Harlequin Desire January 2021--Box Set 1 of 2 by Maisey Yates (inspirational books .TXT) 📗

fight ten men. I take them all out, but a grenade detonates and the helicopter explodes, sending me, or my stunt double, flying. I haven’t committed to doing my own stunts this time around.”

“Can’t you make a movie without explosives?”

“And disappoint my dwindling fan base? Not on your life.”

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Today she wore it wavy and loose and still a little damp. He caught a hint of her perfume and wanted to lean close, so he did the opposite, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest.

“Your fans will evolve as you evolve.”

“Aren’t you a fountain of wisdom this morning! You must have slept well.”

“It’s the truth,” she said. “You deserve the truth.”

“And so do you,” he said. “We’re going to Homestead to shop for orchids. And that’s all.”

“Okay. But who with?” she asked.

“You and your questions…” he said, mocking.

“Look. I agreed to be your friend, not your wing person.”

“Are you always so easily riled up?” he asked. “You really need to work on that.”

She bit back a quick response. “You know what? You’re right. I’m on vacation. I need to chill.”

“You’ve decided to stay.”

“Might as well. What do I have to rush back to?”

“Work,” he suggested.

“No.” Her shoulders slumped low. “I’m on sabbatical.”

He would have liked for her to say more, to open up about her life down to the nitty-gritty, but she clammed up.

“I’ve been on sabbatical a year,” he said.

“That long?” she said. “Is it liberating?”

“It’s soul crushing.”

“Oh.” Her eyes flooded with concern. She blinked a few times and offered him a crooked grin. “Breeding orchids is an interesting choice, but I support you.”

“You mock me, but it’s a billion-dollar industry.”

“Is that a fact?”

“Oh, yeah. Easy money.”

Pete cleared his throat, reminding Julian that they were not alone—much as it felt that way. “Traffic is light. The destination is ten minutes away.”

Nina leaned forward to ask Pete a question. “What’s ten minutes away?”

He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “It’s not for me to say.”

“Smart man,” Julian said.

“Are you here from California?” Pete asked Nina, expertly changing the subject.

“No such luck,” Julian replied.

“We can’t all be California girls,” Nina said with a sigh.

They arrived at Amelia’s house. Pete pulled up to the curb. Nina turned to look out the window, studying the modest yellow house sitting on a generous lot.

“We are at the home of my mother’s childhood friend Amelia Chin,” Julian said. “They grew up in Jamaica together. Amelia gave me a place to stay when I got off the plane from England and didn’t know a soul. So today I’m taking her orchid shopping.”

Nina was now studying him. “Julian Knight! I could kiss you, that’s so sweet.”

He could not stop a foolish grin from spreading. “Please do.”

She punched him in the shoulder instead.

“Before you think too highly of me, I’m only doing it for the food. She always cooks my favorite meals after I take her out. You’ll see. She’ll invite us in for lunch afterward.”

“Now that makes sense,” she said, grinning.

Amelia, not one to wait, had come out of her house and was standing on the sidewalk. Julian hopped out of the car and pulled her into a hug. “What are you doing? I was going to ring your doorbell like a proper gentleman.”

“You’re no gentleman,” Amelia said. Turning to Pete, she said, “And you’re parked near the hydrant.”

“Leave the man alone,” Julian said. “I can afford the ticket.”

“You’ll get towed! Can you afford the aggravation?”

Amelia looked the same as she did when he last visited, five years earlier. Her fine features were bracketed with deep and fine lines, but she was still as vibrant and energetic.

“All right, then, why are we wasting time? Let’s get out of here before the tow truck arrives.”

* * *

At the orchid market, Nina stayed behind with Pete, allowing Julian and Amelia to wander the stalls alone and catch up for a bit. The market was a field large enough to land a helicopter but dense with palms and bamboo. She leaned against the car and watched him assist the older woman, her frail hand locked in a death grip around his thick forearm. Nina was inexplicably moved.

Pete had gone off to buy refreshments, and he returned with chilled bottles of water. “Mr. Knight says you’re an old friend. How far back do you go? Since before he was famous?”

“Not that far back,” Nina said.

“I read that he and his girlfriend broke up.”

Nina took a sip of water. She didn’t like the turn of the conversation. She supposed anyone who’d stood in a supermarket checkout line had read all the details of the Julian and Bettina seismic split. Still, she was not going to discuss it with Pete.

“If you’re going to make a move, now is the time.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just saying.”

Nina went still. Back home in the city, she could silence a chatty cab driver with one sharp glance before things went too far—and things had officially gone too far.

“I think it’s time to catch up with Julian and Amelia.”

Nina slipped on her dark glasses and marched down the makeshift aisles lined with tables crammed with orchids in various state of bloom. The Florida heat weighed on her shoulders like a damp blanket. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched and glanced over her shoulder to check on Pete. He was on his phone, his back to her. The feeling persisted. And then she caught it—the flash of a camera.

A photographer was hiding behind a cluster of palms, camera lens pointed at Julian and Amelia. She stiffened with anger, torn between wanting to attack the photographer and rushing over to shield Julian from view. The flash of the camera snapped her out of her inertia. She ran to Julian.

At her approach, he held up a potted orchid with milk-white petals peppered with purple dots and a splash of yellow. “Look what we got.”

“It’s a Mystic Isle,” Amelia said. “My favorite.”

“Lovely!” Nina took care to position herself in the photographer’s line