Hidden Past

When she reached the reception desk, Grace took a deep breath and spoke to the young woman behind the counter. “I’d like to see Sergeant Jakowski.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No. But I’d appreciate it if you told him I was here.”

One name given, a telephone call and a few minutes wait and she had what she wanted. She took the lift to the second level and when she stepped out into the hall found him waiting.

“This is a surprise.”

Grace shrugged as she walked toward him. “I called your cell but you didn’t pick up.”

“So you decided to start stalking me.”

She stilled about five feet from him and waited until two uniformed officers passed before responding. “Yes, you look like you’re shaking in your boots.”

He smiled. “Speaking of boots,” he said and looked her over. “They do the job.”

“And what job is that?”

“The job of distracting me enough so you can get your own way.”

He liked her boots? “You think I’m that manipulative?” she inquired and stopped in front of him.

Cameron opened a door to his left. “I think you’re a woman who wants something.”

She did. His silence.

“I just came to talk.”

He ushered her into the room and closed the door. “So, talk.”

Grace looked at him. He filled out his uniform in a way that got her attention. The pale blue shirt fit him perfectly, highlighting his broad shoulders and lean waist. She quickly ignored her wavering thoughts. “I wanted to know if you’ll stand by your promise to keep my private business private.”

He came toward the desk and sat on the edge. “I’m not about to be a buffer between you and your family,” he said with a kind of irritated disbelief. “They’re your family, Grace. I don’t understand your reluctance to tell them about your accident.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” she shot back. “But it’s my decision to make.”

He crossed his arms. “It’s not hard to let people in.”

“Now you sound like my therapist,” she said and let out a heavy sigh.

“You’re seeing a shrink?”

“Counselor,” she corrected and quickly realized she’d said too much. “Because the accident was work-related the company was obliged to supply grief counseling to—”

“Whoa,” Cameron held up a hand. “Back up a minute. You’re seeing a grief counselor. Explain that to me.”

Grace’s skin prickled. “It’s normal in these circumstances.”

“What circumstances?”

She drew in a breath, steadying herself. “When someone has died.”

He took a second to respond. “Someone died? Who?”

“Richard Bennett,” she said quietly and felt the intensity of his stare through to her blood. “A work colleague. We were traveling together at the time of the accident.”

“Was anyone else in the car?”

“No,” she replied. “Richard was driving. We were on our way to meet with a client. But we crashed. It was no one’s fault.”

“So he died. And you survived?”

She nodded. Her counselor had explained survivor’s guilt several times. She’d brushed it off. Ignored it. “The therapist thought I should come home and be with my family for a while. My boss agreed.”

“That sounds like good advice.”

Grace shrugged. “But unnecessary. I have a job that I’m good at and a life in New York that suits me. I didn’t see the need to change that.”

“Obviously the people around you did. What about your friends in New York?”

She shrugged again. There were acquaintances and work colleagues. But friends? None who she was close to. The only person who’d visited her after the accident had been her boss, Jennifer. “You know me.”

He looked at her for the longest time before he spoke again. “I do,” he said quietly. “And I know your family. They’re kind, good people who care about you.”

“Precisely why I don’t want to alarm them.”

“Nice try. What’s the real reason?”

Grace got to her feet. “That is the reason. Does it seem impossible that I don’t want to worry them? And it’s not like I was seriously hurt. I’m fine. Just fine.”

His brows came up and he stood and rocked back a little on his heels. “You’re a lot of things, Grace…but I suspect fine isn’t one of them.”

Her annoyance spiked. “You don’t know anything about it, so I’d rather you didn’t try to psychoanalyze me. All I want is your word that you won’t say anything to my family, particularly my parents. I’ll tell them when I’m ready, and not before.”

“You know, I don’t think I quite believe you. You’re obviously in denial about an incredibly traumatic experience. The best thing you could do is come clean and talk about it.”

What a self-righteous jerk. He knew nothing about what was best for her.

“So you won’t keep your word, is that what you’re saying?”

He rubbed his chin. “I’m not sure keeping my word would be what’s best for you.”

She clutched her handbag to her side. “Since it’s obvious you don’t have the decency to respect my wishes and seem to think you have the right to an opinion about my life, I intend to keep as far away from you as possible while I’m back in Crystal Point.” She drew in a deep breath. “Or to put it another way—go to hell, Jakowski!”

Then she was out the door and down the corridor as quickly as her feet could carry her.

Of course, in a town as small as Crystal Point, staying away from Cameron was almost impossible.

When she pulled into the driveway in front of her brother’s home that evening and saw Cameron’s electric-blue sedan parked there, she immediately considered bailing. But she wouldn’t have been able to explain that to Noah. Her brother had dropped by the B and B that afternoon to repair a window lock and had invited her to share dinner with his family. Since she still had one guest to attend to, Grace declined dinner and agreed to a coffee visit instead.

Only she hadn’t anticipated seeing the one person she wanted to avoid.

She wondered if he’d wrangled an invitation just to irritate her or dropped in without one. It was her sister-in-law who answered the door and invited her inside.

“We’ve just finished dinner,” Callie said as she closed the door. “But I can get you something if you—”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Grace assured her. “I’ve already eaten.”

Her brother and Cameron were in the living room. “Grace,” Noah said and came around the sofa. He kissed her cheek. He knew she wasn’t the hugging type. “Great to see you. Everything okay?”

“Yes.” She glanced at Cameron, who was sitting on the sofa. In jeans and T-shirt he looked relaxed and handsome and possessed such an easygoing manner that when he smiled Grace couldn’t help but smile back. Stay on track. She rattled the bag she carried. “I brought something for the children, I hope you don’t mind?”

Noah grinned. “Not at all. I’ll round them up.”

Her brother left the room and once Callie disappeared to make coffee, Grace glared at him. “What are you doing here?”

“I was invited,” Cameron said, smiling as he looked at the bag she carried. “Gifts are a nice touch. I trust you remember the kids’ names?”

She frowned. “I’m not that out of the loop. I am their aunt, you know.”

“Nice outfit, by the way,” he said of her long denim skirt and pale green sweater.

“Spare me the compliments.”

He chuckled. “Very…aunt appropriate.”

“Are you suggesting I look like a spinster aunt now?”

He laughed again. “Hardly. There’s nothing the least bit spinsterish about you, Grace.”

“Other than the fact I’m not married?”

“You’ve still got time to change that.”

Grace shook her head slowly. She didn’t want to talk about Marriage with him. Because despite the denials she knew would come, being around him made her think, imagine. And those kinds of thoughts were pointless. She had her life—it was set. “Marriage is not in my plans. A husband and kids wouldn’t mix with my work.”

“And you wouldn’t consider giving up your career?”

She placed her handbag by the fireplace and didn’t quite have the courage to meet his gaze until she’d inhaled a steadying breath. “My career comes first. I’m not the marriage-and-babies sort. I’ll leave that to women like Evie and Callie.”

He looked at her oddly. “You don’t think a woman can have both?”

She raised her shoulders a little. “I’ve worked with a few women trying to juggle career and family and they always complained how difficult it was. Better to do one, and do it well, than try to divide the time and become mediocre at both.”

“That’s a rather dim view of things,” he said. “What happens when you fall in love?”

“I won’t,” she said quickly and tried to breathe through the heat rising up her collarbone. “I mean, I’ve never felt that. I’m not sure I believe it exists.”

“I’m sure your brother and Callie would disagree. And Evie and Scott. Your parents have had a happy marriage, right? Mine, too.”

Grace managed a tight smile. “And yet you’ve managed to avoid it yourself?”

“But I believe in marriage,” he said and rested an arm along the back of the sofa.

“Oh, I thought you were too busy carving notches into your bedpost.”

He smiled in that sexy way and Grace harnessed all her resistance. “The fact you’ve been thinking about my bed leads me to believe there’s hope for you yet, Princess.”

“I don’t know what—”

“Here we are!” Noah said as the kids rushed into the room. The twins, five-year-old Hayley and Matthew, raced toward her, while nine-year-old Jamie trailed behind. Noah’s youngest daughter wasn’t a child to be held back and she insisted on hugging Grace and then demanded to know what was in the bag. Grace spread the gifts around and made certain Jamie received his while the twins tore at wrapping paper. The books and DVDs were a clear winner. Once they’d said thank-you, the kids quickly disappeared to their rooms.

“Where’s Lily?” she asked of Noah’s teenage daughter.

“Studying at a friend’s,” Callie said as she came back into the room carrying a tray.

Grace shook the bag. “I’ll leave this for her.”

“It’s lovely of you to think about the kids like this,” Callie said and passed mugs around.

Grace glanced toward Cameron, and then quickly focused her thoughts. Chalk one up for the closed-off aunt. “My pleasure. I don’t get to see them often enough.”

“We don’t see you enough either,” Noah said as he took a spot on the other sofa and suggested she sit down.

She made her way around the sofa and sat beside Cameron. He didn’t move and his hand rested only an inch from her shoulder. But she could feel him. The connection and awareness was like nothing she’d ever experienced. Grace gripped her mug and drank the coffee. Noah watched her, Callie smiled and Cameron’s silence was suddenly deafening.

When he finally spoke she jumped a little. “So, Grace was telling me she’ll watch the kids for you next Tuesday.”

I was?

Noah looked surprised. “Really?”

“I think that would be great,” Callie said and squeezed her husband’s knee. “Your parents offered—but I know they’d like to be at the awards dinner.”

Awards dinner? She looked at Cameron. There was laughter and direct challenge in his eyes. Damn his sexy hide. He was deliberately trying to antagonize her. She managed a tight smile. “I’m more than happy to watch them.”

“It’s only the twins,” Callie explained. “Jamie and Lily want to be there to see their dad get his award.”

She feigned knowledge, knew that Cameron was laughing to himself and made a point to settle this particular score with him when they were alone. “What time do you want me here?”

“Six o’clock,” Noah said.

They chatted for another twenty minutes and she was grateful her brother didn’t question her about New York or how long she intended to stay in Crystal Point. Finally, Cameron got up to leave, said goodbye and offered to walk her out.

Once they were by their cars and out of earshot she glared at him. “What was that about?” she demanded. “Has meddling in my life suddenly become an entertaining pastime for you?”

“More of an interesting pastime,” he corrected with a selfindulgent grin.

“And clearly volunteering me to babysit is your idea of a joke?”

“Well, you did say your therapist suggested you spend time with your family.”

She wanted to slug his smug face. Instead, she drew in a steadying breath. “Thank you for your charitable concern. However, I can arrange my own family time without your interference.”

He grinned. “Really? And did you know about your brother’s award?”

“Of course,” she fibbed.

His brow came up. “Well, in case it slipped your mind, it’s a community award. And a big deal. Preston Marine offers traineeships for young people with disabilities. The award is recognition of his work helping these kids.”

She knew her brother did that, didn’t she? Noah had been at the helm of the boat-building business that had been started by her grandfather for over a decade. Her father had retired a couple of years earlier. A niggling shame seared between her shoulder blades. Was she so busy with her own problems she’d forgotten everything about where she came from?

“Of course,” she said again and knew he wasn’t convinced.

He came a little closer. “On the other hand, if you don’t think you’re up to the task of watching the kids, I’m sure they could find someone else.”

Grace bristled. “No need for that,” she assured him and continued to fight the urge to slap his handsome face. “I’m quite confident I’ll manage the task.”

He laughed out loud. “Well, that’s great to hear, Princess. Because the price for my silence has just gone up.”

Her blood stilled. “What does that mean?”

“Emily needs a tutor for the next two weeks.”

A tutor? “I can’t possibly—”

“No lessons,” he said, cutting her off. “No silence.”

Shock leached the color from her face. “That’s blackmail.”

“Friendly incentive,” he said and grinned. “Besides, Emily likes you.”

In truth she liked Emily, too, and even though part of her sensed she would be able to help the teenager, Grace wasn’t about to be railroaded. “I’m not qualified to do that.”

“You’re perfectly qualified,” he said and moved closer to open her driver’s door.

“I won’t do it.”

“Sure you will. You fight a good fight, Grace,” he said with a kind of arrogant overconfidence. “But not good enough. I’ll make sure Pat drops Emily off at Dunn Inn around four tomorrow for her lesson. Good night.”

He was close enough that for a second she thought he might kiss her. For a second she actually wanted him to.

But he didn’t.

She got into the car and drove off and wondered what had happened to the well-ordered, organized life she’d once had. The life that had been about clients and meetings and skipped lunches and business dinners. Not about tutoring teenage girls, babysitting five-year-olds and dreaming about kissing Cameron Jakowski.

And then, she wondered how she was supposed to want that old life back once she returned to New York.

Cameron stayed away from Grace for the following two days. Mostly because he knew it would drive her crazy. Being the rigid control freak she was, he’d bet his boots she’d want to wail at him some more about being pushed into tutoring Emily. So he gave her a couple of days to work with the teenager without him hovering.

He arrived at Dunn Inn late Wednesday afternoon and found Grace in the downstairs kitchen, preparing things for the evening meal. Of course she could cook. There were a couple of unfamiliar vehicles parked in the circular driveway, indicating guests were in residence. Even working over a stove she was immaculate. Black pants and white shirt and a pristine apron he figured probably wouldn’t dare crease, made her look formidable and beautiful.

He remained beneath the threshold and watched her work for a moment.

When she finally looked up and let out a small, surprised gasp, he spoke. “How’s the tutoring going?”

“I’m holding up my end of the bargain,” she replied and placed a lid on a saucepan. “Emily’s a smart girl and I think she’ll ace the test with a little more studying.”

He walked into the room. “I think so, too.”

She frowned. “Is her son’s father in the picture? I don’t want to ask her directly if the subject is off-limits.”

Cameron shrugged. “He took off when Riley was born.”

She stayed silent for a moment, looking at him. “Is that why you…”

“Is that why I…what?” he prompted. But he knew what she was thinking. His own parentage wasn’t exactly a state secret. Barbara Preston had introduced his mother to Franciszek all those years ago, so they were well aware he was adopted by his dad.

“Nothing,” she said tightly and pulled a frying pan off an overhead hook.

“Do you think I’m trying to get over my abandonment issues by helping Emily and Riley?”

“I…don’t…know,” she said and he noticed she looked a little paler than usual. Maybe she wasn’t sleeping? Well, she wasn’t the only one. “Are you?”

“I never knew my biological father,” he said quietly. “So there’s no real issue to get past.”

One brow rose. “You don’t miss what you’ve never had, you mean?”

“Exactly. And I help kids like Emily and Dylan because it needs to be done. Otherwise they could fall through the cracks in social services.”

She untied the apron. “I don’t know how you manage it, but you always make me feel…feel…”

“Feel what?”

“Self-centered,” she said and tossed the apron on the bench. “Selfish. Shallow. Superficial.”

At least he was making her feel something. That was a start, right? “Success and beauty don’t go hand in hand with being superficial.”

She stared at him and the mood between them quickly shifted. His attraction to her had a will of its own and air was suddenly charged with awareness. Her hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and he had the urge to set it free. Memories of kissing her on the beach only a few nights before rushed back and filled his blood. Her icy reserve had slipped and she’d kissed him back passionately. And he wanted to feel that passion again.

“Don’t.”

Cameron tilted his head. “Don’t what?”

“Don’t say I’m…you know.”

“Beautiful?” He laughed softly. “No point denying the obvious.”

“Like it’s all I am.”

Cameron moved around the counter. “That’s not what I said. But I guess it’s easier to think the worst of me.”

She turned to face him. “Nothing is easy with you.”

He reached out and touched her jaw. When she didn’t move he rubbed his thumb across her cheek. “Then let’s call a truce.”

“A truce?”

“Yes,” he said and stepped closer. “And let’s stop pretending we don’t want each other.”

Chapter Five

He wants me.

She couldn’t remember the last time a man had said that to her.

Or the last time she’d wanted to hear it. Erik’s lukewarm attentions hadn’t bothered her because she’d felt the same way toward him. And Dennis was no different. But her feelings for Cameron were different. They always had been. They were there, under the surface, waiting to jump up and take hold. For years she’d been safe in New York—away from him and the connection that simmered between them.

She drew in a tight breath. “I don’t have casual sex.”

“And you think I do?” he asked and dropped his hand.

Grace raised a brow. “We’ve already had the conversation about your reputation.”

“You shouldn’t believe all you hear, Grace.”

Yes, I should. It was safer to think of him as a womanizer. Safer to imagine him making love to someone else. But that notion made her insides contract. Not that I want him to make love to me. “I’ve got three weeks, Cameron. And I’m not going to complicate things by…by…”

“Not everything is so black-and-white.”

Grace crossed her arms. “What does that mean?”

“It means you can’t put every feeling into a neat little package because you’re determined to control everything. The truth is we’ve been dancing around this for years. I’d rather it be out there and on the table.”

She pushed back her shoulders. “I wouldn’t. We have a deal—and that’s all we have. I want your silence and I’ll tutor Emily in return.”

He blatantly ignored her. “You haven’t got anyone staying here after tomorrow, right?”

“Right,” she replied suspiciously. “The place is empty until after Scott and Evie return the weekend after next.”

“Good. Pat is taking the kids out to the farm in Burdon Creek this weekend. There’s still some work to be done on the place before they can make the move permanently, so I thought you might like to help me give them a hand for a couple of days. Plus you’ll get a chance to keep tutoring Emily.”

No way. “I can’t do that.”

“Sure you can,” he said and smiled. “It’ll be good for you.”

“I don’t—”

“Just think of all that fresh country air,” he said with one brow raised. “Wouldn’t that be exactly what the doctor ordered?”

Yes, she thought, it probably would be. But it didn’t mean she was about to agree. Spending the weekend with Cameron, in any circumstances, was a complication—and temptation—she didn’t need.

“No,” she said quietly.

He shrugged, infuriating her. “No weekend, no deal.”

Grace felt her control slip away. She thought she had everything settled. A month back in Crystal Point and then she’d return to New York—that was the plan. This wasn’t. “More blackmail? Forget it. I’m not spending the weekend with you.”

“Emily and Riley will be there. And Pat and the kids. There’ll be plenty of chaperones, Grace, so you can relax.”

She didn’t want a chaperone. She didn’t want to relax. “I said no.”

“No weekend, no deal,” he said again. “Unless, of course, you would prefer to tell your family about the car accident which could have killed you and how you didn’t care enough to inform them at the time.”

Grace glared at him. “You’re an ass, Jakowski. I will tell them and you’ll have no hold over me.”

He grabbed the cell phone on the countertop and held it toward her. “Here you go.”

She froze. He knew she wouldn’t take the phone. He knew she wasn’t ready to tell her family what had happened. One word about the accident and she would also have to talk about her therapist, Richard and the whole awful experience. She lingered over another refusal and considered how hurt her parents would be once they found out the truth.

“Okay,” she said resignedly. “I’ll go with you. To help out and to tutor Emily,” she said with emphasis. “And that’s all.”

He nodded and stepped back. “I’ll pick you up Friday morning, eight o’clock.”

Then he dropped the phone back on the counter and left.

The next morning Grace went shopping for new jeans and a couple of polo shirts. Bellandale had a few nice boutiques and she couldn’t help splurging on a new pair of fire-engine-red heels that simply screamed “pick me.” She also purchased a pair of sensible boots. They were the kind she knew people wore in the country, ankle-length with a square block heel. She walked around the B and B at night in them to try to break in the stiff leather and got mean-looking blisters on her toes as a result.

She also kept up her end of the deal and tutored Emily each afternoon.

“So, you’re hanging out at the farm this weekend?” the teenager asked as they ended the lesson on Thursday evening.

Grace closed her laptop. “Yes.”

Emily grinned. “Ever been on a farm before?”

“When I was young,” she replied. “My grandparents had a small fruit farm and I used to visit sometimes.” Not often, though. The farm was more Evie’s and Noah’s thing back then. Most of her vacations from boarding school were spent in Crystal Point. When her grandparents passed away the farm was sold.