Chapter Three

 

 

Harper fell into the man’s kiss and held onto his shoulders as if he’d saved her from drowning. He had, hadn’t he, kept her from sinking, weighted down by grief and sadness?

She lifted on her tiptoes and added pressure from her mouth to his—savoring him as the memory of their night together collided with now.

Intimate strangers.

As her toes curled in her black heels, she gave into the pleasure of his touch. So real.

She broke away for just a second to drag in a breath and look into his eyes. Dark brown like the rich mink she remembered from her grandmother’s closet. His hair, longer, curled above his ears in brown waves. Full mouth, coffee-flavored breath, his heart hammering hard beneath the palm she pressed against his chest.

A crimson Oxford button-up tucked into black slacks. Black shoes. Dressed up. For her? For the holiday?

“You’re here,” he said, his deep voice tumbling over her like a warm blanket on a chilly night.

She shivered, though the breeze from the ocean wasn’t cold.

He wrapped an arm around her. “Do you have a sweater?”

“No.” She didn’t need one. She peeked shyly up at him. He had to be over six feet, as she was five seven, and in heels, and yet he towered above her. “I’m okay.”

“I wasn’t sure,” he trailed off.

She laughed—guessing that he meant not sure about any of it. “Me either.”

He ushered her away from the family on the bench that had been watching while pretending not to—she’d been so swept away, she hadn’t noticed until now.

There were so many people around when all she wanted was to jump back into his arms again. Where was the reticent Harper, widow?

She had no place here.

“I made dinner reservations,” he said.

The thought brought her up short. What a normal thing to do. For some reason she hadn’t thought beyond the bench.

“Dinner is good,” she said. The coconut shrimp she’d had at the hotel bar had been hours ago.

Studying him covertly, their fingers entwined, she let herself be lost in this moment without expectation.

They circled the benches and he tugged her behind a plywood cutout of Santa on the square. Bringing her hand to his mouth, he kissed her knuckles, and shooting pangs of desire filled her belly.

“I’ve been calling you my angel for the last year, counting down the days until I would see you again.”

She thrilled at being someone’s angel. “Were you that certain I’d come?”

“No. I was just hopeful.” He kissed her hand again, and she swallowed, wishing he would kiss her mouth instead.

“I told myself that I wasn’t sure,” she admitted. Funny how she could be so honest with a stranger. “I didn’t buy my ticket until two weeks ago.”

He winced and hissed air between his teeth. “You would have broken my heart,” he said and lifted their joined hands to the center of his chest.

She remembered this about him, his sincerity. “But deep down, how could I stay away?”

He twirled her so that her back was to the plywood Santa, and he claimed her eager mouth, kissing her with pent-up passion and controlled, but hot, desire.

“I had no way to find you,” he said on an exhale. “All I had was hope.” He stared into her eyes. “What is your name?”

The game was over, but it was time to start something new, perhaps. “Harper Philips, 36, investment accountant in London.” She would not claim her widowed status—he already knew, and it was in the past.

He bowed. “Jacob Orman, 37, ex tax accountant, and current coffee shop owner.”

“Coffee shop owner? You did it!” He’d been at a crossroads. Wondering if he should try something new.

“Because of you,” he said.

Jacob Orman. What a wonderful name. And it suited him. Rugged with scruff at his jaw. “Me?”

“Yeah.” He studied her, and brushed a strand of hair gently from her cheek. “Harper—so beautiful. Like you.”

She lowered her eyes in pleasure.

He cupped his palm around her shoulder and eased her away from plywood Santa to the crowds. “There will be a band later. I know you like to dance.”

“Ha! We’ve done this backward,” she said with a smile. “Most people exchange names first.”

“There’s no right way. No wrong way.” He kept her at his side.

“I like that.”

“I’ve imagined today since the second you left,” Jacob said. “But I never got past the bench.” He gave a rueful chuckle. “I was ready to kick those people off right before they left.”

“I know! I was so worried when I saw them there—they weren’t part of our plan.” She felt so light she was glad he had his arm around her or she might have floated away. She wanted to study him, stare at him, taste him, with all of her senses. Memorize him—for later.

She couldn’t think about anything beyond the next two days. Just like last time, she’d booked a room for two nights and her return flight left in three days.

“What is your favorite food?” he asked. “I know you like to drink scotch.”

She held her stomach with a laugh. “Not since that night, so much. It is a sipping whiskey and I think I went overboard. Since then I’ve stuck to wine. Well, today I had margaritas.”

“Margaritas are good. Frozen, or on the rocks?”

“On the rocks, with salt,” she said firmly.

“Me too.” He stopped walking and turned her to look at him. He dropped a kiss on her nose. “Harper is a beautiful name, but you will always be Angel.”

“I like it. You were Handsome Stranger.”

“Handsome?” A hint of red tinged his throat.

“Sexy,” she said. “I was sure that I had built you up in my mind but you are every bit as good-looking as I remembered. Even more so.”

He grinned at that. “It’s seaside living.”

“Oh?”

“Beach walks, swimming in the ocean. Doing what you love—I wouldn’t have had the courage to do that without your encouragement.”

“I didn’t do anything!” She clasped his hand, wondering if they could spend the whole night connected.

“Your voice telling me to live fully challenged me to get over any lingering doubts. I didn’t want a single regret—besides letting you go—that was hard enough.”

She hadn’t realized that he would be so impacted by their encounter. Blinking back hot tears she looked away before saying, “You saved me that night—showing me how to feel pleasure again. But it scared me too. I left for London that afternoon rather than stay another night.”

“Why?”

“Survivor’s guilt, I think.”

His brown eyes warmed with empathy. “I don’t understand. You didn’t think you deserved to be happy after your husband died?”

She shook her head, unable to speak.

“But you know now, that isn’t true?”

Harper nodded.

Jacob’s smile held compassion as he kissed her mouth. “We are going to work on that. Pleasure.”

The way he said that made her wish they were back at her hotel, wrapped in soft cotton sheets.

They walked around the square again, getting used to one another—it was an easy fit. Stepping in unison, he brought her to an outside podium to check in for dinner.

“Two, for Orman? By the window, please.”

When he squeezed her hand, she squeezed his fingers in return. “I’m so glad to be spending the holiday with you.”

“It’s all I’ve been thinking about.”

She followed him inside a packed restaurant with the smell of savory food, perfumes, colognes and peppermint. Laughter resounded festively in the dim space.

The host brought them to a square table with a view to the dark ocean and night sky. The light from the pier shone from the right and a lighthouse was barely visible from her left.

“This is paradise,” she said. So different than before.

“Now that you are here,” Jacob returned. “I couldn’t agree more.”

 

 

Jacob watched Harper’s cheeks flush at his compliments which made him want to compliment her all of the time.

The glow of the candle on their table turned her pale skin golden.  He wanted to hold her but controlled his urge and scooted in her chair as she sat. He took the seat next to her, their reflections semi-visible in the glass.

“You’re a goddess,” he said into her ear.

Her half-smile created a dimple.

“You are a charmer. I don’t remember that…”

He brought a hand to his heart. “Hey now.”

“I remember other things,” she promised seductively, her long lashes lowered.

He put his hand at her knee below the table and she jumped.

Could they skip dinner? He could unwrap her slowly, like a cherished gift.

No, that wouldn’t be right.

The waiter was a suave Puerto Rican named Gabe. “Drinks?” he asked. He’d wrapped a green half-apron around his waist, and candy canes were tucked in the pocket next to his pens.

“Merlot for me,” Harper said.

“I’ll have the same.” Jacob could tell that Harper’s mind wasn’t on the food as the waiter gave the holiday specials. Pupils dilated, the pulse at the base of her throat beating fast.

If things went as planned she would need sustenance for later—and honestly, Jacob wanted to know every last thing about her. Facts to bring the fantasy he’d created of her to life.

“I’d like the steak and lobster,” he said.

“That sounds lovely,” Harper agreed. “Make it two.”

Gabe left, leaving them each a dark chocolate Santa. Jacob studied Harper intently—amazed she sat across from him but fearing this interlude might not last. “How long will you be here for?” He hoped at least a week.

“Three days, including today.”

He tried not to show his disappointment and lifted his water glass for a drink. That was only two days! It wasn’t going to be enough, he knew that already.

“Do you have plans?”

She tilted her head, her fall of blonde hair curving over her shoulder. “Other than to be with you? No.”

He sighed with relief. “Good. You said that you are an accountant…do you have to go back right away for work?”

“No. Our firm closes for a week over the holiday.” She centered her water glass on a coaster. “I didn’t want to jinx anything,” she said with a self-deprecating laugh. “This is the same dress I wore when I met you. Same heels. My friend Felicity said that you might think I was perpetually attending funerals.”

Jacob laughed. “I hadn’t even noticed. I just saw you. My angel, dancing on the beach with her bottle of scotch.”

She bowed her head and chuckled into her napkin. “Oh, dear.”

“It’s my favorite memory.”

She looked up, her blue-gray eyes sparkling in the candlelight. “We have to get you a new one.”

“Let’s work on that,” he said, heart lifting.

Harper nodded and sat back as Gabe brought their wine and some bread for the table. Their new attraction must have been obvious. “Take your time,” the waiter encouraged them.

“Where should we start?” Harper broke open a roll and buttered the center. “I want to know everything about you. Are you from Florida? Do you have family?”

“Yes—born in Miami. I have a younger sister, Jane.” He tore off a piece of the soft bread. “Our parents died when we were in high school, and our aunt Nancy came to live with us. Jane and I have each moved out and on our own, and Aunt Nancy remarried—a nice guy from Pensacola—the opposite end of Florida. Takes nine hours to get there from here.”

“Nine hours and you are still in the same state?” Her accent made the question even more droll.

“Long and skinny.” He popped the roll in his mouth.

“I could drive to Paris with time left over,” she considered, brow drawn. “I am the youngest of three kids, the mistake after they thought they were done.”

“That’s awful!”

She shrugged, her bare shoulders smoothly segueing to feminine arms, delicate wrists. “We love each other, but we aren’t very close.”

“I would do anything for my sister.” He lifted a single finger. “She never doubted that you would come.”

Harper dropped her bread to the plate in surprise. “She knows about me?”

“Yeah.” Jacob kept his sister’s nickname for Harper to himself. That could wait until they all knew each other a little better and he was positive that Harper had a sense of humor.

He couldn’t stand the idea of not staying in touch with Harper or not having her in his life.

“My friend Felicity encouraged me to come.” Her gold hoop earrings peeked through her blonde hair when she reached for her napkin. His gaze took in Harper’s full mouth and rounded chin.

It was hard to continue conversation when he wanted to memorize each motion. “I’m glad she did. My sister and her two best friends were tempted to spy on us tonight, to see if you’d come.”

Harper looked around in alarm.

“I wouldn’t let them,” he quickly assured her. “I want you all to myself.”

She sighed with exaggerated relief.  “It might be too soon to meet the family.”

Jacob knew she was teasing but he also knew she was dead wrong.

She was someone he could see in his life forever, starting now.