“What time is it?” She sat up, stretching.
“Just past nine. We made good time.”
“I fell asleep after the ferry to Cape May. Sorry, I meant to keep you company.”
“It’s okay. I kept reviewing my sales pitch in my head.” He drove slowly between the lines of boats and displays.
“With your charm, you’ll be a natural at sales. I wouldn’t worry.” She spotted the hand-lettered sign, Gable Boat Works. “It’s a good spot on the end, near the main entrance doors.”
“Lucky,” he commented
“Aren’t you always?”
“I’ll let you know tomorrow night.” He backed the trailer into the space and got out to unhitch it from the car.
“Can I help?”
“You could figure out where to put the literature about the boat on display. You’re probably better at that than I am.”
“Where is it?” She could see he was already too absorbed in the physical care of the boat.
“In the trunk.” Pulling a cloth from his pocket, he wiped some dirt from the boat and carefully checked it over.
While she set up a display, he looked over every inch of the Eve, inside and out. She didn’t bother to talk with him. His focus was on the boat and his future. Maybe her future, as well, if things worked out the way she wanted them to.
“Okay?” she asked when he finally came to her. She’d found a small table and covered it with a blanket from her car. On top, she arranged the pamphlets he’d had printed, along with a replica of the boat. He must have made that, too.
“Perfect,” he said. “Let’s find a place for you to stay before it gets any later.”
“Do you have a reservation somewhere?”
“Uh, no. I was just going to,” he shifted nervously, “sleep in the car.”
“You can’t sleep in the car,” she declared. “You have to be fresh and neat tomorrow. I know a little place a couple blocks from the boardwalk where my brother and I stayed when we came here last summer. It’s clean and inexpensive.” She headed for the car, but he didn’t follow.
“Shells, I can’t afford two rooms. I’ll get one for you, but I’m sleeping in the car.” The obstinate expression she’d seen on the boat last weekend was on his face again.
“Good thing I’m willing to share. Get in the car.” She opened her door, waiting for him to come closer.
“I’ll drive you there and make sure you get in safely, and then I’m leaving.”
When she slammed the car door, the noise reverberated throughout the building. She stalked back to where he stood, grabbed the collar of his jacket and yanked his head down to hers. The kiss she gave him shouldn’t have left him any room for doubt. “Do you want me, Adam?” she whispered when there was a little space between them.
“You know I do.” His hands moved up and down her back.
“Then stop arguing with me and trying to shove me away. You don’t have to do everything alone. Let me in.” She tapped on his chest to emphasize her words.
“You’re making it difficult for me to resist.” He took her hand and kissed it. “I’m a helluva lot of trouble. I hope you know that.”
“I figured it out.”
****
Despite her bravado at the exhibition hall, when they were in the hotel room together, her stomach churned with nerves. Adam placed their suitcases on the stand and locked the door before facing her. He must have read something on her face.
“I can still go,” he said, indicating the door.
“No, I want you to stay. I’m just...”
“Maybe this will help.” Without giving her a chance to move, he took her hat off and tossed it, pulled her close, and kissed her until she wondered why she’d been nervous. Being kissed by him was the most natural thing in the world. “Better?”
“Yeah, but why’d you stop?” She took his face in her hands, liking the slightly rough feel of his stubble against her palms as she kissed him.
“Coat.” He mumbled, removing her hands from him and slipping her coat off her shoulders. It hit the floor somewhere behind her. “Now, blouse.” His large fingers worked at the small buttons on her blouse front. They were surprisingly nimble fingers for their size, she decided, when her blouse disappeared and he popped the catch on her bra with one motion. “Skirt.”
“I think you’ve been planning this,” she said as he reached for the button and zipper on the back of her skirt.
“I have.” He helped her skirt over the curve of her hips and let it drop to the floor around her feet while he nibbled on her shoulder. With only her panties left, the rough texture of his jacket rubbed against her skin.
“In your plan, did you stay fully dressed?” she asked, but gasped when he took her nipple into his mouth. Before he answered her questions, he lavished attention on both breasts, making her pant with desire.
“No.” His hands moved to rest on her hips, splaying out in a wide circle over her skin. “I think I had help getting rid of them. Maybe you should do that so we can move to the bed. I have that part planned, too.”
“I hope there’s room for my input.” She pushed his jacket from his broad shoulders and started on the row of buttons down his shirt.
“Anything you want, just ask.” His finger traced a line between her breasts to the top of her panties and flicked just under the edge. She temporarily lost the ability to think or undo buttons until his finger traveled back up to her chin. “My shirt,” he reminded her.
“Right.” When his shirt was gone, she leaned against his bare chest, enjoying the feel of her skin on his. His chest hairs tickled her nipples, making them into peaks. The hardness of his erection pressed into her stomach. Stepping closer between his legs, she thrust her hips up and against him, making him moan.
“Enough of this,” he whispered into her hair before carrying her to the bed. Placing her there gently, he stripped off the rest of his clothes and settled on top of her. He held his body just above hers, but his erection rubbed against her entrance, teasing her. Instinctively, she opened her legs for him, but he shook his head. “Not yet. I want to kiss every inch of you. Starting here.”
His lips kissed hers before he started a languid journey down her body, stopping to love her deeply in places and skirting over others with a promise of more to come. She sank her hands in his hair to direct him, but he was following his own plan, and it felt too wonderful to make him alter it.
When he reached her panties, he lifted her bottom enough to remove her last bit of clothing. As his mouth moved over her triangle of hair, she breathed in sharply. “You’re not going to kiss there... Oh!” she finished, when his tongue parted her and flicked over the sensitive nub.
Her legs fell farther apart, giving him access to all of her as he took her with his mouth until she cried out for him. When the waves of the orgasm were on the verge of rippling through her, he moved to thrust his erection deep inside. Once in, he stilled, then groaned with the pleasure of her coming around him before he started a slow but insistent drive of his own.
He increased the tempo, always stroking her body somewhere, finding another way to bring her pleasure. She arched against him, demanding more and more in her greediness to have him fully.
“I want you to straddle me like you did on the boat,” he said into her hair, his voice deep and husky. Without waiting for an answer, he rolled onto his back, taking her with him. He never lost his position inside her, but when she was settled on him, he pushed up into her, filling her completely. He put his hands on her hips and drove into her until she trembled with desire. Together, they peaked, rolling into ecstasy, and afterwards she collapsed on his chest, their bodies still joined.
When her breathing returned to normal, she raised herself to look at his face. He smiled at her, but not his usual cocky smile. His face expressed satisfaction and something else, something she couldn’t quite read. Then, that was gone. She touched his lips with her finger, trying to identify what she’d seen. “I like you
r plan.”
“I’d definitely call it a success.” Was he only talking about the physical act, or did he mean the intimacy between them? He shifted her to lie beside him and reached past her to the blankets, carefully tucking them in around her. She let him take care of her, still wondering how he was feeling.
“I guess we should sleep.” She snuggled deeper into the covers and closer to him. “You have a big day tomorrow.”
“I think today may have been the important one.” At his words, she lifted her head to see his face. “I wish I could offer you something to show you how I feel, but I can’t.”
“Telling me would be enough for now.”
He drew in a breath. “Okay. Here goes. I’m in love with you, Shells. I’ve known it for awhile but wasn’t brave enough to say it, not even to myself. But I still can’t offer you anything.”
She rolled onto his chest, pressing her face into his warm skin. “You just gave me what I wanted.”
“I’m no prize. I tend to hurt the ones I love, and I don’t want to hurt you.” He caressed her hair.
“You won’t.” She knew he meant his brother and parents. “Don’t you want to know how I feel?”
“I don’t have the right to ask. You know my position.”
“So I’ll tell you anyway. I love you, Adam. I didn’t expect to ever love anyone again, but I do.”
Chapter Eight
She woke when a stream of light came under the curtains, illuminating the small hotel room. Normally, she was up before the sun, but she’d slept so soundly in Adam’s arms she missed the sunrise. By the look of his open suitcase and the sound of running water in the bathroom, he’d been up for a while.
She didn’t have time to think about what she’d say to him before he came out buttoning a crisp, white shirt. Without turning on a light, he looked around by the edge of the bed for something. When he couldn’t find it, he dropped to his knees to feel with his hands. While he was searching, she leaned off the side of the bed and turned the lamp on.
“Hi.” She brushed her hair back from her face. “Thought you might need some light.”
“Good morning.” He kept his head down until he located his shoes. His eyes traveled over her when he sat back on the floor to tie them. “I didn’t want to wake you. You were sleeping so soundly.”
“I should get up.” She half sat up and realized she didn’t have anything on. “Oops.” Slinking back under the covers, she gave him an embarrassed smile.
“I’ll leave for awhile so you can get ready.” With his shoes on now, he stood, tucked in his white shirt, and shrugged into his jacket.
“Come here.” She reached out to him, wanting to erase any awkwardness between them. Taking her hand, he sat on the edge of the bed and waited for her to speak. “I wish I knew what to say. I feel a little off kilter.”
“Regrets?” His tone was sincere, but a little defensive.
“No,” she said quickly. “You?” In answer, he leaned down to kiss her, coasting his free hand down her. Even through the blankets, her body came alive to his touch.
“Nope. Just wish I had time to get back under the covers with you and prove it, but I want to get to the exhibition hall early.”
“Nervous?” She tucked the covers around herself and sat up to see him more clearly.
“Everything rides on today.”
“Except me.”
“Especially you.” He tapped the end of her nose with his finger. “Right now, all I can offer is a rented boathouse and a whole bunch of potential.”
“If my future is tied to today’s success, let me help you.” At his doubtful looks, she continued, “I can be your sales assistant. I know plenty about the boat from writing the article. I can talk about the dimensions, weight, engine size, and I can even claim personal experience.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t talk too much about your experiences on the boat.” He managed his cocky grin despite his obvious nerves.
“I’m a reporter and a master of packaging things in the right words. Can I help?”
“Could I stop you if I said no?”
“Probably not.”
“And you say I’m stubborn. You’re the worst kind of stubborn—the quiet, wait-it-out, wear-people-down type, and absolutely irresistible.” His fingers skimmed over her bare shoulder. “I meant what I said last night. I love you, Shelby. I need to find a way to make it work. Today’s my chance.”
“And you’ll succeed. Don’t worry.”
“I’ll be back in a half hour. Is that enough time?”
“I’ll be ready.”
****
Ready was definitely an understatement, he decided, a couple hours into the exhibit. In her slim-fitting blue dress, the exact shade of the Eve’s trim, and with her ash-blonde hair put up in some fancy way, she had men of all ages stopping to talk with her as she manned the table. She smiled, flirted a little, answered questions about the boat, and funneled the serious buyers to him.
“You should have been in sales,” he said when she brought him a late lunch. The crowd had thinned slightly from the morning. He unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. “I’m almost jealous of the attention you pay some of those guys, and the way they look at you.”
“Only almost jealous? I’m obviously not working hard enough.”
“When I get jealous,” he bent to whisper in her ear, “I remember that I’m the man who woke up with you this morning.” A blush brightened her cheeks, making her even prettier, and he nearly kissed her despite the people milling around them.
“Any sales?”
“Five, so far. You’re good at pegging who’s serious.”
“The last man, with the plaid jacket, who owns the marina. Did he buy?”
“Two.” He held up his fingers. “And he’s interested in being a dealer for me. I have to deliver the first two by the beginning of February.”
“You’ll need help.” She gave a nod and smile to a man who stopped at the table to pick up a pamphlet and admire the model.
“It’s all in the business plan. I have my eye on a larger shop, and I know a few guys who would work at least part time. I even talked to Mr. Carson at the bank. If I have orders, they’ll grant me a loan for startup expenses.”
“Sounds like you’re in business.”
“I’ll breathe easier if I have a few more orders.”
“I like the look of that guy.” She inclined her head toward the table. “Eat your sandwich. I’ll go chat with him.” With a welcoming smile on her face, she moved toward the other man, who instantly warmed to her.
A slight tinge of jealousy rose on its own from inside him, but he dismissed it quickly. She was his, and they both knew it. With sales going like they were, he could ask her to marry him soon. Just a little bit longer and his life would be stable enough to ask her to share it. He took a quick sip of coffee when Shelby guided the unknown man toward him.
If there was a better hand than four aces, he’d just been dealt it.
****
When he was accepting the down payment check from the tenth sale of the day, he noticed a tall, slightly stooped, gray-haired man talking to Shelby. The man stood at the back side of the table studying the wooden replica of the Eve, so Adam couldn’t see his face, but there was something familiar about him. People kept passing between them, preventing him from getting a better look.
Adam turned his attention back to his final customer, shook hands, and promised an early May delivery of the man’s purchase. Mentally, he added up the amount he’d taken in today and weighed it against how much he’d need to fulfill these orders. It almost balanced, but a loan was unavoidable. Debt bugged him, but it was necessary if he wanted to create his company. And he wanted that more than ever because then he could have Shelby, too.
He tucked the order form and check into an envelope. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Shelby’s face lighting up with surprise, and she took the gray-haired man’s hand. He clasped his hand over hers in an almost pos
sessive manner. Was it someone she knew? The man turned his head slightly, and Adam caught his profile. In an instant, all of his good humor faded.
His father. Thinner, grayer, and bent with time and worry, but still his father. It’d been almost a year since he’d visited his parents, and it hadn’t been a good experience. He’d left after only a couple of miserable days.
“Adam?” Shelby’s fingers closed over his wrist, bringing him out of the memory of that visit. “Your father’s here.” She indicated where he still stood by the table.
“I see that.” He twisted his wrist from her hold. “Did he say what he wants?”
“To talk to you, of course. What’s wrong?”
He didn’t bother to answer, but strode toward his father. “What are you doing here?” When his father winced, Adam immediately regretted his rude words, but it was too late to take them back.
“Your uncle sent me that newspaper article about you. I wanted to see what you’d built.” His father’s eyes left his face and focused on the Eve. “The boat’s beautiful.”
“Thanks.” He should thank his father for teaching him how to work with wood, but he couldn’t find any gratitude at the moment, so they stood there staring at each other.
“Your mother wanted to come, but it’s still hard for her to... Well.” His father rubbed his hands together. “She sends her best.”
“To look at me. She can’t even look at me.” The resemblance between him and his brother was uncanny. His mother couldn’t even face him without thinking of the son she’d lost and regretting that it hadn’t been the other way around. That knowledge had driven him out of his parents’ house a year ago with a vow to never return. “I’m not Jack. I’m not perfect like he was. Did you come here to remind me of that?”
“Adam…” Shelby touched his sleeve, but he shook her off.
“No, I wanted to see you.” His father’s voice was low and shaky. “We’ve hardly heard from you in the past year, so I wanted to...” Trailing off, the older man gave him a beseeching look.
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