Somewhere With You (Windswept Bay Book 2) (6 page)

Gage fought the urge to take her in his arms and tell her that he thought the two of them together could figure a lot out. Instead, he forced himself to move back into the kitchen. “I’m thinking we’ve got this covered.”

She shot a smile at him. “Thinking positive. I like it.” She walked into the kitchen and turned on the water, and then washed her hands. “Just a piece of advice: don’t ‘bless my heart’ about anything and we’ll be okay.”

He laughed. “Sounds like there’s a story there.”

“Oh yes, there is.”

“Then out with it. I’m all ears.”

Chapter Seven

An hour later, with the scent of chicken Alfredo simmering in the oven, Shar looked around and laughed. “Wow. I just can’t get over the mess we’ve made. This looks like the first time all of my brothers and sisters and I decided to fix Mom breakfast for Mother’s Day. It took her two days to get it cleaned up.”

He picked up a dirty pan before she could. “She must be something to have raised that many kids.”

Shar sighed. “She’s the best. But…I don’t know. I sometimes wonder what she would have done with her life if she hadn’t had so many kids. Her entire life was built around my dad and us. Still is, for that matter.” She held her hand out for the pan but he didn’t give it to her.

“Do you think she regrets it?” He moved to place the pan under the running water.

His arm brushed hers and sent a shiver of delight and electricity sparking through her. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean it that way.” She tried not to let the way he made her feel cause her to do or say something ridiculous…
Kiss me…now, would be nice.
She ignored the pestering voice in her head and opened the dishwasher.

“No, I’ll do this.” He reached around her to place the pan in the top rack of the dishwasher. The movement had him very close. Her rampaging heart kicked against her ribcage.

He let his gaze roam over her face and that only kicked her heart into the stratosphere. The clock on the wall sounded as if it were on loudspeaker as it was the only sound in the room.

And then he wrapped his arms around her.

Instantly Shar’s blood rushed through her at the explosive speed of a rocket launching into space. She couldn’t breathe as she looked into Gage’s baby-blue eyes. His arms were strong around her.

“I’ve been wanting to hold you close since the first moment we met.”

“Oh,” she breathed shakily as his blue gaze shifted from her startled gaze to her lips. Her knees melted like butter in a microwave.
Oh, my
… Shar didn’t get shook up; she didn’t…but she was…

“You’re beautiful, you know,” he murmured and then he lowered his head and kissed her.

Oh, oh…
She sighed as her arms went around his neck automatically. His kiss was powerful, like crashing waves slamming down and then washing onto shore only to recede again into the next wave. Shar’s fingers curled into his shoulders as he stepped closer, backing her up against the kitchen counter as he deepened the kiss. All there was in that moment was the feel of his lips against hers and the strength of his embrace as she kissed him back with enthusiasm…but suddenly the crashing waves she felt were real as warm water poured over the side of the sink and drenched her.

She yelped, and then laughed as she broke the kiss. “The dish water.” She laughed, pulling away from Gage, and reached for the faucet.

Gage burst into laughter too and grabbed a handful of dishrags from a drawer and bent to clean up the water.

“We just thought we had a mess.” He laughed, crouching down to begin sopping up the water.

While he cleaned up the floor, Shar reached down into the soapy water and found the drain. She couldn’t stop laughing. “Nothing like getting doused with water to kill a moment.” She laughed.
Or a fire.

“Sorry about that.” He looked up from where he crouched, wiping the floor. “You’re soaking wet.” He jumped up and headed out of the kitchen. “Hang on, I’m getting a towel.”

She wiped the counter while she waited, glad to have a moment to pull herself together. He had a fluffy white towel in his hands when he came back into the room. He handed it over with a smile.

“I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She took the towel and wrapped it around her waist. “I’ll dry before you know it.”

“I could get you a pair of my warm-ups. They’ll be big on you but you’d be dry.”

“No, really, I’ll be fine. This towel will have me dry as can be in no time.” Feeling more unnerved than she was used to, Shar clung to the towel as if it were a life preserver.

He studied her with a perplexed look. “If you say so. Let’s eat on the deck—that’ll help, too.”

“Great idea.”

“And when we’re done, I’ll walk you home and then I’ll come back and do the dishes.” He chuckled as he took the casserole out of the oven and set it on the stovetop. “I have to say that this smells delicious. I think we might not have to eat your peanut butter tonight.”

Shar knew that at that moment it didn’t matter what they ate; she wasn’t going to taste anything because all she was thinking about was Gage and the feel of his lips on hers.

A few minutes later, they each carried plates out to the patio, with Rufus trailing them. He pranced out to the edge of the deck and stared out at the ocean.

“Don’t even think about running off.” Shar set her plate on the table. As if knowing she was speaking to him, he turned his bushy head her way and cocked his ears. “Yeah, you know I’m talking to you.”

“Does he run off often?” Gage sat down across from her.

“No. I haven’t had him but two weeks. But he’s never run off. I think today a stranger came in and either he ran off right then or while the plumber was in there, he hid and when he left, Rufus found the door open and went exploring.”

“I bet he realized soon after he was lost that he wanted you back.”

Rufus came over to where she was, sat down on her foot and watched the ocean from that vantage point. Shar felt a tug at her heart and reached down to gently rub his ears. “I know I wanted him back. It scared me. In all honesty, I don’t put myself out there that much. He’s the first pet I’ve had in a very long time.”

“Really? I would have thought you had a lot of them.”

She shook her head and toyed with her salad. “No. I had a cocker spaniel in high school and I loved her dearly. It hurt far too badly when she died. I’ve never been able to let myself actually have an animal of my own ever since that time.”

He looked confused. “You really loved her.”

“Dolly. I loved Dolly so much. And I’ve just never wanted to feel that again. I understand that I’m going to lose people I love sometime in the future. And I can’t stop that. But I don’t have to ever go through that with an animal. And so I have rescue programs I send animals to. But then I saw Rufus and he needed someone.”

“And you rescued him for yourself.”

“Something about Rufus was undeniable. I knew we belonged together.”

They ate in silence after that, listening to the waves and feeling the soft breeze.

“Have you ever felt like you and a man belong together?”

The question had her taking a drink of her tea. “No,” she managed to say and hoped it sounded convincing. Because the truth was that she had that feeling about Gage. And she barely knew the man.

But then, she’d only taken one look at Rufus and she’d known the truth.

“So what are you doing here?” Shar asked later, after they’d finished their meal and Gage was walking her home.

The moon was out and it sparkled on the water like a spotlight from heaven; Gage felt the magic of the evening. He’d never dreamed this morning when he’d set out to the sea turtle hospital in search of Shar that the day would end with him having had dinner with her and now walking along the moonlight beach where they’d met.

“Can you hear that?” he asked, deliberately not answering her question. “It sounds like music.” He paused and listened to the waves and the wind; somewhere from one of the homes along the beach came the distinct sound of wind chimes. They mingled with the sounds of the ocean and wind and created a romantic symphony.

“I call it a Windsong.” She stopped to listen.

He studied her. “I like it.”

“Me too. It’s like nature’s love song.”

He smiled at her and fought the desire to pull her into his arms. “I like that more.”

“So,” she said slowly, eyeing him as he took a step toward her. “Why are you here on our island? Vacation?”

“No, I’m hiding out.” It was the truth.

“From?”

“My life, I think.” She probably thought he was crazy.

“And why would that be?”

“My father died eight days ago.”

“Oh,” she gasped. “I’m so sorry. You have my condolences.”

He realized in that moment that he’d been hiding from all of it: his dad’s dying, the life he’d been groomed for, the life he’d never lived. And as he looked at Shar, he found himself thinking of possibilities of a life he’d never dreamed of…one with her. He knew that was completely irrational thinking but that was what he was thinking and there was no stopping it.

“Thank you.” He studied her, unable to take his eyes off her. “My father was all about the work. Always going from one big deal to the next. As far as I know, he never slowed down. And I kept up the pace. I hopped on the company plane right after the funeral and I flew to London, where business associates were waiting for me to seal a deal. But I ended up having the plane fly me back to the States and had my assistant find me a place to disappear for a few days. Or weeks.”

“And here you are. Right where you need to be. You needed time off after your dad’s death. I can’t believe you left the day of his funeral and flew overseas. You needed a break. Time to grieve.” Her eyes flashed.

“And you sound like you know what you’re talking about.”

“I lost my grandmother last year and it was hard to do anything for days. We were really close. Grief takes time.”

He raked a hand through his hair. “Yeah. I just thought carrying on as he would have wanted me to was the way to go.”

“I think carrying on the way you needed to is and was the way to go. And Windswept Bay is a laid-back place to retreat and get your heart healed.”

“I believe you’re right.” He started to walk again and she walked beside him. Rufus raced ahead of them and then raced back to them and circled them before heading off after a lapping wave.

“This is me.” She pointed to lighted windows and they headed across the sand toward the light. “So, who exactly are you, Gage?” she asked when they reached her porch.

“I’m just a guy who works in corporate America.”

She studied him. “No—who are you?”

He wanted to be honest with her but would knowing who he was make a difference in how she perceived him? How she reacted to him? There were scores of women who came after his name, his money and looked at him as a commodity. He’d felt that at the resort with the woman in the lobby; he’d already forgotten her name. He’d never forget Shar’s name.

“I’m Benjamin Gage Lancaster of Lancaster Industries.”

“Lancaster Industries sounds familiar.”

“It makes the news every once in a while.”

Shar studied him. And now he wished maybe he hadn’t told her.

Her eyes widened. “Got it. You were on the cover of one of those financial magazines,” she gasped. “I didn’t read it, but I noticed your picture.”

“I did an interview with them.”

“You didn’t have a five-o’clock shadow in the picture on the cover?” Her eyes twinkled in the moonbeam.

He laughed, feeling the tension ease a little. “No, clean-shaven all the way and knotted up inside business suits and dress shoes. I bought what clothing I have with me at a store in the airport. All the way down to the flip-flops and boat shoes.”

“So that explains the
I love Florida
T-shirt.”

He plucked at his shirt. “So you don’t like palm trees and Florida?”

She smiled. “Oh no, I love it.” Her smile faded. “So you just lost your father? I’m sorry. I can’t imagine a world without mine in it. What happened to him?”

His hand tightened on the deck railing. So that was it; she just breezed past the
Forbes
article and went straight back to sympathy for his loss. An unexpected lump formed in his throat. He had to clear his throat before he spoke. “He had a massive heart attack in a business meeting. He died instantly. I buried him three days later.”

“I’m sorry. What was he like?” she asked gently and smiled encouragingly.

Her question threw him a little. “He…he was a powerful man, competitive. Driven. He taught me everything I know. He was very successful.”

“I’ve figured that one out.” She studied him with an odd look in her eyes. “You just talked about him in business terms. What was he like when he wasn’t working?”

“He worked all the time. He taught me to work all the time.” He didn’t miss the shadows that came into her eyes. “Like I said, I left his funeral and flew to a closing overseas. It’s what he would have wanted but I ended up coming straight back to the States for time alone.”