by Addison Cole
He couldn’t resist sliding one hand to the nape of her neck, drawing her closer, and brushing his lips over hers. “I think you’ve made an excellent impression, especially when you get flustered.”
Her lips parted and a puff of air escaped. “I’ll probably get flustered a lot tonight.”
He lowered his lips to hers, turning her playful smile into a series of eager kisses. He desperately wanted to deepen the kiss, but he knew she’d be embarrassed. As much as he loved seeing her cheeks pink up, battling with the hunger in her eyes, he forced himself to come up for air.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll try to behave.”
She touched his hand and said, “Don’t behave too much, or I might have to put you in a time out.”
She was going to be the death of him. Could a man die from sweetness overload?
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I don’t think I’m capable of being too behaved with you. Unless, of course, you have a naughty corner. I’d do just about anything to land there.”
Her eyes bloomed wide. She downed half her wine and whispered, “I don’t have a naughty corner!”
He laughed and gave her a chaste kiss, then forced himself to sit back and put enough space between them to keep him from taking that any further. For now.
He took a drink to distract himself from her tongue running nervously across her lower lip, and when that didn’t work, he went for conversation. “What do you think would have been different if we’d met under different circumstances?”
“You mean besides everything?”
“I hope you’re kidding, because I really like who you are,” he said more seriously.
“Thank you. But a lot would be different. I’m floundering a little being here this summer.”
“Because you’re watching your mother’s business and you’re not into the items she carries?”
She sat up a little taller, her expression serious. “That and the whole reason we’re here. My mother is the kind of person who lives her life on a whim, without any regard for who she hurts along the way.”
“And you’ve been hurt by her whimsical lifestyle?”
She nodded, and it made him ache and angry at once. Holding her hand, he put his other arm around her, wishing he could take away whatever pain her mother had caused.
“Violet is my half sister,” she explained. “We have different fathers. She’s two and a half years older than me, and we grew up together until I was five, when our parents—our mother and my father, Violet’s stepfather—divorced. Lizza, our mother, took Violet and moved overseas to teach.”
He ground his teeth together at the thought of Desiree as a trusting little girl having her world ripped out from under her. No wonder Violet was so protective of her. She was trying to keep anyone else from hurting her baby sister.
“They moved from one country to another while Lizza taught on six-month contracts, sometimes shorter or longer, but you get the idea. I lived with my father in Virginia, and saw them once or twice a year for a few days at a time when we were young. Violet and I spent some time together here at the Cape, but by the time we were teenagers, it was just a few disconnected and uncomfortable days each year.” Her gaze lowered to their joined hands. “I’ve never talked about this before, except with Emery.”
“I’m sorry, and thank you for trusting me enough to share it.” In an effort to lighten her mood, he said, “Is this the same Emery who says you date ‘nice’ guys?”
“The one and only. You listened to everything I said last night, didn’t you?”
Imagining all she’d gone through, the truth came easily. “How could anyone be with you and not listen to every word you say? What you’ve gone through is what’s made you the incredible woman you are. I want to hear everything you’re willing to share.”
“It actually feels good to tell you. It’s hard to have all of this in my head and try to relax. I really like you, and I want to relax.” She looked down at their joined hands and smiled. “Just promise me that if you run for the hills, you’ll drop me off first.”
“Yeah, because that’s likely to happen.” He laughed, and her smile reached her eyes. “I’m not going to judge you by your mother’s actions, if that’s what you’re worried about. And I’m not going anywhere without you by my side.”
“You make my heart go a mile a minute.” She took another sip of liquid courage. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
He leaned in closer. “I might use that to my advantage later, but unless you want me to do so now, I’d suggest we move to safer ground, because that look in your eyes makes it seriously hard for me to concentrate.”
He forced himself to put distance between them again. “Tell me what it was like when you did see them.”
She swallowed hard, her brows knitting. “As you can imagine, those visits were stressful and disjointed. There was no time to get reacclimated to one another before they were leaving again. During the summers, Violet and I would come here to stay with my grandmother, but they weren’t joyful reunions. We didn’t really know each other, and as we got older, it became even more awkward, and we spent less and less time together. And then I went to college, and our visits became even more sporadic.”
Regardless of how good she said it had felt to tell him, he saw pain in her eyes. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, hoping to soothe it. “I’m sorry you went through that. It must have been heartbreaking.”
“It was. And frustrating.” A small smile lifted her lips. “I told you it was complicated.”
She was revealing so much of herself, he felt even more protective of her. “And I told you, I can handle complicated.”
That brought a bolder smile, and a sigh of relief. “That’s good. Because it gets even more so.”
He couldn’t imagine that she’d been through more than what she’d already described.
“Before last year at my grandmother’s funeral, it had been a few years since I’d seen either Lizza or Vi. And then out of the blue, a few days ago I received an email from Lizza saying she needed me to come to the Cape to prolong her life.”
Holy crap.
“I felt about how you look right now. Like what the heck, right?”
“Something like that,” he mumbled.
“When I got here, I found out she wasn’t sick. She was bored looking after the house, which isn’t surprising considering she never stays in one place very long.”
“Wow, Desiree. I’m sorry, but who would do that to her daughter? I’m having a really hard time liking your mother right now.”
She laughed, and it caught him by surprise. “You and me both. Anyway, the long and short of it is that she’d also sent an email to Violet saying I needed her here to help prolong my life. I had only just arrived, and Lizza was all packed up and ready to leave. Right before she climbed into a cab she told us she’d taken out a mortgage on the house, and unless we wanted to lose our grandmother’s estate, we needed to stay and run her business to pay the mortgage. Now she’s off at an ashram for the summer.”
She told him about the lack of renovations being done and their plans for marketing with flyers and signs. She’d clearly accepted that this was her lot for the summer, and she was facing it head-on.
“No wonder you feel off-kilter. You’re a strong, loyal woman, Desiree. I think most people would have turned around and gone back home, leaving Lizza to clean up her own mess.”
She took another sip of wine. “Don’t give me too much credit. I wanted to leave, but I couldn’t strap Violet with all of this. It’s so crazy, it doesn’t even feel real.”
Thinking of when they’d lost his father, he said, “I know all about things being so far out there they don’t seem real.” He pushed those memories away, as he’d been doing his whole life, and focused on the brave woman baring her soul before him.
“Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.” Because it brought us together. He tried to lighten the mood and earn one of her beautiful smiles. �
��Think of it this way. You’re learning a new trade, living in a beachfront house without the headache of renovations, and you have time to get to know your sister. I’d say that’s a heck of a good summer.”
Her smile reached all the way up to her eyes, and then all that brightness smoldered. “You left out the best part of all.”
He put an arm around her, drawing her closer. “That you’re dating a guy who’s getting more into you by the second?”
“Yes. That.” She lowered her voice and said, “You should probably seal that thought with a kiss.”
“If I don’t, can we visit the naughty corner?” He slanted his mouth over hers, swallowing her sounds of surprise and turning them into something much sweeter.
Chapter Seven
WHEN THEY ARRIVED back at the resort for the bonfire, Desiree and Rick left their shoes in the truck and crossed the dunes to find the others. The sand was cold beneath Desiree’s bare feet, but she was warm snuggled up against Rick’s side. She had worried that her confession would make him think twice about getting any more involved with her, but as they walked along the shore, serenaded by the bay lapping at the sand, she knew it had brought them even closer. They’d talked and laughed over dinner, and she’d shared so much of herself that she felt like Rick knew her better than most people who had known her for years. But when the flames of the bonfire came into view, her nerves sprang to life, pushing all that goodness to the side.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Just a little nervous.”
He stopped walking and wrapped his arms around her with a wide grin. “I promise you will like them, and they will adore you.”
“Why won’t I adore them?”
He laughed and touched his lips to her hers. “You are forever the teacher, aren’t you? I’ll have to be more careful with semantics. You will adore them.” His eyes darkened, and that playful grin turned serious. “Just don’t adore them too much. I don’t share well.”
“Is my big, confident guy jealous?” She flattened her palms on his chest, going up on her toes, anxious for another kiss. “What happens when you get jealous?”
“I up my game,” he practically growled, before taking her in a toe-curling kiss that had her winding her arms around his neck to keep him from breaking their connection.
She needn’t have worried. He kissed her until her knees weakened, and she sank down on her heels, holding on to him in an effort to remain standing. When their lips finally parted, he went back for more, leaving her mouth tingling and her body electrified.
“I…” She swallowed hard to try to force her fuzzy mind into gear.
A wicked grin spread across his face, and he kissed her again.
“You know I can’t resist you when you get flustered.”
His voice was gravelly and low, and she imagined him saying it to her in a dark bedroom, where she was sure to be flustered with an experienced guy like Rick. That thought sent her mind scrambling again, and he must have seen it, because he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her deep and slow, until she was sure she’d turn to liquid and wash away with the tide.
She came away breathless and put her finger over his mouth to give herself time to find her legs again. He smiled and puckered up, pressed a kiss to her finger, and then he sucked it into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the tip.
“Rick.” She pulled her finger from his mouth and stole a glance up the beach, toward the sounds of laughter and guitar music. She fought her needy self, which begged her to drag him up to the dunes and continue making out, but she couldn’t leave his family wondering where they were.
“My delicious Desiree, you push all of my buttons.” He wrapped his hand around her wrist and kissed her palm. “I warned you about being flustered,” he said in a playful voice, as if he hadn’t just sent her world spinning. “Come on. Let’s go get jealous and flustered.”
A little boy sprinted down the beach toward them, his mop of brown hair blowing in the wind as he plowed into Rick’s legs. “Uncle Rick!”
“Hagen, my man.” Rick hoisted him into his arms and kissed his cheek.
“We’re roasting marshmallows,” Hagen said, his bright blue eyes dancing with excitement. “And me and Dad made In-va-rar-y sand castle.”
“That’s great.” Rick put his hand on the small of Desiree’s back and said, “Des, this is my brilliant nephew, Hagen. Buddy, this is my girlfriend, Desiree.”
It had been so long since she’d been called a girlfriend, she was momentarily stunned. Rick winked, as if to say, Go with it. She was going with it, all right. And she wasn’t freaking out inside or feeling like she wanted to hold back. Seeing her big, brawny, pushy man with sweet Hagen helped bolster her decision.
Hagen’s eyes turned serious. “Hi.”
“Hi. I’m surprised you know about the Inveraray Castle. It’s a beautiful one.”
“I know about lots of castles. Mom says castles are handsome, and their grounds are beautiful.” He wiggled out of Rick’s arms. “Hurry up and get there before Uncle Drake eats all the marshmallows.” He took off running toward the group.
“Slow down around the fire,” Rick called after him, melting Desiree’s heart a little more. “Hagen and Matt, my sister Mira’s husband, have been studying castles. They’re planning a family trip to see a few of them over the winter. Last summer they visited libraries down the East Coast.”
“He’s adorable,” she said. “How old is he? Six or seven?”
“He’s seven. Hagen’s a cool kid. He loves—adores—books and facts. Probably like your children will one day.” He put his mouth beside her ear as they approached the bonfire and said, “I bet my sweet, naughty teacher wants three kids and a white picket fence.”
She’d dreamed of marrying a man who was as loving and stable as her father, and of being the type of mother she always wished she’d had. He’d pegged her so perfectly, she wondered what else he saw in her.
A tall, dark-haired man pushed to his feet, flashing a friendly smile. “There’s the man of the hour. Hi. You must be Desiree. I’m Drake, Rick’s older brother.” He gave her a quick hug. “I’m glad you made it.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” She glanced at Rick, sighing inwardly as he blew her a kiss.
A pretty brunette wearing shorts and a sweatshirt hugged her next. “I’m Mira—their sister and Hagen’s mom. My son thinks you’re very pretty.”
“Oh,” Desiree said, surprised. “Well, thank you, Hagen. He’s adorable. I can’t wait to see the castle he’s built.”
Mira reached for another dark-haired man’s hand. The way he was looking at Mira told her he was Matt.
“He and Matt built it,” Mira said.
Matt embraced Desiree. “Nice to meet you. We’ll show you the castle after you get put through the paces with this crew.”
A perky brunette wearing cropped jeans and a purple hoodie pushed between them. “Hi. I’m Serena. I work for the guys at the resort.”
“And we grew up together,” Mira chimed in.
“And she and Drake had a fling,” said a muscular guy who was sitting on a blanket playing the guitar.
Serena waved her hands. “No fling. We just work together.”
Drake glared at the guy. “No, we did not have a fling. Come on, Dean.” He took the guitar from Dean and gave him a nudge toward Rick and Desiree. “This is Dean, our business partner—and a troublemaker.”
“How’s it going?” Dean gave her a friendly hug.
Rick reclaimed her with an arm around her waist and said, “Welcome to my crazy summer.”
She liked the playfulness of his friends and family. Everyone settled on blankets and chairs around the bonfire. Matt and Hagen roasted marshmallows, and Drake and Dean gave each other a hard time.
Serena handed her a stick and a bag of marshmallows. “We have chocolate and graham crackers, too.”
“Sounds delicious.” She took the stick, and Rick grabbed the bag of marshmallows.
“I’v
e got it,” he said as he slid a marshmallow onto the stick, licking the sweetness off his fingers with a lascivious look in his eyes. Oh boy. May I have another, please?
Dean picked up his guitar, playing again.
“Rick tells us you’re staying at the old Summer House Inn,” Drake said.
“Yes. It was my grandmother’s house. My sister and I are running my mother’s art gallery for the summer.”
“Mira, we should check it out,” Serena said. “Is it open all the time?”
She told them how they were just starting to figure out the hours and get the word out about the gallery, and decided not to mention the sex toy shop.
“Why don’t we come by one afternoon when we can both slip away. Maybe while we’re there we can help you brainstorm ideas to get the word out,” Mira suggested. “I just set up a co-op, and Serena is a wiz at marketing.”
“That sounds perfect,” Desiree said, already feeling a kinship with the easygoing girls.
Hours passed in a carefree night of music, marshmallows, and playful banter. Rick kept a hand on Desiree’s leg, or his arm around her, the whole time. Hagen showed Desiree the castle he and Matt had built and explained the history of the structure in seven-year-old terms, blowing her away. It was a magical feeling, being swept into the inner circle of such warm, close-knit friends. She wished she and Violet could get along this easily. Maybe one day…
Rick nudged Desiree’s shoulder, holding a roasted marshmallow between his fingers. “Can I interest you in a little warm, creamy goodness?”
With the seductive tone of his voice, and the way he was visually devouring her, he might as well have been naked and offering her something far more sexual. Her eyes darted nervously around the group, worrying someone else might have had the same interpretation. Matt pulled Mira to her feet and began dancing. Drake and Dean were now both playing guitars. Drake’s eyes were locked on Serena, who was taking a selfie with Hagen, and Desiree wondered if there was something between Drake and Serena after all.