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“Coronado Island.”
The well-to-do place where he grew up. Lucy had been there once. It was a beautiful beach resort town that managed to seem casual even as it reeked of old money.
“Yes, well…I’m sure it’ll be a grand affair.” She rose from her seated position behind the desk, and to prove to him and to herself how over him she was, she came around to where he was and reached out to give him a hug. “See you in Vegas.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist.
His shoulders were as strong and broad and taut as she remembered them. His scent as woodsy. His breath as soft on her neck as he held her tight, returning the embrace. Tingles shot through her stomach. God, what this man could do to her. Sexual chemistry had never been their problem.
A little overwhelmed by being in bodily contact with a man her body still seemed to desire, she pulled back, intent on ending the hug. But when she tried to pull away, Jamie kept his arms around her waist.
“Do you need something else?” she asked, now eye-to-eye with him.
“Yes.”
For a moment, time hung suspended, and it seemed as though Lucy could see every fleck of gold in Jamie’s eyes, could feel every pound of his heartbeat, could breathe in the essence of him…and then he cupped her face and kissed her, even as he wound the hair at the sides of her face up in his fingers and tugged. Lucy felt herself melt into him and a moan escaped her lips. As they parted of their own free will, he slipped his tongue inside her mouth and sought hers out.
God, it was so good to kiss him. To have him touch her again. Lucy could hardly breathe. She was dizzy and she felt like she might very well black out. Her panties were soaked by the time he gently disengaged his fingers from her hair and pulled back.
She opened her eyes and he was staring into hers with an intense smoldering look that made her want to take him right there on the desk. Instead, she forced herself to take a step back.
“Bye, Luce. Take care of yourself, okay?”
“You, too,” she said simply. Because what else was there to say?
He turned then started walking away. She stared at the notes on her desk, the words a blur, when her cell phone rang.
* * *
Jamie automatically turned back as Lucy’s phone continued to ring.
She was staring at the screen, frowning, clearly distressed.
He hesitated. He hadn’t intended to kiss her and the fact he wanted to do it again told him he should get the hell out of there. But something about the strained look on her face…
“Lucy,” he said. “What is it?”
“It’s my father,” she whispered. “I—I haven’t talked to him in fifteen years.”
“How does he have your cell phone number?”
“I—I don’t know. Unless…” She looked up at him. “I called Gail once. Years ago. Left her a message with my number, hoping to…” She shook her head.
Gail was her older sister and as far as Jamie knew, they hadn’t spoken in over a decade. When she didn’t continue, he placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked back at him.
“Something must be wrong.”
“Answer it, Luce. I’m right here with you.”
Seeming comforted by his words, she lifted the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
He heard a muffled voice. Could just make out the words “Gail” and “don’t think she’s going to make it,” before Lucy dropped the phone and her knees collapsed. Jamie barely caught her before she hit the ground.
Swiftly, he swept her into his arms, cradling her in his lap as he sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.
She was pale with shock, her gaze desperate.
When they were dating, Lucy hadn’t told him much about her family besides the fact that they were estranged. When he’d tried to dig further about why that was the case, why she’d walked away not only from her mother and father, but from her sister, too, she’d clammed up. But it was obvious the news about her sister had completely shaken her.
