“Come for me,” Dave whispered, his voice no more than a hush in her ear. His breath dusted her face, her neck, while his fingers continued the gentle, determined invasion. “Let me see you. Let me feel you go over.”His voice was a temptation. Because she was so close to a cl**ax. Her knees trembled. Her body weakened even as it strove to reach the peak Dave was pushing her toward. Her breath came in ragged gasps, her heartbeat thundered in her ears and the tension coiling within was almost more than she could bear. And when she thought she wouldn’t survive another moment, she cried out his name and splintered in his arms. Her body shattered, she rode the exquisite wave of completion until she fell at the end only to be caught and held in his strong arms.Lucia dropped her head onto his shoulder, swallowed hard and fought to speak. “That was..”“Only the beginning,” Dave finished for her and picked her up, swinging her into his arms and stalking back into the suite. He was teetering on
Out of the shower, she dried off and dressed in a pair of white shorts and a dark green tank top. Then she sat on her bed and tried to figure out her next move. The only problem was, she didn’t have a clue what to do about what was happening in her world. This had all seemed like such a simple idea. Come to Dave. Tell him about the boys. Go home and slide back into her life.But now, everything felt…complicated.Muttering under her breath about stupid decisions and consequences, Lucia glanced at the clock on the bedside table and noticed the phone. Instantly her heart lifted. That’s what she needed, she realized. She needed to touch base with the real world. To talk to her sister. To listen to her sons cooing.Grabbing the receiver, she immediately got the ship’s operator, gave them the number she wanted and waited while the phone on the other end of the line rang and rang. Finally, though, Maxie picked up and breathlessly said, “I don’t have time for salesmen.”Laughing, Lucia eased
Probably,Lucia thought. After all, it wasn’t as if she was going to tell him she loved him. And wasn’t that the only piece of information he was missing? Hadn’t she done what she’d come here to do? Hadn’t she accomplished her mission and more?“Maxie…”Her Nanny blew out a breath, and Lucia could almost see her rolling her eyes.“I just don’t want to see you destroyed again,” Maxie finally said. “He’s not the guy for you, Lucia, and somewhere deep inside, you know it. You’re only asking to get kicked in the teeth again.”The fact that her sister was right didn’t change anything. Lucia knew she couldn’t leave until she’d seen Dave again. Found out what last night had meant to him, if anything. She had to prove to herself one way or the other that there was no future for them. It was the only way she’d ever be able to let go and make a life for herself and her children.“If I get hurt again, I’ll recover,” she said, her voice firming as she continued. “I appreciate you worrying about me
She hitched her purse a little higher on one bare shoulder and tightened her grip on the strap when she stopped directly in front of him. Whipping her hair back out of her eyes, she looked up at him and said, “I wondered where you disappeared to.”“I had some things to take care of,” Dave told her and it was partially true. He’d already fired the band that had refused to clean up their act, hired another one and was expected at a meeting with the harbormaster in a half hour.But he’d still been avoiding her.“Look, Dave”“Lucia—” he said at the same time, wanting to cut off any attempt by her to romanticize the night before. Bad enough he’d done too much thinking about it already.“Me first, okay?” she spoke up quickly, before he had a chance to continue. She gave him a half smile, and Dave braced himself for the whole what-do-I-mean-to-you, question-and-answer session. This was why he normally went only for the women who, like him, were looking for nothing more complex than one night
“Is that wrong?” she asked, still grinning.He scowled at her, then shook his head and wrinkled his nose. “Fine, fine. Big joke. But you have to admit, I’m not doing badly.”“I suppose,” she conceded with a nod. “But smells to me as if you’ve got a little problem facing you at the moment.”“And I’ll handle it,” he said firmly, as though he was trying to convince himself, as well as her.“Okay then, get to it.”He scrubbed one hand across his face, looked down into the crib and murmured, “How can someone so cute smell so bad?”“Yet another universal mystery,” she told him.“Another?”“Never mind,” Lucia said, thinking back to her conversation with Maxie when Lucia was still on the ship. Before the redhead. Before she’d left in such a hurry. Oh God. Lucia straightened up and closed her eyes. Maxie. Wait until she found out that Dave was here.“You okay?” he asked.Opening her eyes again, she looked at him, so out of place there in her sons’ nursery, and told herself that this was just w
“Then why’d you leave the ship so fast?” Dave asked quietly.“You know why.” Just the memory of the na**d redhead was enough to put a little steel back into her spine.“I didn’t even know her,” he reminded her with just a touch of defensiveness in his voice.“Doesn’t matter,” she said, lowering her voice quickly when Alan began to stir. She hadn’t meant to wake him up. Hadn’t wanted to get into any of this right now. But since it had happened anyway, there was no point in trying to avoid it. “Dave, don’t you see? The redhead was just a shining example of how different we are. She brought home to me how much out of my element I was on that ship. With you.”He reached out, skimmed his fingertips along her cheek and pushed her hair back behind her right ear. Jenna shivered at the contact, but took a breath and steadied herself. Want wasn’t enough. A one-sided love wasn’t enough. She needed more. Deserved more.“I don’t belong in the kind of life you lead, Dave. And neither do the boys.”
Maxie took the hint and lowered her voice. “Sorry, sorry. But I can’t believe Dave’s been here for two nights and you didn’t tell me.”Lucia smirked at her. “Gee, me, neither. Of course, I only kept it a secret because I thought you might not understand, but clearly I was wrong.”“Funny.”Lucia blew out a breath and hooked her arm through her sister’s. No matter what else was going on in her life, Maxie and she were a team. They’d had only each other for the last five years, after her parents died, she stood by her like an older sister. And she wasn’t going to lose her only sister in an argument over a man who didn’t even want her.“Max,” she said, trying to keep her voice even and calm, despite the whirlwind of emotions she felt churning inside, “he’s here to get to know the boys. His sons, remember? We’re not together that way, and believe me when I say I’m being careful.”Maxie didn’t look convinced, but then she wasn’t exactly a trusting soul when it came to men. Not that Jenna co
Soft sunlight came through the louvered blinds on the window and lay across the shining wood floor like gold bars. Outside somewhere on this cozy little street, a lawnmower fired up and Ethan jumped as though he’d been shot.Instantly Dave moved to the crib, leaned over and laid one hand on his son’s narrow chest. He felt the rapid-fire thud of a tiny heart beneath his palm, and a love so deep, so pure, so all encompassing, filled him to the point that he couldn’t draw a breath.He hadn’t expected this. Hadn’t thought to fall so helplessly in love with children he hadn’t known existed two weeks ago. Hadn’t thought that he’d enjoy getting up at the crack of dawn just so he could look down into wide eyes, eager to explore the morning. Hadn’t thought that being here, with the boys, with their mother, could feel so…right.Now that he knew the truth, though, the question was, what was he going to do about it?Moving across the room to Ethan, he bent down, scooped his son up into his arms a