Brothers of Paradise Series

“I’m not?” He sets his glass down and stretches out on the couch beside me, an arm along the back and legs stretched out in front. Taking up space, the way he always has. “How have I changed?”

“Well,” I say, “I didn’t know how good of a kisser you were before.”

His gaze darkens. “It’s easy when you have a good partner.”

“Oh?”

“Mhm.” Parker’s eyes drop to my lips. “You’ve changed for me too, you know.”

“I have?”

He dips his chin in a single nod. “I know what you sound like, now, when I kiss your neck.”

“Oh.”

“That little sigh has been on repeat in my mind for the past few days.”

The room feels too hot. I shift on the sofa, turning to face him. Pull my legs up beneath me. “Parker, what are we doing?”

“Right now?”

“Yes,” I murmur, looking down at my wineglass. “What is… this? Us.”

“We’re spending time together, and I’m slowly discovering all of your secrets.”

“I hoped you’d forgotten about that.”

“Never,” he says. “Where have you been living these past couple of years?”

That’s a question I don’t mind answering. His dark blue eyes are serious on mine, and open, like whatever I say is okay. There’s no correct answer, and no acerbic comment waiting for me if I say the wrong thing.

“A few hours west of here,” I say. “It was a tiny town.”

“Like Paradise,” he says.

That makes me laugh. “Well, in size maybe, but very much not like Paradise. There was no ocean close by, and definitely no lobster rolls.”

“I can’t believe you survived.”

“It was a harrowing few years.”

He smiles, arm stretching out behind my back. “Did you work?”

“Off and on, yeah. Waitressing and graphic design mostly.” I tuck my hand beneath one of the pillows, the braided fabric rough against my skin. Mom is big into hemp and jute at the moment. “It wasn’t very reliable.”

“That’s where you learned it all? The design work?”

“Some of it, yes,” I say. “There are great courses online. It was trial and error, mostly. The first website I created was for a place I waitressed at.”

“Same as now,” he says, raising an eyebrow. “That’s your trick, James? Get hired for one thing and then show your secret talents to get a second gig?”

I roll my eyes. “It’s only worked twice, but maybe I should put it into practice regularly.”

“There are too few places in Paradise,” Parker says, “and the gelato shop doesn’t need a website.”

I dig my teeth into my lower lip and think about it. “That could actually work,” I say. “I know you meant it as a joke, but the ice cream shop is a local institution. They could have a system where customers order pints to go, and list all flavors on their website.”NôvelDrama.Org content rights.

Parker grins. “You’re brilliant, you know.”

“Gosh, that was just a stupid idea. I don’t know anything, really.”

“You know a lot,” he says. “Own it. You’re good at the business side of things.”

“I have no experience with it.”

“So it’s all raw, natural talent.” Parker shifts closer, his hand brushing my shoulder. “That’s even more impressive. Maybe you should start doing this full-time, instead of waitressing. Website design, newsletters, and business strategy? Not like I want to lose one of my best employees here, though, so maybe I should shut up.”

I laugh. “Not likely.”

“But you could work from home with that. Stay in Paradise. Put Emma in school,” he says. His voice is warm and reassuring, and I like the picture he paints. Perhaps a bit too much.

“I’m not sure about staying yet.”

“Oh? What do we need to do to convince you?”

I shake my head. “Nothing, it’s not… because of the town. But Paradise is expensive, and I know the cons as well as the pros. Maybe Emma won’t fit in so well.”

A lot of my memories of going to school here are great, but not all. The teachers were brilliant, but the kids could be ruthless, often casually so. They went on summer vacations to faraway places and spent their winters skiing in Aspen. Most weekends they’d been on their boats, docked in the marina for all to see. I’ll never be able to afford that kind of lifestyle for Emma. She doesn’t realize that now, but one day she will.

“She’s a natural-born sailor,” Parker says. “She’ll fit in beautifully. Or she’ll stand out, like her mother did, and dazzle the town. Either way, she’s meant to stay.”

“I dazzled the town?”

His mouth lifts into a crooked smile. “Dazzle the high school boys, at any rate.”

“I never dazzled anyone.”

“Wrong,” he says softly. The single word sets my heart racing. Parker shifts closer and the distance between us shrinks, inch by inch. “You’ve always dazzled me.”

I give a tiny shake of my head. It’s you, I think, who’ve always dazzled me. The golden boy, the golden man, confidence and ease and strength personified. Laughter that fills up a room and arms that can carry the weight of the world.

He closes the distance between us and kisses me, a brief brush of his lips, and I find my breath again.

My hands slide into his hair. The dark blond strands are soft, and just faintly salt-roughened at the ends. I wonder if he manages to get all of it out during the summer, with daily morning swims.

“Jamie,” he murmurs, and one of his hands runs through my ponytail. “Let’s take this out.”

I help him with the scrunchie and my hair falls over my shoulders. He runs his hands through it, leaning back to watch the light brown locks spread over my tank top. It’s nothing special. No real haircut, and no highlights, just light brown and mostly straight.