Page 49 of Escape to Lighthouse Cove

“Hmm…” he said, and the vibrations of his voice seemed to shiver down her spine. “An open wardrobe… how curious.”

He knew she was in there, Grace realized, and another muffled giggle slipped through her fingers. The door creaked open and there was Noah, grinning at her.

“Like Narnia,” he said, and she laughed.

“That’s just what I was thinking.” She started to step out of the wardrobe, only to catch her foot on the lip and then pitch forward, straight into Noah’s arms. He caught her instinctively, drawing her to him to steady her, and for one blazing, blissful moment their bodies were pressed together—shoulder, waist, hip, thigh. She could feel himeverywhere.

Then Grace made the mistake of tilting her head to look up at him. Except it didn’tfeellike a mistake. His body pressed against hers felt very muchnotlike a mistake. So did the blazing look in his eyes as he stared down at her, and the whole world seemed to stop.

One, two, three seconds they simply stood there, pressed together, staring.

Then Grace made a small sound—she didn’t even know what—and a shudder went through Noah before he lowered his head and kissed her.

For a second Grace’s lips remained as slack beneath Noah’s as his had once been beneath hers. But then his arm came around her waist and somehow he managed to pull her even closer and Grace’s lips parted beneath his as he deepened the kiss.

And then things got a little crazy. A little—or even a lot—urgent and intense and really wildly exciting. Grace wasn’t sure how it happened. One minute his lips were pressed to hers, the next they were practicallymaking out, at least it felt that way even though they were still just kissing.

Everything was spinning.

Noah pulled away first.

His breathing was ragged, his face flushed, his pupils dilated, and Grace was pretty sure she had all the same things going on. For a second, they simply stared at each other. Grace wanted to say something, but her head felt empty, and the truth was, she wasn’t sure of the vibe. Did Noah regret that kiss? How could he, when it had been so passionate, so honest?

“We’d better find Jacob,” he said, and he turned away, heading for the door. Grace practically staggered after him, still reeling.

They went bedroom by bedroom, calling his name, not referencing the kiss in any way, shape, or form, even though Grace’s lips were buzzing so much she kept putting her fingers to them and then pulling them away quickly, embarrassed.

“Maybe the east wing,” Noah murmured, frowning, when they hadn’t found him in any of the rooms along the hallway.

“Would he really have gone so far?” Grace asked. She wasn’t worried, not exactly, but Noah was frowning like he was. He started striding down the hall, so Grace had to practically jog to keep up.

Her lips weren’t buzzing anymore.

Half a hallway of rooms—bedrooms, little sitting rooms, rooms that were empty save for a couple of boxes or a shrouded piece of furniture—Noah stopped in front of one door, his hand resting on the knob without turning it.

“Noah…?” Grace prompted when he didn’t turn it. She was starting to feel anxious about Jacob, as well as anxious about them, if there even was a them, which it was starting to feel like there wasn’t.

“He wouldn’t…” Noah whispered to himself, and then he opened the door.

Grace knew immediately whose room it was. This room wasn’t shrouded in dust sheets; it wasn’t packed away or empty or forgotten. It was a boy’s room, done in navy blue, with a shelf of books about science and chess and a windowsill with an amazing collection of sea glass.

It was Jem’s room. It had to be.

Noah stood in the doorway, practically vibrating with tension, while Grace peeked out around him.

Jacob was hiding under the bed, his gray eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Hey, buddy,” Grace said quickly, not wanting Noah to inadvertently ruin the moment with his own unwieldy emotions. “What a great hiding place!”

Jacob frowned a little, and she realized he’d wanted her to look for him more rather than come in the room and find him right away. Understandable, she supposed, in a six-year-old, and the last thing she wanted to do was ruin the moment withheremotions. “We looked all over the house for you,” she enthused, “and we couldn’t find you anywhere! This really was a great hiding place, Jacob.”

Appeased, he slowly scooted out from under the bed. Noah still hadn’t said anything. Grace glanced at him uncertainly; he was staring at the sea glass. Tentatively she laid her hand on his arm.

“It really is an amazing collection,” she said quietly.

He didn’t reply, and then after a second, he shook her hand off. “Yeah, it is,” he agreed, and Grace couldn’t tell anything from his tone. Jacob tugged on her hand, and when she looked down, she saw the question in his eyes as if he’d spoken it aloud. Grace sighed, unsure whether she wanted to ask it right now, when Noah seemed in the grip of such a strange mood.

Then she remembered how he’d kissed her mereminutesago and decided she didn’t need to be such a chicken.