See You at Sunset (17 page)

Aiden snorted. “Only enough to tell me how much the hotel and resort business sucks. He said the profit margin on a resort like ours would be minimal and that he could have made Lily and me ten times as much if we’d had him invest our money instead. He said he had lots of professional athletes as clients and had made them all rich.”

“What did you say?” Micah asked.

“That our resort was more about community than about making money.”

“That must have been when I saw him laughing,” Micah said sarcastically.

Aiden grinned. “Actually, it was. Jesus, I thought Holly was going to haul off and slug the moron. She was squeezing his arm like a fucking tourniquet.”

The tension in Micah’s shoulders eased a bit. He’d seen that and hoped that his eyes weren’t deceiving him.

A minute later, when he noticed that Miss Annie had dragged Jackson to a corner of the patio beside Aiden’s huge barbecue, Micah excused himself. He eased his way through the crowd and drew Holly off to the side of the garden so they wouldn’t be heard.

“You sure don’t look like you’re having fun,” he said. But despite the frown marking her brow, she looked so damn beautiful—simply dressed and with her hair drifting in a silky wave to her bare shoulders—that breathing didn’t come easy.

Holly’s gaze shifted toward Jackson. Miss Annie was wagging a finger at the CFA, obviously delivering one of her famous lectures.

“Jackson’s already pretty drunk,” she said in a tight voice. “I’m going to have to get him out of here soon before he does any more damage.”

“What did he say that got Miss Annie going?”

Her shoulders went up around her ears. “I’m not sure I should tell you.”

“Well, if you don’t, Miss Annie will.”

Holly blew out a sigh. “Jackson probably thought he was making a joke. For a genuinely smart man, he can be so stupid at times.”

Micah waited her out in silence.

“Oh, whatever,” she said in a grumpy voice. “He made a couple of dumbass remarks about Seashell Bay. That it looked like the place didn’t realize it was the twentieth century, much less the twenty-first. The idiot,” she finished under her breath.

Well, the guy wasn’t exactly the first mainlander to say something like that. But Micah could tell that the thoughtless remarks had embarrassed Holly in front of people she cared deeply about. From the look in her eyes, he figured she was pulling her punches, afraid to tell him the full story.

“I don’t get it, Holly.” He probably didn’t have the right to say this, but they’d been friends forever. “You and Jackson just don’t add up. But I guess everything looks different when you’re back in the city.” He paused. “I only hope the guy doesn’t end up hurting you.”

She looked down at her feet. “Don’t worry about me, Micah. I’m fine.”

She sure didn’t sound fine. He let his instincts take over and reached out to gently grasp her shoulders. Holly looked up into his face, her eyes both troubled and questioning.

“You’d rather be somewhere else right now, wouldn’t you?” he asked.

When her lower lip trembled, he thought it told him everything.

“We could just go,” he said. “Leave the party right now and let Morgan and Ryan take Jackson back to the inn. You’re not responsible for the guy, and I don’t think you really want to be with him anymore. Not after what I’m seeing here tonight.” He let one hand drift down her bare upper arm, stroking it. It felt like satin under his fingertips.

“Am I wrong?” he prompted as she stared at him, wide-eyed.

“Oh, Micah,” she whispered. She shook her head, as if she couldn’t talk.

Suddenly her eyes darkened as she looked over his shoulder. “Shit. Here he comes.”

Biting back a curse, Micah turned. Jackson was elbowing his way toward them in a hurry, knocking a drink out of old Roy Mayo’s hand and prompting Roy to let out a choice curse word. Ryan was right on Jackson’s heels, and Morgan was hurrying to catch up to her fiancé.

“Am I interrupting?” Jackson said to Holly in a nasty tone as he burst into her personal space. “I damn well hope so, given what seems to be going on over here.”

“Jackson, please don’t start,” she said from between clenched teeth. She took a quick step back.

The guy’s face went red. “Don’t tell me what to do. I’m getting you out of here right now.”

Okay, enough from you, asshole.

Micah moved closer, just enough to cause Jackson to reluctantly retreat a step. “So, here’s the thing. You’re our guest on the island, and you’re Holly’s friend. That means we’ll overlook your rude behavior this one time. But listen when I tell you that you’d better not speak to her like that again.”

Jackson let out a derisive laugh. “Or what, Mr. Deputy Sheriff of Butthole Island? You going to arrest me or something?”

Holly and Morgan sucked in horrified gasps, their eyes popping wide simultaneously. Ryan took an angry step forward, but Micah shot out an arm and held his friend back.

“Jesus, Hols,” Jackson said, apparently oblivious to his girlfriend’s stunned reaction. “I knew this town was going to be some kind of lame-ass throwback, but I didn’t think I was going to get lectured by a crazy old lady and some bruiser hick deputy. Christ, I’ve only been here a few hours, but I totally get why you wanted to get the hell out of the place. Shit, I’d have run away when I was in kindergarten.”

He snorted out a laugh, apparently thinking he’d said something hilarious. Sure, the guy had been drinking, but that didn’t excuse his behavior.

Holly was on top of it. Her hand shot out and grabbed the front of Jackson’s shirt. “We need to talk in private, Jackson. Right now.”

Her voice made it clear that Jackson Leigh was about to get a major shitkicking.

Jackson didn’t resist as Holly pulled him into the house, down the hallway, and out the front door to the porch. The idiotic grin on his face signaled his pleasure that she’d rescued him from the Seashell Bay rubes, as he would no doubt label them. Maybe he even thought the two of them would head straight to the B&B and get naked between the sheets.

In his freaking dreams.

She rounded on him as soon as she closed the front door behind them. “What the hell were you thinking, Jackson? How dare you insult your hosts? My friends? Me?”

His head jerked back. “I didn’t insult you, babe. Hell, I’m sorry I called that old lady crazy, but she came at me like I was some grubby kid. I didn’t come all this way to be lectured by some old bag about
proper manners
.” He put air quotes around the words.

Holly felt like her head was going to explode. “Old bag? Miss Annie is worth at least ten of you. And what about insulting Micah? He’s my lifelong friend, Jackson. He has the right to try to comfort me when I’m upset. Are you saying he isn’t even allowed to touch me?”

“Yeah, well, I think the deputy might be more than just your friend,” Jackson snarled. “Tell me he’s not, Holly. Or do you think I’m as stupid as these morons you grew up with?”

Unconsciously, her hand had curled into a fist. Startled, she shook it out. “Dammit, Jackson, just shut up. Look, I don’t want to embarrass you by making you leave, but I will if you don’t promise to act like a decent human being for the rest of the evening. Or
I’ll
leave, if you’d prefer.”

Jackson studied her for a few moments before turning away to lean on the porch railing. Holly watched as he stared up at the star-filled sky for a solid minute.

“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” he finally said, turning back to her. His voice had gentled and his smile was the entrancing one she’d come to know so well. “It’s so quiet out here too. I suppose this place is actually pretty romantic—in its own bucolic kind of way.”

Oh God, another major mood swing. Sometimes Holly felt like she couldn’t keep up with the back and forth. And although she was glad he’d calmed down, romance was the last thing on her mind right now.

She crossed her arms over her chest and kept quiet, assuming Jackson had more to say.

“I was going to wait until later tonight to say this,” he said. “When we were alone at the B&B. But I guess I’d better get it out now—since you’re so bent.”

Holly stiffened. She supposed she was
bent
. She was sickened and furious.

He gave her a placating smile. “Just listen, Hols, okay? Look, we both know we’re not into commitments. We agreed on that a long time ago. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to be with you more than just a weekend here and there. We haven’t seen much of each other lately, and it’s making me realize how much I miss you.”

Holly frowned. “What are you saying, Jackson?”

He gave her the wry, charming smile that used to move her but now seemed so practiced. “Just this. I’ve been thinking about how it doesn’t make much sense for you to pay a fortune for an apartment in New York when I’ve got a ton of room at mine. And you’ve got to admit I live in a hell of a nice building.”

Holly couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d pulled a big diamond ring out of his pocket.

“Move in with me, Hols,” he said. “I think I’m ready to give it a try. Let’s see how it works.”

When he took a step forward, his arms reaching for her, she took a quick step back. Her mind could barely process his… offer? Jackson had always made it clear that he didn’t want to live with anyone, even her. Nor she with him, truth be told. That had never been part of their deal.

“What exactly is it that you’re willing to give a try, Jackson?” she asked cautiously. “What kind of a relationship are you talking about? Like roommates?”

He snorted. “Give me a break, for Christ’s sake.”

“What, then?”

“What do you want, an engraved invitation on a gold plate? Asking you to move in is a hell of a big step for me, Hols. You know that.” He threw up his hands. “Hell, I thought this would make you really happy. You’re the first woman I’ve ever asked to do this.”

“Well, thanks for the honor,” she said with a tinge of sarcasm. “But are you talking about sharing our lives? I mean truly sharing?”

In her life with Drew, they’d shared everything, including their deepest emotions.

“Because that’s what… living together… implies to me,” she went on. “Otherwise we really would just be roommates. Or friends with benefits.” The thought of that filled her with distaste.

Jackson shrugged. “I’m not sure what
truly sharing
means. That’s pretty vague stuff, Hols.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “Well, how about the fact that a big part of my life is right here in Seashell Bay? These are my people, Jackson. You can see that, can’t you? Yet you obviously think they’re just a bunch of hicks and old hags.”

Jackson peered at her like she was speaking a foreign language. “Hey, we don’t have to be joined at the hip, do we? Why do I have to tag along when you come north, or have anything to do with this place? I’ve never dragged you out to California and inflicted my family on you, have I?”

“No, you haven’t. And doesn’t that tell you something?”

He waved a hand. “You’re just pissed off that I’m not crazy about this damn island. So what? I don’t care if you want to spend time here. Just because we live together doesn’t mean anything has to change.”

Now that it was staring her in the face—or pouring over her like a bucket of ice water—Holly could only think of how boring and meaningless that sort of arrangement sounded. Her relationship with Jackson had been right at the time, and she was grateful to him for that. But she didn’t want a future with a man who wanted no part of what amounted to half her life, and who had no intention of sharing the whole of his life with her.

Thanks to him, she’d reached the fork in the road tonight. It was time to make a choice.

“But that’s just it, Jackson,” she said in a quiet voice. “Everything does have to change. And my answer to your offer is thank you, but no.”

Micah shook his head as Ryan offered to get him another beer. “I’ve got to get out of here, man. If I see that jerk again, I might have to drill him. And then I’d have to arrest myself.”

Micah shook hands with his buddy, quickly thanked Lily and Aiden, and then said good-bye to Morgan, who didn’t look surprised when he said he was leaving. “Holly and Jackson went into the house, right?” he asked her.

Morgan squeezed his arm. “Yes, but don’t worry, Micah. She can handle him.”

“Of course she can. I was just asking so I wouldn’t run into them as I leave. I’ll go around the side of the house.”

She winced. “Yuck, I hate this.”

“Tell Holly I’m sorry, okay?”

“I will, but you’ve got nothing to apologize for. You were the gentleman here, not Jackson Leigh.”

“Thanks, Morgan.” Micah hugged her and slipped through the crowd, making his way to the stone path that ran along the side of the house. It was pretty dark now, with only the glow of the porch lights at the front and rear to guide his way.

He had no intention of going home just yet, since he knew he’d just sit there feeling like crap and worrying about Holly. Instead, he’d probably make a few circuits of Island Road and some other streets, making sure all was well in Seashell Bay, and then drop in at the Pot. Sit at the bar and nurse a couple of beers. Maybe talk some to owner Laura Vickers or the bartender, Kellen Dooley, if they weren’t too busy serving customers.

As he neared the front of the house, he heard Holly’s voice drifting back. She and Leigh were talking on the porch, and she was telling her boyfriend that
everything had to change
. The words were clear as crystal, and they stopped Micah in his tracks.

“This is bullshit,” Leigh said, his voice rising. “If you’re not ready to move in with me, let’s just keep things the way they are. I’m fine with that.”

Would Holly really move in with that asshole? That would royally suck.

“But I’m not fine with it,” she said. “Not anymore. This isn’t what I want, and it sure isn’t what I need. I’ve been stewing about this for a while, Jackson, and I have to tell you that it’s just not working for me anymore. In fact, I don’t think it’s good for either of us.” Her voice dropped to a murmur, and Micah had to strain now to hear.

You shouldn’t be eavesdropping, dude.
But he quickly told his conscience to shut the hell up. He’d feel bad about it later, but right now he wanted—needed—to know how Holly felt.