And Then Forever Synopsis:
Welcome to Fortune’s Island, where the only rule is to follow your heart.
Love is an extravagance Darcy Williams can’t afford. She prefers the simple life, which includes waitressing at The Love Shack on Fortune’s Island and avoiding temptation. But when a forbidden part of her past steps off the ferry, her safe, guarded existence is turned upside down.
Kincaid Foster has never gotten over his first love. When he sees the wild, beautiful blonde again, dancing her way around The Love Shack, the memories of Darcy’s soft skin, gentle touch, and heated kisses come rushing back. As the privileged son of a wealthy family, Kincaid was too young to stand up to his overbearing father when he and Darcy were together. Now, he’s back on the island—free of the family shackles—and the chiseled, big-time lawyer wants a second chance.
But, Darcy made a promise to keep a secret from Kincaid—a secret that is now a six-year-old girl who looks just like her daddy. If Kincaid finds out about their daughter, Darcy could lose everything. But, she can’t resist the man who stole her heart all those years ago. And it doesn’t take long before both of them realize that anything can happen at The Love Shack on a hot summer night.
Love is an extravagance Darcy Williams can’t afford. She prefers the simple life, which includes waitressing at The Love Shack on Fortune’s Island and avoiding temptation. But when a forbidden part of her past steps off the ferry, her safe, guarded existence is turned upside down.
Kincaid Foster has never gotten over his first love. When he sees the wild, beautiful blonde again, dancing her way around The Love Shack, the memories of Darcy’s soft skin, gentle touch, and heated kisses come rushing back. As the privileged son of a wealthy family, Kincaid was too young to stand up to his overbearing father when he and Darcy were together. Now, he’s back on the island—free of the family shackles—and the chiseled, big-time lawyer wants a second chance.
But, Darcy made a promise to keep a secret from Kincaid—a secret that is now a six-year-old girl who looks just like her daddy. If Kincaid finds out about their daughter, Darcy could lose everything. But, she can’t resist the man who stole her heart all those years ago. And it doesn’t take long before both of them realize that anything can happen at The Love Shack on a hot summer night.
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Darcy called Nona and asked the older woman
if she could stay the night with Emma. Not that Darcy had any plans with
Kincaid beyond the one drink, but she thought it best to let Nona stay in the
guest room just in case Darcy lingered too long. Yeah, that was her reason for
it. Not because something had shifted inside her when he’d approached her on
the deck. It was only because she was feeling a little vulnerable. Late night,
pretty sky, good music.
Uh-huh. Exactly. Not the way he whispered in her ear and sent desire roaring
through her body.
When the night was over and the customers were gone, Darcy did the cleanup,
letting Jillian go home early this time. Her friend looked drained, and ready
to cry. Darcy’s heart broke for her. It sucked to be on the outside of a couple
breaking up, and unable to do anything but just be a listening ear.
“Do you want to
talk?” Darcy asked.
“No. I just want to be alone. Drink too much wine and watch too much junk TV.”
Jillian grinned, but the smile wavered. “Maybe even buy stuff I don’t need off
of QVC.”
Darcy gathered Jillian into a hug. “Okay, but promise to call if you need me to
come over. I’ll bring chocolate.”
“Now that’s a promise I’ll take you up on.” Jillian yawned. And though she
looked tired, she looked a little better. Resigned to her decision. “Later.
It’s been a long day and I just want some time to…decompress.”
“Okay. Call me in the morning.”
“I will.” Jillian returned the hug, then gestured toward the outside deck.
“Seems someone is waiting for you.”
The thought of Kincaid waiting for her—anticipating her arrival—made her heart
leap. She tried to tamp it down, but the excitement simmered in her all the
same.
“I agreed to have one drink with him. Just one.” She reiterated the words for
Jillian, and herself. It didn’t mean anything.
Jillian laughed. “We all know where one drink can lead. Have fun.”
“I’m not planning on having fun with him. Just…talking.”
“Uh-huh.” Jillian dug in her purse and came up with a foil lined package. She
pressed it into Darcy’s palm. “For when you stop talking and start acting.”
“I’m not going to need this. In fact, I’m going to put it in my pocket and give
it back to you tomorrow.” Darcy tucked the condom in her back pocket. But her
mind thought about making love to Kincaid, how damned good that had always
been, and how much she wanted him now.
“If you give that back to me tomorrow, I’m going to be mighty disappointed.”
Jillian held up a finger before Darcy could protest. “It’s been a while since
you’ve been on a date, and even longer since you’ve had sex that didn’t require
batteries. You have a hot guy out there who has been looking at you like you’re
the most delicious thing on the menu and he hasn’t eaten in a month.”
Darcy glanced at Kincaid. “I think he just wants to catch up. We broke up years
ago—“
Jillian gave her a little nudge. “And if you delay any longer, the poor man is
going to fall asleep. So go on out there.” Jillian reached over the bar,
grabbed two shot glasses and the bottle of Jose Cuervo. “But don’t forget
this.”
Darcy was still laughing as she left the main restaurant and headed out to the
deck with the drinks. Inside, she saw Whit and Grace wave to her as they left
for the night, their arms around their daughter, which Jillian gratefully
accepted with a teary nod. That left Darcy alone with Kincaid.
Very, very alone. At one in the morning. With nothing but the dark night around
them.
This was crazy. She should lock up and go home, skip the drinks and especially
skip spending time with Kincaid. But then she caught his eye, and something
went warm and needy in her gut, and she crossed over to his table, to the seat
beside him, and laid the drinks on the table. She could have one drink with him
and not end up in bed with him. “One,” she said. “No more.”
He took the bottle, poured the shots, then nudged one close to her. “One.”
She shook her head, a smile playing on her lips. “I’m going to regret this.”
He lifted his glass. She lifted hers, and he tapped the shot glasses together.
“To old memories and new beginnings.”
She watched him as they each raised the shots to their lips, and then tipped
them back at the same time. The tequila burned like fire going down her throat,
lighting a warm path all the way to her belly. “Damn.”
Kincaid slammed the shot glass onto the circular wooden table. “Exactly what I
was thinking.”
She settled on the chair beside him, and propped her chin on her hand. The
ocean kept up its steady predictable whispering song, and the stars twinkled
like smiley faces in the night sky. The tequila had already left her feeling a
little warm. Maybe she should have eaten more tonight.
“I love it out here after everyone is gone.” She looked out at the dark night,
at the hints of the sea she could glimpse in the moonlight. “This is my
favorite time of day. When everything is asleep, and it’s just…peaceful.”
“It’s why I came back here,” Kincaid said. “I don’t get much of this in New
York. There’s never a time when that city stops humming.”
“I’ve lived here for so long, I can’t even imagine a place like that anymore.”
Darcy leaned back and stretched. Long hours on her feet, carrying heavy trays
of drinks and food, had left her achy and tired. She rubbed at a knot in her
left shoulder, but the pain stayed, stubborn, insistent.
“Let me,” Kincaid said. Before she could stop him, he had slid in behind her
and was working magic with his hands on her shoulders, rubbing both at once,
his thumbs impressing tiny, wonderful circles into all the tight and painful
places.
“Oh my God. That is better than sex right now.” She closed her eyes and leaned
into the touch, nearly moaning with his every movement.
Kincaid chuckled. “Better than sex? I don’t think anything is better
than sex.”
“This is, trust me.” She shifted to the right, then the left, as he adjusted his
touch to hit the rest of her shoulders, her neck, the top of her spine. It was
just a back massage, she told herself. Not sex with Kincaid. Maybe letting him
touch her was the wrong thing to do, or maybe…oh God, yes, right there…it
was a very, very good idea. “I swear, you must have gone to school for this.
You are way too good at massage.”
“I’m good at a lot of things,” he whispered in her ear, his voice low and dark
and making her crave things she shouldn’t.
“What are we doing?” she asked. “This was just supposed to be one drink.”
“And it is. With the bonus of a shoulder rub.” He kept on rubbing, and she became putty in his hands. Every touch sent a delicious warmth through her. “Okay, since this is supposed to be our time to catch up…tell me about the last seven years.”
“And it is. With the bonus of a shoulder rub.” He kept on rubbing, and she became putty in his hands. Every touch sent a delicious warmth through her. “Okay, since this is supposed to be our time to catch up…tell me about the last seven years.”
“There’s not much to tell. I’m still living here, though now I own a cottage on
the beach, instead of renting a room from Whit and Grace. My house isn’t much,
but it’s big enough for me. Kind of ironic that I became a homeowner and a
regular resident. I always told my mother I was never going to do any of that.”
Kincaid chuckled. “We all grow up eventually.”
“I like to think I didn’t grow up. Just…got smarter.” She grinned. “Anyway, I
love it here, and love my life.”
“Maybe living simpler is the answer,” Kincaid said. “I have this ridiculously
huge apartment in New York, and I use maybe a tenth of it. But the house here,
the one Whit is renting me, is just right. I doubt it’s more than a thousand
square feet, but it’s a perfect size.”
“Then maybe you should downgrade the New York apartment to a cramped walkup
studio on the tenth floor.”
He laughed. “I don’t know if I want to go that small. But yeah, I’d love to
live in something less…pretentious.”
“Then why do you live there?” She leaned a little to the right and Kincaid’s
thumb hit a knot. God, she wanted to keep his hands on her forever. He was an
expert at massages. “Oh…yes.”
“Right here?”
“Yes…oh, yes,
please. Right there.”
“Your wish is my
command, Darcy.” He rubbed until the knot eased, and her shoulders sank a
little in relief. “The apartment was a perk for my job. All the partners at my
father’s law firm get apartments. I didn’t ask for it; it just came with the
position.”
“You’re already a partner? But you just graduated law school, right? I mean,
you haven’t practiced that long.” Not that she should be too surprised. Kincaid
was smart and driven.
“My father believes in solidifying the Foster position as quickly and
efficiently as possible.” He moved a few inches south, rolling his thumb over
the knobs of her spine. Oh my. Even better than the shoulders. “Or maybe
it’s more a matter of making sure I am committed to the firm, right from the
very start.”
“And are you?”
Kincaid stopped working her back and shoulders for a while. His hands rested
there, but his mind was somewhere else. “No, not anymore. I have some hard
choices ahead of me, choices that I’ve put on a back burner while I’m here. But
choices that will have to be made, sooner rather than later. I’m not sure how
long my sister will need me, or how that will impact the future.”
It was almost the same debate Kincaid had had with himself years ago. The man
she’d met that summer had said he didn’t want to work for his father, didn’t
even want to be a lawyer. At the same time, he didn’t see a way out of the life
that had been planned for him since the day he was born. Yet, he’d also craved
a relationship with his distant and workaholic father, and thought the only way
to get that was to do what Edgar wanted.
As soon as they
broke up, she’d heard that he had gone off to Harvard after all, and
goose-stepped right into the plan Edgar Foster had laid out. Now, Kincaid said
he wanted to throw that aside. Did he mean it? Or was this just another pipe
dream she couldn’t rely on?
“Anyway, I’m here now, for a while,” Kincaid said. “My father won’t be happy,
but then again, he’s never really happy.”
Darcy put a hand on top of Kincaid’s. A part of her wanted to lean into him, to
tell him she understood parents who didn’t support their children. That she
knew what it was like to hope that someday, a connection could be forged. For
Darcy, her connection with her mother had come almost too late. It was only
when her mother put the bottle aside and realized she had nearly lost her daughter
and only grandchild that Darcy was given two years of her mother being a true
part of her life. It had eased the wounds of the past, and though she missed
her mother now and cursed the cirrhosis that had taken her too soon, Darcy
would be forever grateful for that time. Her heart ached for Kincaid, because
he didn’t have that and maybe never would. But saying that would be rebuilding
the bridge from that summer, and she was only here for one drink. One. “Thanks
for the shoulder massage. I should probably get home.”
He rose and came around in front of her, cocking a hip against the wooden
table. That smile she loved played on his lips, flickered in his eyes. “I
thought you promised me a dance.”
“The band already went home. And I don’t remember promising any dancing.” Her
argument was about as strong as her resolve right now.
“We don’t need a band.” Kincaid fished his phone out of his pocket, opened the
music app and turned it on. The strains of an old Queen song began to play
through the tinny speakers. Kincaid put out a hand. “Ready?”
Oh, what the hell. It was only a dance. And she was feeling warm and happy from
the shot and the shoulder massage. “Sure.” She took Kincaid’s hand, and let him
lead her to the empty spot in the center of the deck.
He kept hold of one hand, rested the other loosely on her waist, and started to
sway with her. She moved with him, in, out, left, right, their steps quick and
light, and before she knew it, she was smiling and laughing. Kincaid spun her
out, in, reeling her into his chest.
When Joey had done the same thing earlier tonight, Darcy had felt nothing. But
when her back collided with Kincaid’s front, a cavalcade of fireworks exploded
inside her. She wanted to stay there, to press harder against the length of
him, to let him rest his head on her shoulder and fall in with him all over
again. Instead, she spun out, away, distance giving her a little perspective.
Just a little.
Before she knew it, they were pouring a second shot, and dancing to another
fast song. They laughed and talked about the island, the things that had
changed, the things that had stayed the same. The second drink of tequila
loosened everything Darcy kept buttoned up, and she found herself slipping
between Kincaid’s legs and dancing up against him. Hot, fast, insane.
She didn’t care. She wanted him. She always had. She always would.
The song ended, and a ballad began to play, slow and sweet. As if by mutual
agreement, Kincaid took Darcy against him, and she slid into his arms, chest to
chest, hips to hips. His hands slid along her back, resting on the curve of her
ass, and she leaned into his shoulder and inhaled his cologne and had a brief
moment of thinking, oh no, I’m falling for him again, before Kincaid
leaned down and kissed her.
The kiss started slow and easy, like sliding into a pool. Then he tangled his hands
in her hair, and that was all it took to strike a match to the embers already
burning inside her. She reached up and grabbed his head and pulled him closer,
tighter, and the kiss deepened. His tongue played with hers, her breath began
to come in gasps, and the desire thundered so loud in her head, she heard no
other coherent thoughts. She tugged at the hem of his T-shirt, wanting to feel
his skin, wanting to feel him, wanting all that was familiar and wonderful and
good.
Shirley Jump Bio
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing romance so she can avoid the towering stack of dirty dishes, eat copious amounts of chocolate and reward herself with trips to the mall. Look for her all-new novella in the anthology ASK ME WHY (with Marie Force, Virginia Kantra and Jodi Thomas), as well as the Sweet and Savory Romance series, including the USA Today bestselling book, THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE, on Amazon, and her Sweetheart Sisters series, starting with THE SWEETHEART BARGAIN.
Visit her website at www.ShirleyJump.com for author news and a booklist, and follow her on Facebook atwww.Facebook.com/shirleyjump.
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