Seaside Hearts (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers, Book 2) Contemporary Romance

by Melissa Foster

  “Yeah. Let’s go inside and clean up. We can have dinner out on the patio.”

  They’d spent most nights at Jenna’s cottage so Jenna could be closer to her friends, but they’d spent last night at his house, and when they walked inside, the scent of Jenna’s body lotion surrounded him. When he pulled open a drawer next to the sink and found all of the dishtowels neatly folded and color coordinated, he knew Jenna had made herself right at home.

  “Sorry,” she said with a sweet smile.

  “Don’t be. I like seeing traces of you here.” He wiped his face with a towel, then scrubbed it down his chest and over his arms as Jenna pushed his hands aside and snuggled against him, her cheek pressed tightly between his ribs.

  “Babe, how come everything around you needs to be in order, but you take me as I am? I’m not exactly a guy who matches my clothes and shoes; my hands are always covered in grime or wood dust, and—”

  “I like things organized because they make sense to me that way. You make sense to me just the way you are.” She pressed her hands to his stomach and gazed up at him with love in her eyes.

  With all the guilt and worry he carried over his father, Pete wasn’t sure he made sense to himself most of the time, but Jenna’s love made him feel like the luckiest guy on the planet. He couldn’t wait to experience fall at the Cape with Jenna, then winter, when they could snuggle up by the fire and—Oh shit. Jenna was only at the Cape for the summer, and they’d gotten so serious so fast that they hadn’t slowed down enough to talk about their future—and he wanted a future with Jenna. A shiver of worry rushed through him.

  They ate dinner out on the deck, surrounded by the sounds of the bay, and later, they walked down the beach with Joey happily trotting alongside them. As the night progressed, thoughts of the summer ending played in his mind. Jenna lived only a couple of hours away, in Rhode Island, but the thought of not being with her was twisting his gut into a tight knot.

  Jenna found a stick and tossed it for Joey to chase. She laughed when Joey tumbled nose first, diving for the stick. God, he loved her laugh.

  “Hey, Jen, would you ever consider moving to the Cape full-time?”

  Jenna stopped walking and gazed out over the water. Her hair blew back from her shoulders, and a few strands whipped across her cheek. She reached up to clear her hair from her face, and Pete took her hand in his and pressed a soft kiss to the back of it. Then he brushed her hair away from her cheek and smiled down at her.

  “Like give up my job and my house and move here?” Her eyebrows drew together.

  Not exactly the reaction he’d hoped for.

  “I guess. I’m just wondering what we’ll do when the summer’s over.”

  Jenna bit her lower lip. “Would you ever consider moving to Rhode Island?”

  He folded her into his arms and pressed his hand to the back of her head. He couldn’t leave his father, and he knew she wasn’t asking him to. She was throwing the ball back into his court so he could feel the same impact of the question as she did.

  “Maybe,” he finally managed. “I have a lot to work out here, so maybe we should both think about it.”

  Jenna pressed her lips to his stomach. He lifted her chin, and his stomach clenched at the sadness in her eyes.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “We’ll figure this out. I didn’t bring it up to worry you. I just…” He thought about how to explain what he was feeling without putting pressure on her. She was gaining solid ground with her mother again, which was wonderful, but it also made him realize that he had a long road ahead of him with his father. Honesty came before he could process a way to cushion his thoughts.

  “I don’t want to lose you, Jenna, and just the thought of not seeing you seems impossible. But I know you have a job, and a life, in Rhode Island, and I have both here, not to mention a fucked-up father who needs looking after.”

  She clenched her fists in his shirt. “In all these years of wanting to be with you, I’ve never fallen short of seeing forever in my mind. But I never really worked out the particulars, I guess. How can I organize everything in my life except this?” Jenna’s voice was laced with worry.

  Pete draped an arm over her shoulder. “Maybe because it all made sense to you, like I did. It wasn’t a project, or a thing. It was us, and you can’t figure out us all by yourself.”

  The issue of their future expanded with every breath as they walked back the way they’d come, their path illuminated by the moonlight, the porch lights of Pete’s house beacons of their destination.

  The house was quiet, save for the curtains billowing around the living room windows. They went into the bedroom, and Jenna set her sandals beside a pair of her flip-flops in the bottom of Pete’s closet. She went to the dresser and squeezed a dab of her body lotion into her hands, then set the bottle beside Pete’s cologne. The room instantly smelled like Jenna. With one hand, Pete reached over his back and pulled his shirt off. Thinking of Jenna, he laid it carefully over the chair rather than dropping it to the floor. Everything he did, he did with Jenna in mind, and he liked it that way.

  Jenna untied the shoulder straps of her long cotton dress, and it puddled at her feet. She crossed her arms over her bare breasts. The thin line of her taupe thong was barely visible against her tanned skin. Jenna rarely went without a bra, but at night, when it was just them, she felt comfortable enough to do so, and the flush that crept up her neck made her sexy and sweet at once, and utterly irresistible. Pete drew her body against him.

  “Love the worry away, Petey.” Her whisper brushed over his skin.

  He lifted her in his arms, cradling her against him, and kissed her deeply. Her arms circled his neck as he lowered her to the bed. After divesting himself of his pants, he came down beside her and kissed her again, loving her mouth with all the tenderness and all the desire that consumed him every moment they were together. He slid his lips along the smooth line of her jaw and took her earlobe between his teeth. Jenna sucked in a breath; her fingernails dug into his back.

  “I love when you do that,” she whispered.

  He released her lobe and laved the tender spot with his tongue. Jenna arched her hips against his.

  “This isn’t bigger than us, Jenna. We’ll figure it out,” he whispered.

  Jenna tightened her arms around his back and buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling loudly. She held him so tightly that he felt a nervous trembling in her limbs. She drew back and looked at him with wide, trusting eyes.

  “It took so long to find us. I don’t see an easy answer.” She searched his eyes, and the vulnerability he saw in hers cut him to his core.

  “I’ll take care of this, Jenna. I promise you, I’ll always take care of us.”

  I’LL ALWAYS TAKE care of us. Pete’s hands slid down Jenna’s sides, gripping her tightly, his mouth trailing in the wake of his certainty. She knew he would always take care of them. He’d always taken care of everyone. His siblings. His father. Seaside. He’d fixed her pipes, her closet, her roof, and now he’d keep her heart safe, too.

  His touch sent shivers through her body as he kissed a path along the edge of her panties. He gripped her hips, holding them strong and sure as he teased and taunted her. She clenched the sheets as he pressed light kisses down her thighs, around the outside, and close—oh so close—to her inner thighs. She wanted to feel his mouth on her inner thighs. He knew just how to make her squirm and beg, and she cherished every second of being loved by him. He took her panties off and grazed her thighs with his lips, making Jenna’s entire body shudder with need. His stubble scratched her sensitive skin, and when he pressed his thumbs just inside her hipbones, she couldn’t suppress a desperate plea for more.

  Pete lifted his eyes; a crooked smile curved his lips. He hesitated just a second before settling his teeth over her inner thigh and sucking, sending her hips flying up from the mattress. He pressed her hips back down, driving her out of her mind. She tangled her hands in his hair, urging his mouth higher. He pus
hed her legs farther apart with his broad shoulders and moved his hands to her thighs, splaying his long fingers across them, his thumbs dangerously close to her center. She felt his thumbs graze her slick skin, and she closed her eyes. His breath swept across her wetness, hot and tantalizing as his thumbs made another teasing pass.

  “Pete…Unfair…”

  He kissed along the crease in her thighs, then back down to the edge of where she needed him most. Finally, his tongue stroked her lightly, pulling another needful moan from her lips. Then deeper, harder. He drove the worry from her mind with every lap of his tongue, every tease of his fingers as they dipped into her and expertly found the spot that made her entire body clench tight and her breathing become jagged.

  “Come for me, baby.” A heated whisper against her center.

  Her entire body shuddered as he swirled his tongue against the bundle of nerves that sent her hips bucking, her fingers digging into his shoulders, and Pete’s name sailing from her lips. Her head fell back and the world careened around her as tingling sensations prickled her limbs. She panted hard, and before she could regain control, Pete was on top of her, thrusting into her and sending her into the clutches of another mind-blowing orgasm. Pete buried his hands in her hair, clenching his muscles tight with his own mounting release.

  “Open your eyes, Jenna. Look at me.”

  Jenna tried, but her eyes fluttered closed as her body pulsed and the orgasm claimed all of her muscles.

  “Can’t…open…eyes,” she managed. “Come with…me.”

  He pushed in deep and stilled, his back muscles coiled tight, and with the next thrust, his head fell to her neck as he groaned through his own magnificent release.

  Both fighting for air, they clung together in a tangle of slick body parts and sporadic flinches and thrusts as they calmed from their frenzied state.

  Jenna felt Pete’s muscles relax and his breathing become even, calm. She sighed contentedly, and her mind drifted to his earlier question. She wanted to be with Pete. She’d always wanted to be with him. She knew family was as important to him as it was to her, and she loved that about him.

  “Petey.”

  Pete lifted his head, his eyes were sleepy and satisfied.

  “If you were serious before, I would definitely consider moving to the Cape full-time. Rhode Island is way too far from you, and I’d never ask you to leave your father.”

  “Aw, babe. You can’t begin to imagine how much that means to me.”

  A vibrating noise sounded. Muffled and short, like a fleeting thought. Jenna glanced across the room at the same time that Pete’s head shot up, his brows pinched together.

  Pete groaned. “For Christ’s sake.”

  She knew by the look in his eyes, and his angry words, that it was his father calling.

  “It’s okay, Pete. We’ll rinse off and go right over.”

  He pushed up on his palms and smiled down at her. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?” He pressed a kiss to her lips. “Maybe this was sort of okay when it was just me, but this is definitely not okay now.” He pushed off the bed and reached for her hand. “This is going to end. I promise you, Jenna, our lives will not be spent dealing with this.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  SUNDAY MORNING PETE and Jenna sat on the couch drinking coffee, neither wanting to leave before the other.

  “Want some toast?” Jenna’s leg bounced nervously.

  “You’re stalling.” Pete kissed her neck. “You have to be at the book sale in half an hour.”

  “Do you blame me?” She set his coffee cup on a coaster and climbed onto his lap. Pete was bare chested, wearing just a pair of Levi’s. His skin was still warm and moist from his shower, and he smelled like heaven. Jenna nuzzled against his neck.

  “I’m getting used to this whole wake-up-to-Petey thing.” She ran her hands through his wet hair and kissed each cheek.

  He cupped her butt in one hand and rested his head back. She knew he loved when she stroked his cheek, and she did so now. He had shaved this morning, and his face was smooth and soft. Jenna ran her thumb over his lips and then kissed them lightly, feeling the effect of her love beneath her.

  “Careful, or you’ll be late.” He opened his eyes and resituated Jenna so she wasn’t sitting fully on his erection, then kissed her deeply. “I’m getting used to us, too, Jenna. In fact, I never want to go back to not being us.”

  PETE’S WORDS CARRIED Jenna through the chilly morning. By midafternoon the sun had burned through the clouds and crowds of people milled around the annual book sale—and Jenna was still smiling like a schoolgirl in love. Cars lined up along Main Street waiting to pull into the public parking area behind the church. The parking lot had been packed tight since eight o’clock in the morning. Churchgoers came decked out in their Sunday best, and families rode their bicycles through the quaint town, stopping to check out the titles, which were lined up three boxes deep in the alley, covering the tops of long tables and spread on blankets on the lawn.

  “Everyone here is going to know you’re a dirty girl if you don’t get that stupid grin off your face,” Amy teased.

  Amy and Jenna sat on metal chairs in front of Abiyoyo, a specialty shop with upscale toys, gifts, and clothing. Behind them was a waist-high brick wall with a New England garden boasting colorful flowers and verdant foliage of varying heights and types.

  “You’d be smiling, too, if it were you and Tony.” Jenna handed a red-haired woman change for her purchase, and Amy bagged the books she bought for her two young children, who were tugging on her shorts.

  “Thanks for stopping by.” Jenna watched them walk away and turned her attention back to Amy.

  “So, anyway, it looks like I might be moving to the Cape!” She and Amy squealed and hugged for the hundredth time that day. No matter how many times she said it aloud, it still didn’t feel real.

  “I’m sickeningly jealous, but so happy for you.” Amy had on a pair of shorts and a light blue tank top. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and as she spoke, she tightened the elastic band, lifting her ponytail higher. She sat back with a sigh. “I can’t get over that you two are finally a couple. And when I see you two together, it’s like that’s how it’s always been.”

  “That’s how it feels to us, too.”

  “Have you told your mom you might be moving yet?” Amy asked.

  Jenna’s pulse kicked up a notch. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that her mother was figuring out her own life, and that she wasn’t losing her mind. Relief came quickly as she recalled her mother’s confession. “Not yet. But I will. He just brought it up last night, and we didn’t make any final decisions. He just asked if I would consider it. If, or when, I move, my mom and I will still live close enough to see each other often.”

  “If? I would stick with when.” Amy smiled and eyed a handsome guy in bike shorts flipping through a box of books. “It’s not like you have any obstacles. You rent your house, and you’re an art teacher, so you can work anywhere. Or maybe you can start painting again.” Amy raised her brows.

  “That would be like two dreams come true. Me and Pete and painting on the Cape. God, Amy, who would have guessed that our lives would turn out like this?”

  “Oh no. I just realized that if you move here, I’ll be the only one of us not living here.” Amy’s eyes filled with worry. “If you guys are always together and I’m the only one who’s not, I’ll start to feel like a fourth wheel.”

  Jenna draped an arm around her shoulder. “Ames, you already are our fourth wheel, and I’m our third. We need all four wheels to make the girlfriend bus go. That will never change. Besides, I can’t just quit work this close to the beginning of the school year. That would be irresponsible. Who knows when I can really move here?” The pieces of her life suddenly began swimming before her. She couldn’t leave the school without an art teacher, and she’d have to give her landlord notice. Neither was an insurmountable obstacle, and when she compared them to Pete’
s declaration this morning, that it was time to put a stop to his father’s drinking, they paled in comparison.

  Amy rolled her eyes and lowered her voice as she rose to help a customer. “You’ll make it happen, or I’ll make it happen for you.”

  Jenna didn’t want to breach Pete’s confidence and tell Amy about Pete’s father, but she was having trouble holding it in, and Amy was one of her most trusted friends. She’d never kept secrets from Amy or their other friends before, and as she thought about sharing what Pete was going through, she realized how her priorities had shifted. How her heart had shifted. She hadn’t thought she could ever love anyone more than Amy, Bella, and Leanna, but as she ferreted away Pete’s secret, she realized that he’d moved to the head of the line. She waited for guilt to pump her to share the secret that was weighing heavily on her, and when it didn’t come, she knew she was making the right decision.

  She turned her attention to a woman holding a stack of books and helped her set them on the table. “Wow, that’s an armful. I’m glad you found some you liked.”

  “I always do.” The petite, gray-haired woman pulled a leather wallet from her purse. “I time my vacation around the annual sale, believe it or not. Pathetic, I know.” She shrugged with a smile.

  “Not pathetic at all. Thrifty and smart.” Jenna bagged the books as the woman paid Amy. “Enjoy your vacation.”

  “I’m in Wellfleet. How could I not?” The woman waved as she walked toward the parking lot.

  “See? Everyone knows Wellfleet is the place to be. I still can’t believe I’ve gone all summer without seeing the man I wait all year to see. That shows me how little I mean to Tony.”

  Although Amy hadn’t said much to Jenna about Tony not being there this summer, Jenna knew how upset she was. If the tables were turned, and she hadn’t seen Pete all summer, her heart would have been broken, too.