It was the closest he’d ever come to telling a woman that he didn’t want to lose her.
She looked at him for a long moment, then smiled and laid one hand on his forearm. “Me, either.”
Jesse smiled. Problem averted. For now, anyway.
She changed the subject abruptly though and he had to wonder if she did it on purpose, trying to keep him off balance. If so, she was damn good at it.
“I liked your cousin and his family.”
His smile broadened. “Yeah. Always good to see them and the kids.”
“I envy you that,” she whispered.
“What?” He kissed the top of her head, silently encouraging her to continue.
“Your family. You’re all so connected. And you were so good with those little girls…”
He dismissed that easily. “They’re great kids. Not hard to have fun with them.”
“Yes,” she said, tipping her head back to look up at him, “but a lot of men wouldn’t bother to get down on the floor and give ‘pony rides’ for an hour.”
He laughed, but she only looked at him, so his laughter faded away quickly. “What is it?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately.”
“Okay…” Her expression was serious. Damn near solemn, and Jesse braced himself for whatever might be coming.
“And I’ve come to the conclusion that you aren’t quite the man I thought you were in the beginning.”
He smiled at her. “Good to know.”
She straightened up and looked him square in the eye. “There’s more. Jesse, you know I never wanted to expand my business.”
“Yeah,” he said wryly, relaxing just a bit. “I think you’ve made that pretty clear.”
“Well, I’ve changed my mind.”
“What?” That surprised him and he wondered idly if he’d ever be able to read Bella. He watched her, trying to determine her emotions, but her eyes were clear and direct and whatever she was feeling, she kept hidden too well for him to decipher.
Finally, she smiled, lifted her hand and cupped his cheek in her palm. He felt the warmth of her slide deep inside him.
“I’ve decided to join King Beach,” she said. “You’ve convinced me that I can trust you, Jesse. And I think, together, we can do some amazing things.”
He caught her hand in his and squeezed it. Strange, but over the last couple of weeks, he’d forgotten about trying to merge her company into King Beach. He’d been too focused on getting her into bed. And then keeping her there once he had her. Her making this announcement out of the blue really threw him.
He was utterly touched. For weeks, he’d been trying to make her see reason. To join King Beach. Now that she had, he felt a little…uneasy. But why? He’d bought up companies before. Hell, he’d gotten his start that way. But for Bella to join him was a real statement on her part. She was trusting him not to ruin what she loved. “You won’t be sorry, Bella.”
“I know,” she said, leaning into him for a kiss. “I believe in you, Jesse.”
The wind kicked up, carrying the scent of the sea, and a trickle of worry sprang up out of nowhere inside him. Promptly, Jesse shut it down. This was what he’d wanted. And hell, he’d done even better than he’d thought. Not only did he have her business, but he had Bella.
What could possibly go wrong?
Three days after the exhibition, life was back to normal in Morgan Beach. Except for one thing.
Jesse was nervous.
This was not normal. Not for him anyway.
He was worried about his relationship with Bella now that they would be going into business together. What if she found out that he’d planned to seduce her into handing over the reins? She’d be hurt, pissed. He hadn’t expected to care, but he did.
And he couldn’t bear the thought of losing her.
But he didn’t like hiding the truth from her, either. He’d learned long ago that hidden secrets had a way of showing up when you least expected them to bite you in the ass.
So what did that say? What the hell was he feeling and why now of all times? Bella had sneaked up on him and he’d never seen it coming. She’d gotten beneath his finely tuned radar and had carved out a spot for herself in his heart. Hell, he hadn’t even known he could feel everything he was feeling for her. Hadn’t guessed he was capable of it.
For years, he’d steered clear of anything that looked like it might lead to something permanent. Carefully, deliberately, he’d only dated women who were interested in having a good time. The future-in-their-eyes type he left strictly alone.
So how the hell had this happened to him?
Which wasn’t really important now anyway. The real question was, what was he going to do about it?
For three days now, he’d kept his distance from Bella, trying to work out in his own mind just what he was feeling and what he wanted to do about it. This was a whole new ball game for him. He’d never before even contemplated a future with a woman. He’d never before wanted to. Now, he couldn’t imagine the rest of his life without Bella beside him.
God knew, he hadn’t meant to get so involved. He’d wanted Bella mostly to prove something to Nick Acona. Now it had gone way beyond that. And damn if he knew how to handle it.
He stood up from his desk, turned around and stared out the bank of windows at Main Street and the ocean beyond. Black clouds hovered on the horizon, pushing toward shore and he knew that by evening, there’d be a storm blowing in. Which suited how he was feeling just fine. His insides were raging, in a tumult. He’d never thought of himself as the marrying kind of guy. But Bella was definitely the marriage kind of woman. Which left them exactly where?
His parents’ marriage hadn’t gone well, what with his father always buried in work. And Justice’s marriage had split apart, though no one knew why. So how the hell was he supposed to make it work?
“Mr. King?”
“Yeah?” He glanced over his shoulder, irritated at the interruption as he watched Dave Michaels step into the office. “What is it, Dave?”
Dave blinked at Jesse’s tone, but said, “I’ve got the paperwork drawn up for Bella to look over and sign.”
“Right. Fine. Just…leave it on my desk, will you?” He turned back to stare outside again, his thoughts racing in circles. He’d convinced Bella to take a chance. To sign with King Beach. To trust him not to screw up the business she loved.