Love on Lavender Island (A Lavender Island Novel Book 2) (23 page)

“Never mind,” Adam said, pulling her back. “That’s a dumb bet.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and they swayed to the mournful country song.

“This is nice,” he said.

“I’m glad you like it. And, by the way, to your first point, she’s figured us out already.”

“Amanda has?”

“She cornered me in the golf cart one afternoon.”

“And she’s okay with us . . . you know . . . being FRED, or whatever?”

“Well, I didn’t explain it like that, but she seemed to be okay with our being together.”

“So what in hell are we sneaking around for? Come spend the night with me.”

“We’re still trying to be good role models, Adam.”

“Ah. Foiled again.”

The night Paige’s new king-size bed arrived, she invited Adam over to test it out. They had a long, languid evening romping in the new bed, since Amanda was down at the harbor with Garrett and some of his friends.

It was fun to be with Adam in what felt like her own home. Alone. Relaxed. Comfortable. Maybe too comfortable. It felt as if they were playing house.

She watched the moonlight shadows play along the ceiling after her second orgasm of the evening and ran her fingers through his hair.

“How is the gazebo coming along?” he asked sleepily.

It was coming along beautifully. Paige couldn’t stop staring at it every time she walked by. But having Adam in her own bed, dreamily watching shadows, and hearing his relaxed voice talk about home repairs made the feeling of playing house come on even stronger—making her feel sad this was going to end. She tried to conjure up her promises to be FRED.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to talk about land when we were naked?” she said, her fingers still playing with his hair.

“I thought it was make promises,” he mumbled.

“Wasn’t it any discussion of deals?”

“I don’t remember. But if you don’t want to talk about wood and paint and gazebos, trust me, I’m okay with that. Instead, I can ask you about the other three.”

“Other three what?”

He got up on an elbow. “You said I didn’t give you the best sex you ever had. That I was among the top four. So I want to know who the other three are.”

“I said the
most intense
.”

“I stand corrected.” He grinned. “So who are these other three?”

“We’re not really going to do this, are we?”

“I sort of want to.”

“Why?”

“I want to know what they did so I can top it.”

Paige had been kidding when she’d said that. But if the man wanted to improve his already talented skills, far be it from her to get in his way. She took on her sauciest tone and called up her best Mae West.

“Let’s just say you’re almost number one.” She smiled.

“What do I have to do to be number one?”

“Well, one man made me see stars once when I came.”

“Is that right?” Adam crawled up her body and put his biceps on either side of her head. “What was he doing to you that you saw stars when you came?”

“That’s where you have to use your imagination.”

Adam grinned. “Challenge accepted, Paige Grant. Meet me at midnight in the hayloft.”

After a few more chores, dinner, a shower, then a long evening of shopping for old ranch-house furniture online, Paige closed her laptop.

It was almost time to meet Adam.

Her fingers tingled with excitement as she brushed her hair and changed. As the clock ticked toward twelve, she threw her hairbrush down and skipped out into the meadow, pulling a wrap around her shoulders against the night air. The moonlight bounced off the long blades of grass that tickled her ankles, and she inhaled the scent of night-blooming jasmine. She imagined Adam in the hayloft, waiting for her, and her heart thrummed.

She couldn’t believe this was happening. She knew she should stay focused on FRED, keep her heart safe, stay distant from Adam, and all that, but she could feel herself falling. She’d been crushing on him for so long—and had built up an imaginary love for a man she’d never known—but now that she’d met him, and gotten to know him, the imaginary love was starting to become real. And now that the physical intimacy was matching every one of her fantasies, he was becoming almost mythical in her mind. If she truly wanted to protect her heart, she needed to stop seeing him. Otherwise she was going to keep falling and falling until she tumbled down. But she would focus on that tomorrow. Tonight she couldn’t wait to feel what he was going to do to her.

Through the dark, she could see a soft glow inside the hayloft and raced toward it, tugging the wrap around her. Once there, she pressed the heavy wooden door open. Adam was already inside, sitting in the center on a large haystack, fully dressed. He had three thick blankets thrown over a cluster of haystacks near him, and two lanterns on the ground that cast shadows on the wood. He smiled and held out his arm as she stepped inside.

She sauntered toward him, then straddled his lap, positioning herself over the bulge in his pants while he made a sound deep in his throat. He looked up at her with eyes that were liquid, adoring, begging, and thankful, until she started to move—then his eyes were suddenly anguished.

“Paige.” His voice was thin, like paper in the wind.

She undid his shirt buttons, moving just enough to torment him. She wanted his shirt off—wanted to see the muscles she adored, wanted to touch them again, wanted to feel the strength in his arms, wanted his skin against hers.

“Paige.”
He suddenly reached up and stopped her hand. “Let me do you. Undress for me.”

She smiled and threw off the wrap, then unbuttoned her blouse slowly, loving the look in his eyes. They were ravaging her, devouring her, and she watched them the whole time—his pupils dark, wide, wild—while she took her time getting rid of the blouse and then starting on her skirt.

Adam sat quietly, trying to look controlled, but Paige could see the delirium there. When she got the skirt to the ground, she bent at the waist to pick it up, tossed it to the side, then stood before him in her pink bra and thong, letting him look her up and down.

“Turn around,” he rasped.

She did.

Although he was trying to look restrained, his eyes told a story of a man on the brink.

“You are magnificent.” He yanked her back onto his lap, against his pants, kissing the cleavage formed by her favorite push-up bra, hinting at promises of things his tongue might do, and she felt her skin prickle.

Paige chose not to think about the fact that that was the second line her mom had predicted. She chose, instead, to lean back and let him kiss her, and to run her hands through his hair while he undid her bra and adored each breast and drew each of her nipples between his lips until her toes curled.

“Lean back farther,” he murmured, gently lowering her onto another hay bale behind her, her hips still in his hands. Her shoulders settled into the blanket on the bale, and she wriggled into position. The thrill of it was almost more than she could stand. Her bottom and pelvis were still in his lap, face up, and he played with her as if she were a toy. He ran his touch lightly along her stomach and brought his fingertips to the band of her panties, tugging at them, torturing her. She writhed in his hands.

“Adam, I can’t wait.”

“Of course you can.”

His fingers were light and teasing, outlining the tiny triangle of her panties, tantalizing her until she was arching her back and letting tiny moans escape her lips.

“I can’t,” she whispered. The pleasure was too great, almost to the point of pain—the erotic position of her hips so high, the inability to fully see what he was doing, the teasing feel of his too-light touch, making her ache for more pressure.

“Adam,
please
.”

“Baby, we haven’t even gotten started yet.” He pulled lightly at the front of her panties. The combination of his expert touch and the wind whispering through the door and flickering across such intimate places of her body caused her to arch her back and go out of her mind for a second.

“Adam.”

“Relax.” He scooted her down, shifting himself back, and she knew what was coming next. The wind sent another meadow gust through the open door and puckered her breasts. Adam’s hands splayed along her back. She writhed against him, and his other hand pulled at her panty front, and a long, slow ache settled between her legs. She waited and felt the wind and closed her eyes. Then she felt his tongue, warm and insistent.

“Oh,” she cried out, not quite ready for the thrill that shot through her, and then—
again
. “Oh God, Adam.”

His tongue grazed her, swiping underneath her panties, adding to the aching sensation, as he gently pulled them to one side, and let his tongue touch her, and let her cry out, and then pulled the other side, teased her again, let his tongue touch, let her cry out.

He licked and tormented until she couldn’t stand it anymore—she was on a plateau in the wind, standing naked on a mountaintop, her arms open wide—and
Oh God, Adam
—she spiraled, and spun, and his tongue was flicking in and out and—
Oh please
—he entered her, wet and warm, and she pushed to meet him, and ached for him to touch her there, right there—
Oh there, oh yes
—and she arched her back and kept spinning, and splitting, and pushed to meet him again for—
Oh there, yes, Adam, there—
and then—

“Oooooooh God,”
she cried out as he finally touched the ache, and then the ground wasn’t there.

She was weightless and floating, and the wind was carrying her down.

When she opened her eyes and was able to focus fully, she looked straight up through the hayloft, where a skylight had been opened that she hadn’t noticed before.

There she could truly see stars.

While the wind made a hollow whistling sound, and Paige lay still, a pressure started between her eyes, and a couple of quiet tears trickled down each side of her face.

They weren’t tears that belonged to a particular feeling—they weren’t from sadness or relief or fear—they were simply tears from too much emotion in general, too much emotion felt for this one man, who was still holding her with his enormous hand splayed beneath her back, where he’d bent her backward. The tears felt like a relieving of pressure, the pressure of too much of everything, as if her body could handle only so much feeling, and the rest needed to be squeezed out in a couple of salty drops.

As the feeling of the uncomfortable hay against her shoulders came into her reality, and the wanting ache between her legs was replaced with a feeling of satiation, and she could hear the wind outside again, she knew she was back to the existing moment.

Adam adjusted her panties, straightening them in a sweetly clumsy gesture, then reached forward and pulled her up.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her toward him, keeping his eyes on her.

“No good?” he said, smiling.

She laughed.

He tucked her head under his chin and held her there like a child. They simply sat like that and listened to the wind coming across the meadow, rocking together on the hay bale.

CHAPTER 22

Adam worked all the next day on the long front drive into the ranch, which needed new gravel along the side of the rosebushes. Antonio and Gordon came to help, and the three men donned their work gloves and parked their gravel-filled wheelbarrows under the sun along the quarter-mile stretch.

He appreciated the help, and he liked having someone to talk to. He especially liked having someone who could take his mind off Paige. Mostly he needed to know it was possible. Because he’d been thinking about her almost incessantly for the last fifty-six hours and needed to know he hadn’t lost all his senses.

Last night had been incredible. And damned intense. He hadn’t meant for it to be—intense, that was. He’d meant for it to be hot. He’d meant for her to anticipate. He’d meant for her to come. He’d meant for her to see stars.

But he hadn’t meant for the intensity of the end of the night, when he’d pulled her into his lap and held her quivering body and felt her tears on his neck. He hadn’t meant to have his own heart feel so full and want to hold her forever and feel that kind of power in a unity he hadn’t known existed. He hadn’t meant to pull the blanket up around them and settle them into the softer hay and fall asleep with her under the stars. He hadn’t meant to wake up with her in his arms, and stare at her sleeping face as the morning light came through. He hadn’t meant to spend the daybreak wondering how he was possibly going to say good-bye soon . . .

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he scrambled to get his gloves off. He stood in the beating sun, wiped his forehead, and leaned on his shovel near a rosebush.

“Yeah?” he said when he saw it was Bob.

“Adam, I have great news.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“MacGregor just made an official offer, so we can start escrow.”

The wind left Adam’s lungs in a whoosh. He’d been waiting to hear this news for nearly six months. He’d been doing everything for MacGregor’s approval—fixing roads, fixing the house, selling off animals, making promises, making plans, going over numbers, making calls, mending fences, dealing in bison, and not sleeping at night. And now he was getting the news he’d been waiting for the whole time.

“So we have thirty days?”

“Yep. Thirty, exactly.”

He took a deep breath and wondered why he wasn’t more elated. “That’s great.”

“I thought you’d be a little more excited. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. This is great. Good work. I’m impressed you carried this off. I’m just . . .”

He couldn’t even think of how to fill in the rest.

He was glad to have his plans fulfilled, but he was sad to be . . . what? Leaving his family home for real? Leaving the people he knew and loved? Starting over?

He knew it was all those things.

But there was something else now. Something that felt as if it was a beginning that he wasn’t letting bloom. Something he hadn’t known he needed, but now he wondered how he’d live without. Something that had kept him warm all night and made him smile first thing this morning when he realized it was still in his arms.

Adam suddenly had the terrible awareness that he’d let happen what he’d never intended to—he’d fallen for Paige Grant.

But she had not fallen for him. She’d told him too many times. They were staying FRED. And he’d never be accepted in her family anyway. Especially by Ginger. And how would they be a couple? Either he’d have to move to LA, which he couldn’t do because of Amanda, or Paige would have to follow him to Alabama. And Paige probably didn’t want to move to Alabama or start life with a teenage daughter. He could ask, but he’d probably freak her out. He’d be like Ted or Todd or whoever with the red frame.

He might just have to ride this one out. Enjoy her during the time they had left but not expect more than she could give.

Then he’d pack up his new little family of two, including Denny, and head out to start a new life alone.

He’d get Paige out of his mind.

He owed this to Amanda.

Paige stood in the yard, admiring the pansies she’d planted around the freshly painted gazebo, when her phone began jangling “It’s My Party.”

“Hi, Mom.”

“How is everything going, dear?”

“Fine. How are you?”

“Great. I’m getting all kinds of encouragement from my doctor.”

“That’s great! Like what?”

“Like how strong I am, how well I’m doing. And I got the go-ahead to travel. So guess where I’m visiting?”

Silence filled the line while Paige willed her mom to say something other than Lavender Island.
Anything else. Anyplace else. Anywhere else.
She clutched the chair in front of her.

“Lavender Island!” Ginger squealed.

“No, Mom.”

“Yes!”

“No. You can’t.”

“Of course I can! I can’t wait!”

“No. It’s not a good idea.”

“Whatever are you talking about? I’m already packing.”

“You don’t need to come.”

“‘Need’ isn’t part of this. I want to come, Paigey. I can’t wait to get out of town. And I can’t wait to see you. And you must be so lonely there without your sisters. Aren’t you lonely?”

Paige thought about the last several nights she’d spent in Adam’s arms and thought,
Nooooooo
. But she couldn’t think of how to tell her mom she’d been lying all this time about Adam. And now she’d have to reveal the truth of Amanda, also. Plus—

“And guess who else is coming?” Her mom’s voice sounded as if it was quivering with glee.

“I can’t imagine.”

“Dorothy Silver!”

“What?”

“She wants to come and see the progress of the place so far.”

“But, Mom, I’m nowhere near done! There are lots of fixes to do, and I hardly have any furniture, and the gazebo floor still needs to be stained, and—”

“You don’t have any beds yet?”

“Well . . . one.” Paige squirmed, thinking of how much fun she’d had there.

“Chairs? Couches? Anyplace we can sit and have some coffee together?”

“Just a dining table and three chairs, one of which is broken. I’m shopping for new furniture online, but I haven’t found the right pieces yet. I’ve only ordered two side tables so far.”

“Well, then, maybe we can stay in town. Dorothy was planning on that anyway—she’s bringing her entourage. But I’ll stay in town, too, if it’s easier.”

Paige was surprised her mom would do anything for her that was “easier.” But before she could start hyperventilating any further about Dorothy’s probable first impressions, she imagined the circus the famous actress would bring. As much as Paige fantasized about sitting across a dining table from the screen legend, and hopefully getting the part in her new movie, this whole early visit might be a nightmare.

“If she’s in town with an entourage, and coming up here to check things out during the day, this wedding won’t be a secret from the public for long—or Olivia and Natalie, for that matter,” Paige pointed out. “This is going to be all over the papers. And if it’s not all over the papers, it will be all over town anyway with gossips like Kilner.”

“No, she wants to keep a low profile.”

“On this island? Good luck.”

“We’ll be careful. You’re doing well hiding. Natalie and Olivia still don’t know you’re there.”

“Only because I don’t have to go to town every day. I think it’s a mistake, Mom. Dorothy might lose faith in us. I know—and you know—we can have the wedding done and looking gorgeous, but Dorothy might see how it looks now and get worried.”

“You just have to manage expectations, darling. That’s my forte.”

Paige sighed deeply and knew she’d lost this round. Her mom was a woman on a mission. Always.

“When are you coming?” Paige asked, admitting defeat.

Maybe she could get furniture in another few weeks and have the gazebo nearly done and at least have the place looking more presentable if—

“Next week.”

“Next week?” Paige gasped. “Okay. I’ll see you soon, Mom.”

She hung up before her nervous fingers dropped the phone.
Next week?
How was she going to have everything looking good by then? And how was she going to keep Adam and her a secret? And what about Amanda? Her mom would be filled with criticism as soon as she learned that Adam and Samantha’s temporary relationship had resulted in a teen pregnancy. This was going to be a disaster.

Paige scrambled to her feet and raced to her notes on the kitchen counter, reprioritizing a few lines of her spreadsheet, when her phone jangled to “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.”

“Adam. How are you?”

“I have some good news.” His despondent note didn’t match the words.

“I have news, too. But you first.”

“MacGregor made an offer.”

Paige felt the blood drain from her head. She eased herself into a dining chair and splayed her shaking hand across the table. She knew this time would come, of course. It had always been so. But hearing it now, as reality, had an effect she hadn’t foreseen. She’d been having so much fun with him, falling into their comfortable and sexy new rhythm of life—the horseback rides, the movie watching, the dinners with Amanda, the sneaky kisses, the incredible sex—that she’d been able to ignore that this life had an expiration date. It felt like a time always set in the future, and she would be the one calling the shots. But now the expiration date was finite, and it was Adam’s call—probably thirty to forty-five days.

“Congratulations.” She tried to muster enthusiasm in her voice.

This was what he wanted. It was what Amanda wanted. She needed to be happy for them. She
was
happy for them.
Right?
She lifted her fist in a silent victory salute to convince herself she was
so happy
. This was great! Things worked out for the people she’d come to care for!

But her heart kept falling, and her mouth was going dry.

She took a deep breath and tried to inject her voice with an upswing. “That’s terrific, Adam.”
There.
That sounded kind of convincing. “Did it go according to plan? Is it exactly what you wanted?”

“Yeah.” Adam’s response was strangely short.

“So what does this mean, now, time-wise?”

“Thirty days, but I can leave anytime now. Bob can handle the details.”

She sighed.

“Bob will go to probate court and see if anyone else shows up to bid,” he added. “If not, MacGregor will take the property.”

“Great,” Paige said in her fake falsetto. “I’m glad everything worked out for you.”

Adam paused for another long time, then she heard him blow out a breath. “I can stay a couple more weeks, though. I hope we can spend as much time together as possible before then.”

Tears sprang to Paige’s eyes, and she immediately berated herself. Her sadness was selfish. She needed to be happy for them. She shouldn’t have gotten attached. They were supposed to be FRED.

“Maybe,” she said with another forced lift, “except my news kind of ruins that.”

“What’s your news?” he asked quietly.

“Ginger’s coming. Along with Dorothy Silver.”

“When?”

“Next week. They’ll definitely ruin our final weeks together.”

A long silence followed.

“I can handle Ginger, Paige,” he said, low.

“I can’t.”

Paige sighed. They’d always avoided this discussion. It had been obvious that he was openly seeing her in front of his family and friends although she was hiding him from hers. She just hadn’t wanted to bring it up. But now it was there in the spotlight.

“I take it you haven’t told her we’ve been . . . spending time together?”

“No,” she admitted.

“I don’t blame you,” he said. “But don’t worry about her. When she’s here, I’ll stay out of your way if that’s what you want.”

“That’s not what I want.”

“It’ll be all right. I’ll take my cues from you.”

Paige hung up and tried to decide how she’d handle this. She just needed to be honest with her mom. She’d tell her that she’d started out with a business arrangement with Adam, but then their relationship grew. Or their attraction, rather. Or their FRED friendship. Whatever. And maybe it made her less effective in convincing him to sell to Dorothy, and maybe she’d lost the sale a long time ago, but that’s just the way it was. They’d at least compromised on the meadow, even though Dorothy would probably lose access to the orchard. Dorothy would be disappointed. Her mom would be disappointed. And Dorothy might not want to buy the property, ultimately. But Paige had tried. Ginger would think Paige lost the deal because she’d gotten “soft,” that she’d let her heart get in the way of business. Paige could already hear the words.

But Paige couldn’t turn her heart on and off like that. Maybe she wasn’t a businesswoman and never would be. And maybe she didn’t want to be. Were finances really more important than love? Well, okay, it wasn’t exactly love when it was one-way. But were finances more important than connection? She’d connected with Amanda, connected with Adam, even connected with the townspeople, and this had been one of the most fun summers of her life. Her soul had never felt so settled. She didn’t know if she’d simply been righting wrongs—the wrong of her thirteen-year-old summer, where she’d pined for a boy who never noticed her—or if it was something different that her almost-thirty-year-old soul needed. But either way, this summer had been worth it.