Chasing Marisol (Blueprint to Love Book 3) (25 page)

Her thoughts scattered, she had trouble concentrating. "Why?" Guiding her hand, he clicked on the light. She followed the direction of the beam . . . to a spot just beyond where they stood. And Mari laughed with delight. On top of a thin foam cushion, a blanket was spread out. Next to it sat a backpack. On a corner of the blanket lay a bottle that looked suspiciously like champagne, along with two glasses.

"This is the most romantic thing anyone has ever done." Grateful for the darkness, she hoped he wouldn't see the tears she blinked back. But she suspected he could hear them in her overwhelmed voice. "I love you, Jeff."

"Te amo. Only you, Marisol." Removing the flashlight from her trembling hand, Jeff took her in his arms. In the moment before he kissed her, she would have sworn her heart stopped beating. The expression in his beautiful eyes was one she'd never seen before. When he kissed her, it was unlike anything she'd ever experienced. It felt . . . sacred.

And then, there was only him. His strong arms holding her, guiding her to the blanket. The whisper of clothes being tossed aside as they met eagerly. The delight of touching him and being touched— by someone who knew how to make her body sing. And when he finally entered her, her sob of wonder joined his groan of fulfillment.  

***

Much later, as they lay side by side on the blanket, Jeff felt Marisol's hand searching for his. An overwhelming sense of rightness settled over him when their fingers entwined. Staring at the stars overhead, he realized this moment was exactly the way he'd imagined it all those years ago. Sharing his favorite place with the perfect person. The one meant for him. Marisol shivered next to him as the breeze cooled their overheated bodies. Shifting toward her, he propped himself up on one elbow, admiring her beautiful body. Unable to stop himself, he lowered his mouth to an irresistible, perfect breast, pausing when it pebbled under his tongue. "So beautiful, Mari."

Her sharply indrawn breath made him smile. For two hours, he'd made love to her— his body relentless in bringing her pleasure. And each time it grew better. Every shiver, every moan. Each time Mari quaked in his arms . . . each time her beautiful eyes widened, then glazed over with passion— his body answered. And now, as Marisol stirred next to him, wanting him as desperately as he wanted her— Jeff acknowledged what he'd finally confessed to her tonight.

He loved her. He loved Marisol. And he would never stop loving her. When it hadn't been in his life, Jeff had never understood how anyone could possibly believe in love— in the theory that there was a single person out there who could complete your life. He’d always assumed Jake had gotten lucky. And then Harry, too. But he’d never believed it would happen to him.

"As much as I would love to do this again, we should probably be heading back." Reluctantly, he draped his shirt over her shivering body.

She sat up, beautiful hair in wild disarray. "No fair. You shouldn't start something you're unable to finish."

Jeff grinned over her disgruntled expression. "Unable?" In a heartbeat he shifted over her. "Is that a challenge?"

Mari's eyes were luminous as she answered his smile. "It's okay. I know you're tired . . ."

"Never for you, Marisol." Tugging the shirt away, he tossed it aside. His fingers traced slowly down her stomach, each muscle contracting at his touch. When he reached her fold, he caressed her, his fingers confirming she was already wet for him. Her body rose against his hand, suddenly making it difficult for him to breathe. Entering her swiftly, he swallowed her gasp of excitement. As she tightened around him, Jeff grew mindless to anything but the pleasure she was giving him. When he came deep inside her, it was an explosion of light and sound that left him reeling. He muttered yet another truth to her. "I will never, ever be tired of you."

***

The next week passed in a whirlwind for Marisol. In a few short weeks, Hector would be out of school. He was already looking forward to attending summer day camp. The end of school would free Mari up in the afternoons to visit donors instead of being tied to the school bus schedule. She needed to make a final push for donations to finish paying Specialty for the new wing.

"Damn those framer men. They're trackin' sawdust all over the place. We need to talk with Hank about this. He needs to make them clean up their mess every day." Seated across from her, Sharon fumed about the latest inconvenience. Marisol nodded to make her happy.

Construction at New Beginnings had reached a boiling point of progress that involved a frenzy of activity both in and outside the shelter. Though the noise and dust and crowds of work crews were testing Sharon's and the rest of the staff's sanity, Marisol passed through the cacophony in a haze of happiness.

"I know. Jeff leaves his clothes everywhere."

Glancing up, Sharon's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Sugar? Are you even listenin' to me? Earth callin' Planet Lovestruck. Are you there, Mari?"

"Of course I'm here. I'm sitting right across from you." She was in love with Jefferson Traynor. And Jeff was in love with her. Her days were spent smiling, no matter what issue arose.

Sharon snorted. "You've gone as moony over Stud Muffin as Annie has over Hank. I've lost my foreman and my best volunteer in the space of a week. Are you next?"

"I'm busier than ever," she protested. "If I'm mooning, it's productive mooning." Mari grinned when the older woman rolled her eyes.

"Spare me all this love going 'round. What are we going to do when Annie moves out?"

Aware that Sharon was working up a head of steam, Mari shifted her focus. "Annie was excessive with her hours because she was basically trapped here. Now that's she's safe to move, we won't lose her forever. Until she finds a nursing job, she's going to continue to help us out."

"At least we're freeing up a family space," Sharon agreed. "That waiting list is long. Whoever has the misfortune of being next on the list will have big shoes to fill."

Checking her watch, Mari rose from her desk. "Hector's bus is in fifteen minutes. I need to head out there."

Nodding, Sharon's gaze was fixed on her computer. "When you come back, can you check in with Hank to remind him we need an updated construction schedule? Now that they're working inside, we need to huddle with the staff at least once a week so we can plan how to work around the construction."  

Waving to Pete as she left the shelter, Mari's mind sifted through a dozen different issues. Work was getting crazy— her days running together in a blur. To top it off, her parents were visiting this weekend. She still hadn't managed to find the right time to tell Jeff about her former relationship with Nick. Now— she'd be forced to do it tonight. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to mention the incident casually in his presence. It wasn't fair to blindside Jeff with something she should have explained months ago.

This would be the first time her family met Jefferson— with the exception of Manny, who, as far as she knew, hadn't returned since stalking them in April. Though he'd certainly reported back to her father on the details of his surveillance trip, she hadn't heard a peep from her sisters. Surely, if her mom knew the full story, then Serafina and Caridad would have pounced on her for details.

It wasn't as though she was worried about their visit. Her mother and sisters were going to love Jeff. Her overprotective father— perhaps not so much. But that would be the case no matter who she'd eventually brought home. Luis Ortega would spend the entire weekend grilling Jeff like a Cuban chorizo over a low, steady heat. In spite of the quiet strum of dread pooling in her belly, Mari chuckled. Jeff was about to experience a close encounter with a patriarchal cattle prod.

Her thoughts drifted to Luz Covas. Since the visit with Hector ten days earlier and her belligerent demands for a reinstatement of parental rights, she'd gone suspiciously quiet. Relief over Luz' disappearance warred with Mari's desire to just get the adoption over with. Luz's demands fluctuated with her drug use. Before her recent visit, she'd gone eight months without contact. And it had been wonderful. When Luz was using, she didn't care about anyone or anything. But Hector's mother was never really gone for good. Unless the court agreed to move up the date of her adoption hearing, the best Mari could hope for was Luz just staying away.

Ignoring the seductive aroma of baking bread, she studiously avoided the bakery as she turned the corner. She'd be faced with the same dilemma on the return trip— only with Hector, it was always the brightly iced cupcakes he wanted to indulge in. Clearing the corner with her willpower still in check, Mari heard her phone beep and smiled when she heard Jeff's husky voice. "Hey, I'm on my way to pick up Hector at the bus stop. Are you at the shelter?"

Savoring the sound of his confident, sexy rasp, Mari slowed her pace to a stroll. Something about talking with Jeff on the phone felt intimate. It reminded her of talking with him late at night, sharing their thoughts in the dark. "You don't have to meet us. We'll be back in probably— ten minutes." Since he was obviously excited about a small toy he'd picked up for Hector, she let him convince her that he should join them for the walk back. "Okay, I'll be waiting at the bus stop."

Checking her watch, Marisol hastened her pace. Hector's driver was usually prompt. Gladys had been driving the route for nearly twenty years. Only a block away, Mari saw the bus in the distance and hustled the last half block. As Hector's bus approached, Mari could see Gladys at the wheel. Smiling, she raised her hand to wave.

Gladys' expression went quickly from friendly recognition to puzzlement. By the time she pulled to the curb, Marisol sensed an undercurrent of anxiety. Something was wrong.

Jerking the bus to a halt, the elderly woman slammed on the brakes. Concerned, Marisol took a step back. When the door jerked open, Gladys flew down the steps, her skin blanched, her eyes shocked.
What on earth
— was she ill? Lord— was she having a heart attack?

"Gladys? What's wrong?"

"Oh my God— oh my God-"

It took only a moment for Marisol's blood to ice over. It suddenly hurt to breathe around the stabbing panic in her chest. "Where's Hector? Gladys?
Where
is Hector?"

Turning around, Gladys lumbered back up onto the bus, snatching her radio. "Dispatch— dispatch— we have a code ten. I repeat, a code ten."

As the scratchy voice of the dispatcher repeated back the code, Gladys grew hysterical. "Call the police," she shouted. "A child has been kidnapped from stop number twelve."

Kidnapped.

"Hector," she whispered. Over the roaring in her ears, Marisol heard the frantic terror in the elderly woman's voice as she provided their location.

Fumbling with her phone, Marisol couldn't prevent the sobs cascading from her chest as she dialed 911.

***

Whistling, Jeff rounded the corner, eager to show Hector the balsa wood airplane they would assemble after dinner. He'd seen it at lunchtime and promptly remembered how much he'd loved playing with them as a kid. After baseball practice— and prior to Mari scolding them about bath time, he and Hector would have a brief window of opportunity to launch a few test flights from the deck. Grinning, he was already imagining the feasibility of launching from Hector's upstairs bedroom window— and how they'd get away with it without Marisol finding out.

Life was good. Amazingly good. The addition at New Beginnings was ahead of schedule, Jake had just given him the go ahead to price three new projects— and he was in love with Marisol Ortega. Ever since he'd finally said the words aloud, Jeff had discovered he couldn't stop saying them. He didn't
want
to stop saying them.

If anyone had suggested to him three months, two weeks and four days earlier that he would be off-the-charts in love with someone, Jeff would have laughed in disbelief. He would have bet thousands of dollars against the prediction and been completely confident he'd win such an easy sucker's bet.

The strangest thing about this new life— this new perspective— was how freeing it had been. Through the filtered lens of his parents' divorce, Jeff had completely overlooked so many facts. That his parents' marriage had actually been good for many years. That they had truly loved each other. That they
still
loved and respected each other. He'd never bothered to weigh the other variables— too much focus on work, too much outside stress— that had taken such a heavy toll on his parents' relationship. He'd synthesized all the bad emotions— all the anger and fear, the isolation he'd experienced those last few years of high school, and those images had become the ones embedded in his memory. Like a talisman, Jeff had carried them inside him as an adult. As though the only true way to ever prevent being hurt by a woman was to completely avoid any emotional connection.  

The sound of sirens in the distance broke into his thoughts. Lots of sirens, he corrected. Growing closer by the second. His skin prickled to attention as Jeff realized the wailing sound was damn close to where he was heading— Hector's bus stop. Unsure what he would find, he began to run. Each step he took, Jeff grew more certain that something was terribly wrong. Rounding the corner, his eyes snapped pictures. The bus pulled over at an odd angle— as though it had pulled up too fast. Marisol— God . . . had she been hit? Police officers milling through the street. Where was Mari? The knot of fear in his chest loosened only slightly when he saw her. Marisol's back was to him, but it was definitely her. And she was alright. Whole. Standing upright. Not bleeding.