Page 29 of Lies and Lullabies
“Likewise.” He gave me a big smile. “I’ll find you both with lunch,” the man said, before striding away.
“Thanks, Ethan.” Jonas held a hand out to me and cleared his throat. “You okay, Kira?”
No, I sure wasn’t. But I needed a little privacy to say my piece. “Is there somewhere we can talk?” I took his hand, and when his warm fingers clasped mine, I had to close my eyes for a moment. For five years I’d believed that I would never again feel his touch. And now having him so close to me was torture.
“Sure,” he whispered.
Holding my hand, he led me up onto the deck. The dock angled off in one direction, but we made a left turn around the front of the building, where two people were lazing on lounge chairs. Seated under an umbrella, the woman I’d seen on the beach yesterday was reading a book. She was unnervingly beautiful, with long, blond hair and a tiny silver ring in her cute nose.
A man—tattooed and scruffy-looking—lay back in the sun in the chair next to hers.
Jonas ignored them both, leading me across the deck without a word. As we approached the far end of the space, the guy called out to Jonas. “Whatcha got there? Aren’t you going to share?”
“Fuck off, Nixon,” Jonas said without a glance in his direction.
“I meant the beer.” The guy laughed.
“With you, a guy can never be sure.” Jonas stopped when we reached the end of the deck. He dropped my hand in order to take two striped towels from a neatly folded stack. “Kira, this is Nixon, our lead guitar. And Quinn, our drummer.”
They both murmured greetings, while watching me with undisguised curiosity. “Nice to meet you,” I repeated.
“Watch your step, Sweetness,” Jonas said as we approached a ramp down to the grass below.
That’s when I heard a sharp intake of breath from Nixon. “No shit,” he whispered.
I looked up to find him staring at me. In fact, now everyone was staring. “Is something the matter?” I murmured.
“Not a damned thing,” Jonas replied, reaching for my hand. He threw a glare to the guy, and then helped me down onto the grass below. There was a little beach and a lawn, and nobody nearby. “I thought we’d hang out down here,” he said, his blue-green eyes studying me.
“Okay,” I managed.
Jonas walked down toward the water’s edge, and then spread out the two generous towels to make a picnic spot. My stomach flipped as I followed him. I kicked off my shoes and sat down.
“I couldn’t wait to see this place again,” he said, toeing off his sneakers and sitting down beside me. “I never thought I’d get to see you, too. You told me you were going back to Boston.”
“I did.” I knew two-word answers weren’t going to cut it. But there was a lump in my throat the size of Maine, and I didn’t know how I was going to be able to do this. And now he was staring at me. I turned my chin to meet his gaze, and when I did, my stomach dropped. There was so much warmth in his face that it hurt me to see it.
“It’sgreatto see you, Kira,” he said. “I need to know everything. Did you get back together with your army guy?”
“No,” I breathed. “It didn’t work out.”
He frowned, looking almost afraid to continue. “So, do you live here again?” he asked. He glanced away, and I wondered why he looked a little unsteady himself. But then he put those beautiful eyes right back on mine. “Are you married?”
I shook my head to both questions. “I live in Boston. With my big brother.”
As I watched, a parade of emotions flickered across his face, ending with another of his potent smiles. “Adam, right?”
“That’s right,” I whispered. It was startling how well he remembered these details about me. “How about you?” I heard myself ask. “You went back to your ex-girlfriend?” Having read a few tabloids, I knew he wasn’t married. I never should have asked, but I was desperate to steer the conversation away from my life, in order to calm my fraying nerves.
Jonas flopped down on the towel, propping his face in his palm. “No, I was never doing that. But it’s still a funny story. On my trip home from Maine, I bought a trashy magazine in the Boston airport, and her picture was on the cover. Guess who got engaged to a football player while I was away?”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly.
Jonas shook his head and smiled. “I’m not. I’m only telling you that story so you’d know that breaking my little vow of chastity wasn’t a big deal.”
My neck got hot almost immediately. Because it was a big deal to me.
“Anyway, I was pretty lonely after that and did a bunch of self-destructive shit I shouldn’t have.”
