For the next fifteen minutes, Nick watched the display in silence, observing how the lake shimmered with reflected light and different colors. He wasn’t sure if Jannie was watching, but she leaned into him more and more, and he could sense her breathing pattern changing, gradually becoming even and deep.
She really wasn’t kidding about not hearing them. The fire before him was dying, deep orange embers glowing at the bottom of the pit. He glanced around. How could he make her more comfortable? He thought to carry her inside, but that would wake her, and he didn’t want to do that.
So, as carefully as he could, he leaned away until she settled gently on both cushions, then turned to grab the large two-person one from the nearby chaise. Placing it on the ground alongside the others, he stretched out beside her. Immediately, she rolled over and snuggled close.
Nick stared up at the wood plank ceiling. What the hell should he do?
Stay? Go?
He couldn’t very well leave her out here alone, though he pitied the fool who would show up and try anything if he let Rolf out to guard her.
Nick rubbed his cheek gently over the top of her head. Would she want him here overnight?
He shifted a little, and the answer to the question came swiftly in the form of Jannie throwing a leg around him and making a little humming sound, as if protesting his attempt to put space between them. The next second, she buried her face at the base of his throat and inhaled deeply, exhaling in a long sigh. She gripped his shirt front, holding tight.
“Smell … good,” she mumbled.
Yeah, he wasn’t going anywhere. Truth be told, he didn’t want to. He looked up at the stars, and in the distance, he spotted the unmistakable green and red lights of an airplane.
Usually, the sight of one triggered the desire to be up there, flying it.
But not tonight.
He gazed down at the sleeping woman in his arms, and as he allowed himself to press a soft kiss to her silky, light blonde hair, Nick realized there was nowhere else in the universe he’d rather be.
CHAPTER 9
Jannie
Something was screaming. So was her neck.
Jannie blinked, squinting in the bright light of the Florida sun. Above the boathouse, a red-shouldered hawk zoomed across the sky, screeching at a panicked crow that was trying its best to escape.
She glanced around her, frowning in confusion.
Apparently, she’d slept out here on a chaise cushion she didn’t remember placing on the floor. Out here, with …
Nick.
She sat up, reaching to rub the stiff muscles at her nape.
The crow flapped away, and the hawk glided smoothly to land in the neighbor’s huge southern oak. Peace descended, but not in Jannie’s mind. Everything hit her all at once: she’d let Nick in and, by the end of the evening, she’d gotten much closer than she’d ever intended. She’d also drunk too much.
Alcohol always loosened her lips. What had she said to him last night?
Was he still here?
And where the hell was her dog?
“Rolf!”
Nothing.
If that dog heard her call, he’d be at her feet in moments. She peered inside but saw no one.
Jannie carefully stood, wobbling a little, pressing three fingers to her throbbing forehead. She made her way to the summer kitchen. Turning on the faucet, she splashed cold water on her face, then pulled open thesliding door and stepped inside.
Her nostrils flared at the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. “Rolf!”
