Love at First Flight (4 page)

When he felt her clutching him from
within, he gripped her hips to meet her at the top, pulling her down to muffle
her shriek with a kiss.

She fell on top of him like a rag doll,
and Michael wrapped his arms around her, steeped in the scent of roses that would
always remind him of her.

“That scream of yours is going to get us
busted one of these days.”

She snickered. “You can make me scream
legally before too much longer.”

“Eight months,” he said with a sigh.

She kissed his jaw, his chin, and
lingered at his lips.

“Paige?”

“Hmm?” she said as she ran her tongue
along his lower lip.

“Marry me now. Let's not wait eight
months.”

Startled, she stared at him as if he had
lost his mind.

“Let's just get married. We can go to
Vegas or to a J.P. I don't care. I just want us to be married. Now.” The
urgency in his voice surprised even him, but if the strong reaction he'd had to
Juliana was any indication, he needed to do something about this state of limbo
he and Paige had been living in for far too long.

“Michael, it's all set. The wedding's
all planned. You can't just throw this at me now.”

“Then come home with me. I need you with
me.”

“But / need to be with my mother before
the wedding, and all my friends are here.”

Michael eased her off him so he could
sit up. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“What are you more excited about? The
wedding or our marriage?”

“What the hell does that mean?” she
asked, turning away from him.

“Look at me.” He took hold of her arm. “Marry
me. Right now. No bells, no whistles. Just you and me.”

Her eyes flooded with tears. “You're not
being fair. I've dreamed about this day my whole life. You'd really deny me
this?”

“Then come back to Maryland with me
until the wedding. I can't do this long-distance thing any more, Paige. I just
can't.”

Her expression softened as she brushed
the hair back from his face. “You're so tired. Why don't you get some sleep?
You'll feel better in the morning.” She discreetly rid him of the condom and
went into the bathroom to flush it. When she came back, she pulled the covers
up around him and reached for her clothes. Once she was dressed, she leaned
over to leave him with a lingering kiss. “I love you, Michael. I can't wait to
marry you.”

After she left the room, he realized she
hadn't answered his question.

CHAPTER 4

JEREMY FROZE AND THE WATER BEAT DOWN ON
HIM. Blinking furiously as the shampoo slid into his eyes, he ducked back under
the shower.

Juliana needed only that one frozen
moment to confirm that she had stumbled upon what—or rather
who
—had been distracting him lately. A
wave of nausea choked her as she walked out of the bathroom to find some
clothes.

Knotting a towel around his waist, he
came out a moment later still dripping. “It's not what you think.”

She pushed past him, slammed the
bathroom door, and locked it. After she scrubbed all traces of him from her
body in the shower, she got dressed, her hands shaking as she fought the urge
to scream.

Dressed and waiting for her when she
came out, Jeremy crossed the room to her. “Let me explain.”

She couldn't even look at him.

“It's nothing. She's just a friend.”

“You're lying,” she said in a small
voice. “I saw it on your face.”

He took hold of her hand. “Let's take a
walk.”

She pulled her hand free of his grip. “Don't
touch me.”

“Juliana, please. Take a walk with me.
Let me explain.”

Since she didn't know what else to do,
she slid on flip-flops to follow him outside. Accompanied by the roar of the
pounding surf, they walked down a long boardwalk to the beach. Juliana
continued to fight the need to shriek. This could not be happening.
Not Jeremy. Not my Jeremy. He wouldn't do
this. Would he?

He walked along the water's edge with
his head down. Finally, he looked over at her. “You know I love you, babe. I
love you more than anything. I always have.”

Juliana didn't trust herself not to
scream, so she said nothing.

“I've missed you so much since I've been
here. It's like my whole world is out of sync because I don't have you with me.
I had no idea how essential you are to me until you weren't there every day.”

“So you decided to replace me?”

“Oh God,
replace
you? There's no replacing you. You're
everything
.” He paused, looking pained. “But that's kind of the
problem.”

She stopped walking. “What are you
talking about?”

“I want us to get married when I get
home.”

“
What
?
After all these years you can't just blurt that out when there's clearly
something else going on.”

He took her hands and gazed into her
eyes. “I love you. You're my family, Jule. I want to marry you and have babies
with you. I want the forever we were always meant to have.”

Her breath caught on a sob.
How long have I waited to hear that?
“So
what's the catch? If you want all that with me, who's this Sherrie person?”

He sighed. “She's just this girl who
hangs out with us. She's nothing.”

“Then why is she calling you when you're
with me?”

His handsome face clouded with
annoyance. “That's a very good question.”

Juliana pulled her hands free and walked
away.

He caught up to her. “Jule? I meant it.
I'm not prepared to ask you properly this weekend, but I want to. Soon.”

“Can I ask
you
something?”

“Sure.”

“If your 'nothing' friend Sherrie hadn't
called this morning, would we be having this discussion about marriage and
babies and forever right now?”

He looked stricken.

“I don't buy it, Jer. Where's this been?
You've had the chance to say all this for years, but you never did. My friends
have been telling me forever that I needed to give you an ultimatum, but I
never saw the need. Now I'm wondering if I've been a total fool.”

“In ten years there's been no one but
you. You know I haven't so much as looked at another woman.”

“Until now?”

“That's all I've done, Jule, is look.”

For some reason she believed him, but
suddenly she felt cold all over. “You want to do more than look, don't you?”
she asked, her voice so soft it was almost lost in the roar of the ocean.

A tortured look crossed his face. “
God
, how can I say this?”

“Just say it! I can't stand this!”

“I've never been with anyone else. Since
I was seven-teen, there's only ever been you. I remember so vividly the day I
met you. I took one look at you, and I was a goner. We should be married by
now, Jule. I know that. It's just sometimes I wonder what it would be like to,
you know—”

Her heart shattered into pieces. “To be
with someone else.”

His eyes glistened with tears. “I love
you. In my whole life I'll never love anyone but you.”

“But I'm not enough for you,” she said,
choking on a sob.
Had anything ever hurt
this much?

“That's not true! How can you say that
after the way we just made love? It's not about you being enough for me.”

She wiped the tears from her face. “Then
what?”

“I'm afraid if I don't get some shit out
of my system now I won't be faithful when we're married.”

If he had punched her in the stomach he
couldn't have hurt her more. Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the sand as
sobs overtook her. He couldn't be saying these things. This was
not
happening.

He knelt down next to her and took her
in his arms.

She didn't have the strength to push him
away.

“Jule.” He kissed her forehead and then
her cheek. “Please. Don't do this. I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“
What
did you think would happen
? That I'd just say, 'Have at it, Jer? Sow your
wild oats, and give me a call when you're done?'“

“Don't you ever wonder how it would be
with someone else?”

“Nor She pushed him away. “No! No!
No
!”

He seemed taken aback by her vehemence.

“You've
always
been enough for me. It would never occur to me to wonder
about other men.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

He buried his face in his hands. “Fuck.”
His hands muffled his voice. “You said it.”

“Look, let's just forget all this,
please
? I'm a stupid ass. That girl
means nothing to me. I swear to God.”

“
I
can't just forget this, Jeremy
!” She
knew she sounded hysterical but didn't care. “How can I live with knowing you
want to be with someone else?”

“Because I'm telling you I won't do
anything about it.”

“So I'm supposed to go home and wonder
what you're up to down here? I don't think so.”

“I thought you trusted me!”

“I didn't know I couldn't!”

“
This
is so fucked up
! I've been faithful to you forever! I admit to having
thoughts—and that's all they were—
thoughts
—about
someone else, and you act like I've been fucking my way through Florida or something!”

She whimpered.

He sighed and put his arms around her. “I'm
sorry, babe. I'm so sorry. This whole situation sucks. None of this would've
happened if I hadn't taken this goddamned job down here. If I'd known it would
cause all this trouble for us I wouldn't have done it. The extra money's not
worth it.”

She rested against him because she
didn't know what else to do. He had been her world, her life, for so long that
the idea of living without him was unimaginable. But how could she live with
what he had said? Would she always wonder if he was thinking of someone else?
Would he come to resent her because they met too soon? Did he
already
resent her for that?

“Hey,” he said after a long period of
silence. “Why don't we get something to eat? You'll feel better when you eat.”

She got up to go with him, but she knew
nothing would make her feel better.

CHAPTER 5

THE IVORY-FROST LENOX GRAVY BOAT FINALLY
DID IT for Michael. After two hours of listening to Paige and her mother go on
and on about eight-hundred-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets and Tommy
Hilfiger towels, the delicate china gravy boat didn't stand a chance with him.

“Excuse me,” he said. Before Paige or
her mother could utter a word, he got up and walked away. He rode the nearest escalator
down to the first floor of Dillard's. Wandering into the mall, he let his
thoughts drift to the opening argument that had been running around in his mind
during the endless morning.

Ladies
and gentlemen of the jury, we have before us what's commonly known as an open
and shut case. An eyewitness will testify that she saw the defendants shoot the
three victims. We'll introduce ballistics evidence that ties the gun registered
to Marco Benedetti to slugs recovered from the victims. We can prove that both
defendants fired a gun that fateful evening. You'll hear testimony from friends
of the victims who heard them arguing with the defendants earlier in the day.
So you 're probably asking yourselves: if this case is such a slam-dunk,
what're we doing here? (Insert dramatic pause.) We're here because the
Constitution of the United States gives everyone—even two cold-blooded
killers—a day in court. Your job is to make sure they spend the rest of their
days in prison.

I've
got to write that down!
Spotting a pharmacy across the mall's main
thoroughfare, he walked over to buy a notebook and pen. He had almost managed
to get the whole thing on paper when Paige stormed up to where he sat on a
bench next to a fountain.

“Michael! What are you doing?”

“Hang on a second.”

“I will
not
hang on a second! Why did you leave like that? What's wrong
with you? Don't you care about the things we'll have in our home?”

“Um, no, not really,” he said without
looking up.

With a furious sweep of her hand she
knocked the pad off his lap.

Leaning over to retrieve it from the
floor, Michael wanted to reach up and throttle her.
God, she could be such a bitch sometimes!
“Cut it out, Paige.”

“You cut it out!” Her raised voice
attracted curious stares. “What the hell is with you this weekend?”

“I'll tell you what's
with
me. I have a huge trial starting
next week. I told you this wasn't a good weekend for me to be here, but you and
your parents planned this party without even asking me.”