“And you’re full of cheesy lines in the morning. You should move.”
He pressed his hips forward.
“Gavin!” She laughed. “I meant off me.”
“Sorry, I misunderstood.” He kissed her again, just a quick brush of his lips. “For a writer, you’re not very clear with your requests.”
She pulled the blanket around her as they sat up. “I’ll try to remember that. I can’t believe I fell asleep on you. I haven’t slept that well in weeks.”
“You should sleep with me more often, because you were out like a light. Did you know you snore?”
“I do not!” Holy cow. Do I?
He chuckled and pulled her up to her feet. “It’s this quiet, girlie snore, like this.” He made a soft snoring sound.
Harper covered her face. “Oh my gosh! I’m such a mess.”
He gathered her in his arms, grinning like he’d never been happier, and said, “Your hair is a tangled mess, you snore, and at one point I woke up with your hand cupping my package.”
“Ohmygosh.” She covered her face again.
He lowered her hands and said, “You’re real, Harp. It was one of the things I first noticed about you when we met, and you’ve proved it every minute we’ve been together since. Real can be messy, and I always believed that meant it wasn’t always pretty.” He lifted the ends of her hair, which had come undone from her bun and fell in tangles around her shoulders. “I didn’t realize I was wrong until this morning. Apparently messy can also be beautiful.”
“Wow,” she said a little breathily. “How are you still single?”
He stretched, and the hem of his shirt lifted, revealing a path of toned, tanned abs and a tease of the treasure trail she remembered so well.
“It’s a choice.” He patted her butt and said, “Let’s go.”
He headed for the house, and she hurried to keep up. “I thought we were watching the sunrise.”
“We are, but I have to pee like a racehorse, and unless you want me to whip it out right here…” He put his hand on the button of his shorts.
“Bathroom,” she said.
After using the facilities, finger combing her hair, and finger brushing her teeth with Gavin’s toothpaste, she snuggled with him beneath a blanket on the dock. The sun eased into the sky, pushing shades of orange and yellow into the blue-gray dawn, until a bright new color appeared. Harper glanced at Gavin and realized he was pushing the clouds of the last few months away, allowing her to find her way to a bright new day, too. And here she was, thinking those months had formed an impenetrable wall.
“I’m glad you slept,” he said, breaking through her thoughts. “You sure you can’t hang out today and hit the coffee shop?”
“I think I’m going to swing by my parents’ house this afternoon, and I need to start unpacking. But we’re still on for the concert Wednesday, right?”
“Absolutely. Want help unpacking?”
She didn’t want their time together to end and wondered if he was serious. “Don’t you have better things to do?”
“Probably, but I like spending time with you. Besides, who knows what secrets I can uncover by helping you unpack.”
“You’ll be sorely disappointed. But you know what? As much as I want to see you today, I’m not sure what my parents’ plans are or when I’ll be back from visiting them. Can we do it tomorrow in case they want me to stay for the day, or have dinner? I’ve been gone so long, I don’t want to rush them.”
“Of course. That sounds great.” He pulled out his phone. “Let me just send Justin a text and let him know I won’t be riding tomorrow.”
“Riding?”
“Yeah. I got a motorcycle license a few months ago. When the weather’s nice I try to ride with Justin and the guys.”
She’d never expected to find a guy on a motorcycle sexy, but she imagined Gavin in a black leather jacket, straddling a motorcycle. And then she took that thought one step further, picturing herself sitting behind him, her arms wrapped around him as they cruised down the road, and holy cow. That was scorching hot.
“I’m guessing whatever didn’t happen earlier when you blushed isn’t happening again?” he teased with a shock of heat in his eyes.
She swatted him, and he chuckled.
They settled back into companionable silence, and after a while Harper said, “Do you ever bring your computer and work out here?” She loved her house and gardens, but there was definitely something more inspiring about being on the water.
“I thought I might when I first bought the place, but I never have. I spend all day being ‘on,’ pitching, working with clients, finessing distributors. This has become more of a place where I come to relax and center my mind.”
“I understand that. Writing is the opposite. It’s a very quiet job, since I’m always in my own head. I think that’s why I like working at cafés or at the pier. I get inspired by the things around me. But this is inspiring in a different way. The colors, the water, the trees. It’s serene.” There were a few houses in the distance, but they were far enough away that it felt like they were all alone.
“I guess it would be good inspiration for creating settings?”
“That, yes, but I meant the energy is different. I feel different energy when I write while sitting by my gardens or at my desk in my cottage than I do when I write in a café or on the pier, with people milling about and lives going in every which direction. This is totally different from any of that. It’s like I can hear myself think in a different way than I can in those places, which makes me wonder if that might play out in my writing.”
“You’re welcome to write here anytime, Harp.”
“I didn’t say that to try to weasel my way into your yard.”
He hugged her against his side and said, “You weaseled your way into my mind months ago; you might as well weasel your way into the rest of my life.”
IF GAVIN HAD his way, he’d have kept Harper at his house all day, relaxing by the water, talking, writing, or whatever else she wanted to do. He enjoyed being with her. She wasn’t just finding her way into his life. She was tiptoeing into his heart. He hadn’t let a woman in for so long, he hadn’t recognized just how big his feelings for her were. Although he should have, given that she’d been on his mind for almost a year. He wondered what she was working on now and why she thought it sucked. What was her plan to get out of her writing slump? She was definitely a planner. He could spot one a mile away, and she’d had a to-do list on her desk by her computer with a note to call her parents at the very top. She might have been putting off seeing them, but her family was very much on her mind, which he considered the mark of a solid, grounded person.
He glanced at her sitting in the passenger seat of his car in her shorts and his Boston College sweatshirt. Under that bulky sweatshirt she wore a sexy light-pink spaghetti-strap top with a built-in bra that left nothing to his imagination. He’d hardly had time to admire her in it before she’d put his sweatshirt over it and announced that she was keeping it. That confidence to take what she wanted was just one more thing he fucking loved about her. She might not trust all her instincts, but she was getting there.
She fidgeted with the ends of her hair and said, “What?”
“Everything.” He reached for her hand. He might not have been waiting for her, because he hadn’t known he’d see her again, but as he held her hand, he realized his heart hadn’t been fully functioning until she’d shown up and jolted it back to life.
She eyed their joined hands, but she didn’t pull away. At thirty-plus years old, that shouldn’t make him feel like he’d won the lottery, but after months of wondering if he’d imagined her, it sure as hell did. He was bubbling over with happiness, and he wanted to share it with their friends, to let them know that this incredible woman lit him up, even if she wasn’t his quite yet.
“We didn’t eat breakfast. Are you hungry?”
“A little,” she said. “I can grab something at home.”
“I have a better idea.” Maybe it was a dick move, but he didn’t care. Life owed him a few dick moves. He drove directly to Summer House Inn to have breakfast with their friends.
He pulled up the driveway, passing Devi’s Discoveries, the art gallery where Desiree and Violet sold their mother’s and Desiree’s paintings and Violet’s pottery and batiks. There was an adult-toy shop in the back of the gallery. Gavin imagined how red Harper would turn if he suggested they check it out.
He drove past Violet and Andre’s cottage, where they lived when they weren’t traveling overseas setting up medical clinics for Andre’s company, Operation SHINE, and parked in front of the Victorian inn overlooking the bay, beside Chloe’s car.
Serena and Emery came out the side door of the inn carrying plates and joined Chloe and Daphne at the table where they gathered for breakfast. Daphne ran the offices of Bayside Resort and lived on site, like Serena, Drake, Emery, and Dean. She bounced her almost-two-year-old daughter, Hadley, on her lap. Even from the parking lot Gavin could see Chloe’s mouth moving a mile a minute. It was a familiar scene. He didn’t join them every day, but he tried to catch up once or twice a week, when he’d go running with the guys.
“I’m so glad everyone still gets together for breakfast,” Harper said as they climbed from the car.
He was like a teenager who just got his first kiss, all foolish grins and cocky swagger as he draped an arm around her neck.
Harper looked curiously up at him. “Are you trying to raise eyebrows?”
“You need to know you can handle anything, right?”
The girls noticed them approaching and waved.
As he waved, he said, “No time like the present to regain that confidence.”
“Troublemaker,” Harper said under her breath as they approached the gate to the side yard.
“Look who arrived in the same vehicle,” Emery teased as Violet came out of the house carrying a plate of pastries. Emery wore yoga pants, a sports bra, and a smart-ass smirk as she said, “Either Gavin’s running a car service or…”
“He got right on the fuckery bandwagon to welcome Harper home.” Violet set the plate down as Gavin opened the gate and Cosmos, Desiree’s scrappy little dog, ran circles around their feet and barked.
“No, he did not,” Harper said, pinked cheeked, glowering at Gavin.
“That blush says otherwise,” Chloe said with a waggle of her brows.
Harper rolled her eyes. Gavin debated clearing things up, but a little more teasing would solidify them as a couple in their friends’ minds, so he let it go.
“When did this happen? What have I missed?” Daphne eyed Harper and Gavin.
Violet glanced at them with amusement. She was a tough, tattooed biker, although she’d softened a tad since getting together with Andre. Gavin still never knew what to expect from her. She was as dark, brash, and fearless as her half sister, Desiree, was blond, proper, and careful.
“Apparently Gavin and Harper hooked up last summer in Virginia,” Violet explained. “And they liked it so much, they’re enjoying repeat performances.”
Gavin had forgotten how quickly gossip traveled among his friends. The crassness of Violet’s statement rubbed him the wrong way, and he said, “Christ, Vi. We’re not hooking up.”
“Harper! Welcome back,” Desiree exclaimed as she came outside carrying a pot of coffee. She and Rick lived at the inn. She set down the pot and hugged Harper. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me too,” Harper said. “I missed everyone. It’s good to be back.” She bent down, smiling at Hadley as she tickled her chin. “Hello, sweetie. I bet you don’t remember me.”
Hadley stared stoically at her, her little lips pursed like she didn’t have time for this nonsense.
“Still no luck getting her to smile, or is it just me?” Harper asked as she sat beside Daphne.
“It’s not you. She still won’t smile for anyone except Drake and Andre,” Daphne said apologetically, brushing her hand over Hadley’s fine brown hair.
“Sometimes she smiles for me,” Gavin said proudly.
“Apparently so does Harper,” Violet said, earning a round of giggles.
“Where’d you get that sweatshirt, Harper?” Chloe asked, looking knowingly at Serena. “You spent the night with Gavin, didn’t you? That’s his sweatshirt.”
“You needed a sweatshirt to tell you that?” Violet scoffed, glancing at Harper. “That is well-fucked hair if I’ve ever seen it.”
“We did not sleep together!” Harper exclaimed, shooting visual daggers at Gavin. “We were fishing!”
“We were. She’s telling the truth,” Gavin said.
“Is fishing code for sex?” Desiree blinked innocently around the table. “I can’t keep up with your code talk.”
Gavin chuckled. “No, Des. It’s not. We were literally fishing. Harper fell in. She was jet-lagged, and she fell asleep at my place.”
“Nothing happened,” Harper clarified.
Gavin sat in the chair beside her and draped an arm around her shoulder, whispering, “Well, a little more than nothing,”
Harper scowled. “Are you trying to egg them on?”
He tugged on the shoulder of her sweatshirt and said, “You are wearing my sweatshirt when you have a perfectly good one in the car. That’s got to mean something.”
“Yes, but I didn’t know we were coming here.” Harper’s brows slanted, and she nibbled on her lower lip.
“Why are you so embarrassed, Harper?” Chloe asked. “Gavin’s a great guy. It’s not like you’re slumming it. And you look cute in his sweatshirt.”
Harper threw up her hands. “Fine, geez! We kissed, okay?”
“O-kay then. Now that that’s straightened out…” Violet grabbed a pastry and took a big bite.
“God, you guys. We’re taking things day by day, okay? We’re friends, and yes, maybe we’ll be more one day, but we’re not sleeping together,” Harper said emphatically.
“Yet,” Emery said. “Dean and I were just friends, too.”
Chloe said, “Technically, you slept together last night.”
Gavin chuckled.
“Drake and I were just friends, too,” Serena chimed in, grinning with her secret knowledge.
“Wait, I’m confused,” Daphne said. “I know what’s happening now, but did you two hook up in Virginia like Vi said? Or is that just a rumor?”
Emery, Serena, and Chloe all said, “They did,” at the same time.
“Ugh!” Harper looked up at the sky and said, “I do not want my sex life on display.”
“Okay, you guys,” Gavin said, pleased to have himself linked to Harper in the minds of their friends. “You’ve all had your fun. From now on, my relationship with Harper is off-limits. And for the record, we’re not hooking up.” The girls mumbled their disbelief, and an approving smile curved Harper’s lips, which made him wish he’d stopped them sooner. “I’m helping Harper with a few things, and we’re close, so you’ll probably see us arriving and leaving places together a lot from now on.”
Harper’s gaze softened.
He pulled her closer and whispered, “One day you’ll be proud to call me yours.”
“You’re doing it again,” she said quietly.
“What’s that?”
“Making me forget why I’m fighting what’s between us.”
His heart filled up, and the urge to seal her words with a kiss were so strong, he leaned in to do just that.
“If you don’t want the Real Housewives of Bayside talking about you,” Violet said loudly, “you might want to cut that shit out.”
Gavin ground his teeth together, a breath away from kissing Harper. Laughter rang out around them.
“Maybe you should recruit Harper into your book club,” Violet suggested. She bit into her pastry, holding Gavin’s stare.
“Yes! We should,” Daphne agreed. “We have the best book club!”
“I love book clubs,” Harper said. “What kind of books do you
read?”
Violet winked at Gavin and said, “You can thank me later. The vultures just need something to cling to.”
He mouthed, Thank you.
“Erotic romance,” Chloe said. “This month we’re reading Turn Away, by L. A. Ward.” She fanned her face.
“I love erotic romance,” Harper said. “How dirty are we talking?”
Gavin’s ears perked up, listening to the girls discussing the dark and dirty books they read, which they claimed had as much humor and heart as they did erotic scenes. Harper seemed extremely well versed in the genre. He thought about the night of the festival, when he’d tested both their boundaries, doing things he’d never wanted to do with any other woman. She’d said she’d always wanted to explore her sexuality in ways she’d only read about. Now he understood even more clearly. She’d trusted him enough to live out her erotic fantasies with him, just as he’d taken the leap and trusted her.
“WE CHAT ONLINE all the time because we have members all over the country,” Daphne explained. “But every few months we choose a physical place to meet, and whoever can make it joins us. The only rule is that the place has to have a beach.”
“We’re meeting Friday at Red River Beach in Harwich for a barbecue and book chat. We won’t always stay local for the get-togethers, though, since it’s not fair to other members. But this month it was Steph’s turn to choose the book and she chose the place,” Chloe said.
“Who’s Steph?” Harper asked.
“Violet introduced us to her,” Chloe said. “She’s one of her friends from Common Grounds. She’s really cool.”
Harper glanced at Violet, who was gazing out at the dunes, where Drake, Rick, and Dean were jogging toward them with a man Harper didn’t recognize. The way Violet was practically drooling over the unfamiliar sandy-haired guy, Harper assumed he was Andre, Violet’s new boyfriend Serena had told her about. “I’ve never seen Vi googly-eyed over a guy.”
“Look at that man, Harper.” Violet’s voice was full of lust. “I’m not just googly-eyed, I’m fucking hot just thinking about what that sweaty body will feel like.”
“Wow, okay…” Harper blushed and said, “Back to the book club…”
Bayside Romance (Bayside Summers Book 5) Page 8