by Marie Force
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this time,” Sarah said.
“Did they ever figure out what happened?” John asked his grandmother.
“It was hot like it is now, and the demand for AC overwhelmed the system.”
“It must’ve been upgraded since then,” Jeff said. “Right?”
“I can’t recall hearing that it was upgraded,” Adele said.
“That’s not good news,” Sarah said, her spirits plummeting. They’d so looked forward to this day and to celebrating with their friends and family. She and Charlie had quietly gotten married over Memorial Day Weekend, so this day was also a celebration of their marriage.
A few minutes later, her daughter Julia came in with her boyfriend, Deacon Taylor, bringing coolers of ice from the Wayfarer. “They closed down for the day due to the power outage,” Julia said, “so Nikki sent the ice over. Where do you want it?”
Shane and Katie were right behind them, rolling their grill through the kitchen to the back deck. “Heard you needed grills,” Katie said, kissing her mom.
While Katie was blonde, her fraternal twin, Julia, had dark hair. They had fallen for handsome, wonderful men who were nothing like the father they’d grown up with. Sarah gave thanks every day for Charlie, Laura, Shane and Deacon, and hoped her younger four children would eventually find their perfect mates, too.
Charlie appeared next to Sarah, who stood at the massive island in the middle of her kitchen and watched with amazement as her kids stepped up for her. But even their help couldn’t quite stem the full-on panic she felt brewing at the thought of entertaining a hundred people with no power. “Whatever you’re thinking, knock it off. We’ve got this. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“How do you always know what to say to me?”
“I can tell by the way your lips are all tight that you’re unhappy. I don’t like when you’re unhappy.”
And that, right there, was the primary difference between her blissful second marriage and the nightmare first one. Charlie loved her and wanted only the best for her and the ones she loved.
He massaged her shoulders with strong hands that touched her only with love and gentleness. “Relax, babe. It’s all gonna be fine. Look at them.” He tilted his chin to include her kids, their partners, her mother. “Steph and the rest of them will be here in a bit. What else matters?”
“Nothing,” Sarah said, relaxing into his loving embrace. “Well, except food poisoning. That matters.”
Charlie’s bark of laughter made her smile. “We won’t let that happen.”
Chapter 8
Gansett Island Chief of Police Blaine Taylor had looked forward to a rare summer day off with his wife and daughters and a good time with their friends and family at Charlie and Sarah’s party. With the power out across the island, he’d been called back to work, which put him in a foul mood.
Jack Downing, the state police officer who was permanently assigned to Gansett, had joined him at the public safety building along with Linc Mercier, the Coast Guard commander who ran the Gansett Island station. They were waiting for Fire Chief Mason Johns to arrive when Big Mac McCarthy came in. As president of the town council, he had a role to play in the conversation, too.
“Well, gentlemen, this is a fine mess,” Big Mac said, his trademark humor unaffected by the lack of power during a sweltering heat wave. “I’ve been making noise about the power grid for years now. No one wants to spend the money to upgrade.”
“And no one wants to talk about wind or solar power either,” Blaine said. Both had been rejected out of fear of the necessary equipment sullying the landscape and views. “If this goes on for a day or two, people might change their tunes.”
“We can only hope,” Linc said.
“I’ve been in touch with the mainland, and they’re aware that we’re out,” Jack said. “I’m waiting for a call back from the power company.” Jack was tall, with reddish-brown hair and brown eyes, and according to Blaine’s wife, Tiffany, he was a “hot ginger,” whatever the hell that meant.
Mason came in a few minutes later, dressed in uniform. “I came as soon as I got your message, Jack. What’re we hearing?”
“Not much of anything yet,” Blaine said. “We’re waiting to hear from the power company and the governor’s office.”
“Is anyone looking at this as some sort of deliberate act?” Mason asked.
Blaine glanced at Jack, who shook his head. “I don’t think so. You’d have to know what you were doing to knock out power to the entire island, and if you didn’t know what you were doing, you’d be a fool to mess with the substations. I think it’s what Mr. McCarthy said—an old system that should’ve been updated years ago buckling under increased demand due to the heat wave.”
“What’s the chance of getting it back before the end of the day?” Blaine asked.
“If past history is any indication,” Big Mac replied, “not good. The last time it happened, six years ago, we were out for five days.”
The entire group groaned.
“I couldn’t believe it didn’t happen a couple of years ago with the heat wave that came through,” Big Mac said. “Held my breath the whole time it was hot like that.”
“What does this mean for emergency preparedness?” Linc asked.
“We’ve got generators for this building and at the clinic,” Blaine said.
“We’ve got some at the marina,” Big Mac said, “but most of them are accounted for.”
“Do we need to stop the incoming ferries?” Mason asked.
“I don’t think we can do that to the business people who rely on summer weekends for their livelihoods,” Big Mac said. “Everyone will have to punt.”
Blaine conferred with the others on what they needed to be ready for if the outage lasted a day or two. He didn’t want to think about it going beyond that.
“The last time this happened,” Big Mac said, “people got nutty after the first day. The bars will do big business.”
“Great,” Blaine said. Like he didn’t have enough trouble with drunks this time of year. “Let’s do a test of the 911 and other emergency systems to make sure everything is working on remote power.”
An hour later, confident that his subordinates had things under control and with orders to call him if needed, Blaine left the public safety building to resume his precious weekend day off already in progress. He was on the way home when Tiffany called. She’d gone in to her Naughty & Nice shop to check on things before taking the rest of the day off with him. “What’s up, babe?”
“Just a little power failure to cut short a day at the shop.”
“Did you shut down?” he asked, knowing how important summer weekends were to her business.
“We did. It’s just too hot without AC, and it was dead anyway. This heat is sucking the life out of everyone. How are things at home?”
“I had to get my mom to come stay with the girls because I got called into the station when the power went out. I’m on the way home now.”
“What’re you hearing about the power?”
“That it’s not good. The last time this happened, it was out for days.”
“I remember that. We’d just moved back to the island. Ashleigh was a baby. It was so hot.”
“It’s probably going to be like that again. We’ve got the generator to run the fridge at least.”
“You were right, dear.”
Blaine laughed. “The words every man loves to hear.” He’d insisted they grab one the previous fall in case they lost power during winter snowstorms. He hadn’t expected they might need it in the summer, too. “From what I hear, the power grid is old and should’ve been replaced decades ago.”
“Fantastic. So we’re in for a siege, then.”
“Possibly, but look at the upside.”
“There’s an upside?”
“Uh-huh. Very sweaty sex.”
“How is that an upside?”
“Baby, I can’t wait to show you later.”
“I’ll look forward to that.”
“Is the party still on at Sarah and Charlie’s?” he asked.
“As far as I know.”
He’d no sooner pulled into the driveway than she appeared next to him in her red VW Bug, flashing him the irrepressible grin that was all Tiffany. And damn if his heart didn’t still give a happy lurch at the sight of his love, even after all this time together.
He waited for her to get out of the car and held out his hand to her. “Why do I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks when it’s only been a few hours?”
“Because you’re silly that way?”
“If being obsessed with my sexy wife makes me silly, I can handle that.” With his arm around her, they walked inside, where they found a note from his mom.
Took the girls for a walk to the park. Back in an hour or so.
She’d included the time, indicating they’d left ten minutes ago. He’d never loved his mother more than he did just then. Between work and kids and life, the summer was their busiest season, and by August, Blaine was more than ready for it to be over so he could have more time at home with his girls.
He surrounded Tiffany from behind, molding his body to hers.
“Too hot for that, cowboy,” she said as she poured a glass of the decaffeinated iced tea she drank when pregnant.
“We have fifty kid-free, work-free minutes during the day in August, Tiffany.”
She fanned her face. “It’s hot, Blaine.”
“And about to get hotter.” He turned her to face him, caressing her cheek and stealing a quick kiss from strawberry-flavored lips. “Hi.”
“Howdy.”
“Can I convince you to get sweaty with me?”
“Probably. I’m rather easy where you’re concerned.”
“And I love you that way.” Bending his knees, he worked his hands under the skirt of the frilly, feminine dress she’d worn to work and slid them up the backs of silky, soft, toned legs to cup bare ass cheeks. He let out a growl that came from the deepest part of him. She wore the sexiest underwear all the time, including barely there thongs that drove him wild.
“Let’s go upstairs,” she said with a nervous giggle. “Your mom is apt to bring them back any time.”
“She said an hour ten minutes ago.”
“Addie might have a meltdown.”
“I’m willing to risk it.” He was already pushing her dress up and lifting her to sit on the kitchen counter.
“Blaine…”
“Shhh, let me have my sweaty fun.” The house was already unbearably warm after only an hour without AC. He ought to stop and open some windows, but that would take time he didn’t want to waste when there were much better things they could be doing. Such as pushing her skirt up over her hips and tugging the thong from between her sweet cheeks. Christ have mercy, she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen, and he had to be the luckiest bastard on earth to be married to her, to be loved by her.
Hooking her right leg over his shoulder, he dove into the sweet, spicy, strawberry-scented haven between her legs.
She let out a sharp cry of pleasure and dropped back onto her elbows, her hips coming off the counter to get closer to his tongue. “We shouldn’t be doing this here,” she said, gasping when he drove two fingers deep inside her.
“I know. Isn’t it hotter that way?”
“Your mom won’t think so if she catches us—”
He pushed his fingers into her again, and she gasped before she came hard, her tight channel gripping his fingers. His cock wanted in on this right now. With his other hand, he quickly freed himself and slid into paradise, triggering a second orgasm from her that nearly finished him off.
Not so fast.
He gripped her ass cheeks and gazed down at her sweet face, glistening with moisture. “Isn’t sweaty sex fun?”
“Not when I’m waiting for my mother-in-law to walk in any second.”
“Stop talking about my mother, or you’ll kill a perfectly good boner.”
“Nothing can kill your boner.”
“Not when I’ve got you hot, sweaty and naked in my arms in the place where it all began between us.”
“If this counter could talk.”
He pushed deep into her and loved the way she arched into him and how her legs curled around his hips. “It’d tell quite a story.”
“The best story.”
“Mmm,” he said, losing himself in her the way he always did. “Tell me if it hurts.” He worried obsessively about her all the time, but more so when she was pregnant.
“Nothing hurts.”
He fumbled with the buttons on her dress, eager to free the spectacular breasts that had become more so since she’d carried Addie.
She helped him with the buttons and released the front clasp on a sinfully sexy bra.
There was something to be said for being married to the island’s lingerie queen.
“So fucking hot,” he whispered.
“There’s no AC.”
“That’s not why it’s hot. You’re why. My sexy, gorgeous girl. I love you so much.” He buried his face in the curve of her neck where her skin tasted sweet and salty from perspiration. Their bodies glided together in the purest form of pleasure he’d ever found with anyone. Grasping her ass with both hands, he drove them higher and then higher still until they broke with shouts of pleasure that made him glad they were home alone.
He collapsed onto her, being careful not to put too much weight on her abdomen, and sighed when her arms curled around him and her fingers combed through his hair. “Love you more than you’ll ever know, Tiff.”
“I love you, too. I still can’t believe this is my life now, that you’re my life.”
“Believe it.” He flexed his hips to remind her of their connection, which went far deeper than their always-incendiary physical bond. Theirs was a soul-deep communion, and it had been from almost the first time he’d ever laid eyes on her, sitting by her sister’s bed in the island clinic, looking so beautiful and so lost.
They’d traveled a million miles together since then, and it would never be enough.
Her heel dug into his ass. “We need to take this party out of public view before your mother and Ash see something that can’t be unseen.”
“Fine,” he said, withdrawing reluctantly from her.
“How can you still be hard after that?”
“How can you still be so sexy and beautiful that you keep me hard all the time?”
She sat up, ran her fingers through her hair and gasped when he picked her right up off the counter, slid her down on his still-hard cock, kicked off his shorts and headed for the stairs. “You’re a crazy man.”
“Crazy for you, especially when we have almost an hour to ourselves during the day in August.” As he took them up the stairs, he went for maximum bounce, loving the sounds that came from her. In their room, he brought her down on the bed without losing their connection.
With her dark hair fanned out on the bed, her cheeks flushed from heat and pleasure, her nipples tight and her lips red with lipstick, she looked like something out of a fantasy—his own personal fantasy.
She pulled the T-shirt over his head and ran her hands down his sweaty back to grip his ass as he pumped into her, losing himself all over again, as if the first time had never happened. “Tiffany… God…”
“Harder.”
Just when he thought she couldn’t get any hotter, that one word sent him into overdrive, and as he hammered into her, he lost all sense of place and time and anything that wasn’t her and them and the magic they created together. It was hot as hell, and with the windows closed to keep in the AC that was now off, it was absolutely stifling, but he didn’t stop even as sweat ran down his face and back and stung his eyes. His lips found hers in a greedy, deep kiss that made him feel even more powerfully connected to her.
Afterward, he felt like he could sleep for a week. Even though he was hotter than he could ever recall being, every pa
rt of him was relaxed in a way that didn’t often happen this time of year when work was nuts for both of them. He, who used to hate winter, now lived for the long, cold days when he could hunker down with his girls for days on end.
Soon, he thought, the season would be over, and there’d be more moments like this one. By August, he was ready. More so this year, for whatever reason. Maybe he was getting older and crankier, and the crap that used to roll off his shoulders seemed to get to him more than it used to. Or maybe he was just so besotted with his wife and daughters that any time away from them—especially time dealing with drunks and other fools—made him bitter.
“What’re you thinking?” she asked after a long period of contented silence.
“That I can’t wait for this season to be over so we can do more of this and less of everything else we have to do this time of year.”
“We’re almost there.”
“I’m counting the days until Labor Day.”
Chapter 9
Tiffany’s sister, Maddie McCarthy, was counting days, too. On Labor Day, which was only three short weeks from now, she and Mac would move to the mainland with Hailey and baby Mac until their twin girls arrived in mid-September. As she watched Thomas play on the floor with Hailey and their indispensable au pair, Kelsey, who had been a godsend to them since she arrived on the island earlier in the summer, Maddie couldn’t bear to think about being separated from Thomas for as long as a month if it came to that.
“She’s wonderful with them,” Maddie’s mom, Francine, said of Kelsey.
“I know. I’m jealous of my own nanny.” Not only was she terrific with the kids, she took care of everything around the house and had become a friend to Maddie, who was confined to bed or the sofa until the twins were born.
At twenty-two, Kelsey was a recent college grad, majoring in early childhood development. She had curly reddish-brown hair that she mostly wore up in a bun and hazel eyes that lit up with delight any time the kids did something cute, which was pretty much all the time. Maddie referred to her as their “Disney princess” because she was so sweet that Maddie almost wondered if she was for real until she’d understood that Kelsey was as real as it got. Her heart was pure gold, and she’d made such a difference for them as Maddie’s bed rest had fallen during Mac’s busiest season. They were both more relaxed since the angel named Kelsey had come into their lives.