16 Lighthouse Road - Debbie Macomber [106]
The intensity of the kiss heightened as his mouth expertly molded against hers. It’d been years since a man had touched her like this. She’d ignored that sensual part of her, let it grow dormant, and now Jack had brought it back to life.
A discordant sound drifted toward her, and Jack abruptly broke off the kiss. “Someone’s coming,” he whispered.
“Mom!”
Olivia jerked back and nearly fell off her chair. “Justine.”
“Oh, hi.” Justine stood framed in the kitchen doorway. She looked sharply from Olivia to Jack. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“No!” Olivia shouted. “I mean…” She glanced at Jack and—damn it all—blushed.
To her surprise, her daughter laughed. “Honestly, Mom, it’s no big deal. If you two want to continue whatever you were doing, go ahead, with my blessing. I’ll come back at a more convenient time.”
“Ah…”
“I think I should leave,” Jack said. He kissed Olivia’s cheek. “See you on the fourth. Do you want me to bring anything?”
Her mind a blank, Olivia shook her head. For the life of her she couldn’t remember what they were doing on the fourth. Oh, yes, her mother’s birthday.
Jack sidled past Justine, and whistling a catchy tune, let himself out of the house.
“Mother,” her daughter said, arms folded. “I’m shocked.” Her delight was unmistakable.
“Don’t act so amused. I’m not as old as you think.”
“I know that,” Justine assured her, “but I wasn’t sure you were aware of it.”
Olivia stood on feet that felt a little unsteady. Jack’s kiss had shaken her more than she cared to admit. She walked over to the coffeepot and refilled her cup, then automatically poured one for her daughter. What had prompted this visit, Olivia couldn’t even guess.
“So how long have you and Jack been involved?”
“We’re not.”
“He was at the house when you returned from California, remember?” Justine reminded her.
“Yes, I know.” She hated the way these questions flustered her. Nothing had been settled between her and Jack. Not really. Okay, so they’d agreed to start seeing each other, but it was too early to know how significant their relationship would become.
“I asked Jack then, and he claimed you were only friends. Foolish me, I believed him.”
Justine certainly seemed to be enjoying this.
“We are friends.”
“Oh, yes,” her daughter teased.
“Justine!”
“Friends and then some.”
Olivia shook her head. “All right, if you must know…this is a recent development.”
“How recent?”
Olivia peered at her watch. “Twenty minutes.”
“Mother!”
“It’s true.” And Olivia felt good about it. Optimistic. No way of knowing what would happen, of course, especially as they hadn’t yet defined their relationship. But she couldn’t help wondering where the kissing would’ve led if they hadn’t been interrupted.
“Enough about me,” Olivia said abruptly. “To what do I owe this unexpected visit?”
“Well,” Justine said, sinking down in the chair recently vacated by Jack, “I came to see what you had planned for Grandma’s birthday.”
That was only an excuse; Justine could easily have asked over the phone. “I thought we’d have a small picnic.”
“Waterfront Park?”
“I hadn’t decided where, but that sounds like a good idea.” Her mother’s home was within walking distance of the waterfront area, and there’d be a lot of festivities there on the fourth. “Can you come?”
“I should be able to drop by for an hour or so.”
Not looking at Justine, she reached for her muffin. “Will Warren be with you?”
“Probably not, but we’re still seeing each other.”
Olivia was afraid of that. More than anything she wanted to ask her daughter what the future held for her and Warren, but she dared not say anything that would upset the delicate balance of her relationship with Justine.
“The truth is, Warren and I haven’t been getting along lately.”
In one way, Olivia was glad to hear that, although she chastised herself for such an ungenerous reaction; in another way, she was distressed by