Catch Me a Catch (7 page)

Jack had a
presentation to Bateau Rouge to finish. He powered up his video camera, and
rewound to the beginning. Endless blue water and even bluer sky filled the tiny
screen. The only sound was the steady slap of waves against the yacht’s sides.

At first, the
lack of people and sound had been disorientating, but after a few days, it
became normality. His view had extended to the blank horizon, while his life contracted
to the tight confines of the cabin. He peered at the picture on the screen.
Sounds faded away until he was almost back at the helm again. Guiding the
little boat through the rough waves of the Atlantic Ocean. His fingers flew
over the keyboard, catching the elusive memories and weaving them into his
presentation. The final pieces found their places and clicked home like a
jigsaw puzzle. He pressed save and leaned back on the chair. He’d nailed it.
Now all he had to worry about was the meeting on Monday.

****

None of the
men who sat opposite Annie during the afternoon were as interesting as Jack.
Not one of them came close. Even when they talked so earnestly about what they
were looking for and what they felt they could offer. They smiled and flirted
but made no impact. Like a woman behind a Plexiglas screen, she was shielded
from the charms of any man but Jack.

“Come outside,
and I’ll take your picture.”

She flicked
through the photos on her digital camera. A smile teased her lips at the one up
Jack’s nostril. She pulled in a deep breath at the picture where he’d stopped
glaring, and turned the full wattage of his devastating smile her direction
instead.

“Do I smile or
should I try looking sexy?” The tall surfer was gazing at her. Jack had
effortlessly managed to do both.

“Just smile.”
She thumbed the camera into photo mode, and clicked the button.

“That’s great,
thanks.” It was a good picture. The surfer looked smiling and handsome. Her fingers
burned to flick back to Jack’s face again. She pushed her hair back from her
face then smoothed it with rapid fingers behind her ear. “Let’s go back inside
and finish up.”

Jack Miller
had taken up residence in her head. She had the funny feeling he’d permeated
her bloodstream too, drawn inexorably by the pumping of her inner muscle closer
and closer towards her heart.

The golden sun
was sinking in the sky and her stomach rumbled. It must be dinnertime. She
stuffed the book into her bag and waited outside. After a moment, her car drew
up.

“Sorry, I was
talking to your mum,” Jack explained.

That sounded
ominous. She clambered into the passenger seat, holding down the hem of her
skirt to keep from revealing all.

“I’ve only
just come out.”

His gaze flickered
to her legs, and then he leaned over and kissed her quickly. “For our
audience,” he muttered against her lips before he pulled back. Her heart was
racing mile a minute. God, how was she going to bear this if he kissed her
every time they met? She couldn’t care about an audience; she wanted to kiss
him for real.

“Was she
giving you the third degree?”

“No. I don’t
think she’s heard anything yet. We were talking about dinner. I told her I’d
like to take you out tonight. Let you show me the sights.” He glanced at her
thighs again, and she angled her knees towards him.

“Okay, that
sounds good.” A lot better than sitting with her parents again, anyway. They
were going to be curious when they found out, and she couldn’t cope with the
third degree, not until she’d got her feelings under control.

Jack obviously
had a need for speed. He drove with masculine assurance through the cowslip
fringed lanes, tanned hands flexing on the wheel he fed through long fingers.
She closed her eyes to block out the image, but it was no use. What would those
hands feel like sliding over her body? Her nipples formed hard peaks inside the
lace of her bra at the mere thought. If he could do this to her without even
touching her, she was in real trouble. Her unruly imagination was having a
field day.

Annie’s
nostrils flared with the scent of warm man and hot sun. A delicious
combination. She clamped her knees together, willing her treacherous body to
behave. Her lungs ached as if she was swimming underwater, desperate to break
the surface for air. She clenched her teeth. Crossed her arms over her chest in
an attempt to disguise her body’s response to him. It wasn’t working. If
anything, the feel of her arms against her oversensitive breasts heightened her
arousal. She wound down the window and looked out at the ocean. A gentle sea
breeze played across the tops of the cerulean waves. She breathed it in deeply.
Eventually, her breathing returned to normal.

“How was your
afternoon?” He was making small talk. She puffed out a breath, relieved.

“Great,
actually. A couple I matched last night came in to tell me that their date was
a success. They’re going out again tonight.”

“That’s
fantastic.”

Warmth flooded
her, and the tension streamed out of her stiff shoulders.

“Yes. It’s a
miracle.” It had been one small victory in an ocean of defeats. Hardly up to
Bull’s standards, but better than nothing. The happy couple had left with their
arms around each other, and if she hadn’t been so tired, she would have done a
happy dance.

“So you live
in Dublin, most of the time.” His gaze remained on the road as he took a corner
at breakneck speed.

“Yes. I’ve
lived there for the last couple of years. I prefer it. I want to make my own
way in life away from the village. I’ve always dreamed of opening a chocolate shop
in Dublin. If I win the Chocolate Oscar, I’ll be able to. The prizewinner gets
a year’s free rent at an artisan chocolate shop on Dublin’s main shopping
street. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime and the publicity will be really good
for business.”

“Don’t you
miss being at home?” He glanced at her.

 “No. I love it.
Here, everyone knows my business. In Dublin, I’m just a person in a crowd. I
like the anonymity.” Her nerves skittered. She changed the subject. “What have
you been up to all afternoon?”

“I was
working. I have a meeting on Monday in Dublin.”

“We’ll have to
talk to my parents. You need to prepare yourself for the third degree.”

She twisted
her hands in her lap. Bull and Maeve were so overprotective they’d want to know
everything. She was so confused about Jack she didn’t want to discuss him with
anyone, least of all her parents. The engine slowed. Jack pulled in to a lay-by
and turned off the engine.

“You’re
nervous,” he stated flatly. “I don’t understand why. You’re not a teenager
bringing home your first boyfriend.” Curious eyes flickered over her. Her heart
sank. She had to explain.

“Oh, no. Don’t
tell me I’m your first boyfriend.”

“Of course
you’re not my first boyfriend. I’m twenty-four, for goodness sake!” What kind
of sad creature did he think she was? “You are, however, the first man who’s
taken me out since the
big disaster
.” Silence stretched between them.
His gaze was patiently penetrating. She pulled in a deep breath that expanded
her chest then puffed it out slowly before continuing.

“Every aspect
of my life when I was growing up was an open book. There’s no such thing as
privacy in such a small village.” She worried her lip with her teeth, hating
that no matter how she told it she would sound like a victim.

“I fell in
love with a boy from the village. Steve Jackson,” she admitted flatly. “My
father didn’t like him. He told me I was making a mistake, but I didn’t
listen.”

It was a
hateful story. Even two years later, the betrayal stung.

“He left me at
the altar. It was a scandal, especially when we discovered he ran off with
another girl from the village.” The pain in her chest eased at the
understanding and compassion in his azure eyes. Jack wasn’t judging her. Unlike
the entire village, who acted as though somehow Steve’s abandonment was her
fault.

“I’m sorry
that happened to you. Your fiancé should have been man enough to tell you
before…” He frowned.

“Before our
wedding day,” she added quietly. “Yes, he should have. I think he just couldn’t
face telling me. All the preparations were underway, and both our families were
so excited.” The news had devastated his parents, too. They were the first to
console her in the days after.

“Anyway, as a
result my parents are justifiably overprotective. By kissing me in the pub
today, you’ve put the entire village on alert. The net curtains are going to be
twitching for the next few days, with half the town on
dump watch
.” She
rubbed damp palms over her skirt.

“I’m sick and
tired of being the focus for gossip,” she explained. “Everyone will have an opinion.
Just you wait and see.”

Jack mulled
over her words silently, his face a study in concentration. “So, you believe
everyone in this town is going to care about how I treat you. To me that sounds
like there’s a warm and loving community who give a damn about you. I grew up
alone, Annie. There are worse things than having people care about you.” He
reached across the seat and hooked a hand behind her head, pulling her closer.

“Kiss me.” His
lips moved closer and her heart hammered. “I’ve been thinking about you all
afternoon.”

Chapter Five

Annie’s smooth
lips parted, allowing him access. Jack dimly registered the taste of lemons as
he plundered her mouth hungrily. He angled himself closer in the squashed
confines of the car, wishing he could pull her over the space between them into
his lap. This was no kiss for spectators. It was all about the two of them. His
heart beat a rapid tattoo as he shoved his fingers through her hair, caressing
the soft curve of her neck. Her breath was coming as fast as his and things
were rapidly getting out of control. He wanted her with an urgency that
pole-axed him. His knees banged against the gearshift. They should be somewhere
else. Somewhere where they could explore each other’s bodies completely.
Anywhere but in her tiny car on the way to her family home.

An engine
gunned. Jack pulled back, breathing hard, as a small red car rushed past.

What on earth
was the matter with him? He’d never been so out of control that he’d wanted to
strip a woman bare and make love with her on the side of the road before.

“We ought to
get home,” Annie muttered, her mouth looking swollen from his kisses.

“Yes.” He
dropped his hands into his lap. Struggled to get his aroused body back under
his control. “This isn’t the place for kissing.”

“Right.” Annie
stared out of the window. Every molecule of her body was rigid. She must be
feeling raw and exposed after revealing her past to him. What sort of a man was
this fiancé, to leave a woman he had to have loved at some stage alone at the
altar? Annie might be prepared to cut her ex some slack, but he wasn’t. Despite
her charitable words, anger flared.

No man
deserved to get away so lightly with hurting a woman. Especially not a woman
with an open and giving heart like Annie.

He started up
the engine. Annie should be angry, not forgiving. He hadn’t forgiven Sharon for
her betrayal. He’d given Sharon a key to his apartment, never dreaming she’d
bring a man there. The day Jack walked into his bedroom and found her writhing
on top of a naked stranger had been the day trust died. He’d instantly ordered
her out, coldly unmoved by her crying and pleading for another chance. When
she’d gone he’d stripped the sheets from the bed and thrown them away, and had
replaced the bed the next day. He’d learned his lesson five years ago.

Annie wasn’t
anything like Sharon. She bore no resemblance to the blonde army either. She
was like a locked box he didn’t have a key to. Her willingness to forgive was
perplexing. He didn’t even try to understand. Women were a different species,
and whatever he said at this point was bound to be wrong. He pulled out onto
the road again, swerving to avoid wheel-breaking potholes. Maybe if he’d grown
up differently, with a caring adult to talk to he’d be better at comforting,
but he hadn’t. Silence stretched between them, like a rubber band forced to the
breaking point. With relief, he pulled up outside the house.

Maeve was
waiting for them in the kitchen, arms akimbo on rounded hips. “Ah. Here you are
Venus Anne Devine. Have you anything to tell me?” Her eagle-eyed glance flicked
from Annie to Jack questioningly. God. Talk about out of the frying pan into
the fire.

“Venus Anne?”
he murmured.

“Venus Anne,”
she confirmed, through pinched lips.

 “What would I
have to tell you, Mum?”

“Well, to
start with, you could tell me when you and Jack became an item. The phone’s
rung off the hook all afternoon.”

“Who phoned?”
Annie asked wearily.

A headache
started to thud in his temples. Annie was right. Kissing someone in the pub was
obviously a huge deal in this close-knit community.

“Who hasn’t?”
The ringing of the phone diverted Maeve’s attention for a moment. “You. Don’t
move!” Maeve pinned Jack and Annie with a glare and answered it. “Hi,
Miley…Yes. They’re here now. Oh,” her eyebrows shot scalpward. “In the car?
Right. Well they seem to have sorted out any car trouble they were having…Sure
they’re here now.”

Maeve hung up.
“That was Miley. He saw you a couple of minutes ago.”

The red car
that sped past while they were kissing. Thank God Jack hadn’t gone with his
body’s urgings and slipped his hand under her tee-shirt to stroke her breast.
Or skimmed the smooth legs that invited his attentions. They’d probably have
the fire engine here to meet them if that was the case. Maybe even the gardai
to take him away for lewd behavior.