by Drea Stein
“Yes, yes, Sean,” she heard herself moan. His hands moved more rhythmically, more insistently, and she was almost there. She shuddered against him, the tension building, and then he had pushed her dress up and torn off her panties.
She reached for him, snagging his belt with one finger and snaking it off. His shorts dropped, and she could see he was just as ready for her as she was for him. She reached out and touched him, feeling his erection through the thin fabric of his boxers.
“Oh yes,” he moaned, and she pulled him closer, peeling off the boxers until he sprung free.
“Now?” he asked, and she could do no more than nod as he prepared to enter her. He moved gently into her, then as the want built within him, he took her with sharp, strong, assured thrusts.
She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him close so that she could feel the exquisite pleasure of each and every thrust. “Oh, yes!” she cried as he took her over the edge. Her body convulsed in spasms of pleasure around him, and she could feel him reach his climax.
There was silence, just the thudding of their hearts. What had happened, she wondered, to the music? Did it matter? Sean, all glorious six foot two of him and his hard, muscled body was lying on her. Their legs and clothes were tumbled and tangled together, and she could feel the rise and fall of his chest.
There, the music had started up again. And it was normal—upbeat, none of the sexy music that had slipped in before. God, what had she been thinking when she added those to the playlist? They’d been total “doing it” songs, and that’s just what they had done, with an intensity she’d never felt before. Nothing before this had even come close.
“Say something,” she asked him, needing to know if he felt the same way.
“Wow,” he answered, and she hazarded a glance at his face. It had all happened so quickly, she didn’t quite know what to say. She, Darby Reese, who waited until at least the tenth date or more before going all the way, had just allowed a guy to ravish her—on a couch, no less. She was still wearing most of her clothes, for goodness’ sake.
“I am so sorry. I don’t know . . . I don’t understand just what happened. I don’t usually . . . .”
She tried to sit up, but he was too heavy. He looked at her with those twinkling eyes. His blonde hair was even more boyishly mussed than usual, and he looked so hot that she felt that familiar clench between her legs. Why did he have to be so darn adorable?
“Sorry for what, sugar?” He moved up a bit, a lopsided grin on his face. “I would say that was better than the tasting menu at . . . .”
She felt herself blush, and she looked away.
“Hey,” he said, his hand reaching out and holding her chin so she had to stare at him. “I get it. You don’t usually jump into bed with a guy you’ve just met.”
“Well, technically, we’ve known each other a long time,” she said.
He groaned. “You had to bring it up. Should I say I’m sorry again? That I’m not the man I used to be?”
She smiled, feeling a delicious need rise in her again. “I like the man you are right now.”
#
They made love again, this time in her bed. He took his time with her, his hands assured, his eyes wicked as he explored her body gently, then not so gently pushing her until she felt limp and ragged and thoroughly satisfied.
Dark had fallen, and they lay curled against each other in her room, a light breeze stirring the curtain in her window. Darby lay against him, feeling a sense of contentment she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Well, councilor, that was something else,” he said, nuzzling her ear.
Even though she knew he had felt it, too—the deep connection between the two of them—it was a relief to hear him say that, to confirm that this was where they had meant to end up.
“Well, you weren’t bad yourself.” In fact, it had never been this good with anyone else, but she decided that she might keep that little fact to herself.
“Wait until next time,” he whispered.
She turned, looked at him. “Will there be a next time?”
“What do you mean?” A look of puzzlement flashed in his liquid brown eyes.
“I don’t know. I’m just wondering if you’re here for good, or if you finally got your call back up to the big leagues?”
“What do you mean? Are you still worried about Mandy?”
She managed to shrug one bare shoulder, shivering as he ran his hand lightly over her.
“It’s just that I know that the Osprey Arms is your chance to work your way back up to the big leagues. And your publicist showing up—I just figured that maybe your ticket had come up and I guess I want to know if I’m the distraction along the way.”
“What do you think I am, some sort of rock star? I’m a guy who boils pasta. I don’t just expect that every woman I meet is going to drop her panties for me.”
“An interesting way of phrasing things,” she said, but she realized that the pounding of her chest was easing and the awful feeling that had reared up in her stomach, tying it into knots, was unraveling.
“I told you, the stories of my past relationships have all been greatly exaggerated. When I’m with someone, I’m with them.”
Darby let that settle in, but Sean wasn’t done. He flipped her over, so she was lying on top of him, chest to chest. He shook his head. “You know what I don’t get?”
“What?” she asked, but she was pretty sure she knew what it was.
“Why you, a lawyer, would give it all up to work in a kitchen. All those years of school, the chance to make a lot of money, be treated with respect, and you want to trade it all for a chance to swing a knife.”
“You get a lot of respect,” she pointed out.
“Because people are afraid of me. You . . . you probably walked in the room and people respected you without you having to say a word.”
She shook her head. “You sound like my dad.”
“Well, maybe he’s on to something. Did he pay for law school? Because I bet he’ll be pretty pissed when he gets back and finds out you quit your job.”
She realized that Sean wasn’t angry, just interested to know what she thought would happen. “Weren’t you the one who was saying that I needed to be all in, to burn my bridges if I wanted to succeed?”
“Well, metaphorically speaking—mentally, that is. Plan B has to suck; otherwise, you give up too easily.”
“What was your Plan B if this cooking thing didn’t work out?” she asked, suddenly curious.
He laughed, a throaty, gravelly laugh. “Stealing cars maybe, working on the road crew, which would have been legit, at least.”
“What happened?” she asked, feeling sorry for him.
“My dad wasn’t much of one. He had a real temper and liked to drink. Sometimes he would slap me and Mom around. Not badly enough so that anyone would believe us.”
She sat up and looked at him, but he kept going.
“Then he had a car accident. He was drunk of course and was killed. We were left alone, with nothing. So I became that kid, you know the one who got into trouble, stole things, and started fights.”
“What happened?”
“Well, I tried to rob this restaurant in town, this rib and chicken place, nothing fancy, but it was the most popular place in town.”
“And,” Darby could hardly stand to hear.
“I got caught. By Mac, the owner. He was a big, tough, son of a bitch. With a temper. Yelled, but funnily enough, that was it. People fell into line.”
“So what did he do?” Darby waited with bated breath for the rest of the story. She could imagine Sean, a teenager, alone, rebellious, trying to find his place in the world.
Sean shook his head. “Saved my life. Instead of turning me in, he put me to work. First it was in his garden. He had a big two-acre plot that he grew all these vegetables and herbs on. Said I could work there for a dollar an hour or I could take my chances with juvie court.”
“So you did?”
&
nbsp; “Mostly. At first I balked at it. Even tried to take Big Mac down, but he showed me. . One punch was all it took to show me that it was a losing battle. Then he took me into an office, poured me some cheap whisky and set me straight.”
“How did he do that?”
“Told me I could stop blaming the world for what happened and start behaving like a man and make something of myself. That I had a choice. I needed to stop doing all the dumb shit I was doing and start applying myself.”
“And did you?”
“Yeah. He promised he’d give my mom a job if I held up my end of the bargain. And I did, and so did he. I moved from the vegetable garden into the kitchen, doing every one of the dirty, nasty jobs, finally working my way up to a line cook.”
“What happened?”
“I loved it. Cooking, that is. Finally I knew what to do with all those vegetables Mac had made me pick. I found my thing. Of course, Mac ran a tough kitchen. He kept everyone in line because we were all just a bit of afraid of him. For him, it was a very effective motivator. When I finally got to run my own kitchen, I guess I just modeled it after Mac’s. And well, I was still an angry kid most of the time.”
“So Big Mac didn’t have a heart of gold?” Darby said, feeling somewhat disappointed.
“Nope. Still runs the restaurant. People are too afraid to quit on him, so he keeps his staff, even though he’s a terror to work with. The restaurant is a goldmine. Nothing much to look at, but a nice high profit margin. He did lend me the money to go to culinary school, and by that I mean lend, with interest. There are no free rides with Big Mac.”
“Sorry, it sounds like it was tough on you.” Darby said.
“It made me tough,” Sean said. “But I think that’s what drove me all those years. Whatever I could get I would take, always looking for the next big thing.”
“What about your mom?”
Sean gave a laugh. “Mac gave her a job as a hostess, and she was pretty good at it too. Finally married one of the customers. A nice, relatively mild-mannered dentist, named Alan. She’s retired now and plays Bunco and gardens. She’s happy. And the dentist is a nice enough guy.”
“Do you ever see them?” Darby asked.
“Big Mac? Nope, not since I walked out of that small town over a decade ago.”
She punched him lightly on his arm, “I meant your mom and Alan.”
“Ouch,” he said, grinning while he rubbed it. “Of course. They came to visit every time I started a new restaurant. And I send my mom gifts on her birthday, Mother’s Day, Christmas, and even Valentine’s Day. She’s my mom and like I said, Alan, the dentist, isn’t a bad guy at all. I try to make time for them, but it’s been hard the last couple of years. Life’s been moving pretty fast.”
“So you do have a softer side?”
“Shh, don’t tell anyone that,” he said, kissing her, and she felt her heart slip as his hands roamed over her, her body already alive and responding to his touch. She had just made love with Sean Callahan, but she was afraid she might be falling in love with the former bad boy who did have a heart of gold.
Chapter 27
“Whatcha doing?” Caitlyn swung in the back door of the restaurant. “Smells like paint.”
“That’s because they’re painting,” Darby said from where she was perched on the chair, checking her list.
“Got any chocolate muffins?” Caitlyn asked, as her finger skimmed over the cranberry-orange scones Darby had just taken out of the oven.
“Not yet.” Darby crossed some items off her list and added some new ones. The list never got shorter; it just kept changing.
“How did it go last night?”
“What about last night?” Darby hopped down from the chair.
“You know, your date.”
“It was just dinner,” Darby said, as she went back to the chopping block. The restaurant had been painted the cool cream and glossy white that she wanted. One more day of waiting for it to dry, and then she could start bringing in the furniture, redoing the display cases, and setting out the new menus. She’d had a banner made to cover up The Dory’s old sign, deciding that a permanent one could wait just a bit longer. She would love to have her new logo painted on the big plate glass window at the front of the shop, but the sign painter couldn’t come before next week, and still she wasn’t sure she should go that far. A myriad of details raced through her head until she took a deep breath to calm herself down.
“So, you look like you’ve been more than kissed,” Caitlyn said, as she propped herself up on the counter.
Automatically, Darby waved her off, and Caitlyn slid down with a sigh.
“So, what happened?”
“What are you talking about?” Darby brushed past Caitlyn to put the pan of meatloaf on the refrigerator.
“Hold on.” Caitlyn grabbed her arm, stopped her, and stared at her intently. “You have that glow.”
“Glow?” Darby broke free and snorted.
“You know, the glow that comes from nocturnal exercise.”
“Oh, please,” Darby said, as she shoved the pan into the fridge and shut the door. “Nocturnal exercise . . . really? Is that the best you can do?”
“Well, I could call it the in-the-mattress mambo, but whatever I call it, all signs point to . . . .”
“Yes, yes!” Darby cried, covering her ears. If Caitlyn came up with one more phrase, she was going to die from embarrassment.
“You did it,” Caitlyn said, her hands clasped together in excitement. “You have to tell me more.”
“Aren’t you supposed to lecture me, not hound me for details?”
“Umm, were you safe?”
“Of course,” Darby said, mortified.
“Well, lecture done. Now you can tell me all the good stuff.”
“I am not telling you the details,” Darby said.
“Well, was it good?”
“Yes,” Darby breathed and slumped against the counter. It had been good, very good.
“Aww, c’mon. I need some of the finer points. You haven’t had a relationship since that jerk Will, who you were willing to talk about in excruciating detail, and now—”
“Who said anything about a relationship? It was just dinner, which in fact we never ate, and well . . . .”
“And it gets better and better,” Caitlyn pointed out.
“It just happened. I didn’t mean for it to,” Darby said, feeling a mix between elation and misery. Reckless. Getting involved with—worse yet, falling for—Sean Callahan was reckless. And she had never been that.
“Well, then, if you didn’t, you’re a fool,” Caitlyn said.
Darby snorted. “Weren’t you the one who was telling me to careful? That maybe he’s just biding his time here in Queensbay?”
“Yeah, but I already saw him. He must have been walking home from your place and he looked ecstatic, and now you look like you’re over the moon, so it must have all been for the best. Though, there seems like a ‘but’ in there somewhere?”
Darby had been trying not to think about it, the way she had all of a sudden felt her world slip sideways and then steady back to reality. Love. Was that what it was?
“Have you ever been in love, I mean real, honest to goodness love?” she asked suddenly. Caitlyn had been engaged; surely, she must know what it was like. Maybe she could help Darby figure these things out.
Caitlyn’s gray eyes grew guarded, her fingers playing with the scone she had picked up from the baking sheet. “The thing about love? It’s a tricky little devil.”
“You were engaged.” Darby let it slip out before she thought about it.
“And I’m not now. I think it’s easy to think you’re in love,” Caitlyn said carefully.
“Does everything feel different, bright, full of promise?”
Caitlyn closed her eyes as if remembering. “Yes, that’s exactly how it feels.”
Darby paused for a moment, wondering if she had found the answer she had been looking for.
&nbs
p; Chapter 28
“Are you checking up on me? You know you don’t have to invent an excuse to come down to the marina to see me.” A shadow fell across Darby as she moved the bucket around the cockpit of her dad’s fishing boat. She looked up into the sun to see Sean standing above her, silhouetted against the sky.
“Hardly. My dad texted me. Wanted me to check the gas line on his boat,” Darby said, smiling. “And then I thought I would wash down the decks too.”
“I thought I get to see you later tonight, but this is a pleasant surprise. Guess I should ask permission to come aboard or something like that, right?” Sean said, eyeing the boat.
“Guess you should,” Darby said, coyly. He looked her over. She was wearing her bikini top and a pair of cutoff jeans and the afternoon sun looked warm on her back. Sean was wearing jeans and one of his t-shirts that seemed molded to him.
“Permission to come aboard, Captain?”
“Permission granted,” she said and Sean stepped onto the boat. In a moment he had her in his arms, his mouth covering hers. She reached up and into his kiss, letting her hands twine around his silky blonde hair, loving the way every part of her body seemed to light up at his very touch.
“But there’s something you should know,” she said when they came up for air.
“And what’s that?” he said as he nuzzled her neck.
“The captain’s always in charge.”
“Hmm,” he said, as his teeth nipped her ear, “I think I can live with that.”
“Want to take her for a spin?” Darby asked, not bothering to hide the excitement in her voice.
Sean looked at her. “Are you allowed? Won’t Big Reg object to you taking out his boat? I told you my days hotwiring cars—or boats—are long gone.”
Darby smiled. “Like he’s going to object to me remaking his restaurant?”
“So is this a case of in for a penny, in for a pound?” Sean asked.
“Something like that,” she said, looking at him as if daring him. “You know, I’m not the always good girl you think I am.”
“Oh, I think you proved that conclusively the other night. You might look sweet and taste sweet, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen your wild side.”