“I want to—”
He silenced her with a long, sensual kiss, and when she made one of those little murmurs he loved so much, he kissed her longer. When their lips finally parted, her eyelids were heavy, eyes dark and alluring.
“Don’t say a word, doll,” he whispered, refusing to push her. “I feel how much you care for me in your kisses. I see it in your eyes. When the time is right, we’ll both know.”
“Stay with me tonight?” she asked breathlessly.
“It would take an army to drag me from your bed.”
Chapter Eighteen
EMERY TURNED HER yoga bag upside down in her bedroom at the inn Friday morning and dumped the contents onto her bed amid the piles of clothes and belongings. It had been two days since she’d moved out of Dean’s cottage, and she was still living out of her suitcases. Between planning her classes, helping Dean with the patio yesterday, and staying up for hours at night talking to him on the phone, like they used to…only sexier, unpacking hadn’t been on the top of her priority list. I actually have my priorities straight, she thought proudly.
She sorted through her yoga props for the hundredth time, searching for one of her yoga straps. Chloe had called Wednesday afternoon and told her she was approved to work with Rose, and Rose’s daughter, Patty Gable, was managing her finances and was going to take care of the bills. She’d already exchanged emails with Patty, who seemed lovely and was excited to see if Emery could help her mother. She’d also spoken to Rose, who was so eager to get started, they’d set up her first session for today. Emery was just as excited to begin, and thrilled that Rose had the support of her daughter.
“Still no keys?”
She looked up and found Dean leaning against, and filling, her doorframe, looking like sex on legs in his shorts and tight T-shirt, his hair still wet from their shower. She’d gotten up early to meditate and had seen Dean leaving for his run with Rick and Drake. When he’d come home, she’d been waiting for him at his place. They’d made love like they’d been apart for weeks, and then they’d carried on their make-out session in the shower, getting dirty all over again, before washing each other from head to toe, which had led to more dirtiness. It was a cycle she very much enjoyed, but she’d had to hurry back to the inn to get ready to see Rose, and as Desiree had so lovingly pointed out, she’d been humming all morning.
“The keys are a lost cause. Are you still okay lending me your truck to go see my first client at LOCAL?” She put her hands on her hips and visually scanned her open suitcases. “I’m looking for one of my yoga straps.”
“Yoga straps? Sounds kinky. Did you check those little compartments in your shoes for your keys?”
It figured he’d ignore her question about his truck and focus on the sexy stuff instead. Man, she loved that about him.
His gaze slid down her body. “Any other secret compartments I should check?”
“Not in my yoga pants.”
Dean reached into his pocket and placed a set of keys in her hand.
“You found my keys? What about my bracelet? And your golf cart keys?”
“No, sorry. I’m afraid my house has turned into the Bermuda Triangle. I called Austin yesterday when you told me you’d lost your keys. He went to the dealership to get you a new set and overnighted them. They just arrived.”
She exhaled with relief. “You did that? He did that?”
“We’ve got your back, doll.” He tugged her closer. “Now, tell me about these straps. Maybe we should try them out.” He waggled his brows.
“No sex with my yoga props! Besides, silk is always better, don’t you think?” She went up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. “I’m going to be late if I don’t get out of here.” She stuffed her props back in the bag. “We’ll have to grab my yoga mat and blankets from my studio.”
He glanced at her open suitcases. “You should unpack. Maybe then you’d find your things. You said you were missing your razor, too?”
“Yeah. I’m going to get one today. I’ve been borrowing yours.” She flashed a cheesy smile and slung her bag over her shoulder. “I’m also going to stop by the girls’ shop.”
His arm circled her waist and he drew her closer. “I’m not keeping you satisfied?”
“Oh, yes, you are, Mr. Masters. I want to check out the paintings for my yoga studio. Classes start tomorrow.” She went up on her toes and kissed him, feeling like they’d been together forever. “If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll stop into the adult-exploration shop and bring us home a little something special.”
“Now you’re talking.” He nuzzled her neck and said, “Are you still going shopping with Des and the girls later?”
“Yes. That’s the plan.”
“Remember, no boner-inducing dresses. Besides not wanting my father’s colleagues gawking at you, I need to be able to walk.”
“I like when you can’t walk.”
He leaned in for another delicious kiss. “I’ll miss working with you on the patio. I’m getting used to having you with me.”
“I’m going to miss you, too,” she admitted. She was enjoying creating the patio with him. Dean might be an aggressive and demanding lover, which she adored, and a bit picky about his gardens, which she respected, but when it came to the patio, he was uncharacteristically easygoing. Yesterday she’d brought over several potted basil plants to ward off bad mojo and set them along the edge of the gardens that surrounded the patio—because she knew better than to try to plant them—and he seemed not only happy she’d brought them, but curious about her knowledge of herbs. It turned out that they had even more in common than she’d imagined. And when she was struck with inspiration while meditating this morning and she asked if they could change some of the remaining flagstone design to incorporate a few earth signs, he was totally open to it. Even though he was doing the bulk of the work, she felt like she was an integral part of the creative process, making it even more special.
She pulled her bag over her shoulder and asked, “What are you working on today?”
“I have a few surprises up my sleeve. Good luck with your first client.” He smacked her butt.
She glared at him as he followed her out the door, but inside she was thrilled that she could finally be herself with a man. Not only did he not find fault in her moving from one thing to the next without slowing down, or changing direction midstream, but he supported her endeavors. Encouraged them, even when I was ready to put them off. He seemed to genuinely adore everything about her, which made her worry less about messing things up.
She called Austin on the way to LOCAL. Of all her brothers, she was closest to Austin, in age and in relationship. They were different in many ways, including how they handled things. Like their oldest brother, Ethan, Austin was careful and thoughtful, thinking through ramifications before acting, while Emery and Alec, who was almost two years older than Austin, were impulsive and could have hair triggers if provoked. But she couldn’t remember a time she and Austin weren’t close.
“Hey, sis. How’s beach life besides keyless?”
She heard the smile in his voice and felt a pang of homesickness. “Beach life is interesting. Different from home, of course.”
“I’d say. You have that big Viking to do your bidding.”
She winced. Had Dean told him about them? She had been so relieved to have a set of keys she’d forgotten to ask. “Yeah, Dean’s great,” she said, fishing to see how much he’d told Austin.
Austin was silent for so long, she looked at the phone to see if she had service. “Aus?”
“I’m waiting for you to tell me about you and Viking.”
Shit. Okay, she could do this. All of her brothers were protective, and when things had gone down at the rehab center, Ethan had wanted to sue her boss and Alec had wanted to kick the shit out of him. But Austin had talked some sense into them, and he’d taken it upon himself to go down to the office, unbeknownst to Emery, and he’d had a long discussion with her ex-boss. He wouldn’t tell her
what had transpired, but whatever it was had stopped his excessive texts and phone calls immediately. Like Dean, her brothers weren’t afraid of anything, and they were loyal to the bone.
“I guess he mentioned that we’re dating?” Dating? She never used that word when referencing a guy with any of her brothers before. Going out with, sure. Hooking up with, yup. Dating? Nope. In their family, the word was rarely spoken. They were the broken ones, after all. Or so she used to think.
“Dating?” Austin cleared his throat. “No.”
Oh, crap. She was equally surprised and touched that her possessive boyfriend hadn’t staked claim and had left it up to her to reveal their relationship to her family. Although she could think of a hundred better ways than what she’d just done. Emery drew in a deep, calming breath that did not calm her nerves one iota, and explained, as best she could, how she hadn’t realized what was developing between them until recently. She didn’t tell him she had stayed with Dean when she’d first arrived. Why add fuel to the fire?
“You expect me to believe that for all this time you had no clue? Come on, pistol. You’re no dummy.”
Her heart squeezed at the endearment he’d called her since she was thirteen and their father had taken them to the shooting range. They’d grown up on a rural farm, and her father had insisted they all know how to defend their property. She’d been a better shot than all three of her brothers even though she hated firearms.
“I know, it’s weird,” she admitted. “But I swear, I blocked out my feelings or something. Austin, I know I’ve kept some things from you in the past, but I’ve never been happier.”
“You mean like keeping everything from me since you met Viking?”
She thought about that. Yeah, she had shared more with Austin before she and Dean began talking every night. “See? I hadn’t even put that together in my head until just now.”
“Damn, pistol. I could see it in your eyes at Easter. It took me a while to figure out that was why you broke up with your old boss, which, by the way, you could have told me and saved me a big showdown with the guy. The poor asshole only wanted you to go out with him more and to commit to only seeing him. Even though that was never going to happen, I could have approached him in a less threatening way.”
She winced. “Sorry?”
“Jesus, P. How could you not know?”
“What? There was nothing to know at that point.” At least she hadn’t realized it at the time.
Austin was silent, which meant he was deciding how to react.
“Aus?” When he said nothing, Emery knew he was being extra careful. “He’s more like you than me, if that helps. He’s thoughtful and protective. He’s not going to hurt me. I know that’s what you’re worried about, but he’s different from anyone I’ve ever known. I can feel how much he cares for me. I’m happy we’re dating.”
“You used the D word.”
“Yeah. Scary, right? It just came out. But like I said, this feels like nothing ever has. It feels real, and I want it to be real.”
He was quiet for a long moment. And then he said, “What if something goes wrong? You’ve got no one there.”
“I have Desiree,” she said. “And I’m perfectly capable of handling myself. I know you like to think of me as your virginal sister who doesn’t go out with guys.”
He laughed. “Hardly. But the D word? That takes guts, P.”
“I know, but with Dean it doesn’t feel like it does.”
“So weird. I hate you being that far away. And we haven’t met Viking in person. Maybe I need to take a weekend trip to the Cape.”
She pulled into the facility parking lot, smiling. “Austin…”
“I’m just pulling your leg. Sort of. He seems like a good guy, and if he’s not, then I’ll break his legs.”
They joked about who would break whose legs, and he filled her in on her brothers’ latest shenanigans, which included a midnight rodeo with the usual rowdy crowd. She had a pang of longing for the life she’d left behind and the friends who did crazy things at all hours. But even as the thought hit her, she knew that somehow she’d grown up in the days since she’d left. Maybe it was traveling so far on her own and knowing she had no family here to fall back on, or perhaps it was the idea that now her nights were spent in the arms of a man who wasn’t interested in being wild and crazy, but being stable and loving. No man had ever made her want to climb into his bed and just be held. Until Dean.
She tried to push those thoughts to the side, but they refused to be contained as she told Austin about the fancy dinner they were going to in a few weeks and promised to text him pictures—and to tell Dean to behave himself. She’d crossed her fingers on that last part.
As she headed inside with her yoga bag and mats for her first appointment with Rose, the empty spot she’d felt at being so far away from her brothers seemed a little fuller. And having admitted to Austin that she was dating Dean was proof that she was indeed stepping into a new phase in her life.
EMERY HAD LEARNED from Chloe that the assisted living facility had several wings, designated by the level of care the residents needed. The wings ranged from Helper’s Hand, which meant someone was always a call away, to Live-in Assistance, for those who had hired full-time, live-in care providers, to the Nursing Care and Hospice wings. Rose lived in the Helper’s Hand area. Emery squared her shoulders and knocked on the door, her friendliest smile in place. When a tall, broad, and intimidatingly stern, gray-haired man answered the door wearing an expensive, perfectly tailored suit and a pinched expression, she was thrown a little off her game. His cold blue eyes swept over her tank top and yoga pants with a look of irritation.
“Yes?” he snapped.
“Hi…I’m Emery Andrews. I have an appointment with Rose.”
“Oh, yes! Come in, sweetheart,” Rose called out from behind the stoic door blocker. Her wheelchair appeared beside him and she pushed at his hip. “Step aside, will you? Let the girl in. Where are your manners?”
The man let out an annoyed harrumph as he motioned for Emery to enter the cozy apartment, which felt stifling beneath the weight of the man’s negative energy. “What kind of cockamamie scheme are you up to now, Mother?”
Rose grumbled as she wheeled herself into the living room. She waved a dismissive hand in his direction. “Don’t mind him. My son is brilliant, but he failed in the bedside-manner department.”
Emery’s stomach clenched at the man’s disapproving glare. The way his hair was slicked back, exposing a sharp widow’s peak, made him look even more daunting. She forced a smile and turned her attention to Rose. “Would you like to reschedule our yoga session for after your visit?” For the life of her, Emery couldn’t imagine wanting to spend a second with this poor excuse of a man.
“Yoga? Good God, Mother. How much are you paying this woman? What kind of nonsense—”
“I’ll have you know,” Emery interrupted, not about to let some guy with a stick up his ass disrespect her. “Many types of injuries that physicians have written off as untreatable have been healed through yoga, without medication or expensive medical treatments. A person’s emotional state, and the ability to free themselves from the medicated confines that too much of society has embraced, has led to many incredible healings.” She was shaking, but she stood pin straight, refusing to back down on her principles.
The man scoffed. “People like you are the reason so many patients end up with more trouble—”
Rose held up a hand, silencing him. In that moment, Emery saw the power struggle between mother and son. Rose pointed to the door, her gray-blue eyes locked on her son. “I believe it’s time for you to go.”
His gaze never left Rose’s. “I’ll send Chloe a list of approved live-in caregivers for you to interview.”
“Save your energy. I’ll have no part of live-in care.” She motioned toward the door again. “Now please go. I’m sure you have more pressing things to attend to than my exercises.”
Without another glan
ce Emery’s way, the man left, taking his cancerous aura with him. The loud sigh that rushed from her lungs brought a laugh from Rose.
“I’m sorry. That was rude of me,” Emery said, setting her bag and supplies down beside the couch.
“He’s my son, and I love him, but that man makes me crave scotch too early in the morning.” She shook her head, her snow-white waves moving with the motion. “He wasn’t always that way, but when he took over the business, he became…well,” she said thoughtfully. “He became someone other than the person I raised.” She waved her hand again and said, “Let’s get this show on the road. I’m good and ready to make some progress.”
“You’ve just answered my first question about how hard you’re willing to work.” Relieved to have moved on to a different subject, Emery walked behind Rose’s chair and began kneading her shoulders. “How about we loosen up some of these muscles while you tell me about your lifestyle and how it’s changed over the years.”
“You want to talk? Shouldn’t we be doing some downward dog or something?”
Emery laughed. “You’ve done some research.”
“I’m good at that online research. But you have to be careful with your search words. Why, my friends and I searched Dick’s—you know, the sporting goods store? Mag wanted to order a yoga mat when she heard you were coming. The results were quite eye-opening.”
She glanced up at Emery, who had stopped kneading her shoulders to try to keep a snort from following her laughter. “Maybe you should leave the research to me.”
“And miss out on all those hotties?”
Oh my! Rose was a live wire. Circling back to her question, Emery said, “We will get to yoga, but right now I’d like to get to know more about you. And these muscles could use a little extra attention.”
Bayside Passions (Bayside Summers Book 2) Page 20