Выбрать главу

That’s when he stopped. Lying there, pressed against her core, bodies damp and aroused, he stopped. And Sid stopped breathing.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, worried she’d disappointed him somehow.

He shook his head. “You’re so beautiful. All these nights, I keep thinking I’ll wake up and you will have been a dream.”

“I keep thinking the same thing about you.” Sid didn’t want to admit as much, but she couldn’t lie to Lucas. Not in that moment. “I don’t know why you’re here, with me, when you could have any woman you want.”

Lucas smoothed her hair away from her face. “You really don’t know how gorgeous you are, do you? And smart. And sweet.”

She barely kept from snorting. Barely. “You think I’m sweet?”

He smiled. “You hide it well, but I’ve seen it. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil your reputation.”

She returned the smile. “I appreciate that.”

Their eyes remained locked for several seconds, and then Lucas leaned down. Finally. Their lips met with no urgency, leisurely exploring each other as if they’d never kissed before. And maybe they hadn’t. Not like this. She was still aroused, need coursing through her, but this kiss was too good to rush. This one deserved to be savored.

What could have been minutes or hours later, Lucas began to move against her, relighting the fires that had banked down to embers. His knees spread her further, then he broke the kiss, catching her gaze as he entered her. He slid deep, slowly, allowing her to adjust to all of him. She felt awkward at first, with him watching her every reaction. Every twitch and jerk as he pulled out and drove in again.

But then she was lost. In his eyes and what he was doing to her. Stretching her body, taking her places she’d never been before. His jaw tightened and she knew he was holding back. For her.

Trailing her fingers down his ribs and around to his ass, she tried to give back everything he was giving her. “Come with me, Lucas. Come with me.”

The thrusts grew stronger. Faster. His head dropped to her shoulder and she curled against him. With her legs locked around his hips, she pulled him home and experienced the most amazing orgasm of her life. She’d read a million times about bursting into a million pieces. In that moment, she understood the description.

As her body began to reassemble, Lucas jerked against her, throwing back his head with a sound of utter triumph.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Lucas lay awake the next morning, watching sunlight pour through the window to dance across Sid’s bare skin. Skin he’d spent the night touching, tasting, and memorizing for future nights when he’d be alone. He’d tried covering her more than once, but even sleeping naked, she never left the covers on for long. Sid’s free spirit couldn’t be held down, even in sleep.

He’d come to love that spirit as much as he loved the rest of her. Which made him a complete idiot and, oddly enough, put her further out of his reach. Sid would hate living in the city. Hate life hemmed in by all the buildings and societal rules amongst his peers. Many of the wives had careers of their own, with busy days that included lunch meetings, business suits, and keeping up appearances as much for their own careers as for their husbands’.

Forcing Sid into that world would be like putting a great white in a fish bowl. No. His world could never be hers.

Since he’d kept her up most of the night, both only nodding off shortly before sunrise, he let her sleep, leaving a note that he’d gone to speak to his parents about Will. He took the time to feed Drillbit, who had warmed to him considerably in the last week. The tiny ball of fur seemed more interested in curling up against his neck than trying to slice his jugular.

Another pint-sized female who’d managed to win his affection when he wasn’t looking.

“Anyone home?” Lucas yelled in greeting, stepping through the kitchen door and breathing in the rich aroma of his mother’s favorite coffee. Patty Dempsey may look like a tea drinker, but she preferred the more bitter brew in a potency strong enough to peel paint.

“You’re up early this morning,” Patty said, rising on tiptoe to plant a kiss on his cheek. “You don’t look like you’ve been running, but I’d say you’ve been up to something.”

Lucas fought the blush and lost. He was not going to talk about the activities of the previous night with his mother. “Is Dad around? I need to talk to you guys about something.”

With a tilt of her head, his mother studied him. He could practically hear the gears working in that sharp mind of hers. But he doubted she knew why he was there.

“Is this about your intentions toward a certain sharp-tongued boat mechanic?” she asked, a smile crossing her face.

The question hit like a bucket of cold water to the face. What were his intentions toward Sid? The truth—he was going to love her and leave her—made him feel like the jackass that he was. Definitely not something he wanted to discuss with his mother.

“This isn’t about Sid,” he managed, staring through the window to watch the birds fighting over the offerings of his mother’s bird feeders. “If Dad’s in bed, I can come back.”

“He’s up.” Her voice turned stern. “You’re not toying with that girl, are you? She’s been in—”

“Thought I heard your voice,” Tom said, entering the kitchen looking healthier than he had since Lucas arrived. “Where’s your little partner in crime? I was starting to think you two were attached at the hip.”

What was this constant talk about Sid? So he’d lived at her house for a week. They were consenting adults. That was their business. Except he’d forgotten that on Anchor Island, everything was everyone’s business.

“Sid is sleeping. She had a long night.” Well shit. That wasn’t the answer he wanted to give. Maybe he could leave the house and come back in again.

“I’m sure she did.” His parents exchanged a knowing smile that made him feel like a schoolboy caught necking in the backseat of their car.

“I’m here to talk about something else,” he blurted, desperate to change the subject. “I have an idea for the restaurant I’d like to run by you.” Odd to feel nervous, but then he’d never tried to tell his parents how to run their business.

They exchanged another look, but this one he had no idea how to interpret. They didn’t look angry, and neither told him to keep his nose out of things, so he took that as a good sign.

“Bring us over some coffee, Pat.” Tom pulled out a chair from the kitchen table. “What do you have in mind?” he asked Lucas.

“Well,” Lucas hedged, pulling a chair for his mother, then taking the next one over. “I have no doubt you’ll be back on your feet soon, but this heart attack is a pretty obvious sign you can’t keep up the pace you had going before.”

“My pace?” Tom asked.

Lucas looked to his mother for backup, but she remained silent.

“Running the place alone, working six or seven days a week, just isn’t good for you. Hell, it’s about to do me in and I’ve only been at it for a couple weeks.”

His dad leaned back in his chair. “If you’re looking for time off, then just say so.”

“I’m not talking about me.” He was making a mess of this. “I simply think you need help. You deserve help.”

Patty finally spoke up. “Are you volunteering?”

“What?” he asked, stunned by another question he didn’t expect. “No, not me. Will.”

“Will?” the pair asked in unison. “What does Will have to do with this?” Tom asked.

He was losing them. “Just hear me out. Will has worked for several businesses on the island and been behind the bar at O’Hagan’s for nearly a year. She’s also worked other bars and restaurants up and down the coast.”

“What does that have to do with Dempsey’s?” Tom asked, but Patty shushed him and motioned for Lucas to continue.