Sabrina had outdone herself. She’d insisted on throwing an engagement party for Alex and Jackie and had lit Trovare from one end to the other with lanterns and candles and strings of colored lights. The February rains had held off; the weather patterns had shifted once again.
Jackie’s mother, an elegant and gracious woman, had flown in from England. Even Cory had made the party—he’d stopped in on his way to the world championship finals in Australia. Scotty had driven up from the city and though Alex winced to see him and Cory laughing and talking with his cousin Alana, at least they’d been warned. Her beauty drew men in, but her heart was wild territory that even the most sophisticated man had yet to crack.
A crowd of friends and family had already gathered in the great room. What caught Alex’s eye was Emilio standing off to one side. The tuxedo he wore set off his rugged, handsome features, but he looked uncomfortable. Uniforms were useful, but they couldn’t hide when a man felt out of his element.
Emilio had been shocked by the news of Jackie’s kidnapping. He’d blamed himself for not knowing what had been going on at the neighboring vineyard. The news of the heroin smuggling had stunned him; he simply wasn’t one to consider bad things about others. When the FBI confirmed that Volkov and Bennett had smuggled in the heroin by hiding it in barrels of fertilizer, he was outraged. When they’d found out that old farmer Di Salvo hadn’t known what had been happening after he’d leased out his vineyard, it hadn’t been much consolation to any of them.
The FBI pulled in six men involved in the smuggling ring. Emilio stood by Alex and Jackie’s side during the ordeal of the investigations and trials. Alex thought Emilio had been more relieved than he was when the death of Darron Bennett had been ruled accidental and Alex and Jackie were cleared of any wrongdoing.
Volkov, however, had disappeared. He probably had the money for a south-of-the-border face-change operation and would pop up somewhere else, still plying his trade. It made Alex sleep easier knowing that the guy was too smart to try anything else in California.
“Champagne, sir?” A waiter held out a tray lined with crystal glasses. Alex took one and sipped. An expectant hum washed over the room, and goose bumps shivered through him. Alex looked toward the door.
Jackie stood there wearing a simple silver gown that did nothing to hide the sensuous, athletic beauty of her body. She wore the pearl necklace that Alex’s mother had given her as an engagement present. Though she far outshone any other woman in the room, she, like Emilio, appeared uncomfortable. He rushed to her side.
“I’d say you look like a goddess, but that would be a cliché,” Alex said, brushing a kiss to her cheek. “And not nearly enough of a compliment.”
“My mother brought trunk-loads of these for me,” she said, fidgeting with the bodice of her gown. “I think she’s happier that I’m wearing this gown than she was about my discoveries or us breaking up an international smuggling ring or you achieving the batting title.”
Alex nuzzled her. “I like you best in your slimy slickers.”
“Is it too late for me to question your taste?”
“Way too late,” he said as he led her to their place at the head of a glittering, opulently set table.
Though dinner was a warm-hearted affair, Alex chafed to escape. Jackie had been away for a week at a conference in Seattle, and he’d missed her. The sizzle that her every glance sent through him told him where he’d rather be. He relaxed as they left the table and gathered in the ballroom for celebratory toasts. Jackie glanced over at her mother, standing tête-à-tête with his near the musicians on the dais.
“They look like two wizardesses plotting the future of the world,” she said. “Or like two queens in a castle.”
“Likely they could plot the overthrow of a galactic enterprise.” He traced his fingers along the curve of her back. “Want to get out of here and leave them to their scheming?”
“Could be dangerous,” she said, brushing a kiss to his lips.
He took her by the hand and they slipped out into the night.
Alex had the car packed and waiting in the paved courtyard. The voices and music of the party filtered down with the light breeze. He walked around to open Jackie’s door. At first she looked like she was going to protest, but then she smiled and let him hold the door and tuck in the folds of her gown so they wouldn’t catch when he closed it.
“Thank you,” she said with a smile. “Is it too late to say thank you for everything?”
“Never.”
Her light laugh was music to him.
”Did you see your brother flirting with my cousin Alana?” Alex asked as they pulled away from Trovare.
“I rather think it was the other way around. Cory does not flirt.”
“That’s what he said about you,” he said with a wink. He dodged her playful punch—he was ready for it.
“I bet you noticed Bradley dancing with Sabrina,” Jackie teased.
“Sabrina has a good heart, so he’s in good hands. But she’s a wicked matchmaker. He’d better be ready to meet the woman of his dreams.”
“That’d be good,” Jackie said, covering a yawn. “He deserves a special woman.”
Alex turned off on the road leading to Albion Bay. The cottage they’d renovated wasn’t ready, but it’d do for a night away. And they’d have it to themselves.
Jackie dozed part of the way. He brushed a curl from her face. Looking at her peaceful beauty, no one would ever know there was a daredevil living deep inside. At least he’d persuaded her to consider the concept of caution. But he’d learned long ago it was a mistake to try to change anyone’s basic nature. Baseball had taught him that.
As they neared the coast, the fog swept fingers of mist across the road and sent trails of moonlight sweeping into the trees.
“Hey,” he said, shaking her arm. “Coastal highway—waking you as requested.”
She rolled down her window and let in the fresh, salted air.
About a quarter mile up the road they passed a small construction site. Jackie leaned to the window and peered at it in the moonlight.
“Peterson’s right on schedule,” Alex announced. “Or would be if a certain lady didn’t keep giving him change orders.” He shot her a grin.
The design and construction of the little satellite rescue center and field lab in Albion Bay had been a challenge. The local volunteers had very explicit ideas for their new facility and Jackie had stuck by them. The five-hundred-square-foot project had taken longer than building the new lab, the seal pools and the dolphin tanks in the headlands.
“He’s fed up with all of us.” She gave him a quick, sidelong glance and laughed. “You might have to stay in the game—if the volunteers ask for any more changes to the plans up here, we’ll need a star.”
He squeezed her hand. “We already have one.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Gage was wrong, you know.” She slid close and kissed his cheek. “Turns out, it’s love that gets to bat last.”
He put an arm around her shoulders and tugged her tight against him. “Then it’s a good thing I’m on the home team.”
THE END
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