“What?” he asked, his voice low, his gaze fixed on her.
“You, Jesse,” she said. “I wanted you, and couldn’t admit it, even to myself.”
He took a breath, inhaling the fresh, clean scent of her, then reached out and skimmed his fingers through her thick, soft hair. His gaze moved over her, settled on her mouth briefly and then lifted to meet her troubled eyes. “And now you’re admitting it?”
She deliberately released her hold on the quilt and it swished to the floor at her feet. Moving into him, she slid her hands up over his chest and then hooked her arms behind his neck. “I’m admitting it. I’ll even write a retraction to the paper, if you want.”
He gave her a lazy smile, dismissing the irritation of seeing her letter in the paper in favor of enjoying having her in his arms. “I think I prefer a more private apology.”
“Oh, I’m not apologizing,” she corrected, going up on her toes to kiss him once, twice. “I’m just saying that I’m revising my opinion.”
“Enough to consider making Bella’s Beachwear a part of King Beach?” he asked.
She huffed out a breath. “Enough to think about considering it.”
He laughed a little. “I can live with that.”
Then he picked her up, carried her to the bed and lost himself once again in the wonder of her.
Nine
E verything was different, Bella thought.
Since that incredible night with Jesse a few days ago, they’d been together nearly every day. She was at King Beach or he was at her shop and they were talking business. He’d asked her advice on how to make his swimwear “greener” and had actually listened to her opinions. He was meeting her weavers and seamstresses and still trying to talk her into joining King Beach.
And for the first time, Bella was tempted. She still wasn’t interested in success just for the sake of making money. But he’d dangled the hope of reaching women nationwide with her specialty suits and that was something she couldn’t easily dismiss. With King Beach, she could find ways to make her cottage industry viable in a bigger setting and still maintain the kind of quality she insisted on.
But more than all that, being with Jesse was becoming the best part of her days. And nights. They were together every night now. At his house. At her house. On the beach, recapturing their very first time together. Her heart was full. She felt…amazing.
And she was terrified.
Bella was in love and just knew it wasn’t going to end well. Despite how attentive he was now, Jesse King was simply not the forever kind of guy. Sooner or later, he’d get tired of what they had and he’d move on. And Bella knew the pain that was headed her way was something she might never recover from.
In self-defense, she should have started pulling away from him. Keeping a safe distance between her heart and Jesse. But she couldn’t bring herself to give up what she could have now to protect herself in the future. Wasn’t it better to enjoy what you had while you had it? There would always be time for pain later.
“You’re thinking about him again.”
She blinked, looked at Kevin and smiled. “How can you tell?”
“You’re drooling.”
Quickly, she lifted one hand to her mouth, then sneered at her best friend. “Oh, that’s very funny.”
He smiled at her over the lunch table. “You look happy, Bella. It’s nice to see.”
“I am happy,” she said, but her voice carried a wary tone.
“But…”
“But,” she said, stirring her iced tea, “it’s not going to last, Kevin. One of these days, Jesse’s going to move on and I’m not looking forward to it.”
“How do you know?” He reached across the table and patted her hand. “Seems to me he’s spending a lot of time with you. A guy doesn’t do that if he’s not interested.”
“I know,” she said, and pushed her plate aside. She wasn’t really hungry anyway. “He’s interested now. But how long can it last?”
“Jeez, Bella.” Kevin shook his head at her. “Maybe you should give him a chance to screw up before you punish him.”
“I’m not punishing him,” she argued.
“Maybe not, but you’re already rehearsing your goodbye speech.”
“I’m just preparing myself,” she countered, “and you’d think that my best friend would approve.”
“Your best friend thinks you’re nuts,” Kevin told her, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “Seriously, when you don’t have him, you’re miserable. When you do have him, you’re crazy. Women are nuts.”
“Thanks. Have you told Traci your theory?” His girlfriend, a model for one of the bigger agencies in California, was constantly traveling and had been gone from Morgan Beach for almost four weeks this time.
“Of course,” he said. “She says I’m wrong. Just like you. But you’re women. You can’t see it.”
“Uh-huh, and if we’re crazy, why do you guys want to be with us?”
He grinned. “So where’s Mr. Wonderful today anyway? You haven’t had lunch with me in more than a week. Usually you’re with him.”
“He said he had to meet someone. Didn’t say who.” Bella frowned a little.
“So naturally, you’re thinking it’s some other woman.”
Bella’s eyes widened. “Well, I wasn’t. Until now.”
Kevin sighed. “Eat your alfalfa sprouts.”
“She’s making me insane,” Jesse muttered.
“Not so hard to do if you ask me,” Justice King told his younger brother and affixed his pliers to the end of the barbed wire before twisting it around a fence post.
“That’s nice, thanks.” Jesse shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and stared out over the rolling hills and fields of his brother’s ranch. There was a cold wind blowing and afternoon sunshine spilled out of a sky studded with massive gray clouds. Idly, Jesse wondered if they might be in for an end-of-summer storm.
He’d made the two-hour trip to Justice’s ranch in just under an hour and a half. He’d picked up a speeding ticket along the way, but it had still been worth it. He’d needed to get out of Morgan Beach. Needed a little distance from Bella. Needed to clear his head and driving fast was one sure way to do it.
He was seeing way too much of her, he told himself. Every day. Every night. She was becoming a part of him, threading herself so seamlessly into his life, he couldn’t even imagine a way of getting her out again. When he was with her, he was touching her. When he wasn’t with her, he was thinking about her.