Page 3 of The House on Blueberry Lane

“I understand you’re still teaching.”

“Yes. I like teaching.”

“And you’re good at it.”

“Thanks. Well, that about covers everything.”

“Not quite. There’s something you need to know.”

Velvet lifted a brow. “What?”

“Where I’ll be staying.”

She tilted her head. “Why would it concern me where you’re staying?”

“Because I’m renting the house right next door. I understand your neighbor, Delisa Mills, leaves town for extended trips. The realtor that I hired was able to find me a place with only a six-month lease. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was right above you. I could try to find another place if my being so close is going to bother you.”

Velvet tried to keep her expression neutral but deep down she was fuming. For two years, she had moved on with her life, trying to get herself free of Jaye Colfax and now, out of the clear blue sky, he not only popped up in Catalina Cove, but he was moving next door, living right above her? In the house on Blueberry Lane? What on earth had she done to deserve this?

“Vel?”

She glared at him. “No, Jaye, your living upstairs will mean nothing to me.”

He smiled...actually smiled. Did that mean it meant nothing to him, too? He thought it would be okay if he moved in and began parading women in and out of his part of the house when she was so close by? There was no doubt in her mind that since their breakup he had continued his sex-only arrangement with women. He’d certainly captured a lot of interest at the town hall meeting the other night.

“I think we’ve covered everything, Jaye,” she said, taking his wineglass from him—although there was still wine in it—and then turning to head for the door to let him out.

“Yes, I guess we have.” When they reached the door, he said, “I’ll be staying at that bed-and-breakfast in town, Shelby by the Sea, until the first of the year, before moving in.”

“Okay. Good night, Jaye.”

“Good night, Vel.”

“And please remember, Jaye, from now on, I’m Velvet.”

“I’ll remember.”

She closed the door and leaned against it, feeling totally frustrated. Just like that, Jaye Colfax was back in her life, living directly above her whether she liked it or not.

JAYE COLFAX ENTERED his room at Shelby by the Sea, noticing that it was a very nice place with all the comforts of home. Jerking off his tie and removing his suit jacket, he tossed both on the bed before heading to the window. He had requested an ocean view, and that’s just what he’d gotten. Even at night, he could see the lights of several boats, which meant some people were night fishing.

He drew in a deep breath as he recalled his conversation with Velvet. He had been prepared to be totally honest with her and tell her the reason he was here—to claim her love.

However, something she’d said had stopped him from being forthright. She had joked about him deliberately buying the bank when he’d discovered this was where she was living. Then she’d admitted she knew he hadn’t done that because it wasn’t in his makeup to care that much for any woman. He’d decided at that moment to prove how wrong she was, and that it was in his makeup to care that much.

When he felt the time was right, he would let her know how miserable he’d been the last two years and how it had taken her leaving for him to realize how much he cared for her. He loved her. Letting her leave had been the biggest mistake of his life, one he intended to rectify. Only then would he tell her how he’d hired a private investigator to find her...and also admit that Larson Barrows hadn’t really been ready to retire. It had taken Jaye making an offer for the purchase of his bank that was so sweet the man couldn’t have refused—or he would have been a fool to do so. The same thing with becoming her neighbor. He had made it worth Delisa Mills’s while, financially, to stay out of the country at least six to eight more months.

Bottom line, Jaye had done what he’d felt was necessary to claim the woman he loved. The woman he had lost by his own stupidity. Hopefully, in the end, she would see that he intended to do what he should have done years ago—accept her place in his life.

Instead, he had hurt her deeply and, more than anything, regretted what he’d done. Now he would work like hell to un-break her heart and show her they were perfectly matched. There was no other woman for him.

He loved her and he intended to prove it to her, but on her time, not his. If it took longer than six months, he was fine with that, because he was in it for the long haul. He’d discovered that Catalina Cove wasn’t so bad. In fact, it was a nice coastal town on the gulf, just an hour’s drive from New Orleans.

Jaye was determined that when he left the cove, he would be leaving with Velvet—as his wife.

CHAPTER TWO

One month later

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