Her Savior

by Sarah J. Brooks

  Scarlett wasn’t the kind of girl who made out with guys in their cars. The previous night when they had pulled into the abandoned parking lot had been a huge step for her to give up on her anxiety and just kiss Drake like she wanted to.

  Climbing onto his lap had also been way outside of her comfort zone. Scarlett still couldn’t believe she had done it and really wasn’t ever going to forget it after what had happened with the car horn.

  “Can we go for a walk or something? I don’t want to be in the car anymore.”

  “Of course.”

  The pair made their way down the sandy beach, and the tension between them seemed to have totally disappeared. Scarlett held onto Drake’s hand as they climbed up and over some rocks and continued to walk down the beach. Their conversation went on for almost anything they could imagine, from business to dogs and everything in between.

  It was a romantic evening, and they were lost in conversation as the sun started to set and they slowed their stroll. Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t actually died from embarrassment, and they sat on the beach to watch the sunset and enjoy a little more time together.

  Drake pulled Scarlett into his arms and held her close to keep the nighttime chill from getting to her. She was delighted to have his arms around her but wasn’t going to let things go any further than they already had. She certainly wasn’t going to get herself arrested for indecent exposure—that was for sure.

  “Do you think this week was worth it?” she asked Drake.

  He paused for what seemed like forever before he finally answered her. His answer seemed very well thought out and diplomatic for the situation they were in.

  “I am a very lucky man to have gotten to know all seven of you. I wouldn’t change a thing from this week. No matter what happens tomorrow, I really do believe this week was worth it.”

  Scarlett had a ton of other questions she wanted to ask him, but she wasn’t going to. She wanted to know if he had slept with all of the other women. She wanted to know if he already had his decision made of who he was going to pick. There were dozens of thoughts that she could have tortured herself with, but Scarlett decided not to.

  She had never been the type of woman who was jealous because of other women and wasn’t going to let a week at Drake’s house change her. Certainly, it was awkward that Drake had spent time with so many other women so close to when she went out with him. But the truth was that everyone had a history before they met each other and that couldn’t be changed.

  A couple could only move forward from the point that they decided to be an item. Scarlett was confident she would be able to move forward with Drake after their week of craziness. She liked most of the other women anyway, and if he picked one of them over her, well, Scarlett would be alright with that also.

  Men weren’t something that Scarlett pretended to understand. She truly didn’t get them most of the time and wasn’t going to pretend she did. If Drake found a better match among the other women in the house, then she would be happy for him. But there was only one other woman that Scarlett really thought would be a perfect match for Drake; only one other woman besides herself, of course.

  “I think this week was worth it as well. As wild and crazy as it has been, it was a huge learning experience for me.”

  Drake started to laugh.

  “What on earth could you have learned this week?”

  “Don’t laugh, I actually learned a lot about myself this week and how I interact with other women. I’m not all that understanding to some women, and I worked really hard to be respectful of them and their spot in this process this week.”

  “Sophia? You like her, right?”

  “No. Actually, I don’t like her all that much.”

  Drake was caught totally off guard. He had watched Scarlett washing Sophia’s hair in the hospital. She had been gentle and kind to Sophia, and it had certainly looked as though she liked her very much.

  “But you went to the hospital to check on her. I saw you washing her hair.”

  “I knew she would want to look beautiful for you when you came to visit her. I had just come to check on her and offered to help her. Sophia’s face lit up at the idea, so I went with it. I was happy to help her out. I know it was rough on her having to back out of the week with you. But she still hoped you would pick her.”

  “You didn’t think I would pick her, did you?”

  “No, I knew from talking to Samantha that you weren’t going to pick Sophia.”

  “I like that you and Sam get along so well, but I must admit, it’s a little scary to me.”

  “Because you think she’s told me all of your secrets?” Scarlett winked.

  “Yes, or that she …” he trailed off.

  Scarlett turned around to look at Drake. There had been something he wanted to say, but he stopped himself. Something about Samantha that he was only a moment away from blurting out; but Drake was too afraid to continue.

  “It’s getting late, should we head back? I think the water has gotten pretty high,” Scarlett said as she saved Drake from having to finish his sentence.

  Drake obviously had strong feelings about Samantha, and from the conversations Scarlett had with Samantha, she had similar feelings. But the two of them had decided their working relationship was more important. That was admirable to Scarlett, although she wasn’t sure she agreed with the logic. But clearly the two of them had worked together for over five years and nothing had happened yet, so it was highly likely nothing was ever going to happen between them.

  Chapter 6

  “I don’t remember having to climb so many rocks on our way out here.”

  “That’s because we only climbed those,” Drake said, pointing to a small set of rocks that they had climbed earlier, which was now engulfed in water.

  “The tide sure came in fast.”

  “Yeah, I think we are going to be stuck climbing these rocks all the way back. Unless you want to jump into the water.”

  Scarlett just shook her head and continued to move over the rocks. They weren’t hard to climb; in fact, they were large and round and rather easy to move over. But it was still taking them much longer than it had when they walked out to watch the sunset. Luckily, the moon was out and lit up the beach well enough for them to see where they were going as they climbed up and over one rock after the next.

  “So I planned a nice rock climbing date for you,” Scarlett joked.

  “Wow, that was a great idea. And the sunset and the drive; you are excellent at planning these dates. We should certainly do it again sometime.”

  Both Scarlett and Drake couldn’t help laughing as the night wore on and they continued to climb over rocks. They still had at least a mile to walk back, and it was taking forever as they climbed up and over all their obstacles.

  Scarlett liked how Drake was handling the situation, though. He wasn’t angry or agitated over having to climb over the rocks and didn’t care that Scarlett wasn’t willing to just jump into the water and walk back through it. His understanding was refreshing, and she was excited to get back to the house and bring Drake to her bed.

  Scarlett had fantasized about Drake, probably just as much as he had fantasized about her. She couldn’t stop imagining his tongue on her body and was happy that nothing had happened between them the night before. She certainly wanted to remember when he put his tongue on her or any other part of his body.

  “Did all your other dates go this well?” Scarlett started to ask but then changed her mind. “Never mind, I don’t want to know about your other dates.”

  “I’ll tell you this much, I’m going to remember this date forever; I’m sure of it.”

  “Do you mind if we rest for a minute?”

  Scarlett was freezing and tired. The idea of climbing more and more rocks was exhausting, and she was second guessing the idea to just jump into the knee-high water and walk the rest of the way. She would get wet and be colder than she was at that moment, but at least, it wou
ld all be over in ten minutes or so.

  “We can rest all you want.” Drake wrapped his arms around Scarlett, pressing his hands up and down rapidly as he tried to warm her up. “It would be a really beautiful night if we weren’t shipwrecked here.”

  “I think we should jump in. The water isn’t all that high, and we could make our way ten times faster.”

  “I’m game if you are.”

  Scarlett looked at Drake and then at the water that was just below their feet. She knew if she didn’t do it at that moment, she wasn’t going to have the nerve to do it at all, so she jumped right in, without a warning at all. It was a bold move, and she yelled out with excitement as the water touched her skin.

  The water was just above her knees, and she started walking along the coastline as quickly as she could. When she looked back, Drake was right behind her and grabbed her hand as they continued to walk quickly. He held onto her, and they took big steps through the knee-high water as they kept their eye on the shore up ahead and where their car was.

  “This isn’t so bad,” Scarlett said through chattering teeth.

  “If we survive the hypothermia, it will be great.”

  Drake moved ahead of Scarlett and pulled her with him. They needed to keep moving if they were going to get back to the car and get warmed up. Then out of nowhere, Drake lost his footing and slipped into the water. He released Scarlett’s hand as he went down, but she still slipped with him and the tide pulled them both out into chest-high water.

  “Oh, shit,” Scarlett yelled as the cold water came up high on her body.

  “You alright?” Drake asked.

  The water wasn’t nearly as high on him, but it was still as cold. The rush had shocked them both, and he held onto Scarlett tightly as they tried to make their way back into shore.

  “Yes.”

  A wave hit, and Scarlett lost her footing and was pulled out even more, but Drake grabbed hold of her hand again, and this time held it tighter. He was tall enough that he could touch the sand still, but Scarlett was too small to touch. She ended up bouncing up and down on her tiptoes as she tried to make her way into shore with Drake.

  Drake pulled on her while she kicked to try to make it back into where they could both touch. It was a scary moment, but Scarlett had all the trust in the world in Drake. She saw the determination in his eyes and knew he wasn’t going to let anything bad happen to her.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” Drake said calmly.

  It was the truth. Scarlett felt his hand holding onto hers and trusted that he would get her to safety. But she was still scared, wet, and freezing. There was no getting around that feeling.

  Drake did an amazing job of taking charge, and he quickly had them both pulled back into a place where they could walk comfortably again. They continued down the coast until there was a clearing, and they could move up onto the sandy beach. The car wasn’t far away from them by that point, but Scarlett was shaking and scared.

  Scarlett collapsed onto the sand in what Drake thought was exhaustion. He quickly went over to her. He felt so responsible for what had happened. Drake lived in California and knew how quickly the tide could rise; he should have been paying attention.

  “Are you alright?” he said, kneeling down to Scarlett.

  “Oh, I’m just fine,” she said as she started to laugh. “You finally got me soaking wet. Are you happy?”

  She was nearly in tears, she was laughing so hard, and Drake couldn’t help laughing with her. He fell into the sand and wrapped her in his arms so he could plant a delicious kiss on her salty lips.

  Scarlett had an amazing sense of humor. The fact that she was laughing instead of crying after she had been thrown into neck-high freezing water in the middle of the night—that said a lot about the person that Scarlett was. Drake had to wonder what there was that really could unsettle the woman.

  “Yes, I’m happy,” he answered her between kisses.

  Scarlett’s touch was electrifying, and it struck Drake that he finally felt like things were back to how they had been throughout the week between the two of them. He didn’t want the moment to end, but he also didn’t want them to get sick from staying out in the cold.

  Her lips started to shiver while he touched them. The soft, gentle quiver that came from her body was becoming colder and colder from the wet clothes she wore and the cool night air. Drake had to get her dried off and warm; it didn’t matter how much he wanted to stay there kissing her. They needed to get moving.

  He pulled Scarlett up into his arms and held her briefly to try and get her shivering to stop, and then they made their way back to the car. By the time they got there, all the other people from the beach were long gone, and their car sat alone in the beach parking lot.

  “At least no one will see us now if I have my way with you,” Drake teased.

  But Scarlett was obviously cold and in no mood to make out in the car. Drake grabbed a button-down shirt from a bag in the back of the car. It was an expensive shirt, but money didn’t matter to him. He just wanted Scarlett to get warmed up, and she wasn’t going to do that if she kept her wet clothes on.

  “It’s not much, but if we get you out of those wet clothes, at least it’s a dry shirt.”

  Drake pulled Scarlett to him and started to pull her T-shirt off before she stopped him. She cast her eyes around the parking lot and down to the ocean, clearly not comfortable with the idea of getting naked on the beach.

  “I’m all sandy, though. It will ruin your shirt,” she said softly.

  “It’s fine. Let’s get you out of those clothes.”

  Scarlett gently nodded her head yes to allow Drake to finish pulling off her wet T-shirt. The shirt was heavy and soaking wet with a combination of ocean water and sand. He moved slowly and tried to prevent the sand from getting on her face as he pulled the wet clothing over her head. Then he let his hands slide down to the button on her jeans as he looked deep into her eyes. He felt the sexual desire she had for him just by looking at her deep brown eyes; Scarlett wanted him, and he wanted her.

  His heart pounded as he knelt down and pulled her wet pants to the ground. Drake took a moment to kiss her thighs before he grabbed her soaking panties and pulled them down as well. Scarlett’s eyes darted back and forth as she watched to make sure no one was around and pulled Drake back up to her. He was just as wet as she was, but Drake had no intention of getting naked. He was fine and not even all that cold.

  Lastly, he removed her bra and released her beautiful breasts into the nighttime air. They were covered with sand, as was the rest of her body, so Drake let his hands slide softly over her skin in an effort to wipe some of the sand off. Her nipples were at full attention, and Drake did his best to hold back his desire to suck on them.

  Scarlett took in a deep breath as Drake’s hands moved around her and barely grazed her skin. The touch of his cold hands on her already cold body was erotic, and she anticipated each and every stroke. With her eyes closed, Scarlett leaned against the car and let Drake stroke her body. What started as a way of removing the sand from her skin had turned into something else entirely.

  His hands were building up the sexual tension in her body with each new stroke. Scarlett thought for sure he was going to make her cum right there in that parking lot.

  She swallowed hard as his hands moved to her hips and brushed downward to remove the sand from them. He then pressed them both between her thighs and let his fingers linger for a moment before pressing downward to remove the sand from her legs.

  Again and again, his hands touched her before he flipped her around and pressed her up against the car. Drake moved in behind Scarlett and wrapped his hands around her breasts, holding them while his mouth touched the back of her neck in that way which had become familiar to him. The salty seawater and cold air had them both breathing heavily with anticipation.

  His body was throbbing with a need for Scarlett, and all he could think about was unzipping himself and sliding inside of her.
But not there, not like that, she wouldn’t want it that way, and he knew it.

  “Time for you to get dressed,” he whispered softly in her ear.

  Drake slid Scarlett’s arms into the dress shirt and then turned her around so he could button it for her. He started at the top and moved slowly and deliberately down her body until he got to the last button, which was strategically placed right over her delicious center. Every inch of Scarlett exuded sex appeal. Even as she stood naked, wet and covered in sand, Scarlett was one of the most beautiful women Drake had ever known.

  Her beauty wasn’t just on the outside though. She had calmness, a peacefulness about her that drove Drake wild. He had always wanted to be more like that in his own life, so it was certainly an appealing characteristic in a woman. Even the way she handled her own business deal was sexy as hell to Drake.

  “Should we get going?” Scarlett asked as a smile flashed across her face.

  She was no longer shivering, and Drake liked to see that, but getting in the car and turning the heat on would surely be a better way to warm her up than with his mouth. Well, it would be a better way for Scarlett, at least; because Drake would have been perfectly happy to warm her up only with the heat from his body.

  “Yes, let’s get you home.”

  Within minutes of getting back into the car, Drake had the vehicle totally warm, and Scarlett had fallen asleep. It took all that he had in him to pay attention to the road.His shirt looked so damn sexy on Scarlett that his mind raced with thoughts of getting it off her.

  The rest of the drive home was a combination of delicious thoughts about Scarlett and anxiety over what the next twenty-four hours was going to bring for him. He had a big decision to make the following day, bigger than any business deal he had participated in. Drake was going to decide on the woman who he might be spending the rest of his life with—that was a really big decision.

  Chapter 7

  When Drake pulled into his driveway, Samantha was waiting there for him. She did not look happy at all, but Drake couldn’t help laughing as he climbed out of the vehicle and let Scarlett stay sleeping. Samantha was absolutely relentless when she was angry. Drake knew it, and he was prepared to deal with the situation.