Читать книгу The Inconveniently Engaged Prince - Mindy Neff - Страница 13

She took him on the Guy Fleming Trail because it was an easy walk. Although he was in fabulous shape, and his tennis shoes were top quality and would manage most any terrain, she herself enjoyed this loop of the park. It was less traveled by tourists, who usually chose the beach trail.

“It’s peaceful here,” he said, looking up at the huge pines. “I’ve lived in San Diego all my life and never come here.”

“You’re probably into roller-blading or running along the boardwalks or parks by the beach, I bet.”

He grinned. “How’d you guess?”

“It shows.” She gave his body a quick scan to prove her point.

“You’re good for my ego.”

“As if it needs any help,” she said dryly.

“Surely you’re not accusing me of being conceited.”

She thought about that for a moment. Actually, he wasn’t stuck on himself. Just self-assured. “I was teasing—oh, look.” She held out an arm, stopping him. Four quail chicks had ventured out for a drink in the birdbath just ahead of them.

“Little suckers, aren’t they?” Jace said.

“Shh.” Too late. The sound of his voice sent the mama quail out of the bushes where she’d been keeping watch. In seconds she had her babies rounded up and filed back into the cover of the bushes.

Vickie sighed. “There are rules to bird-watching. The first one is to be quiet.”

He looked sheepish. “I knew that.”

For the next few minutes, he walked beside her in silence, but she could feel the intangible vibration coming from him. He was dying to talk.

Unable to stand it any longer, she paused at the North Overlook and brushed her fingers against the prickly needles of a pine. “What?” she demanded.

His blond brows raised.

“You look like you’re about to burst.”

“I’m trying to be quiet.” He reached down and scooped up a handful of pine needles. “I’m usually pretty good at following rules. This one’s difficult.”

“Why? Don’t you enjoy the solitude of nature?”

“Sure. When I’m not with a beautiful woman.”

The compliment shot straight to her head, chipped at her resolve to keep things light.

“We can talk. Most of the birds are in the trees and they’ll pretty much ignore us.” Like the scrub jay busily gathering seeds out of a pine cone a few yards away.

He let out a relieved sigh. “So, don’t you need to be taking notes?”

“I’ve got a good memory. I’m more of a visual person, anyway. Most of the species, I’ve already looked up. I just like to come and see them in person rather than looking at a glossy picture. Besides, I love these old trees, the smell of them, what they represent.”

“Trees are trees.”

She smiled. “You’ve been living in the city jungle for too long. Your appreciation of the finer things in life appears to be lacking.”

“I appreciate fine things. Except, maybe opera. I’m sorry to say, I just can’t get into that. Or the ballet.”

She started them walking along the trail again. “I’ve never personally experienced either one, but I’ve read about them and seen some on television. I think I’d enjoy the ballet more than the opera.”

“Really?” He sounded appalled, yet resigned, as though he’d offer to take her if that’s truly what she wanted.

She tugged his sleeve when he slowed down, and he slid his hand down to link with hers. For a second, she started to resist. They shouldn’t be walking hand in hand like lovers. But the warmth of his big palm felt comforting. Solid. Like the pines that surrounded them.

The trees in this section of the reserve weren’t the rarest or the tallest of the species, but the moment she’d stumbled upon them several years ago, she’d identified with them. Along the sea cliffs, their roots grew in poor soil, they suffered from drought, were blasted by storms and cooked in the sun, yet they survived.

Vickie, too, had endured her share of hard times, but she hadn’t given up. She’d survived.

When she left her hand in his, he gave a squeeze as if to say thanks. Her heart throbbed in her chest and she suddenly couldn’t think of a thing to say. Life didn’t get much better than this.

Here she was walking through one of her favorite places. And here was this man with gilded hair and laughter in his eyes. A strong, capable man who excelled in the business world, yet remained so humanly, genuinely down to earth.

And he was with her.

“You’ve gone quiet,” he commented. “Are you taking mental notes?”

“Yes.” Just not on the birds. “It’s easy to get caught up in the serenity.”

“The beach is pretty serene.”

“Yes, but that’s the trail that most of the tourists take.” They were at the South Overlook now and she nudged him over toward a pretty clearing by the cliffs.

“Man, look at that,” he said. “You can see clear to Catalina Island.”

“That impresses you? You’ve got an excellent view right off your own deck at your condo.”

“Yeah, but the weather’s not always cooperative, and the island stays hidden.” He lifted their joined hands, pointed toward the south. “That’s La Jolla. See that hill over there?”

She leaned in close, smelled the fresh air scent on his clothes, the subtle hint of spice on his skin. She nearly lost her concentration, then followed the direction of their joined hands. “The one with the mansions scattered on top?”

“Well, yeah. But I never considered them mansions. My parents live on that hill.” He dropped their hands back to his side but didn’t let go.

“You grew up there?”

“Mostly. They bought the house about twenty years ago.”

“Must have seemed like paradise to you. Not that your condo isn’t like a slice of Eden.”

Jace glanced down at her, surprised by the whisper of envy, yet genuine appreciation. He’d taken his homes for granted, rarely saw them through anyone’s eyes but his own familiar ones. He kept forgetting that Vickie had grown up in what she’d termed Hell’s Home.

She was so beautiful. Not like a model or movie star all made-up for the public. She was fresh and wholesome. Her skin was smooth and sun-kissed with a sprinkle of pale freckles. Full lips, lake-blue eyes, a no-fuss hairstyle that left it silky and straight, long enough to brush her shoulders. The kind of hair that made a man want to run his hands through it, feel it tickling against his chest, his…

“Uh, why don’t we sit for a minute.”

“Sure.”

He’d meant to take advantage of the bench, but Vickie moved close to the edge of the overlook, bent down to test the dampness of the ground and sat among the packed dirt and pine needles, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. He joined her on the ground, took a moment to listen to the sound of the sea and chatter of birds, missing the feel of her hand in his.

A gull winged overhead, squealing as he soared and kept an eye out for food treasures in the sea or tidbits left on the beach by careless walkers.

“Do seagulls count as bird-watching subjects?”

“Yes,” she said with an indulgent smile.

“Well, then, we’ve got a front row seat to do some serious watching.” He propped an arm on his bent knee and sifted his fingers through the pine needles strewn on the ground.

“I bet you’ve loved living on the ocean all your life.” Her voice was soft and wistful as she gazed out at the sea.

“It’s the best.”

“Do you sail?” she asked.

“Mmm. I’ve got a little catamaran I take out several times a month. And a sixty-foot Michaelson that’s a honey of a sports fisher. It’s great for weekend trips to Catalina Island, too. Have you ever been over there?”

“No.”

“I’ll take you. It’s also cool to cruise the harbor at night, watch the sunset and look at the lights. We should plan that, as well.”

“Whoa. With all these plans, how do you get any work done?”

“I’m one of those nasty larks you mentioned this morning. I get up early, take care of business when the phones aren’t ringing like mad. Plus, I have an incredibly qualified staff to handle the day-to-day running of things. They’re a great group of people, most of them have been with me from the start of the company. If I decided to retire tomorrow, the company would run without me.”

“Could you just let it go like that? I mean, it’s your baby, so to speak. Wouldn’t you miss it?”

“Maybe. I’ve taken it pretty well to the top, and we’ve been lucky enough to stay there. Sometimes I get an itch to try something different, though. Nothing like a new venture to stir the blood. As you probably know with your studies and plans for teaching.”

“My teaching’s certainly not going to make me millions like your cell phone business obviously has done for you.”

“But you’ll be following your bliss.”

She looked over at him, hugged her bent knees tighter. “That’s a neat way of putting it.”

“It’s true. No matter what you choose to do in life, it should be something you love, something you’re passionate about. I’ve heard that passion in your voice when you talk about teaching, seen your dedication to school and studying. I admire that. If I didn’t think you were into it, I’d be trying to steer you in another direction.”

“A meddler, are you?”

He grinned. “Probably. My sister says so. She’s always buried in her science experiments and I’m hounding her to get out and interact with people more. She’s got great qualities but she isolates herself instead. I guess I can get carried away sometimes putting in my two cents worth, but I like to see the people around me, especially the people who matter to me, be the best they can be.”

Vickie rubbed her hands over the ribbed cotton sleeves of her sweater, watched the enthusiasm on his handsome face as he warmed to his subject. His optimism was contagious. And with regard to her, it was thrilling.

He believed she was the best she could be. The implied compliment touched her more deeply than a bucket of diamonds laid at her feet.

She’d been taught she wasn’t good enough. A gesture here, a cutting word there. Growing up, it had been as though she were invisible, of no consequence to anyone. Just a body taking up space and an extra mouth to feed.

Jace touched her cheek, startled her. “Where’d you go all of a sudden?”

She gazed out at the sea, to the hill scattered with luxury homes, one of them his family’s. “When I was fifteen, I skipped school with a friend. Her parents were at work, so we hung out at her house. We listened to music, mooned over boys, nipped into a bottle of wine and sampled a few other brands of liquor behind their wet bar. I found out pretty quick that mixing various types of alcohol has pretty awful consequences.” She paused and watched as a flock of pelicans took flight from the marsh and landed at the ocean’s edge to wade in the waves.

“Tracy’s mom caught us and drove me back to the group home. I just wanted to curl up and die someplace. Although she scolded us for the drinking, she figured heaving up our toenails was punishment enough. She was gentle with me, amused in a way.”

“I’m guessing the folks at Hell’s Home weren’t so amused?”

She smiled at the way he used her disrespectful name for Helen’s Home. “No, Helen wasn’t amused. She said she’d expected as much from me. That I’d come from trash and would be trash for the rest of my life.”

Jace cursed and put his arm around her. “But you didn’t believe her.”

“Oh, yes I did. For a while at least.” She liked the feel of his arm around her but didn’t like the direction of the conversation. She didn’t know why she’d told him that, could still feel the shame, the hurt, the isolation.

“So, anyway,” she said, flicking her hair behind her ear, “I appreciate you saying what you did. About being the best I can.”

He pressed his lips gently against her temple. She could have turned into him, would have welcomed the intimacy, but he simply rested his head against hers, sat quietly and watched the waves break in frothy curls, rushing onto shore and ebbing out again.

WHEN SHE PULLED into the driveway of Jace’s condo later that day, she left the car running so she wouldn’t be tempted to prolong the day. After only spending a short amount of time with him, she couldn’t believe how well they hit it off. He was easy to be with, brought out the best in her.

Jace reached over and shut off the ignition key himself. “How about some dinner before you head off for work?”

She shook her head. “No time. I need to type up a quick paper on my notes about today, then be at the bar by six.”

“Notes? Will I be included in them?”

She couldn’t resist his sexy smile. “I don’t think my science professor would go for that.”

“Hey, I contributed. I pointed out the seagull, didn’t I?”

“And scared off the baby quail.”

“Sorry about that.” He brushed his knuckles over her cheek. “I don’t want the day to end.”

“I have to work or I won’t be able to indulge in your favorite subject. Eating. Honestly, I don’t know how you stay in such great shape.”

“Mmm. More compliments on my physique. We’re making progress.”

She laughed. “Get out of my car, Jace Carradigne. You’ll make me late.”

“Kiss me goodbye?”

She shook her head. “I can’t think when you kiss me.”

“I said you kiss me. I promise to let you do all the work.”

“You think that’ll make a difference?”

“Won’t know till we give it a try. In the interest of an experiment, I’m willing to sacrifice myself.”

“Does anyone ever tell you no?”

“Sure. Lots of times.”

His mouth was so close, smiling and inviting. The temptation was bigger than she was. “Okay. Keep your hands in your lap.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Stifling a bubble of laughter, she leaned over and brushed her lips against his. The spark was just as strong as a full-out kiss. What the heck. In for a penny and all that.

She touched the side of his face, watched his eyes deepen to the color of rich moss. This time when she leaned into him, her mouth was firm, direct and mobile. The tickle of laughter turned into a silent moan of intense need.

Although his hands remained in his lap as promised, he kissed her back. And oh, he was good at it.

Lost in the feel of him, she forgot that she was the one supposed to be in control. She raised her other hand to his face, and put everything she had into the kiss, determined to leave him with an impression he wouldn’t soon forget.

She was playing with fire, and it wasn’t fair, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

Finding that her own bones had turned liquid, she eased up, nibbled, toyed, then slowly slid back to her own side of the car.

He sat totally silent for endless minutes. Then he raked a hand through his hair. “Wow.”

She was having a little trouble with her own breathing, so she just smiled.

“After that, you’ve got to promise to have brunch with me tomorrow.”

“Did it ever occur to you that I might have other plans?”

“Sure. But then you set me straight on several different occasions, remember?”

Her insistence over not having or wanting a social life. “It’s not nice to gloat when you’re right.”

“I grovel as well as I gloat.” He grinned, and the power of those dimples was like a thrilling sock to her solar plexus.

“Mmm-hmm.”

“You’d be doing me a huge favor. It’s Sunday brunch at my parents’ house. Although they’re great people, things like that can be tedious.”

“Your parents’ house! I’m not crashing a family breakfast uninvited. I haven’t even met them.”

“You won’t be crashing, I just invited you, and you’ll meet them tomorrow.”

“You can’t just invite a guest to come home with you.”

“Why not?”

“It might be awkward.”

“My mother would be insulted if she heard that. She prides herself on making company feel welcome. Come on, Vickie. I want to spend time with you. And I’d like you to meet my parents. Say yes.”

Going home to meet his parents seemed to be rushing things, yet she couldn’t believe how much she wanted to do that. To meet the people he’d talked about, see how he’d lived, grown up.

“I don’t know how you keep getting me to change my mind, but, yes.”

He lifted her hand to his lips, kissed her knuckles. Stunned by the gesture, she could barely think.

“I’ll pick you up at ten in the morning, then.”

She nodded, watched him unfold his long, lean body and get out of the car. “Be careful driving home.”

She merely nodded again, started the engine and backed out of the driveway.

He’d kissed her hand. Now how was a woman supposed to concentrate on driving after that?

HE WAS on her doorstep promptly at ten the next morning. With her nerves in a mess, she paused with her hand on the door, wondered if she should invite him in, hoped he wasn’t the sort to roam and snoop. Her bedroom looked like a teenager had gone in there and thrown a major tantrum.

Giving her appearance one last check in the hall mirror, she took a breath to calm her nerves. She hadn’t known what to wear for a meet-the-parents brunch, and had tried on every one of her meager outfits, finally settling on a pair of black slacks, and a knit turtleneck sweater in soft heather. A black leather hip belt matched her chunky calf-high boots. The extra three-inch height the boot soles gave her made her feel a little more confident.

She opened the door, and her nerves skittered all over again. Jace Carradigne was the epitome of the word male.

“Hi.” He held out a slim velvet box. “This is for you.”

“For what?” Sissy inched out from behind the couch, checking out the strange man in her domain.

“Just because.”

Her heart pumped. Slowly, she lifted the hinged lid, then sucked in a breath. The bracelet was simple in design, made of delicate gold links with tiny heart-shaped charms set with brilliant sapphires.”

“Oh, my gosh. It’s beautiful. I don’t know what to say. I can’t…I shouldn’t—”

“If you’re going to tell me you shouldn’t accept it, you’ll hurt my feelings.”

“But it’s too much.” She couldn’t resist running her finger over the cool stones.

“I saw it when I was poking around some shops this morning and thought of you. It matches the rings you wear.”

She automatically fingered the two sapphire rings on her finger. She’d bought them herself. Other than her watch and a couple of pairs of earrings, they were the only jewelry she owned.

Emotions worked in her throat. No one had ever bought her jewelry. And she’d received precious few gifts in her life. The homes she’d lived in growing up hadn’t had funds or the inclination to spend foolishly on kids who were only temporary.

“You shouldn’t be spending this kind of money on me.”

“Vickie, I’ve made a fortune and I’m dying to spend it. You don’t make it easy, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.”

“Well.” She admired the bracelet, wondered why she felt weepy all of a sudden. “You handle matters very well. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Since she still hadn’t invited him in, he stepped over the threshold, took the box from her and lifted the bracelet out. “Here, let me put it on for you.”

She held out her wrist. Chills raced up her arm as his fingers brushed against her skin. She stared at the top of his head as he bent over his task. Everything inside her wanted to fall. For him. It was an old pattern. An old habit.

But maybe this time would be different.

Take it slow, Vickie. Don’t rush.

He looked up at her, smiled softly. “Ready to go?”

The sapphire hearts tinkled merrily as she lowered her hand. Oh, damn it. She was going to cry after all. Tears welled, even though she fought like mad to battle them back.

Rather than making her feel foolish, he simply swept a gentle thumb across her cheek, wiped away the moisture, then pulled her to him and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “That’s the best thank-you I’ve ever received over a gift,” he whispered.

“I feel like an idiot.”

This time he kissed her eyelids, her cheeks. “You’re perfect.”

If he’d pushed even the slightest, she would have closed the door behind him and invited him into her bedroom, never mind the mess. But he didn’t press, didn’t take advantage, never even came close to her lips.

He was a man of honor, integrity, and the best kind of gentleman.

And despite her sternest warnings to herself, she was terribly afraid she was falling in love.