by Marie Force
“Thanks, Ned. I appreciate all your help.”
“T’aint no big deal.”
“It is to me.”
Linda ended her call and rejoined them.
“All set?” Mac asked. Though he felt bad that he hadn’t been able to keep his promise to get her home tonight, he wasn’t at all sorry that she had to spend the night with him. Not one bit sorry.
“All set. The girls were glad to hear from me. They said they definitely would’ve called the state police if I didn’t call.” This was said with a smile that made Ned chuckle.
“Smart gals,” Ned said. Using his thumb to point to Mac, he said, “This one’s got some big ideas.”
“So I’ve heard,” Linda said with a smile for Ned.
Before she could get too cozy with Ned, Mac took her by the hand. “We’ve got to get going. Thanks again for the use of your phone.”
“Anytime,” Ned said as he saw them out. “Hope ta see ya again, Linda.”
“Hope so, too. Thanks for the phone.”
“My phone is yer phone.”
“He is so cute and sweet,” Linda said when they were back in Mac’s truck.
He glared at her, making her giggle.
“Not as cute as you,” she said.
“But he is sweeter? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I never said those words.”
Mac smiled at her witty comeback. “It’s okay. I like him, too. He’s been really nice to me since the first time I came over to check out the marina.”
“What does he do?”
“He drives a cab, which is how I met him, and he’s getting into some real estate deals, too. Nothing big, a few things here and there, but he knows this island inside and out. He’s a good friend to have.”
“You’re really settling in here,” she said, gazing out the passenger window. The sun was a ball of fire in the late-afternoon sky, promising a spectacular sunset.
“That’s the plan.” For the first time since he set eyes on the marina and saw his future laid out before him, he had a moment of remorse. The marina didn’t look quite as shiny to him as it had before he met her. Now that he knew she was in the world, he wanted her more than he wanted the marina, more than he wanted anything.
How could one day change everything? He had absolutely no experience with a woman turning his world upside down. Yes, he’d had girlfriends—one of them had even been sort of serious for a while, until he realized she had totally different goals in life than he did. Ending it with her had made sense in light of that revelation. As much as he’d liked Diana, he hadn’t needed her the way he already knew he could need Linda.
“Mac.”
He already loved the way his name sounded coming from her. Glancing over at her, he raised a brow in inquiry.
“I was thinking that if it’s okay with you, I could just stay at the marina with you tonight.”
If it’s okay with me? He wanted to laugh out loud at how okay that was with him.
“Before you let your mind wander, I’m not offering anything special.”
He covered her hand with his, noting how his dwarfed hers. “Yes, you are. You’re offering to spend a whole night with me. If all we do is talk, that’s definitely something special.”
“You’re such a charmer,” she said with a laugh. “I have to watch out for you.”
“No, you don’t. Anything that happens between us will be on your schedule. I’d wait forever for you.”
“I don’t know how you can say such things so soon.”
“I was struck by lightning when I saw you with Joann yesterday. I’ve never felt anything like it, and I know, I absolutely know, that I belong with you and vice versa.”
“Mac… You can’t say that kind of stuff to me the day after we met.”
“I said it to you the day we met. Nothing changed overnight. At least, not for me.”
“We’re far too young to be talking this way.”
“My dad had my brother on the way when he was my age. Who says we’re too young?”
“I do. I have to finish college and get a job and do things. And so do you. Look at what you’ve just taken on here with the marina. We’re too busy to be making life plans.”
“If my life plan includes you, I’m not too busy. I’ll never be too busy.”
“I have no idea what to say to you when you talk this way.”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
“You’re sure you’re never this forthright with women?”
“I’m sure. You’re different.”
“Why? Why am I so different?”
“I don’t know. You just are. It’s a feeling that I had when I first saw you. It was like how I felt when I first saw the marina. Certainty.”
Taking the last turn before they reached the marina, he glanced over at her. “Have you ever felt that way about anything?”
“I’m trying not to feel that way about you.”
“Why would you do something so foolish as try to deny the inevitable?”
“Because! Stuff like this doesn’t happen to regular people. It’s preposterous.”
“That’s a very fancy college word. Pre-pos-terous.” Pointing to another large, dilapidated building on the hill above the marina, he said, “Speaking of preposterous, see that place?”
“What about it?”
“I want to buy it and turn it into a hotel. Not right away, but eventually.”
She sighed deeply, making him wonder if he’d gone too far in sharing his hopes and dreams with her. But he’d never been one to hold back, and why would he start hedging now when the stakes were so high? “I can’t keep up with you.”
“Sure you can. You’re more than equal to me. I bet between the two of us, we could turn this corner of the island into something quite spectacular.”
“I’m an English major. What do I know about marinas and hotels?”
“About as much as I do, which is nothing. But I’m going to figure it out.”
“I have no doubt that you’ll make a spectacular success of anything you set your mind to.”
He put the truck in park outside the main building at the marina and turned off the engine. “Anything?”
A sweet blush crept up her cheeks when she realized he’d included her in his list of anything he set his mind to.
Mac simply couldn’t resist touching that flush of rosy color. “You’re gorgeous, but of course you know that.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that before?”
“Well, my mom and dad did, but they kind of have to.”
“What’s wrong with all the boys you’ve ever met?”
“They were boys.”
Her meaning wasn’t lost on him.
She leaned into the hand that he’d kept on her face. “They had nothing on you.”
The compliment heated him from the inside, making him want her fiercely. Before he could do something stupid to mess things up, he said, “Let’s go in. I need to spray the back room for spiders before bedtime.”
Her shudder was a reminder of the monster task he had ahead of him at the marina—and in convincing her that she belonged with him. He couldn’t very well talk her into spending her life in a spider-infested building with a sagging roof, broken glass and chipping paint. No, he needed to make this a showplace, worthy of a classy woman like her.
If he had been driven to succeed before he met her, now he was positively possessed with the desire to make a go of it, to offer her something she couldn’t get anywhere else—him, his marina, his enormous desire to succeed. Somehow he had to make that enough for her, a woman who could have anyone she wanted.
He settled her in one of the few chairs the previous owner had left behind and went into the back room to spray for spiders, opening a window to vent the fumes. Earlier, he’d propped the mattress and the boxes he’d brought from home in the hallway, intending to spray before he took anything into the room.
With the sun setting over the Salt Pond, the view outside the room’s single window took his breath away. After only three visits to the island before today, Mac already knew he’d never get tired of looking out at “his” pond, as he now thought of it. He unloaded an entire can of the spray in the small room, holding his breath the entire time. When he was finished, he shut the door, hoping the spray would do the trick to get rid of the spiders before the woman of his dreams had to sleep in there.
“How’d it go?” she asked when he returned to her.
“Score one for the good guys.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Have faith. I’ll never let the spiders get you.”
“Sorry to be such a baby today. Spiders have always freaked me out, but I had no idea I’d get seasick too.”
“You’re not a baby. Spiders are disgusting, and those seas were rough. That’s why they canceled the ferries. So you see, it’s not your fault you got sick.”
“Always a charmer.”
“I speak only the truth. Are you ready for some dinner?”
“If you are.”
He went to the cooler he’d brought from home and retrieved two of the chicken sandwiches his mother had made to get him through his first day on the island. It had been her way of being supportive of his new endeavor, and he’d been touched by her kind gesture. “I have beer and water. What’s your preference?”
“I’ll have a beer.”
Mac opened two bottles and handed one to her along with a sandwich. “Sorry it’s not more fancy.”
“This is perfect.”
And it was. He’d never owned anything other than his old truck, and to sit inside his building—even if it was falling down around him—with a view of his pond and his woman sitting beside him… Life didn’t get any better than this. “It is kind of perfect, but only because you’re here with me. I’d be lonely here by myself.”
“What’ll you do all winter here by yourself?”
“Work and sleep.”
“And what else?”
“That’s it until I’m ready to open in the spring.” He glanced over at her, watching her lips move as she took a sip of her beer. God, she was gorgeous. “Will you come visit me from time to time?”
“Maybe,” she said with a coy smile.
His heart sank at the thought of all the college boys she’d be with every day. He couldn’t possibly compete with them. In addition to being two hours by car and ferry from her, he couldn’t really afford to go home very often. The thoughts, one on top of the other, depressed him profoundly.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Just thinking about obstacles.”
“What obstacles?”
“The ones standing between you and me. College boys, for one thing.”
She rolled her eyes. “No worries there. I haven’t met one yet who did a thing for me.”
“You haven’t? Really?”
Shaking her head, she said, “What else?”
“Distance. That’s a lot of water standing between where you’re going to be and where I’m going to be.”
“You’re going to get a phone, right?”
“The minute I possibly can.”
“And you’ll use it to call me?”
“Every single day. Maybe twice a day.”
“You can’t afford that.”
“I have my captain’s license. I’m hoping to get some work taking charters, fishing trips. That kind of thing. I’ll find a way to afford the phone, the calls, trips to see you whenever I can.”
“When will you sleep?”
“I can sleep when I’m dead,” he said with a teasing grin.
“Don’t say things like that. I’m already having nightmares about you falling off that sagging roof and no one knowing it for days.”
There was nothing she could’ve said that would’ve touched him more deeply at that particular moment. To know she cared enough to worry about him… “Nothing’s going to happen to me. I don’t want you to worry.”
“I will worry.”
He reached for her hand and loved the way she linked her fingers with his. “Don’t go out with any of those college boys who’ll be asking, you hear me?”
“I won’t.”
“You promise?”
“Yes, Mac, I promise.”
Closing his eyes, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“I’m sure you’re going to tell me.”
“It means you’re my girl, and I’m your…whatever you want me to be—boyfriend, fiancé, husband, you name it. I’m all yours.”
She fanned her face dramatically. “It’s getting warm in here.”
Because he had to do something to stop himself from grabbing her and kissing her and trying to cajole her to do much more than kiss him, he leapt to his feet. “Let’s go swimming. You brought a bathing suit, right?”
“Yes, but—”
“Great! Let’s get changed and go to the beach.”
“Mac—”
“You’ll love it. I promise.” Desperate times called for cold water, and he’d been told the Salt Pond was always cold, even in the summer. He directed her to the tiny bathroom across the hall from the bedroom, and after the door clicked shut behind her, he took a deep breath. “Slow down,” he whispered. “Don’t scare her off by acting crazy.”
Mac was on fire for her, which she’d surely notice if he didn’t get himself under control—quickly. He pulled off his shorts and boxers and put on his bathing suit, tucking his rampant erection into the netting. “Stop, stop, stop.” Trying not to be hard for her was like trying not to breathe.
He’d nearly won the battle of wills with his libido when she stepped out of the dark hallway, wearing a red bikini. Dear God. And just that fast, his cock stood at full attention again.
She didn’t help the situation one bit when she took a long, greedy look at his bare chest, seeming to like what she saw. Suddenly, his great idea to go swimming became the worst idea he’d ever had. Removing clothing with her around wasn’t going to make anything better. It would only make everything worse.
Then she crossed the room to him, never taking her eyes off him as she moved.
“You have a lot of muscles,” she said.
Mac groaned. “I’m trying to be a gentleman, but you’re not making it easy.”
She shocked the shit out of him when she laid her hand flat against his chest. “You’re very handsome.”
“Linda…”
Her hand dropped to her side, and he wanted to weep from the loss of her touch.
“Sorry. I’m not usually so forward.”
“Please be forward. Touch me anytime you want to. I loved it.” Blowing out another breath and seeking the equilibrium that had deserted him the second she touched him, he found two towels in one of the boxes and took hold of her hand. “Let’s swim.”
They walked around to the back of the marina, past the building he hoped to someday turn into a hotel, to a strip of sandy beach, where they left the towels and their sandals. Wading into the cool, refreshing water, she continued to hold his hand. He hoped she never let go.
When they were waist-deep, he looked over to see her gazing at the last remnants of the sun, a fireball of light heading for the horizon. “What’re you thinking?”
“This place is beautiful.”
“I couldn’t agree more. I’m glad you think so, too.”
“I can see why you fell in love with it.”
“I can’t wait to look at this view every day for the rest of my life.” He dropped down into the water, bringing her with him to float on the surface. Over the last hour, the wind had dropped off considerably, and the gentle sway of the water soothed him.
A sense of rightness came over him. This was where he belonged. It was where she belonged, too. Maybe she didn’t know it yet, but he hoped she would before too long.
“I have a confession to make,” she said, breaki
ng the comfortable silence.
“Do tell.”
“I’m glad the ferries were canceled.”
Smiling, he said, “Me, too.” He drew her into his arms, gazing down at her, memorizing every detail of her gorgeous face.
She floated into his embrace, seemingly without reservation, linking her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, looking up at him expectantly.
“Linda, I, um…”
With her hand on the back of his neck, she drew him into a kiss. The instant his lips connected with hers, all the restraint he’d been relying on during their day together shattered, and fierce need took over. He wasn’t gentle or careful with her, the way a man should be with the woman he wanted to spend forever with.
She met every stroke of his tongue and every move of his body. Despite the chill of the water, the heat of her body scorched him as she rocked against him. He broke the kiss only to breathe.
“Holy shit,” he whispered against her ear, making her shiver.
Her soft giggle flamed the fire burning hot and bright inside him.
“I, you…we…”
His stammering only made her laugh harder, so he kissed her again and again and again, until his lips were numb and his cock was so hard, he could barely stand the friction of her rocking against him. “Babe,” he said, cupping her sweet ass, “we have to stop or we’ll…”
“What will we do?” she asked in a husky, sexy whisper that traveled through him like a live wire.
“You know what we’ll do, and I promised I’d behave if you came here with me.”
“Promises are made to be broken,” she said, her teeth clamping down on his earlobe.
Even during the worst of his hot and horny high school years, Mac had never lost control the way he was about to right now. Reluctantly, he moved them toward the shore, needing to put the brakes on this situation before they did something that couldn’t be undone.
He guided her onto the beach and put a towel around her shoulders.
Maybe if he couldn’t see her full breasts, he would refrain from touching them to determine whether they were as perfect as they looked in the bikini. Running the towel over his face, he took more deep breaths, trying to slow the pounding cadence of his heart. If he kept it up with the deep breathing, he’d probably hyperventilate.
“Mac?”