Sea of Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 4) Contemporary Romance

by Melissa Foster

  Dane gave him a playful shove, and they went to work untying the ropes that tethered them to the slip. Dane piloted the boat, watching Lacy standing at the bow; her curly blond hair whipped around her, and the cover-up she wore flapped in the wind. He couldn’t wait to get farther out to sea, so he could spend some time beside her. He felt most at home on the water, and he’d imagined what it would be like to go boating with Lacy every time he’d been at sea. Now he knew that being anywhere with Lacy would make it sweeter.

  Lacy took off her cover-up, and she and Savannah turned and waved at them.

  “Damn, bro. She’s hot,” Hugh said.

  Hugh’s tone was a little too hungry for Dane’s liking. He was used to his brother making comments about women—all women, with no regard for if they were taken or single. Hell, because of his high-profile career, Hugh had more supermodels chasing him than Josh ever did, and Josh designed the clothes they would do anything for.

  He knew Hugh was harmless when it came to Lacy, but that didn’t tame his urge to stake his claim.

  “Watch it,” he warned.

  “Dude, really? She looks at you like you’re the main course. I wouldn’t even try.”

  The main course? Really? Dane smiled, casting another glance at Lacy, who was now passing by portside on her way to the seats in the rear of the boat. She waved, and Dane blew a kiss in her direction. Savannah was right behind her. She pretended to catch the kiss he blew and stuck her tongue out at him. Dane shook his head. Savannah could make anyone smile.

  The sun shone brightly, and a nice breeze kicked off the water. He cut the engine.

  “Ready to catch some rays?” Dane asked.

  Hugh flashed a knowing smile. “That’s not all you’ll be catching.”

  “Do you ever think of anything other than sex?” Dane pulled off his shirt and grabbed a towel.

  Hugh shrugged. “I try not to.” He followed Dane out of the cockpit and down into the cabin. They came back on deck with four wineglasses and a bottle of Didier Dagueneau Silex.

  Hugh poured four glasses of the white wine, handed each person one, and raised his glass. “To a perfect afternoon.”

  “Nice.” Savannah picked up the bottle and squinted. “Isn’t this the wine that mountain man made?”

  “Yeah,” Dane said. “Didier Dagueneau was a wine maker in the Loire Valley. He had a huge cult following for his sauvignon blanc wines. He did look like a mountain man with his big bushy hair and massive beard. Poor bastard died when his plane crashed. I believe his son took over the business.”

  “That’s horrible,” Lacy said.

  “That’s why I’ll never pilot a plane.” Dane winked at Lacy.

  “No, you’ll just swim with the deadliest animals around.” Savannah rolled her eyes.

  “I thought that was your job,” Dane teased.

  “Like I haven’t heard that a hundred times,” Savannah said. “I wish someone would start a rumor that attorneys are kind, generous, beautiful people.”

  “Vanny, you are all those things.” Dane lifted his glass. “To a perfect afternoon with beautiful company.” He clinked glasses with Lacy.

  “Lacy was telling me that she lives near Boston,” Savannah said.

  Dane had wondered when Savannah would begin to pry into their personal life.

  Dane settled in beside Lacy and swung an arm around her sun-warmed shoulder. He felt her stiffen for a beat, then relax against him.

  “How long are you staying on the Cape?” Savannah asked Lacy.

  “Just till tomorrow. I work Monday, so…” Lacy took a sip of her wine.

  “Dane’s gonna be here for a week or two, right, Dane?” Savannah pushed.

  “I think what Savannah is getting at is that you and I should try to see each other since we’ll be only two hours apart.” Dane wrapped his other arm across Lacy’s chest and kissed the back of her head. “Don’t worry, Savannah. Lacy and I will be making the most of our time together.”

  Dane whispered in her ear, “Savannah’s a little pushy.”

  Lacy smiled. “I want to spend time with you.”

  “Good.” He’d been thinking about how to ask her to stay for another day, but he didn’t want to be presumptuous, and he definitely didn’t want to put her on the spot in front of his siblings. “We’ll figure it out.”

  “Hell, just go with him on his tagging mission. You’ll love it. Dane’s all slick and sexy in his wet suit, being all macho and shit.” Hugh grinned, his eyes bouncing from Lacy to Dane and back again.

  “Nothing like putting them both on the spot.” Savannah gave Hugh a shove.

  “What?” Hugh protested.

  “I have a meeting Monday morning. I really couldn’t stay, even if I wanted to,” Lacy said. “I’m up for a promotion in a few weeks, and I’ve been working really hard to get it. I don’t want to jeopardize that.”

  Damn. “We’ll figure it out,” Dane assured her. So much for asking her to stay.

  “What’s that scar from?” Savannah asked, pointing to Lacy’s thigh.

  Dane felt her flinch against him and instinctively knew she needed to be rescued from the line of questioning Savannah was putting her through. He rose to his feet and headed for the cabin.

  “Lacy, wanna help me get lunch together? I’ll show you the rest of the boat.”

  “Sure.” Lacy followed him down the stairs.

  Out of earshot of his siblings, he reached for her hands. “I’m sorry about that. They’re a little aggressive, but they mean well.”

  “It’s okay. I like them a lot. They’re really nice.”

  Dane touched her cheek, and all the yearning he’d been holding back came tumbling forward. He kissed her. The sweetness of the wine mixed with the heat of their bodies, and he felt Lacy respond as she sank into him, kissing him deeper, thrusting her tongue against his, then running it over his teeth, sending a pulse of need through his groin.

  He pulled back, his body already raring to go. “Lace,” he whispered.

  She grabbed his cheeks and pulled him into another kiss, then pushed back quickly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s come over me.” She kissed him again. “But I can’t help making out with you.”

  He took her hand and led her to the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.

  “Dane, we can’t,” she said. “Not with them up there.”

  “What kind of guy do you think I am?” He led her to the bed and sat next to her. “All I want to do is kiss you, nothing more.” He pulled her down next to him and kissed her again. His body screamed for more. She reached for his hand and brought it to her breast, her nipples already taut beneath her bikini top.

  He drew his mouth from hers long enough to say, “That’s hardly fair.”

  “Shut up and touch me,” she said.

  He cupped her breast in his hand, kneading the soft fullness, and when that wasn’t enough, he had to taste her, just one small taste to make it through the afternoon. He brought his mouth to her breast, teasing her nipple with his tongue. She moaned in pleasure and stroked his thick length through his bathing suit.

  “Lace, I’m only human,” he whispered.

  Before the words had left his lips, she was locking the door, dropping her bikini to the floor, and sauntering toward him with a seductive sway to her killer hips and a hungry look in her eyes.

  “So am I. I don’t know what happens to me when I’m around you, but I swear I can’t control myself. It’s like I’m addicted to your touch,” Lacy said as she ran her finger down his chest.

  “I don’t have protection,” he said. Shit.

  She dropped to her knees beside the bed and took him in her hands, then in her mouth. Dane groaned, unable to think about how wrong it was that his siblings were right outside that door and he was in heaven with Lacy. She stroked him hard and fast, licking, sucking, taking him from the tip to the base, until he was worked into such a frenzy that he couldn’t hold back any longer.

  He touched her cheek.
“Lace, stop. Please.”

  She looked up, his shaft still in her mouth, and she shook her head.

  Jesus, she wants me to come. “No, not like this.” She wasn’t just any girl. He respected Lacy, and coming in her mouth felt wrong.

  She slowly drew him from her mouth, then pushed him back on the bed. Where had this sexual vixen come from? In the next breath, she was straddling him—bareback.

  “I’m on the pill,” she said, riding him quick and hard.

  Dane had always practiced safe sex, more out of fear of an unwanted pregnancy than anything else. At that moment, all thoughts of how risky it was to not have a condom fell away. He wanted Lacy more than he had the night before. He sat up with her legs straddling his hips, rolled her onto her back, and drove into her, hard and fast, sucking her neck, her shoulder, whatever skin he could get ahold of, and burying himself so deeply that it took only a few minutes until they were both clawing at each other with raw need, then peaking in perfect unison.

  He swallowed her moans with his mouth, burying each of her pleasure-filled cries against his own.

  Afterward, Dane wondered what in the hell he was doing. He didn’t want to treat Lacy like that. He wanted to pleasure every inch of her flesh, to taste and tease, until she was begging for more. He wanted to cherish her, exploring everything about her, and now, not just once, but twice, he’d taken her in less-than-appropriate places.

  “I’m sorry, Lace,” he said.

  “Why?”

  Her eyes were so big and round, so innocent, that Dane knew she really had no idea about why he was apologizing. He took her in his arms. “Because I like you too much for these quickies.”

  “That’s good to know, but after fifteen months of waiting, I’m not sorry.”

  Jesus, I’m in deep trouble.

  TEN MINUTES LATER, they’d rinsed off, careful to keep their hair from getting wet, and they carried lunch up to the deck. Dane knew his siblings had heard the shower, but he knew they’d never embarrass Lacy by saying as much.

  “Did you have to bake the bread?” Savannah asked with a wink.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, we did. Did you miss us?” Dane asked.

  “I did, but only because I’m starved,” Hugh said.

  Dane set the tray of sandwiches down on the table. Lacy smiled at Hugh as she sat beside him.

  “Racing must be really exciting. How did you get into that type of career?” she asked.

  Dane slid in beside her. He’d heard Hugh explain his career path more times than he could count. He watched a glimmer of excitement widen Hugh’s eyes as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

  “It was my dad, actually,” Hugh answered.

  What? Dane narrowed his eyes, wondering what Hugh was up to now. Hugh was a self-proclaimed thrill junkie, and that had nothing to do with their father.

  Hugh continued. “I watched my brothers each make these great careers for themselves—all from nothing more than an idea, or a passion. When I was in my second year of college, I was talking to my father about what I wanted to do when I graduated. I majored in business, so I figured I’d end up behind a desk somewhere.”

  “Under a desk, maybe. On top of a desk, definitely, but behind a desk?” Savannah shook her head. “No way.”

  “Anyway,” Hugh said, shaking his head at Savannah’s comment. “I was home for spring break, and my father asked me what business I wanted to go into. I had no idea. None. So I told him so, and he asked me one question: Was there anything in life that brought me happiness no matter when I did it.” He shrugged. “That was it. I told him driving fast, and he said, Then do it.”

  “That’s the same thing Dad asked me,” Savannah said.

  “Me too,” Dane added. “Hugh, why haven’t I heard this version of the story before?”

  Lacy whipped her head around. “The thing in your life that made you the happiest was swimming with sharks?”

  Hugh laughed. “No, it was convincing other people to forget their fears and save the animals they hated.” He leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head, trapping his thick dark waves as they blew in the wind, and flashed a wide smile.

  “You’re kind of right,” Dane said. He remembered the day his father had asked him what he wanted to do as clearly as if it were yesterday. They were in the living room, his father in his favorite leather recliner and Dane sitting on the sofa. “It was right after I graduated with my double major—biology and social science. The more I studied, the more I wanted to know. The summer before I entered my master’s program, I completed a research internship, and something strange happened. My enthusiasm for knowledge and understanding became a passion for saving and educating. I think I told him something like, I wanna know more about sharks than anyone else in the world. I could see by the way he looked at me that he thought I was nuts, and honestly, I’m sure it sounded that way.” He smiled at the memory. “But Dad being who he is, he said, Then, by golly, make it happen.”

  Lacy put her hand on his leg. “Your dad sounds really supportive.”

  “Apparently, more so to the males in our family than to me,” Savannah chimed in. “I told him I wanted to be an accountant.”

  “No way,” Hugh said with a laugh.

  “You were always great at math,” Dane said.

  “Yeah, and I like to figure things out, but he told me I was too smart to be a number pusher, and he asked me to think about it. The next day I told him that I didn’t care what I did as long as I was the boss, and he said—”

  “That’s the Vanny I know,” Dane and Hugh said in unison.

  “I guess your dad says that a lot?” Lacy asked. She watched the three of them, enjoying the way they teased one another. She noticed the glance that Dane and Hugh shared when they called Savannah Vanny, like they knew all her secrets.

  “Dad just knows how to guide us well, and sometimes Savannah goes down the wrong trail. He nudges her back onto her path,” Dane explained. He lifted his glass toward Savannah and said, “You’re an amazing attorney, and just look at all the perks.”

  Hugh said, “Connor Dean,” disguised as a cough.

  Savannah sipped her wine and rolled her eyes.

  “You know Connor Dean? The Connor Dean?” Lacy asked.

  “Yeah, we kinda date, on and off,” Savannah answered. She gathered her long hair in her hand and twisted it, then laid it over one shoulder—it sprung free of the twist and covered that side of her chest.

  Lacy’s reaction to Connor sent jealousy slicing through Dane’s gut. He put a possessive arm around Lacy and pulled her close.

  Lacy put a hand over his arm and squeezed, then brought his hand to her mouth and kissed it before placing it back around her belly. “So how did you go from saying you wanted to be the boss to being an attorney?” Lacy asked.

  “My father said that was the only profession where I could use my manipulative skills for a good purpose.” Savannah laughed. “He’s so funny. Most people really don’t like attorneys, but he said if I went into the entertainment business, maybe I could help clean it up. And now I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

  “What about you, Lacy? What do you do?” Hugh asked.

  “Nothing quite as exciting as you all do. I’m an advertising executive for World Geographic. I work mostly with nonprofits, building brands and bringing companies to the public’s attention, engaging media outlets for features. I guess you could say that I pave the way for companies to make their mark.”

  “Do you like it?” Hugh asked.

  Dane noticed that Hugh was stepping out of his typical self-absorbed bubble, and he wondered why. His brother held Lacy’s eye contact, but he wasn’t measuring her up or flirting. Dane shot a glance at Savannah, who appeared to be eyeing Hugh with the same curiosity.

  “I do. I love my work, my boss, and my coworkers. I’m really lucky, actually, and the promotion I’ve been working so hard for could be really exciting. I’ve been there a few years now, and I can’t
imagine working anywhere else.”

  They ate the sandwiches and fruit Dane had brought from the inn.

  Hugh lifted the bottle of wine. “Another glass?” He filled Lacy’s and Savannah’s glasses without waiting for an answer.

  “Not me, thanks. I’ve got to get this beauty home safely.” Dane winked at Lacy.

  Savannah went to the railing. Her auburn hair blew across her face. She gathered her thick mane in one hand and drew it over one shoulder. “Dane, we’re in the middle of the water. Can you conjure up some sharks?”

  “Conjure them up?” Dane asked. “This isn’t really a shark-seeking vessel. We have no chum, no equipment.”

  “We could throw Savannah in. She’s chummy enough,” Hugh teased.

  Dane watched Lacy furrow her brow. Her eyes darted from Hugh to Dane.

  “This is merely a pleasure cruise,” he said easily.

  “Oh, come on. Sharks are all over Monomoy Island because of the seals. Couldn’t we just head over and see what we see?”

  Lacy’s face went sheet white.

  LACY’S HANDS TREMBLED. She felt her breathing become shallow, and her body temperature dropped a notch. What the hell is happening?

  “Lace?”

  Dane? She felt everything around her fading away in the distance, like she was being sucked into a vacuum with no way to climb back out. She thought she opened her mouth but couldn’t be sure.

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky and see a great white,” Savannah said.

  Great white? Lacy’s throat tightened. She gripped the edge of the seat cushion so hard her knuckles turned white.

  “Lacy?”

  Dane. Focus. It’s Dane. She heard his voice, but her mind was still struggling with the idea of a great white in the water around the boat.

  “Lace?”

  Dane knelt before her, his hands placed firmly on her shaking knees. Lacy tried to focus on his concerned eyes, but her mind tumbled back to the treacherously hot afternoon twenty years earlier—the afternoon she’d successfully pushed away for so many years. She knew it lingered in the recesses of her mind, but she’d never expected it to claw its way out, or to consume her when it did. The memory spiraled into her brain, seizing her concentration. The sun had beaten down on her family all afternoon as they trekked through the remote village of Bora Bora, finally taking a break at a restaurant built on pilings at the end of a long pier. The pilings looked as if they’d sprouted naturally from the water, and the entire pier seemed to sway with the movement of the water. She’d been seven then, and they’d been on an adventure. That’s what her father had called it, an adventure. He said her mother had wanted to go all her life, so they went. She remembered complaining to him about the heat and feeling guilty because she knew she was ruining the afternoon for her mother. She’d complained so much that he’d finally said, “There’s the water. You know how to swim.” Lacy’s body was sticky from sweat. She remembered how her curls had tightened and frizzed, like the Brillo her mother had used to clean dishes. The water looked so refreshing; she could almost feel the relief it would bring her. Her mother had told her that they’d be cool as soon as the sun set, and she’d laughed—like her father had been teasing about jumping in the water—but by then Lacy had already had her heart set on jumping in and cooling off. Even if she had to pretend to fall in so she didn’t get in trouble.