Treasure on Lilac Lane: A Jewell Cove Novel (26 page)

“Just give Abby a call when you know for sure. Hopefully I’ll see you later. I’d better get down to the job site before my foreman fires me.” He grinned and clapped Rick on the shoulder.

When Rick stopped at Treasures to deliver his ornaments, Jess was alone, knitting on the yellow blanket again.

“Wow, it’s almost done,” he noticed, looking at the long waterfall of lacy yellow yarn.

“Getting there. Snatching time to work on it is tricky. At this rate I won’t finish it until Christmas.”

He lifted the box. “Brought you some stuff as promised. Since you just happened to sell out last weekend.”

“Oh, great! I’ll take anything you can spare.” She moved to put down her knitting but Rick shook his head.

“Don’t get up. I’ll put this in the back.”

He put the box on the back worktable and then came back out front. “Listen, Tom and Abby have asked us over for dinner tonight. You up for it?”

She looked up. “I guess so. What’s the occasion?”

“According to Tom, there isn’t any. Just hanging out.”

If she was with him he didn’t have to worry about Mike … who was still in town even though Thanksgiving was well over. The only thing that kept the “boys” from pressing him to go was the knowledge that Karen had taken a turn for the worse and it would probably soon be over.

“I’ll call Tom and let him know,” Rick said, leaning over the counter and giving her forehead a quick kiss.

“That’s okay. I’ll call Abby. I should ask if she wants me to bring anything anyway. Pick me up at six?”

“Perfect.” It would give him time to go home and get cleaned up properly.

At six on the dot he was at her back door and she was ready. They drove out to Blackberry Hill while small flakes of snow fluttered in the air. The wind blew from the north and Rick looked over at Jess, bundled up in her wool coat and pretty scarf and felt his heart constrict. God, she was so beautiful. Too beautiful for him. He couldn’t help feeling that something this good wasn’t going to last.

The house on Blackberry Hill was stunning. For the first time in several years, it was decorated for the holidays. Now that Thanksgiving had passed, Abby had gone all-out with the decorations. Evergreen boughs with wide red bows festooned the railings between the stately pillars and again on the faux widow’s walk. A gigantic wreath hung on the door. The house looked different in the evening, when everything was lit up by a fairyland of tiny white lights, and a floodlight highlighting the front columns. It was good to see it brought to life again.

Rick parked and went around to open Jess’s door. “Thanks,” she said, and he noticed a little flush to her cheeks.

“What, you don’t think I have manners?” he teased.

“Oh, I know you have manners. It’s not that. It feels a little weird. Us,” she clarified.

“Weird good or weird bad?” He looked over at her as they walked toward the house.

“Weird good. Weird different.” She shrugged. “A few months ago I never would have thought we’d be on friendly terms, let alone…”

“Sleeping together?” he finished for her.

Her blush deepened. He liked it.

“Yeah, that,” she replied.

He put out his hand and stopped her from climbing the steps. “You,” he said quietly, “are incredible. I hope you know that.”

“Rick,” she said, and his heart constricted at the wistful tone of her voice. For the first time they were going somewhere as a couple. Thanksgiving had been different. It had been less of a statement. More of a test run.

Tonight was one couple having dinner with another couple. It was another first for them. “I’m not in any rush. We take things one day at a time, right? Just like we always have. I just wanted to say it. You’re a special woman, Jess. Don’t ever let anyone take that away from you.”

He squeezed her arm and they climbed the steps to the landing. He thought about his words, knowing he’d unconsciously added “even me” to the end of that last sentence. Jess was wonderful, and he’d started to understand that he trusted her but he still didn’t quite trust himself. He’d made progress, he knew that. But the rough times weren’t necessarily over and not everything was coming up daisies.

They knocked, using the big brass door knocker and stood back. Jess smiled over at him. “Do you know the first time I was inside this house after Tom renovated it, I was here for a sleepover?”

He grinned. “Really? At your age?”

“It was after the picnic at Sarah’s. We brought out pizza and wine and ended up crashing here. I walked through the halls gawking at everything.”

The door opened and Abby stood there, smiling at them. “Hello you two! Gosh, it’s good to see you. Come on in.”

She led them through to the parlor, a pretty room done in warm yellow with antique furniture and draperies the color of rich merlot. A fire burned cheerily in the fireplace. Unlike the modern additions to the library, this room was like stepping back in time.

“Do you ever feel like you’re living in a time warp?” Jess asked, perching on the edge of a silk settee.

Abby laughed. “Yes. I don’t know what’s going to happen when Tom and I have kids. The rug in here is original. Can you imagine spilling grape juice on it?”

Rick looked at the light in her eyes and knew the idea didn’t really faze her a bit. “You’re not … already, are you?”

Her eyes twinkled at them. “Not yet. Not that we know of,” she amended.

His buddy Tom a dad? The image seemed to fit for some reason. Tom was ready, Rick realized, but he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be ready for kids.

The front door slammed and Tom’s voice rang out. “Hello! Anyone home?”

Rick watched as Abby’s whole face lit up at the sound of her husband’s voice. The two of them were so in love it was sickening.

Tom stuck his head inside the room. “Hey, sweetheart.” His first smile was for his wife. Then he looked at Rick and Jess, sitting side by side on the settee. “And hey to you, too,” he added, shrugging out of his heavy jacket. “Glad you could make it.”

“Now that we’re all here, Jess, why don’t you give me a hand in the kitchen and Tom can show off his new shop to Rick.”

The women disappeared in a flurry of conversation and Rick found himself out in the old carriage building, admiring Tom’s woodworking shop, while Jess and Abby talked about God knows what. Their first dinner date as a real couple. The idea should have scared him more than it did.

He was falling in love with Jess Collins and had no idea what to do about it or where to go from here. All he knew was that he didn’t want it to end. Problem was, he was very aware that good things never lasted forever. Especially for him.

C
HAPTER
19

Jess paused at the door, wondering if she should ask Rick in. She wanted to. The evening had been wonderful, the two of them visiting with Abby and Tom, and she couldn’t remember when she’d laughed so much. It had felt like a normal relationship. At least, it had once she’d had a moment to speak to Abby. There was no news on the necklace yet, so she’d relaxed and let herself enjoy the visit.

And now Rick had walked her to the door. Her stomach flipped from nerves, but the good kind. They were embarking on something here, something important. And both of them were so afraid to talk about it and jinx anything.

She turned and found him standing remarkably close to her, close enough she had to tilt her chin up to look into his dark eyes. “Are you coming in, Rick?”

She heard the breathless tone of her voice and her nerves jacked up another level. “Yeah, I’d like to come in,” he answered, voice low and husky.

The back door opened into the workroom, and Jess left the lights off while Rick locked the door behind him. In the inky darkness Jess took his hand and led him to the loft steps leading to her living space. Once inside, she reached for the lamp but he stopped her with three little words that made her heart thump with anticipation.

“Leave it off.”

She dropped her purse and turned around to face him. It only took a step for him to be inches away. Jess half expected him to gather her up in his arms and whisk her away with a steamy kiss, but instead he lifted his hand and framed her cheek with a tenderness that stole her breath.

She leaned in to the cup of his hand, her eyes sliding closed. She had never imagined he could be so tender. It was a revelation that made him doubly dangerous and drew her in like a moth to a flame.

Only then did he kiss her, taking her lips with an assurance that set her pulse skipping. He took his time, letting the kiss draw out until she felt herself melting against him, her arms sliding up over his shoulders as their bodies pressed together.

She reached for the buttons of his shirt, undoing them one by one and sliding her hands over the warm expanse of his chest before pushing the cotton over his shoulders. All she wanted right now was to feel the heat of his skin against hers. But when she gripped the hem of her sweater, Rick stepped back. “Wait,” he said, his voice husky in the darkness.

He went to the window and she realized with a little embarrassment that the blinds were open and the wide windows facing the street would reveal them to anyone who bothered to look up. Rick tensed, staring outside for a few moments before gripping the cord on the roman blinds and releasing the folds, enclosing them in privacy.

“Are you all right?” His jaw was set at a hard, tense angle and his eyes seemed extra intense in the shadowy light.

He didn’t answer, but came straight to her, pulled her body flush against his, and kissed her with an intensity that was at once frightening and thrilling. She let out a little squeak as he swept her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom.

Tonight would be all-out, no-holds-barred, baring-of-souls lovemaking. Jess trembled, standing on the precipice of taking this gigantic leap. It wasn’t about being
the first time since Mike
or
a new step
 … She touched Rick’s face, met his gaze, and knew, deep down, that she’d tumbled down the slippery slope of falling in love with him.

She loved Rick Sullivan. She probably always had.

They left the lights off but the glow of the streetlamps cast enough shadows that Jess was able to see all of Rick’s features as they undressed in the dark. The glow in his eyes, the outline of his lips, the hard line of his jaw, the broad dips and curls of his shoulders and arms. The moment he slid inside her she cried out. Nothing she’d ever experienced had ever felt as right as this moment, and they held there, letting the impact settle over them.

Each movement, each pulse and beat was a tattoo on her heart. When things got too intense they slowed it down, determined to make it last as long as they could stand it. Sweat slicked their skin and Jess straddled his hips, her hair cascading down her back as she rocked against him and his hands gripped the flesh just below her waist. It wasn’t until he reached down to the spot where they were joined that she lost control, trembling and shuddering around him, calling out his name in the darkness.

The tremors were subsiding only a little when he swore, his fingers digging into her hips as he thrust upward, her still-sensitive skin throbbing as he reached his own orgasm.

Then there was only the sound of harsh breathing in her bedroom as they recovered.

Something had changed tonight. Something important and big and amazing. Rather than ruin the moment by speaking, Jess curled up against his side, still naked, and rested her head on his chest.

I love you,
she thought to herself, wondering if it was too soon to say the words. But they had already been spoken in her heart. If Rick wasn’t there yet it was okay. The way they’d come together tonight had not been one-sided. Rick would say the words when he was ready. The lack of them didn’t take anything away from the connection they shared. It went deeper than anything she’d ever experienced.

I love you,
she thought again, as her eyes drifted closed.

*   *   *

Rick made sure she was completely asleep before sliding out from beneath her embrace and reaching for his jeans.

He left his shirt off and walked quietly out to the living room, lifting the blind and staring out into the darkness.

The car was gone. The face was gone. But Rick knew. When they’d first returned, when Rick had moved to shut the blinds, Mike had been standing across the street looking in.

Rick took his cell from his pocket and dialed Josh.

“It’s after midnight. What do you want?”

“Hello to you, too,” Rick said quietly.

“If this is a call to come pick you up somewhere…” Josh sounded supremely irritated. “I have early appointments tomorrow.”

“Shut up for a minute and listen.”

“I can’t hear you very well. Speak up, will ya?”

Rick pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose, deliberating. “I can’t. Jess is asleep.”

Silence hummed along the line, but Rick heard the quiet condemnation anyway. So much for discreet. Every time he turned around, his relationship with Jess was a little bit more public.

“I’m at her place,” Rick finally said. “And when we got home, Mike was waiting across the street. I wanted you to know.”

“Shit.” Josh left off the
you’re sleeping with my sister
attitude momentarily and let out a big breath. “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. I don’t like her left alone. I’ll be hanging around a lot. I don’t trust that guy as far as I can throw him.”

“Me neither.”

There was a long silence. “You tell Bryce yet?” Josh asked.

“Not yet. You dealt with Mike before, and you’re her brother.”

“And you’re sleeping with her.”

Rick swallowed. He’d known this would eventually come up. “I think I love her, Josh. I think I have for a long time. I just don’t want to rush things and screw it up.”

“And having sex isn’t rushing?”

He glanced toward the bedroom—no sign of movement yet. “Give me a break here. We’re figuring things out. We’ve both got bigger issues than sex to get over.”

“She’s my sister,” Josh said hoarsely, as if that said it all. Because it did.