A Dream Too Far (Summer Lake Silver Book 2)

by SJ McCoy

  “Hello, Isabel.”

  She looked him over very carefully and then rested her head against Chris’s cheek. “Hello.”

  Chris heaved a sigh of relief. She’d had a feeling that Isabel was too tired and too cranky to meet a stranger. Luckily, she was too tired to play up, too.

  She smiled at Seymour. “We’re about done here. This little madam needs a nap. Do you want to follow me back to my place?”

  “Sure.” He waited while she got Isabel strapped into her seat. When she straightened up, he pecked her cheek. “I’m sorry it took me so long.”

  She slipped her arms around his waist. “Don’t be. That’s something you’ll have to get used to around here. Plans are flexible, mini emergencies crop up—like me having her this afternoon. It’s all good.”

  “Thanks. It is good now that I’m here. I missed you, Chris.”

  “I missed you, too. I want to hear all about your week. How things went at the office—and why Ivan’s here.”

  “I’ll tell you all about it. But do you think we should get Isabel home first?” He waggled his fingers at her, and she gave him a sleepy smile. “She looks like she’s about to conk out right there.”

  “You’re right. Let’s get her home first.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Seymour loved watching Chris with little Isabel. She was so sweet and patient with her, yet firm. She set her down for a nap when they got back to the house, and just as Chris came into the kitchen where he was waiting for her, Isabel started to cry.

  Chris shrugged. “She’s absolutely fine.”

  “Don’t you want to go and check?”

  “Want to? Of course, I do. I want to go and get her out of bed and hold her and rock her and tell her Grandma’s there for her until she falls asleep.” She chuckled. “It’s not about what I want, though, unfortunately. It’s about what’s best for her.”

  Cries continued to set Seymour’s nerves on edge for another few moments, and then they subsided and stopped.

  “See? Now she’ll get a good nap. If I’d gone in there, she’d have stayed awake and made herself even more tired and then she’d have fallen asleep later and woken up later and then be a grouchy little madam for her daddy later.”

  Seymour smiled. “You’re right. You’re good at this, aren’t you?”

  “I learned with the boys. It’s harder to be as strict with myself now that I don’t have to deal with the consequences. But it’s all about what’s best for her. That’s all I care about.”

  He went to her and closed his arms around her waist, dropping a kiss on her forehead. “You’re a good woman, Chris.”

  “Thank you. And you’re a good man. I’ve missed you.”

  “I missed you more.” Having her in his arms again woke his body up to just how much he’d missed her—and how pleased he was to see her again.

  She must have sensed it. She pressed her hips against his and looked up into his eyes with a little laugh. “You’re also a hard man—and a hard man is good to find.”

  He laughed and held her closer. “I’m looking forward to reminding you how good I am later.”

  “Modest, aren’t you?”

  “Just honest. You told me loud enough and often enough last weekend just how good you thought I was.”

  She pushed at his arm but didn’t look embarrassed. He was glad about that. The first time he made her come for him, she’d hidden her face from him. Over the course of the weekend, she’d gotten over it. She’d screamed her appreciation that last time on Sunday night, and he was hoping she’d do the same tonight.

  She looked around. “Where’s your bag? You are still going to stay with me, aren’t you?”

  “I am. I want to. I didn’t want to assume, though. And I didn’t know how Jack would feel about it, so I left my bag in the car, just in case.”

  She laughed. “I didn’t think about that. You’re going to be here when Jack comes to pick Isabel up. He wouldn’t dare say anything. He knows you’re coming this weekend.”

  “And he knows I’m staying with you?”

  She dropped her gaze. “It’s not that I didn’t want to tell him.”

  “That’s okay. I know it’s better to choose your moment.”

  She made a face at him. “It shouldn’t be though. He should be happy for me.”

  “And I’m sure he will be, once he gets used to the idea, and once he gets to know me better and can trust that I’m going to be good to you.”

  “I know, thank you. I shouldn’t get mad at him for it. Anyway. Do you want a drink? I have soda or …”

  “Water’s good for me. Can I get it? Can I get you anything?” She cocked her head to one side, and he laughed. “If I’m going to be staying here with you, then I don’t want you treating me as a guest. This is about us being together, isn’t it?”

  She nodded. “I guess.”

  “If we were going to move into a place together, we’d both pull our weight. Just because I’m coming into your place, I don’t expect you to wait on me.”

  She held his gaze for a long moment, and he wondered if she was going to argue. She didn’t. Instead, she pulled out a stool at the counter and sat down. “In that case, I’ll take a lemonade.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Despite what she’d said earlier, Chris was a little nervous when she heard Jack’s car pull up outside. She cast a glance at Seymour, who was sitting on the floor, surrounded by Isabel’s soft toys. She was standing in front of him, tapping on her little whiteboard easel.

  He grinned at her. “I think she’s the teacher and we,” he looked around at the stuffed animals, “are the class.”

  Isabel gave him a stern look and tapped on the whiteboard again.

  Chris laughed. “Well, I’ll leave you to it then. Don’t get yourself a detention. I’m going to let Jack in.”

  She hurried to the front door and went out to meet him halfway up the path.

  “Hey, Mom. Thanks for this. I’m sorry.” He bent down to kiss her cheek.

  “There’s no need to apologize, you know I love having her, and I love helping you guys out. She’s made a new friend this afternoon, too. Seymour. He’s here.”

  Jack frowned. “He’s here already? I knew he was coming this weekend, but … I’m sorry. Did I mess up your plans with him?”

  “Not at all. I didn’t know he was coming today. It was a surprise.”

  Jack smiled through pursed lips. “But the surprise turned out to be on him. Instead of getting you a day early, he got an Isabel more than he bargained for.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, but he’s been a good sport. She likes him.”

  “She does? She’s a good judge of character.”

  “Come on in and see for yourself. I just wanted to warn you—and to ask you to go easy. He’s important to me, Jack.”

  “How important?”

  “Very.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Very as in, I need to get to know him?”

  She nodded. “You do. He’s going to be spending a lot of time here.”

  “At the lake?”

  She looked back at the house then at Jack again. “Here.”

  He wrapped his arms around her for a brief moment. “Okay, then. If this is what you want. I’m behind you every step of the way. I’ll treat him as your man—until he proves he doesn’t deserve to be.”

  “Come on.”

  When they went back into the living room, Chris’s heart melted when she saw Isabel sitting on Seymour’s knee. Her little arm was slung around his neck as they both looked down at the book he was holding.

  She glanced at Jack and knew that Seymour had just taken his first steps into Jack’s good books.

  Seymour smiled up at them. “I think I’m in class.” He nodded at the whiteboard. “All the teddy bears were able to follow along, but I think I’m getting remedial lessons.”

  Jack laughed. “I feel you. The bears always get it before I do, too.”

  Isabel waved the book in front of Seymour’s face,
drawing his attention back to her.

  “Look who’s here, Isabel,” said Chris.

  “Hello, Daddy.”

  Chris had to laugh. Usually, she came flying to Jack when he arrived, but it seemed she was more interested in teaching her new student.

  “Isabel?”

  She looked at Jack.

  “Do I get a kiss?”

  She smiled at him but didn’t move.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Seesaw!”

  Jack gave Chris a puzzled look. “Seesaw?”

  She laughed. “I think she means Seymour.”

  She nodded happily and patted Seymour’s cheek. “Seesaw.”

  Jack laughed. “Welcome to the family, Seesaw.”

  His words shocked Chris, and she could tell they shocked Seymour, too. She watched the two men exchange a look that she didn’t quite understand. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to have to worry about Jack giving him a hard time anymore.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Seymour tightened his arm around Chris’s shoulders, and she turned to smile up at him.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. Sitting here, holding you. I’m better than I’ve been in a long time—maybe ever.”

  She snuggled into his side. “Maybe small-town life suits you.”

  “Maybe it does. Maybe you suit me.”

  That was how it felt to him. She suited him. The way she was—with him, with everyone around her, mostly with herself. She was just so straightforward, so competent. She put him at ease in a way he hadn’t known was possible.

  Hanging out with her and Isabel this afternoon—and later with Jack for a little while—it had been wonderful, so comfortable. They weren’t doing anything that was going to change the world, or even change anyone’s fortunes. But they were doing something significant—something he’d forgotten how to do—if he’d ever known. They were just living life. Teaching a new little person how to live her life. It was all stuff he wouldn’t have given a second thought to a few years ago. Now it was everything that mattered.

  “I’d like to think so.” She smiled up at him. “Do I suit you enough to make you think that you could maybe stick around here?”

  “So much that I don’t think I ever want to leave.”

  She sat up and gave him a puzzled look. Her smile gone.

  “Relax. That’s how I feel in this moment. I’d soon grow restless if I never left—and besides, Hope’s in Montana, so are Dylan and Chance. I still have other places I need to be. But this is the first time I’ve felt that I could just relax into living life and not have to keep moving.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean that I want you to leave.” She touched his cheek. “Or even that I wouldn’t want you to stay forever. It just worries me. I don’t want you to see this place—especially not me—as a little escape bubble. You know?”

  “I do. I get it. But I promise you, that’s not what I’m doing. I’m not getting all caught up in the buzz of it and not wanting to go back to reality—not like I did with work, not like what happens with booze.”

  She stared at him. Maybe he shouldn’t have made reference to her husband, but he was trying to make the point that this was different.

  “I don’t want to stay here to escape my reality. I want to create a new reality—with you.”

  “Can you really see yourself staying here with me?”

  “Yes. And I’m not even sure what you mean. But yes, to all the possibilities. I can see myself staying here—in this small town, that not so long ago I would have told you I wouldn’t last more than a week in. I can see myself staying here in your house. I love this place, Chris. It feels like you. I like the way you live here. I want to live this way. It’s straightforward. It doesn’t need stuff.”

  She gave him a questioning look, and he chuckled. “You commented on all the stuff at my house. The driveway, the view, the pool, the chandelier.”

  She smiled. “Ah, yes. That stuff. The stuff that costs a lot of money but doesn’t hold any value.”

  He nodded. “Exactly. There’s so much more value here. In your house, with little Isabel and Jack earlier.”

  “I could have spent this afternoon in the office and closed a position that made several million dollars. And I know now that I got more value for my time by spending it here with you and your family.”

  She touched his cheek. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

  “I do. I finally get it. It’s taken me more than half a century, but I get it now. And since I don’t know how many more years I have left, I intend to put every day to good use.” He dropped a kiss on her lips. “I want to spend as many of my days as I can with you.”

  She slid her arms up around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss.

  As always, her kisses sent desire coursing through his veins. She was bringing him back to life in so many ways. She made him want to be present in his life and to live it for what truly mattered. She also made him want to reaffirm life in the most basic way he knew how.

  Her fingers tangled in his hair as she kissed him, making his scalp tingle and sending ripples down his spine. He didn’t want to wait until later, and he didn’t want to break the intensity of the moment by asking if she wanted to go to bed.

  He let his hands move over her, touching her plump breasts through her top, grasping her ass and holding her against him as he rocked his hips.

  She told him what he needed to know when she untucked his shirt and pushed it up so she could run her hands over his chest. He bit down on his bottom lip when she tweaked his nipples between her fingers and thumbs. He hadn’t known they were so sensitive! It spurred him on, his sense of urgency growing as he pushed her skirt up around her waist.

  She pulled her top off and unhooked the front fastener of her bra. He couldn’t resist cupping her breasts in his hands and dipping his head to tease her nipples to attention with his tongue. They soon stood proud and erect. Much like his cock was trying to do inside his pants.

  Chris seemed to hear his thoughts and unzipped his jeans, pushing them down over his hips. She slid her hand inside his boxers, closing her fingers around him and making him groan as she began to work her hand up and down the length of him.

  He slid one hand between her legs, hooking a finger inside her panties and pulling them aside so he could touch her. He wanted to give her all the time she needed, but if she kept working him the way she was, it might not work out.

  He moved his hips away, and she relinquished her hold on him.

  “You don’t like it?”

  “I like it a little too much and I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

  She averted her gaze.

  “We can take our time.” As he traced her entrance with his fingers, he knew she needed a little more time.

  She blew out a sigh. “You’re sweet. But I don’t want to need more time. I want to be able to jump on you, right now.”

  He couldn’t help but smile at the determination with which she said it. “You’re going to jump on me?”

  She gave him a rueful smile. “Eventually, maybe.” She rubbed herself against his fingers. “If you quit talking about it and keep that up.”

  “If I have to quit talking, you’d better lie back and close your eyes.”

  “Ooh! I like the sound of that.” She did as he said.

  He reached for his half-empty glass of water that stood on the coffee table and dipped his fingers inside it. “Are you keeping your eyes shut?”

  “Yes! But I’m going to have to peek soon. What are you doing?”

  He stroked his wet fingers over her and circled her clit.

  “Oh! What? Oh!” She opened her eyes, and he smiled, loving the way her cheeks and chest flushed with pleasure.

  “Close your eyes.”

  She lay back and did as she was told.

  He grew hard as a rock as he kept dipping his fingers in the water and touching her. He c
ircled her nipples, causing them to pebble and tighten. He trailed droplets up her inner thighs and traced her lips. She writhed and moaned until he finally dipped a finger inside her, and she gasped. “Yes! Seymour. Now!”

  He didn’t want to waste any time getting rid of the rest of their clothes. He held her panties to the side and positioned himself between her legs. He pushed slowly at first, almost losing it as she welcomed him inside. She was hot and slick for him. He grasped her hips and thrust deep.

  “Oh, God, yes!”

  Her cries urged him on as they moved together. She clenched tight around him, giving him the sensation that he might lose himself inside her and never come back.

  Her legs came up to wrap around his and her hands scrabbled at his back. He picked up the pace, holding her hips as she took him deeper and deeper.

  It started at the bottom of his spine, the pressure of so much pent-up desire ignited and drove him on, keeping up a frantic rhythm that could reach only one conclusion. He felt her tighten around him; she was close. He buried his face in her neck and grazed the soft skin there with his teeth.

  It had the effect he desired. Her nails raked down his shoulder as she let herself go. “Seymour!”

  Her inner muscles drew him in deeper and deeper until all the pressure inside him found its release. He saw stars as he let himself go with her, carrying each other away on waves of sheer pleasure.

  When he finally slumped down on her chest, she tangled her fingers in his hair and smiled at him.

  “I think I need to tell you to quit talking more often.”

  He chuckled. “I’m not sure I’ll ever speak again.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “Do you want to go out for breakfast?” asked Seymour.

  Chris thought about it. She did sometimes take a walk over to the resort on a Sunday morning to see who was around. Emma and Jack went sometimes; Missy and Dan were usually there. There was a crowd of their friends who go together whenever they could, and she liked to hang out with them sometimes. She didn’t feel like it today, though.

  It had turned out to be quite a sociable weekend. They’d gone to the Boathouse on Friday night, had lunch with Marianne and Clay yesterday, and been invited over to Dan and Missy’s place last night. That had been fun. Most of the boys’ friends had been there. She’d been surprised to see Ivan and Adam there as well, but she probably shouldn’t have been. Newcomers were always welcomed into the fold.