Breaking the Rules

by Melinda Dozier

  “Good idea,” Kelly said in a bubbly voice.

  “It’s not like that,” she scolded, but stopped abruptly. Colin continued to wait patiently for her, lifting his shirt to scratch his tight stomach. “Okay. Maybe it is, but I won’t ever know unless I go for it, right?”

  “Just enjoy yourself, Hope. You haven’t in such a long time.” Kelly pushed her toward Colin. “Get out of here.”

  Once she stood next to Colin, she let her inhibitions go and decided to do what Kelly said. At least for the next hour.

  “Ready?” Colin flashed one of his gorgeous smiles and tempted her with his dimples. “This way.” He nodded his head in the direction of a secluded area of the beach.

  They walked for a few minutes. The laughter from the beach disappeared behind them, and Hope could hear Colin’s breathing. Feeling anxious, she decided to break the silence. “Have you been planning this all day?”

  He smiled at her. “Wish I could say yes, but I haven’t. When I saw the sun going down, I remembered the list on your refrigerator. Watch the sunset at the beach.”

  “You saw my list?”

  “Yeah, when I was getting the glasses from your kitchen the other night.”

  Hope narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips a little tighter. Was he spying on her now?

  She should have known he could read her mind. “It really wasn’t snooping. It’s on your fridge, in plain sight.”

  Her cheeks warmed. “So, now it’s your goal in life to help me with my bucket list?”

  “No, but if I can help, why not?”

  “Next thing you know, I’ll be calling you to take me bungee jumping.”

  He arched an eyebrow at her. “So, that’s what we’re doing next weekend?”

  She stopped. “You’ve done it, haven’t you?”

  He looked at her. “Actually, I haven’t and I think it’d be fun to do it with you.”

  She shook her head. “Bungee jumping is not on my list.”

  “Damn, I really wanted to do it, too.” He laughed, grabbed her hand and walked again. “Are you offended I want to do stuff with you?”

  “Of course not. I just wish you weren’t so … so … ” She stopped again.

  He pulled her to walk beside him. “Come on. Don’t think too much. Just have fun.”

  “I’m not used to having so much fun.” She huffed.

  “You haven’t tried any fun with me yet.”

  “We did have fun on the boardwalk the other week.”

  “Especially all that kissing.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  She laughed. “That was fun. But there’s more to it than that.”

  With a steady, lower-pitched voice, he answered. “Yeah. It is.”

  They walked in silence again until they reached an ideal spot. There were rocks on one side and the ocean on the other. The people from the picnic area in the distance were small moving dots, and Hope and Colin could hear only the waves rushing to the shore.

  Colin stopped and held out his hands. “Here we are.” He laid the blanket down on the sand, far enough away from the water so they wouldn’t get wet, but close enough that the sand was damp. He laid his legs out in front of him and reached for her hand. “Sit down next to me.”

  She sat and stretched her legs next to his. As the sun descended, it lit the clouds with crimson fire as pink, red and orange stretched across the sky. She reached her arms behind her and leaned her head back to see it all. The air had cooled and she could hear the surf — pure relaxation.

  Colin twisted the bottles open and handed a beer to her. He took a swig of his. “This is the life. The ocean, a beer and a beautiful lady by my side.” He smiled at her and rested his arms on his knees.

  Hope giggled and took a sip. “My third beer today. I don’t usually drink this much.”

  “Yeah, but it’s been throughout the day. You can handle it.” He raised one eyebrow suggestively. “Now, scoot closer. I won’t bite … unless you want me to.”

  She turned down the right corner of her mouth in a mock frown as she moved closer. “You’re too much.”

  They sat leg to leg and the warmth of Colin’s hard body quickened her pulse. She reminded herself that she knew what she was getting into by coming to a secluded area with him. She wanted to be alone with Colin, to feel him, to kiss him, but she had to take a deep breath, not quite ready.

  He bumped his shoulder against hers. “It’s just us, Hope. You don’t need to worry what others are thinking. Just be you and I’ll be me.” He held up his bottle. “To the sunset.”

  “To the sunset.” She clinked her beer against his and smiled. They held each other’s gaze for a moment before she turned toward the amazing sky.

  The orange, yellow and pink colors shone onto the ocean, making it mirror off the water. The colors poured all around them and created peacefulness within her. A dream couldn’t be this good.

  Perfect.

  That’s what this was. The sunset, yeah, but Colin, too. That’s what she tried to say earlier. Always a gentleman, funny, caring, a good father, a good friend.

  Perfect.

  She needed to get to know him better. Find some flaw. Then she wouldn’t fall for him, which she was afraid already happened. “So, tell me about Beth.”

  He cleared his throat and frowned. “I don’t usually talk about her.”

  “I’m just curious, but you don’t have to.”

  He sighed. “Well, you know she had a car accident. It was really hard on Jason.”

  She fingered her bottle and looked at him. “How about you?”

  “Of course it was hard.” He eyed her sideways. “But what no one knows is that a week before the accident, we had discussed divorce.”

  She turned toward him. “Really? What happened? I mean, you don’t have to tell me, but — ”

  He grabbed her hand. “Our relationship wasn’t as good as people might have thought. She resented me for working long hours. I won’t deny it, because I did. And then we just grew apart. The time I spent home, I spent with Jason and she didn’t like that, I guess.”

  “Some marriages end up that way, I suppose. But you have to make sacrifices.”

  “She didn’t like it, although she knew what she was getting into. Her pregnancy was the best surprise we could get. I was entering med school at the time. Talk about the worst timing, but we decided to get married anyway.”

  She squeezed his hand.

  “Our personal relationship went downhill from there.” He sighed and rubbed her hand with his thumb. “When she died, I met her boyfriend at the hospital.”

  Hope jerked. “I don’t understand.”

  “Yeah. I didn’t either. That’s where she was headed when the driver ran the red light and crashed into her car. To her boyfriend’s house.” He let out a low laugh. “We all thought she took cooking classes three times a week, but she had been seeing this guy for a few months.”

  She cupped his cheek. “I don’t know what to say.”

  Colin shrugged. “It’s been two years, so I’m over it now.” He shook his head. “It made things harder at the time, but what can you do? Jason doesn’t know, of course.”

  “Yeah. I couldn’t imagine him understanding.”

  “No.” He touched his forehead to hers. “What is it about you that I can talk about anything? No one really knows the truth besides family.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She bit her lip.

  “Definitely.” He leaned down and kissed her lips briefly. “I like this. It’s been far too long since I’ve felt this.” He placed his hand on his chest.

  She liked this, too. In fact, her body ached for more of his touch. Not knowing where this would lead, but knowing it was too good to pass up, she reached for his chest and pulled him
in closer by his shirt. “I haven’t felt like this in a while, either.” She brushed his lips and pushed her body closer to his.

  Colin’s arms tightened around her back. He pulled her in close and kissed her mouth, his hot lips demanding a response. His kiss sang through her veins, waking senses that had been asleep for too many months to count. She never thought she’d feel this again.

  His lips left hers to nibble at her earlobe and his fast breathing puffed against her ear. A low mumble came from him and he laid back down. “I’m surprised by you, Ms. Robinson.”

  She lowered her head and batted her lashes at him. “Well, you go around and say sweet things like that, it does something to a woman.”

  His laugh rumbled through her chest. “Sweet? Don’t go around saying that out loud.” Still holding each other, he gazed at her. “Now, it’s your turn.”

  “My turn to what?”

  He let go of her and took a sip of beer. “You know. Share your story.” He looked in her eyes.

  “I’m only twenty-nine.” She scooted back on her elbows and looked at the last orange streaks on the water.

  “Yeah, but you’re smart and sexy as hell, something most men look for in a woman.”

  She bumped him with her shoulder. “There you go being sweet again.”

  He put his bottle down. “Okay. Enough of the sweet calling. You’re doing damage to my ego.”

  “Sweet is good.” She smiled.

  “You’re changing the topic.” He reached over and swirled a piece of her hair in his finger. “Of course, you don’t have to share if you don’t feel comfortable. I get it.”

  She looked at him. His eyes showed an understanding and she knew he wouldn’t be upset if she didn’t tell him. Honestly, she didn’t feel comfortable talking about her love life. Yet Colin opened up without hesitation. She owed him.

  “I’ve dated a bit.” She sat up and wiped her hands together to clean the sand off them. “Back in Virginia. But I did have what I guess you’d call a serious relationship when I was in graduate school.”

  He sat up and laid his elbow on his knee so that he could face her. “Okay. So, what happened?”

  “Vincent was a professor. I was his graduate assistant.” She sighed, embarrassed by the whole story. “One late afternoon I helped him grade papers in his small office. One thing led to another and … Well, you know.”

  Colin nodded and stared at her, obviously waiting for the rest of the story.

  She felt naked. Open. But looking at Colin’s understanding eyes, it was okay. He wasn’t judging her or laughing at her. He was just there. Listening. Perfect.

  “Anyway, he said since I was his assistant we had to keep our relationship hush-hush. So, we continued to meet in his office or late at night in the back of a restaurant. I got caught up in the whole thing — a smart, older professor liked me. It made me feel good, you know.”

  Colin reached over and twirled another stray hair. “Yeah, I get it. There’s more.”

  She tipped her head to the side. “I knew he was separated from his wife.” She cringed at the thought. “I would never purposefully break up a marriage.”

  Colin sat up straighter. “I didn’t think you would.”

  “But I didn’t know that at the same time we saw each other, he also actively tried to get back together with his wife. That was the real reason he wanted to keep us a quiet thing. And before I knew it, he was back home with her and told me he still wanted to see me on the side.” Her eyes and cheeks burned as she shook her head. “So, of course I told him to go to hell and left there as fast as I could.”

  Colin reached behind her and rubbed her back. “You deserve better than that asshole.”

  “I know.” She looked up at him. “That’s when I decided to look for an administrative job outside of Virginia. A few months later, Kelly told me about the job here and that’s how I ended up in Harbor Bay.”

  “Lucky us.” He rubbed her neck and smiled. “Now I see where you’re coming from.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean with all this secret stuff.” He pulled her closer. “We don’t have to be a secret. There’s nothing wrong with us seeing each other.”

  “I’m not so sure.” Her smile wavered.

  “I’m sure.” He reached for her chin and raised it. “I’d really like to see you, date you … kiss you … whatever you want to call this.” He shook his head. “Shit. I’m so bad at this.”

  She giggled and reached for his hands. “I want to do it too, but there’s a line drawn between us already we can’t erase.”

  “To hell with the line. Dr. Patel can be your doctor from now on and your being Jason’s principal has nothing to do with our relationship. There are principals and teachers out there who teach their children. People do it. We’re just dating and we’re professional. I mean, do you have something written in your contract that says, ‘No dating doctors’?”

  She opened and closed her mouth. Funny how he just spilled his thoughts out in the open. She pulled her ear and cocked her head. “Hmmm. I don’t think so.”

  “Then to hell with it. We deserve to try this thing out.” He motioned between the two of them. With her hesitation, he added. “Maybe making out for a few minutes would help us.”

  She laughed and pushed him.

  Then when he eyed her closely, he added. “I mean it.”

  She sighed. He was right. Absolutely right. “Okay. Let’s try it.”

  His smile grew wider.

  She held up a finger. “But, when we’re at school, no physical contact.”

  He grabbed her finger and pulled her to his chest. “We’re not at school right now.”

  She laughed against his neck. “No, we’re not.”

  “So, no more dating other schmucks, right? No Kevin or … whoever.”

  “No. Only you.” She moistened her lips.

  “Then come here.” He pushed her down on the blanket and held his body above her. “You really drove me crazy today, you know that? In that bikini of yours.” His hand grazed her stomach and reached under the sweatshirt. Leaning down, he gave gentle kisses on her neck. “God you feel so good.”

  The mere touch of his hand and the words from his mouth sent a shiver through her. She placed her arms around his neck and groaned. His hand moved up more onto her bare skin and up to her bikini top, feeling her breasts underneath them. “So good.” He moaned.

  She grabbed his face and pulled it to her own. The kiss was as tender and light as the fall breeze around them. But as soon as she opened her mouth, the breeze turned into a whirlwind of desire. She wanted him and from what she felt against her leg, she knew he wanted her just as much. The kiss turned into a burning ache for each other that had been building for weeks. Opening up to him had pulled something within her, too. A real relationship between them. No more hiding. No more denying it.

  She quivered at his tenderness as he showered more kisses around her lips and then moved around her jaw. A low groan sounded from his throat and he stopped to look down at her. “We better stop.”

  She lazily smiled. “I guess.”

  “I don’t want to stop though.” He grabbed her ass.

  “We are on a public beach.” And as if on cue, another couple walked by a few yards away from them. “See.”

  Colin laughed and he bent down, first kissing her nose, then each eye and finally a sweet kiss on her lips. He sprawled out next to her and grabbed her hand, taking a deep breath. “This day is even better than I thought it’d be.”

  She squeezed his hand. “The best bucket list adventure yet.”

  In their comfortable silence, she could feel Colin’s heart beat next to her, even though they only touched shoulders and hands. His foot lingered over and curled with her own.

  They turned h
eads at the same time and he smiled at her. “So, you’re my girlfriend, then?”

  She bit her lip and tried not to laugh. “You really are sweet, you know that?”

  Groaning, he took his hat off his head and pulled it on top of his face. “Don’t keep saying that, especially around Tim. He’d never let me hear the end of it.”

  Hope reached over and held the hat up. “You’re sweet, Colin, whether you want to admit it or not. Sweet. Sweet. Sweet.” She kissed him with each word and lay back down.

  “I told you not to call me that.” He rolled to his side and pulled her closer. “Bad girls will be punished, Ms. Robinson. You should know that.”

  She clamped her lips shut and quirked her head to the side as her heart jolted and her pulse pounded. “You like to dirty talk, then, McSteamy?”

  “We can do some dirty talk, if you want, Soxy.” He nuzzled his head down into her neck and coddled her. Moving up, his lips caressed her neck and then demanded her own.

  Next, he seared a path down her neck and onto her collarbone. Things were going to go too far if she didn’t put an end to it. “We need to stop.” She raised herself on her elbows. “I don’t want to, but we need to.”

  Colin sat up and shook his head. “Right. Stop. Yeah.” He flopped next to her again, and sighed deeply. “Stopping right now.” He cleared his throat as Hope lay back down.

  “Good. We want to stop, right.”

  He looked at her with a smirk. “Wanting to and needing to are separate things, Hope.” Coiling their fingers together, he looked up at the sky. “Check out the stars.”

  She snuggled closer to his warm body. Even though it was chillier without the sun, she felt warm next to him. Then she saw a shooting star. “Oh, did you see that?”

  He squeezed her hand. “Yep. Make a wish.”

  Closing her eyes, she wished for this night to never end. “How about you. Did you make a wish?”

  “Oh yeah.” He smiled at her, that sexy dimple shouting out for a kiss.

  And since she could do it, she leaned in and kissed it. “And what did you wish for?”

  A lazy rumble came from his throat. “I wished that I might see that mysterious tattoo after all.” His empty hand caressed her shoulders, then her chest and stopped at her breasts. “Where could it be, Hope?”