Tides of Love

by Tracy Sumner

  She was no different than other women.

  He walked her backward in a frantic move; her bottom bumped the table, the wine bottle tipping and rolling into the grass. Still he hung on, challenging, demanding. In response, she plunged, heedlessly, recklessly attempting to sate her hunger. She realized that the more she took, the more she would need.

  Bowing her head to break contact, she unlocked her arms from around his neck and shoved against his shoulders with all her pitiable strength. The table, lodged just beneath her bottom, kept her legs from liquefying like hot wax and spilling her at his feet.

  He pulled back enough for a stray shaft of moonlight to illuminate the feral look in his eyes, the dull wash of color sweeping his cheeks. His chest rose and fell in double-time, as if he had run a race. “I hope you’re not expecting an apology, Miss Connor.” The arm circling her waist tensed once before dropping, releasing her. “Not when you were knee-deep in the ring with me.”

  Edging away, she rubbed her hand over her tender lips, then up to the tangled droop of hair hanging past her shoulder. What a mess she must look. She had never been any good at creating those obtuse chignons. “This isn’t a scuffle.” She blew out a breath and edged a bit further away from him. “There’s no ring. We’re not adversaries. At least”—she waved her hand through the air, avoiding his piercing gaze—”not in this.”

  “Dammit,” he said in a hoarse voice, his words clipped, “I knew you were trouble from the first minute I set eyes on you. A man has to go with intuition when he has nothing else. Gut feelings aren’t reserved only for pretty little things in bonnets.”

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she stared at the ground, trying to ignore the way his voice made her stomach clench.

  She’d never liked the way he talked before now. The shaky tremor running through his words fortified her. For the first time in her life, she’d obviously had an amorous effect on a man. A rather positive outcome as it was.

  Except the man in question seemed moderately angry.

  Certainly, she had made men angry a thousand times before. Angry enough for them to throw her in a jail cell. Only, when a woman has a man look at her the way Zachariah Garrett had for a moment or two through the lazy shadows of a summer evening, she doesn’t want him to snap right back to anger.

  “I’m not trouble,” she finally said, and by placing the table between them, gathered the nerve to look him in the eye. “A certain joie de vivre, perhaps, which has unquestionably embroiled me in diverse skirmishes in the past. I wouldn’t—”

  “Stop. For the love of God, please. Stop.”

  Bending down, he grasped his fallen wineglass, turning it in his hands. “Always, in my experience, troublemakers never know they’re troublemakers. They go along causing problems and making everyone else’s life hell, all the time thinking their actions are fine and dandy with the rest of us. Not a consequence out there that they’re concerned about. I make my living dealing with them. Pilots who run aground because their bellies are too full of drink to steer clear of the shoals; men who can’t handle their finances so I’m forced to auction off their houses and break up their families; busting up brawls every time payday rolls around. That’s what I do in this town, clean up messes.”

  He shoved to his feet, his eyes blazing. “So excuse me if I swear on the holy book that I can spot a menace at ten paces. And you, ma’am, are a menace to any unmarried man in this town. And by the way, I don’t have a ghost of an idea what you said to me in French.”

  “Why, well….” She gestured broadly, frustration blocking clear thought. “I’m so glad to see you never have to clean up your own messes, Constable. My, how fortunate.”

  “I have plenty of my own, don’t you worry. My life’s been full of them. But just now, in the last two months, since Noah came home to us, things are starting to settle. Starting to look right. You”—he pointed the glass at her, a rather lethal jab in her opinion—”are not going to put me on a path to destruction.”

  She stalked around the table, forgetting her need for a protective barrier. “How could I possibly set you on a path to destruction?”

  He raised a brow, gestured mildly. “I’m not going to marry again, Miss Connor. I did it once and it failed. I failed.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t have to.”

  She halted, uncertain. Was he considering going further with this experiment? It was an intriguing notion, one that had her heart skipping beats, her palms perspiring. “I’m not looking for marriage, either. I have my own funds, my own life. I have no need for a husband. That is without question. As to the other, I won’t tell. Discretion is key.” In the event he wasn’t talking about the future, she added, “What happened tonight is between us and no one else.”

  “Someone will find out. In a town this size, they always do.” He tugged his hand through his hair, tussled locks falling back across his brow immediately after. “I have my son to consider and, blessed Lord, you to consider. People can’t feel safe coming to me if my life is a great big mess.”

  “I know what I’m doing.”

  He rolled his eyes at that.

  She couldn’t summon enough evidence to disagree.

  “Granted, perhaps I don’t know precisely what I’m doing, but I know who’s responsible.” She walked forward, stopping before him. “And it isn’t you.”

  He lifted the glass to his nose and sniffed, probably wishing for another drink. “How do you figure that?”

  “My life is my choice. Your life is your choice.”

  His straight white teeth flashed as he released a sarcastic gust of laugher. “My life hasn’t been my choice since I was twenty years old.”

  She didn’t understand what he meant; she didn’t know much about Zachariah Garrett other than his name and his occupation. Nothing but the trivial bits and pieces about the Garrett brothers that Elle had written to her over the years.

  If Savannah wanted more information, pressure was not the way to get it. The man standing by her didn’t play father to an entire town because he was a man easily led. “Then you’re owed,” she said with a small, negligent shrug.

  He licked a drop of wine from the glass rim, his eyes finding hers over the edge. For some reason, his half-lidded look brought back the feel of his hands on her body, his teeth nipping her bottom lip. “That so?”

  “If you haven’t ever done anything completely for yourself”—she moved in close enough to catch the peppery scent of his shaving lotion—”isn’t it about time? I believe I’m due as well.”

  He lowered the glass. “Are we talking about the same thing here?”

  She rocked back on her heels. “I agree that the details may require a spot of negotiation.”

  He laughed then, his glossy hair falling into his face. “Yeah? I’m not at all sure we’re talking about the same thing; I’m not at all sure you even have a clue. But damned if I’m not willing to negotiate.”

  Smiling, she smoothed her hand down her shirtwaist, strangely pleased. “Fine. Excellent, we’re getting somewhere.”

  Tapping her lip, she stepped out of reach, fearful she might give in to temptation and beg him for another kiss if she wasn’t careful. “How about tomorrow morning? I’ll stop by your office at, say, eleven. I’m having lunch at the restaurant across the way at noon with my committee. An hour should be enough time.”

  “Can’t. Prior engagement.”

  She glanced his way, studying him to see if he was teasing her. “Truly?”

  He nodded his head, but not before she caught the amused glint in his eyes. “Truly.”

  “Can you reschedule?”

  “Hyman Carter is heading to Raleigh on business next week, and tomorrow morning is the only time he can stop by to discuss his situation.”

  She halted, whipping around so quickly she stumbled. “Hyman Carter? You’re meeting with that man without alerting me? I must inform my committee.”

  Reaching ou
t, he tipped her chin high. “I’m alerting you, Irish. But no committee. You show alone or not at all. And bring the sensible Miss Connor you’ve been telling me so much about, not the hellion.”

  He blinked, gazing beyond her for a moment before refocusing. “Better yet, save her for the negotiation.”

  “What time?” Savannah asked, drawing back, breathless and disconcerted. Too disconcerted to reprimand him for using that childish and highly inappropriate moniker.

  He shrugged, back to his good-natured self. “Ten or so.”

  They walked home in silence, her bicycle standing guard between them. Not an indecent touch passed. Nothing indecent at all occurred aside from the graphic images exploding like last July’s fireworks in her mind. Zach had refused to let her travel the two blocks to her rented room alone. Just imagine the nights she had walked alone in New York! If his gesture hadn’t made her feel so warm, she would have laughed.

  “Why,” she asked, as Zach stood outside the gate of the boarding house, waiting for her to climb the porch steps, “did you tell me about the meeting? I thought you weren’t interested in helping me. I’m not sure I understand.”

  “Got to understand everything, huh?” He hesitated, clearly debating how much he should reveal. Finally, with a sigh, he closed the gate and started down the rutted path that served as a sidewalk. Stopping at the junction with his lane, the gleam of a gas streetlamp flooded over him, throwing his arresting features into dull relief. “Why, Miss Connor? I guess because your heart’s in the right place, even if your lovely little head is in the clouds. I can’t much fault someone for being naïve though, now can I? Even a Yankee do-gooder.”

  She stayed on the porch, letting the gentle ocean breeze wrap its fingers around her, watching Zachariah Garrett disappear into the shadows. She wasn’t sure whether to be affronted or gratified by his comments.

  If she was honest with herself, both.

  The man seemed to pull her in utterly divergent directions.

  But she was smiling as she closed the front door behind her.

  * * *

  Seeing his son take his first breath had been the most astounding feeling of Zach’s life. Watching that miniature face contort and burst into color, hearing the impressive bellow roll from minute-old lungs. Of course, he had fallen in love immediately, forever.

  It had also been the most frightening day of his life.

  Tucking the sheet around Rory’s scrawny shoulders, he moved the boy’s thumb away from his mouth. It was an occasional habit, nothing more, but Zach had read an article recently about it changing the shape of a child’s mouth. No good there.

  Walking to the window, he lifted it higher, letting a nice gust of air into the humid room. Lord if it wasn’t getting hotter every day. He paused at the door, rechecked his direction, and settled into the rocking chair in the corner of the room. Moonlight spilled across the end of the bed, his feet, and lap. Resting his head on the back of the chair, he rocked in time to the sound of a cricket chirping somewhere close. Could be hiding in the room for all he knew.

  Hannah had lulled Rory to sleep every night when he was a baby, right here, until he got too big and wanted only to scramble around the floor, dragging his butt and legs behind him, chewing on every nasty bug or dust ball he could get his hands on. Other than requiring that Zach watch what he dropped on the floor—something as simple as a button could be a dreadful hazard—and see that his son ate regularly and had clean diapers on his bottom as often as a person could make that happen, that first year or two of his son’s life had passed without event.

  Then Rory’s mind had opened up and the questions started.

  Excruciating questions. Where did stars come from? Why is the sky blue and not orange? What are oyster shells made of? By God, Zach had wished for Noah then—the professor, as everyone in town except his family called him—to ease the burden of lying all the time about stuff. Making up answers left and right. His other brother, Caleb, wasn’t even as smart as Zach, so he was of no use in those instances at all.

  It was a big responsibility raising a child. To Zach’s way of thinking, there was no bigger and no more rewarding an experience. Unfortunately, it offered the best chance in life to suffer as if you were being roasted in Satan’s den.

  Anything that hurt Rory hurt Zach ten times worse.

  She had wondered—this odd woman he kissed earlier in the evening—why he cautiously considered taking risks. Savannah Connor wasn’t a parent and therefore couldn’t understand that the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.

  The weight of his world.

  Zach glanced toward the bed, resisting the urge to tuck Rory’s foot back under the covers or trace the shape of his toes just for the simple pleasure of touching him.

  Zach’s family, his entire meaning, lay snuggled beneath those covers, breathing in raspy, little-boy breaths, probably dribbling spittle on the blue pillowcase, his fist clenched around a tattered rag doll.

  Savannah couldn’t know that Zach had cried as much at his wife’s funeral because his family would never grow any larger, than he did because his wife and unborn child lay in the nicest pine box he could find on short notice in the dead of winter.

  He had loved Hannah.

  Of course, he had been the worst sort of husband for her: too full of passion and eagerness and dreams. But he’d loved her, soul-deep. And he had tried the best he knew how to care for her, to shelter her. Just as he had tried to do the best by his brothers after his mother’s death.

  By blind chance, he had come home that month, a pilot who could navigate every inlet and shoal in the Banks with his eyes closed, a young man seeking to grab the world by the short hairs, as cocky and irresponsible and fun-loving as any young man of twenty had a right to be.

  Yes, he’d come home to a dying mother and two adolescent boys in need of he didn’t know what. One with a temper Zach couldn’t control, the other with a mind Zach didn’t understand.

  That had ended his cocky irresponsibility quicker than a fist against a brick wall.

  He hadn’t missed the rowdy life. Living in the rank galley of a boat, eating high on the hog right out of port, then watching the supplies dwindle until he’d kill for a cracker that wasn’t covered with mold. Working all hours, until his back ached and his knees locked, staring at the damned horizon so long his eyes crossed.

  So he had settled in Pilot Isle for good. Married Hannah, and then along came Rory. And his life was no longer his at all. Even if he loved them with everything he had to give, and he did, Rory, Hannah, Noah, and Caleb had exacted a price. A price he was willing to pay until the day he kicked.

  Still, a price.

  Then, today, surprise of all surprises, Savannah Connor—bold and brash and maybe a touch crazy—had offered him a mirror.

  When he’d looked into it, he’d seen that fun-loving young man staring back.

  The temptation to take what she offered seemed more than he could refuse. Touching her had been like standing inside one of Edison’s bulbs: the glow had dazzled, warmed, and enchanted. He had been Zach Garrett and nothing more, kissing a woman for the unadulterated joy of it, feeling her nails lightly scratching his neck, her firm breasts flattening against his chest, her sweet breath stealing into his throat.

  He had forgotten the pleasure of a woman’s touch.

  Zach breathed deeply of little boy, paint and dog, wondering if Savannah understood the road she had started down. It was a treacherous road, a ruinous road for an unmarried woman. He was a bit older, and wiser by far, even though she was from New York City.

  The good deed would be to turn her away.

  Right now. Tomorrow.

  Only, the wicked side of him, a side no one in Pilot Isle would have guessed existed, was hard at work building a wall around good intention. He had not been lonely those piloting years; he learned things he had never considered bringing into his marital bed. Hannah had been too fragile, too sweet and innocent.

  Savannah C
onnor was another case altogether.

  Untried, he had no doubt. Gullible in her own way, he reckoned, but fearless.

  A fearless pain in his ass.

  He laughed as he thought it: just as he’d once been.

  Was it insane to imagine he could find that young man with her, not for love’s sake but simply for life’s sake? For his sake and his alone?

  Noah and Caleb told him, sometimes daily, that he had to move on, remarry and have more children.

  He didn’t want that.

  He couldn’t love that deeply or give of himself in that way again. Yet, he was tired, dog tired, of apologizing for wanting to live.

  Smiling softly, he closed his eyes, imagining what it was going to be like negotiating with that hellion.

  And since he’d decided to take her up on her life-and-choices challenge, imagining if she’d let him negotiate her right out of her fancy clothes.

  * * * * * *

  Meet Tracy Sumner

  Tracy’s story telling career began when she picked up a copy of LaVyrle Spencer’s Vows on a college beach trip. A journalism degree and a thousand romance novels later, she decided to try her hand at writing a southern version of the perfect love story. With a great deal of luck and more than a bit of perseverance, she sold her first novel to Kensington Publishing.

  When not writing sensual stories featuring complex characters and lush settings, Tracy can be found reading romance, snowboarding, watching college football and figuring out how she can get to 100 countries before she kicks (which is a more difficult endeavor than it used to be with her four-year-old son in tow). She lives in Charlotte, NC, but after spending a few years in “the city”, considers herself a New Yorker at heart.

  Tracy has been awarded the National Reader’s Choice, the Write Touch and the Beacon—with finalist nominations in the HOLT Medallion, Heart of Romance, Rising Stars and Reader’s Choice. Her books have been translated into German, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish. She loves hearing from readers about why she tends to pit her hero and heroine against each other from the very first page or that great romance she simply must order in five seconds on her Kindle.