Barefoot Bay: Castle in the Sand (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 6

  “Sure, ah, grab that case of water.” It was quite possible watching Tony carry a case of bottled water just might make her year. Nothing had to come of it for her to enjoy the view. Tony wasn’t overly muscled or cut, but he was very well built, and she knew every inch of him, from the soft patch of hair in the middle of his chest to the long muscles of his legs.

  Leading him through the house, she glanced back and sighed. God, she was still so attracted to him. He was closing in on forty years old, and she honestly thought he was one of those men who looked better as he aged.

  “Are we expecting serious weather?” he asked, setting the case of bottles on her counter.

  “Thunderstorms. From now until three or four this morning.”

  “That’s going to be quite a blow. Anything we need to do?”

  “I’d like to make sure the outdoor furniture is secure, but I think we’re in good shape. I just hope we keep our power.”

  “It will be fine. I’m sure you have candles or lamps we can use.”

  “I do. Bought extra batteries too, and I have some ice for a cooler.”

  “Then I suppose we will weather the storm with candlelight and wine. Could be worse.”

  “Really?” Josie cut him off. “You’re imagining candlelight and wine scenarios. That sounds suspiciously romantic.”

  “I suppose it could be. But—”

  “We’re not going to pretend we’re a couple. Let’s just peacefully coexist, okay?”

  “I didn’t mean to suggest anything…”

  She stopped him with a shake of her head. “Look, things are better between us, I agree. I mean, you’re still bossy, but we’ve had some nice moments. However, it doesn’t mean I’m available. I’m not going to be a convenience again.” Tossing a roll of paper towels in the cabinet, she faced him.

  “For Christ’s sake. A convenience?” He moved toward her, and instinctively, Josie stepped back. “What kind of rubbish is that?”

  “It’s not rubbish.”

  “I never treated you like a convenience. And what is this ‘bossy’ crap. I’m not bossy.”

  Josie muttered. “You are so bossy.”

  She turned away and scuffed her toe on the floor, hoping he would take her back as a hint. But he didn’t. He came toward her. Every step brought his scent, and his incredible warmth, closer. Then he touched her, dropped his hand on her shoulder and leaned in, his breath so close to her ear.

  “I don’t know what brought on this psychotic episode—”

  “Hey!” she snapped at him over her shoulder. “Watch the ‘psychotic’ comment.”

  “I’m sure we’re going to have ups and downs because of all that’s happened between us, but you’re wrong about one thing most especially. You were never a convenience, Josie. Never. I’ve regretted leaving every day. I hate that you had to go through the embarrassment, or that you thought I’d dishonored you that way.”

  Turning back to him was another mistake. Now she was face-to-face with a tall, shirtless, unbelievably handsome prince whom she’d never been able to resist. When his hands trailed from her shoulders to her neck, where he held on ever so gently, Josie felt her knees give a little bit.

  He had power, this one. Unbelievable power over her, and she had to grab it back.

  “Josie, please believe me. I never set out to hurt you. I loved you.”

  Forcing herself not to melt into him, Josie gently pulled his hands away and stepped out of range. It was time to retreat. “Right. Okay. You know what? I’m going to go read. There’s plenty of food, so help yourself.”

  “Josephine. Stay where you are. We have to talk about this.” His voice was low, firm. Very much the voice of a man who was used to getting what he wanted. Bossy.

  Most likely, he was right. They probably did need to talk about what happened, really hash it out. They’d been glossing over it with good manners, and it was possible they needed to have a really wicked fight. But she didn’t have it in her, because with fighting came making up.

  “I don’t agree, Anton. I’m sorry, but I don’t.” His Royal Highness was going to have to learn to live with disappointment.

  Tony sat on his bed, thinking about Josie in the next room, wondering what was going through her head and imagining where they would be if he hadn’t left her. He’d always had visions of her with a pack of small blonde children, all with her big brown eyes.

  His father and the Prime Minister wanted him to marry, and if Anton was honest with himself, he’d been thinking about it quite a bit. He was ready to settle down, but not with just anyone. He had made the biggest mistake of his life when he walked away from Josie. While he was busy dodging one royal lady after another, he could have just married the woman he cared about—the one he loved—tradition be damned. Instead, he hurt the person who least deserved it.

  The wind was rattling the windows and the surf was rough. Waves crashed one after another on the beach, but Tony couldn’t look away. There was strength in the tide, movement. Maybe it was trying to send him a message. Change could be a powerful thing.

  The storm was coming from the west, with billowing dark clouds on the horizon, darkening the sky. Nick had told him how the weather could change here in a moment, and it looked like they were in for a good storm. Unexpectedly, he saw a black dog run down the beach. He wondered what the animal was doing out in the weather, and thought he might see a frantic owner giving chase, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the little black dog jumped and barked at the surf, when without warning, a wave crashed over the puppy, taking it out into the gulf.

  He opened his door and stepped onto the deck in spite of the weather. He couldn’t let the dog drown, but before he could take a step, he saw Josie bolting toward the water at a dead run. Obviously she’d seen the dog get washed out into the gulf. She’d grabbed a red buoy of some sort, the kind he’d seen lifeguards use. She put the nylon strap over her head and let it settle across her body, all while moving at breakneck speed to the edge of the water.

  Shit. She was planning on going in.

  “Do you see him?” he asked when he got to where she was standing. Tony hoped the dog would be washed in as easily as he was pulled out.

  “No, dammit.” She scanned the water. “Wait…there! There he is. Okay, I’m going out to get him.”

  “Are you daft? I’ll go.”

  “Tony, I can get him. Just take this rope.”

  “I can’t let you do this. You could drown.”

  “I’m less likely to drown than you are. I’m a certified ocean lifeguard, and you, Your Highness, are not.” She thrust a coil of rope at him. “Now take this and let me go get the dog.”

  The dog was fighting valiantly, and fortunately wasn’t too far from the beach, but that didn’t mean this was going to be easy. Josie dove into the surf without any hesitation, breaking the surface with strong movement. He could see her evaluating the currents and once she had her bearing, she powered through the waves to the pup, who was trying to make his way to Josie. She was pulled off course a time or two, setting Tony to wonder if he should go in after her.

  It was true, he wasn’t a lifeguard, but he’d been through more than one open water rescue training course; he could have held his own. But Josie knew what she could do, and she needed him to trust her. As much as he was tempted, he stayed at the water’s edge, holding his breath as she pushed forward.

  Once she reached the dog, Josie settled the wiggling mass over the top of the buoy, then positioned herself behind the dog before kicking off. He did his part, using the rope to guide them as she fought the current. They rose up on the swells, and all the while he could see Josie speaking to the little dog. His ears were pinned back, eyes wide and trained forward.

  It took a bit before they finally got close enough to shore for Josie to stand up and lift the dog into her arms.

  The puppy showed its gratitude by wriggling wildly and licking Josie’s face. Josie, who was tired, wet, and windblown, laughed as she walked towar
d him.

  “I think I’m going to name this dog Lucky,” she grinned. “God, he’s cute.”

  Scratching the dog behind the ears, he had to agree.

  “Can you take him while I put this can away?” She held the dog out to him.

  “Sure.” Tony took the hand-off, and Josie walked toward a box near the side of the house to store the buoy. Still grateful for his rescue, the dog transferred his affection to Tony. “He doesn’t have a collar. Is there any way to find his owner?”

  “Not today. We’re going to have to get him clean, warm, and dry, and see if we can find out who he belongs to tomorrow. I hope he wasn’t just dumped on the beach.” She walked over to Tony and stroked the dog’s head. “He’s still scared. Let’s get him in the lanai and rinse the salt off of him.”

  Tony watched as the bold savior of this poor little dog turned into a cooing puddle of goo. She was as sweet as she was strong, and he hadn’t been affected by someone’s bravery so acutely since he came home from the war.

  “Are you all right?” he asked. She’d struggled coming in, and he was thankful he’d been there, because he had no doubt Josie would have gone in after the dog, no matter what.

  “Right now, yes. I’ll be tired later.” She let out a long, shaky breath. “It was rough.”

  Rough was an understatement.

  All his life, Tony heard about how one woman or another wasn’t worthy of him. The whole royal mystique was just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. They were rich. That was the bottom line, and his parents—particularly his father—only wanted him to associate with other “rich” kids. His own kind. It was all shit.

  Josie should be held up as an example to all royals. She would receive no medals or accolades for what she’d done today, but she’d risked her own safety for another, just the same. That the creature was of the four-legged variety didn’t matter. Sitting on the concrete floor of the lanai, showering attention on a frightened little dog, Josie was nobler than he would ever be.

  Lucky was curled up at the end of Josie’s bed, sleeping soundly, an occasional snort punctuating the sound of the wind pounding against the house. She should be tired, but she was so jacked up on adrenaline, she was having a hard time getting her brain to settle down.

  The whole episode with the dog could have been a disaster. As soon as she’d hit the water she felt the rip current, forcing her to put everything she had into the rescue. Once she had the dog, she was fairly sure she could get back to shore by swimming across the dangerous current, but there were more than one, and with the rough surf, she was exhausting herself. If it hadn’t been for the buoy she’d grabbed, and Tony hanging onto the rope, she wouldn’t have made it. Thinking about it now, she was the one who was lucky.

  Seeing Tony on the shore, guiding them in—his eyes fixed, his expression steady—gave her the focus she needed to get safely to the beach. At first, her instinct was to go to him, let him wrap her safely in his arms, but she resisted. She’d been forcing herself away from him since he walked back into her life, and nothing had changed.

  They’d spent a quiet dinner together, sharing small talk and speculating about how they might find the dog’s owner. That alone made her sad, because in just a few hours, the dog, who was obviously very young, had captured her heart.

  Pretty much the same way Tony had captured her heart all those years ago.

  That should teach her not to get her hopes up about the dog.

  Empty mug in hand, Josie made her way to the kitchen to make more tea, the now-awake puppy trailing behind her. She didn’t expect to see Tony sitting in the living room, reading a book. In a new twist, he was wearing glasses, and Josie’s insides went on a long, slow meltdown as she took him in.

  For whatever reason, that’s when it all hit her. The stress of seeing him again, coupled with the fear she’d felt this afternoon while out in the stormy water, rushed up and consumed her. Her breath hitched, and when he looked up, tears burned her eyes.

  “Josie?” His voice, husky and warm, reminded her of long nights they’d spent wrapped around each other.

  No amount of self-control was going to help her then. Once she thought about what used to be, all the memories, coupled with the stress of the day, everything came crashing down around her. To her horror and relief, Tony didn’t hesitate to do something about it. As soon as he saw she was upset, he was off the couch and pulling her into the safety of his arms.

  “Mon ange,” he whispered into her hair. My angel. If she hadn’t been missing him, that again would have done it. Her heart ached for him, now more than ever. “What’s wrong? Please don’t cry. If I did anything, I’m sorry.”

  “You didn’t. I just… I don’t know why I feel this way. I’m falling apart.”

  “I’m sure it’s because of what happened with the dog earlier. That had to be draining. You need sleep.”

  “I can’t. My brain keeps running it over and over,” she said. “God, Tony, I was so scared I wasn’t going to make it.”

  “What? Oh, Josie.”

  “The surf and the currents were horrible. I kept getting pulled out. If you hadn’t been there, I’d have drowned. I was so damn over-confident.”

  Tilting her face to his, Tony’s hand came to her cheek, cupping it gently. “But I was there, and you made it out, along with our little friend. You amaze me, Josephine. You always have.”

  He said her name like she was a princess. It sounded more like Jozephine, so elegant, so not her. All Josie wanted was to be with him, but she knew they never could be. She wasn’t ever going to fit in his world. She wasn’t a princess. She was a woman who saved stray dogs and taught school.

  “You never think about yourself. That’s why you went in the water. All you could think about was Lucky.” He nodded toward the dog, who had fallen asleep on the kitchen floor. “The past three years I’ve thought about you every day. Missed you every day.”

  “Then why did you leave? Why didn’t you fight for me?”

  Stroking the hair from her face, Tony pressed his lips to her forehead and she allowed herself to lean into him, loving the feel of his mouth on her skin. “I don’t know. My life has always been about duty, about my country. I never saw my life as my own. Part of me didn’t want to subject you to it. At the time, I thought it would ruin you. Crush your spirit.”

  Ruin her? How? By having to follow the royal rules or by being in the public eye? It didn’t make sense. He never even gave her the choice. “Losing you destroyed me. And I know that I shouldn’t say that. But I believed in you. In us. I think we would have had a chance if you’d believed in us too.”

  “I wanted to.”

  Josie wanted to say they had the chance to make things right, but she wasn’t sure if they could. “You should have trusted me. Instead, you let me down.”

  “I can’t imagine how you’ve felt with me being here. I should have left the first day.”

  There was no good way to respond to him. So she went from the heart. “It’s been a blessing and a curse,” she sniffled. “I love having you close again. I love hearing your voice, seeing you in the mornings. I love the smell of you when you’ve first showered…”

  He smiled. “Seeing you when you’re first up, staggering for the coffee pot, makes my day.”

  Slipping her arms around his waist, Josie rested her head on Tony’s chest and the world felt right. For the first time in three years, she was home, but it wasn’t going to last. “It’s funny how the little things are what we miss.”

  “It’s true.” He was holding her head against his chest, allowing her to hear the steady beat of his heart. “I miss a thousand little things about you, Josie.”

  They settled into silence, a quiet, thoughtful moment that required no words, but allowed their feelings to settle and the words to sink in.

  “I should go to bed. Try to sleep.”

  “I’m glad we talked,” he said quietly, releasing her. “You can always talk to me.”

  Josie stared into T
ony’s fathomless blue eyes, and wondered how he would react if she kissed him. Obligations, broken hearts, none of it mattered. She just wanted to feel her lips on his. Soft, firm, loving. “Do you want to hear why you’re a curse?” she asked.

  “What?” It seemed to take him a second to realize what she was asking, and then he shook his head. “I don’t know—”

  “I ache for you. My body, my soul. Everything. Having to see you again just makes me more aware of it.”

  He closed his eyes, and she could see her words had hit a nerve. Good or bad, he felt something for her. The feelings hadn’t died. But just like all those years when the two of them denied their feelings because he was her brother’s best friend, they would deny them now.

  When Tony opened his eyes, Josie sucked in a breath. No longer sweet and tender, Anton’s gaze had caught fire. “Don’t hate me for this, Josie. Please.”

  Before she could say a word, he claimed her mouth with his. His lips moved over hers with urgency, desperation. This kiss was about loss, about the years apart, about missing each other so desperately that one touch ignited them both.

  He sat on the couch, pulling her into his lap, and the two of them dove into the kiss with the passion only lost lovers could know.

  His hands slid into her hair, holding her head steady as he continued his assault on her mouth. She could feel his arousal, his need, and she was burning up inside. No one had ever made her burn like Anton. Her prince in all the ways that mattered.

  “This isn’t going to last, is it?” she whispered in his ear as he trailed kisses down her neck.

  “I don’t know.”

  It wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear, but he’d given her the honesty she’d asked for. Being with her meant changing his whole life, his whole existence. Anton used the word duty. That’s who he was, what he was all about. Duty. To his family and his country.

  Now it was time for Josie to think about what she wanted. Was she willing to take the risk? They might only have a few weeks together, but now that she knew the stakes, knew their time was finite, was it worth the emptiness after he was gone?