Holiday In the Hamptons (From Manhattan with Love 5)

“No. She wanted me to buy peaches from the farm stand. Peaches! Look at me. I’m a wreck. What the hell is wrong with me?” Chase pocketed his phone and shook his head. “I run a successful corporation—”

“—which has nothing to do with delivering babies.”

“True. I’m not good with that stuff. I prefer my problems numerical. If it can’t be analyzed or put on a spreadsheet, I’m clueless.”

“We both know that’s not true. There’s not a job in your company you can’t do.”

“Maybe, but being able to caulk a window isn’t going to help me if the baby comes early. If that happens, I’m going to be calling on you.”

“I’m a vet,” Seth said mildly. “I’ve delivered puppies, kittens, foals and even a camel—”

“A camel?”

“Don’t ask. I’ve never delivered a human, but don’t worry. This baby is not going to come early. First babies never do.”

“You’d better be right about that or I’ll sue you. And then I’ll bring the baby to our poker nights.”

Seth gestured toward the house. “Do you need something to calm your nerves? I haven’t stocked the fridge yet, but I might be able to find a beer.”

“That is tempting, but my pregnant wife wants peaches, so I guess I’d better find her peaches.” He flashed Seth a smile and strolled to his car. “One day this is going to happen to you, Seth Carlyle, and that will wipe that grin off your face. In the meantime, if you could ask Harriet about walking Hero, I’d be grateful.”

Holding his smile in place, Seth bent to give Lulu a belly rub, watching as Chase reversed the car and headed down the lane toward the main road.

Lulu whined and licked his hand, understanding that something wasn’t right.

It was lucky for him Chase wasn’t so perceptive.

And lucky for him Chase needed help with a dog.

He told himself that offering to ask Harriet about dog walking had everything to do with helping his friend, and nothing to do with creating another opportunity to talk to Harriet.

CHAPTER FIVE

SEA BREEZE.

Fliss parked and stared at the house. It hadn’t changed. Same weathered clapboard, same gravel drive that had skinned her knees so many times. Juniper and cypress lined the driveway, and clusters of Rosa rugosa bushes erupted with delicate pink blossoms.

Right now she didn’t feel as if she’d changed much either.

What had happened to her confidence? The grit and drive that had propelled her this far?

She couldn’t stop shaking. Not because of the dog, but because of Seth.

She’d been prepared for everything except bumping into him.

She’d told herself that she’d built it up in her head, but in the end seeing him in person had been worse than she’d imagined. She hadn’t anticipated the powerful jolt of chemistry or the sudden frantic fluttering inside her. It seemed that time could heal a lot of things, but not the strange, indescribable pull that drew her to Seth Carlyle. It would have been easy to dismiss it as sexual attraction. Easy, and incorrect.

None of which explained why she’d been stupid enough to pretend to be Harriet.

Frustrated with herself, she grabbed her small suitcase, retrieved the key from under the flowerpot and let herself in.

Calm descended like a comforting blanket. Apart from the odd occasion when their father had joined them unexpectedly, this was the place she’d always been happiest.

She stood for a moment, drinking in familiarity. The large seascape on the wall had been painted by her grandfather. The basket on the floor, stuffed with boots and flip-flops, had been there forever. There were towels, neatly folded, ready to mop sand and mud from overeager dogs because here, at the beach, there had always been dogs.

It had been a place of noise, chaos, chatter and laughter.

No one had to tiptoe. No one had needed to watch what was said.