tonight. Instead, he climbed out of bed and pulled on his boxers, giving her a momentary glimpse of a body that made her heart stutter. He walked over and stood in front of her, put his hands on her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. His, as blue as midnight, were entrancing. Right now they were also troubled.

“This has to stop,” he said.

“What?” she asked, not wanting to be drawn into the conversation she knew was inevitable.

“You sneaking out of here in the middle of the night like you’re ashamed of what’s going on between us,” he explained impatiently. “Would it be so terrible if someone saw us leaving here together in the morning?”

“You know it would be,” she said. “It’s not about being ashamed, Matthew. It’s about being prudent. This is Chesapeake Shores. You know the kind of talk it would stir up. In my position at the bank—”

“Damn the bank!” he said fiercely. “This is not about the bank, Laila. It’s about you and your crazy idea that what we have can’t possibly go anywhere.”

“It can’t,” she said simply.

“Tell me why.”

“Because…” She faltered. She could have listed a hundred reasons why their relationship could never work, but knew he’d find a way to counter every one of them. He was good at that, at making what was happening between them seem rational and potentially enduring. She just knew better than to buy it. Not a single one of her relationships with far more suitable men had lasted. Why on earth would this one?

As he waited for her reply, he was clearly growing more exasperated.

“If you throw the age thing in my face, I’m not sure how I’ll react,” he burst out finally. “I swear I sometimes think I’m more mature than you are.”

Laila felt the sting of his words. “That’s a lousy thing to say.”

“Hey, I’m ready to step up and acknowledge what we have. I care about you. This isn’t just a fling for me. How about you? Can you say the same?”

Laila hesitated a little too long.

“I thought so,” he said. “Well, great as the sex is, I’m not settling for just that. Go ahead and leave. You can call me when you decide you’re interested in more than my body.”

She actually thought she heard a trace of hurt in his voice, but that couldn’t possibly be. Matt was the kind of guy who never had anything more than flings. He should be thrilled by this no-strings relationship of theirs, her desire to be discreet, to avoid complications. At one point he had been. Clearly, though, that wasn’t the case any longer.

“Matt, what’s really going on here?” she asked, confused by his desire to change the rules.

“I just told you. I’m tired of having you treat this as some kind of back-alley affair,” he said. He leveled a look into her eyes and added, “Either we go public and give it a chance to turn into something real, or I’m done.”

His words rattled her more than she’d imagined possible. Did she really want this to end? It was certainly the sensible thing, but when she thought of the empty, lonely nights she’d had before this relationship had started, she felt sick inside. The question, though, was whether her feelings had anything at all to do with Matt himself or whether any intelligent, attractive man would have filled the void. She needed time to figure that out.

“Maybe that’s a good idea,” she told him. “Calling it quits, I mean. It sounds as if we could both use some space to figure out what we really want.”

He scowled at the suggestion. “I already know what I want, but if you don’t, then by all means, take all the time you need.”

He started pulling on clothes, his movements jerky. “Let’s go.”

“Where are you going?” she asked, watching as he grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

“I’m taking you home.”

“Matt, it’s two blocks. I can walk.”

“Not in the middle of the night you can’t,” he declared, his scowl daunting. “I don’t care how safe Chesapeake Shores is, at 3:00 a.m. we’re not taking any chances.”

“I’ve walked home before.”

“Sure, when you’ve successfully slipped out without waking me. Well, tonight I’m awake, and I’m driving you home, or walking with you, or walking twenty paces behind. Take your pick.”

She regarded him with frustration. “Geez, you’re stubborn.”

“Not a news flash, darlin’. Now, what’s it going to be?”

She relented. “You can walk with me.”

“Thank you,” he said with exaggerated gratitude.

“Starting the car might wake the neighbors,” she added, knowing perfectly well it would provoke him.

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

They made the two-block walk in silence. Laila felt the tension between them getting thicker and thicker. By the time they reached her two-bedroom bungalow on Primrose Way just off Main Street, she was so rattled she couldn’t get her key into the lock.

“Let me,” Matt said, nudging her aside.

When the door swung open, Laila started to slip past him, but he blocked her way. She met his gaze, saw the anger blazing there. Or was it passion?

“This isn’t over,” he said quietly. “Not by a long shot.”

“I’m sorry.”

He smiled then, even though it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “No need to be. I’ve always loved a good challenge.”

Before she could move, he kissed her soundly, then headed down the block, whistling softly. It was an airy little tune, Irish, if she wasn’t mistaken, a reminder of the O’Brien stubbornness, perhaps.

The sound faded as he turned back onto Main. Only then did she go inside and close the door. Leaning against it, Laila breathed a sigh of relief. She’d done it. She’d called it quits. Again. Or he had. It hardly mattered which of them had first said the words. The whole thing had never made a lick of sense in the first place.

Then she thought of the way Matt’s lips had felt against hers just now—knowing, persuasive, determined. She thought of the immediate heat that had stirred at his touch, and knew with absolutely certainty that Matt had gotten it just right. They were far from done.

Matt showed up at Susie’s just before dinnertime. “I come bearing gifts. Does that earn me the right to stay for dinner?”

Susie grinned at her brother, then caught a glimpse of the rolled-up pages he was carrying. She knew an architect’s drawings when she saw them. “Our house?”

“Just some preliminary sketches, but yes.”

“Gimme,” she said eagerly, wiggling her fingers to grasp the pages.

“Not until you invite me to dinner,” he said, holding them aloft. “What are we having?” He sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything cooking.”

“Mack’s bringing home Chinese. I’ll call him and tell him to add another order of egg rolls, some sweet-and-sour soup and whatever else you want if you’ll hand me those drawings now.”

“Call first,” Matt said. “You might back down if you don’t like the drawings, and I’m starved.”

Susie laughed, but she made the call and told Mack about her brother’s impromptu visit. “And hurry, Mack. There’s something you have to see.”

“What?”

“You’ll see when you get here.”

He hesitated. “Look, as long as your brother’s there, why don’t I bring Kristen along?”

Susie froze. “Tonight? You want to bring her here now?”

“It just seems like the perfect opportunity for you to get to know her. Maybe she and Matthew would hit it off.”

Susie thought of the drawings of their dream house that her brother had brought. She didn’t want to share those with her husband’s ex-lover. “Not tonight,” she said tightly.

“You’ve said that every other time I’ve suggested it, too.”

“Then maybe you should take the hint,” she said, slamming down the phone.

She looked up to find her brother staring at her worriedly. “What was that about?”

“Nothing to concern you,” she said, trying to inject a chipper note into her voice.

Matthew clearly didn’t buy it. “Susie, what’s going on? Are you and Mack having some kind of problem?”

“No,” she said at once, determined not to stir up his protective instincts. Next thing she knew the entire family would be on the warpath. While that might be satisfying on some levels, it wasn’t the way to handle any issues in her marriage.

“Do I need to have a talk with him?” Matthew persisted.

“Absolutely not. Now, let me see those drawings.”

“Don’t you want to wait until Mack gets here?”

“There’s no telling how long he’ll be. Show me,” she commanded.

Matthew rolled out the drawings on the dining-room table, then stood back while she studied them. She’d seen enough architectural plans in her lifetime to know exactly what she was seeing. She blinked back tears.

“Oh, Matt, it’s perfect. It’s exactly the way I envisioned it.”

“Four bedrooms and a study, just the way you wanted. There’s a lot of glass facing the bay upstairs and down, so the light should be amazing.” He gestured toward the foundation. “I’ve used fieldstone here, and a grayish-brown siding with white trim. I think it’ll make the house blend into the woods surrounding it, so it looks almost like part of the landscape.”

“And you can avoid tearing out all of the beautiful old trees?”

“Of course. We’ll do as little damage to the area as possible. I didn’t grow up around Uncle Thomas without learning a thing or two about protecting the environment.”

The front door opened then and Mack walked in, saw the two of them huddled over the drawings and crossed the room. “What do we have here?” he asked as he set aside the bags of takeout.

Susie ignored the remnants of her earlier annoyance and beamed at him. “Plans for our house on Beach Lane,” she told him, then quickly added, “They can be modified if there’s anything you hate or anything I didn’t think of. Matt wanted to do them for us as a wedding present.”

Mack nodded. “It’s an amazing present,” he told Matthew, though Susie heard the reservation in his voice. “Let’s take a look.”

Susie left it to her brother to explain the drawings while she got out plates and silverware for their dinner. She set the far end of the table, and Mack pored over the drawings at the opposite end.

“Well?” she prodded eventually, studying his expression. “What do you think?”

He met her gaze. “Is this the house you want?”

She nodded. “I think it’s perfect.”

“Then it’s the house we’ll build,” Mack told her. “We won’t be able to get started on it right away. Every dime I have is tied up in the paper.”

Susie started to tell him that her father had offered to front them the money, but now wasn’t the time. Mack would turn the offer down flat, especially if she made it in front of her brother.

“I know, but it’s great to have the design ready to go when we are,” she said enthusiastically.

Mack nodded. “Absolutely.” He clapped Matthew on the back. “Thanks. You did a great job. It’s an amazing present.”

“I was happy to do it,” Matthew said, looking from Mack to her and back again. “Look, I know I planned to stay for dinner, but I think I’ll take off. You all probably don’t get a lot of time together these days. I shouldn’t intrude.”

“Don’t go,” Susie pleaded. “I promised you dinner.”

“I’ll just take my egg rolls and soup home,” Matthew said. “No big deal.” He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “See you soon.”

He left before she could summon up another argument. She whirled on Mack.

“Why did you run him off?”

He stared at her incredulously. “Me?”

“He obviously felt the tension between us.”

“Probably because he knew you’d hung up on me earlier,” Mack said. “Why did you do that, by the way?”

“Because I couldn’t believe you wanted to bring your ex-lover over here to meet my brother. I don’t want her in our personal lives, Mack. It’s too much.”

With that, she burst into tears and left the room, cursing herself for being so foolish and letting him see how just the mention of Kristen was so upsetting to her.

Mack followed her into the bedroom, then sat down beside her.

“Susie, I thought you were okay with her being here,” he said.

“I was,” she murmured. “I am. Theoretically, anyway.”

She looked up and caught the beginnings of a smile on his lips. “Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

“I’m not. I’m just thinking about how Will pegged it exactly right.”

“Will? What does he have to do with anything?”

“He told me you’d say what I wanted to hear, then regret it later.”

“I’m sorry. I know I’m being unreasonable. And I probably would feel a thousand times better if she were involved with someone else, but my brother, Mack? Come on. That’s a little too close to home.”

He shrugged. “And probably a pipe dream anyway, if he’s involved with someone else.”

Susie frowned. “I wonder about that. He hasn’t mentioned anyone recently.”