“And more,” he said, his deep voice tickling her panties. “Yes, I was thinking about kissing you. I’ve done little else for …” He shrugged. “Too long.”
What did he mean? He’d been thinking about kissing her before showing up there?
“Then see? We can’t go out there. You want to kiss me.”
“And you want to kiss me, too, sunshine, but that’s not what this is about. Right now I just want to be with you. I want to talk to you. Hold your hand if you’ll let me.”
She looked down to where their fingers remained linked. “You’re already holding my hand.”
He smiled. “Seems I am.” He tugged again, and this time headed toward the door. “Come on, babe. I promise not to bite.”
She made a face behind him but followed along anyway. Maybe she wanted to be bitten. Maybe it had been far too long since she’d been bitten.
And maybe she’d lost every last brain cell, because not only was she following him out into the dark of the night, but she wanted to go with him — whether he’d been kissing Wendy or not. And she wanted that nostrings thing he’d talked about. She wanted that a lot.
M
ark kept hold of Andie’s hand until he had her beyond the walking paths, and up the slight hill where there was a fantastic view of the ocean. He’d found a swing there earlier, and he wanted to sit in it with her. If anyone had claimed it before he could get her out there, he would hand over all the money in his wallet to get whoever it was to leave. Immediately.
He’d done a lot of thinking over the past few days, about both the present and the past. And he needed to figure out a few things. Like if what he was feeling was purely lust. He had the sneaking suspicion it wasn’t. No matter how bad he wanted it to be.
Because like Ginny had guessed, Andie got to him.
“Have a seat,” he said when they reached the spot, which was, blessedly, empty.
The swing sat on a small ridge overlooking the ocean but was also completely hidden from the house by massive live oaks draped with Spanish moss. Instead of sitting, Andie looked up at him in the darkness, a small smile playing around her lips.
“Do I need to beg?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head and then did as he’d asked.
She waited for him to join her before pushing off with her feet to set the swing in motion. After a few minutes of silence, as he sat wondering just how they’d gotten there, she pointed out a light in the distance. “That’s Ginger’s dinner cruise boat.”
“Ginger? Your other maid of honor?”
She went still and he realized that had probably been a bad way to put it. Bring up the past immediately. Way to go, Kavanaugh.
“So you remember who Ginger and Roni are?”
“Yeah. I only met them the once, but the cold shoulder I got from Roni at the bar was a good clue. The follow-up that night when her look threatened to do me bodily harm sealed the deal.” He reached for her hand and held it, palm up. “Have they both always lived here?”
“Only Ginger. Her father owned the ferry when we were growing up.”
He shifted on the swing to bring one knee up, keeping her hand in his. He wanted to see her face as they talked. It was too dark to get a good read from her eyes, but he’d once been good at knowing the facial expressions that went along with her thoughts. “I know you’d told me before that you visited Ginny here as a kid, but I never had the impression it was that often. Yet you two seem really close.”
At her questioning glance, he squeezed her hand. She’d never been overly forthcoming with personal information.
“Must have been more than the occasional trip?” he prodded.
She glanced toward the water instead of focusing on him and finally answered. “Yeah, every year since I was eight. I spent summers here. About ten weeks each year.”
“Why did I never know that?”
Her gaze shifted to his. “Did you want to know it?”
“Babe, I wanted to know everything about you. I only realized recently how much I didn’t know.”
“Hmmm,” she answered, and he could see her realizing the truth of the statement.
“What about your parents? I met them that one time at your graduation, and then again when they were in for the wedding. But you never really talked about them, either. And we didn’t go visit. Why?” He couldn’t understand why he’d never pushed for more details back in the day. She’d known everything about his family. Everything about him that had mattered.
She shrugged, and he could tell this was not an easy subject for her as her shoulders pulled in, making her appear even smaller than she was. He turned her hand over and traced the length of each finger with one of his. He enjoyed the smooth, silky feel of her skin.
“Tell me about them. Why did I never know much more than that they lived in Louisville?”
“There isn’t that much to tell.”
“Do you still see them? Are they together? Do you get along?”
A soft laugh slipped past her lips. “Okay, fine. As you do know, it’s my mother and stepfather. I never even knew who my father was. I usually visit once a year but don’t stay more than a couple days at a time. Their choice as much as mine. And they never come here. Oh, and yes, they’re still married. Have been since I was eight. Both of them are retired now — Mom just last year — both from the same insurance company. We get along fine. Have never had what some would call a ‘bad’ relationship.”
He studied her in the dark. “But you’ve never had a good one, either, or I would’ve known more about them. You’d see them more often.”
At her silence, he pushed. “Am I right?”
Her forehead scrunched in thought and he had a memory of the first time he’d asked her out. They’d been on the Harvard campus. He’d seen her in passing several times, had even talked to her the few times he could catch up with her. She had always intrigued him, always seeming to be focused on getting somewhere, as if whatever the destination was couldn’t wait. But that night, as he’d watched her, he’d been unable to let her go without asking her out. He’d wanted a shot.
She’d been sitting in the library, talking with another guy — one who’d clearly been trying to pick her up by feeding her a line of total crap — and she’d simply seemed to want to get rid of him and get back to her studying.
But what caught his attention was the bullshit meter he’d seen in her gaze. That’s what had always pulled him to her, her eyes. She had the most beautifully expressive eyes, and whenever she was talking to someone, he could read her thoughts as clearly as he knew she was thinking them. And he’d loved that her thoughts were often not as sweet and gentle as she appeared on the outside.
It had been as intriguing as hell, and he’d wanted to be the one to bring out that side of her.
So when the guy got turned down and left, Mark had gone over. He’d wanted to see what her eyes said about him. Of course, he’d gotten turned down, too, but he’d liked what those blue-gray depths had been whispering: she was interested. And she wanted him to keep asking.
She hadn’t agreed to go out with him until after he was out of school. He’d been a year ahead of her. It had been December twenty-third, and he was working with his father and brother at that point. He’d gone back to the bar where he knew she worked. He and Rob and other classmates had hung out there during their years on campus, but that night he’d gone because he wanted to take her a present. He’d wanted her to know that he was still thinking about her.
It had been a sea turtle charm. He hadn’t seen her in months, but every time before, she’d always had on the ankle bracelet with the lonely single charm. He’d once overheard her mention sea turtles in a conversation with a customer, and he had watched her eyes light up.
He’d wanted to give her something she could add to that bracelet. And to see if her eyes would light up for him.
After she’d gotten off work that night, he’d ended up in her bed. They’d gotten engaged and moved in together two months later, which had surprised him as much as her. It had always been like that with them, though. Fast and furious.
He realized he’d drifted to the past and turned his attention back to Andie, who sat waiting, a patient smile playing around her lips. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “I’ve missed you, babe. So damn much.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” Her words were soft, almost as if she hadn’t meant to say them. Her bottom lip slipped between her teeth before she continued, “And yes. You’re correct. I’ve never had what you’d call a ‘good’ relationship with my parents. Not anything like you have with yours, or even like
I
had with yours. But we got along fine. They were just always so busy, Mom climbing the ropes in the finance department of the insurance company where she’d worked, and John already at the top. They worked really hard, and it was very important to them.” She grew pensive, staring off at the ocean again, then whispered in a soft, accepting voice. “Their careers were more important than me.”
Her words shut off and he would have given anything to be able to see her eyes. Had she just realized that she’d done the same thing with him? They’d fought about her long hours so many times, but she’d never seemed to understand his issue with it. He’d wanted to be number one in her life. Just like she had been in his.
She leaned in, tightening her fingers around his, and blinked up at him. “I did that, too, didn’t I?” she whispered. “I’m sorry, Mark. I didn’t even realize.”
He forced a smile and settled his forehead against hers. God, he’d once loved her so much. Hearing her figure that out did nothing to convince him that what he was feeling now was purely lust. Which was a problem. Knowing he shouldn’t, he tilted her face up and put his mouth to hers.
She was warm and soft, and she tasted like candy. And he was suddenly ready to shuck their clothes and forget this talking thing. But he’d promised her he wasn’t after kisses — just yet — so he pulled back. Slightly.
A soft sigh whispered through the night and then her lips reached for his. And he wasn’t stupid. He let her find him.
Suddenly, the inches separating them were too much. He lifted her to his lap and groaned like a dying man when she crossed one leg over to straddle him, her dress now bunched up around her waist.
“Andie.” It wasn’t easy to talk when the heat from her burned through his pants.
“Shut up, Mark. Just shut up. I know what I’m doing. And I know why I’m doing it.”
He had the thought that he’d like to know why, too, but it was fleeting. Instead, since it was what he’d been hoping for, he shut up and went with it.
Her hands worked fast, getting the buttons opened down his shirt before he could remember to put his hands on her. As her mouth went on a trail over his neck, he got busy himself. He wanted to touch her. He
needed
to touch her.
Luckily, the dress had its own set of buttons, all the way down the front. He found them and amazed himself with his speed. He soon parted the fabric, leaving her sitting atop him with her pretty lace panties and bra peeking out and nothing else. Waiting for him to take them off her.
“Just shoot me now if we’re going to have to stop this.” He didn’t give her a chance to reply before he shoved his hands in her hair and dragged her mouth back down to his. She clung to him. Tight, as if afraid he might try to escape.
But she didn’t have to worry — he wouldn’t leave if the swing were on fire.
He opened his mouth wider, taking the kiss deeper, and he literally shook when that little moaning sound he loved so much came from her. He lowered his hands, smoothing them down over her back — and dying at the feel of her against his palms when he slipped his hands under her dress and settled them around her hips. He slid his fingers inside the back of her panties and gripped her ass, and she jerked forward with a groan, settling down perfectly over him.
With the unzip of his pants and the shift of her underwear, he could be inside her in seconds. He wrenched his mouth back, needing to breathe and trying to figure out what to do next. Enter her? Or take her to her room and do it right? When her hand slipped inside his belt, he didn’t think he had a choice.
“There’s a …” he panted out, lifting his hands because he’d decided he wanted her bra out of the way. “A condom. In my wallet.”
His fingers slid across the tops of her breasts, almost reverently, and she arched forward, the stars shining down on her. He curled his fingers underneath the lace and yanked, jerking it below the perfect, heavy mounds he remembered so well.
“Oh, fuck,” he whispered. And then he cupped her, holding her and silently cursing all the time he hadn’t had the right to do just that.
He scraped his thumb over her hard nipple and she grew wet against him, then he looked up at her face and made himself slow down. She was watching him. Silent and hot and sexy, watching him from hooded eyes, and he could look at her like that for days. “You’re beautiful, Andie. I never should have—”
“Shhh,” she said. “Don’t. Don’t bring up the past. This is right now, that’s all. It’s all I want to think about.”
He nodded. It was all he wanted to think about, too. That, and getting the damned condom out of his back pocket.
Before he could pull out his wallet, the sound of someone walking nearby hit his ears. Andie’s eyes grew round and she flattened herself against him, her fingers working overtime to close up her dress.
“Oh, God,” she whispered, her tone panicked and urgent. “Who is that? Can you tell?”
Mark wrapped his arms around her and peered over her head, scanning the area for the source of the noise. It was so dark under the trees, it was hard to make out anything but shifting shadows. Then he landed on the culprit and his erection wilted as if it had been doused with ice water.
She was not going to be happy about this.
Andie grabbed his jaw and jerked his face around to hers. “Who?” she demanded softly.
“Aw shit, Andie. It’s Phillip Jordan. And it looks like Penelope with him. They’re about twenty feet away on the path under the trees.”
Her mouth spewed words he couldn’t believe she’d ever used. He would have fastened his own clothing, but she had her face dug into his shoulder, and her body so tight against his he wasn’t sure they could fit another pair of hands between them.