Love Captures the Heart (Sully Point, Book 3) by Nicole Smith Page A

running to something, I'd say. Meanwhile
people are going to notice when someone like Rob Tremaine lets it be known that
he wants you as the architect for his latest project."
    "Rob doesn't have to--"
    "Of course he doesn't have to. He wants to let people
know that. Right now you have to let other people express their belief in your
honesty and morality." She watched his face carefully to see if her words
were sinking in. She saw a lessening of tension around his eyes. He still
looked shell-shocked to some extent, but not as blankly devastated as last
night when he'd first arrived. As she pulled the muffins out of the oven, she
called out over her shoulder, "Get the butter from the fridge, would
you?" Within moments they were seated at the table with hot muffins and a ham,
pepper, potato and onion frittata.
    "Now isn't this better than a protein shake?"
    He gave her a smile. "Just about anything is better
than a protein shake. This--this is a feast. And these muffins are
unbelievable."
    They ate in a companionable silence. Holly wondered whether
she should suggest her next proposal to him and decided to wait. Get him to
Sully Point first. Then they'd see.
    * * * *
    Jason found the drive down to be relaxing. He and Holly
didn't talk much, but listened to music instead. At one point she'd gotten him
to sing along with the radio with her, and they'd eventually ended up laughing.
If you could laugh your life wasn't over, right?
    He knew he needed to pull out of the funk he was in, to get
up and fight. But he felt so drained by all that had happened, however, every
mile away from the city seemed to lift some of the darkness from him. Holly was
a big part of that. She wasn't perky or too cheerful, she was just herself. She
wasn't careful about him, which would have put his teeth on edge.
    "I have an idea for tomorrow," she said into the
quiet of the Jaguar. "I think we should go out on one of Cody's boats and
go fishing."
    He glanced over at her in surprise. "Now that is an
excellent idea. I could definitely use some time out on the water."
    "Good, because I called Cody yesterday and arranged
it."
    "You were that sure you could convince me to come here
with you?"
    "Well, I wasn't positive, but I thought I had a good
chance at it. I was prepared to fight dirty."
    He laughed. "It's a good plan. Getting away is exactly
what I need."
    She smiled at him and he felt his breath catch in his
throat. She was so damn beautiful. It hit him sometimes like that, out of the
blue. Her golden hair fell in waves around her shoulders and her brown eyes
sparkled as she looked at him now. He suddenly wanted her desperately.
    "What? What is it? You have this look on your face...oh."
    "We're almost there, right?"
    "Yes, about fifteen more minutes."
    "Think we could go parking again on the project
land?"
    She laughed. "I have a much better idea. My sister Anna
has this loft she used to live in before she married Sam. Then Julia and Cody
lived there before buying their house. Anna hasn't really used since she put in
a studio at the beach house. When I mentioned you might be coming down, she
offered it to you to use whenever you're in Sully Point. It makes more sense
than staying at Maelynne's motel every time. This way you can have a
comfortable place to stay, and you can stay as long as you want."
    "That's awfully generous of her. I'm not sure I feel
comfortable--"
    "Before you say anything, remember it's just sitting
there now, not being used."
    "Well, that is a good point. It sure would help out for
when I need to be down here."
    "And, since I know where the key is, we can go straight
there and let ourselves in, bypassing family entirely until we're ready to see
them."
    "Ah. Now that sounds like a very good plan since I feel
like getting you out of those clothes as soon as possible."
    "It's good how we're on the same wavelength."
    He laughed.
    Later that day, after they'd worn each other out and taken a
short nap, Jason decided that Holly might be the