Love Promises (Sully Point, Book 4) (2 page)

Eric cleared his throat and made her look up from
his hands. "I'll do it," he said.

"You will?" she asked, voice squeaking a
bit.

"Yes, but only under one condition."

She looked at him with some trepidation. What
could he want? "Okay, what's the condition?"

"No pay. I won't take money for this. If I do
it, I only have one request and that is to be shown around Sully Point and
introduced to people here. You see, I'm thinking of settling down in this town,
but I don't know anyone. You'd be doing me a big favor, just like I'd be doing
you one. So it would be a fair trade."

She frowned. "I'm not sure that would be a
true fair trade. Seems like I'd be getting the easiest part of the
bargain."

He smiled, a slow smile that held the promise of
something. Something that made flutters inside, around her heart.
"Believe me, my part of the bargain won't be difficult. Sounds like fun. I
was going to be alone on the holidays this year anyway. My parents just left on
a very long cruise, so I won't have family to be with. It will be nice to be
around people."

"Your parents are on a cruise?"

"Yes. My father and mother always wanted to one day cruise to Europe and see all the sights. They'll
have an extended stay over there before returning."

"Sounds nice. What do you do, by the
way?"

"Right now, I'm a musician, singing for my
supper. I'm currently between jobs. So I have plenty of time available. I'm
only on stage a couple nights a week. The rest of my time will be yours."

Maggie smiled back at him. "That's wonderful.
Not, I mean, that you are out of a job. But that you have the time to do
this."

"How do we start? And shouldn't we plan to
spend some time together alone first?"

"Alone? What do you mean?"

"We'll need to learn about each other, know
stuff about each other, if we are going to make this be real. Or else people
won't believe it."

Maggie nodded. "Yes, of course, you're right.
Could you come over to my place tomorrow morning? Say, around nine? I'll
provide coffee and pastry from the bakery. I'd suggest a later time, but I have
work to do tomorrow afternoon."

"All right, that sounds good. We'd better head
back if we plan on being up in the morning."

Eric drove the car out of the turnaround and back
onto the beach road. Maggie sat quietly, feeling satisfied by her plans, but
also a bit excited. Eric was such a man. Just being next to him like this, she felt
his presence, his maleness. He exuded a kind of sensuality that she wasn't used
to feeling from the men she'd met recently. In fact, in the quiet of the inside
of the car, she felt something building between them, something almost
touchable. A kind of magnetism. Finally she couldn't tolerate the suspense of
it.

"Where are you living, Eric?"

He glanced at her with that damned smile again.
With that one look, she knew he'd been as aware as she had been of the growing
tension. "In one of the beach cabins. I got a good deal on one since it's
past tourist season."

"Yeah, I'd imagine you would at this time of
year."

"How about you? I'll need to know where you
live to meet with you tomorrow."

"Oh, right. Do you know where the bakery is
on the town square?"

"Yes."

"I live upstairs from it. There is an
apartment on the second floor. Come around to the back of the building and
you'll find parking spaces there. Then you'll see a stair going up to my
apartment."

"You live over a bakery? Aren't the smells
distracting?"

Maggie sighed. "The smells are
wonderful."

Eric chuckled as they pulled into the parking lot
of the Lobster Shack. "I guess that would be enticing for someone who is
into desserts."

"Yes. I have to limit myself severely on my
intake of treats. But the smells are divine. Thanks, Eric, for agreeing to my
plan. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You're welcome, Maggie. Sleep well tonight.
We have a lot to accomplish tomorrow."

She stumbled getting out of the car, affected by
the look in his eyes. "I'm okay!" she said as she quickly moved away,
face flushing in the darkness. She heard that deep chuckle again, coming from
the driver's side window.

"See you later, Maggie."

She got in her car and managed to drive off without
any more mishaps. She wondered for a moment at the wisdom of using a man like
that in her plan. He did seem able to have an effect on her far beyond what she
was used to. The main thing was, she
thought with optimism, she was on her way to a peaceful, relaxing holiday
season. She smiled all the way home.

* * * *

Eric walked into his cabin and set his guitar down.
He poured a brandy and sat in a chair at the bay window, looking out into the
night. Maggie. What an utterly fascinating woman she was! It had been ages
since he'd been drawn to someone like what he'd felt tonight. He wasn't sure if
he'd ever had such a pull to be with any woman. And she'd felt something too,
he knew. In the car, there had been a definite something.

However, she seemed pretty adamant about not
wanting to be involved with anyone. For himself, he liked the idea of getting
to know someone without them knowing about his money. It had been a real
accomplishment to develop his computer software and grow his company to the
point that the big boys finally stepped in and wanted to buy him out. He'd
taken the deal, ready for some time off after five years of intensely hard
work. At twenty-seven, he had reached the pinnacle of his profession, and had
the dollar signs to prove it.

He'd discovered right away that people came out of
the woodwork wanting that money once it became known. He was inundated by
women, all of whom were only interested in his money. Millions could do that,
he supposed. But Maggie didn't know anything about his past. Nobody in Sully
Point did, he thought. His name had never really become big news, and the sale
had taken place eight months ago. He could relax here, and perhaps pursue a
fascinating woman. Life was good.

Chapter 2

Maggie had tossed and turned all night, haunted by
a pair of dark emerald eyes. She'd finally fallen deeply asleep around three in
the morning, leaving her bleary-eyed and grouchy when she got up late for the
day. She threw on a sweatshirt and jeans and ran downstairs to the bakery.

"Hey Julie," she said, as she headed for
the counter pastry case.

"Hi, Maggie," Julie said from the behind
the counter. Then she looked at Maggie and her eyes widened. "Uh, you
know, you hair--"

"What? Bad hair day? I'll comb it when I get
upstairs. Give me some of that apple strudel, two pieces, along with a couple
pumpkin muffins, and four coconut donuts. I've got company this morning. I
guess that will be enough."

She paid, and noticed that Julie continued to
stare at her hair. It must be bad. She ran back upstairs and was headed for the
bathroom and her comb when there was a knock on the door.
Damn,
she
thought, and opened the door to Eric.

Eric took one look at her and got a big smile on
his face. "Just wake up?" he asked.

"Why? My hair? Yeah, they told me at the
bakery. I was just going to get a comb." She motioned him inside and he
entered looking curious.

She immediately noticed that his hair was pulled
back with a leather tie, which just showed off the good bones in his face and
made him even more handsome.

"It's different," he said, standing in
the center of the living room and turning in a slow circle. "Eclectic. I
like it."

"Well, that's good," she said, a bit
sarcastically. "I'll get my comb."

"No, wait, sit down here a minute." He
pointed to the brocaded armchair. "Come on. Trust me."

She shrugged and sat down. He moved behind the
chair, and she felt him put his fingers into her hair.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm combing your hair with my fingers."

"Oh."

Maggie relaxed as his fingers ran through her hair
and then moaned aloud when he began to massage her scalp. "Wow. That feels
great."

"Just relax for a minute. You look like you
had a bad wake-up this morning."

"Yeah, I didn't get enough sleep.
Dreams."

"Want to talk about them?"

Maggie was relaxed, but not enough to talk about
dreams that featured the man with the magic fingers. "Uh, no, not
really."

After a couple more minutes of indulging in the
relaxation coming from his attention to her hair, she pulled away from his
hands.

"Thanks, Eric. That definitely improved my
mood. How's my hair now?"

He stepped away from her and gave a good look. "Now
it just looks messy instead of major bed hair."

They moved into the kitchen, which had enough room
for a table with two chairs. The walls were painted butter-yellow, with orange
curtains at the windows. The table was painted a glossy orange with yellow
chairs that had cushions with bright flowers on them. Maggie put the box of
pastries on the table and poured coffee for them both. Each took cream in
their coffee.

Eric opened the box and his eyes widened at the
bounty inside. "Coconut donuts? I love those!"

Maggie grudgingly said, "Have as many as you
want."

But Eric had picked up on the tone. "I'll
claim two, but I bet you like them too."

She nodded and grabbed one as she sat down.
"They're the best. Although, I think that strudel is still warm from the
oven. It's always good."

They munched on the food in a companionable
silence. Maggie began to feel human by the time she poured them a second cup of
coffee.

"So you didn't change your mind last
night?" Eric asked. "You still want to go through with this?"

"Yes, I want to. And you're still
willing?"

"Absolutely. Let's get started. What kind of
music do you like?"

"Okay. Adele, Norah Jones, Paula Cole. Iron
and Wine. Train. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour. Plus older stuff. How about
you?"

"I like jazz and classical music for
listening to at home on a rainy day. I like blasting music in the car from
bands like Muse. Then I tend to sing love songs and ballads from the seventies,
eighties and nineties when I perform. So I guess it would be a real mix."

Maggie asked, "Where are you from? Obviously,
not from around here."

"Seattle, Washington."

"What?" she asked, startled.
"That's all the way across the country."

"I know. I drove the whole way. It was a
great way to see things. Have you always lived in Sully Point?"

"No, I came here after Sam married Anna. I
liked it, but I was drawn to the city at first. However, the city and my
fledgling P.R. business didn't get along so well. I came to live here when I
started working on the Sully Point Project."

"What's that?"

"I guess you do need to know about that since
the whole family is involved. It's a project to build an artist community here.
Jason Earlington, the architect, is designing the place. There will also be
high end homes for sale. Jason is married to Holly."

"One of the Graingers, right."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I remembered from last night," Eric
said. "I'm a very good listener."

"That's helpful. You mentioned your parents,
but do you have any siblings?"

"Nope, I'm an only child. I did have a dog
growing up. Scout was his name. A Golden Retriever. He died my second year in
college. Which was Stanford University. Where did you go to school?"

"NYU. I wanted life in a big city at that
point. I'm over it now. Besides, I like this town. It's unique and funky and
full of interesting characters. Let's see. I have two other sisters, besides
having Sam for a brother. My parents live in upstate New York now."

Eric nodded. "Do you watch any sports?"

"Yes, I'm a huge pro basketball fan. I love
to watch it on TV whenever I get the chance. How about you?"

"College football and the occasional
basketball game. I'm surprised you're so into pro basketball."

"It's all those super tall people. I always
wanted to be taller than I am."

"So, you prefer taller men than I am?"

"Oh no, not at all. Those guys would be way
too tall for me. No, you're just about perfect."

"I see," he said with that knowing
smile.

She felt herself blushing. "I meant--"

He laughed and then said, "I know what you
meant. Let's move into your living room. I think we've demolished these
pastries for the time being."

Maggie nodded and put their plates and cups in the
sink. Eric closed the box top on the few remaining muffins.

"Do you cook?" he asked as they headed
into the living room.

"Some. I have a few things that I know how to
do well, but it's hit or miss on other stuff."

"That sounds like me. My mother taught me a
few dishes. My lasagna, for instance, is killer. But I'm fairly limited."

She sat back down in the same chair as before. He
sat on the velvet sofa, running a hand over the surface. "Nice. I don't
think I've ever sat on a velvet sofa before."

"Thanks."

"I see you have a bookcase full of books.
What genre?"

"Science fiction. I've been collecting these
for a while now."

Eric smiled widely at her. "I am a huge
science fiction fan." He got up and walked over to look at the books.
"Heinlein, Pohl, Niven and Pournelle, Bova, and, of course, Asimov. You've
got all the old masters here, along with new ones. I thought everyone read
ebooks these days, but here you have a lot of hardcover books."

"I do read books on my Kindle, but I still
love the feel of an actual book in my hands from time to time."

He returned to his seat on the sofa. "Many
boyfriends in your past?"

"Only two that counted. A tennis pro and an
artist. Each managed in his own way to break my heart. I learned my lesson from
those guys."