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

by Melissa Foster

  “I know. We all know.” Jenna raised her brows. “He’d talked about taking time off before, but he never did it. And then you two met, and wham! He’s here for the summer, and you two went to Nantucket, and you’re leaving tomorrow for your big trip. It’s all so exciting, and you have to know we’re all pulling for you guys.”

  Mira couldn’t stop smiling. “You make us sound like a horse race.”

  “It’s a love race,” Jenna said conspiratorially. “Heck, Pete had you two nailed as a couple that very first day. But Matt’s the most careful of his siblings. Pete says he’s like their mother in that way. Matt plans and thinks and overthinks like I match accessories to outfits.” She wiggled her toes, showing Mira her pink nail polish, which matched her pink bathing suit and flip-flops. “Everything has to feel right before he’ll make a move.”

  Thinking about the last time they made love, Mira smiled. Matt had this way of taking complete control but making every movement feel passionate and oh so good. He sure didn’t have any trouble making a move, and everything felt more than right. It felt perfect.

  “Matt and Hagen have become really close. That’s got to make you feel good.”

  “You have no idea,” Mira said. She and Serena had talked for an hour last night about how much had changed in just a few weeks. “I was afraid to let a man into Hagen’s life, and Matt snuck under my radar in every way. One day we were friends and the next we were making out on my couch after Hagen was asleep. I’ve never done that before. Ever.”

  “That’s how you know it’s real, when you do things you never thought you would.”

  “That’s what Serena says, too.” Mira smiled, thinking about their Nair, condom, and lube conversation. “I’m still worried about what will happen after his sabbatical is over.”

  “You could always go back to Princeton with him, couldn’t you?” Jenna fidgeted with her bathing suit top, trying to keep her boobs from popping out as she bent to wipe more sand from Bea’s face.

  “We haven’t talked about it. We agreed that we’d wait it out and see where we were when the time came, so I try not to think about it too much. I mean, realistically speaking, leaving the Cape would be hard. My brothers are a big part of Hagen’s life, and I could never leave Neil high and dry. Especially if the co-op comes through. But the idea of a long-distance relationship would be hard, too. Especially now that Hagen’s gotten so close to Matt. He’s even confiding in him, which I admit, I’m slightly jealous of.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t taking all that into consideration. It does sound complicated. No wonder you guys decided not to talk about it right now. Why get all stressed over something that’s still several weeks away? And I hear you on the jealousy thing. My little muffin does that, and she’s not even old enough to have big issues. But I know when she’s a teenager she’ll come to me, not Daddy, who will probably fit her for a chastity belt before then.”

  They laughed, but now Mira was thinking about Matt going back to Princeton. She reminded herself not to borrow trouble and once again pushed those uncomfortable thoughts aside. Then shoved them harder, making room for happier thoughts.

  “I think being protective is a Lacroux trait. Matt’s super protective of me and Hagen.” Mira realized Matt had been that way since they’d first met. Even when they took Hagen to the park before they were dating, he kept an eagle eye on him. “I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad he is. It’s nice knowing he’s watching out for us. And even though I’m a tiny bit jealous, I’m glad Hagen’s opening up to him. Hagen had us both worried for a while when he asked if we thought he was a nerd.”

  “Oh no. Was he getting teased again?” Jenna asked.

  “We thought so, but when Matt chaperoned Hagen’s field trip last week, a little girl asked if she could sit next to Hagen, and Matt said she looked right into Hagen’s eyes and said, ‘I like nerdy boys best.’” Mira had been so relieved when Matt had texted and let her know, she’d actually teared up. “And when Matt asked Hagen if that was why he’d asked if he was a nerd, he said yes, because he wanted to be one.”

  “That’s the cutest thing ever!” Jenna said.

  “I know, but it’s too soon,” Mira said. “I’m nowhere near ready for that. Even the thought of giving up my time with my little boy for a girl who will inevitably break his heart is hard.”

  Jenna shared her first-love heartbreak story, and as Mira listened, watching Matt work side by side with Hagen, she realized she was smack-dab in the middle of her first true-love story. Second if she counted Hagen, but that was a whole different type of love.

  MATT WATCHED HAGEN wind the rope and secure the bottom logs of the raft to the decking lying crosswise over top, just as he’d taught him. He’d never seen a child who paid such close attention to directions, or who had such a long attention span. It was midafternoon, and they’d been building the Huckleberry Finn–style raft for hours. Hagen had helped him choose the logs from a local lumberyard. When they’d gotten back to Pete’s, Hagen had helped measure and mark them so Pete could cut them to equal lengths. Once that was done, they laid four logs across the grass about a foot apart, and Hagen took extra time to ensure the logs were equally spaced.

  Hagen was a meticulous child, something Matt could relate to. Neil, like Matt, explained the reasoning behind every step. Matt took a nice stroll down memory lane, remembering the many projects he’d worked on over the years with his father. He’d been more interested in the research and preparation than the actual building, but Hagen seemed interested in both, and his father was soaking it all in. It warmed him to see Hagen working closely with his father and Pete.

  Hagen worked carefully securing the decking logs. “How’s that?” He held up the two ends of the rope. His eyes were shaded from the sun with his Princeton baseball hat.

  “Perfect. I think you’re a natural raft builder.” Matt tied the ends together, while Pete cut another length of rope for Hagen.

  Hagen’s eyes filled with pride. “It’s going to be the best raft ever. Just like Huck Finn’s.”

  Pete handed him another piece of rope. “At this rate, maybe you will be able to build a boat after all.”

  “I might want to be a boat builder for real when I grow up.” Hagen sank down on his heels beside Matt and began winding the rope around the bottom log, then crossed the two pieces and wound it around the top log. “Is a boat builder a nerd?”

  Neil draped an arm over Pete’s shoulder, smiling down at Hagen. “Do me and Pete look like nerds?”

  Hagen scrunched his face up, looking the two of them over.

  Matt stifled a chuckle and rolled his own assessing gaze over his father and brother. They’d always been there for him, during good times and bad, and he’d missed them with a vengeance these past few years. He was getting used to feeling the emotions he’d refused to acknowledge for so long, and he found himself wanting to feel more of everything. He glanced toward the beach, where Mira and Jenna were playing with Bea and Joey, and his heart felt full. Nothing compared to this—being with family, being with Mira and Hagen, working alongside his brother and father.

  Nothing.

  Not teaching, not writing, not helping strangers.

  Not a damn thing.

  “Yes, I think you are nerds,” Hagen determined, bringing Matt’s mind back to the conversation. “That’s good, because I want to be a nerd like Matt.”

  Pete laughed, and Neil shifted a surprised glanced at Matt, who was as shocked as his father. He knew Hagen wanted to be a nerd because a certain little girl with bouncy blond ponytails said she liked nerdy boys best, but to hear him say he wanted to be like Matt was overwhelming. It didn’t matter that Hagen was another man’s son and Matt had no claim over him. Every time they were together, Hagen, like his mother, stole another chunk of Matt’s heart.

  “Why do you want to be a nerd like Matt?” Pete asked, smirking at Matt.

  “Because my mom says smart boys are the best kind of boys, and she loves Matt. That means
he’s a smart man, and I think he’s a nerd because he sometimes wears black glasses that everyone calls nerd glasses. And he likes to read, like me.”

  Matt’s eyes shot to Hagen—who crouched beside the raft and began wrapping the rope around the wood again, as if he hadn’t just turned Matt’s world upside down.

  “You know what that means, don’t you?” Neil patted Hagen’s shoulder, and when the little boy shook his head, he said, “It means your mommy is a very smart woman.”

  “Yup. That’s why I’m so smart.” Hagen went back to working on the raft.

  Matt squinted against the sun, peering intently at Mira again and feeling Pete’s and their father’s eyes on him. You love me? Surely Hagen had misinterpreted something Mira had said or done.

  He’d been holding back those three words for what felt like an interminable length of time, afraid to confess his feelings while his future was still up in the air. He didn’t want to put pressure on Mira after she’d made it clear that she wanted to go slow and needed to be careful. They’d blown slow to smithereens.

  We have to trust that we’ll both know what the right thing to do is when we get to that point.

  Was this that point?

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  THE ROCKY BAY floor felt familiar beneath Matt’s feet, like an old friend greeting him as he and Pete carried the raft into chilly, chest-deep water. Behind them, their father carried Hagen, who was sporting a new blue life vest Matt had bought for him. Jenna and Bea stood at the water’s edge with Mira, who held her phone, ready to take pictures of Hagen’s big event. Her windswept hair framed her face, wayward strands whipping across her cheeks with the warm summer breeze. Her sun-kissed skin glistened in the late-afternoon sun. She bit her lower lip, holding his gaze and looking sexy as sin in a pale green bikini. The excitement and the heat he’d come to expect when they were together twinkled in her beautiful eyes as they lowered the wooden raft onto the surface of the water.

  Everyone seemed to be holding their breath for what they’d deemed Hagen Savage’s First Rafting Adventure. Hagen insisted he was going to write a book about it, and Matt was sure the determined child could do anything he put his mind to.

  Matt knew the raft wouldn’t sink, but that didn’t stop adrenaline from pumping through his veins as the raft rose with the ripple of the bay’s gentle waves. He saw Jenna nudge Mira and gesture to her phone.

  Mira laughed and lifted her phone, pointing the camera at them, and said loudly, “I wasn’t drooling.” She slapped her hand over her mouth, and everyone laughed.

  “Keep telling yourself that,” Jenna teased.

  “It floats!” Hagen yelled, pointing to the raft. “Look, Mom! It floats!”

  “Of course it floats, baby,” she said. “You built it.”

  “We built it!” Hagen corrected her. “The guys.”

  Behind her phone, Mira’s smile appeared.

  “Remember our raft battles?” Pete asked.

  Memories of rafts and water fights sailed into Matt’s mind. “How could I forget? You insisted on putting a sail on yours, which Hunter tried to climb and broke in half.”

  They both laughed.

  “I remember the broken rafts and the wrestling that ensued after each of those battles,” their father said.

  “They wrestled?” Hagen asked.

  “Like little monkeys.” Neil laughed and handed Hagen to Matt. “Matt and his brothers were always getting into some kind of trouble. But not Sky. She was too busy doing her artwork.”

  They’d tied ropes to each corner of the raft so they could pull it through the water. Pete stood on the left side of the raft holding both ropes. When Neil settled Hagen in Matt’s arms, he joined Pete, who handed his father one of the ropes.

  Hagen’s arms circled Matt’s neck. “I wish I had brothers. I want to wrestle like a monkey.”

  Matt’s gaze shifted to Mira. She lowered the phone with a look of longing in her eyes, and he felt it everywhere, as if her hands stroked over his skin. When she smiled, it drew him in, just as it did when she laughed, the feminine melody making his heart sing right along with it.

  Oh yeah, he was at that point all right.

  “Maybe someday you will,” he said, his gaze never leaving the woman who owned his heart.

  Mira’s eyes widened, and for a quiet moment no one said a word, but Matt was sure everyone could feel his burgeoning love for her. He blew Mira a kiss, and it must have landed hard, because she blinked a few times and covered her heart with her hand.

  Jenna said something to Mira and Mira’s cheeks flushed, sending rivers of emotions rippling through him.

  “Where’s the captain of this raft?” Pete said loudly, jolting Matt’s brain back in gear.

  He placed Hagen in the middle of the raft, but Hagen clung to him.

  “Are you sure it will hold me?” His tiny fingers pressed into the back of Matt’s neck.

  “Absolutely,” Matt assured him, and peeled the little boy’s fingers from around his neck. “You’re a master raft builder, remember?”

  Hagen nodded and nervously took hold of the rope handles they’d fashioned for him. Matt kept one hand on Hagen’s back, walking beside the raft as Pete and Neil pulled it through the water.

  “Look, Mom!” Hagen yelled, holding tightly to the ropes. “We’re going! We’re going, Matt! We did it. I’m like Huckleberry Finn!”

  “You’re better than Huckleberry Finn,” Matt said, looking up at Mira again, who was walking along the water parallel to them with Joey trotting beside her. He assumed she was recording his big debut. “You’re Hagen Savage!”

  Hagen’s first voyage was a great success, and lasted more than an hour and a half. The men got quite a workout, pulling the raft and towing it deeper at the command of their young captain. Afterward, they stowed the raft in Pete’s boat shed for safekeeping and cooked dinner in a cool new steel hibachi Grayson had made for Pete and Jenna. They ate dinner on the beach and roasted marshmallows, which Hagen loved. Jenna, the marshmallow princess, had Pete show Hagen how to make golden brown marshmallows. Not golden, not brown. Golden brown, which Hagen agreed were perfectly delicious.

  Long after Bea had given in to the call of slumber lying on her daddy’s chest, as the moon rose high in the sky and the fire burned down to embers, Hagen fell asleep in the center of the blanket. Matt and Mira said their goodbyes, and Matt carried the sleeping boy to the car. He liked the familiar weight of him in his arms. Hagen didn’t even stir when Matt buckled him into the backseat.

  Matt reached for Mira, as he’d been dying to do all night. Bringing their bodies together as his mouth came down over hers, he took her in a series of slow, intoxicating kisses. Kissing Mira was a whole-body experience. His legs grounded them as heat bound them together and she melted against him. She tasted sweet and hot, and gloriously delicious.

  “I’ve been dying to kiss you like that all day,” he confessed, before taking her in a deeper, punishingly intense kiss that left no room for misinterpretation of what else he’d been dying to do to her once he got that hoodie and skimpy little erection-inducing bikini off of her.

  “Take me home,” she whispered against his lips.

  MATT KEPT A hand on Mira’s thigh as he drove home, his thumb moving in slow, sensual circles. Every few minutes his fingers would dip between her thighs, not touching her sex, just hovering close enough to make her want him to. By the time they reached her cottage, she was hot, bothered, and so in love she wasn’t sure she could contain the words.

  Hagen didn’t wake when Matt carried him into the house, or as Mira changed him into his pajamas. The little guy was completely tuckered out.

  They pulled the door partially closed behind them and Mira took Matt’s hand, leading him silently toward her bedroom. She closed the door and put a finger to her lips.

  “You’re sure?” he asked as he tugged her so close his erection pressed into her.

  “God, yes.”

  He claimed her mouth,
crushing her to him and making quick work of removing her hoodie and bikini, somehow never breaking their connection as he stepped out of his bathing suit. The heat of his body coursed down the entire length of hers, and they tumbled down to the bed. He tugged the covers over them.

  “In case Hagen gets up. I’ll listen for him, but I’m pretty sure my brain isn’t going to be working in about seven seconds.”

  “Seven seconds is a very long time.” She wiggled beneath him, aligning his thick cock to her entrance. She’d watched him all day, all those enticing muscles calling out to her, making her so wet she had to take a dip in the bay to mask her arousal. She ached for him to love her, physically and emotionally.

  “You shouldn’t be allowed to prance around in that skimpy bathing suit,” he said, and took her in another toe-curling kiss. “I had to think of big, fat, hairy men to keep from sporting wood all day.”

  “I’m going to wear it every time I see you now.” She nipped at his lip, and he nestled the head of his cock inside her entrance. “Mm. More.”

  He gazed down at her with the possessive, seductive look he got every time they made love, and suddenly his face blanched and he pulled back.

  “Condom,” he ground out. “I’m sorry. I—”

  She pulled him back down to her. “I’m on the pill, so unless you’re worried you might have a disease, I know I’m clean.”

  “No diseases, sunshine.”

  She lifted her hips, aligning their bodies once again. “Then kiss me.”

  She pulled his mouth to hers, drinking in his heat, his love, as she moved with him, accepting all of him, until they were as close as two people could be. Her sex clenched around him, their hearts hammered out the same frantic beat, and he drew away from the kiss.

  “Come back,” she pleaded.

  “I need to see you,” he said urgently.

  Cradling her face in his hands, so much love gazed back at her it drew her heart from her lungs.

  “I love you,” she confessed, at the same time he said, “I love you so much.”