Beach Reads Boxed Set

by Marie Force

  So much to admire, so much to respect. Be careful, Cat. Be very careful. “What does Rosie know?”

  “That her mother wasn’t ready to be a mom and her whole family loves her.”

  “Will you tell her the rest someday?”

  “I don’t want to, but I suppose I’ll have to at some point.”

  “It’s an amazing story.”

  “It seems like a bad dream now. I never think about it anymore.”

  “Thank you for telling me.” What she thought but didn’t say was here’s a man who doesn’t take the easy way out. Here’s a man who stands up, who does the right thing. He was honorable, just as she had suspected. The realizations, one on top of the other, sent her reeling. If he touched her now, if he took her to bed and made love to her, she’d be lost.

  Clearing her throat, she said, “Ian?”

  “What, babe?”

  “Will you play for me?”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Georgie returned from the third floor to find Nathan sitting on the bed untying his sneakers. He looked up at her, smiled, and she melted from deep inside straight out to the goose bumps that appeared all of a sudden on her arms. Her skin burned with awareness—of him, of what they were about to do, of what it meant.

  Nathan must have sensed her sudden bout of shyness, because he got up and crossed the room to her. “Whose stash did you raid?”

  “Cat’s. I left her a few in case they need some, too.”

  “Ian would never be unprepared in that regard. Once burned and all that.” Nathan reached for the hand with the condoms and took them from her. “Only three, huh? Won’t be a complete do-over of our first night.”

  “I don’t know if I’d survive that again.”

  “Me either.” He laughed softly as he led her to the bed. He sat and looped his arms around her, drawing her in close to press his face to her belly.

  Georgie ran her fingers through his tight curls. “Why does this feel like the first time?”

  “Because it is.”

  “I guess you don’t remember another time or five.”

  He tipped his face up so he could see her. “How could I forget? But everything’s different now, so it is like the first time again.”

  Raising an eyebrow in amusement, she said, “Everything?”

  “Everything,” he said emphatically.

  “Nathan—”

  “Shh.” He guided her into bed.

  They lay facing each other, holding hands.

  “I was someone different that night, Nathan, someone I didn’t even recognize. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”

  “Georgie Quinn,” he said as he brushed the hair back from her face, “the only person I want to be in bed with is you. The real you.”

  “The real me isn’t a temptress or a sex goddess.”

  He laughed. Hard. “Want to bet?”

  “I’m being serious,” she said, annoyed that he would laugh right then.

  “You’re perfect just as you are. Anything with you will be enough.”

  “You were supposed to stop saying those things.”

  “I’ll try harder.” He brought her in tight against his aroused body, raised her chin, and kissed her as if he had all the time in the world to give her.

  The result devastated her and stripped away her remaining defenses. He kissed her for what seemed like forever before she felt the first tentative brush of his tongue over her lips. His patience was in sharp contrast to the urgency he’d shown her earlier when he had spelled out just how desperately he wanted her.

  Georgie’s hands traveled over his warm, smooth back as one sweet, undemanding kiss faded into another. Since he kept his hands on her face, she had only the press of his throbbing erection against her leg to tell her that this slow seduction was affecting him every bit as much.

  By the time he finally sent his tongue deep into her mouth, she was ready to beg him for it. His hands fell from her face to her shoulders and then her breasts. Through her thin cami, he teased her nipples into pebbled points. Dipping his head, he suckled her until the fabric was damp and clinging. A sharp, hot wave of desire grew into a painful throb at her center.

  He pushed at her top, and when she raised her arms to help him take it off, he anchored them to the pillow. “Leave them there,” he whispered as he moved down to explore what he had uncovered.

  Georgie closed her eyes and floated on a cloud of sensation. She felt her boxers travel over her legs, and then his lips skim from her feet to her knees to her thighs, pushing them apart as he moved up. Fighting the burning need to touch him, she rolled her hands into fists as he stroked his tongue over her, into her, once, twice before she exploded. The blast was so strong, so intense, two hot tears fell from her tightly closed eyes.

  He left her only long enough to sheath himself. When he returned, he kissed the tears from her cheeks as he entered her slowly. “Georgie,” he whispered. “Look at me.”

  Her eyes fluttered open to meet his in the soft light of the bedside lamp.

  “I was so afraid we were only going to get that one night together,” he said as he thrust into her. “As much as it was, it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough.”

  Georgie arched her back and reached down to hold him still.

  Keeping his eyes open and fixed on her, he molded his lips to hers.

  After a long, breathless moment, she lightened her grip on him so he could move.

  His lips hovered close to hers, their breath mingling. Suddenly, he hooked his arm under her leg and pushed it up to her chest, sending him deeper than he’d ever been, deeper than anyone had ever been.

  Georgie came with a low moan as she gave herself over to him so completely, so thoroughly that it never occurred to her to remember that she’d had no plans to give that much. In that moment, there was only him, joined with her, one with her.

  “Georgie,” he gasped as his orgasm gripped him. He released her leg and let his forehead land on her shoulder, his breath coming in short pants. When he finally looked up at her, he wore his heart in his eyes. “Georgie, I lo—”

  “No,” she said, pressing her fingers to his lips. “Don’t. Please.”

  He withdrew from her and shifted onto his back, propping an arm over his eyes.

  “Nathan.” She turned into him, touched her lips to his chest, and rested her hand on his belly. “Stay with me.”

  “I’m here,” he said, but he kept his arm over his eyes. “We should get some sleep. We both have early mornings.”

  Georgie got up, found her clothes, and crossed the hall to the bathroom. Closing the door, she slid down to the floor and rested her head on her folded arms.

  Cat woke up facedown and naked in Ian’s bed and tried to figure out how she had gotten there. She remembered being stretched out on the sofa in a dreamy half sleep, listening to him sing to her in that deep, sexy voice of his. She must have dozed off, because she had woken up as he carried her to bed. They had shed their clothes into a pile on the floor, fallen into bed, and gone straight to sleep. During the night they had spent wrapped around each other, he had never once tried to make love with her.

  Until now.

  She sighed with contentment and the first stirrings of desire as his tongue moved over the ridges of her spine, down to the twin globes of her bottom. As he paid homage to each cheek, Cat squirmed under him, which raised her up just enough for him to slide his hands under her to cup her breasts.

  His teeth clamped down on the tendon at the base of her neck.

  Pushing back against his erection, she begged him to fill her, to take her, to possess her. At this moment, he could have anything he wanted.

  He guided her onto her hands and knees and entered her from behind.

  Cat cried out from both the thrill and the impact.

  He ran his thumbs over her nipples and squeezed her breasts as he pushed into her again.

  Oh, God, this was good—so, so good. Maybe the best she’d ever had. No, definitely th
e best. He was so hard, and she was so wet and oh, oh, oh, he knew what he was doing. Didn’t it make all the difference in the world to be with a man who knew what he was doing? Who knew just where she needed him to touch her? She didn’t have to draw him a map or give him directions. He just knew. Somehow, he knew.

  Her orgasm built like a wave rolling toward the beach. She needed just one more—

  “Daddy?” a little voice called from the living room. “Daddy? Why’s your door closed?”

  Ian pulled out of her so abruptly that Cat fell to the mattress with an ungraceful thud. “Shit!” he muttered as he slipped on a pair of shorts and quickly zipped them. “Sorry, babe.” With that he left the room and closed the door behind him.

  “Hey, punkin’ head,” Cat heard him say as she tried to catch her breath while mourning the loss of the orgasm that had gotten away. It would’ve been a beauty. As she throbbed from head to toe with unfulfilled desire, she lay still to listen, trying to figure out how in the world she was going to get out of this without a close encounter of the kid kind.

  “I trowed up,” Rosie reported.

  “Oh no!” Ian sounded remarkably composed for a man who had experienced sexus interruptus a mere forty seconds earlier. And how, exactly, was he managing to hide the evidence of what he had been up to? “Really?”

  “Yep. Gram says I ate too many marshmallows last night.”

  “That’s what I thought until she woke up with a fever this morning,” another voice chimed in. A woman. An older woman. Fucking A! His mother! Great.

  Cat sat up, found her clothes mixed in with his on the floor, and got dressed as fast as she could. Thankfully, he had a bathroom attached to his room, so she could at least attempt to repair some of the damage before making her debut.

  As she washed her face, used his toothbrush, and did what she could with her hair, she got progressively more pissed. This was exactly why she had no business being involved with him. If she had any prayer of making a quick getaway, she was going to have to face his kid and his mother, neither of which should play any part in a sex-only relationship. Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why hadn’t she listened to her gut and stayed the hell away from him? Why had she come here knowing it was possible something like this could happen?

  When she was as put together as she could hope to be under the circumstances, she went to the door to his room and rested her forehead against it for a long time. They seemed to be settling in for a nice, long visit, she realized with a groan. And he wasn’t doing a goddamned thing to try to get rid of them. In fact, if her nose served her correctly, he was making coffee! Ugh! Get them out of here, Ian! Get them out of here, so I can get out of here!

  Resigned to the fact that it wasn’t going to happen, Cat took one last deep breath—more to calm her fury than her nerves—and opened the door.

  Rosie zeroed in on her right away. “What’s she doing here?”

  “Rosie, be nice and say hello to Cat,” Ian said, his voice tight with tension.

  “Hi,” Rosie said without looking at her, which was fine with Cat.

  “Hi, Rosie.”

  “Cat, this is my mother, Bernie.”

  Cat ventured a brief glance at the attractive older woman who had the same smile as Ian and Nathan. As she accepted the outstretched hand of the mother of the man who had been doing her doggie style ten short minutes ago, all she could think about was how wrong this was, on every possible level. “Nice to meet you,” she mumbled.

  “Likewise,” Bernie said, her eyes skirting over Cat in a visual inspection that Cat was certain she would fail.

  “Um, I have to go.” She grabbed her purse off the coffee table where she had left it the night before and bent to scoop up her flip-flops. To no one in particular, she added, “I’ll see you later.” Seeing her chance, Cat made for the door.

  “Stay and have some breakfast,” Ian said.

  Was he serious? “I can’t,” she said without turning back to look at him. If she looked at him right now, if she made contact with those blue eyes . . . No, it was better this way. “I have . . . stuff. I’ve got to go.” She darted out the door so fast it was a wonder her head didn’t spin.

  Ian chased after her. “Cat!” He caught up to her, grabbed her shoulder, and turned her around. “Wait. I’m sorry,” he said as he tried to embrace her. “I’m so sorry.”

  Cat pulled free of him. “You have nothing to apologize for. It’s your home. She lives there.”

  “And that’s the problem, isn’t it?” he asked, running a frustrated hand through his rumpled hair.

  She was going to cry. If she didn’t get out of there immediately, there were going to be tears, and Cat Kelly didn’t do tears. “I’m the one who’s sorry, Ian. I really am, but this is so not my scene.”

  “Don’t go,” he pleaded. “Don’t walk away because of one fucked-up morning.”

  “It’s always going to be like this, and it should be like this. She comes first. I get it.”

  “That doesn’t mean—”

  “I can’t.” She took a last glance at that face, that one-in-a-million face. Damn him. “I’m sorry.”

  She left him standing in the driveway and went out to the street to find her car.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Georgie knew the exact moment that Nathan slid out of bed because she had been awake next to him for hours.

  He found his shorts on the floor, slipped them on, and left the room without a sound. As she pulled the sheet up tight around her, she wondered if he was coming back or if he would leave without talking to her. Wait. She peered down to the floor where two size-twelve sneakers lay sprawled.

  When she heard the toilet flush, she sat up straighter in bed, her heart pounding with anticipation and dread and fear. She wouldn’t be surprised if he came back to say enough was enough. Who could blame him?

  “Oh, hey,” he said. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

  “No, I was up.”

  He sat on the bed to put on his shoes.

  “Are you nervous?” she asked, desperate to break the awkward silence that hung between them. “About court?”

  “Not really. I just want to get it over with.”

  She couldn’t think of a single other thing to say. How could she put into words what she felt when she wasn’t even sure, exactly, what she was feeling?

  He finished tying his shoes and turned to her.

  Her stomach twisted with fright. Here it comes. She didn’t want him to profess his love, but neither did she want him to say good-bye. Not yet, she cried silently. Please not yet. She braced herself.

  “I have some work I need to get done on my house this week.” He reached for her hand. “So I’ll be pretty tied up at night.”

  “Okay.” If he was going to end it, she wished he would just do it fast and get it over with.

  “But will you save Friday night for me?”

  Flustered and surprised, she stared at him. “I’d understand if you didn’t want to see me—”

  Bringing her hand to his lips, he sent goose bumps scurrying over her skin. “Why wouldn’t I want to see you?”

  “Because I’m driving you crazy?”

  He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes the way it usually did. “Yeah, you are, but I guess I’m a sucker for punishment, because I keep coming back for more.”

  “Are you going to stop coming back one of these days?”

  “I’m not planning on it.” He paused before he added, “So, Friday? Yes?”

  Relieved to know there would be more, she nodded.

  He leaned over to kiss her. “I’ll try to come by the hospital later to check on Gus.”

  “Good luck in court.”

  “Thanks.” With one last kiss, he got up and headed for the door.

  “Nathan?”

  He turned back to her.

  “Thank you for being here last night when I needed you.”

  “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, Georgie. I’m hoping one of these day
s you’ll realize that.”

  She listened to his footsteps on the stairs, heard him talking to Cat downstairs, and through the open window, she listened to him jog down the hill toward home. How far they’d traveled since she had lusted after him on his morning runs, and yet they were no closer to figuring out what they were going to do about all the feelings flying between them. Reaching for the bedside table, she flipped the two remaining condoms between her fingers and regretted that they hadn’t gotten used.

  Cat appeared at her door. “What’s up?”

  “Not much.” Georgie studied her roommate. “Have you been crying?”

  “No,” Cat said quickly—too quickly.

  “What’s wrong, Cat?”

  “Nothing.”

  Georgie patted the bed.

  Seeming relieved by the invitation, Cat came in and stretched out next to her. “Are you naked under there?”

  “No,” Georgie snorted.

  “Were you?”

  “At one point. I raided your stash,” she said, pointing to the condoms on the table.

  “Finally got around to doing it again, huh?”

  “We were talking about you, not me.”

  “I’d rather talk about you, since I won’t be needing condoms for a while after this morning.”

  “What happened?”

  Cat shrugged, but there was something so defeated in the gesture that Georgie reached for her friend’s hand.

  “The thing with Ian . . . it’s not going to fly.”

  “Why not?”

  “Timing, complications, the usual stuff.” She told Georgie what had happened earlier.

  “Ugh,” Georgie groaned.

  “No kidding. Easily the single most embarrassing moment of my life.”

  “I’m sure it was no treat for him, either.”

  “Probably not,” Cat conceded. “I just wish he hadn’t managed to ruin me for sex with all other men.”

  “That good, huh?”

  “There are no words.”