Daring Her Love

by Melissa Foster

  She giggled as he took her in another kiss, this one turning up the heat by about a zillion degrees. His hand slid to the bottom of her spine, pressing her body to his as he took a step into deeper water.

  She drew back quickly, and he leaned forward, capturing her mouth in another kiss.

  “You’re tricking me,” she snapped.

  “No, Kat. I’m opening the door so you can see that you’re really in control of everything. You’re holding yourself up.” He ran his hands lightly over her ribs. “When you’re ready, let go, and I’ll hold you until you feel comfortable.”

  “Let go?” Her eyes skidded to the water.

  “Kick your feet and move your arms, and I’ll hold you right here.” He gripped her ribs. “You won’t go under. I promise.”

  She nodded, and he could see her readying herself for her moment of truth, swallowing hard, gritting her teeth, then licking those delicious lips of hers.

  “I’m so proud of you right now. You can do this.”

  She slid her arms down his shoulders and over his biceps, gripping them tightly.

  “It’s okay. You can hold me. Kick your feet. That’s a girl. Now use your arms to tread water. I will not let go until you tell me to.”

  Her arms slid into the water, and she treaded water beautifully.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Like a child.” She smiled.

  “Trust me, you look nothing like a child.” He blew her a kiss. “Do you feel buoyant? Want to try on your own?”

  “I remember how, even though the last time I swam was so long ago. I’m just scared. I always tried to conquer this fear, but I never made it. I’ve never been able to force myself to go into deep water. There are only a few things I’m still trying to overcome, but this one scares the daylights out of me. But with you, I want to try harder. I want to overcome it.”

  “Like I said, I can stand here all night. Take your time.”

  Kat treaded water, her eyes never leaving his, and a few minutes later she said, “I’m ready.”

  “Okay.” He took his hands away, keeping them open in the water so he could grab her if need be.

  “Ohmygod. I’m doing it. Eric!” She squealed as she treaded water. “This is amazing. It’s fun. It’s freeing!”

  “God, you’re beautiful.” He stayed close as she swam around, never putting her head underwater, but keeping herself afloat with a sidestroke and breaststroke.

  “I’m doing it. I’m not going under.”

  “You’re capable of anything, Kat. There’s nothing you can’t do.”

  She swam over to him and wrapped her arms and legs around him. “There is one thing I can’t do.”

  “I don’t believe that for a second.”

  She sealed her lips over his in a mind-numbing kiss. “I can’t carry you out of the water and have my way with you.”

  He scooped her up into his arms again and carried her from the water, their bodies dripping wet, their lips locked in a searing-hot kiss. He laid her on the blanket and reached for his wallet. A minute later he was sheathed and perched above her, silently noting the burgeoning emotions filling his chest.

  As he came down over her and their bodies joined together, she reached up and touched his cheek.

  “What have you done to me, Eric James?”

  “Whatever it is, it’s not enough. One night is not enough. Nothing will ever be enough. I feel like I’ve been waiting for you all my life. Promise me one more night, Kat.”

  “Just one?”

  He lowered his lips to hers, and beneath the moon and the stars, as Hope stood sentinel, their bodies fell into sync, and Eric found the only thing that had ever felt like home—and she was right there in his arms.

  Chapter Eleven

  BY SEVEN THIRTY the next morning the Braden house was bursting with energy. Christian was stuffing Cheerios into his little pudgy cheeks, and Layla was in full waitress mode. Her bangs were pinned up on top of her head in a pretty barrette, bringing her wide smile into full focus. She was obviously pleased to have a big-girl responsibility as she placed a plate of pancakes in front of Hal.

  “Would you like butter, Poppy?” Layla asked.

  Hal wrapped a thick arm around her and pressed a kiss to her temple. “No, thank you, sweet girl. These look delicious just as they are.”

  A proud smile passed between Kat and Brianna. Kat had grown up in Richmond, and when Brianna had first interviewed for the job at Old Town Tavern, she and Kat had immediately hit it off. Kat had been part of Brianna’s life since before Layla was born, and she could hardly believe how many years had passed. Layla was obviously flourishing as part of the Braden family.

  Eric walked into the kitchen, freshly showered, with hair that looked towel dried and oh so sexy. His eyes immediately found Kat, and his lips curved up in a sinful smile that made her heart race. Every second they’d been together last night had brought them closer to each other and taught her more about herself. She could hardly believe that she’d blocked out the episode at the camp when she was younger, but now her fear of deep water made total sense. Eric had been so thoughtful with her last night when they’d taken Hope down to the river. He had an innate ability to be seductive and careful at the same time, and that brought out the good girl and the bad girl in Kat. The combination had surprised her, after she’d tried for so long to be discerning and to act more responsibly. What she’d learned last night was that she was happier just being herself. She didn’t need to be with strangers. She simply hadn’t found the right man, one who brought out the naughty and the nice aspects of her personality the way Eric did. Going skinny-dipping with him was the biggest thrill, and the most intimate moment, she’d ever shared with a man. Maybe she should be embarrassed by her brazenness in initiating the striptease, but she wasn’t. Not one single bit. How could she be when her heart felt so full? And now, as she watched Eric press a kiss to Christian’s cheek and swoop Layla into his arms as she walked toward the kitchen, making her giggle like crazy, she found herself picturing Eric as a father.

  “Are you cooking this morning?” Eric asked Layla, bringing Kat’s mind back to the moment.

  Shocked at where her mind had traveled, she tried to distract herself from her thoughts by taking a sip of orange juice. It didn’t help.

  Layla giggled again. “No. I’m serving. Do you like my outfit for the picnic? Auntie Riley made it.” Riley was engaged to Hugh’s brother Josh. The two of them were fashion designers in New York City.

  Eric set her on her feet and twirled her around with a low whistle. “You are going to be the belle of the picnic.”

  Kat loved that he gave Layla his full attention, and obviously Layla did, too, because she hugged him again before rushing off to serve another plate.

  “What can I do to help?” Eric asked.

  Hugh walked into the room behind him and patted him on the back. “Why don’t you take that seat next to Kat. I’ve got this.” Hugh touched Hal’s shoulder. “Hi, Pop. More coffee?”

  “No, thank you, son.”

  The front door opened, and Rex’s deep voice echoed through the house. “I smell pancakes.” He had an arm draped around his very pregnant wife, Jade, and his cowboy boots clunked across the hardwood floor as they joined them at the table.

  “Pop.” Rex patted Hal on the shoulder. “How’s it going, Kat?”

  “Wonderful. How are you?” Kat asked.

  “Mighty fine. Thanks for asking.” Rex swept Christian out of his high chair, making the little boy squeal with delight and kick his feet. He tucked the boy against his burly chest as he pulled out a chair for Jade. “Sit down, babe. I’ll grab your food.”

  “I’ve got it, Uncle Rex.” Layla set a plate in front of Jade.

  “Well, aren’t you the perfect hostess?” Rex bent to kiss her. Layla beamed at his praise. He sat beside Jade, bouncing Christian on his knee.

  “You’re anxious for your own baby, aren’t you?” Kat asked as Eric sat beside her and drape
d an arm over her shoulder. She glanced at him, surprised by, and reveling in, his display of affection.

  “That I am.” Rex leaned over and kissed Jade’s cheek, then pressed his large hand to her belly.

  “Rexy has been ready for this baby since the day he asked me to marry him.” Jade leaned forward to kiss Christian, who was busy trying to get his fingers into Rex’s mouth. “You should probably put him back in his high chair before he thinks it’s playtime instead of breakfast time.”

  “How about you, Kat? Do you want children?” Eric asked, surprising the hell out of her.

  “Yes. I definitely want children one day. I love kids,” she answered with her heart in her throat.

  Beneath the table he placed his bare foot on top of hers as he said, “So do I.”

  “Whoa,” Hugh said as he came into the room and set platters of pancakes and eggs on the table. “What the heck happened on your date last night?”

  “Did Hope treat you well?” Rex asked.

  Brianna carried a tray of fruit to the table, and Hugh pulled out a seat for her. She had her eyes locked on Kat. Kat had been bursting at the seams this morning, and she’d already shared the details of their incredible date with Bree.

  “Hope was quite a lady,” Eric said, setting a warm gaze on Kat. “She made it easy for Kat to relax into the ride.”

  Was she the only one who heard that double entendre? She hoped so.

  “Hope has a way of making people comfortable.” Hal’s eyes traveled around the table.

  “Yes,” Kat said. “Thank you for letting us take her out. And the lights on the trail were so romantic.”

  Jade smiled up at Rex. “That’s my Rexy for you. Always full of romance.”

  “Safety first, romance second,” Rex corrected her.

  Jade rolled her eyes. “What is it with men? Can’t they just admit that romance is what drives them?”

  “Hey, don’t lump us all together.” Hugh draped an arm over Bree’s shoulder. “I’m totally a romantic at heart. I just didn’t know it until I met Bree and Layla.” He winked at Layla.

  Eric placed a possessive hand on Kat’s shoulder, and she tried to keep from grinning like a lovesick fool. From the smiles on Bree’s and Jade’s faces, she’d failed miserably.

  “It takes a special woman to bring out the romance in a man,” Eric said casually, as if he hadn’t just sent her whole world spinning.

  Hal set his napkin on his lap and said, “You’re all full of hogwash. Your hearts are driving your cart, not your heads.” He shook his head. “One day y’all will understand the power of love. You can’t dissuade it, you can’t escape it, and you sure as hell can’t rule how or when it presents itself.”

  Kat didn’t care if it was wishful thinking or a rationalization on her part, but she clung to Hal’s words and felt better about her heart summersaulting in her chest after she’d known Eric for only two short days.

  BY TWO O’CLOCK Weston County Park was packed, and the fundraising event for the Foundation for Whole Families was in full swing. These types of events brought the foundation to life for Eric. He loved seeing the families they’d helped to reunite and enjoyed meeting some of their generous donors. When he’d first started the foundation, there’d been a part of him that had played out the scenario of a foundation such as this coming into his life as a youth, causing him to imagine reliving that part of his life differently. But he’d quickly nixed those painful dreams, knowing the impossibility of such a thing. Instead, he used those hopes to help grow the foundation, poured his passion and desire for a better childhood into every family they helped. Watching some of those families flourish made it all worthwhile.

  He watched as Emily Braden, Hugh’s cousin, approached with her fiancée, Dae Bray, a demolition expert. Emily was an architect and an expert in the passive-house movement, and she’d been at Eric for a while to build green with his next outpatient center. He’d been meaning to contact her about his plan to build in Trusty, Colorado, the neighboring town to where Emily and Dae lived.

  “I heard some smart-mouthed race car driver just bought the five-acre commercial lot a block off Main Street in Trusty.” Emily brushed her long dark hair from her shoulders and hugged Eric. “How’s it going, smart-mouth?”

  “A pleasure to see you, too, Em.” He embraced her, then opened his arms to Dae. “How’s it going, man? I see being engaged hasn’t made her any less feisty.”

  Dae pulled Emily into his arms. “That’s my girl.”

  “I’ve been meaning to call you about checking out passive structures for the new Trusty Outpatient Center.” Eric noticed Hugh heading their way.

  “Now you’re talking my language,” Emily said. “It’s not like I haven’t been drawing them up for the past three years, waiting with bated breath for you to get off your ass. I’ll email you Monday with some ideas.”

  “Who’s the smart-mouth?” Eric teased.

  Hugh joined them and greeted his cousin and Dae with open arms. “It’s a regular reunion.”

  “We’re just passing through.” Emily pointed to the baseball fields, where two softball games were just beginning, one for older kids and one for adults. Emily pointed to the Wiffle ball field, and as she headed for the softball game, said, “But you boys should join that game.”

  Eric laughed and waved as they walked away, his eyes skirting the property, seeking the woman who had so quickly touched his heart. He found her across the grassy field, carrying Christian and holding Layla’s hand as Brianna talked with another woman a few feet away. He could watch her all day long, and she looked so natural with the baby in her arms while chatting with Layla that it did funky things to his stomach again. He watched them walk over to a clown who was doing magic for a group of families. She pressed her lips to Christian’s cheek, then said something as she pointed to the clown. Damn, the emotions she incited in him had his whole body going warm and made his mind jump ahead to something he’d never imagined settling down enough to have. Family.

  He shifted his eyes away, the unfamiliar urges telling him that he was somehow falling for Kat after only a few days. He tried to focus on the people walking by, on Hugh’s voice as he talked about the picnic. Hell, on anything but the little voice in his head saying, She’s the one. The only one.

  He focused on the table with the raffle prize baskets, thinking about how few donations they’d received the first year. Now the table overflowed with donations. The Denver Broncos donated baskets of football paraphernalia, and dozens of local businesses donated goods, from jewelry baskets, books, and leather goods to lotions and hardware. The generosity of the community was endless.

  “We did well, basing the event here,” Eric said to Hugh. It had been Hugh’s idea to make Weston the home base for the fundraiser each year, and since Eric hadn’t had the benefit of a close-knit community growing up, he was happy to become part of Hugh’s.

  “Weston cares, that’s for sure.” Hugh pointed to Kat and Brianna. Kat was holding Christian and tickling his stomach. “Looks like Kat’s taken to my boy.”

  Eric’s heart warmed again at the sight of her loving up Christian. “I can’t believe you’ve kept Kat a secret from me for so long.”

  “Shit. You haven’t wanted a girlfriend. Ever. To be honest, I was completely floored this morning when I saw you two at breakfast, but Bree wasn’t. She said she knew the minute she saw you two together yesterday morning that you were meant to be together. Something about vibes.” Hugh cleared his throat, as if to say, Told you so.

  Eric had never been more excited to see a woman than he was this morning. He’d slept fitfully, wishing Kat were in his arms and wondering if she’d been thinking of him, too. It had taken all of his restraint not to walk down the hall and knock on her bedroom door. When he’d finally seen her, he’d had to fight the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her good morning. But after only one date, he knew that was presumptuous, regardless of how intimate they’d been, how close he felt to her, or the fact
that she’d already promised she’d go out with him again tonight. Relationships weren’t something he had experience in, and he was taking his cues from her.

  “I’ve always said that your wife’s a smart woman,” Eric said. “Kat and I connected on every level from the moment we met, and even so, this is all so new to me that I was a goddamn nervous wreck this morning. I was worried that she’d changed her mind. That she’d look at my history with women and decide I wasn’t worth the risk.”

  Hugh slung an arm over his shoulder. “Dude, you’re an amazing man. You must know that. Any woman would be lucky to be with you.”

  “This isn’t about being lucky to be with me. I know my downfalls. You and I both know that I’ve never been a settling-down type of guy, but ever since I began thinking about the future, I’ve felt different. And Kat…Holy hell, Hugh. Kat? She’s the most intense, passionate, intelligent woman I’ve ever met. I finally understand how you fell for Brianna so quickly.”

  “And Layla, man. I fell for them both. I love Layla like she’s my own flesh and blood.” Hugh gazed lovingly at his family a few feet away and took a few steps in their direction.

  “I know you do. I have to tell you, I meant what I said this morning. I’m thinking more and more about settling down and having a family. And Kat just might be the oil in my gears. I was thrilled when she didn’t shy away from me during breakfast.” Kat looked up, and their eyes caught. His heart skipped in his chest, and the ability to walk and talk at the same time suddenly eluded him. He stood stock-still and said, “I’m the lucky one, man. If she’ll have me, I’ll make sure she never regrets it.”

  Before taking the few final steps to Kat, he said, “I think your father was spot-on about the heart leading this cart. I could no sooner walk away from Kat than I could walk away from racing.”

  Chapter Twelve

  ERIC HELD UP a burlap sack, smiling at Kat and ignoring the smirk Hugh was giving them while he and Layla stepped into their own potato sack. Rex and Brianna and about a dozen other couples were also preparing for the big race, while Jade, who was too pregnant to take part, stood off to the side with Christian, cheering them on.