She hadn’t talked to anyone about what had happened, hadn’t wanted her old friends to know what an idiot she’d been by falling for promises her ex hadn’t actually ever made. Nor had she wanted anyone to know who the father of her child was, just in case the Bentleys decided they wanted Mason after all. It had been easier just to disappear the day after they’d given her the checks. To take a trip across the country, seeing all the sights she and her parents had always talked about visiting one day, before finally settling in Seattle when the water had called to her.
And yet, even though she shouldn’t feel as if she knew Dylan well enough, everything she’d been through over the past year and a half suddenly wanted to come spilling out.
“Does Mason usually sack out at eight o’clock?” When she nodded, he said, “Then how about I pick you up at five so we’ll have a good couple of hours at the aquarium before he gets too sleepy to enjoy himself?”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said? I can’t date you.”
“It won’t be a date. Just three new friends hanging out.”
She knew she should say no, but now that she’d been perfectly clear with Dylan that they weren’t going to start anything romantic, was there really any harm in spending a couple of hours together at an aquarium? Especially when she knew how much fun Mason would have with the sea creatures and Dylan.
Of course, even as she rationalized, the wanting
was humming away inside of her, calling her a liar.
Just admit you want to be with him, that you want his mouth, his hands, on you. That you’ve been wondering all night what it would be like to kiss him.
“Doesn’t the aquarium close at five?”
His grin told her how pleased he was that he was on the verge of getting what he wanted, even if she hadn’t quite said yes yet. “I’ll trade my buddy a sail to keep it open a couple of hours longer for us.”
With that, he took both of their cups over to the sink and rinsed them out, a man who had clearly been raised not to expect anyone to wait on him. She stood, too, hoping it wasn’t going to be awkward when they said good night.
“Thanks for a really great interview and for introducing me to your family. I really did have a good time tonight.”
“I did, too, friend,” he said as he headed out her door. “See you tomorrow night.”
Another man might have pressured her into being more, but Dylan had made her laugh instead with his use of
friend
.
“You were a handful as a kid,” she said, “weren’t you?”
At the bottom of the steps, he laughed, too. “Why do you think my parents were always so happy to see me sailing away?”
Closing the door behind her, Grace knew she had no right to feel disappointed that he’d left without even trying to sneak a kiss. He was simply doing what she’d asked him to do: treating her like a friend instead of a potential girlfriend. But she had barely slid the bolt closed when she heard footsteps and then a knock.
“You’re back.” She looked up into his eyes, an even deeper, darker brown than usual, as all the butterflies came right back.
He held out her bag with her notebook and recorder. “You forgot this in my car.”
“Oh.” Her voice was flat, heavy with disappointment she couldn’t figure out how to hold back. “Thanks. I would have been in trouble without this tomorrow.”
“It doesn’t feel right to me, either,” he said softly.
Doesn’t feel right?
“You don’t want to work with me on this story?”
“No, the story is fine. Leaving like this, like you don’t mean anything more to me than just some journalist, that’s what feels wrong.” He reached for her hand with his free one, just that one simple touch sending heat searing through her. “I was trying so hard tonight to play it cool, to not scare you away by coming on too strong. But all I’ve ended up feeling like is a liar. And I can’t stomach the thought of lying to you, Grace.” He stroked a thumb across her palm, making her shiver despite the heat swamping her system. “So here’s the truth—I’ve wanted to kiss you from the first moment I set eyes on you, and every moment we’re together, I only want it more. But, damn it, I won’t do anything to hurt you when I know someone else already has. So if you don’t want to me to kiss you, and if I’ve somehow read everything wrong since Tuesday when I could have sworn we already had a connection, tell me now…and I’ll make myself go without learning if your mouth tastes as good as it looks.”
His touch, his good looks, even her intense attraction to him hadn’t been enough to send her over the edge. But when he told her he wouldn’t steal a kiss that might hurt her—that was when her defenses fell all the way. Especially when she was still flying from the beautiful wedding at his parents’ house.
He was making this
her
choice. Not one that came from guilt. Or because she felt like she owed him a kiss after the evening they’d just shared. But simply because she wanted to know his taste, too.
One kiss with Dylan didn’t have to mean forever. It didn’t even have to be a promise of more. And maybe if they kissed now, it would keep them from blowing it out of proportion during the rest of their interview.
So instead of grabbing her bag, she grabbed him.
Sliding her hands into his dark hair, she pulled his mouth down to hers and poured all of her pent-up hunger, and need, and wonder at the beauty of the wedding she’d been a part of tonight into the kiss. For a few precious moments, she let herself give in to the madness, to the fiercest, sweetest desire she’d ever known as she nipped at his lower lip with her teeth, then met his tongue with the wet slick of her own. He moved close enough that she could feel the heat and the strength of him all along the front of her body. She drank in his groan, breathed in his clean masculine scent, gloried in his hard muscles pressed against the length of her.
Her head spun with the taste of him, her blood heated with desire, and her chest clenched with desperate need. She wanted more—so much more that she was flat-out stunned by her need for him—and, just for a few moments more, couldn’t stop herself from taking their kiss even deeper as a low hum of pleasure sounded in her throat.
Both of them were breathing hard by the time she managed to get a tenuous grip on herself and draw back. She’d never seen eyes so dark, so filled with desire. Eyes that watched her so carefully, as if he was afraid she’d spook. But after all she’d been through over the past couple of years, she decided she would let herself have this one perfect kiss. And she wouldn’t regret it.
Even if they could never have a second.
Desperate not to make a big deal out of it, she tried to joke, “If you sail as well as you kiss, no wonder you’re a boating legend.”
His hands were still on her hips as he said, “You’ll find out soon.”
“You want to take me sailing?” The thought thrilled and worried her in equal measure. She knew he was right, that she should experience for herself being on one of his boats with him. Unfortunately, something told her that it was going to be really, really difficult to keep her secrets—and Mason’s—their own while out on the ocean with Dylan.
“You can’t write this story without sailing with me at least once.”
“Once I understand more about what you do and about your boats, I’ll join you for a sail. But it would probably be best if it took place as our final interview.” That way she’d have plenty of time to brace herself against the power of the cockpit confessional.
“Would that really be best?” he asked. “To wait that long?”
She knew he wasn’t just talking about sailing anymore, even as she said, “I really think it would.” The easiest thing would have been to lean in for another kiss. Easy and oh so good. But she’d stopped being able to take the easy road a year and a half ago. “Good night, Dylan.”
His hands tightened on her hips for a split second, sending shivers through her entire body before he finally let her go. “Good night.”
And the craziest thing of all was that, despite knowing she needed to keep a tight rein on her heart, Grace couldn’t remember ever having had a better one.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Few things, few places, were better than a sunny Saturday morning at the harbor. Families gathered to take out the boats that had been docked all week, dogs barked and played, people’s laughter skipped along the glassy surface of the water.
Dylan was back from a quick sail around the Sound by nine and had been working since then on the twenty-four-foot sloop. All the boats he’d built had been a labor of love, but none more than this one. He’d told his family the boat was for a buyer out of San Francisco. But it was actually a surprise for his brothers, his sister, their mates and their kids. He was more than happy to have them use his boats any time they wanted to, but he wanted them to have a sailboat of their own. One where he’d personally laid every plank, pounded every nail. He’d turned down several lucrative boatbuilding contracts in the past couple of months and would happily have turned down more if he hadn’t been at the tail end of the build now.
He had rock ’n’ roll blasting—courtesy of his new brother-in-law, Ford Vincent—while the sun streamed in through the boathouse doors and the open skylights overhead. Today was especially sweaty work. Sweaty and satisfying. Just like sex, he thought with a grin as he wiped his face dry with the T-shirt he’d taken off a while ago.
Man, that kiss last night...
Dylan had to stop and take a few seconds to relive the moment when Grace’s lips had touched his. Everything had gone so hot so fast that he’d had to scramble to catch up. He’d wanted to possess, to brand, to never let go of her soft curves. If he could have lingered over their first kiss, he would have. Instead, as her body strained against his, with only his mouth on hers, he’d ravaged her.
And she’d done exactly the same thing to him.
For as hot as he’d been from the heat of the day and sun pouring in over him, thinking about Grace now had Dylan burning up enough that he needed to grab a Coke and stand on the dock for a few minutes to let the breeze cool him down.
He took in the sun glinting off the water and the boats, the sound of the seals barking playfully at each other, the smell of sunscreen and sea air as a mother and daughter headed out into the bay on a Laser. It was a small boat compared to the yachts owned by the rich and famous of the Pacific Northwest, but it was a classic. A Laser was the first boat his dad had sailed with him. Max Sullivan loved the water, but he wasn’t a natural sailor, even if he understood the technicalities of sailing to the finest detail. It was a windier day than a couple of beginners should have been out in, but Dylan had learned fast and had kept them from turtling.
It had been a thrill handling the rigging, learning to tack, holding the tiller, flying across the water. Even better when it started to turn, when he’d had to save them from going over. He’d always enjoyed an easy sail, one where he could just stretch out in the sun and let his mind wander, but right from that first sail he’d known that it was easy to sail well in perfect conditions; it was when the ride started getting rocky that the stronger wills rose to victory.
Even after the kiss he and Grace had shared, Dylan knew she was sure nothing could work between them. Tonight’s trip to the aquarium would be another step in proving to Grace that she could trust him not only to be her and her son’s friend, but hopefully so much more, too.
He was determined to prove this to her, one perfect kiss at a time...
He might have felt a little bad about throwing her into the deep end last night with his family were it not for the facts that (a) they were awesome, and (b) if all went well with them she would be getting to know his brothers and sisters and parents anyway, so why not do it sooner rather than later? And it had been really good to see how well she fit in with them all despite her initial nerves. In fact, while she’d been helping his mother in the kitchen for a few minutes, Rafe had pulled him aside.
“I never thought that when you finally fell for a woman, it would be one with a kid you’d have to be home for,” his brother had said. “But there’s something about Grace—and her baby is pretty cute, too. You thinking about hanging up the sails for a while?”
“Families sail around the world all the time,” had been Dylan’s reply. “Until then, it’ll be great to be home more.”
Rafe’s eyebrows had gone up, then. “You’re really serious about her, aren’t you?” When Dylan had nodded, Rafe had asked, “How long has this been brewing?”
Dylan had grinned and said, “We met on Tuesday,” then went to help Grace and Mason get seated at the dining table while his brother’s head spun. It was always fun to throw his siblings off, especially over something they’d never seen coming.
He was just heading back inside when his phone rang. The sight of his parents’ number on the caller ID screen made him break his usual rule to ignore it when he was working.
“Dylan, sweetie,” his mother said, a smile in her voice, “I’m so glad you picked up.”
“For you, always. That was some Friday night dinner, wasn’t it?”
His mother gave a happy sigh. “It was just wonderful. Beyond wonderful.” He could tell that she was tearing up even now. “Can you believe how sneaky your brother and sister are, cooking up a surprise wedding between them?”
“Sure can. In fact, one time they—” Dylan reconsidered spilling the beans at the last second. “Actually, never mind. It was twenty years ago, but you’re probably still better off not knowing. I wouldn’t want you to have to ground the newlywed. Especially after she and Ian just pulled off the wedding coup of the century.”
When Dylan had called Mia and Ford earlier to congratulate them again, they had been on their way to the airport for an impromptu Hawaiian honeymoon. They’d brought the champagne and roses that he’d sent over for their private plane. Still, for as much as she’d loved the wedding, he knew that wasn’t why his mom was calling.
“I absolutely adored Grace and Mason.”
“I knew you would. Especially when you saw how cute her son was.”
“You five were the cutest babies I’d ever seen, but I have to tell you, Mason slipped right up there into the running last night. He’s so sweet and curious and loves meeting and playing with people. And I also noticed that he was particularly partial to you, with the way he kept climbing up into your arms.”