Beauty And The Brooding Billionaire

It didn’t stop her from getting wistful and broody around Tori’s newborn, though. And when Tori asked if she’d hold the baby while she popped inside for a light blanket, Jessica had no choice but to say yes.

Little Rose was a porcelain doll, with pale skin and thick lashes and a dusting of soft, brown hair. Her little lips sucked in and out as she slept, and she smelled like baby lotion. Jess cradled her close, looking down at her face and marveling at the feel of the warm weight in the crook of her arm. She did like babies. A lot.

When Tori came back, Jess held out her hand for the blanket, unwilling to give the baby up just yet. “She’s comfortable here and it’ll give you a break.”

“You mean I’ll get to drink my tea while it’s hot?”

Jess chuckled. “Exactly.” She tucked the crocheted blanket around the baby and leaned back in the chair. “Thank you again for asking me to dinner. The food at the inn is lovely, but a home-cooked meal was very welcome.”

“It wasn’t anything fancy.”

They’d had salad, grilled chicken and some sort of barley and vegetable side dish that had been delicious. Jeremy was now inside, catching up on some work while they enjoyed the spring evening.

“It was delicious. Besides, I was hungry. Someone made me angry today, and I went for a run on the beach after to burn off some steam.”

Tori leaned forward. “Angry? Who? Not one of the staff, I hope.”

Tori had resigned her position at the Sandpiper Resort, but she was still close with the staff and popped in on occasion to help with events or answer any questions the new assistant manager had. That was how Tori and Jess had met, and they’d ended up chatting and then sharing lunch on the resort patio.

“No, not staff. You know the lighthouse you told me about? I went to see it. Get some pictures...it’s gorgeous, just like you said. I got that tingly feeling I haven’t had in a really long time. And then the owner showed up. Man, he was a jerk.”

She expected Tori to express her own form of outrage, but instead her eyes danced. “So you met Bran.”

“You know him? Like, personally?”

“He’s Jeremy’s friend.”

Jess lifted an eyebrow. “You might have warned me. What an ogre. Hard to imagine him being friendly to anyone.”

Yet even as she said it she recalled the flash of vulnerability in his eyes. And while his hair was in major need of a haircut, it had been thick and wavy, a rich brown tossed by the sea breeze. Roguish.

“Bran’s been through a lot. He just moved here in February, too. The house is lovely, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t get to see much of anything. I took some pictures of the lighthouse, and then he stomped out and growled at me and made me delete all the photos I’d taken.”

Tori frowned. “He’s usually not quite that grumpy.”

“He was downright rude.” She sighed. “That lighthouse was it. I got the rush I get when I’m particularly inspired. If I could have kept one photo, I could have at least started a sketch.”

Except she did have one photo. The one she’d taken of “Bran,” now that she knew his name. Facing the ocean. She’d looked at it after her run, and had felt his loneliness.

Something else jiggled in her memory. “You said his name was Bran?”

“Short for Branson.” Tori leaned forward. “Do you want me to take her now?” She held out her hands for the baby.

“She’s asleep and fine here as long as you’re okay with it.”

“Are you kidding? When she’s sleeping I get to relax.” She sat back in her chair. “I just don’t want to take advantage.”

Jessica turned the name over and over in her mind. Branson. The dark hair, the eyes...

“Branson Black,” she said, her voice a bit breathy. “That’s him, isn’t it? The author?”

Tori frowned. “He keeps a very low profile here. No one in town really knows who he is.”

“Of course. It’d be like having Stephen King as your neighbor.”

Tori laughed. “Not quite. He’s not that famous.”

Jess tucked the blanket closer around the baby. “He’s pretty famous. And he hasn’t published anything since—”

She halted. She remembered the story now. Since his wife and infant son had died in a car crash.

It all came together now. His isolation. Desolation. Growling to keep people away. He was buried in grief, a feeling she could relate to oh, so well. A pit opened in her stomach, a reminder of the dark days she’d had after Ana’s death. And a well of sympathy, too. How devastated he must be.

She met Tori’s gaze and sighed. “It was in the news.”

Tori nodded. “I don’t want to betray a confidence, you understand. But yes, he’s been struggling with his grief.”

“And values his privacy. I understand now.” And her frustration melted away, replaced by sympathy.

“Do you?” Tori’s eyes were sharp. “Because he’s one of the best men I know. He’s one of the reasons Jeremy and I are together.”

Jess stared into the flickering fire. “A few years ago I lost my mentor and...well, the best friend a person could have. I’m just now starting to paint again. So yes, I get it. Grief can destroy the deepest and best parts of us if we’re not careful.”

Silence fell over the patio for a few minutes. Then Tori spoke up. “I’m sorry about your friend. And I agree with you. Which was why I sent you over there in the first place.”

Jess’s head snapped up. “You did?”

Tori nodded. “He needs someone to stir him up a bit. Looks like you did.”

Jess wasn’t too sure of that. But her heart gave a twist, thinking of what he’d lost, what he was suffering and how alone he must feel. Because she’d been there. And she’d come out the other side.

He hadn’t. And that made her sorry indeed.

CHAPTER TWO

BRAN HAD BEEN up for a walk at dawn, made himself breakfast, had thrown in a load of laundry and was now left with most of the day stretching before him. Each day he had the same ritual. Walk, eat, some sort of menial chore. Check email. Anything to procrastinate so he wouldn’t spend hours staring at an empty document. He got through those daily rituals just fine, but the moment he opened up a new file on his laptop, he froze.

He wrote mysteries, and right now, anything dealing with a murder and victims was too much. Even though Jennie and Owen had been in a highway accident and not victims of violence, he just couldn’t deal with the idea of dead bodies. The grief was too much. His memory was too vivid.

Instead, he went upstairs and out on the balcony. The fresh air bit at his cheeks, carrying the tang of the ocean as the sky spread blue and wide above him. The lighthouse stood sentinel at the corner of the property, and he shoved his hands in his jeans pockets, thinking of yesterday and the woman who’d shown up uninvited.

She was right. He’d been a jerk. Right now he didn’t know how to be anything else. But he was slightly sorry for it. Maybe would be more sorry if she’d been hurt by his gruffness. Instead, she’d been annoyed, and her eyes had sparked with it. It was hard to be sorry for that. She had beautiful eyes, annoyed or not.

He’d been standing there for twenty minutes when a movement caught his eye, just off the shore. He frowned. Was that a boat? He squinted; the sun glinted off the water in blinding flashes, but yes, there was definitely a boat out there, maybe a few hundred yards off the coastline. Certainly no farther. The sea was still rough, and he watched the boat bob and rock, at the mercy of the waves.

Foolish person. The boat couldn’t be more than maybe fifteen, sixteen feet. On a calm day, and with a skilled pilot, a boat like that could fare pretty well in open water. He’d certainly gone fishing in his and had no trouble at all. But today wasn’t calm. The surf had been high since the storm earlier in the week, and whoever was at the wheel wasn’t looking very competent, either. He frowned, and turned to get his binoculars from downstairs. When he returned, the boat was closer to shore, and still bobbing as it drifted.

He lifted the binoculars, focused in, and cursed.

What in hell was she doing? Foolish woman! Out there in a boat, camera around her neck, trying to take stupid pictures! Had he not made his point? He ran his hand through his hair and lifted the binoculars once more. A rolling wave hit the boat sideways, throwing her off balance. She fell, and his heart froze for a few moments as she disappeared from view. Had she hit her head? Was she okay? He held his breath until he saw her struggling to stand again. She turned the craft into the waves, and he hoped to God that she was going to give it some gas and get out of there. But she didn’t. She wanted her pictures too badly. As she lifted her camera again, another heavy wave crested and knocked her to the side, while water splashed over boat and woman. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be knocked overboard. Or worse...she’d be swept in toward the jagged rocks at the point. The lighthouse was there for a reason, after all.

Another wave swamped the boat and panic settled in his gut. He took off the binoculars and raced down the stairs, out the front door, and to the natural steps leading to his beach and the private dock. It took only a few moments for him to throw on a life vest and start the engine of the boat that was only slightly bigger than hers. He drew away from the dock and opened the throttle as he made his way toward her, his heart pounding as the boat lifted and bottomed out with each rolling wave. If she wasn’t swept overboard, she was going to hit the rocks, and neither outcome was particularly appealing. The water was freezing, and while he was confident in his piloting skills, he wasn’t so sure about his rescue ones. The only option was to get her out of there.

He got close enough to see that Jessica’s delicate pale skin was even paler, her eyes wide with fear. Her jaw tightened as she saw that he was behind the wheel, and she waved him off. “I’ve got this!” she called. “Go away!”

His fear disintegrated and anger took its place. “Are you kidding me?” He pulled as close as he dared without danger of them crashing together. “You’re either going to fall overboard or run into those rocks! Do what I tell you.”

Her face flattened. “No man is going to tell me to—”

He swore, and loudly, and Jessica’s mouth clamped shut in surprise. “I’m going to tow you back,” he shouted. “No arguments. Now shut up and let me help.”

When she didn’t argue, he figured she’d either finally seen common sense or was too scared to do otherwise. It took several minutes for them to secure her boat to his, with the ominous cliffs of the point coming ever closer. Bran gritted his teeth and pushed the throttle forward, taking up the slack between the two boats as the motor labored to take them both into the oncoming waves and away from shore. Jessica, to his relief, had finally done what he’d told her and was sitting obediently in the captain’s seat. The chop smoothed out as they got closer to the tiny cove sheltering his beach, and once they got close to the dock, he stopped, put down his anchor and pulled Jessica’s boat close enough he could board. She stood, avoiding his gaze, and stepped away from the wheel.

He stepped in just as a wave sent her off balance and crashing into him.

She was damp from spray, and yet warm and soft as he caught her in his arms and their bodies meshed together awkwardly. Bran put his hands on her upper arms to steady her and push her away. But the damage was done. Her gaze caught his and her cheeks—already rosy from the wind and water—reddened. His gaze dropped to her full, pink lips and his irritation grew. It was bad enough she was a thorn in his side...it was too much that she was also adorable. She bit down on her lip, and he nearly groaned. Adorable wasn’t quite the right word. Infuriating and...sexy, dammit.

He pushed his way around her. After disconnecting the towrope, he guided her little boat into his dock and secured it. He left her on the wooden platform and, ignoring the freezing temperatures, dove into the water. Perhaps it would help cool his temper, which was still raging.

The icy shock definitely cleared his mind. He wasted no time climbing the little ladder into his craft, then started the engine and guided it in to the dock. Soaked and shivering, he jumped out and glared at Jessica, who was standing on the dock, looking quite chastised and embarrassingly repentant.

He would not let that get to him. He would not. He focused on tying the knot and not on her frightened face and big eyes.

“Get your things and come to the house,” he ordered, and he didn’t wait to see if she followed or not. She would if she had any sort of sense at all.

But he didn’t check; he heard her feet scrambling up the stone steps behind him. He hurried to the house and stripped off his shirt the moment he got in the door. Within five minutes he’d dumped his wet clothes in the tub and had on warm, dry jeans. He was walking toward the front door with his sweatshirt in his hand when he stopped short.

She’d come inside, just into the foyer, and stood staring at him and his bare chest. Her cheeks blossomed an awkward shade of pink, and she bit down on her lip as he shoved his arms in the sleeves and pulled the shirt over his head. But something strange threaded through him at her silent acknowledgment of...what? Attraction? Awareness? What a ridiculous thought.

He opened the door and guided her outside again, then put a set of keys in her hand. “Where did you get the boat?”

She cleared her throat, and the awkwardness dissipated as they were back on topic. “Cummins’s, about a mile from the resort.”

He knew the location. “Take my car and drive there. I’ll take the boat back. Then I’ll drop you at the resort and that’s that.”

“Branson, I...”

His gaze snapped to her. “How do you know who I am?”

She didn’t answer, and he held back a sigh of frustration. It had to have been Tori or Jeremy. “It doesn’t matter. Take the car.”

He stalked off to the dock again. Damn woman was nothing but trouble.

It took thirty minutes to get to Cummins’s boat rentals, and Jessica was already there, her backpack slung over one shoulder. Bran held on to his anger as he turned the boat over to John Cummins, then followed Jessica back to where she’d parked his car. He got in the driver’s side and immediately hit his knees on the steering wheel; she’d moved the seat forward. Held back another curse word as he adjusted it, and turned onto the road leading back to the Sandpiper.

He never spoke to her once.

She never spoke to him, either.

The drive was short, and he dropped her in front of reception. Then, and only then, did she speak.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, and backed away from the door, as if afraid to say more.

He didn’t answer. She shut the door, and he put the car in gear and steered back onto the main road.

But a hundred yards up the road, he pulled over to the side and gulped for air as the shakes finally set in.

The shakes had held on for a long time, part of an anxiety attack that had been utterly debilitating. When he’d been good to drive again, he’d eased his way home, parked the car and had stood at his front door for ten solid minutes, knowing he should go inside, unsure of what he wanted to do when he was in there. The urge for Scotch was strong, so it was just as well he didn’t have any. He didn’t want to be alone, but the idea of having company was repulsive. The adrenaline in his body told him to pace; the idea of lying down on his long sofa and avoiding everything held similar attraction.

She could have died. Died! For being utterly foolish.

It was just a damned lighthouse. There were dozens along the coast. She could pick another one.

If he’d let her keep her pictures yesterday, this never would have happened. And if she’d been hurt, or worse, today, that would have been his fault.

Like he didn’t already have enough guilt. It was bad enough he had Jennie and Owen on his conscience. The last thing he wanted was to add to the tally of people he’d failed.

In the end he went inside and sat on the sofa, staring at the unlit fireplace. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that his fear and anger were all tied up in Jennie and Owen, and how he hadn’t been able to save them. Or how his selfishness was responsible for them being on the road in the first place. Jennie hated driving from their place in Connecticut into the city, but he’d been too busy to drive home to see them.

All his life he’d promised himself he’d be different from his father, who had always been too busy working to spend time with his wife and son. He’d promised himself he’d be there, and present, and cherish every moment so his kid would never feel alone or unloved. And he’d failed spectacularly.

Since he was too busy to go home, Jennie had been going to surprise him with a midweek visit while he was doing promo for his latest book.

And they’d never made it.

Jessica probably hated him. He certainly wasn’t overly keen on her at the moment. But she was alive, and he’d take that as a win.

And hopefully that would be the last he’d see of her. Surely, after today, she’d learned her lesson.

Jessica felt like a complete and utter fool.

An online course and a few fun rides on the lake years ago, and she’d considered herself suitably experienced to be piloting a boat on rough waters. To Cummins’s credit, he hadn’t been keen on renting her the boat, but she’d assured him it was a short trip and she’d be fine. And she had been, at first. Until she got near the point at Bran’s place.

She’d wanted to get the pictures and get gone. But the waves had been bigger than she’d expected, and more than once she’d hung over the side and retched. The crosscurrent had made everything more difficult, and one particular roll had knocked her down, her shoulder ramming against the fiberglass side.

It still hurt, but not as much as her pride.

She looked at the bruise forming on her shoulder and sighed, then gently put her arms in a soft sweater and pulled it over her head. The moment she’d seen Branson coming toward her, she’d been relieved and then embarrassed all at once. She didn’t need rescuing, for Pete’s sake. She’d never needed rescuing. She was very good at picking up when things went wrong and starting over. She’d done it when her adoptive parents had divorced. When her mom had died. When she’d lost jobs in the days before she could make a living with her art. After her horrible breakup. Even Ana hadn’t rescued her...not really. She’d just appeared, ready to be a friend, a confidant, a professional mentor. She had made Jessica’s life richer, but she hadn’t saved it.

Today Jessica felt as if Branson Black had literally saved her life. She’d been reckless—not unlike her. But she’d got in over her head, and he’d come to her rescue. He hadn’t been pleased about it, either. He hadn’t even grunted when she said thank you when he dropped her off.

Twice now she’d got off on the wrong foot with him. Instead of sneaking photos from the water and never having to deal with him again, she’d made it more obvious than ever that she was a pain in his neck.

And for that, she needed to apologize.

She had no idea how to do that, but she’d come up with something. And kill him with kindness if she had to.

Room service sounded like a perfect idea, so she ordered and then took the memory card from her camera and popped it into her laptop. When she opened up the directory and brought up the first picture, she sighed. It was out of focus, but not too bad. But there were only two or three that were even close to being useful. Then the lens got wet and every single picture was blurred and smudged.

All of that for nothing. She’d only accomplished making him hate her even more. Tomorrow she would apologize. And then she’d find another lighthouse. Or something else that sparked her creativity and gave her the burn to create again. In the meantime she’d keep working, because nothing helped get the muse back in business like being ready for her.

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