California Dreamin' Collection Read online

  She turned away.

  Jack walked around her, and lifted her chin so she’d look at him. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Gwen? Tell me.”

  “I—” She shook her head. “You— you’re Jack Mead.”

  “Yeah, I told you that before we went out.”

  “But I didn’t know. I mean, I knew your name, but I didn’t realize you were...”

  Ah. Jack scrubbed his hand through his hair. “I know what you’re saying, but your first impression of me was right. I am normal. And if there are some things in my life that aren’t normal, then believe me, I wish they were.”

  “That doesn’t really help,” Gwen said. “Nothing about you is normal. I mean, you’re even better looking than most men I know, and now I find out that you’re Mr. Forbes or something.”

  Jack’s breathing came easier than it had been since before the phone call with Silvia. At least Gwen was talking. And at least this wasn’t about her ex. “I’m not Mr. Forbes, but that would be pretty cool if there were such a thing.”

  She loosened the tight knot of her arms, and she was looking at him now. Both good things. Jack stepped closer and brushed a hand along her arm. “Would it be easier if I were Mr. Forbes?”

  She smiled and shook her head, and then she was leaning against him. He wrapped his arms around her, and she released a soft sigh, her head fitting perfectly against his neck. Holding her felt so natural. And standing there, in the twilight of the beach, with the lull of the ocean yards away, it was easy to forget anything that could come between them.

  Chapter Eight

  Gwen never wanted to step out of Jack’s arms, but the breeze had shifted from warm to cool, and they couldn’t stay at the beach forever. They’d been talking for an hour, and Jack had listened to everything she had to say.

  She told Jack about growing up in foster homes, about failing out of high school, and then being rescued, quite literally, by her adoptive family. When she drew away from Jack and looked up into his eyes, she found compassion, not pity, which was a relief.

  “I told you it was me, not you,” she said. “But because you are you, we are impossible.” It hurt to say the words, yet she knew they were right— even though Leisa had told her to give it a chance. Going through a farce of a marriage with Paul had set her back. She’d even gone into counseling again for the first couple of months after arriving at San Diego. She wanted to stay strong, and the only way she knew how to do that was by staying single.

  Jack had drawn away too, and now his hands rested loosely at her hips. “I’m sorry about all the crap you went through as a kid. I don’t know how you survived it all, but you came out of it amazing.”

  Gwen scoffed. “I’m not amazing. I’m pretending.”

  Jack brushed back the hair blowing against her cheek. “Then I look forward to getting to know the real Gwen.”

  She shook her head at the irony. “This is the real me, the girl crying on your shoulder and complaining about her crappy childhood.” She stepped out of his arms and spread her hands. “I’d only bring chaos to your happy life and—”

  “Wait,” Jack said, grabbing her hand and tugging her closer. “You think I have a happy life?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Gwen said. “Just look at yourself in the mirror and read some of the articles about you. You’re Prince Charming, Gandhi, and Bill Gates all rolled into one.”

  Jack laughed. “I think I liked Mr. Forbes better.” He kept hold of her hand. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

  Gwen followed, even though her heart warned her that she was getting in deeper. His strong, warm hand made her feel safe, calm. “Where are we going?”

  “To show you a multi-million-dollar home that is about the loneliest spot on earth.”

  Gwen was stunned into silence. They walked down the beach until they reached a winding path that led up the hillside. About halfway up, they stopped at a gate, which Jack unlocked with a code. Then they continued up the hill until they reached the lower terrace. The bottom floor of the house above them was lit up, but the second floor was dark, the windows glinting in the moonlight.

  The landscaping was exquisite, and the house was breathtaking. Gwen felt as if she’d stepped into a postcard of Florence.

  “Amazing,” she said. “It reeks of happiness.”

  Jack flashed an amused smile. “You’d be surprised.” He opened the back door, and they walked into what looked like a palace. Marble floors, elegant furniture, gilded molding.

  “Fancy. I take it you didn’t decorate?” She rotated in a full circle to take it all in.

  “I don’t know who did,” Jack said. “Someone hired by my mother, or her assistant, or maybe even by my sister.” He walked to the middle of the main room. “But look around. There’s nothing personal; it’s like being in a museum.”

  Gwen walked over to him. “I can see that, but still...” She looked up at him, feeling a danger of standing so close to him. “You can’t seriously be complaining about living here?”

  “Not in the way you may think,” he said. “Come here.” He led her through a maze of hallways, then into an office filled with gorgeous dark wood and exotic plants. After opening the closet door, he pulled out a box.

  Gwen watched him remove the lid and take out a couple of photo albums. He set them on the desk and leafed through them, turning page after page, as if looking for something.

  “Hang on,” she said, scooping up one of the albums. “Let’s go through these properly, and then you can tell me all of your deep dark secrets.” She walked back the way they’d come, Jack following. She stopped when she reached an elegant kitchen with white cupboards and white and gray granite counter tops. Setting down the photo album, she sat on one of the padded bar chairs.

  Jack settled next to her and opened the album he carried. This time he turned the pages more slowly. “Notice anything missing?”

  Gwen studied pictures of Jack as a young boy with a little girl, who was obviously his sister. Most of the pictures were with her, but some had other children in them as well. “No parents.”

  “I saw my dad a few times a year. For a long time, I thought our nanny was my real mom. I was sent to boarding school at eleven. My mom and I have established a relationship only since my dad died. It’s like she misses having a man as part of her life, although I don’t know how close my parents were. They were hardly ever together.”

  Gwen opened her album. It had pictures of Jack a bit older, maybe ten or eleven. He was smiling in most of the shots, but her photographer-trained eye didn’t miss the loneliness in his gaze. Her heart tugged for the kid Jack used to be. And now... she looked at him and realized that he was still the same kid, still felt alone in the world.

  “Never thought I’d feel sorry for a rich kid,” Gwen said.

  Jack smiled. “Tell me how you really feel.”

  “I just did,” Gwen teased.

  Jack reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers. “I know this may sound crazy, but I think we’re good together.”

  “If opposites can be considered good for each other.”

  “I think there’s an old saying about that.”

  Gwen exhaled. “You are seriously tempting, Jack. I mean, the only thing missing is the white horse.”

  “I’ve got a horse ranch in—”

  Gwen started laughing, and it escalated until she couldn’t stop. When she could finally breathe normally again, she said, “Of course you do.”

  “So, what do you say?” Jack asked, smiling at her laughter. “Can we start over? Pretend like you never sent that text?”

  Gwen looked down at their linked hands. “I have a better idea. Let’s just start from here.”

  “Even better,” Jack said.

  “But I want to hear the story behind each of these pictures,” Gwen said, pulling the album Jack had been leafing through closer to her.

  “Deal, but I’m starving. Do you want pizza or something? I can orde
r delivery.”

  Gwen raised a brow. “Don’t you have a personal chef?”

  “My mom does, but my sister and I like our own spaces,” Jack said with a grin. “I could hire one for you if you want.”

  “No thanks,” Gwen said, playfully hitting him on the shoulder. “I like my space too.”

  Jack took her arm and pulled her with him as he stood. “Hmm. Maybe we could share some of that space.”

  She ran her other hand up his arm and stopped at his shoulder. “What would your mom and sister think? They probably have a supermodel picked out for you.”

  He lowered his head and whispered against her lips. “Nope. Mr. Forbes is all yours.” Then he did kiss her.

  It was hard for Gwen to imagine any place she’d rather be than being kissed by Jack. She quickly realized that her memories from the night before were only half accurate. Kissing him was even better than she remembered. Her body pressed against his as the kiss deepened.

  His hands moved up her back, warm and strong, and she curled her fingers into his hair. Jack backed her up against the counter and slowed his kissing, moving down her neck. She became intently aware that they were alone in a gorgeous house and how it would be all too easy to become more intimate.

  “Jack,” she whispered, placing her hands on his chest and pushing.

  He lifted his head and met her gaze, his eyes searching hers. “Too fast?”

  She nodded, then pulled him into an embrace. His arms tightened about her. It wasn’t as good as kissing, but her heart had only started to heal. “Thanks,” she said.

  “For what?”

  “For listening to me, for not trying to fix me, for just… being you.”

  He released her, grasped one hand, threading their fingers together. “Thank you for giving us a chance.”

  She smiled. “So… pizza?”

  He grinned and picked up his cell phone from the counter. “Pepperoni?”

  Chapter Nine

  Three weeks later

  Gwen was waiting for the ball to drop. Which ball, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it would be a former girlfriend coming back into Jack’s life, or maybe Jack’s mom would make him choose between his family and her, or maybe Gwen would contract a terminal illness.

  She climbed out of her car, a full hour early for the afternoon’s beach wedding. She came early because she needed time to think. To take aimless pictures. To let the ocean soothe her soul. Tonight she would be meeting Jack’s mom and sister, who were apparently flying in to meet her.

  And Gwen was petrified.

  To make matters worse, they’d be dining at a nice restaurant, in public— not one rented out. Not that she expected Jack to do that again, but it meant that people would see the initial meeting between her and his family. And who knew what might happen after that? Of course, meeting at his house and having empty silence around them would have been much worse. The restaurant was clearly the better choice— it meant less pressure. At least, that’s what Gwen hoped.

  Leisa helped her pick out a dress: a strappy black thing that was basic yet elegant. And it had been on the clearance rack— a double bonus. As Gwen loaded up her camera bag and chair then headed toward the pulsing waves, she thought of all the things she and Jack had done over the past few weeks. She’d seen him almost every day, except for the weekend that he’d flown to Dallas on business.

  If there was one thing she’d learned from being around Jack, it was that business deals never slept. Middle of the night, weekends, holidays, no time was off limits. Jack had sold off one of his companies to an investor in Japan, and when he told her for how much she’d practically fainted. Jack explained that the money would go toward former employees’ compensation packages, and the rest would roll over into another company, Gwen found she could breathe better. It wasn’t like he and his associates were exchanging suitcases of large amounts of cash. The money was all accounted for and all had to be reported, down to the last dollar.

  Suffice it to say, Gwen thought Jack was fairly brilliant, which only made her stomach knot up tighter as she strode across the beach. He was everything she’d ever thought a successful business man would be, but he was also so much more. Her skin heated as she thought about the way he looked at her and touched her, about their deep conversations, about how they were slowly getting to know each other.

  Gwen set down her beach chair and put her stuff on it, then picked up her camera and walked toward the incoming tide. She stood for a long time, just gazing out over the water. What was it about the ocean that brought peace and made her realize that she was part of something bigger, part of an amazing tapestry of nature? People were different at the beach. They breathed easier, laughed more, and appreciated the smaller things. Gwen lifted her camera and snapped some pictures of a miniature crab scuttling along the wet sand, and then she found herself focusing toward the ridge of homes where Jack lived.

  Someone was coming down the path behind Jack’s house. She lowered her camera, her heart thumping. It was Jack; of course it was. When he reached the sand, he started jogging, and it took only a few moments for him to reach her.

  “I thought I saw you out here,” Jack said as he drew closer.

  It was probably a good thing that Gwen didn’t see him without his shirt too often. It was also a good thing they were on a public beach and that Gwen would be working soon. She gravitated toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist. His torso was warm with the sun. He rested his chin on top of her head.

  “I can’t wait for tonight,” Jack said.

  Her nerves were back. “I’m a wreck.”

  “It’ll be fine,” he said, running his hand along her arm. “They’ll love you. They won’t be able to help it.”

  Gwen nestled against him. “I’m going to hold on to that, because if I don’t, I might not make it to the restaurant.”

  “That’s why I’m picking you up,” Jack said. “To make sure you do.”

  Gwen sighed. “I’m only doing this for you, you know.” She drew away and looked into his hazel eyes.

  “I know.” Jack smiled, then cradled her face with his hands and touched a kiss to her mouth. “Hopefully dinner will be really short, and then we can ditch them.”

  “Mmm, that would be nice.” She stepped backward. “Don’t move.” She snapped a picture of him, the ocean as the background, his hair blown by the wind, no shirt. Perfect.

  One side of his mouth lifted in amusement. “What are you doing with all these pictures you’re taking of me?”

  Gwen gave a nonchalant shrug. “You can’t expect an artist to reveal her secrets.”

  Jack walked over and wrapped his arm about her. Then he took hold of the camera, aiming it at both of them. “Smile.”

  “No selfies,” she said with mock horror. “Those are the worst.”

  “Too bad.” He snapped some pictures before she could get the camera back.

  As she scrolled through the images he’d taken, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. “I think we take good pictures together. Do you need an assistant for your shoots?”

  “That would be an interesting slice of life story for the media,” Gwen said, leaning back into his warm embrace as she deleted a half a dozen blurry pictures. “‘Jack Mead starts up new business venture working as photographer assistant.’” Gwen felt him smile against her neck.

  “I wouldn’t mind,” Jack said in a low voice.

  Way too low and sexy.

  “You’re distracting me, Jack Mead,” Gwen said, turning in his arms. “The wedding guests will be arriving soon, and I need to start acting like a professional.”

  Jack grinned and kissed her again, long and slow. “All right. I’ll see you tonight. Can’t wait.”

  “Me neither,” Gwen said, although the nerves had started to jumble inside her stomach again. She exhaled and stepped away from Jack. The hours were about to move way too fast.

  Chapter Ten

  Jack couldn’t ever r
emember being this nervous for a date. As he pulled up to Gwen’s apartment complex, his heart thudded in anticipation. Having Gwen meet his mom and sister was more than an introductory meeting— Jack really wanted them to connect, because the more time he spent with Gwen, the more he realized he was falling in love with her.

  Not only did he want his mom and sister to see Gwen for who she really was, but he also wanted Gwen to feel comfortable around them. He pulled up to Gwen’s apartment complex and climbed out of his car, then knocked on Gwen’s door.

  When she answered, he sucked in his breath. He hadn’t seen Gwen so dressed up before, and she looked beautiful. He couldn’t decide which look he liked better— the casual one on the beach with windblown hair, or the fancy look with a black dress and heels. He decided he’d take both.

  “Hey,” Gwen said. “You’re early.”

  Jack leaned against the doorframe, closing the space between them. “I can wait.”

  “I’m ready.” She didn’t move, but tipped her head up toward him. It was too tempting. He leaned down and kissed her. She slid into his arms as if she belonged there, and Jack’s thudding heart told her that she did.

  After a few moments of kissing her, Jack reluctantly drew back.

  “Let me grab my purse,” Gwen said.

  When they reached the restaurant, they were still running early. No surprise, though, that his mom and sister were already seated at their reserved table. The restaurant was quiet and elegant, and although it was a bit too trendy for Jack’s taste, it was one of his sister’s favorites. Both women stood to greet them, and Jack made introductions, paying careful attention to the women’s interactions. His mom seemed genuinely pleased to meet Gwen, but Silvia’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, which immediately put Jack on edge. More than once, they’d talked about Gwen. He didn’t need his sister hung up on details that didn’t matter.