Beach Reads Boxed Set

by Marie Force

  “What happened?”

  “She turned me down.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yup.”

  “A woman seriously said no when you asked her to marry you?”

  “Yes,” he said, laughing at her amazement.

  “She must’ve been blind, deaf, and dumb.”

  “I hate to disappoint you, but she had all her faculties,” Cole said, pleased by her irritation on his behalf.

  “So why did she say no?”

  “She didn’t want to be a Navy wife.”

  “She hurt you,” Olivia said, caressing his face.

  “Mostly she disappointed me. I thought we really had something, but I guess it was one sided. Otherwise she wouldn’t have cared what I did for a living, right?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I think about her sometimes, though. It amazes me to realize if she’d said yes, I’d have had a whole different kind of life. We’d be married fourteen years by now—if it’d lasted—and I’d probably have a bunch of kids.”

  “Do you wish you had kids?”

  “Sometimes. But when you live the way I do for as long as I have, you start to wonder if there’s room for a family.”

  “I can see how that would happen when you’re on the go all the time.” Her finger traced circles around his nipple. “So that’s one…”

  He nibbled on her neck. “And then I met you.”

  She poked him in the ribs, causing him to jolt. “Nice try.”

  “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

  “Afraid not.”

  “I’ll tell you, but you have to remember you did that pinky thing and still like me after.”

  “I remember.”

  Releasing a deep sigh, he looked up at the ceiling. “I guess I’m one of those guys women call toxic. I avoid commitment like the plague, but I’m always honest about it. I tell every woman I go out with that I’m not interested in anything serious, and it never fails that they think they’re going to be the one to change me or housebreak me. There’ve been a few who’d call me an asshole for being exactly what I said I was, especially since everything happened earlier this year.”

  He finally risked a glance at her and found her rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. “You’re freaking out, right?”

  “No, but I am wondering something.”

  “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  “It’s just that you didn’t say that to me.”

  “You noticed that, huh?”

  “Uh-huh. In fact you said the exact opposite, with the leap speech and all of that.”

  “Is that what we’re calling it?” he asked, laughing. “The leap speech?”

  “That’s the official name.”

  He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “When I told you earlier that I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything?”

  She nodded, her lips parted in breathless anticipation.

  “I didn’t mean just physically. I want you. In my life for as long as it feels good to both of us.”

  “That’s an awfully big step for a commitment-phobe, isn’t it?”

  “It’s huge. But it seems to be a night for big leaps.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  Chapter Ten

  Olivia awoke before dawn with Cole’s arms tight around her and her face pressed to his chest. They never had gotten around to closing the drapes, so faint light filtered into the room where her whole life had changed in the course of one unforgettable night. Pursing her lips, she skimmed them lightly over his chest before she pulled back just far enough to see his face.

  He sighed and shifted onto his back but didn’t wake up.

  As she studied him, the urge to draw him while he slept became overwhelming. Moving slowly, she slipped out of bed, put on the T-shirt of his that hung from the foot of the bed, hit the bathroom, and then went to grab her sketch pad.

  She had almost finished when he stirred.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice hoarse and sleepy. “What’re you doing?”

  “Drawing you.”

  He looked like he wasn’t sure whether to be touched or embarrassed. “Can I see?”

  “In a minute.”

  “Am I allowed to get up and pee?”

  She laughed but didn’t look up from her pad. “Feel free.”

  When he got out of bed, she couldn’t resist a peek at his muscular butt. She wondered if he’d let her draw him in the nude sometime. By the time he returned and got back in bed, she had finished the drawing but was suddenly shy about showing it to him.

  He reached out to her. “Come back. I’m lonely.”

  Unable to resist him, she brought the pad with her when she got into bed.

  “First things first,” he said, leaning in to kiss her.

  He tasted of toothpaste, and what started out as a quick kiss turned into a lingering event.

  “Mmm,” he murmured against her lips. “Good morning to you, too.”

  In the course of two or three minutes, he had ruined every future morning that didn’t begin just like that.

  He eased the pad from her hand and held it up to study her work.

  Olivia’s heart beat fast as she waited to hear what he thought of it.

  “I’ve never seen myself asleep before.”

  “You’re quickly becoming my favorite subject.”

  “Do you know what I love about this?” he asked, his eyes still fixed on the drawing. “Somehow you managed to capture the intimacy between us. Anyone who looked at this would be able to tell that we’re involved.”

  Olivia was speechless. His insight amazed and delighted her. That he got it, that he got her, was such a special gift in the midst of everything else he had brought to her life.

  “When you say those things, you make me believe I could really be an artist.”

  “You are an artist. Do you paint at all?”

  “Watercolors. I like to do outdoor stuff.”

  “If you could paint anything, what would it be?”

  “The Golden Gate Bridge,” she said without hesitation. “I have this secret fascination with San Francisco.”

  “It’s a beautiful city.”

  “Of course, you’ve been there.”

  “A few times.”

  “You’re so lucky that you get to travel so much.”

  He picked up the pad again. “This is really so good.”

  “I want to do you nude sometime.”

  His eyes lit up with unrestrained lust. “Any time.”

  “I meant draw you.”

  “That, too?”

  Laughing, she let the sketch pad slip to the floor and reached for him. His mouth devoured hers as he pinned her to the bed.

  “I want to feel your skin against mine,” he whispered, helping her out of the T-shirt. “Oh, yeah, that’s better.”

  His lips traveled from her neck to her breasts where he dragged his tongue in circles, denying her what she craved.

  She pulled on his hair, hoping to redirect him, but he wouldn’t be rushed.

  By the time he finally grazed her nipple with the tip of his tongue, Olivia was panting with desire.

  He teased and tugged and sucked. “Would you mind if I just spent the day right here?”

  Breathless, she said, “I can’t take much more of that.”

  “Spoilsport,” he grumbled, moving to her belly and leaving a damp trail around her belly button with his tongue. When he scooted down further, Olivia tried to sit up.

  “Don’t,” he said, holding her in place.

  “What’re you doing?”

  “Loving you,” he said against her inner thigh.

  His words sapped her resistance, and her legs fell open. When he ran his tongue over her most sensitive place, she almost launched off the bed.

  He held her still and sank his tongue into her.

  Oh, God…

  “I changed my mind,” he said between deep strokes.

  No! Don’t stop
now!

  “I think I’d rather spend the day here, instead.” He set his focus on the spot that throbbed for him and slid a finger into her.

  Over and over again he took her to the precipice and then backed off, leaving her sweating and panting and desperate.

  “Please… Cole…”

  This time he didn’t back off, and she came with a cry of release so intense it frightened her. She was still breathing hard when he kissed a path from her belly to her breasts to her neck.

  “I love the way you do that,” he whispered, holding her tight against him.

  “It’s embarrassing,” she murmured into his shoulder. Her whole body felt hot and flushed—and satisfied.

  “Don’t be embarrassed. I love it.”

  She wrapped her arms around him and pushed her pelvis against his erection. “What about you?”

  “I’m good.”

  “I can’t leave you in that condition,” she said with a sly smile as she slid her hand down to stroke him. “It wouldn’t be fair.”

  “You don’t have to,” he said, but he moaned when her hand tightened around him.

  “Did you only bring one condom?”

  “No, I have more, but you’re sore from last night.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “But you will be—”

  She found his mouth and sent her tongue in search of his. Urging him onto his back, she stretched out on top of him and pressed her breasts to his chest. “I really, really want to do it again,” she said, nipping at his lips.

  Looking up at her with a dazed expression, his hands coasted down her back to cup her bottom. “As soon as my head stops spinning, I’ll find a condom.”

  Olivia laughed and angled her head for another deep kiss as her hips moved against his in an increasingly urgent rhythm.

  “Condom,” he gasped. “Now.”

  She let him up.

  When he came back, he reached for her.

  “Can I go back to where I was?” she asked shyly. “On top?”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep, unsteady breath. “You’re sure you’ve never done this before?”

  With her hands on his chest, she pushed him down and straddled him. “Positive.”

  “I like this aggressive Olivia. She’s very hot.”

  “Only for you.”

  “Even better.”

  “Tell me what to do, Cole,” she said as she slid her moist heat over his hard length. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Instead you’re killing me,” he choked, guiding her as she took him in.

  “Oh,” she gasped when he was fully sheathed in her.

  “Like it?”

  “Yeah.” The word came out as a gasp as she tossed her head back and tilted her hips.

  He groaned and clutched her waist.

  “Does that hurt?”

  Biting his lip—hard—he shook his head.

  Olivia wasn’t sure if she was doing the right things, but he seemed to like it when she rocked back and forth and then raised herself up and came down on him again. If the tightening of his grip on her waist was any indication, he liked that a lot.

  His eyes were closed, his lips slightly open, and his breathing choppy.

  She leaned forward to kiss him softly.

  He held her there with a hand in her hair, his hips moving in time with hers.

  Olivia couldn’t believe it when she felt herself climbing toward another orgasm. Tearing her lips free of his, she concentrated on the sensations as they built to a shocking crescendo.

  With a hand on her lower back, Cole held her still as he came right after her.

  Olivia lay on top of him like a boneless pile of Jell-O. The hand he still had in her hair massaged her scalp, sending a shiver straight through her.

  “Amazing,” he whispered.

  “Was it?”

  “Beyond amazing.”

  “I’m not going to like waking up alone after this weekend.”

  “I’m not either.”

  “We won’t see much of each other,” she said with a sigh.

  “We’ll figure it out.”

  She lifted her head off his chest so she could see his eyes. “You haven’t even left yet, and I already miss you.”

  He framed her face with his hands. “I love you, Olivia.”

  Inhaling sharply, she gazed at him, her eyes shiny with tears. “You do?”

  He nodded. “I really do.”

  “I love you, too.”

  His kiss was soft, sweet, and devastating. Then he gathered her up in his arms, and her heart tripped erratically.

  “Aren’t you afraid I might try to housebreak you?”

  Chuckling, he said, “Nah.”

  “What’re we going to do, Cole?”

  “Well, today we’re going to have some fun, and tonight we’re going to Jenny’s. When we get home, I’m going to make love to you all night long. Then we’ve got tomorrow and tomorrow night…So let’s not think about Monday until we have to, okay?”

  “I’ll try,” she promised, but even as she said the words she wondered if she could do it.

  Cole woke up a second time, glanced at the clock, and discovered it was almost eleven. Olivia was curled up to him, her leg wedged between his, her hand resting on his chest. Nuzzling her silky hair and breathing in her scent, he was hit by a surge of love that left him weak. After the love came panic. The day was almost half over, and they had so little time. Suddenly, having her sleeping in his arms wasn’t enough.

  Shifting to gain access to her lips, he woke her with a kiss. He watched her eyes fly open and then soften when she saw him hovering over her.

  “Scared me,” she whispered.

  “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t wait another minute to talk to you.”

  “About what?” she asked, alarmed.

  “Anything. Everything. Nothing.”

  She reached up to caress the stubble on his jaw. “I felt the same way when I woke up before you earlier.”

  “What should we do today?”

  “We could take the Metro into the city and play tourist.”

  “Why would we take the Metro when we have a perfectly good car?”

  She laughed. “Because it’s impossible to park downtown.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “Do you want to do that? You’re there every day.”

  “I love showing off my favorite city.”

  “If you want to, that’d be great. I haven’t been here as a tourist since my senior year of high school.”

  “That long ago?”

  He tickled her, and she dissolved into squealing laughter.

  A rap on the door startled them into quiet snickers.

  “Housekeeping.”

  “Shit,” Cole muttered. “I forgot the privacy thingie last night.”

  The maid knocked again.

  “We need some more time,” Cole called, his hand over Olivia’s mouth to silence her laughter. He replaced his hand with his mouth and sank into a deep kiss. “Do you think you can be quiet now?”

  Chastened, her mouth quivered with laughter. “No.”

  “Here’s the plan—shower, breakfast—or I guess it’s lunch now—and then we’ll head into the city. Good?”

  “As long as there’s coffee in there somewhere, that sounds perfect.”

  Olivia couldn’t remember a day she had enjoyed more as they traipsed from the Air and Space Museum to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to the row of monuments, beginning with Lincoln and ending at Jefferson. They sat on the steps at the Jefferson Memorial, overlooking the Tidal Basin, and shared a snow cone. The trees were alive with fall color and the water full of fallen leaves. The bright sun was no match for the nip in the cool, crisp air.

  “Those are Washington’s famous cherry trees,” Olivia said, pointing them out to him. “When they bloom in April, it’s the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Cole smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “
Have you painted them?”

  “Only a hundred times. But I never seem to be able to capture the full majesty of it.”

  “I’ll bet your paintings are as spectacular as your drawings. Will you show me sometime?”

  “Sure.”

  “I want to see everything you’ve ever done.”

  “Even my childish scribbles?”

  “Everything.”

  “I have to put together a portfolio to get into art school.” She stopped herself and laughed. “I still can’t believe I’m saying that.”

  “Believe it.”

  She ran her hand over his leg. “Maybe you could help me decide what to include in the portfolio.”

  “I’d love to.”

  Her eyes clouded suddenly.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She skimmed her foot back and forth over the smooth marble step.

  “Liv?”

  “I want you to help me, but I don’t want to bring you to my house.”

  “Why not? The parents usually like me.”

  “I’m sure they do,” she said with a sad smile. “It’s just… my mother, she’s…”

  “What, honey?”

  “She’s an agoraphobic. Do you know what that is?”

  “She doesn’t leave the house.”

  Olivia shook her head. “Not in nine years.”

  Cole laced his fingers through hers. “That must be tough for you and your family.”

  A giggling young girl approached them. “Are you Captain Incredible?” she asked.

  Olivia felt a shudder of revulsion go through him over the hated name and suppressed the urge to giggle herself.

  “I suppose I am,” he said reluctantly.

  The girl thrust a small notebook at him. “Can I have your autograph?”

  Olivia could tell he was annoyed by the interruption, but he smiled warmly at the child.

  “Sure. What’s your name?”

  “Cecile.”

  Olivia watched him write, “To Cecile, Aim High, Dream Big. Cole Langston,” and hand the pad back to the girl. She said a hasty thank you and went running back to her waiting family.

  “Sorry about that,” he said.

  “I like what you wrote.”

  He shrugged off the praise. “We were talking about your mom and how tough her condition is on your family.”