One of the women wiggled her fingers in a flirty wave and another winked.
“Wow, I’m right here,” she said. “Those cougars have got some nerve.”
He chuckled and waved to the woman. Then he began swaying to the music. “Do you blame them? I’m a hot commodity.”
“Yes, you are,” she said.
“Not quite as hot as you are,” he said.
They danced to “Moon River” and the next song and the next, never missing a word. Gavin danced like he’d been born with rhythm in his blood and sang like he was born with lyrics on his tongue.
“How do you know all the words?”
“Middle school choir,” he said as he dipped her over his arm.
“You were in choir? That must have been so cute. Did you have a pencil protector, too?”
He nipped at her lower lip. “Small town. Everyone was in choir.”
The band started playing “Sweet Caroline.” Gavin twirled her around, making her laugh, which earned one of his glorious smiles.
“My father used to dance like this with me when I was little,” she said.
“No wonder you’re such a good dancer.” He pulled her in close, swaying to the beat. When the song changed to a slower one, he said, “I’ll have to thank your father one day.”
“Trying to meet my family, are you?” She was meeting with her brothers and sister Saturday for breakfast. She thought about inviting Gavin, but he didn’t need to be bored with hearing the same stories he’d already suffered through about LA while she brought them up to speed on her life.
“When you’re ready,” he said. “I enjoyed watching you interview families tonight.”
“You watched me?” That made her feel good all over.
“Mm-hm.” He kissed her softly as they danced. “You’re good with people, Harp. It’s no wonder each interview took a while. I thought, or maybe hoped, it was just me you enchanted, but I saw it in the eyes of everyone you spoke with. They were enamored with the personable beauty taking an interest in them. That wasn’t faked either, was it? You really enjoyed talking with them.”
“I did. I had forgotten how fun it was to interview people. That last couple I spoke to has been coming here for more than thirty years. They brought their children when they were younger. Their kids no longer live on the Cape, but when they visit they bring their grandchildren to the concerts.”
“I love that,” he said.
“Me too, and I love dancing with you.”
“Me too, sweetheart,” he said, holding her tighter. “You mentioned being a white-picket-fence girl before you went to LA. Are you still?”
“I am. Maybe I’m crazy, but ever since I was a little girl, I had visions of a white wedding, a picket fence, and nights like this with my children falling asleep on the way home in the car.”
“You’ve got a romantic heart.” He pressed his lips to hers, and then he said, “I like that about you, Harper. I’m glad you didn’t let those bad experiences steal those dreams.” His gaze turned serious and he said, “I once let someone steal that dream from me, and it took a long time to get it back.”
“One of the twins?”
“No. They were just playing around. My first year of college I had a pretty serious relationship with a girl named Corinne. She’s the first and last girl I took home to meet my family. They thought she was totally wrong for me, and she really disliked them. Their reactions should have tipped me off that I was missing something big, but I was blinded by youth and stupidity. Corinne thought they were too small town, and she rubbed them the wrong way. My father is pretty well off, but he’s a self-made man and he came up from nothing. He’s careful with his money and you’d never know he was well off because he doesn’t flaunt it. He’s very down-to-earth. I’ve never heard my parents say a negative thing about a person, which is another reason I should have listened when they said she was a gold digger. But I thought she was just misunderstood and that I could help her to be understood.”
“Do you mean you thought you could fix her?” She felt a little sick at the thought that he was one of those guys who was attracted to what she called broken birds—women with issues. Did he feel that way about her?
“No, and please don’t ever think that what I had with her was anything like what we have. I’m not trying to fix you, Harper. You’re not broken. You were hurt, and for good reason. There’s a difference. Anyone who cared about you could have helped you see past the grief over losing your show and a couple of bad relationships.”
“Maybe my friends would, but most guys would wash their hands of a woman who was that down on things. I could have easily gotten such thick skin I didn’t let anyone in.”
“You do have thick skin, sweetheart. How could you not? But even thick skin on you is soft and loving, not harsh or cold. The reason I say I wasn’t trying to fix Corinne is because I didn’t think she was broken. She said her parents were overbearing and had tried to control every aspect of her life. She told me that her family had disowned her and that she was paying for school with loans and scholarships. I had never met her family. If I had, I would have realized how wrong I was. To make a long story short, she got pregnant, and in the end she wasn’t who I thought she was.”
Harper’s stomach clenched. “You have a child?”
“No. I thought I was going to, but once I told her I would quit college and we could raise the baby in Oak Falls, where I could get a job at my father’s company and we would have family support, I guess it threw a monkey wrench into her plans. A week later she aborted the baby and broke up with me—in that order. She told me the baby wasn’t mine anyway. I had wondered how it happened since we always used condoms, but you know, they’re only ninety-nine percent effective. I figured we were just unlucky. But then I found out she’d been seeing some other guy almost the whole time. She told me it was my baby because she thought I was a cash wagon and that my father’s money was family money I’d have access to. I found out later that her family hadn’t disowned her. She’d snubbed them because they wouldn’t cater to her expensive demands, but they were paying for her schooling, books, and housing. Apparently all that wasn’t enough for her. And honestly, who knows if she was ever really pregnant?”
“Gavin, that’s awful.”
“It pretty much broke me for a while. I had trouble trusting women, and trusting myself, for a long time. But the truth is, I didn’t love her. I was young and away from my family for the first time. I think I needed her affection to fill a gap, which is embarrassing to admit. You see, other people have one-night stands, but I’m not wired that way. I had a relationship that seemed good enough at the time, and when she got pregnant I wanted to do the right thing.”
He shook his head with a pinched expression, and she realized they were still swaying, though the music had become white noise to the pain in her heart for Gavin.
“I was incredibly young and unfathomably stupid,” he said. “But it was what it was, and it was just one more reason I hadn’t been home in so long when I met Serena. Corinne drove a wedge between me and my family, and I let it happen. I took her side from the get-go instead of listening to the people who had known me my whole life and who were only looking out for me. Afterward, I was ashamed of taking her side, so I stayed away from home. Things are better with my family now, but it was a long, hard road.”
“No wonder you pushed me to be honest with my family.” She was heartbroken for him, but she couldn’t ignore the question gnawing at her. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask if you’re one of those guys who needs broken women.”
“God no. I wouldn’t call her broken, Harper. She knew exactly what she was doing. She was manipulative and conniving, not broken. I later talked to her family and found out I wasn’t the first guy she’d done that to. I never understood why I was put through such a horrible time, thinking I was having a kid, then realizing I was being played. But now I’m glad I went through it.”
“Why? It must have been so awful wit
hout close friends or family to help you.”
“It was, but when you appeared on the beach after nearly a year, my heart stopped, Harper. I was beginning to think I’d conjured our night together, and then you were there, like an angel from above, only the light in your eyes had dimmed. But that experience helped me understand what you were facing. It helped me understand what it was like to have your world pulled out from under you. I think fate brought us together again, Harp, and had I not gone through that, I wouldn’t have known how to relate to what you’d been through, much less help you move past it.”
Harper couldn’t imagine how Gavin thought what he’d gone through was similar to her experiences. His was so much bigger, more heartbreaking. But now she understood why he was so patient and looked at things through a different lens than she had. He’d been drowning and had found his way back up to the surface. He was even stronger than she thought.
The song ended, and everyone clapped as the bandleader conferred with another band member. Gavin held Harper tighter, continuing to dance to their own private beat. She rested her head on his shoulder, his heartbeat steady and sure against her cheek. In those quiet moments, the impact of how much of himself he’d shared hit her, along with the realization that he’d taken what sounded like the worst time in his life and turned it positive for her.
She gazed up at the man who had taken hold of her heart almost a year ago and cradled it in his hands for all this time. She had already been falling for him, and this just tipped the scales.
When the band started playing “My Girl,” Gavin held her gaze, singing every word to her. He’d had his heart ripped out, and somehow this incredible man was still able to trust, to give himself over without hesitation. She wanted to do that, too.
He twirled her, then held her close again, and she melted against him. As the song ended, he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her deeply.
Applause and cheers rang out, and she felt him smiling into their kisses. When she drew back, the women with the red hats hooted, cheering louder and waving their hats. Harper realized most of the audience was looking at her and Gavin.
“What’s going on?” Harper asked.
With stars in his eyes Gavin said, “The women in the red hats are the wives of some of the band members. They did me a favor and got the band to play that song for us.”
Harper swore the earth moved, lifting her higher. She put her arm around his neck, pulling his mouth toward hers, and said, “Then let’s give them something to cheer about.”
LATER THAT EVENING they stumbled into Harper’s cottage in a fit of kisses and laughter, reliving the end of the concert. She hoped Gavin wasn’t going to take off right away, as he had the other night. In all the time they’d spent together this week, they hadn’t done anything more than kissing, but tonight she wanted to.
“When that red-hat woman grabbed you for the next dance, I thought I’d never get you back,” Harper said as she set her bag on the desk.
“She wasn’t bad, but the woman who grabbed me after her? She pinched my cheeks. And I don’t mean the ones on my face.” Gavin hauled her against him, grabbing her butt with both hands, and her body flamed. “You don’t have to worry about not getting me back, Harp. I am so into you…”
“Good,” she said a little breathlessly, “because I’d hate to have to call Jana and have her kick some old lady’s ass.” He smelled like man and desire wrapped up in one strong, sexy package.
“Finally learning I’m worth fighting for, huh?”
Her heart was racing, and his hungry eyes told her he was right there with her, longing for more.
“I’ve never been a fighter.” She ran her fingers over his biceps, trying to sound seductive as she said, “But I think it’s time to learn.”
“Sweetheart,” he whispered softly, and his mouth came coaxingly down over hers.
Months of fantasies and days of heady anticipation came rushing out in eager gropes and penetrating kisses. Harper could barely think past the inferno blazing inside her as they tumbled down to the couch. His arousal pressed firmly against her center, thrusting with each ravenous plunge of his tongue. She pushed her hands beneath his shirt, loving the way his muscles flexed with his every move as he kissed her roughly but touched her tenderly. The conflicting sensations stole her breath. His lips slipped to her cheek in a series of feathery kisses.
“God, what you do to me,” he whispered against her skin. “I’m going to make you feel so good you’ll never want to leave my side.”
Oh, yes! The desire in his voice had her arching beneath him, pulling his mouth back to hers for more. He kissed her so slow and deep, reminding her of the way he made love, powerful and sensual at once. His kisses consumed her, and her ability to think drifted away. He intensified his efforts, and she lost herself in the hot strokes of his tongue, the feel of his hand moving up her bare thigh. Her skirt bunched around her bottom. She rocked up, and he guided her legs around his waist. His powerful body flexed as he angled his hips, pressing exquisitely against her center. Even through the thick denim of his jeans she felt his girth, remembered the feel of him pushing into her.
He slicked his tongue along her lower lip, then trapped it between his teeth, tugging gently, sending jolts of electricity arcing through her. She moaned, bowing up beneath him as he kissed her jaw, and his hot, wet mouth trailed kisses down her neck.
“Don’t stop….” The needy plea came without warning, but the next came with vehemence. “Touch me, Gavin.”
He made a raw, masculine sound and reclaimed her mouth as his hand pushed beneath her blousy top. He cupped her breast, his thumb brushing over her nipple until it throbbed for more. Spikes of desire darted through her as he kissed his way down her neck again, lifting and repositioning himself lower on the couch to kiss her belly. The first touch of his lips on her stomach pulled a greedy moan from her lungs. She buried her hands in his hair, holding tight to the man who felt incredible and familiar, like no time had passed since he’d last devoured her body.
He took his time, loving every inch of her stomach and waist. He brushed his lips over her hip. He kissed her tattoo, then traced it with his tongue. “God, I missed this sunflower.”
His rough voice made her even more combustible.
He kissed his way up her belly and ribs, rolling her shirt up over her breasts, and trailed openmouthed kisses along the skin just below her bra. When he unhooked the front clasp, gently pushing the cups to the side, she bit her lower lip to keep from whimpering. He teased her nipples in languid mind-numbing circles, and those whimpers broke free despite her resistance. He nipped at her sensitive flesh until her body felt like a tangle of live wires. She writhed and arched beneath him, openly begging for more.
His mouth covered her breast with the same torturous restraint, painfully slow and expertly maddening. He flattened his tongue over the taut peak, dragging it in long, leisurely strokes, each one making her gasp and tremble. He shifted his body, lying half on her, half beside. His cock pressed temptingly against her leg, and his big, hot hand traveled down her belly. His fingers moved light and teasingly around her belly button, beneath her skirt, and along the lace at the top of her panties. He teased her there while they kissed, their tongues dancing deliciously. His hand moved lower, along the lace edge above her thigh. Her breathing was so erratic, she wasn’t sure she was really breathing at all. He gripped her thigh tight, driving flashes of heat and ice into her core. When he finally stroked her through the thin material of her damp panties, the air rushed from her lungs. His appreciative groan and hard thrust of his hips made her even wetter. His thick fingers pushed beneath her panties, and they both groaned in desperation. He sucked her breast harder, ravenously, as his fingers entered her. Her hips shot off the cushion, and she gasped with his every suck, every touch, every stroke over that magical, secret spot. Her skin tingled and burned. Blood throbbed in her veins, rushed through her ears, and when his thumb came into play, teasing the sensitive nub at the ap
ex of her sex at the same moment he bit down, she shattered into a million electrified pieces.
“Gavin! Oh, Gav—”
Her hips bucked as the climax tore through her, unchaining all of her pent-up emotions. She undulated, emitting a string of indiscernible pleasure-soaked sounds. He stayed with her, taking her impossibly higher, until her world tilted and she careened into another explosive orgasm.
She was going to die.
She just knew it.
This immense pleasure had to be deadly.
Gavin didn’t stop there. He continued his masterful ministrations, lavishing her other breast with the same loving attention and taking her right up to the edge of ecstasy so many times, when he finally moved over her, still fully clothed, she lay panting and spent. His mouth covered hers with renewed vigor, his hard length pressing rhythmically against her center as he made love to her mouth, reigniting her oversensitive body and sending her soaring again.
When she finally drifted down from the clouds, she was shaking all over. Her limbs felt like lead. Even holding on to Gavin was too much effort. Her arms fell limply to the cushions.
Her entire body was tingling and numb at once. His kisses became softer, like secrets. She wasn’t even sure she was still kissing him back. She was completely and utterly drunk on him.
“I think you put me in an orgasm coma,” she managed just above a whisper. “I want to reciprocate, but I’m not sure I can move.”
He smiled appreciatively and said, “Don’t move, sweetheart. Get some rest.”
Her eyes opened, and the love in his drew a dreamy sigh from her lungs. “But that’s not fair to you.”
He kissed her lips, her cheek, then her lips again, and said, “What we have isn’t about fair, sweetheart. Neither of us is the type to rush into sex. We’ve known that from the start. In Virginia, we thought we had only that one night together, but now we can take our time. When we finally come together, I want you to be sure, Harper. Sure it’s what you want. Sure of us. Because we both know how good we are together, and once we’re there again, I’ll never want to let you go.”
Bayside Romance (Bayside Summers) Page 11
