That Carolina Summer (North Carolina) (10 page)

He didn't look completely pleased or satisfied with her explanation, but he didn't belabor the point. With the addition of the champagne bottle to her other presents, Annette accepted her sister's offer to help carry some of them. As the family left the table, Annette smiled across the room to Josh. There was a responding movement of his mouth and something else in his look that Annette was certain she interpreted correctly.

At the hotel room she shared with Marsha, she and her sister parted company from her parents and Robby as they continued to their own suite of rooms around the corner. Inside the room, Marsha laid her present to Annette on the dresser.

“Why don't you try your new outfit on and see how it fits?” Marsha suggested.

“I'll wait till tomorrow,” Annette replied absently, preoccupied with other plans. She stopped in front of the mirror and inspected her reflection, using her fingers to touch up her hairstyle.

Marsha paused curiously to watch. “Are you really going to drink that champagne tonight?"

“Part of it.” Annette opened her silver evening purse and took out the tube of lipstick. Uncapping it, she twisted the stick up and began outlining her lips with its dusky rose color.

“What are you doing?” Marsha frowned.

“Putting on lipstick. What does it look like I'm doing?” She blotted it with a tissue.

“Why?” Which is what Marsha had meant initially.

“Why do you think?” Annette countered, and picked up the champagne bottle and a glass the hotel supplied to the rooms.

“Are you going out?” Marsha stared, already guessing the answer was affirmative but asking it anyway. “Where?"

“To meet Josh, of course.” Annette started toward the door, the chiffon skirt swishing about her shapely legs.

“But ... how...? When...?” Marsha faltered over the questions, unable to complete any of them.

“There wasn't any arrangement made for us to meet.” She guessed the cause of her sister's confusion. “But he'll be waiting for me just the same.” With a Cheshire smile on her face, she turned to wink at Marsha. “Don't wait up for me."

She was sweeping out the door before Marsha could recover enough to question how Annette knew Josh would be there. This time she was really worried about the kind of trouble her sister was getting involved in. She was playing in the adult leagues now, and the consequences could be serious.

WITH ROBBY TUCKED IN for the night, Kathleen moved quietly out of her son's darkened room and into the larger adjoining room where she and Jordan slept. He was standing at the window, looking out into the night. His suit jacket and tie were thrown across the bed. Kathleen started to go hang them up, but something in his brooding stance pulled her to Jordan instead.

Approaching from behind, she slid her arms around his middle and felt him stiffen an instant in surprise at her touch, then relax. She laid her cheek against his back, enjoying the warmth of his body.

“A penny for your thoughts?” she murmured.

He stirred restlessly. She loosened her encircling arms as he turned away from the window to face her. His glance touched her, cynically gray and thoughtful.

“I have a feeling Joshua Lord is worth a lot more than a penny,” Jordan replied dryly, and curved an arm around her shoulders to hug her to his side.

Kathleen smoothed a hand across his shirtfront, feeling the hard muscles of his chest beneath the material. It was a pleasant intimacy to touch him like this—to have the freedom of loving him.

“He's probably worth two pennies at least,” Kathleen agreed on a playful note. Her expression became absently thoughtful as she remembered the meeting. “He's a very attractive man."

A finger was hooked under her chin to tilt her head up for Jordan's bemused study. “You thought so, did you?” he accused lightly.

“Yes,” she admitted calmly, and a light danced amid the olive flecks in her hazel eyes. “Jealous?"

“Should I be?” he asked, but he wasn't really serious.

“No.” Kathleen had no desire to let him wonder. Their time together was too precious to waste it playing games when they could be loving.

As if hearing her silent thoughts, Jordan kissed her warmly yet briefly, betraying that his mind was still concentrating on something else. His caressing hand wound its fingers into her auburn hair and pressed her head against his shoulder. Bending his head slightly, he rubbed his jaw against her hair.

“Annette was certainly in a better mood after she saw him,” he remarked with seeming idleness.

“She seemed to be,” Kathleen agreed.

“Has she said anything to you about this Lord character?” For all his attempt to be casual, there was a stiffness in his words.

“No.” Kathleen half smiled but was careful not to let Jordan see it—or suspect.

“What do you suppose is going on between them?” he asked.

“Assuming, of course, that something is going on between them,” Kathleen said, reminding him that they didn't know whether there was or not. “Annette said something the other day that Joshua Lord considered her to be too young."

“That was a red herring.” Jordan dismissed it as having no significance. “Their age difference isn't any greater than ours."

“I suppose not,” she agreed. “Then what bothers you? I'm not sure that I understand."

“Didn't you see the way he looked at her?” he demanded. “He wants her. I saw it in his eyes."

Her chin quivered with her effort to hold back the laughter, but she failed. It spilled softly from her throat. There was irritation in the grip of his hands as he held her away from him. His challenging look indicated he was anything but amused by her reaction.

“Did I say something funny?” He insisted on an explanation.

“I'm sorry, but you sounded so righteous.” She really tried to contain her amusement, but it danced in her eyes. “What do you think was in your eyes when you looked at me?"

“That's different,” Jordan replied impatiently.

The dimples in her cheeks deepened with her effort to hide her silent laughter. “Naturally,” she murmured. “Annette is your daughter—which makes all the difference in the world."

For an instant he looked angry, then amused chagrin stole over his expression. “I sounded very fatherly, didn't I?"

“Yes, you did,” Kathleen smiled widely.

“I can't help worrying that he's too experienced for her,” he explained.

“I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. It's probably just a holiday romance.” Kathleen shrugged her lack of concern. “We've been here—what—two weeks? And we'll be leaving in another couple of weeks. What can happen in a month's time?"

“If you are trying to reassure me, you just failed,” Jordan smiled. “Or have you forgotten that we fell in love in less than a month?"

“Remind me,” she invited, and Jordan gathered her into his arms.

Chapter Six

THE MOONLIGHT SHIMMERED on the glassy surface of the Atlantic Ocean while the night-lights of Wrightsville Beach faded the stars in the sky. The air was fresh and soft, washed clean by the sea breezes of the Atlantic. The languid warmth of the day clung to the night.

On the curving edge of the beach, Annette paused and balanced on one foot to slip off a high-heeled sandal, then shifted her position to remove the other. With the champagne bottle in one hand and her shoes and glass in the other, she wandered onto the beach in her nylon-stockinged feet. The fine grains of sand were cool beneath her toes when she stopped short of the tidemark to gaze at the calm waters of the sea.

The unhurried sound of strolling footsteps broke the stillness of the night. Turning from the waist up, Annette looked back toward the hotel. A warm run of pleasure raced through her when she recognized the shadowed male figure as Josh. His stride didn't change as he angled across the sand to her.

A little more than a foot away, he stopped. There was a serenity about his expression, but a disturbing light burned in his eyes. Without the advantage of the added height her high-heeled sandals gave her, Annette had to tip her head back to gaze into his eyes.

“I knew you'd be here.” His voice was quietly strong.

“I knew you'd come,” Annette replied.

Neither of them found it necessary to explain the source of their knowledge, some primitive recess of their minds that was purely instinct. It was enough that they had both listened to it.

“Would you like some champagne?” She indicated the bottle with a lifting gesture of her hand. “I only brought one glass so we'll have to share. Do you mind?"

“No."

Josh took the bottle from her and worked the cork out with his thumbs. It made a small popping sound when it came free. Annette held out the glass for him to fill, her shoes dangling from a finger by their heel straps.

“Ladies first,” Josh said, indicating he would wait to drink after her.

Annette transferred the glass to her other hand and carried it to her lips, sipping the now tepid wine while she continued to regard him. A heady excitement licked through her veins, but it had nothing to do with the alcoholic content of the champagne.

He watched her drink, his lazily sensuous gaze taking note of her shining lips pursed to the rim of the glass. It tracked the liquid down her throat as she swallowed and it stopped in the vicinity of her breasts. Annette quivered inwardly with the sensation that Josh could see through the chiffon material covering them. The impression was lost when he lifted his gaze back to her face.

“Here.” She offered him the glass when she was through, and it was her turn to watch him.

If either of them noticed the champagne had gone flat, they didn't mention it. Her senses were alive to his presence, the sheen of the moonlight on his tanned features, the masculine fragrance of his cologne, the penetrating study of his gaze and the even sound of his breathing.

“It's a beautiful night, isn't it?” she commented as he refilled the glass and handed it to her.

“Perfect,” Josh agreed.

“Yes.” Her voice was a little breathless. “Champagne, moonlight and ... a little romance. What better way for a girl to celebrate her twentieth birthday?"

The question was a softly provocative challenge to remind him of his mistaken impression of her age. The corners of his mouth deepened with amusement.

“Why didn't you tell me how old you were?” he countered with a challenge of his own.

“Would you have believed me? You were convinced I was seventeen,” Annette reminded him, and lowered her gaze to the glass of champagne. “Besides, you might have been the kind of man who gets turned on by sweet young things."

“'Sugar and spice and everything nice,'” Josh quoted. “There is definitely more spice in your makeup."

“Do your tastes run to spicy things?” she asked.

“I can't imagine anything more boring than a bland diet,” he replied.

“Neither can I,” Annette agreed. “I hope you realize how frustrating it was trying to act the age you thought I was."

“I hope you realize how frustrating it was trying to treat you like the girl, I thought you were instead of the woman I wanted you to be,” Josh countered. “You knew that. And you deliberately provoked me."

“Why, Mr. Lord, whatever do you mean?” Impish lights danced in her innocently rounded gray eyes.

“You can drop the prim and proper act,” he advised with a mocking slant to his mouth. “I'm wise to you now."

“Are you?” she murmured, and carried the glass to her mouth for another sip of the champagne.

“Yes. And you've had enough of that.” Josh took the glass from her hand and emptied its contents into the sand. Then he tossed it and the bottle onto the beach.

“You shouldn't litter,” Annette admonished, anticipation of his intentions rushing along her nerve ends.

“We'll pick them up—later,” he said, and reached for her shoes to rid her hands of them, too. They made a soft little plop as they landed on the sand.

When Josh faced her again, neither was holding anything. “You've enjoyed the moonlight and drunk champagne. Now it's time for some of that romance you mentioned earlier."

His hands spanned her slender waist to draw her to him. It seemed to Annette that she floated into his arms. It was all so unhurried. Confidence seared her. It was happening just the way she had planned it.

“I was beginning to wonder whether you heard me say that,” she murmured when his face was very close to hers.

His warm breath caressed her lips as his mouth hovered above them. “I heard you."

Nothing was held back when Josh kissed her, not his experience and not his desire. Annette was engulfed by a force more potent than she realized. It fired her senses and melted her body to his solidly muscled flesh. Her mouth was filled with the taste of him. It induced a languor more dangerous than any from champagne.

The wild rhythm in her ears was the drumming of her heartbeat, gloriously loud and primitive. Roaming male hands applied pressure, arching her spine to fit her more intimately to his body. Her fingers combed themselves into his hair, its texture vital and thick.

His nibbling mouth teased an earlobe and loved on to the pulsing cord in her neck, raising shivers through her flesh. She was on tiptoe, straining to achieve the physical absorption that seemed so necessary to ease the inner aching. When his hand spread along her ribs just below the uplift of a breast, her lungs stopped working.