by Marie Force
She’d managed to resist his suggestion that she put the tattoo somewhere people could see it. She hadn’t completely lost her mind, but she’d enjoyed the pleasurable pain of being inked. Next time, she might put the tattoo where it could be seen. Why not? What did she care if people saw it?
By the time she’d stomped up the stairs to her third-floor room, she was breathing hard and mad at herself. Why hadn’t she listened to Adam and put the tattoo somewhere visible? What good was it if no one knew she had it? She rifled through her suitcases until she found a pair of faded jeans and pulled them on.
So much for her new, go-wild philosophy… She now had a tattoo no one would ever know she had unless she got down and dirty with them, and since she made her deal with Adam, she wouldn’t be getting down or dirty with anyone but him. Not that the idea of getting busy with him didn’t cause her girl parts to tingle with interest, but she wanted other people to know she was different now. Not just Adam.
The first chance she got, she was going back for a second tattoo, and this one would be somewhere more visible. Pleased with her decision, she grabbed a sweater and headed downstairs to meet Adam, who was waiting for her in the street outside the hotel.
He smiled when he saw her coming, and Abby felt her earlier irritation yield to the excitement of another adventure with him. Halfway down the stairs, it occurred to her that she was probably too excited to be going out with him. She had to remind herself to keep her emotions out of it. They were having fun, not a relationship.
When she joined him at the curb, he plopped the helmet onto her head and adjusted it for her. “Ready?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Slide on and put your arms around me. Hold on tight.”
“Where do I put my feet?”
Adam pointed out the passenger footrests.
As she put her arms around him, Abby was hit with a sudden bout of shyness.
He must’ve sensed her hesitation, because he turned to her. “What’s wrong?”
“I…I was thinking…”
“About?”
“The one thing we didn’t talk about earlier.”
“Which is?”
“Boundaries.”
“What kind of boundaries are we talking about?”
“The relationship kind.” Abby forced herself to look at him. “We talked about exclusivity when it comes to sex, but we didn’t talk about not letting this get serious or anything. I don’t want that. I thought I should make sure you knew that.”
“I don’t want it either, so don’t sweat it. We’re both right out of serious relationships that went bad. We’ve got no business doing anything other than having fun.”
“Good,” she said, pleased that he understood. “That’s a relief.”
“We’re on the same page, Abs. Don’t worry.”
The nickname seemed to take them both by surprise. No one had ever called her that before, and she discovered she liked it coming from him.
“Shall we?” he said.
“Yes, please.”
He fired up the bike and pulled away from the curb, navigating through the traffic that clogged downtown on the way to the less congested roads that circled the island.
As Abby giggled with the sheer joy and freedom, she tightened her grip on Adam’s waist. When her hands connected with his abdomen, she realized he was all muscle. She had to stop herself from exploring further, if for no other reason than she didn’t want to distract him.
They made two full loops around the island before Adam pulled into the parking lot at the bluffs and cut the engine. He got off the bike and removed his helmet.
Abby fumbled with the strap to her helmet, so Adam helped her. “That was amazing. I loved it.”
“I’m glad.”
“But it’s not really a true adventure if I don’t get to drive.”
“Have you ever driven a motorcycle?”
“Nope.”
“Well you don’t start with one like this. I can give you some lessons on Mac’s old bike, if I can wrestle it away from Evan.”
“I’d like to learn.”
He held out his hand to her, and they headed for the stairs that led to the beach below. “Looks like we’ve got the place to ourselves today. Another week, and the tourists will invade.”
“When I was in business, I used to live for the invasion. Now I kind of like the peace and quiet.”
Adam stopped her from going all the way to the beach and tugged her hand to invite her to sit next to him on the stairs. “Have you given any thought to what you’ll do for work?”
“I’m going to run the gift shop at the Surf for Laura this summer. After that, we’ll see. I may reopen the Attic next season, but it’s getting late for that this year.”
“It might be nice to have a summer where you don’t have all the responsibility of running your own business.”
“My thoughts exactly. Have you made any plans, yet?”
“Not really. I’ve had a few people ask me to help them with some things here. It’s enough to keep me busy for a couple of weeks. After that, we’ll see,” he said, using her words.
His phone chimed with a text. “Crap.”
“What’s wrong?” Abby asked.
“Forgot to tell my mom I wasn’t coming home last night.”
“That wasn’t very nice.”
“I know. It’s been a long time since I had to tell her where I was. I’ve fallen out of the habit.”
“Doesn’t mean she won’t worry about you.”
“I’ve been duly chastised by both of you. Won’t happen again.”
While Adam exchanged texts with his mother, Abby kicked off her shoes and wandered down to the water, dipping her toes into the chilly surf. By the time he joined her, she’d rolled up the cuffs of her jeans and wandered in farther. The sand between her toes was a welcome reminder of summer days at the beach, one of her favorite places to be.
“We used to come down here to skinny-dip when we were kids,” Adam said when he joined her.
“I’ve never done that.”
“Never? You grew up on an island, and you’ve never skinny-dipped?”
“Nope.”
“You really did miss out, didn’t you?”
“I was too busy being a good girl. They don’t have as much fun as the bad girls.”
His lips quivered with amusement. “So now you’ve gone to the dark side.”
“You know it, and I’m never going back. It’s all about me now. It’s all about what I want.”
“Good for you.” He bumped against her playfully. “You should have everything you want.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” She thought of something else she wanted to say, but hesitated.
“What?”
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea if I ask about Grant, but I can’t help being concerned about him after what you told me yesterday.”
“I understand. My mom said he slept better last night and seems to be more like his old self today, according to Stephanie.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” She glanced up at him. “You don’t think it’s weird that I asked about him, do you?”
“Not at all. You were with him a long time, and you still care about him. I get it.” He took her hand. “Let’s walk.” They wandered along the shore, enjoying the view of the sandy cliffs and ocean. “You ever miss him?”
“I did for a long time. The first year was a nightmare. I missed him so much. Every day I questioned whether I’d done the right thing leaving him in LA.”
“Why did you leave?”
“He didn’t have any time for me. He was always working, and I felt like a distraction rather than a girlfriend. My mom was hassling me about whether he was ever going to marry me. After a while, I got tired of telling her we were getting married and then having it never happen.”
“Did you guys ever talk about getting married?”
“Occasionally, but it never went anywhere, so I decided to leave. Part
of me thought he’d come after me,” she said with a bitter laugh. “But he didn’t. That told me a lot about where I stood with him. The next time he came home, before Mac’s wedding, I was already seeing Cal. Of course, once he heard I had someone else, Grant was all about trying to get me back, but it was too late.”
“Were you still in love with him?”
She shook her head. “It took me a long time to realize that died long before I left him. I used to think Grant couldn’t love anyone as much as he loves his career, but then he met Stephanie. They seem really good together.”
He dropped her hand and bent to pick up a rock that he sent skimming over the waves. “Does that bother you? That he has with her what he never had with you?”
“Not really. We weren’t meant to be. I accepted that years ago. I’m sure he knows that by now, too.” She glanced at him. “Your brother never told you any of this?”
“My brothers and I have long-standing, unwritten rules on not grilling each other about our girlfriends. We have all we can do to handle our mom’s questions. We don’t pile on.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“What can I say? We McCarthy boys stick together.”
“I’m concerned about causing a rift between you and Grant with this deal of ours. I’d hate that.”
“Maybe I’ll talk to him about it.”
“Really? You’d do that?”
“If it would make you more comfortable with it, then yeah, I’d do it.”
“What would you tell him?”
“That we’re hanging out, having some fun, helping each other through a rough time. Something like that.”
“How do you think he’ll react?”
“Truthfully, I think it’ll be the least of his concerns. He’s got something else weighing on him.”
Abby wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of Grant not caring—at all—that his brother was seeing her. “You know, girls have a secret girlfriend code.”
“Which is?”
“No dating my exes.”
“Guys aren’t usually as territorial, especially years after they’ve moved on with someone else.”
“So you’d be fine with one of your brothers dating Sasha?” she asked with a smile.
“I’d probably warn them to lock up their valuables, but otherwise, I don’t suppose I’d care.”
Abby laughed at the valuables comment. “And you just broke up with her a few days ago.”
“So Grant ought to be fine with it, right?”
“If you say so. It’s not like this is a relationship or anything. That would probably be different.”
“Exactly.”
“So when can we skinny-dip?”
Adam stopped walking and turned to her. “That’s usually done under the cover of darkness.”
Abby took a long look around the deserted stretch of beach. “Who would know?”
“You’re serious.”
She forced herself to look at him, wishing he wasn’t wearing sunglasses so she could see his eyes. “Dead serious.”
“I’ve never done it during the day.”
“So we’d both be doing something new.”
“I don’t know, Abby. We might get caught. Would you be okay with that?”
“Would we get arrested? Fingerprinted and all that?”
He laughed. “Why do I get the feeling you might enjoy that?”
“Another thing I’ve never done. Have you?”
“I’ll never tell.”
“You have! What’d you do?”
Adam laughed and shook his head. “No way are you getting that out of me.”
“Come on! After what I told you last night, you have to tell me.”
“Nope,” he said as he took off down the beach, jogging away from her and her questions.
Abby gave chase, and when she got close to him, she leaped onto his back, expecting him to keep moving. Instead, he went down like a fallen oak, landing with an oof in the wet sand. Somehow she ended up on top of him. Shocked by the turn of events, Abby burst into laughter. That hadn’t gone as planned.
“Shit, girl,” he said when he could talk again, “are you trying to kill me?”
Abby was crippled with laughter.
“Glad you think it’s so funny. I may never walk again.”
That only made her laugh harder. And then she realized their bodies were perfectly aligned and one part of him was letting her know it approved of her proximity. She pushed up his sunglasses so they rested on his forehead. “That’s better,” she said.
His arms encircled her, keeping her pressed to him. “Now that you have me where you want me, what do you plan to do with me?”
The old Abby would’ve apologized for tackling him, for getting his clothes wet, for acting less than ladylike. The new Abby stared into his eyes and took the wordless dare he issued. She bent her head and kissed him, keeping her eyes open and fixed on his as their lips met tentatively at first.
“Tell me about being arrested.”
“Make me.”
Abby had no idea how to make him do anything, so she gently pressed her lips to his again, hoping to cajole him into talking.
“That’s the best you can do?”
“Are you enjoying this?” she asked testily. Did he have any idea how much courage it had taken for her to kiss him in the first place?
“Oh yeah. Very much so. The seep of cold, wet sand at my back and warm, soft woman at my front… What’s not to enjoy?”
“Do you want me to get off you?”
“Absolutely not.”
His smile was contagious. “Are you going to tell me what I want to know?”
“Are you going to kiss me like you mean it?”
“Will that get me the information I want?”
“You’ll have to do it to find out.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Mr. McCarthy.”
He tilted his hips suggestively, pressing his erection against her belly. “Very hard.”
Knowing he was turned on and that she’d done that to him filled her with confidence as she tipped her head and brought her lips down on his again, this time keeping her mouth slightly open. She slid her lips over his, back and forth several times until his arms tightened around her. On the next pass, she dabbed her tongue lightly over his bottom lip, drawing a groan from him.
“Abby,” he gasped. “Stop teasing me.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“You know you are.”
She smiled at him, enjoying the teasing. Had kissing ever been so fun? Not that she could recall. There was something to be said for playful fun that had nothing to do with building something that might—or might not—last forever. This was about right now, right here, and it felt pretty damned good.
Abby decided to show him some mercy, kissing him again like she meant it this time, sending her tongue into his mouth to tease and flirt. For the longest time, she wondered if he was going to respond in kind. And then his hand was in her hair, anchoring her to him as he rolled them over, taking control of the kiss.
Her world was reduced to the cocoon of his body sheltering hers from the sunlight. It didn’t matter that they were making out in the middle of the day in a place where they might be seen by anyone. It didn’t matter that he was Grant’s brother or that they were nursing broken hearts. All of that faded away as he took possession of her mouth in sweeping, passionate kisses that had her pressing against him intimately, asking for more.
Their tongues met and mated in an erotic dance that made her nipples tighten, wishing he would notice them.
He pulled back from her abruptly, staring down at her with a dazed look on his face. “Wow.”
She couldn’t seem to look at anything other than his sexy mouth. “Yeah, wow.”
“Can we do that again?”
“I don’t have anywhere to be today.” Until Mac and Luke finished their work on the gift shop at the Surf, she was free and clear. “Do you?”
He shook his head and came back for more, kissing her until her lips were numb and her body aching for fulfillment. As if he knew that, he shifted ever so slightly, pressing his erection into the V of her legs.
She cursed the jeans he’d made her wear for putting a barrier between them. Since she couldn’t have what she really wanted, she sent her hands on an exploration of his muscular body. Reaching the hem of his jacket, she delved underneath, seeking skin as his tongue explored her mouth in great detail.
When her fingers made contact with his back, Adam gasped and flexed his hips, letting her know what her touch did to him.
He broke the kiss and turned his focus to her neck. “God, Abby… I want to kiss you everywhere. I never expected…”
“What didn’t you expect?”
“This. You. Us.”
“It’s pretty hot, huh?”
“Ah yeah, you could say that.” He combed his fingers through her hair, making her scalp tingle.
“We could go for a swim to cool off.”
“You’re not letting that go, are you?”
“You’re not afraid, are you?” she asked with a challenging smile.
“Maybe a little.”
“Of what?”
“Of what might happen if we get naked together. I’d prefer a little privacy when that happens the first time. After those kisses, I can’t be responsible for my actions.”
It was, Abby discovered, a huge turn-on to realize he was wrestling with his attraction to her and trying to do the right thing. “If you tell me about being arrested, I’ll let you kiss me again when we’re back at my room.”
His eyes heated with desire that fueled hers. “In that case, I might tell you there once was a college spring-break trip to Florida that might’ve resulted in a night in jail that my parents still don’t know about because I was over eighteen at the time.”
“Ooooh, blackmail! I love it!”
“You wouldn’t…”
“Don’t give me reason to.”
“I’ve been warned. You’d kill my reputation and make Mac’s life complete. As far as my family knows, he’s the only one who’s ever been arrested.”
“For flattening mailboxes with Joe. That story is McCarthy family legend.”
“So you see how important it is that they never find out about me.”