Soul Dreams (2 page)

“The big question is the reason why he insists I be the one to make the deliveries when he never comes to the door himself. Or even has Grange invite me inside. I could send anyone, and it wouldn’t matter.”

“Maybe it matters to him,” Hawk pointed out. “His one real link with the outside world. You’re a good person for putting up with it, as long as it doesn’t turn out to be a problem.”

She shrugged. “Hey, it’s business. He buys expensive books and a lot of them.” She frowned. “I can’t figure out how he reads them so fast.”

“I guess if you have nothing else to do, reading passes the time.”

Nina finished loading the books, boxed the e-reader, and rang up the sale.

“Thanks for this,” Hawk said, sliding his credit card out of his wallet. “I know Riley will appreciate it.”

“How’s she doing, anyway?”

Nina didn’t ever remember seeing two people more besotted with each other. She was glad for them, considering the histories they came from. But sometimes she couldn’t help the jealousy creeping into her system.

Is it possible love has passed me by
?
I’m thirty-three, for God’s sake. I always wanted the romantic dream. Maybe my two ill-fated relationships are all I’ll ever have
.

The thought depressed her, and she tried to shake it off. Freewill was her sanctuary, and she loved it. She just hoped she hadn’t also made it her prison, a place where she was afraid to step out of the person she’d created.

I’ll be the old maid bookstore owner. What a cliché
.

“Great.” Hawk signed the receipt and tucked his card away in its slot. “But I think she’ll be happy when this whole thing is over.”

“I suppose since winter’s here you don’t let her out of the house by herself,” Nina teased.

“Not unless the roads are plowed and there’s no threat of a storm.” Affection and love sparked in his eyes. “Can’t take chances with my precious cargo there.”

“And I know she appreciates the care you take with her, especially after the bastard she was engaged to before.”

“I like to think so.” He took the package from her. “Thanks again for this.” He glanced out the big front window. “You ought to think about leaving soon, Nina. More snow’s predicted for tonight, and you should be home before it hits. I don’t know why the hell you like living so far out of town, anyway.”

She forced a smile. “I like my own company. You get out of here and go on home to your terrific wife.”

“Okay, but only if you promise to lock up soon.”

“I will,” she agreed. “It’s close to closing time, anyway.”

After he left, she flipped the Open sign to Closed and locked the front door. Open cartons of books still waited to be checked in and shelved, but she figured she’d be better off coming in early in the morning. Besides, if she planned to deliver Blake Massie’s books before the snow hit, she needed to get a move on.

As she gathered her jacket and purse, she thought about Hawk’s words. He wasn’t the first person to ask why she’d bought the little house sitting well past the town limits. Her stock answer was she got a good price because the little bungalow had been empty for a long time. The truth was when she’d landed in Freewill, she wanted to be as isolated as possible. Once she’d decided to stay and committed to buying the store, she wanted a place to retreat each day where she wasn’t surrounded by people. A solitary situation wasn’t likely to cause her any pain. She’d had plenty of that.

Without warning the agonizing memories she’d worked to keep buried came slamming back.

***

Five years ago

Nina sat at her desk, trying to concentrate on her work and sure life could not possibly be any better. Finally. At twenty-eight, she held a responsible position as a publicist for Forrester Literary Agency. She handled the media and worked book signings and other special appearances for some of the agency’s top authors. She’d come up the hard way, earning her stripes and putting up with excessive tons of bullshit. But Nate Forrester never failed to compliment her on her accomplishments, and her salary showed it. He always told people she had a natural talent and a good set of brains.

Tom Ridgeway, the agency’s hot new property, was her latest major client. He was a perfect poster boy, tall and rugged, thick brown hair lightly touching his shoulders, and piercing green eyes. He could have been the hero of the thriller they were launching. Just thinking about him made her body heat and go liquid.

He’d come along at a moment in her life when her confidence in herself was at an all time low. Her fiancé of three years, a financial advisor, had dumped her for the trophy widow of one of his clients. It had taken months for her to put herself back together, her self-assurance badly shaken. The job was all she’d had to cling to. But finally, her life was taking an upward swing. Way up. While working through lunches and dinners and endless interview preps, the chemistry between them had ignited. She’d been so ready, her esteem as a woman so shaken. Tom had been so good at making her feel special again.

Before she could say, “Don’t mix business with pleasure,” her heart had been fully engaged.

Nina still had to pinch herself to make sure the relationship was real. She was actually involved with a man as sexy and good looking, and as magnetic as Tom. Every detail of the night they first made love was burned into her mind. One minute they were in the middle of a working dinner, the next sexual tension had exploded so thick she could almost feel it. During the long hours they spent together, then and on subsequent nights, he taught her more about sex than her shitty ex-fiancé even dreamed of knowing. Since then, they’d been together almost every night, time passing in a romantic blur for her. Tom took her to candlelight dinners in charming out of the way places, brought her little gifts to remind her of him. As if she could ever forget. And nearly every night, he took her on another unforgettable erotic journey.

They spent Thanksgiving together, the two of them enjoying the holiday and each other. Tom had a full dinner catered by a restaurant, and they ate until they were stuffed. Then they cuddled on the couch and watched football until they dozed off. Later, they made slow, beautiful love. She was thrilled he always asked if the things he did pleased her. If his touches were the best. If his technique brought her satisfaction.

Like children they giggled about what the future would bring, how the success of his book might affect them, how they would handle it. They talked about their dreams for the future, the books he still wanted to write, her plans to one day open her own agency. No one knew about their relationship yet. They’d agreed it was best to keep a very low profile where they were concerned until the book released. If he never spent a full night in her bed, she didn’t worry. He told her he did some of his best work in the early morning hours and didn’t want to disturb her.

“You have to get up so early for work, sweetheart. And sometimes after I leave you, I’m so energized I can write for hours. You’re my inspiration.”

She’d only had one other serious relationship besides her ex-fiancé and it ended by mutual agreement. She wasn’t the type to give her heart easily. But this thing with Tom had happened so fast. So instantly.

She was giddy with the joy of it, holding the secret to her heart like something precious. If some of the women she worked with as well as her friends commented on the new glow shining from her, she just smiled and skillfully ducked their questions. The book was due out in another two weeks. Very soon they’d all know why she was so happy. After the release date, everything would fall into place, so she was content with what they had for the moment. But she was counting down the days on the calendar when they could finally go public.

She stared at the single rose in a crystal vase sitting on her desk, a gift from Tom the night before when he walked in her front door.

“To remind you of me during the day.”

“As if I could forget.”

Then he’d kissed the side of her neck, in the spot he knew turned her on so. In seconds, they were naked and tangling in the bed sheets where he’d made slow, sensuous love to her.

“Dreaming about glamour boy again?”

Diane Reilly, Nate Forrester’s administrative assistant, stood in front of her desk, grinning.

“What?” Nina gave herself a mental shake. “Oh. Sorry. Did you need something?”

“Yeah. I need to have your job, so I can hang onto Ridgeway like a barnacle wherever he goes. How do you keep yourself from running your hands all over him, anyway?”

“Puhleeze.” She rolled her eyes. “As if.”

“You get all the good looking ones,” Diane pointed out. Then she winked. “You make good eye candy for them, but I’ll bet they fall on their asses when they realize how smart you are.”

Nina blushed. Diane had been with the agency since day one, and she didn’t give compliments lightly. “Thanks. Anyway, did you need me for something?”

“I know you have an appointment with Ridgeway here this afternoon to go over the results of the cover photo shoot. I thought I’d give you a heads up he’s early. I saw him walk into Forrester’s office not five minutes ago.”

“Oh, thanks. I’ll get all the stuff I need and go on into the conference room.”

As she walked by Forrester’s office with the folders in her hands, Tom’s sexy voice drifted out from behind the nearly closed door. She stopped to shamelessly eavesdrop.

“I figure the timing is right,” he was saying. “We’ll announce the engagement at the press party for the launch and then decide on when to schedule the wedding. With the media event set for right before Christmas, we’ll play off everyone’s holiday spirit.”

Then Nate Forrester’s gruff voice. “That’ll work. Everyone loves a romance. And Christmas is a great time for it. Have you told Nina yet?”

“No. But I will.” His voice had a strange sound to it, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Better do it soon. We want everyone prepared. Okay, young man. Better get to your meeting.”

Excitement surged through her.
Engagement
!
Holy crap
! Apparently he planned for them to go public in a big way. And for Christmas. Could she ask for anything better? Christmas was her very favorite holiday. Bells would really be ringing this year.

She hurried to the conference room, hardly able to contain her excitement, the words still echoing in her brain.
Engagement
! She’d hardly dared hope. She had to discipline herself for when she saw him in a few minutes. She didn’t want him to know she’d overheard the conversation until he was ready to say something.

But they got closer and closer to the release date, and he still hadn’t mentioned it. She chalked it up to the fact he’d been so distracted by the upcoming event and subsequent tour. The week before the launch, she barely saw him at all.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he cajoled. “These days it’s hard for me to focus on anything but the book and how the media will react.”

“I understand.” Of course she did. She was used to working with temperamental authors. “But I’ll be right there next to you, along with Nate, to make sure things go smoothly.”

On release day, she was up at six in the morning, filled with excitement. Christmas was right around the corner. They’d picked out a small tree together and decorated it. He’d suggested waiting until Christmas Eve to put their gifts under it, and she’d agreed. Tom still had said nothing about an engagement, so she gathered materials for the release party and hurried to the restaurant where she’d booked a private room.

She constantly checked her cell phone, but it stared mockingly back at her. No texts. No calls. Was he planning to drop this engagement thing on her without warning?
Merry Christmas and will you marry me
? How should she react? She was so nervous she kept dropping folders.

Nate Forrester arrived ahead of the crowd, grinning broadly. And why not? All signs indicated the book would hit the bestseller lists as soon as it was out of the box.

“Good job with this, kiddo,” he told her “Top notch work.”

“Thank you.” Praise from him was hard won.

“More big news today, too, right?”

The engagement. He apparently thought Tom had already asked her to marry him. She started to play dumb and ask him what he meant, but he interrupted her.

“The limo should be bringing him right about now. I’ll go out and meet him.”

She was busy checking in the guests and handing out media kits when a commotion told her Nate was back and had Tom with him.

“There he is,” someone said.

She glanced up from the table where she was sorting folders to see him near the entrance, dressed in his usual turtleneck, blazer, and slacks, grinning like a fool. Her smile faded and her stomach clenched painfully at the sight of the stunning blonde next to him. She held his arm in a grip that clearly said
he’s mine
.

Nina was struck dumb, frozen in place. Who was this woman, and why was she here? More importantly, why did she have such a possessive attitude toward Tom?

A beaming Nate made casual introductions as he steered the couple toward the front of the room. Nina stood there, heart beating so fast she thought it might break out of her chest. Clutching more media kits against her body, she listened while Nate introduced Tom, although most everyone in the room already knew him. She’d been trotting him around for weeks.

After the usual bullshit give and take, Tom held up his hand.

Nina’s breath was trapped in her throat as she waited to hear what he would say.

“I have an important announcement to make, and I thought this would be the best time and place to do it.” He drew the blonde in close to him, hugging her to his side. “I’d like to introduce you to Alexis Walker.” He brushed a kiss over her forehead. “We’ve been together a long time, but the past year, she’s been out of the country completing an artist-in-residence grant in Italy. She returned a week ago. I’m damn sure glad she’s back though, so she can share this exciting time with me.” He grinned. “And to tell you all, on the way here I asked her to marry me, and she said yes.”