No Other Love (A Walker Island Romance, Book 2) (9 page)

It was so tempting to try to give Natalie advice. But how could Morgan do that when she had been doing her best to keep her distance from Brian, working the jobs that put her farthest from him in an earnest attempt to keep their relationship from progressing in a dangerous direction?

“It really is looking great,” Morgan agreed. “In fact, I think it's finally time to start pulling together some samples to show to the press. Would you like to work with me on that?”

Natalie nodded eagerly. “Mr. Russell’s going to be there, too, won't he, since we’re going to use the school labs?”

Apparently, keeping away from him wasn’t going to be that easy after all. Not that Brian had been making it easy anyway. Every day, he’d brought down a picnic for them to share, or picked out flowers that he knew Morgan would like, or came by with a delicious container of homemade sorbet made from the island's own berries. They were all small, sweet things...just like he always used to do for her when they were a couple in high school.

At the same time, he hadn't tried to kiss her again or insisted that they have another big talk. Maybe it was crazy, but that only made it harder for Morgan. He'd told her that he was going to fight for her, but she should have known better than to think she'd be able to predict his tactics and then sidestep them. Especially when he'd always known exactly how to knock her walls down and touch the deepest parts of her.

And, honestly, today it
really
didn't help that he'd taken his shirt off to work on the irrigation ditches he and Tad were digging, Brian’s muscles well defined and shimmering with sweat in the sun. Of course, that was right when he stopped digging and caught her drooling over him. His slightly cocky grin had her breath catching in her throat...and her entire body tingling head to toe.

No.
She needed to keep her wits about her. Needed to keep her focus on her career and fulfilling her dreams of having her own makeup line and TV show. After all these years, she was so close that she couldn't be derailed now.

A few minutes later when the men had put away their tools and come over, Morgan said to Tad and Natalie, “You both have done really great work with the irrigation. What do you say we head into the lab for our final hour today?”

“Morgan is going to let us help her make some samples!” Natalie informed Tad in an excited voice.

His smile for the girl was so warm, and so sweet, that Morgan's heart melted as he said, “That's really great news, Natalie.” He turned to Morgan. “Thanks again for including us in everything.”

“I honestly couldn't have done this without you. All of you.”

But even as she said it to mean Natalie, Tad
and
Brian, she couldn't quite bring herself to look directly at Brian...not when she was afraid of just how sweet and warm his gaze at her would be.

And how it would likely melt away what was left of the walls she was trying to keep up around her heart.

* * *

After they had each filled a small bag with wild flowers and berries, they went into the school's science lab, where Morgan explained, “Most of the time, chemistry lessons are about creating reactions. With makeup, though, we want to avoid those as much as possible, because we certainly don’t want ingredients reacting once they hit the skin. Well, except in things like fake tans, where the active ingredient—”

“DHA,” Natalie supplied helpfully.

“Yes, DHA is designed to react with the skin. For things like lipstick and eye shadow, though, we want the results to be as inert as possible, while looking, smelling and feeling wonderful.” After she spent a few more minutes talking them through the most important elements of creating makeup, she said, “Now you try,” then let them loose with a handful of ingredients and the science lab’s equipment. Since her own efforts with the ingredients she'd been using as an example were currently nothing more than multicolored goop, she wasn’t expecting them to come up with perfect sticks of makeup. That was what the professional scientists would take care of later. The point was to get them to understand the process.

“You’re good with them,” Brian said as they watched the kids work.

“Thanks.” She was surprised to find how much she enjoyed it. “So are you.”

Their gazes held, and she forgot how to breathe, forgot everything except how hard her heart was beating, and how much she wanted Brian to pull her into his arms to kiss her again, and how—

“Morgan?”

“Brian?” She was already moving closer, could practically feel his arms around her again, when she finally realized why he was saying her name...and looking down at her bag.

Her phone was ringing.

Feeling like an idiot for practically jumping into his arms in the middle of his science lab with two of his students just feet away, she turned away as she put her phone to her ear.

“Juliet, hi.” God, she needed to stop sounding so pathetically out of breath from nothing more than just being near Brian.
Focus.
She needed to focus. “How’s everything going at the office?”

“Very well. And how is everything going on your end?”

“The new seeds are sprouting, the legacy wild berries are tamed, and the wildflowers are blooming like crazy.” She paused, realizing as she said the words aloud just how far they’d come. And how much she'd enjoyed working outside with her small but very enthusiastic crew. “It’s looking amazing, actually. In fact, our setup is pretty much done.”

How had the last weeks flown by so quickly? Too quickly...

“Perfect,” Juliet said, “because I've had several reporters tell me that they'd like to get down to the island this weekend to grab interviews with you in the garden and take photos.”

“This weekend? They already want to come see the garden?”

“I thought you'd be thrilled with this news,” Juliet said.

Juliet was a great assistant for a whole host of reasons, among them that she could read Morgan’s tone even when the words themselves shouldn't have meant much. Only, Morgan wasn't sure that she wanted her assistant to read between the lines today.

“I am thrilled,” she replied. “It’s just that I had been thinking we had another week before we got to that point. Maybe even two.” Panic set in at the thought of leaving the island so soon, even though her whole life, up until now, all she'd ever wanted to do was leave Walker Island behind.

“Why would you want to wait? If everything is ready and in bloom, we should be putting in the big marketing push, especially while the journalists are so excited about it.”

Juliet was right. Moving on to the next step made perfect sense. It was just that she'd thought she'd have more time to try to figure out things with Brian. To see him smile. To hear him laugh. To sit with him beneath the warm sunshine. And to pretend that it wouldn't all have to come to an end the way it had before.

Only, how could she explain that to Juliet? Especially when she could hardly explain it to herself, this incredible longing for Brian when she
knew
that things could never work out for them.

“This weekend is fine. I’ll be ready.”

Brian was watching her carefully as she disconnected the call then worked on getting photos of Natalie and Tad working over a Bunsen burner, their heads close together to post on her social networking channels.

After graduation, Natalie would likely go off to one of the top universities in the country and Tad would likely head off on a football scholarship to play for one of the best college teams in the country. Now that they'd finished setting up the garden, Morgan would hire local workers to keep it going and to ship the ingredients to the cosmetics research labs. As soon as she returned to the city to film her new series, these weeks on Walker Island would be nothing but a sweet memory of sunshine and the sea...and a man who would always know, better than anyone else, how to make her smile.

And
feel.

She looked up and realized that Brian was staring at her with concern. “Is everything okay? It seemed like that phone call upset you.”

For a few seconds she couldn't get her brain to work, not when she truly was upset at the thought of leaving him so soon. “Thank you for helping me, Brian.”

His eyes darkened further, and she knew why. Because her thank-you sounded like good-bye.

“I would do anything for you, Morgan. You know that.”

She wanted to say:
Come with me to New York. I don't want to live without you. Not again. Not ever again.

But she'd never forgive herself for taking him away from the island and the school and the students he adored and who needed him, just so that she wouldn't have to be alone while she chased her dreams. So she simply said, “I know,” before turning to Natalie and Tad and saying, “You’ve done so much to help me with this project. It wouldn’t have worked nearly as well, or been anywhere near as fun, without you.”

“I've really enjoyed working with you, too,” Natalie said. “I learned a lot.”

Tad nodded. “I have, too.”

“That means so much to me,” Morgan said, and it did, enough that her throat was starting to clog up at the thought of having to say good-bye to all three of them soon, not to mention her sisters and Ava. “I've been wanting to find a special way to say thank you to all of you.”

“You’re already writing us letters of recommendation,” Natalie pointed out.

“You've earned those recommendations with your hard work, but I want to thank you personally by taking everyone out to celebrate the garden’s success. How does the Waterside Room sound?”

It was the most expensive restaurant on the island. One that, growing up, Morgan would have killed to get into. It seemed like the only place good enough to show just how grateful she was to her two interns, and besides, she wanted to give them an occasion to remember.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Morgan took her time getting ready for dinner
.
Twice now, she’d scrapped outfits as unworkable: Her first choice of dress had been far too formal, while the second attempt had looked more like she was going to a picnic rather than to dinner. What
was
the right look, then? Something simple but beautiful? The classic but flirty little black dress? Maybe with a delicate red shawl, but that meant altering her makeup again, and there were still shoes to decide on…

“You know, Morgan, dear,” Grams said as she walked into the bedroom and saw the cyclone of clothes and shoes and makeup, “for someone trying hard not to attract Brian, you seem to be spending a lot of time getting ready for this.”

“It’s a fancy restaurant. I should look nice. And you
know
I've always taken forever to get ready to go out.”

“But you don't usually change your mind about how you want to look. That's something you've always known. Who you are. And what you want.”

Before she could reply—or admit to her grandmother that she was becoming more confused by the day about what she truly wanted, Brian or her career, the city or the island—the doorbell rang. Emily had already let Brian in by the time Morgan headed downstairs.

When she saw him, she paused on the middle step and just stared, because he looked
amazing
in a suit and tie. “You look great,” she said, her voice doing that breathless thing she'd almost gotten used to hearing come out of her mouth around him.

“You're always so beautiful, Morgan.” He clearly didn't care that her grandmother and sisters and Michael were all within hearing distance as he told her, “You've taken my breath away.”

She couldn't get her feet to move, not when all she could think was,
Don't you know that you take mine away, too?

He didn't say anything more, just moved up the steps to where she was standing on trembling legs and held out his hand for her. When she took it, she felt the sweet jolt of electricity run all the way through her, continuing even as they walked in silence out to his car.

Seeing her interns in the backseat, she had to work really hard to pull herself together as she greeted them and complimented them on their outfits. Tad had cleaned up well in his suit, and Natalie looked wonderful, the slightly geeky would-be scientist left behind for the evening, revealing a radiant young woman.

It had been a few years since Morgan had been to the Waterside Room, but it was still a truly magnificent establishment. The single, long dining room had a view out over the ocean, the lights of Seattle visible in the distance, and there were candles on each table.

“Ms. Walker,” the maître d’ said, “it's such an honor to have you here tonight.” At the same time, strangely, he looked a little worried as he added, “I'm terribly afraid, however, that I was not able to accommodate your request in full at such late notice.”

She couldn't stop her face from falling. “You don’t have a table for us?”

“We have two tables for two, but not one for all four of you.” Despite how apologetic he obviously was, he also felt that he needed to remind her, “This
is
the most sought-after restaurant on the island.”

“It’s fine,” Brian said. “We can split up.”

“Split up,” Morgan started to protest, “but—”

Brian nodded over to where Tad and Natalie were completely wrapped up in one another with Natalie laughing softly at something Tad said, while Tad’s fingers tentatively brushed Natalie’s arm.

“Okay,” Morgan said, even as her heart raced at the thought of being alone with Brian at a romantic table for two. “Separate tables will be fine, thank you.”

Once they were seated, Brian said, “You must go to places like this a lot in the city, don't you?”

“Not as often as people think. Mostly when I do, it’s because some TV executive wants to impress someone, or a client is feeling generous.” In other words, not because she was having dinner with an incredibly handsome man that she was desperate to kiss. Yes, there had been fancy dates in the city with other men, but those dates had never felt right, and there had never been that spark, that special connection.

Only with Brian.

“The zombie movie you worked on was on TV last night,” Brian said.

“What did you think?”