Rusty Nailed (Cocktail, #2)(68)

“No?” Simon asked as he panted into my ear, his body slick on top of me.

I stroked his back as I shook my head, feeling him finally relax into me. “I love you, Simon,” I whispered. “So much.”

He rolled us so I could lie in his nook, where the rise and fall of his chest lulled me. “Love you too, babe,” he whispered back, holding me close.

And as I slipped toward sleep, listening to all the unfamiliar sounds of our new home, I took a quick inventory. O was still in there, just a little skittish tonight.

All was good in the new neighborhood.





chapter eighteen


I sat in my office, rearranging the piles of paper on my desk once more. Lining up the edges, positioning the folders so that they were at perfect right angles with the side of the desk. I inspected and removed three petals from the roses in the vase, goldenrod shot through with the palest of pink.

Jillian was due in any moment.

As Simon and I spent our first weekend in our new home, she and Benjamin spent it readjusting in theirs after their lengthy absence. She’d texted me to let me know they were home, and we agreed to meet at work on Monday. I was handing back the keys to the kingdom.

I’d loved playing Jillian for a few months. It’d been longer than I’d planned, but I’d gotten a taste of what life might be like a few years down the road. I had always seen myself as part of a larger team, and my normal role was exactly what I wanted. I’d handled the additional responsibility well, but was I at heart a manager? No. Did I want to run a business, or just create beautiful and enchanting places that a business or family might want to inhabit?

I was a designer. And I wanted to keep on being a designer. So the keys would be given back, she’d tell me what a brilliant job I’d done, she wouldn’t be able to resist busting my balls about the third-floor carpet no matter that she knew it wasn’t my fault, and then everything would go back to normal.

Yes? Yes.

I heard her before I saw her. That voice that could make you quake or dance. I was hoping for dancing.

“Where is that girl? Where’s that Caroline?” I heard as she came closer to my office door. I grinned, moving out from behind my desk and approaching the door.

She breezed in, suntanned, healthy, and radiant. She literally glowed.

“What’s up, boss lady?” I asked, and she pulled me into a tight hug.

“Good to you see you, kiddo.” She moved me back out to arm’s length and looked me over. “You look tired. And I have just the cure.” She handed me a huge bag.

“What’s this?” I asked, setting it on the desk.

“Presents, of course. France, Switzerland—you name it, you got a trinket.”

“Is this the part where I say, Oh, Jillian, you shouldn’t have?” I said, spying a box at the top. It said . . . No. It surely didn’t. Hermès?

“Oh, Jillian, you really shouldn’t have,” I breathed, opening it carefully. A silk scarf. Salmon pink and bloodred, swirled through with buttercup yellow. “But I am so freaking glad you did!” I squealed, jumping up and down.

“It’s the least I could do,” she said. “Now come show me the third floor. After we get that over with, we can go to lunch and you can bring me up to speed.”

? ? ?

We sat in our favorite booth at our favorite restaurant in Chinatown, eating sizzling rice soup. I delighted in just having her here again. She told me stories from their trip abroad, and I drank them up as quickly as I did the green tea. Palaces, castles, yachts, grand restaurants, and tiny bistros. The romance, the adventure—all of it just sounded magical.

“And Nerja—oh my goodness, I can’t even tell you! You know how enchanting it is; I never wanted to leave,” she gushed.

“I know, it was like a little slice of heaven,” I sighed, remembering the trip I’d taken with Simon. I went there already a little bit in love with him, and that trip solidified everything for me. Watching him work, discovering a new locale with him, experiencing everything this tiny corner of the globe had to offer, immersing ourselves completely in a moment. I’d fallen 100 percent in love with him there. It would always hold a special place in my heart.

“And the food! I can’t believe I’m not as big as house, the way we ate,” she exclaimed, and I looked her over from stem to stern.

“You look fantastic, as always. Who are you kidding?”

“Speaking of fantastic, when do I get to see this new house? I can’t believe we’re neighbors!” she asked.

“Oh, it’s a wreck right now. But you know what that’s like, you lived through it.”

“Blech—worst thing ever is living through a renovation. But it’s worth it in the end.”

“I’m trying to keep that in mind.”

“I was surprised when you told me. I thought Simon loved the city,” she said, eyeing me carefully.

“Believe me, no one was more surprised than me when he came up with this crazy idea. But he took to Sausalito quicker than I thought he would; he really loves it over there,” I answered. “I do too.”

“And Benjamin told me he’s taken some time off work?”

“A little; he canceled a few jobs. He really wants to be here when the renovation gets going. But when he sees how boring it can be, he’ll hightail it for Bali or Madagascar.” I laughed, paying special attention to the bottom of my soup bowl. And not at all to Jillian’s knowing gaze. “So, after lunch you want to stop by the Claremont and see how it’s coming along?”