He shook his head, picked up his surfboard and headed toward his house, his black Lab trotting along behind him.
After he left, Jess climbed into her trailer, closed the door carefully and sank onto the sofa.
Good Lord.
Her hands were actually trembling, from just a kiss.
Okay, not just a kiss.
One amazing kiss.
She supposed it had been inevitable. From the second she had walked down to the cove and watched him surfing, his body graceful and athletic, she had been fiercely aware of him.
If she were honest with herself, she had been aware of him since the day they met. Spending time with him this morning had been dangerously tempting.
What did it matter how attracted she might be to him? She wasn’t the kind of woman who lost her head when a man paid her any attention. She had been careful her entire adult life to keep her relationships with men casual and fun.
Rachel had been right the other night when she said Jess didn’t want a happy-ever-after.
Her mother had loved Doug Clayton with an all-consuming, obsessive love. She couldn’t see anyone else but him. Even her children faded into insignificance when he was around.
The kind of hold Jess’s father had on Veronica hadn’t been healthy. Nor had it been easy to see. Roni could barely function without him.
Jess had vowed she would never let a man tangle her up like that. She would always be the one to set the parameters, would never lose her head in a relationship.
Her wild reaction to Nate Whitaker’s kiss told her she wasn’t as in control as she tried to tell herself. At least where this particular man was concerned.
She pressed a hand to her mouth, where she could still feel the heat of him, then caught herself.
Good thing she was only here a few weeks. Nate was the kind of man who would tempt a woman into throwing all caution into the ocean.
She would have to be careful not to lose control. The results would be disastrous and she couldn’t afford it, professionally or personally.
Moving forward, she would simply have to keep their relationship friendly and casual so she could regain a little perspective.
No more early-morning kisses. That would be an excellent place to start.
Too bad.
13
Rachel
Where, in the name of all that was holy, was her husband?
Rachel checked her watch for about the hundredth time in the past hour. Cody had promised he would be home by 2 p.m. so they could avoid the worst of the traffic and get to their hotel near UC Davis at a decent enough hour to get Silas settled for the night.
They had talked about ordering room service at the darling boutique hotel she had found. She had even called ahead to obtain the menu, hoping for a romantic and cozy evening with her husband after Silas was asleep.
All her plans would be for nothing if her blasted husband didn’t come home soon.
“Don’t worry. He probably got hung up at work. He’ll be here.”
Rachel didn’t even want to meet Jess’s gaze, afraid her sister would see into the depths of her frustration.
Grace wasn’t home from school yet, Ava was watching TV and Silas was playing on the floor, not paying them any mind at all.
“I had everything all figured out so that Silas would nap and we could avoid the worst of the traffic. If Cody is much later, we’re going to be stuck right in the middle of it and Silas will nap too late and then won’t sleep tonight.”
She could only imagine what a nightmare that would be with him screaming in a strange hotel room that probably had thin walls.
“I’m sure Cody has a good reason for being late,” Jess said gently.
“He had better,” she snapped. As soon as the words were out, she wanted to cringe at the bitchiness in her tone.
She couldn’t seem to help it. No doubt Cody wouldn’t have any viable explanation at all. He would simply say he’d been hung up at work, gotten busy at a job site, had a complication with a supplier. She’d heard every one of his excuses for working late over the past two months since Silas was diagnosed.
Cody seemed to be doing everything possible to avoid being home with her and their kids.
How could she blame him, when she was so miserable to be around right now?
“He’ll be here. Don’t worry,” Jess said again. “Do you want me to go look for him.”
Rachel frowned at her sister’s light tone, doing her best to rein in her temper. Jess had no idea the high-wire act Rachel had to walk every single day, balancing the needs of the girls, Silas, Cody and her social media followers.
Her perfect life was slipping away, eroding bit by bit like the ocean working away at a sandbar.
“I might go find him myself if he doesn’t get here soon,” she said grimly.
A moment later, she heard his pickup in the driveway.
“Sounds like he’s here,” Jess said cheerfully.
Cody swept into the kitchen looking as sweaty and dirty as if he’d been rolling in the garden with the boys.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, babe.” He gave the sheepish, apologetic smile she had come to know well over the past few months. “I had my day all planned but then Georgia Hayes asked me to bid on some roof repairs at her place. And you know how she likes to talk. I think it’s gotten worse since old Walt died. She had me looking at every single thing that needs to be fixed at the house. Part of her porch has completely rotted away and I didn’t want her falling through so I did a quick emergency repair while I was there. Took me longer than I’d planned.”
Everything always took him longer than he’d planned.
She also knew the Widow Hayes had probably been desperate for company, especially a handsome contractor in a tool belt and tight T-shirt. And she knew Cody would probably underbid the job by a long shot and eat the cost of the labor to help the woman out.
She loved that about him at the same time it annoyed the hell out of her right now.
“We’re going to be stuck in traffic. I don’t see any way around it.”
He shrugged, completely unconcerned about the havoc his good-guy helpfulness had wrought on her well-ordered plans.
“We’ll still make it. If the traffic gets too bad, we can make a stop somewhere along the way for Si to run out some energy. Maybe we can grab dinner somewhere at McD’s and have a picnic.”
That was such a far cry from the quiet, romantic room service meal at the hotel that she wanted to cry suddenly.
“That sounds nice,” Jess said.
“I want to have a picnic and play at the park,” Ava complained, wandering in from the TV room. “Why does Si get all the fun?”