He huffed and turned back to his laptop. The keys clicked away.
She returned to her book until it was time to remove the other shoe. The cardigan she wore over her dress was next. To tease him, she took the band out of her hair and released her ponytail with his next page, earning a scowl.
After that, though, he really must’ve gotten in the zone, because he didn’t call out “page” again and didn’t turn around to see if she was naked. She stopped taking clothes off to let him work. He needed a good solid day of writing and she was pleased he was so focused. It had been hard on him not being able to work in a steady rhythm, to have his ability blocked. She was glad he was finding himself again and that she could help.
Around lunchtime, she tiptoed into the kitchen to see what he had in the fridge. She found a couple of leftover grilled chicken breasts and whipped up a chicken salad. After toasting some bread and adding lettuce and tomato, she dug in the cabinets to find chips to go with the sandwich. Apparently, Alec had an addiction to sugar and salt—a box of packaged chocolate cupcakes sat on the shelf, the kind that had a shelf life long enough to survive the apocalypse. For a moment, all she could do was stare. It was like an omen of sorts. With a shaking hand, she brought the box down as memories slammed into her.
The day before Hope’s kidney transplant, her sister had somehow smuggled a box of cupcakes like these into the hospital. She’d covertly snuck down the hall, stuck a penlight into the top of a cupcake, and whispered, “Happy birthday, little sister.”
Faith had been feeling pretty down until that moment. They hadn’t been allowed to share a room, and Faith had been nervous about her own surgery to remove the kidney Hope needed. Her parents had been darting between their rooms, but she’d encouraged them to stick by Hope’s side, because Hope was the sick one. The nurses were nice enough in their prepping, but it sure wasn’t the way Faith had wanted to spend her birthday—alone with tubes and wires.
Hot tears filled her eyes.
This birthday wasn’t such a bad one, compared to the others. Maybe twenty-eight was her magic number. She’d gotten to make love to Alec first thing in the morning, and she could do worse than spending half the day in bed reading. But still . . . her parents hadn’t called. She thought for sure they’d call today, on their own. Until now, they’d returned her phone calls, but she’d been the one to initiate contact.
The sound of steadily clicking computer keys drifted down the hall. Alec was lost in his book, as he should be, so she’d leave him to it. She took the sandwich, wrapped it up, and set it in the fridge. Tiptoeing into the bedroom, she grabbed her purse and turned to leave when a thought occurred to her.
Alec was typing like mad, not even aware she was there.
She slipped out of her dress and set it on the bed, then grabbed one of Alec’s shirts from a corner chair he’d thrown aside. She put one flip-flop in the hall and the other in the kitchen. Finally, she put her panties by the back door. Maybe if Alec finished early enough, he’d follow her silly bread crumbs and they could make love tonight.
She stared at the box of cupcakes on the counter and, with a heavy sigh, snatched one to eat later and put the box away. Alec wouldn’t mind, and if he did, she’d bake him something to replace it. It wasn’t a birthday cake, but it was something. Something was better than nothing.
Wearing only his T-shirt, she stepped outside into the heat and quietly shut the door. If she passed anyone on the beach dressed like this, they’d just think it was a swim cover-up. She was drowning in the shirt and it fell well past her knees. Still, she was relieved to make it to her guesthouse with no interruptions.
But what to do with the rest of her day? She could go out and do some shopping, but there wasn’t anything she needed and she wanted to be here in case Alec took a break and did follow her not-so-subtle hints.
She looked out the window at the ocean and made her decision. She wished Hope was here. They’d bake a cake and sing out of key and have a ball hanging out on the beach. Hope may not be here, but Faith could still hit the beach and pretend her sister was sitting in the sand beside her.
She set the cupcake on the counter and dug around in the kitchen drawers until she found what she was looking for. Placing a small candle in the center of the cupcake, she nodded and went in search of her swimming suit.
* * *
Alec’s gaze darted over the screen, line by line. Faster than his brain could catch up, he proofed the chapters he’d written. He’d gotten all the way past the black moment where everything went to hell, and now all he had to do was set up the second book and wrap up this one. Faith had been right. What this had lacked was . . .
Faith. Shit.
He whipped around in his chair, but she wasn’t there. The little green sundress she’d been wearing, however, was draped across the foot of the bed.
Grinning, he rose and stretched, remembering her little game. He’d been so wrapped up in the story, the characters shouting in his head, that he’d lost track of time.
Speaking of . . . he looked at the clock and cursed. It was already late afternoon. How had he gotten that distracted? Not that it was the first time. Hell, sometimes he went days on autopilot. But he’d never had a willing woman behind him while he typed. A willing Faith, to be specific. Amazing he’d written anything.
He strode into the hall and nearly tripped over her flip-flop. “Faith?”
The house was eerily quiet. When there was no sign of her in the living room or kitchen, he figured she was out on the beach. He opened the fridge to grab a beer and found a ready-made sandwich for him. In the same instant, he realized if her dress was on the bed, she would be naked on the beach.
Kicking the fridge closed, he turned and stumbled over her other flip-flop. And that’s when he found her black underwear, right by the back door.
He laughed and pocketed the panties. She was turning into a little minx.
Except she wasn’t the kind of woman to go gallivanting around without clothes, and after stepping out onto the back deck, he didn’t see her anywhere. She had to have gone home, judging by the clues she’d left behind.
The image of her naked form filled his head, of her lying under him, her pale skin flushed with desire and her pretty mouth parted. Her amber eyes turning golden and her small, perfect breasts rising and falling with her gasps. The way she responded so openly to every touch, the sounds she made when she came . . .
Fuck. He was hard. And halfway down the beach before he even knew what hit him.
He found her on an Adirondack chair on her back deck, wearing a plain yellow bikini and the start of a sunburn. She was completely zonked out. A book was facedown on her stomach, her sunglasses shoved up on her head and tangled in her brown waves. The humidity had dampened her hairline so that the dewy tendrils curled madly. Dark lashes fanned her cheeks, her breasts rising and falling in an even rhythm.
His gaze traveled down to the waistline of her suit and encountered the scar he assumed was surgical. The kidney she gave her sister. He’d noticed it while making love, but in the light of day it was more pronounced. A constant reminder of her loss.
He sighed, wondering how she’d made it through the pain of her sister’s death when she’d had no other outlet or support. That took guts and strength, more than any one person should have. But she did. In spades. Had it been him losing Jake, Alec didn’t think he’d have survived.
She was so damn lovely it hurt. A physical, bone-deep ache that he’d never experienced and was positive he didn’t want. The urge to protect her, to slay her demons, and hold her tight was so powerful that all he could do was shake his head. Because he’d never been able to protect or hold on to anything. But Faith made him want to try.