Seaside Whispers: Matt Lacroux (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers)

by Melissa Foster

  “The owner doesn’t rent it out.”

  She squinted up at him. The setting sun reflected in her eyes, bringing out vibrant specks of green and gold around her pupils. “Then how’d you manage to get it?”

  “It’s mine, sunshine.”

  Surprise registered in her expression.

  “I bought it as an investment, but never got around to renting it out.”

  “You own this?” She glanced around the property with awe as he unlocked and opened the door. “Why are you renting a cottage at Seaside if you have all this at your disposal?”

  He smiled at the wonder in her eyes and set the bags inside, then joined her in the yard and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Don’t you know? Haven’t I been clear?”

  Confusion riddled her brow.

  “It’s okay. I didn’t really know either. Not until Friday night.”

  “What…?”

  “I thought I came back to the Cape to reconnect with my family and to see what might come of us, but I was wrong.” He pressed a hand to her cheek and kissed her softly. “Friday night I realized that I came back to the Cape to see what would come of us. Connecting with my family was a bonus.”

  “But we’re door number two,” Mira said absently.

  “Door number two? Baby, what are you talking about?”

  “You said you realized you wouldn’t ever get the job you wanted, so you chose door number two.”

  “Oh no, baby. That was about work, not about you. You’re not door number anything.”

  She hooked a finger into the waistband of his slacks. “So, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that I’ve spent almost a year falling for you from miles away and trying to stay on the friendly side of our texts because I couldn’t take the chance of messing up your life. But I know now, without a doubt, that the main reason I came back to the Cape was to see if we could make things work. Everything else was secondary.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  MIRA KEPT WAITING to be plucked from the romantic rabbit hole she’d fallen down. She and Matt enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at a lovely French restaurant in the center of town and made their way outside. They meandered through the center of town, where bulbous streetlights cast halos of gold over brick-paved sidewalks. Couples walked hand in hand, children devoured ice-cream cones, and dogs trotted happily beside their owners. Bicycles lined the empty cobblestone streets, and the din of carefree summer nights filled the air. Nantucket wasn’t so different from the small towns on the Cape, with old-fashioned-looking storefronts, wide sidewalks, and a nautical theme. But somehow, being here alone with Matt made it seem like they were a lifetime away. It felt magical.

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t call and check on Hagen?” Matt asked for the third time since they’d arrived on the island.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” she said, missing her little man. “If he needs me, my brothers will call. When he was younger I’d call and check on him when he stayed overnight with them or with Serena, and it made him remember that he missed me. It’s like he gets so caught up in having fun he forgets I exist for a while.”

  “And that doesn’t bother you?”

  “It did,” she answered softly. “But then my mother reminded me that this was what being a parent was all about, raising our children to be independent. Selfishly, I’d like to hear his voice, but that’s for me, not him. He’s out having a blast, doing boy things.”

  “Guy things,” he said with a coy smile. “You’re a wonderful mother, sunshine. I can’t imagine it’s easy.”

  Matt tucked her snugly against his side as they walked toward the water, talking about intimate topics they hadn’t ventured into before crossing the friends-to-lovers line.

  “Nothing’s easy, but with parenthood there are more wonderful times than hard times. I wouldn’t change my decision for anything.”

  She told him about the many sleepless nights and zombielike days she’d endured when Hagen was a baby and how she’d napped when he did. They talked about how her mother had stayed with her for the first week after Hagen was born, and how much her brothers and Serena helped her since.

  “Do you want more children?” he asked.

  “Yes, someday,” she answered honestly. “You?”

  He nodded. “Definitely.”

  She wasn’t a woman with a checklist, like some single women out there. But if she were, being with a man who wanted a family would be on the top of the list, alongside reliable, loyal, loving, and trustworthy.

  Mira learned about how Matt’s father used to take him on weekly trips to the library and they’d hunt down book sales all summer long.

  “Hagen would love that,” she said.

  “Then let’s make a point of doing it. There’s no reason he should miss out on the things he would love.” He stopped walking and tipped her chin up with his finger, bringing her mouth in line with his.

  Standing beneath the black velvet sky, Mira smiled up at the man she was falling harder for every minute they spent together.

  “Come to Boston with me next weekend. I have to do some research, and Hagen would love spending hours in the library. It’s on your road-trip list.”

  “Both of us?” Her heartbeat quickened at the prospect.

  “Of course. We’ll rent a two-bedroom suite. You and Hagen can stay in one room and I’ll stay in the other. It’ll be our next adventure.”

  “You wouldn’t mind staying in a separate bedroom?” In the dating realm, she had baggage, a term she hated when used in reference to her son, but a term that was tossed around like a volleyball just the same. During all of his visits, Matt had never tried to push Hagen out of the picture. He never made her feel like her son was an inconvenience, just as he wasn’t now.

  Our next adventure.

  She’d spent so long trying not to think about Matt as a prospective boyfriend that she was still getting used to the idea that they had become a couple. A couple that might have a next adventure.

  He pressed his lips to hers. With a thoughtful, loving—yes, loving—gaze that made her heart soar, he said, “I will do whatever it takes to be with you and Hagen. I’d get my own hotel room, but selfishly, I’d like to be more involved with bedtime, morning…family time. That’s why I suggested a suite.”

  The dreamy sigh that escaped her lips came straight from her ovaries. Family time. Surely he was just using it as a loose term for daily activities that seemed typical for couples with children, but it tweaked all of her heartstrings. She knew she needed to be careful with Hagen’s heart—and her own—since Matt was supposed to return to Princeton, but she didn’t want to be careful. Especially not when her heart was pushing careful as far away as possible. Serena was right. Even if they went back to seeing each other every few weeks, what were she and Hagen losing out on? This time together was too good to pass up.

  “Okay,” she answered. “We’d love to.”

  They walked toward the water, talking about the trip and how excited Hagen would be. A quartet was playing by the wharf, and Matt swept Mira into his arms and began dancing.

  “I never knew you liked to dance so much,” she said, laughing as he twirled her around.

  “I don’t, but I’ll take any excuse to have you in my arms.” He kissed her then, long and slow, and oh so sensually, tightening his grip when her knees weakened.

  “You make me want so many things,” he whispered in her ear as they swayed to the romantic melody. “You, Hagen, time with both of you. This. You make me want to stay.”

  Oh, how she wanted to believe him, to take those words and make them come true, but she knew better. “You can’t say things like that to me,” she said softly, holding him a little tighter.

  “But it’s true, baby. Why wouldn’t I want you to know how I feel?” He spoke directly into her ear, holding her securely against him, as if he never wanted to let go.

  “Because it makes me want what can’t be, and I have to be careful, for Hagen’s sake.”


  “You have to be careful for your sake too, sunshine.” He pressed his lips to her cheek. They were warm, soft, and reassuring. “But it’s true,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s true and I want you to hear it. You have me, Mira. Even if I go back to New Jersey, there’ll only be you. We’ll figure it out. But for now, for these next several weeks, be with me. Please, let go of your fears and be with me.”

  Questions raced through her mind about how they might figure it out. The thought of a long-distance relationship was too painful to linger on, and the idea of moving away from her family and friends after she and Hagen had finally gotten on stable ground was unsettling. But she would never in a million years ask Matt to give up the very things he’d worked his whole life to achieve. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to soak in his impossible hopes, and pretend, just for a few moments, that they could one day come true.

  He gazed into her eyes and said, “Be with me, Mira.”

  The worries lingering in her mind were no match for her heart, which was so full of Matt, she didn’t know how to be any other way.

  “I already am.”

  BY THE TIME they headed back to the cottage, the streets were nearly empty, and the closer they got to Matt’s private stretch of beach, the more it felt like they had the whole island to themselves. They’d talked about so many things—Mira’s plan to address the co-op, Hagen’s comment about being a nerd, her brothers, his family, his writing. When they reached his cottage, he knew her even more intimately than he had only hours earlier, and it wasn’t nearly intimately enough. They grabbed blankets and pillows and spread them out on the beach, stretching out beside each other.

  Mira’s hair tumbled over her chest in luxurious soft waves. She wore the pretty pink dress she’d worn the day he’d met her at Grayson’s engagement party. It gathered over the tops of her thighs. His heart swelled with memories of that afternoon. He’d felt the world shift around him then, but he never could have anticipated how deeply she’d affect him in the coming months.

  “Aren’t you worried about your pillows getting all sandy?”

  He tucked her hair behind her ear so he could see her face more clearly. “Not at all. You live within the confines of mommyhood every day, and until recently I’ve lived within my academic walls. This weekend we have no rules, no walls. Only each other. This is a private beach, and I intend to take full advantage of our privacy. Sandy pillows and all.”

  “God, where did you come from? I’ve never met a man like you.”

  He kissed her tenderly. “I’ve never been this man until now. Until you.”

  She laughed softly, and the sweet sound floated around them. “I feel like we’ve been dating for months.”

  “We kind of have, sunshine. When I think about how many things led to my decision to take this sabbatical, it seems like most led back to you. All those times you sent me texts telling me that you’d had fun at a bonfire or barbecue with your family or our friends, or sharing something Hagen did or said. Or those torturous texts that said, ‘Wish you could have been there.’ I realize now that each and every text fed into my decision to finally take the sabbatical and give this—us—a real shot.”

  He’d been back for only a week, and he was already wondering how he’d ever return to teaching full-time and living hours away from Mira and Hagen—and his family. Morning coffee with Pete had become a habit that he looked forward to, and this week he’d see Grayson and Hunter and their fiancées, Parker and Jana. Time was slipping away too quickly, and he wished he had three more days for every one that passed.

  “I wonder if you’d have taken time off sooner if I’d sent you the texts I really wanted to send.” She turned a sultry gaze on him.

  Matt ran his fingers along her cheek, and she smiled. He loved her smile. He loved her face, her body, her brain, her son. How did he go from having all of his emotions in check back in New Jersey to the explosion that took place inside him every time they were together? He was usually methodical and careful about decisions, but being with Mira woke up a part of him he’d never known existed.

  “Tell me about those texts I never received,” he urged.

  Her cheeks flushed, and she licked her lips nervously. She was so damn cute he couldn’t resist sweeping his arm around her and tugging her against him. God, she felt good. Warm, soft, and perfectly matched to every inch of him.

  “Tell you?” she asked shyly. “I can’t tell you.”

  “Yes, you can, sunshine. You can tell me anything because you trust me.” He shifted her gently onto her back and gazed into her lust-filled eyes. He slid his knee over her legs and pressed his hand to her cheek. “Tell me everything you held back.”

  “Matt,” she whispered, and trapped her lower lip between her teeth.

  He freed that trapped lip with his teeth, sucking it into his mouth.

  “I want to hear you say it. Did you want to text dirty things to me?” He knew he was pushing her past her comfort zone, but he wanted that, too. He wanted her trust, her words, her heart.

  “Did you want to offer an invitation?” He kissed her softly. “To tell me you missed me and you wished I was in your bed at night?”

  Her lips parted and her long eyelashes fluttered, searching his eyes as if they held all the answers. He was working on that and hoped one day soon they would.

  Waves rolled up the shore, and a gentle breeze whisked over their skin. Matt slid his hand along Mira’s outer thigh. She breathed harder, and when his fingers touched the edge of her panties, she sucked in a sharp breath.

  “Tell me what dirty thoughts you withheld while we were apart,” he coaxed.

  “I wanted you to flirt with me.”

  Hearing her voice her desires, even something as simple as wanting him to flirt with her, opened a door that Matt had a feeling held much darker desires.

  “You want to hear how I fantasized about you?” he asked, hoping she’d say yes, because he wanted to see just how much the sultry single mom had been holding back.

  She nodded, her eyes widening with anticipation, darkening with lust.

  He squeezed her thigh. “How I wished I’d have stayed longer so we could get to know each other more intimately? How on the long drive home to New Jersey I thought about having these gorgeous long legs wrapped around my hips as I loved you so deeply you felt me the next day?”

  “Yes,” she whispered anxiously. Her fingers fisted in the blanket.

  “How I imagined you in your sexy lingerie, lying in the center of my bed, watching as I drew your panties down slowly. With my teeth.” He paused, letting the visual take hold. “How I wanted to tease you until you begged for every hard inch of me?”

  Her body began to tremble, and he slid his hand up over her ribs and palmed her breast, teasing over her pert nipple as he spoke. “Should I tell you how I wanted to suck on your beautiful breasts until heat consumed you and you felt it between your legs? Or maybe how I’d like to bury my mouth between your legs and devour you until I knew your taste by heart and you were so swollen you ached for me to make love to you?”

  She whimpered, and he slid the strap of her dress down, freeing her breast. Her eyes held his as he lowered his mouth and slicked his tongue over her taut nipple. She closed her eyes, and he stopped. Her eyes flew open.

  “That’s it, sunshine. Watch me love you.”

  He brought his hand to her breast again and traced slow circles around the rosy bud with his tongue. She arched up, pulling his head down, but he resisted her efforts, wanting to bring her right up to the edge, until she was dripping with desire.

  “Maybe you wanted to hear how I envisioned you on all fours on my bed as I took you from behind, holding on to your hair just tight enough that you felt every tug between your legs,” he said brazenly, testing the depth of her naughtiness.

  Her eyes widened again. “I’ve never…”

  “Don’t worry, baby. We won’t do anything you don’t want. And I promise, we will do everything your little heart desires
. Are those the types of texts you wished for?”

  “Yes.” Her voice was shaky, her skin flushed.

  He righted her dress and bra, and confusion washed over her beautiful face. He moved his hand beneath her dress, stroking her through her damp panties.

  She closed her eyes again and his hand stilled. “Open, baby.” Her eyes fluttered open. “That’s it.”

  “More, Matt. Tell me more.”

  He couldn’t suppress the wicked grin lifting his lips. He pulled off her panties less than gently, fisted the silk and lace in his hand as he brought them to his nose and inhaled deeply. Her jaw dropped open.

  “Your scent is intoxicating,” he said, and dropped her panties beside her. He brushed his hand over her pubic hair, and she sucked in another sharp breath. He covered her mound with his palm, his fingers brushing lightly over her wetness. Her legs spread wider, and she rocked against his hand, her eyes imploring him to continue describing his fantasies.

  “Do you know how many nights I lay awake imagining what it would feel like to touch you here?” He stroked his thumb over her clit, and she trapped her lower lip again. He slid one finger between her wet folds, moving from front to back in a slow rhythm, feeling her breathing quicken, her hips rock, her arousal grow even slicker with need.

  Her eyelashes fluttered, and he dipped the tip of his finger inside her, moving in and out, though not going deep. She whimpered, and the sound tore through him, electrifying him from the inside out.

  “How many nights I thought about what you would look like when you came apart beneath me? On my tongue? On my hands?” He felt her sex clench, and he cupped his fingers over her, stilling his movements, reveling in the pulsing sensations against his flesh.

  “You’re so sexy right now, sunshine.” He withdrew his hand from between her legs and she gasped. “Sit up for me, baby.”

  He helped her sit up and lifted her dress over her head. She crossed her hands over her chest, her eyes darting nervously over the dark, deserted beach.

  “We’re alone. I’d never share you with anyone else.” He took off his shirt and rose to his feet to strip off his pants. Naked, he knelt beside her and stroked his hard length. She licked her lips, and it took all his will not to push his cock between them, but he had other plans. He wanted to see her surrender to him completely, to strip away all of her inhibitions.