Her Forbidden Love (Indigo Island Book 2) (9 page)

“Thanks for telling me about your dog,” Jack said. He watched Dorsey use the towel in an attempt to dry her long hair. “I still can’t believe this happened to you. Did they catch whoever poisoned your dog?”

“No,” Dorsey answered. She felt guilty for not telling him the whole truth, not telling him that it was worse, much worse than poor Rufus. But she couldn’t share that, she doubted she ever would.

Jack didn’t say anything in response, just nodded.

“So, what do you want to eat?” he finally asked when she bent over and flipped her hair over to dry the underside. “And did I mention you’ve got great hair.”

“I’m glad you like it, because it drives me crazy. It’s big, that’s for sure, and it takes forever to dry,” she answered from her upside-down position.

“I’m making dinner,” Jack announced, standing. “Hey, what’s this?” he said, picking up the oogle from the bedside table.

“Oh, it’s a little bit of protection from Tade and his friend, Barbara. They gave it to me to ward off evil spirits and things. It’s kind of like you, in miniature,” Dorsey said.

“Cute,” Jack said as he put the oogle back and walked back into the living room. He turned on the gas fireplace and the glow lit the room. The armchairs around the fireplace were brown wicker with bright yellow-and-white-checkered cushions. The kitchen table was sturdy maple. The layout was the same as her cottage.

As they sat in front of the fireplace, nibbling crackers and cheese and bologna slices, safe from the wind and the rain outside, Dorsey decided this might be the happiest moment of her life.

“What time are you working tomorrow?” Jack asked, the light of the fire dancing off his face, chiseled angles of perfection. He was gorgeous, Dorsey decided afresh. She was so happy, and felt so safe, she didn’t want to think about tomorrow.

She yawned and stretched. The warmth of the fire had relaxed her. She reached over and grabbed Jack’s hand. “I have to work at nine, but I’d better head back to my cottage. What if Steve has someone check on me?” She stood up, holding onto the waistband of his sweatpants to keep them from falling down.

“You had to hide out from the storm. Take one of the beds. I’ll sleep on the couch. It’s late. Promise it will be OK.” Jack stood beside Dorsey in front of the fire and grinned. He smelled like rain and soap, and she wanted him to touch her, to carry her to his bedroom, but that would ruin everything. Jack needed this job even more than she did. And how could she ever be sure she wasn’t just another notch on his belt.

“Oh, Jack,” Dorsey said, wrapping her arms around his neck, feeling the connection zinging between them as their bodies drew close and pulsed with desire. She took a deep breath and took in the scent that was uniquely his. “You know I appreciate your gentlemanliness, I guess. It’s just, well, it’s what we have to do, right?”

“Ugh,” Jack said, pushing her away. “This following the rules is killing me. We’ve got to figure out a way to be together.”

“I’d like that, too,” she said quietly, turning to face the fire. After a moment, she turned back to face him, ignoring the need in his eyes, a need she felt just as strongly. “It’s still crazy outside, so I’m sure it’s OK for me to stay, just this time. And just to be safe, you better sleep on the couch,” Dorsey said. She didn’t trust either of them with a whole night together anymore. As Jack closed the door to the bedroom, Dorsey climbed under the blankets of one of Jack’s queen-sized beds. Once she’d stopped thinking about Jack and focused on improvements she still had planned for the Kids Cottage, sleep was deep and peaceful, without nightmares.

Chapter 10

Jack

R
eluctantly, Jack closed the bedroom door, and leaned against it. He couldn’t believe he could feel this way about someone, could let a woman into his heart this quickly. All of those years of trying to fill the hole left by his brother’s death and his mom’s emotional distance with one-night stands and overachieving at school and work had never come close to making him feel alive again. Nothing had. Not until Dorsey. Now he stood on the other side of the bedroom door from her, alone and with a huge hard-on.

He let out a deep sigh and eyed the couch, his bed for the evening. All day long, before the storm had blown in, he’d sat up in the lifeguard chair and daydreamed about Dorsey. About her laugh, her soft skin, her incredibly wild hair. He couldn’t wait to make love to her, but knew if he would ever get the chance, he would need to take it slow. He had all the time in the world this summer, before he began his real job. He would wait as long as she needed him to, no matter how hard it was. Literally. He knew he could manage Steve, he just hadn’t exactly figured out how. The bigger issue was to earn Dorsey’s trust – a trust so ruined by her first and only serious boyfriend that he had caused her to believe she was unlovable. Jack had news for her – she was the most lovable woman he’d ever known.

Climbing under the blanket and trying to get comfortable on the couch, Jack thought about how he’d feel if his family were threatened, if his dog were poisoned and killed. That had to be horrible for Dorsey’s father. Dads were supposed to be the protectors, they were supposed to be around, to be the strong ones. Not that Jack would know. He’d been the man in the Means’ household since he was eight and his dad left them. He was afraid he had too much of his dad inside him to ever be a father. He hoped he would never abandon his own child, but who knows what kind of genetic monster could awaken. So Jack had decided to play it safe. Play the field, focus on his career, take care of his mom. But now, now there was Dorsey.

There was a knock on the door. Jack hurried to open it before Dorsey woke up. Steve.

“Just checking to make sure everybody’s accounted for after the storm,” he said, standing on the porch, clothes still wet from the lashing rain. Shining his too-bright flashlight into Jack’s eyes. “Dorsey isn’t in her cottage. Have you seen her?”

“As a matter of fact, I have,” Jack said, opening the door wider, pointing to his couch. Steve’s light followed. “I’m sleeping on the couch there and she’s asleep in my bedroom. I know it’s against resort policy, but as a senior staff member, I needed to be there for her. She was freaked out by the storm.”

“Damn right it’s against resort policy, Jack,” Steve said, leaning forward until their faces were inches apart. “You don’t want to jeopardize your promotion, now do you, pretty boy? Your momma is so proud of you and all.”

“I have an employment contract that you are bound to honor. I could have sued you already, so back off,” Jack said, his anger at the boiling point.

“You cashed the check, son, so you’re mine,” Steve said, tiny eyes threatening. “Everything around here needs to run according to my excellence plan. You fit into that nicely. Good eye candy, good for the morale of the staff. I don’t even mind all your one-night stands with the summer staff. But don’t mess with my Kids Cottage girls. You got close to Lila last summer and she left. Now here you are with Dorsey. Do you want to see her go, too?”

Jack stared back at Steve, seeing more to him than he’d ever noticed before. The realization that he was more than just a control freak was beginning to sink in. Steve really believed everything and everyone belonged to him on Indigo Island. He wondered what had happened to Steve in his childhood. Jack shook his head, still angry but disturbed at the insight. He saw Steve suddenly as a boy in middle school – skinny, squeaky voice and the easy target of every bully. But, even so, he didn’t have to turn out this way. Jack’s eyes widened, absorbing the reality of what Steve had said.

“Did you send Lila away? What did you do to her? You bastard. She loved it here,” Jack said, disgust and anger mixing into a powerful adrenaline rush. Lila was a beautiful girl, always happy and smiling. Jack had been close to falling for her, close to opening up to her during their two picnic dates together. But suddenly she was gone. “Don’t you dare do or say anything to Dorsey. I saw you touch her at the Kids Cottage,” Jack said as Steve rocked back and forth laughing his high-pitched laugh. “I’m going to be watching you, as much as you’re watching me.”

“No need for that kind of threat, son. Just keep out of little Dorsey’s panties, and we won’t have a problem,” Steve said, shining his flashlight directly into Jack’s eyes, blinding him, before turning and walking into the night.

If Jack had been frustrated before, now he was frustrated and pissed. Still blinded by the bright light shone in his eyes, he fumbled his way back to the couch after locking and chaining the door. How dare this guy check on them like they were kids away for summer camp? And what had he done or said to Lila?

Screw him, Jack thought. When he moved into management he’d get his revenge. He’d report Steve and his practices to the heads of Top Club, and Steve would be fired. Until then, Jack knew he just had to outsmart him, and protect the young woman in the next room whom he couldn’t stop thinking about.

He settled back onto the couch, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. Less than three months until Steve would be neutralized, but that seemed like an eternity tonight with Dorsey in the next room.

Jack knew he’d have trouble sleeping for more than one reason tonight.

Jack panicked when he woke up.

Looking around, he realized he was on his couch. The sun was fairly bright, and a quick check of the clock told him what he suspected. Only half an hour to get to the pool. He opened the door to his bedroom, expecting to see Dorsey asleep, but she was gone. The sweatshirt she’d borrowed the night before was folded on his bed. He picked it up and smelled it, and breathed in her scent.

He ran a hand through his hair, marveled at how simply smelling something she wore could turn him on. It was great to feel the sizzle and spark of instant attraction—and crazy that they hadn’t acted upon it. Maybe Dorsey was right. Maybe they were building up to something incredible.
Maybe waiting was worth it?

Thinking about it made him crazy with desire, so he had to get moving. It was late. He’d find her and see if they could have a real date tonight. Screw Steve. Jack would find a place for them to go where he couldn’t snoop around and find them. He had several ideas. He jumped in the shower, changed into his lifeguard uniform and headed to the pool complex. He hoped he’d see Dorsey on his way past the Kids Cottage and sure enough, there she was leaning her bicycle against the seawall.

Her hair glistened in the sunlight, and he smiled as she smiled at the children waiting for her for the beach walk. Then Jack noticed Steve also there. Why was he always around, Jack thought, hurrying toward them close enough to hear Steve.

“Well, here’s Miss Pittman, finally. I told you she’d show up, she was scared of the storm last night and had to sleep at a friend’s house,” Steve said to the children, wrapping his long arm tightly around Dorsey’s shoulders as his angry, dark eyes belied the gentle tone of his voice.

“Hey Dorsey, have a great day,” Jack said, trying to reassure her that everything was OK. And it was. He’d make it so.

“Hi, kids, you can call me Dorsey,” she said, smiling up at Jack and ignoring Steve even as he continued to hold her tightly to him. “Are you ready to find sea treasures? There should be a bunch after that big storm.”

“I was scared,” said a little girl with perfect Pippi Longstocking hair and freckles. She walked up to Dorsey providing the perfect extraction from Steve. Dorsey dropped to her knees to be eye-level with the child.

“Me, too, honey,” Dorsey said to the child. “But everything’s all right today. Sunshine and blue skies. Did your parents put sunscreen on you?”

“Yes,” answered the kids in unison.

“Miss Pittman, could I speak with you for a moment?” Steve said, extending his small hand out to Dorsey. She stood up by herself. “We’ll be right with you, kids. Why don’t y’all pick out a bucket and a shovel? There’s a big assortment in that white bag over there.”

“What is it?” Dorsey asked, concerned by his tone. She shot a look at Jack who stepped closer to them.

“I will overlook the fact that you were not in your cottage last night. I understand you were afraid of the storm? Just don’t let that happen again, especially with a male coworker. You know the rules and you know what happens if you break them,” he said.

Dorsey nodded as Jack looked on with distaste.

“Well good, now onto more important issues. Both of you need to know. See the EMT squad up there?” Steve pointed in the direction of the red truck.

“Yeah, I figured they were getting sandwiches at the general store, as usual,” Dorsey said.

Jack looked back toward the cottages at the red emergency vehicle and then noticed another squad parked at the edge of the seawall, farther down the beach, near the swimming pool complex. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“A boat is missing. Ten people from a water surveying company were caught out in the sound during the storm yesterday. No one has heard from them since five last night. We hope they’ll turn up, washed ashore here or over at Tybee Island,” Steve said. “Maybe they made it to Hilton Head, but we don’t think so.”