See You at Sunset (16 page)

“The ferry?” he echoed with disbelieving smirk. “Are you kidding me? My helicopter landed over by the dock.”

Of course.

She cleared her throat. “Is this just a whirlwind hello and good-bye?” she said, trying for a smile. “In and right back out again, as usual?”

He moved in for another kiss, this time trailing his lips down her neck. “No, Sierra booked a room at some little B&B. Said it was the only place on the island. I wasn’t sure you’d want to spend the night in Portland, though it would be a hell of a lot better if we could. I doubt there’s much privacy in some chickenshit little B&B.”

Sierra was Jackson’s personal assistant and also occasional bedmate, if Holly didn’t miss her guess. “I’ll bet she booked you into the Merrifield Inn under a false name, didn’t she?”

“She said it would be best to not give my real name if I really wanted to surprise you. There are no secrets in small towns, right?”

That was for sure. Morgan would have given her an immediate heads-up if he’d used his real name.

“How long are you planning on staying?”

Jackson gave her a curious look, obviously catching her less-than-enthusiastic tone. Then he shrugged. “Overnight. I figured I could use a little break, and I wasn’t lying about wanting to see you. And meet your friends. It’s time, don’t you think?”

The party.

Holly had wondered a few times about how Jackson and her friends would react to each other when they finally met, but it had always been questionable that it would ever happen. And she’d always thought that was probably a good thing.

On top of that, Micah wouldn’t be happy. She was supposed to be going to Lily and Aiden’s party with him tonight.

“I’m touched that you’d come all this way, but like I told you on the phone, I’m really behind the eight ball. I can’t leave the store all day, so I won’t be able to spend much time with you, Jackson.”

He’d started to browse the store, glancing at the food shelves. “That’s okay, as long as I’ve got you all night.”

I can’t deal with that problem right now.
“My friend Lily is throwing an important party tonight. I have to go.”

“Great,” Jackson said. “I can meet everyone in one shot. That makes it easy, right?”

Micah had to read every paragraph two or three times before the words sank in. His mind just would not focus. As he often did toward the end of the day at the office, he was studying
Criminal Investigation: The Art and the Science
. The criminal justice textbook was a bible for detectives, used by numerous police departments as prep for the detective exam. Micah had been reading it for so long he’d gone through two editions.

Mary Ann had gone home hours ago, so the tiny station was quiet. Then again, the phones were quiet this time of day too, as always.

He sighed and shut the book, too preoccupied over the lack of progress on the Fitz break-in to effectively study. Plus, he couldn’t stop thinking about his date with Holly, though he guessed it was stupid to call it a date. What would happen tonight was anybody’s guess, but he hoped he could ease her a little farther down the path of what seemed to be a cautious, mutual flirtation.

For now, he needed to stow those thoughts and keep his mind on work.

He’d spent some time tailing Jace Horton and Logan Cain, following them twice from the resort site to Cain’s place on their lunch break. Horton had waved to him a couple of times, a taunting sneer on his face. Neither man had done anything unusual, although Horton always managed to look nervous and furtive as hell. But he always came in on the ferry and went straight to the site. Cain drove to work each day and gave Horton a lift to the dock at the end of their shift. It frustrated Micah that he had no probable cause to search the house, because nothing about those guys sat right with him.

Just as he got up for a coffee refill, the station door swung open and Holly breezed in, gorgeous as always in snug-fitting capris. His pulse rate immediately jacked up a few notches.

“I saw the cruiser parked out front,” she said with an apologetic smile, “so I thought I’d talk to you here instead of on the phone.”

Something seemed wrong. “Sure. Want some coffee?”

“Thanks, but no.”

Now Micah was officially getting a bad feeling about tonight. “Grab a chair in my office. I’ll be right there.”

“Micah, I have to get back to the store.”

“Okay. Then just spill it.”

When she flinched, he regretted his edgy tone. “Jackson showed up at the store half an hour ago,” she said. “Completely unexpected, obviously.”

That sucked big-time. “And?”

“He said he wanted to surprise me. Well, it worked,” she said drily. “I almost keeled over.”

Apparently not from joy, if he was reading her expression right. “He probably thought you’d be thrilled.”

Her smile was pained. “He’s just staying one night—at the Merrifield Inn.”

“The B&B’s not exactly his style, is it?” Micah said, trying hard to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “Are you still going to the party? I mean with him, of course.”

“I really don’t want to miss it. Lily and Aiden…” She let her voice trail off.

“Of course,” he said. “No problem.” What else could he say?

She raised a hand, as if to pat his arm, and then let it drop to her side. “Thank you for being so understanding, Micah.”

He shrugged. “Well, he’s your boyfriend, and he’s come a long way.”

“Yes,” she said, dropping her gaze.

“The poor guy’s going to feel like a fish out of water around here,” he said, trying to be generous about it. “Like I’d probably feel at one of your New York parties.”

That brought her gaze back up. Her gorgeous blue eyes looked a little flinty. “Jackson’s a big boy. We don’t need to worry about his delicate feelings. Anyway, when have Seashell Bay folks ever been anything but friendly?”

“Never.”

Holly cast an anxious glance toward the door and then back at him.

“I’ll see you there tonight,” he said, giving her an easy way out.

“Sure.” She started to turn but then stopped and faced him again, still looking unhappy. “I really am sorry, Micah.”

He shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry about. I’ll look forward to meeting him.”

Holly let out a sarcastic little snort before opening the door. Micah rarely lied, but she clearly knew he’d just told a whopper.

Chapter 14

Y
our friend Morgan is seriously hot,” Jackson said as Holly pulled into the driveway of Aiden and Lily’s gorgeous old Victorian. “And sweet too. I had no idea that one of your best friends owned the B&B. I’d figured she’d be pissed off to learn about my little ruse and the fake name, but she couldn’t have been nicer.”

“Yes, she’s a sweetie,” Holly said, repressing a flare of irritation. Jackson
was
trying to be nice, after all. “But if you’d be more comfortable at a Portland hotel, feel free to move. Morgan wouldn’t mind at all if you decided to cancel.”

Jackson picked some apparently invisible lint off his crisply pressed black slacks. “Hols, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get rid of me.” He raised his eyebrows in an exaggerated lift.

Busted.

“Don’t be silly,” she said.

They got out of Florence’s car and climbed the stairs to the wraparound front porch with its pretty white rocking chairs. Normally, the serenity of the rather isolated place calmed Holly down, but tonight she was as nervous as a Collie in a thunderstorm.

“I hope I’m not underdressed,” Jackson said.

Underdressed? She knew his pale pink shirt—perfectly rolled up to just below the elbows—was made to measure by a London tailor, and his loafers were Prada. The white gold Rolex on his left wrist screamed wealth.

“These are plain working people, Jackson. That classic watch on your wrist might be worth as much as Lily’s lobster boat.”

“I doubt it,” he scoffed. “Anyway, you’re certainly going casual tonight.”

There was a hint of judgment in his tone. She’d decided to wear a red, scoop-neck tank top with a belted black skirt and flat sandals. “Is that a bad thing? This is home, after all, and these are my closest friends.” Holly rang the bell before opening the door. “I told you it was a casual barbecue. No big deal.”

“I guess I’m still having a hard time getting my head around this being home for you,” he said. “You seem so different here than in New York.”

“It’s a different world.”

Jackson snorted. “Tell me about it.”

“Come in, you two,” Lily said as she hurried down the hallway toward them. She hugged Holly and then, smiling, extended her hand to Jackson. “And you’re Jackson, of course. Welcome to Seashell Bay.”

Holly had introduced Jackson to Morgan at the B&B, guilty that she had to drop such an unexpected bombshell on her friend. She’d managed to get Morgan aside for a few moments and asked her to call Lily to give her the heads-up on Jackson. Morgan had given her a sympathetic pat on the back and then dealt with Jackson with her easy innkeeper’s charm.

Thank God she could always depend on Lily and Morgan to have her back.

“Great to meet you, Lily.” Jackson’s gaze flashed over Lily with undisguised interest. With her deep tan and trim figure, Lily looked amazing in a dandelion yellow sundress, so Holly couldn’t entirely blame him. Still, did he have to act like such a player with her friends?

“Well, it’s about time you showed up on our island,” Lily said jokingly, though Holly knew she meant every word.

Jackson just smiled.

“I’m ready for a drink,” Holly said.
Or maybe six.

“Most of the people are out back.” Lily took Jackson by the arm. “Aiden’s grilling burgers. I’ll let him take over the introductions, and then you boys can talk about sports and such while Holly helps Morgan and me in the kitchen.”

Lily winked at Holly and then dragged Jackson away.

Relieved to have a break, Holly followed them and then took a right turn into the kitchen, where Morgan and Micah were talking and drinking beer. Morgan was scooping avocado dip into the center of a glass veggie tray. As soon as she saw Holly, she grabbed another Shipyard from the fridge, opened it, and shoved it into Holly’s hand. “I’ll bet you totally need this,” she said.

“You have no idea,” Holly said. “Hi, Micah.”

Her favorite deputy, dressed in jeans and a black Polo shirt, definitely looked out of sorts—like he could chew up nails and spit out staples.

“I guess that was the famous Jackson Leigh who just sailed by,” he said in a flat voice.

The last thing Holly needed was another cranky male. “Be nice, Micah. He is our guest on the island, after all.”

“Uninvited guest,” Micah said. “But, yeah, I’ll be
nice
.”

Morgan punched him on the shoulder. “This is hard enough for Holly, you big jerk. Don’t even think about getting into some stupid male contest with the Come-From-Away.”

Micah clearly had to wrestle his irritation under control. “No worries,” he finally said. Then he turned and strode out the back door into the yard.

“Sorry, sweetie,” Morgan said. “But he’s upset. He told me he almost didn’t come.”

“I know and I hate it,” Holly said. “I’m furious with Jackson for thinking he could just breeze in like this.” She shook her head. “I suppose I should be thrilled that he dropped everything to come visit me. And I guess it’s a real problem that I’m not.”

“Well, if Ryan and I were separated for weeks on end and he helicoptered up here to spend a day or two with me, I’d be dragging him up to bed in a second, regardless of what else was going on.”

“I can’t totally blame Jackson for doing this,” Holly said, starting to pick nervously at the beer bottle label. “I just wish I could talk him into taking a hotel room in the city tonight.”

“There’s not a lot of privacy at the Merrifield, that’s for sure,” Morgan said.

Holly’s stomach had been tight for hours thinking about what would happen later tonight. Refusing Jackson after he’d made such an extravagant gesture would make him crazy and might spell the end of their relationship. Was she ready for that?

“Right now I’m just trying to get through the evening,” she said. “I’ll figure that part out later.”

Morgan shot her a startled look. “Whatever you say.” Then she glanced behind her out the window. “You saw Micah just now. This is tough for him.”

“I know.” Micah was the last person she’d ever want to hurt, especially after all he’d done for her and her aunts.

But it was more than that, and she knew it.

Don’t think about that now.

“I’d better get outside and see what Jackson is up to,” she said. “He’s probably trying to sell Aiden on one of his investment schemes by now.”

“Good idea. And try not to worry about Micah. He’s got plenty of friends here, and you know he’d never do anything to embarrass you.”

“No, but Jackson might.”

Micah had kept his eye on Jackson Leigh for the better part of an hour. Aiden had introduced him to the stockbroker, and the tense conversation had lasted only about fifteen seconds before Aiden figured out he’d better keep the Come-From-Away moving. Holly had appeared a few minutes later and had pretty much stuck close to her boyfriend. He made a point of having his hands all over her, including several pats to the ass. She hadn’t looked happy about it but didn’t abandon him either.

Aiden broke away from his brother and joined Micah, Ryan, and Josh at the edge of the crowd of forty or so people that had gathered in the yard. “So, what did you think of the great Jackson Leigh?” Aiden’s sarcastic tone made his own assessment clear.

Micah shrugged. “Since he seems to view me as some kind of redneck idiot, I’d say I’m not about to sign up for his fan club.”

He didn’t like the way the guy treated Holly either—as if she were some sort of pampered possession to parade around on his arm.

“Actually, that’s pretty much how he’s treating everybody, though some of the women seem to think he’s a charmer,” Aiden said. “As far as I’m concerned, the guy’s a raging asshole.”

“He seemed interested enough in talking to you though,” Ryan said.