Love a Little Sideways

by Shannon Stacey

  “It’ll be quite the pack of kids if Rose and Mary decide to make this family reunion thing an annual tradition,” Drew said. “Assuming the couple that owns the campground don’t run away in the middle of the night.”

  Kevin laughed. “They’re good people. They’re getting up there in years, though, so we’re worried they might sell the place to somebody with less tolerance for juvenile exuberance.”

  “Of doom,” Liz muttered.

  “Let’s go!” Leo yelled over the noise.

  “That was fast,” Liz said.

  “We don’t have much in the way of snacks with us, other than granola bars, so it’s best to keep the kids moving,” Beth explained. “And we might be trying to wear them out so they’re not hiding in the woods, trying to dodge bedtime tonight.”

  “Parenthood is fun,” Kevin told Drew. “Really. You should have five or six of the little buggers.”

  Drew laughed. “I was thinking two or three, but why not field a hockey starting line, right?”

  “Poor Liz,” Beth said, and then she went to get ready.

  Liz didn’t know what to say, so she was glad for the distraction a bunch of kids trying to find helmets, goggles and gloves made. She put her helmet on and climbed up behind Drew, and she was thankful when he tucked his hand under her left knee.

  “Some of your family’s come around to the idea of us being a couple a lot faster than others have,” he remarked.

  “Yeah. Sorry about that.”

  “Why are you sorry?”

  Because assumptions she was going to bear Drew a hockey team were a little premature, and made even more awkward by the fact she knew Drew really wanted that. Maybe not the hockey, but the kids. “It’s a little soon for them to jump to conclusions like that.”

  His head made a little sideways motion that said eh, not really, and that worried her. Yes, really.

  The four-wheelers started firing up, so Drew started theirs. The engine sounds were loud while they were all sitting there idling, so Liz relaxed against the seat and let the conversation go. Something to talk about on another day.

  * * *

  Drew was pretty sure the only thing that saved him from having Water Ball Game of Doom printed on his death certificate was the fact Ryan tried to spike the inflatable beach ball at him so hard he popped the damn thing.

  Drew had known as soon as they got back from their ride and everybody started clamoring to go in the pool, that he’d be a target. Mitch was doing a really good job of respecting his sister’s wishes, but that didn’t mean Drew wouldn’t pay. He had red splotches all over his torso, more than a few bruises and he was getting better at holding his breath by the minute.

  “You broke it!” Bobby yelled at Ryan. “You broke the water ball.”

  “Do we have another one?” Danny asked.

  Drew hoped like hell they didn’t. He wasn’t going to cry uncle, but he’d had enough water ball. He wanted to grab Liz, whose body in that swimsuit was one of the reasons he sucked at water ball, and go “take a nap” as some of the other adults did.

  “Mom, do we have another water ball?”

  “No,” Lisa called. “That was the only one.”

  There were groans of disappointment, and then Bobby came up with a solution. “We can use the volleyball.”

  “No!” yelled every adult within earshot.

  “What are we going to play now?” Bobby wanted to know.

  “You could just swim around,” Drew said, and he was pretty sure he heard Mitch and Ryan snicker.

  He didn’t care. Making his way to the edge of the pool, he sat on the middle rung of the ladder and let the small waves wash over him as the kids turned swimming around into some kind of water wrestling of doom match.

  Liz caught his eye, twitching that swimsuit skirt at him, and he smiled when she winked at him. She was standing in the shallow end by the steps, watching Brianna splash around in her pink life jacket, and he tried not to feel anything at the sight of her and the little girl.

  He hadn’t been oblivious to the change in her mood when he was joking with her cousin about having a hockey team. He’d realized too late he pulled away from her a little bit when they were talking about babies, and he knew she’d noticed. But there was no sense in hiding how he felt because it wasn’t a secret. He wanted kids and, judging by the way he’d pulled away from her without conscious thought, he didn’t think she did.

  She arched an eyebrow at him now and he realized he’d been staring at her. Pushing away from the ladder, he swam down the pool and ducked under the buoy line to float over to her. Her aunt reached out and pulled on Brianna’s float so it moved like a boat. The little girl laughed and Drew also had a little bit of privacy to talk to Liz. He was starting to like the Kowalski women a lot more than the men lately.

  He sat on the step and pulled her down next to him. “How much longer do you think everybody will be in the pool?”

  “If you think we can sneak out of here and be inconspicuous, you haven’t been paying attention.”

  Drew laughed, knowing she was right. They’d been very careful about public displays of affection so her family could get acclimated to their situation, and trying to sneak off for a quickie while they were all in the pool wasn’t going to happen. “I was thinking we could go for a ride.”

  “On the four-wheelers?” She wrinkled her nose. “I just started feeling clean again.”

  “In my truck.” The big SUV with the seats that folded flat in the back and made for a nice amount of space.

  “To where?”

  “Wherever. Down some back roads.”

  He knew when she got his meaning because she laughed and slapped his leg. “You’re so bad.”

  “Is that a no?”

  Her eyes met his and he saw the same desire in them that he felt. “It might be nice to get away for a little while.”

  That was all he needed to hear. “I’m going to go clean up since I have no interest in any more attempted drownings. Once you’re done, we’ll head out.”

  She gave him a look he was surprised didn’t make his swim trunks go up in flames. “Half hour, tops.”

  He took some heckling for leaving the pool area but, since Liz didn’t go with him, everybody lost interest before he’d gone twenty feet. After the fastest shower in the history of running water, he put on his flannel pants and a T-shirt. No buttons or zippers to slow him down.

  Then he got to work on the SUV. He had a lot of work crap in the back, but he stowed what he could and set the rest in his tent so he could lay the backseats down. Then he threw in his sleeping bag and, after a moment’s hesitation, his pillow, too. Then he waited.

  It was another twenty minutes before Kowalskis started streaming up from the pool and, since he saw Liz helping Keri with Brianna’s stuff, he knew it would be a few more minutes, at least.

  More like fifteen. She gave him the just another minute sign before ducking into her tent. Then she was at the bathhouse for what seemed like hours, but was probably only five minutes. Finally, she was ready to go.

  “What are we telling your family?”

  “I told them we’re going for a ride.” He waited a few seconds, and then she blushed. “Okay, I told them you have to drive into town for cell reception to make a call and I’m going with you.”

  It was as good an excuse as any. Not that any of the other adults would buy it, but it was at least a solid pretense. “Let’s go, then.”

  Of course they had to drive by where the family was hanging out to leave the campground and when Bobby ran toward his truck, he had to stop or risk running the kid over. He rolled down the window.

  “Are you going to get pizza? Can we go?”

  Of course all of the kids stopped to stare at him, waiting for his answer. “Um, I have to go m
ake a business call. It’s pretty important police business, so I can’t have any kids around.”

  “In your pajamas?”

  Drew looked down at his sleep pants. “They can’t see my clothes over the phone.”

  “If we’re really quiet, they won’t see us, either.”

  The kid was tenacious. And smart. “But sometimes things go wrong, so we can’t have any kids on a ride-along.”

  Bobby’s shoulders sagged, but he recovered pretty quickly when his mom announced it was freeze pop time.

  “Good luck with your very important police business,” Josh said, trying not to grin like an idiot.

  Drew put up the window and hit the gas before the temptation to flip him off won. “Hell, that was awkward.”

  “You realize we’re not fooling anybody, right?”

  “I’m trying to pretend we are. I’m surprised Dad or Leo didn’t pull me aside and ask me if I had a condom in my wallet.”

  Liz laughed. “At least they’d pull you aside. Rose was not shy about that when my brothers hit that age. And, um, you do have one, right?”

  “I have two.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  With the radio on low, the air-conditioning on high and the road vibrating under the tires, Liz was afraid she might fall asleep. After already having his ass handed to him in water ball of doom, that could be a fatal blow to Drew’s ego, so she shifted in her seat, trying to stay awake.

  “Do you have any idea where you’re going?” she asked when they’d gone a few miles north.

  “Someplace where there aren’t any Kowalskis.” When she cleared her throat, he smiled at her. “You know, except for you.”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t sneak down to the office and use the phone to make reservations at some five-star resort hotel.”

  “No, but when I threw the sleeping bag in the back, I threw a pillow in with it.”

  The way he said it made her laugh. “You’re such a gentleman.”

  After a couple more miles, Drew signaled and then made a right turn onto a dirt road. He had to have known it was there, she thought, because he’d turned his blinker on before the road had even been visible. He passed by a couple of left-hand turns before making the third one onto a narrower, bumpier road and she realized it definitely wasn’t random.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I asked the guy in the office where I could go and absolutely not be disturbed by anybody.”

  That didn’t sound suspicious at all. “And did he ask why?”

  “Nope. He asked me if I was trying to start a secret marijuana field and when I said no and explained that’s frowned upon when you’re the chief of police, he gave me some directions.”

  When he’d made another three or four turns and the roads had grown so narrow the brush was rubbing the SUV’s doors, she started getting worried. “Did you write the directions down?”

  “Nope.”

  “What are the chances we’ll find our way back out again?”

  “I don’t care.”

  Neither did she, really. All that mattered was that, after days of torture, she was on her way to getting what her body was so desperately craving. It had been so hard being able to flirt and touch and kiss, but nothing more. She was ready for the something more part.

  Finally, Drew pulled the SUV into a very small clearing and killed the engine. “Well, it’s not a five-star resort hotel, but it’s private.”

  Since all she saw were bushes and mosquitoes out the window, Liz had to agree. “Definitely can’t crack the windows.”

  “It’s cooler here, but if it gets hot, I’ll start the engine and let the AC run.”

  With that covered, Liz unsnapped her seat belt and smiled at him. “You’re a man who knows how to get things done.”

  “I guess that remains to be seen.” He arched an eyebrow and nodded in the direction of the back.

  Liz was thankful he already wanted her badly enough to set up this little shenanigan because climbing between the two front bucket seats with their massive center console wasn’t one of her more graceful moments. She finally squeezed through and landed on the sleeping bag with a thud. A hard thud, since the flat deck of the dropped seats wasn’t exactly soft.

  She watched him make his way through, biting her lip to keep from laughing. “We probably should have gotten out and come in through the back hatch.”

  “With all the mosquitoes?” Drew grunted and freed himself with a final push. “Consider this a test. See how much I want you?”

  Once he was back there with her, it seemed a lot nicer. Maybe because he immediately yanked his T-shirt over his head and tossed it aside. With her hands on his skin, running over the muscles in his shoulders and arms, she didn’t care where they were.

  Drew plunged his hand into her hair at the base of her neck and hauled her in for a kiss. It was hard and hot and she slid her tongue over his bottom lip, making him shiver. Then he nipped at hers with his teeth and it was her turn.

  “I’ve been waiting for this,” he whispered against her mouth, “since I saw you again, sitting in that car in the rain with the fenders crumpled in.”

  “That wasn’t my most sexy moment ever.”

  “Honey, there’s nothing about you that’s not sexy to me.” He went back to kissing after that.

  When his free hand slid up under her T-shirt and found naked skin, a thrill shot through her body. She pulled back from his kiss to toss her shirt in a pile with his, and he unhooked her bra. Sliding it slowly down her arms, he watched as the lace fell away to reveal her taut nipples. The lace went in the pile as he pushed her gently backward until she was lying on the sleeping bag with her head on the pillow. Then she kicked off her flip-flops so he could pull her shorts and panties down in one smooth motion. He threw them in the corner and the vehicle rocked as he removed his pants, as well.

  “Here we are,” he said, the corners of his mouth lifting as he settled himself over her. “Naked at last.”

  She laughed and ran her hands from his ass all the way to his shoulders. She loved the feel of his naked skin. “I’ve been imagining us naked for a while now. Reality’s even better.”

  Bending his head, he sucked one nipple into his mouth while he caressed the other with his hands. His tongue and fingers teased and played, until she was squirming under him.

  Then he blew softly over the damn nipple, which felt so exquisite she sighed and closed her eyes. “So tell me something.”

  His conversational tone made her eyes fly open again. “Now? You want to talk now?”

  “No.” He chuckled, the sound seeming to vibrate through his body. “I want to make you answer a question right now, while I have you at my mercy.”

  “Any statements made during sex cannot and will not be used against me. I’m sure they covered duress at your police academy.”

  “I want to know what word got you middle-named during dirty Scrabble.”

  Again? The poor guy. Whatever no-doubt-X-rated guess he’d built up to in his mind was a lot more exciting than the truth. “Never.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad.” He slid his hand down her stomach, stopping just short of going lower.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  He made fake puppy dog eyes at her. “It makes me sad that you won’t tell me. And when I’m sad I can’t give beautiful women orgasms. It’s a curse.”

  “I can’t believe you’re doing this.” She laughed and punched him in the shoulder, which made him wince. “If there’s no orgasm for me, there’s no orgasm for you.”

  “Honey, I’m coming tonight or my balls will explode and there’s nothing on this Earth that can stop that. The question is whether or not it’ll happen while I’m ins
ide you, watching your face while you beg me to take you faster and harder.” The entire time he was talking, his hand was dipping to almost between her legs before retreating. “Which I’d be more than happy to do, of course...if I wasn’t sad.”

  She hadn’t come out here into the middle of nowhere to get a flippin’ belly rub from him. “Fine! It wasn’t the word that got me middle-named. I spelled Viagra.”

  He drew back, disbelief plain on his face. “I think you’re lying because I’m pretty sure you can say that out loud.”

  “Yeah, you can. But what got me middle-named was asking Rose if I’d spelled it right.”

  It took him a second, and then he groaned. “That’s cold.”

  “It was funny.”

  “It would be funnier if she wasn’t sleeping with my dad.” He frowned, and then shook his head. “No, I don’t want to know.”

  “Next time, focus on what you’re supposed to be doing instead of asking me questions about board games. Hello, naked here.”

  He grinned down at her. “I noticed. I like it.”

  In the fading light, she looked at his torso, then looked closer. “What did they do to you?”

  He still had some red splotches on him, as well as a handful of bruises. The welts and the bruises all varied in size and severity, but it still looked like he’d run through a gauntlet of people taking shots at him.

  “Water ball of doom,” he said, looking down at his chest. “I played in a pickup game of football while I was at the academy on a day that was brutally hot and everybody’s temper was short. Between injuries and dehydration, four ambulances were called to that field, and water ball of doom is still the most brutal sport I’ve ever played.”

  “They were hard on you,” she said, running her hand over the marks. “Because of me.”

  “You, Liz Kowalski,” he said, planting a hand on either side of her head so he could stare down at her, “are worth facing any amount of doom for.”

  She melted on the inside, and then the heat took over her entire body as he nipped at her jaw. And this time when he ran his hand down her stomach, he didn’t stop. He stroked between her thighs until she whimpered.