by Marie Force
“Can you even believe that?” Maddie asked.
Amazed, Sydney shook her head. “That’s a long courtship.”
“Too long, as it turned out. I caught him in bed with another woman.”
Sydney gasped. “No way! What did you do?”
“After I ran away from David’s Boston apartment, my car broke down. I called Mac’s best friend Joe, who has always been like a fifth brother to me, and he came to my rescue.”
“In more ways than one,” Tiffany said with a snort, and the other women howled with laughter.
Janey’s face turned bright red. “Turns out,” she said, “Joe had been secretly in love with me for years. We’ve been together ever since.”
“That’s such a great story,” Sydney said.
“You left out a few very important parts,” Maddie said with a pointed look for her sister-in-law. “They’d only been together a short time when Janey realized a lifelong dream of getting accepted to veterinary school at Ohio State. Joe owns and operates the Gansett Island Ferry Company, so Janey naturally assumed he wouldn’t be able to go with her to Ohio.”
“I just couldn’t do another long-distance relationship,” Janey said ruefully, “so I made the supreme mistake of breaking up with him.”
Maddie started laughing, an infectious sound that quickly spread around the table. “He carted her right out of our wedding reception and let her know there was nothing he wouldn’t do, nothing he wouldn’t give up, nowhere he wouldn’t go to be with her. So romantic! And, he proposed—in bed!”
Janey stuck her tongue out at Maddie. “You had to get that in there, didn’t you?”
“That’s the best part! They’re back from their first year in Ohio, and how was that, exactly?”
“Sublime,” Janey said with a dreamy smile that was met with more whoops from her friends.
Satisfied with the retelling of the story, Maddie sat back and crossed her arms, sending Sydney a rather calculating look. “It’s interesting, isn’t it, Syd, that Janey thought she was doing what was best for him, and it turned out she was the best thing for him.”
Maddie McCarthy, it seemed, was a whole lot less subtle than Maddie Chester had once been. Sydney raised her wineglass in toast to Maddie. “Touché.”
Maddie waggled her brows at Sydney, and then her expression suddenly changed. “Now what, do you suppose, they are doing here?”
Sydney looked over to see Mac, Luke and another guy who she assumed was Joe pulling up stools at the bar.
“Checking on us, no doubt,” Janey said, even though she lit up with pleasure at the sight of Joe.
Sydney’s heart skipped into overdrive as she feasted her eyes on Luke, startled to realize she’d missed him terribly during the long week since she’d last seen him. How was that possible? She’d had exactly two conversations with him in seventeen years!
“Mmm,” Tiffany said. “That Luke Harris is some kind of sexy.” She added a predatory growl to her statement that set Sydney’s nerves on edge.
Oh my God, she thought. I’m jealous!
“Need I remind you, dear sister, you’re married,” Maddie said. “Besides, I heard Luke is seeing someone.”
While Sydney bit back a groan, Janey pounced. “Who is he seeing? I’ve never known him to date anyone!”
“That’s not true.” Maddie cast another sly glance at Sydney. “He and Syd went out for years back in high school.”
“Is that so?” Janey said. “Well, you must’ve ruined him for all other women.”
Sydney winced at the teasing comment that struck far too close to home. She was saved from having to reply when the three sinfully good-looking men ambled over to their table carrying bottles of beer and wearing predatory grins. Well, two of them were grinning. The third one looked as undone as she felt.
She made an effort to breathe normally as she took in every detail of the white button-down shirt he wore with the sleeves rolled up over strong forearms. Not that she was looking too closely, but he had what looked like a shark’s tooth on a leather string around his neck. Something about that slash of white against his tanned skin was ridiculously sexy.
Sydney felt a stirring deep inside that she recognized as desire. It’d been so long since she’d felt anything other than devastation that the emotions Luke awakened just by walking toward her were overwhelming, to say the least.
While Mac and Joe said hello to the women and shook hands with Sydney when Maddie introduced them, Luke, being Luke, hung back. Within a minute, Maddie was seated on Mac’s lap, and Joe had dragged Janey off to dance.
“So much for girl’s night out,” Maddie muttered as she leaned into her husband’s loving embrace. “What’ve you done with our son?”
“He’s with my parents,” Mac said with a suggestive wink as he rested a hand on her pregnant belly. “Having a sleepover.”
Maddie flashed him a seductive smile. “Is that so?”
“Uh-huh,” he said, laying a lingering kiss on her.
Sydney was about to escape to the lady’s room when Luke leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“Dance with me.”
Chapter 5
Tongue-tied, Sydney stared up at him. “Um, sure. Okay.” She started to get up and tripped on the chair leg.
Luke reached out to steady her, and their eyes met. A hum of awareness rippled between them.
Sydney had no doubt everyone at her table as well as the entire bar full of people were staring at them as Luke wrapped his hand around hers to lead her to the dance floor.
Naturally, the musical trio picked that moment to switch the tempo to something slow and sultry. Sydney wondered if Luke had paid them to do that. She expected they’d be awkward and fumbling with each other, but Luke brought her smoothly into his arms and moved them around like they’d been dancing together forever. His fingers on her neck sent shivers rippling through her.
Absorbed in the clean scent of soap and citrusy aftershave, Sydney had to remind herself to keep breathing. She’d forgotten how much bigger than her he was, but she hadn’t forgotten the tenderness he’d always shown her or the gentle way he’d held her. The way he did now, as if she was the most precious thing in his world.
She fixated on the shark’s tooth hanging from the leather cord around his neck, all the while resisting the urge to reach up and touch it. “Did you find the shark’s tooth or buy it?”
“Found it.” He drew her in even closer to him, and Sydney had no choice but to rest her head on his chest. His heart hammered under her ear, and she was relieved to know she wasn’t the only one affected by this dance.
“So how’ve you been?” he asked.
“I’ve been good. How about you?”
“Great.”
“Oh. Really?”
“No,” he said, laughing softly. “I’ve been crappy.”
Sydney raised her head to look up at him. “You have?”
With his dark eyes fixed on her, he nodded.
“Me, too,” Sydney confessed.
“In case you were wondering, I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.”
“I could tell you were surprised to see me.”
“Pleasantly surprised.” His fingers slipped from her neck to her shoulder, laying a path of sensation as they went.
All too soon, the song ended, and Luke drew back from her. “I could use some air,” he said. “Care to join me?”
Even though she knew it would be all over the island by morning that they’d gone off together, Sydney took his outstretched hand and went with him to the hotel’s dark porch. They stood looking down at the busy street as well as the breakwater that formed the harbor and the ferry landing where a lone boat waited to make the first trip to the mainland in the morning.
The air coming in off the water was warm, but Sydney’s skin prickled with goose bumps that had nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the man standing beside her.
“I missed you this week, Syd.”
; She turned to him, about to take a step she wasn’t entirely sure she was ready for. “I missed you, too.” Running her tongue over her lips, she ventured a glance up at him. “I thought a lot about what you said.”
Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he said, “And?”
“I have no idea what I’m doing right now. I’m a bad bet.”
He put his arms around her. “So you’ve said.”
How did he manage to do that so smoothly? How did he manage to make her feel surrounded by him yet totally safe?
Almost as if he couldn’t resist, he dipped his head and kissed her.
“Luke—”
“Hmm?” He kissed her again. “Did I mention how gorgeous you look tonight?”
Sure enough, her knees went weak, and she reached for him. At first he just pressed his lips softly to hers, letting her know the next move was up to her. When she realized what he was doing, that he was giving her the power to decide for both of them, she couldn’t resist running her tongue gently over his bottom lip.
That drew a tortured groan from deep inside him.
Encouraged, she did it again, this time letting her tongue venture a little farther into his mouth. Everything about his embrace was familiar, yet new, too. His taste, the texture of his lips, the way he held her so close. She tempted and teased, but still he held back.
“Luke,” she gasped.
“What, honey?”
“Kiss me back. Will you please kiss me back?”
“Gladly.”
While Syd waited breathlessly to see what he would do, he sprinkled soft kisses on her face before returning his attention to her mouth. Once again he began softly, gently, as if he was making sure she was with him before he went any further.
By the time she felt the first tentative brush of his tongue over her sensitized lips, she was on the verge of begging him for more. The tangle of tongues and teeth and breathless passion went on until Sydney wasn’t sure how she remained standing.
“God,” he whispered. “Syd…” He cupped her cheek and went back for more.
As they strained against each other, trying to get closer, her nipples pebbled and brushed against his chest. His free hand slid down her back to align her with his erection.
Approaching voices on the porch startled them apart.
Breathing hard, they stared at each other in the darkness, stunned to discover everything they’d once felt for each other was still there, lying dormant, waiting for the opportunity to remind them of what they’d shared so long ago.
“Will you come to my house for dinner tomorrow night?” he asked.
Overwhelmed by the passionate kiss, Sydney continued to stare at him.
“It’s still your choice, Syd.”
“I ah… I don’t know. I just don’t know.” All at once, she recalled the story Maddie and Janey had shared earlier. Janey had done what she thought was best for Joe, which had turned out to be the exact wrong thing for him.
“What don’t you know?” Luke asked. “Talk to me.”
“I’m afraid.”
His fingers spooled through her hair the way they used to when they made love on the beach. “Of what, honey?”
“Hurting you again. I have to go home after Labor Day. After everything that happened between us before—”
“Clean slate, remember?”
“I can’t promise I won’t hurt you again. I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“Remember what I said the other night about being a boy with no options the last time we were together?”
She nodded.
“This time, I’m all grown up with my eyes wide open to what might happen.”
“Still…”
With just the tip of his index finger to her chin, he compelled her to look at him. “I’ve been warned, Syd.” He kissed her softly, sweetly with none of the urgency he’d shown earlier. “Come to dinner and bring Buddy. No pressure. No expectations. Just dinner.”
“I—”
He rested a finger on her lips. “Come if you want to. Or not if you don’t feel up to it. Either way, it’s up to you.”
“You can be very charming when you put your mind to it.”
His smile transformed his entire face. Sydney remembered the punch of that discovery the first time around. “Is that so?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’d better get you back inside before we start a five-alarm Gansett scandal.”
“Probably already too late.”
“Sorry about that,” he said with what sounded like genuine regret.
She could tell she caught him off guard when she went up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “I’m not. It was well worth it.” Before he could reply to that audacious statement, she left him to rejoin her friends.
Sydney spent the entire next day debating Luke’s invitation. She went through the motions of cleaning the large Victorian house, changing sheets, grocery shopping, walking Buddy. One minute, she was going to Luke’s for dinner. The next minute, she’d talked herself out of it.
By four o’clock, she had worn herself out.
“It’s just dinner,” she told Buddy.
He stared at her, almost as if he was calling her out on her bullshit.
“Did I tell you he kissed me?”
Buddy continued the ruthless stare.
“It was a good kiss. A really good kiss.” She went upstairs with the dog trailing behind her. “If I go over there, it’ll happen again.”
Sydney stretched out on the bed.
Buddy jumped up and settled next to her.
She ran her fingers through his silky hair. “I want to go,” she whispered. “Does that make me a bad person?” Sydney realized she was actually expecting Buddy to answer her. Rather, he let out a deep sigh, as if her pontificating annoyed him. “I know what you mean, Buddy. I’m sick of me, too.”
Sydney watched the ceiling fan for a long time. “All right. I’ll go, but only if you come with me.”
He extended his paw.
Smiling, Sydney took it and gave it a shake. “Deal.”
As the sun dipped low over the pond, she grabbed a bottle of wine and the brownies she’d baked and headed for the car with Buddy tagging along at her heels.
Driving the familiar roads that led to Luke’s house brought back a slew of memories of his old pickup, of late nights and summer breezes, of first love and heart-pounding desire.
Sydney couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so nervous. At least she hadn’t fretted over what to wear. She’d chosen a denim skirt with a white T-shirt and sandals. Luke was the most casual person she’d ever known, so there was no point in dressing up for him. He’d never been impressed by style or flash.
She pulled onto the long dirt road that led to his house at the end. As she navigated the final turn, the nerves she’d battled all day resurfaced. What am I doing? He didn’t say what time. What if he’s not even home?
His warmly lit house came into view. At least he was home. She turned in next to the dark green pickup truck that was parked behind the house. Before she could chicken out, she opened the car door.
In a move that reminded her of the Buddy she’d once known, he jumped over her and sprinted off into the darkness. “Great,” she muttered, gathering the wine and brownies and starting after him.
“This guy belong to you?” Luke asked, grinning as he waited for her with Buddy panting next to him.
Sydney swallowed hard and tried to ignore the goose bumps that broke out over her skin at the sound of his deep voice.
“He doesn’t get out much,” Sydney said.
“He and I have that in common.”
“Still a homebody?” she asked as he gestured for her follow him on the lighted pathway to the door.
“Some things never change.”
And that, Sydney decided, was comforting.
“I wasn’t sure what time—”
“I didn’t think you’d come—”
He turned to her, smiling.
“I’m glad you came.”
“So am I.” She handed him the wine and brownies.
“You didn’t have to bring anything.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Come in.” He ushered her into the modest ranch-style house with the million-dollar water view.
Sydney had once spent a lot of time there, and the memories came flooding back when she saw that hardly anything had changed. Luke’s mother had been welcoming and supportive of their relationship, whereas her parents had been disapproving and judgmental, so they’d spent much more time here than at her house.
She glanced around at the worn but comfortable sofas, the overflowing bookshelves and elaborate telescope, which was new.
“I know—I need to redecorate,” Luke said. “Somehow I never got around to it.”
“I’ve always loved how cozy this room is.”
“Especially in the winter with the woodstove going.” He gestured for her to follow him to the kitchen. “What can I get you to drink?”
“What’re my choices?”
“Beer, soda, wine, water.”
“Wine sounds good.”
He offered the chardonnay she’d brought and a pinot noir.
Syd chose the chardonnay, and as she watched him open the bottle, she couldn’t deny the pull she felt drawing her to him. But was it the comfort? The history? The familiar? Or was it something all new? She wasn’t entirely sure, so she focused on the meal he was in the midst of preparing. “What’re you making?”
“My own invention—cut-up meat, vegetables and potatoes, dump them all in foil with either teriyaki or barbeque sauce and put it on the grill. Voila. Dinner.”
“That’s fabulous.”
“And easy.”
“I’m all about easy.” As soon as the words left her mouth, her face heated with embarrassment that was exacerbated by his low chuckle.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Needing something to do with her suddenly fidgety hands, Sydney picked up the knife. “What can I do?”
Curling his hand around hers, he relieved her of the knife. “Not a thing. You’re my guest.”