He lifted his eyebrows and forced a glare. “The stockings stay on.”
She grinned. “Perv.”
He laughed and locked his lips to hers. His body humming and his heart thumping, moving between her thighs, Scott smoothed one hand down the side of her body, over her hip until he touched her where he wanted to the most. She was hot and wet. He gritted his teeth. How could one woman be so damn sexy?
“Scott, please.”
He met her heavy-lidded stare. Her desire had turned her eyes the darkest brown. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth. Keeping his body close to hers, he positioned himself and firmly massaged her, sliding his fingers in and out of her warmth until her breathing quickened and her cheeks flushed. Moving his body over hers, he locked his eyes with hers and slid inside.
“Mmm.”
Her soft, satisfied moan smoothed his ego and caressed his heart. He would make it his life’s work to hear that sound come from her pretty lips every time he made love to her. He drew in and out, slowly, carefully, bringing her with him to the place they both wanted to be.
Her hands slid over his shoulders and down his back, her nails scratching lightly over his skin until she reached his buttocks. Her light, feminine touch disintegrated when she clutched his ass and pushed him deep.
She stared into his eyes, her gaze blazing with erotic intention. “Take me.”
He clenched his jaw and surrendered. He thrust deep and drew back. Gave again...and again until she met each of his motions. Together they moved. On and on, the sensations burned and rose, their bodies moving in rhythm. Slowly, fantastically, the pace increased and then her moist core tightened around him. She closed her eyes, her mouth dropping open as she trembled with the rush of her climax.
Scott watched her, his body perspiring and his heart soaring. Then, and only then, did he take his own pleasure. He exploded inside the woman he loved more than any other, the strength of his passion and love ripping through him. The force of his orgasm caught like fire in his blood. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as its potency stripped him bare. Slowly, he spiraled back to solid ground and dropped his forehead to hers. Their harried breaths joined and Scott lifted his eyes to hers. Her smile was as bright as a summer sun. She was everything.
Growling, he gathered her close and held the woman he always knew should be his.
* * *
DESPITE THE HOUR Scott finally climbed into his own bed. Sleep eluded him for most of the night as thoughts and the ramifications of his father returning to the Cove haunted his dreams. When he woke at nine-thirty, his semi-naked body was bathed in sweat and his bedcovers tangled about his body. Scott lay still and waited for his heart rate to slow and his mind to regain its equilibrium.
Normally, he would’ve bolted from bed, panicked and knocked off-kilter for being late for work. Carrie’s arrival had kicked the garage to the curb and, for the time being, all that mattered was getting his life in order before she left again to spend Christmas with Belle. His gut clenched. He wanted to spend Christmas with them, too.
He belatedly realized his mother had never stopped loving her husband. All the anger, frustration and fear that showed time and again in her eyes was because she was separated from the man she loved. Scott stared at the ceiling. It wasn’t his place to mess with that, but it was his place to protect her if the bastard skipped town again.
The dilemma was what he said and did next. How was he going to deal with his father’s return in a rational and mature way? The more he considered, the more Scott realized the huge shift inside himself. He was calmer and more in control of his feelings than he’d been for as long as he could remember. Being around Carrie and seeing his mum with his dad had clarified things in his heart. It was time to step back and let fate take over.
His longing for Carrie over the last three years was most likely nothing compared to what his mother must have suffered being separated and rejected by his father. He now had a second chance with Carrie and wouldn’t allow anyone to stand in the way of making that possible. So, why did he think he had the right to tell his mum whom she should be with or love? Lord knows, she wouldn’t listen to him any more than he would to her if she tried to forbid him from seeing Carrie.
He closed his eyes. That didn’t mean there was any chance his father would have his feet under the Christmas dinner table—or arrive at his house unannounced without his sisters being prepared for the prodigal’s return. Scott clenched his jaw. He had to take action and vanquish the power his father had by solely communicating with their mum. If he was serious about wanting his family back, he had to face Scott and his daughters, too. They would each have questions they wanted answered.
Scott threw off the bed covers. It was time to get the ball rolling. He walked to his bedroom door and yanked it open. Just as he reached the bathroom, Lucy emerged from her bedroom.
“What time did you come in last night?” She lifted an eyebrow, her bright blue eyes shining with their ever-present happiness.
Anxiety gripped him as the uncertainty of how the next few days and weeks would pan out battled inside him. He pulled her in for a hug. At eighteen, she was the age Scott had been when his father went for a drink at The Coast Inn and never came back. Ten years Scott’s junior, Lucy was the baby of the family and would always be his special girl, as she’d once supposedly been their father’s. Clearly not special enough, considering the bastard left her at barely eight years old.
“What’s going on, Scottie?” Lucy spoke into his chest. “You okay?”
Scott squeezed his eyes shut. “Not really.”
She pulled back and tipped her head back to look into his eyes, the brightness fading. “What’s wrong?”
He ran his gaze over her young face, and loathing for his father rose again, despite his intention to move on. The one thing his sisters had in common was their integrity. They might be too honest and forthright for their own good sometimes, but there weren’t any two sides to them. What you saw was what you got. He owed them his honesty and needed to tell them what little he knew about their father—and about Carrie and Belle, too.
Forcing a smile, he touched his finger to Lucy’s chin. “I want you to go downstairs and put on a pot of coffee.” He glanced at the grandfather clock across the landing. “Wait half an hour or so and then call Bianca and Ella. We need a family meeting. Ask them to come here for lunch.”
She frowned. “Why?”
He sighed. “It’s about Dad, Luce.”
His mother’s bedroom door opened and Scott stiffened. He lifted his gaze and met his mother’s glare. She shook her head and the pile of laundry she carried trembled. “You don’t think it was my place to let her know about her father?”
Lucy turned around. “Dad’s back?”
She sucked in a breath and Scott held her close, his arm across her shoulders. He frowned. “This involves all of us. You said I can’t stop you from talking to him, and I can’t. What I can stop is you bringing him back into our lives without any of us having a say in whether we want to see him or not.”
Their gazes locked and Scott’s heart picked up speed. Couldn’t his mother see he was trying to protect her? Protect all of them?
She put the laundry on the floor. Ignoring Scott, his mother took Lucy’s hands. “I’ve been speaking to Dad over the last few weeks and he’d like to visit on Christmas. There’s nothing to worry about. I haven’t agreed to anything yet.” She glanced at Scott, her gaze cold. “Your brother is making a mountain out of a mole hill.”
Scott glowered. “You haven’t just been talking to him. He’s here. I want us to talk about this. What happened after I left last night?”
Lucy touched his arm. “What happened last night? You’ve seen him? Did you speak to him?”
Her eyes were wide with confusion.
Scott inwardly cursed
. This was not the way he wanted her to find out. Her hand slipped from his arm and she stepped back, anger burning in her eyes. “Have you spoken to him, Scottie? Yes or no.”
He opened his mouth to respond, but their mum got there first. “Yes, he has.” She shot Scott a glare. “In a roundabout way. Scott ran into your father and me at The Oceanside last night.”
Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “You were having a meal together? Why didn’t I know about this? Am I the last to know, as usual?”
Scott stepped forward, this time managing to grasp his sister’s elbow. “No, you’re not. Bianca and Ella don’t have any idea yet, either. That’s why we need them to come here ASAP.” He looked at his mum. “We have to talk about this now. Where’s he staying?”
His mother looked from him to Lucy and back again as two spots of color darkened her cheeks. “I don’t know.”
Scott stiffened. “Why wouldn’t he tell you where he’s staying?”
She looked past him. “I don’t know.”
“Did you ask him?”
She glared. “I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not like that. He wants to take this one step at a time, just like I do.”
Scott shook his head. “Fine, then let him take his time. All I care about is you, Bianca, Ella and Lucy. If you want to try again with him, we can’t stop you, but we can decide if we actually want him to be our dad again.” He turned to Lucy. “What happens between you and Dad is up to you, Luce. If you want to see Dad, you can. Okay? If you don’t...that’s okay, too.”
Her gaze flitted over his face. “What about you? Will you see him again?”
Scott inhaled a breath. “I don’t know.”
His mum cleared her throat and he turned. Her eyes were dark with determination. “You made your feelings pretty clear last night. I’ve told him no to Christmas and we’ll see how things go in the New Year.” She faced Lucy. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s call Bianca and Ella and start thinking about what we can make for lunch.” She picked up the laundry and tossed a scowl at Scott. “While we leave your brother to have his shower. Maybe he’ll cool off a little.”
Scott stared after them as they descended the stairs, a voice screaming in his head that the longer his family had no clue about Carrie and Belle, the more he was a hypocrite for confronting his mum. When lunchtime rolled around, all the cards would be laid out on the table. In the meantime, he’d spend what was left of the morning running his business before he lost that on top of everything else.
He stalked into the bathroom and closed the door.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
AFTER THE MORNING from hell due to ruffled customers calling the garage wondering where Scott had been hiding for the last few days, he was cranky and in the worst mood possible to face his family as he pulled into his driveway at one o’clock. He got off his bike and stowed his helmet in the rear box. As he walked up the drive to the house, Scott glanced at Bianca’s and Ella’s parked cars...and then halted as he stared back toward the street. The hairs at the back of his neck rose. A black sedan was parked at the curb.
He clenched his jaw and turned to glower at the house.
His father was here. Inside his house.
Sending up a silent prayer for the strength for whatever came next and the ability to hold his already simmering temper, Scott strode forward and pushed his key into the lock of his front door. As soon as he stepped into the hallway, the unusually muted and strained blend of female voices filtered from the kitchen. Scott toed off his work boots and approached the kitchen. He paused with his hand on the door, took a deep breath and pushed it open.
He entered the battlefield, determined to start the discussion with a sense of calm civility. This unachievable notion was kicked into oblivion as soon as he saw his father sitting at the kitchen table.
His self-control vanished on a puff of air. “What the hell are you doing here?”
His father’s blue eyes darkened and he rose to his feet, his hands lifted in a gesture of surrender. “This was your mum’s idea, Scottie. Not mine. She thought it best we get everything out in the open and I see all of you again at the same time, in the same place.”
“And you agreed?” He glanced around the kitchen at the pale faces of his mother and sisters. “Are you okay with this?”
His sisters stared at him.
He clenched his jaw. “Well?”
Bianca pushed away from the counter. “It’s for the best. We’ve all got things we want to say to Dad, but ultimately, this is about Mum, not us.”
Scott’s blood burned with frustration, but he couldn’t deny Bianca’s words. He snatched his gaze to his mother. She stared back at him, her gaze steely but laced with pleading. “Sit down, Scottie. Please.”
Asking him to sit with his father was a step too far, so Scott strode between Bianca and his mother, straight to the sink. He cursed the tremor in his hand as he lifted a clean glass from the drainer and filled it with water. He needed to get a handle on the overwhelming need to shout and curse before ejecting his father from his home. He took a fortifying gulp and turned. “So, where do we go from here?” He trained his glare on his father. “I hope to God you’re not here expecting a white Christmas reunion?”
His father lowered back onto his chair. “I’m expecting nothing more than you kids are willing to give me.” He drew his gaze from Scott’s to look at each of his daughters in turn. “I’ll take whatever it is. Good or bad. You’re...” He shook his head and briefly closed his eyes before opening them again. “You’re all so grown up. I can’t... I won’t insist we work this out right now, but I’d love for us to start working on something to make up for what I’ve done.”
Scott gripped his glass so tightly, how it didn’t shatter he had no idea. “I’d love to hear your summary of what you’ve done. Why don’t you sum up the last ten years for us?”
His father met his glare. “I ran, Scottie. I ran and didn’t look back. I own that. That’s my fault and looking at you kids now, I know I messed up big-time.”
Scott glared, not trusting himself to speak or refrain from spewing his resentment all over his sisters and mother. It wasn’t his place to tell them what they should or shouldn’t do as far as their father was concerned. He glanced at them.
Ella and Lucy stared at their dad with awed fascination, whereas Scott imagined the hot glare coming from Bianca pretty much mirrored his own expression.
Silence followed.
He could count on one hand how many times his sisters and mother were quiet for more than two seconds when he saw them individually, let alone when they were together. The tension was palpable and his eldest sister’s temper was notorious. The insane urge to laugh rose inside him. Maybe their father was braver than he ever gave him credit for.
Scott lowered his shoulders and faced his mum. “What do you want, Mum? Do you want to try again with him?”
Her mother glanced from Scott to her daughters, to their father, before moving closer and resting her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Yes, I think I do.”
The joined tut of his younger sisters and the curse of Bianca permeated the room. Scott inhaled through flared nostrils. “Then I don’t see there is a lot any of us can do to stop you.” He met his father’s eyes. “But that doesn’t mean you’re forgiven. I can’t speak for everyone else, but it’s going to take a hell of a long time for me to even come close to trusting you. A hell of a long time.”
His father nodded. “I understand that.”
“Good.” Despite the adrenaline pumping through his veins, Scott casually leaned his butt against the kitchen counter and took another sip of water. He met Bianca’s gaze as she watched him. He swallowed. “Anything to add?”
Bianca turned to her father and walked closer, fisting her hands on her hips and staring him down. “I’m with Scott. Ella and Lucy
don’t remember or know you like Scottie and me. Their forgiveness might be easier to come by. You’ve got a lot of work to do and if for one single, tiny moment you hurt Mum again...”
“I won’t.” He looked up at their mother, standing rigid by his side, her face a mask of determination. “I might be an idiot but I’ve learned from my mistakes.” He met Bianca’s gaze and then Ella’s and Lucy’s before concentrating on Scott. “You have my word. This time I’m here for keeps, whether you want to see me or not.”
Wariness edged up a notch as Scott’s wafer-thin hold on his need to smack the man in the face took a hairline fracture. “Do not say that out loud. Do not say we have your word on anything.” He glared. “Your word means nothing to any of us. Not yet.” He faced Ella and Lucy. “What do you two think about this? You’re very quiet.”
Ella continued to stare at their father rather than look at Scott. “I don’t know what I think yet, but I do know I want Mum to be happy.”
His gut clenched. Ella was right. That was what he wanted, too. What they all wanted. He swallowed and turned to Lucy. “Luce?”
Lucy blinked and faced him, her big blue eyes shining with unshed tears. “I want the same as Ella.” She faced their father. “I don’t know you. You’re a stranger to me so this is going to take time. A lot of time.”
Scott looked to their father. He nodded and his cheeks turned red, but there was no denying the relief in the slump of his father’s shoulders. “Thank you. Thank you all...” He looked around the kitchen before he reached up and clenched his wife’s hand where it lay on his shoulder. “I won’t ask for any more than that.”
Nausea coated Scott’s throat in bitterness and he took another drink of water in an attempt to dilute it. He pushed away from the sink. “Fine. Then we take this slowly. You and Mum are entitled to do what you want, when you want, but I think I speak for the rest of us when I say we take this one step at a time.”
Christmas at the Cove Page 24