Instinctively, she arched into him, and it stunned her. She’d never—never—done that before.
“Atta girl,” he whispered, trailing kisses from her mouth to her jaw and down her neck to the curve of her shoulder. He shifted his hands and slid them under her windbreaker, skimming his fingers over her ribs higher and higher until his thumbs brushed the sides of her breasts. “Still safe?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“May I go a little further?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
She wished she could tell him how powerful she felt at his words, like she was the one in control, and how respected he made her feel.
When he slipped his hands beneath her fitted tee, her body went rigid and the breath sucked through her teeth.
“Too far,” he surmised.
“No. Your hands are cold.”
He tugged her shirt’s hem back into place and let out a sigh. Then he chuckled.
The spell was broken, but she tilted her head. “That was… good. That was progress. Think we could try again?”
“That’s probably enough for now, I think. It might be best to end with you wanting more.”
He leaned against the back wall of the fort and pulled her with him, tucking his arms snuggly around her. With the tingles of his kiss and caresses lingering, she was glad to remain in his embrace to enjoy the firm warmth of his body. Content, she laid her head on his chest, mesmerized by the beat of his heart and how it slowed into a steady, relaxed rhythm as she listened.
“I definitely want more,” she murmured.
“I appreciate that, but I don’t want to push you and risk making a mistake that will ruin what was a wonderful moment.”
His voice was a pleasant rumble beneath her ear, and she let her eyes drift closed as peace wafted through her. She could happily stay here like this with him for the rest of the evening. He trailed his fingers lightly over her shoulder and upper arm, lulling her into the twilight between consciousness and sleep. Tender affection for this patient man curled through her.
Was this what love felt like?
She thought she’d loved Chaz, but now she wasn’t so sure, because even at its best, her relationship with him had never left her feeling simultaneously so fulfilled and so hungry for more. She didn’t want this moment to end.
And as soon as she admitted that to herself, she realized something else.
All those clues this evening—the joking proposal in the kitchen, the comments about the key to a man’s heart, and the remark out on the back deck—that had led her to the conclusion that he was in this for the long haul now brought her another realization.
She wanted it to be true.
She didn’t get the chance to ask; the jingling of dog tags alerted them to Shadow’s imminent arrival only seconds before she bounded gleefully into the fort and promptly showered them with sea water and sand as she shook. Erin’s surprised shriek and Gideon’s yells of outrange quickly descended into laughter.
“Good girl, Shadow,” Owen said, peering into the fort. “You found them.”
“Oh, yeah, she definitely found us,” Gideon remarked. He tugged the neck of his T-shirt up to wipe his face.
“You two planning to stay in here all night? Because the rain’s starting to come down now.”
“Tempting.” Erin glanced past him. And it was. But the storm had arrived at last. Sighing, she rolled to her feet. “A dry couch in front of a warm fire sounds pretty good, too, though. You coming, Gideon?”
“Yep. Get off me, dog,” he grunted as he shoved against his black Lab’s chest. He stood and stepped out of the fort, brushing the sand from his backside. Turning to Owen, he said, “I have a favor to ask of you and Hope, anyhow, that I forgot about in all the festivities.”
“Anything you need, just ask.”
“Well, I have that family reunion to shoot at the Tidewater Inn on Saturday, and since Liam isn’t going to be with his mother in Beaverton… I need someone to watch him.”
“I have a better idea,” Erin interrupted. “Why don’t I take him? He still hasn’t seen my greenhouse yet. And it’d be a good bonding opportunity for us.”
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she snapped it closed. It wasn’t her offer to take Liam for the day that surprised her—she would’ve done that, anyhow, even if Gideon was only her friend—it was how she’d phrased it.
“I thought you had to work this Saturday,” he said.
“Nope, next Saturday.”
“That’d be great, then. Liam will love it.”
Owen glanced between them with a broad grin. When she gave him a pointed look to tell him to keep it to himself, he chuckled and turned to offer his arm to his fiancée as she and the rest of the group reached them.
“Hey, Liam,” Erin said. “What do you think about spending Saturday with me in my greenhouse?”
“Really?” He gripped her hand. “You mean it?”
“I do. Your dad has that shoot at the Tidewater, so I figured you and I could hang out. And Daph can come, too, if you’d like and if it’s okay with Hope.”
“Fine by me,” Hope replied. She beamed up at Owen. “That’d give us some alone time.”
“Looks like you’ll owe me for once,” Erin told her brother with a wink.
“If this—” He gestured between her and Gideon. “—goes where I think it might, I think we’ll be even. At last.”
Erin slipped her arm around Gideon’s waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Guess I’d better not screw it up, then, huh? Because I’m tired of owing you.”
Thirteen
When the boisterous Sullivan family broke for an afternoon snack, Gideon found a quiet corner to catch his breath. Family reunions weren’t his favorite jobs—the organized chaos, all the ducking in and out of people constantly on the move, and trying to avoid getting hit with the various projectiles from the games was exhausting—but after a couple weeks of not working, it felt good to be back in the proverbial saddle. It was still cool after the rain Thursday evening and yesterday morning, and enough clouds lingered to diffuse the sharp August sunlight. All in all, it was a great day for a shoot.
He nodded his thanks when Liz brought him a hearty roast beef sandwich and a large glass of iced tea.
“Thanks again for taking this job on such short notice,” the owner of the Tidewater Inn said.
“My pleasure.”
“Is there anything else I can bring you?”
“This is great. Thanks.”
Not two seconds after she’d left him to eat in peace, his phone dinged with a new text message. He slipped it out of the thigh pocket in his khaki cargo pants and smiled.
Making pizza for dinner, Erin had sent. Need to know when you’ll be home.
Rather than text back, he called her. She answered almost immediately, and he guessed the phone must’ve still been in her hand.
“The double-decker pizza Red told me about at Andra’s birthday?” he asked by way of greeting.
“Sure,” she replied. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt your shoot. That’s why I texted.”
“I’m on a break at the moment. Everyone’s refilling the tanks for the last hurrah of the afternoon. It’ll probably be another three hours before I’m done here.”
“Perfect. That gives us another hour or so before we need to start the dough to have it ready so you can help us top it when you get home.”
When you get home…. As if her house and not his place in Beaverton or even his family’s cottage was his home. He wondered if she would realize what she’d said. Probably not. “You even make the dough from scratch?”
“You bet. Why do you think Red loves it so much?”
“How’s everything going? Is Liam behaving himself?”
“He and Daphne have both been fantastic. We’re having a blast. Here. Liam! Your dad’s on the phone.”
A moment later, his son’s voice came on the line. “Hi, Dad! How’s the shoot?”
“Good. Sounds l
ike you’re having a great time with Erin and Daph.”
“Yeah! We spent all morning in the greenhouse and she taught us all about how she set it up to grow all year. And I got to eat a mango right off the tree!”
Gideon grinned, remembering the mango she’d treated him to the day after he’d arrived. “Delicious, aren’t they?”
“Oh, man.”
Liam described in detail everything they’d done this morning, and Gideon chuckled at his son’s enthusiasm. What he wouldn’t give for this to be their life, to call home on a break during a shoot to hear all the fun things Liam and Erin had done together. Or to attempt putting together some kind of passable dinner for Erin to come home to when she got off work at the Salty Dog. He chuckled at that. He definitely needed to take her up on the offer to teach him a few of her recipes.
“I’m glad you guys are having fun,” Gideon said. “I can’t wait to get home and join you. Hey, can you put Erin back on the phone? I’m going to have to get back to work in a minute.”
“Sure. Erin, Dad wants to talk to you.”
Shuffling filled the other end of the line and then she was back. “Gotta get back to work?”
“Yeah, pretty quick. Thanks again for taking Liam today. Not just because it helps me out but also because he needs this, to feel like he matters.” In danger of being overwhelmed by emotion, he cleared his throat. “Is Daph staying for dinner, too?”
“Actually, she’ll be staying overnight. I have an idea, but I’ll talk to you about it when you get home.”
There it was again. Home. Almost like she was trying it on for size.
“I can’t wait.”
He ended the call with a curious anticipation pulsing through him. With no way to guess what her idea might be, he shrugged, scarfed his sandwich, drained his iced tea, and carried his dishes over to the tub Liz had placed on one of the banquet tables for the Sullivan family. Several members of the family had finished their snack and were currently ooing and awing over the newest addition, a three-week-old baby boy. As Gideon framed the shot, he tried to remember when Liam had been that small. It seemed like another lifetime. So much had changed in the last year that those memories had begun to feel disconnected, but after his talk with his son and Erin just now, they were sharper, if only for a few moments.
How different would those experiences be with Erin? Would they be thrilled to learn of her pregnancy rather than filled with dread and resignation? And how wonderful would it be to look forward to the birth and to mark each milestone together?
His phone rang, and he stepped away from the Sullivans. Thinking it was Erin again, maybe assuming he was still on his break, he answered it without glancing at the screen—his eyes were still trained on the newborn.
“Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind about letting me help top the pizza,” he teased. “I promise, I can handle it.”
“Uh, what pizza?”
As if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over him, his mood crashed. “Hannah.”
“Yeah. Who’d you think it was?”
“Erin.”
“You’re still seeing her.”
It wasn’t a question, and the dismissive way she said it made his lip curl. “Yes. I am. And it’s great. Thanks for asking.”
“You don’t have to be a dick about it. I’m just calling to see if you have any plans for Liam’s birthday, because I’d like to do something fun with him if you don’t. I need to know soon so I can request the time off from work.”
Out of habit, he started to ask why she had to wait until his birthday to want to do something fun and why she couldn’t have done it this weekend like they’d planned, but Erin’s words to him during their walk on the beach Thursday rushed through his mind. Asking about Liam’s birthday without being prompted and without waiting until the very last minute was a good thing. And also asking about his plans rather than simply making her own and expecting him to fall in line with them was good, too. It was progress.
He inhaled, held it to a count of five, and let it out slowly. “My dad was talking about coming down, but nothing’s set in stone. If you take Liam on his birthday, we can celebrate with him that weekend. That might work better for Dad, anyhow.”
Silence greeted him from the other end of the line, and for a moment, he wondered if the call had dropped.
“Are you still there?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m just surprised you aren’t yelling at me for backing out of this weekend. I really didn’t want to, you know. But I had three inches of water all through my apartment, and I had to deal with that.”
“I get it. And I’m sorry I was so hard on you about that.” He started to add that he was so used to her backing out of plans and making up excuses that he’d overreacted, but his temper was rising again, so he swallowed the words. “I need to stop being so hard on you.”
More silence.
“I can’t promise I’ll be able to change as quick as flipping a switch, but I’ll try to be better. Good enough?”
“Uh… yeah. I guess. So, what about Liam’s birthday?”
“I don’t know yet. And I don’t have time right now to discuss it. I’m in the middle of a photo shoot. I’ll talk it over with Dad and Liam and Erin tonight when I get home, but I’d like for him to spend his birthday with you.”
“Do you really mean that, or are you just saying it?”
“I really mean it,” he replied before he had long enough to think about it and change his mind. “I have to go. I’ll call you tonight.”
“All right. Bye.”
The line went dead, and Gideon slid the phone back into his pocket. That had gone better than he’d expected, and he didn’t feel nearly as drained and angry as he usually did after he talked to his ex. He was going to count that as a win.
The next three hours flew by, and even as infectious as the Sullivan family’s celebratory mood was, Gideon was worn out by the end of the shoot. He’d dropped Liam off at Erin’s just after seven this morning, and it was now almost seven. Almost twelve hours. With relief making his body feel a bit like jelly, he packed up his gear, made arrangements for payment and delivery of the digital files and prints, and drove away from the Tidewater Inn.
He parked his SUV in the carport beside Erin’s car and tapped into his reserve of energy to bound up the stairs to her door. He knocked, but hearing music, he doubted she could hear him, so he cautiously opened the door. As soon as he did, he laughed at her choice of music—one of the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks. The third, he thought. The warm, yeasty aroma of rising dough and the heartier fragrance of the sauce filled Erin’s home, and he inhaled deeply as he stepped around the wall that separated the wide living room from the dining room.
The sight that greeted him was so beautiful that he quietly backed out of the house and fetched his camera from his car. When he returned, Erin and the kids were still in the same place, rolling out the pizza dough with their backs to the front door. He adjusted the settings on his camera, framed the shot, and pressed the shutter button once, twice, three times. Then he called out to them and pressed it again when they all looked around.
“Pirates of the Caribbean?” he asked loudly enough to be heard over the stereo. “Really?”
If the picture they made with their backs to him had been incredible, the beaming grins they turned on him were brilliant enough to melt the polar ice caps. And this time Erin’s smile didn’t cool as it had after he’d taken the picture of her and Owen on the log in front of her driftwood fort. This was what he’d wanted then—to be the focus of her adoration.
It was breathtaking. He wanted to wrap it around himself and hold onto it for the rest of his life.
“You’re home,” she greeted, wiping her hands on her apron as she closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I’m home,” he murmured. When she leaned back in his arms, he kissed her lightly on the lips.
Then his son was at his side, and he p
icked the little boy up for a bear hug. “Hiya, bud.”
“Hi, Dad. Can we watch Pirates of the Caribbean now? Erin said I had to wait to ask you.”
“Sure. But how about we wait until the pizza’s in the oven so we can all watch it together?”
“That’s what I meant.”
“Oh, okay,” Gideon laughed.
“How was the shoot?” Erin asked.
“Fun. Long. Mostly fun. It felt good to be working again. Even better that I knew Liam was here having a good time with you and Daphne.”
“We definitely had a good time, didn’t we, kiddos?”
“Yep,” Daphne and Liam responded together.
Then they told him how much fun it had been to make the pizza dough, especially the part when they got to punch it. They talked so fast that Gideon’s tired mind couldn’t keep up, and Erin finally shooed them back into the kitchen to finish grating the cheese.
“You look tired,” Erin remarked sympathetically. “But happy.”
“That’s an accurate assessment. I’ve been on my feet all day, and it’s been a while since I’ve had a shoot like that. But it was good.”
“The Sullivans are a riot.”
“They are indeed. I laughed a lot. And I think I got some great shots they’ll love.”
“If they’re even half as good as the one you took of Mom and Red or the one of Owen and me, I know they will.” She nodded her head toward her couch. “Thank you for the print, by the way. I hung it up today.”
He followed her gaze, and sure enough, there it was. Tilting his head, he smiled. It was definitely one of his finest shots, if not the finest. “That’s a good spot for it.”
“Mmm. So, hey.” Erin turned abruptly to him. “I didn’t know Liam’s birthday was next Wednesday. We need to do something for him.”
The Driftwood Promise Page 12