Treading Water: Coming Home Part 9

"How about I come for breakfast? Would that be soon enough?"

"Yes," she said, drawing him into another pa.s.sionate kiss.

"Keep that up and I'll forget all about my big plan to sleep on all of this."

"You could sleep on it here."

"If I stay here, we won't sleep and you've been sick. You need your rest."

"Do you promise you'll be back?"

"I promise," he said with another kiss. He leaned his forehead against hers and stared into her eyes. "Come on, time to get comfy." He pulled back the covers and tucked her into bed. "Now close your eyes and have sweet dreams about tomorrow."

She did as she was told. "And the day after."

"And the day after." He kissed her once more. "I'll see you very soon."

Kate heard the door click shut behind him. She was afraid if she opened her eyes, she'd discover it'd all been a lovely dream. He still loved her. He'd never stopped loving her. He'd thought about her and come to her shows and remembered all the moments that had made their brief months together so special.

She was nearly asleep when it occurred to her that she still had his number programmed into her phone, if it was even still in service. He'd probably changed his number years ago when he moved to the island. Thinking about their late-night phone calls after they first met, she reached for her phone. After scrolling through her address book, she found his number right where it had always been, and pressed send.

Kate waited to hear that the number was no longer in service.

Instead, she heard his soft chuckle. "You still have my number, darlin'?"

Apparently, he still had hers, too. "I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it."

"Neither could I."

"G.o.d, we're a couple of hopeless cases, aren't we?"

"I don't know about you, but I feel a little less hopeless after today. In fact, I'm feeling positively hopeful."

"So am I."

"Why do I hear a 'but' in there?"

"I keep thinking about my parents and Ashton and Ms. Martha and all the people who didn't get it before. Why would they feel any differently now?"

"For one thing, you're no longer eighteen, and for another, clearly whatever we had came with some staying power if we both still feel the same way we did then."

"That's true."

"Don't worry about it tonight, darlin'. It'll all work out the way it's meant to." After a short pause, he said, "You know what I've missed?"

"What?"

"Listening to you sing to me while I drive home. Will you sing my song for me?"

"I'd love to."

Chapter 5.

Jill peered out the back window as the limo traveled down a long driveway lined by white split-rail fences. Rolling meadows stretched as far as she could see. They drove past a small Tudor-style home, as well as buildings that might've been stables and then, at the top of the hill, a ma.s.sive stone house.

She expected the car to stop outside the house, but it proceeded around the house to a dirt road that led to another building in the distance. Out the back window, she tried to get a better look at the house, but trees obscured her view.

What was this place?

The car came to a stop, and through the window, Jill saw Ashton leaning against a red pickup truck. Wearing faded jeans, a yellow Vanderbilt T-s.h.i.+rt and cowboy boots, he looked nothing at all like the successful lawyer he'd been in the office the other day. Here he looked like a country boy-an extremely appealing country boy.

Ashton opened the door and held out a hand to her.

Jill wiped her hand once more on her jeans before she accepted his help out of the car.

He closed the car door, and the limo drove away.

Jill watched it go, wondering where she was and what he had planned. "What is this place?"

"My childhood home. Been in my family forever and a day."

"You don't live here anymore?"

He shook his head. "I live in town, but we still board and breed horses here, so I come out to ride as often as I can."

Jill took a second, more detailed look and noted there wasn't another house in sight. "Is that a runway?"

"Sure is."

"That's right. I remember Kate saying your dad flies. He flew her home when our sister got hurt." Stop babbling, she thought as she linked her fingers because she didn't know what to do with her hands. For a horrifying moment, she wondered if she'd annoyed him by mentioning his dad and Kate in the same sentence.

"We both fly."

"Oh. You do?"

"Uh-huh. My dad taught me to fly before he taught me to drive."

Jill began to get nervous about where this was heading.

He leaned back against the truck, eyeing her and smiling at her in that s.e.xy, devilish way he did so well. "You wanna go for a ride?"

"In the truck?"

Grinning, he shook his head. "In that." He pointed to the open doors of the hangar, where an airplane nose peeked out. How had she missed that?

"Um, where would we go?"

"Buddy has a house in Malibu that he bought off one of his friends who was flirting with bankruptcy. No one's using it right now, so he said it's all mine for as long as I want it."

Jill stared at him, trying not to be swayed by his stunningly gorgeous face. "You want me to get in a plane and fly to Malibu with you? I thought we were having dinner!"

"We are." He pointed to some bags in the backseat of the pickup. "We'll take it with us."

Jill shook her head. "I can't go to Malibu. I have things...to do."

He raised an eyebrow that was more teasing than mocking. "I thought you were on vacation?"

"I am, but I have-"

"Things. Right, well here's a big idea. How about you do your 'things' when we get back?"

"And when will that be?"

He shrugged. "Whenever we feel like it."

"Don't you have to work?"

"I took some time off."

"This is crazy! I can't just get on a plane with you and go to...to California because you... you..."

"Asked you to?"

"Yes! I don't have anything with me. You didn't say anything about going out of town!"

"If I had, would you be here?" Before Jill could form a response, he said, "I didn't think so. Let me remind you we'd be going to a place that has stores where we can get anything you can't live without for a few days. So what do you say to some sand and sun? Doesn't that sound good?"

It did sound good. It sounded amazing, actually. But the practical lawyer in her had questions, and d.a.m.n it, she was going to ask them. "Is getting me into bed the goal of this trip?"

"h.e.l.l, yeah," he said in that s.e.xy drawl that made her blood boil. "That's definitely one of several goals."

Unaccustomed to such bold-faced honesty from a man, Jill licked lips that had suddenly gone dry.

Ashton's gaze zeroed in on her lips.

"What are the others?"

"Other what?" he asked, still fixated on her mouth.

"Goals."

He tore his gaze off her lips and looked into her eyes. "I want to see you relaxed, for one. I want to get to know you better, for another-and not just in bed." Pus.h.i.+ng off the truck, he took a slow, lazy step toward her and reached out to release the second b.u.t.ton on her s.h.i.+rt. When she attempted to slap his hand away, he grasped her fingers and held on tight. "I also want to see you let your hair down and have some fun." As he said the words, he used his free hand to release the clip holding her hair.

Jill uttered a squeak of protest as her hair tumbled free.

"I knew it," he said, running his fingers through the long strands. "Thick and soft and very, very fragrant."

"Ashton, I don't think-"

Jill hadn't even figured out how she planned to end that sentence when he was kissing her. His arms were around her, one of his hands was buried in her hair, and the hard wall of his body was pressed against hers. In her right mind, she would've pushed him away, but her right mind seemed to have deserted her. As their tongues mated and dueled, he tightened his grip on her hair.

After several long, desperate, pa.s.sionate minutes, he broke the kiss and pressed his lips to her cheek, jaw and ear. "Come away with me," he whispered, sending a tingling sensation rippling through her body. "Take some time just for you. Let me take care of you for a few days." His hands moved over her back, down to cup her bottom, bringing her in tight against the hard proof of his arousal.

With his muscles pressed against her softness, Jill couldn't seem to think of anything other than what it felt like to be in his arms, to be surrounded by his appealing scent, to know he wanted her, that he'd gone out of his way to arrange this getaway for her.

"Jill?"

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. "Okay."

His hands slid down her arms and curled around hers, gripping her tightly as he smiled at her. "I promise you'll have fun."

"I'm still not convinced this isn't a ma.s.sive conflict of interest."

"You're not here because of Kate. I'm not here because of Buddy. It's not a conflict." He released her hands. "Stay here while I get the plane ready."

As he walked away, Jill zeroed in on the way his faded jeans hugged his exceptional a.s.s. The thought that she might be able to touch him there or anywhere else she wanted-soon-made her feel a little lightheaded. Was that what she wanted? Did she want to touch him and kiss him and have s.e.x with him? Yes! G.o.d, yes, she wanted all of that. She wanted him. She'd wanted him for a long time, if she were being honest.

Her phone chirped with a text from Kate. Reid came over to where I'm staying and we talked and it looks like it might be back on... You won't believe what happened today. Call me when you can.

Jill's stomach fell as she watched Ashton roll out the plane. Would her sister's rekindled romance derail whatever was happening between her and Ashton? He surely wouldn't be happy to hear his dad was back with Kate. He'd probably be equally unhappy that Jill had known about it and hadn't mentioned it.

Was it selfish of her to want to find out what might be possible with Ashton before she told him his dad might be getting back together with her sister? Probably. Was it even her place to tell him? Before she could further contemplate the dilemma, he smiled and waved her over to the plane.

Jill decided that for once she was going to be selfish. The problems would still be here when they got back. She'd deal with them then.

Following a restless night, Kate was up long before the sun rose over the crystal blue water. She contemplated a shower but decided to wait to see what Reid had planned for the day. If they were going to the beach, there wasn't much point in showering.

In the tiny kitchen, she brewed a pot of coffee and was thrilled to find a container of half-and-half in the fridge. You had to hand it to the five-star resorts, she thought. They sure knew how to take good care of their guests.

Coffee in hand, she went out to the patio to watch the sun crest the horizon, wondering what this day would bring. She felt giddy and excited and...happy. For the first time in years, she was truly happy to know that today she'd see him, spend time with him, hold him, kiss him-and maybe more.

That he now knew how she'd felt all along was a huge relief and a load off her mind. She'd wanted him to know for such a long time that she'd hated the way things ended between them and had regretted it every day since. No matter what happened now, he knew the truth, and that had somehow freed her from the past.

She was beginning to wonder how long she had to wait to see him when a knock on the door had her scurrying inside. She tugged open the door and found him leaning against the doorframe looking relaxed and well rested and freshly shaven. He looked so good. So very good. After thinking about him for such a long time, to have him close enough to touch was seriously overwhelming.

They stared at each other for a moment charged with energy and desire.

"Come in," she said, breaking the long silence.

"I'm glad you didn't change yet."