Seaside Lovers: Grayson Lacroux (Love in Bloom: Seaside Summers)

by Melissa Foster

  “I won’t. Not yet.” It was torture, being surrounded by her tight heat and not coming, but he wanted so much more of her. “Stop overthinking, sweetheart. I’ve got you. I’ve got us.”

  He sucked her nipple into his mouth, holding her hips, and they found their rhythm.

  “Harder,” she said. “Suck harder.”

  She arched against his mouth, riding him fast, her sex tightening with every downward stroke. Her breasts bounced, sweet sexy noises escaped her lips, and just when he wasn’t sure he could hold back another second, she cried out his name—“Grayson”—and spiraled over the edge.

  **

  PARKER WAS BONELESS again, floating in the post-lovemaking daze she’d come to know, to crave, with Grayson. He gathered her in his arms and laid her on the bed, following her down. You love me, you love me, you love me. She ached to tell him she’d been falling in love with him for months, but they were supposed to be taking their lives day by day, living for now, and the fear of laying her heart on the line without knowing what the future held was too much. What would happen when she went back to her life in California? And after his foundation work was completed? His life was here at the Cape, and hers was all over the place, depending on the roles she took on. She knew it didn’t make a lick of sense to think it would hurt less if they broke up and she hadn’t said she loved him, but she was learning that when it came to love, nothing made sense.

  He brushed her hair from her face, a tender smile on his. “Had enough, baby?”

  He hadn’t come yet. He was a machine. That was the only explanation she could come up with after having so many orgasms she’d lost track. Six-Million-Dollar Penis. She smiled at the thought.

  “No.” I love you. “You promised me your mouth.”

  “I always keep my promises.” He brushed his thumb over her lips. “I love your mouth, baby. And your eyes. And your cheeks. And most of all, your—”

  “Heart?” I love your heart.

  His eyes turned wicked. “That, too, but I was going to say your knockers.”

  She laughed, loving his sense of humor. “You were not.”

  “You’re right. I was going to say your sweet, delicious…kisses.”

  She rolled her eyes. I love your kisses, your touch, that wicked love machine between your legs.

  “Yes, your heart, you dirty girl. I love that sweetness between your legs, too, in case you’re wondering, but that’s just an added bonus.”

  Her jaw gaped.

  “And I love that, right there. That oh-my-God-you-filthy-pig look you give me. You love to hear me talk dirty, but you hate that I know you do.”

  Spot. On. Another reason I love you. She pushed his shoulders, urging him lower. “Stop teasing and keep your promise.”

  He framed her face with his hands and kissed her softly.

  “Grayson?” I love you.

  “Yes, dirty girl?”

  “Stop.” She playfully swatted his arm. It was hard to concentrate with his hard length pressing between her legs. “I’m being serious.”

  “So was I.” He kissed her again and rocked his hips, pushing the head of his shaft into her.

  “God, that feels good.”

  “Want it, baby?” His eyes grew impossibly darker.

  “No. Your mouth. I want your mouth.”

  He thrust in deeper, and she gasped. Yes, yes, yes was on the tip of her tongue. Just as she opened her mouth to say she wanted all of him, he withdrew, and she heard herself whimper.

  “Mouth,” he said in a gravelly voice, and moved down her body, pressing her thighs open wider and hiking one leg over his shoulder. “Hold my hands.”

  His fingers curled around hers as his talented mouth came down over her center. Oh God, I really love your mouth. She squeezed his fingers as his tongue teased and thrust, furtively seeking her pleasure point—and nailing it, over and over again. He held her hands tight, pulling her toward him and keeping her sex flush against his mouth. Smart man, this sex god of mine.

  “Grays—” Lights flashed behind her closed lids and heat flamed in her core as the orgasm tore through her. Before she came down from the peak, Grayson was over her again, the scent of her arousal on his breath. He captured her in another kiss at the same moment he thrust in deep. She moaned, lost in the fullness between her legs, the weight of his body, and the strong beat of his heart as he wrapped her in his arms.

  “Love you, baby,” he said between kisses.

  His words wound around her. Her thoughts ebbed and flowed with each thrust of his powerful hips. I love you. I’m scared. I love you. I love you. His hands moved to her neck, holding her in the position she loved, as he filled her, inch by glorious inch, time and time again. More, more, more. He angled his hips, hitting the spot that detonated another explosion, and they both went wild. Panting, kissing, groping, pleading, thrusting as they rode the tide of their passion.

  She lay in his arms afterward, their bodies spent and slick from their lovemaking, her heart bursting with love.

  “Sleep, baby. I’ve got you,” Grayson murmured.

  You do, Grayson. You definitely do.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “KURT HAD TO fly back to New York for a book signing.” Leanna bounced her little boy, Sloan, on her hip. At just over a year old, he was the spitting image of her, with brown hair and the prettiest hazel eyes Parker had ever seen.

  Parker was glad she and Grayson had seen Kurt earlier in the week, when they’d gotten together at Pete and Jenna’s beach house for dinner. She and Grayson had been spending the early-morning hours consuming each other instead of food. But they’d made a concerted effort today not to get sidetracked by mind-numbing kisses and explosive orgasms and spend time with their friends at Seaside. She was glad they’d come—both in the shower and to see their friends. It was fun seeing everyone working together, cooking, and taking care of each other’s babies.

  “Too bad Blue and Lizzie and Hunter and Jana couldn’t come. They said they were busy.” Sky picked up a sippy cup from the deck and set it on the table. Grayson had given her a hard time about giving everyone framed copies of their front-page kiss—including, it turned out, each of their friends—but Sky had taken his complaint in stride. A kiss like that should be memorialized.

  “They’re busy banging,” Bella said.

  The guys nodded in agreement. Parker wondered if they’d known that’s why she and Grayson hadn’t joined them for breakfast before today.

  “You just have sex on the brain,” Leanna said to Bella. “They’re probably…”

  “Banging,” Sawyer said. “Which is where we’d be if I didn’t have a training session in twenty minutes.”

  “Whatever,” Leanna mumbled.

  “Why do you always deny that people have sex?” Jenna asked. “We had to rig your bedroom window so we could close it from the outside. Remember?” She turned to Parker and said, “She and Kurt always forget to close the window. It was like listening to the porn channel.” She waggled her brows, and Leanna turned bright pink.

  Parker could only imagine how embarrassing it would be if she or Grayson had neighbors. She’d only slept with a few men, but she’d always been a silent lover. Grayson brought out sides of her she’d never known she had. Including the warm and squishy feeling moving through her now at the sight of her big, virile man bouncing his adorable year-and-a-half-old niece, Bea, on his knee. Bea’s dark hair curled up at the ends, and her smile lit up her blue eyes as she giggled anew with every bump of Grayson’s knee.

  “Your lover’s calling. Your lover’s calling. Your lover’s calling.” Everyone turned toward the automated voice coming from the other side of the road, where a short-haired woman was poking at her cell phone.

  “What was that?” Jenna whipped her head around.

  “Your lover’s calling. Your lover’s calling. Your lover’s calling,” sounded again, and the woman poked at her phone again.

  “That is Bella in action.” Leanna pointed at Bella, whi
spering in a harsh tone, “You have got to stop this. Seriously. Theresa turned us blue last year as payback for your pranks. God knows what she’ll do next time.”

  Parker realized this was another one of Bella’s pranks.

  Bella was busy breaking up little pieces of a muffin for her daughter, Summer. “What makes you think I did anything?”

  “Your lover’s calling. Your lover’s calling. Your lover’s calling,” sounded again, and Bella stifled a laugh. Theresa stormed inside her house and slammed the door.

  “You changed Theresa’s ringtone?” Jenna laughed. Then her face went serious. “You know she has no clue how to fix it, right?”

  “You should probably fix it,” Amy said. “Not that I don’t love your pranks, but what if she’s in a store and it rings?”

  “Ugh.” Bella pushed to her feet. “Fine, I’ll go fix it, but you know what this means, don’t you?”

  “That you’re lying and you won’t really fix it?” Amy teased.

  Bella crossed her arms, shaking her head. “No, that this is it. The pranks were the last link to our carefree years. What’s left? Getting old and gray and fat and boring?”

  “You’re only thirty-four,” Amy reminded her.

  “Down!” Summer demanded.

  “You’re not hungry?” Bella asked, holding up a piece of muffin. “Auntie Leanna made this especially for you.”

  Summer shook her head, sending her blond ringlets swinging against her cheeks. Bella reached for her, and Caden said, “I’ve got her. Why don’t you go help Theresa? I promise, babe, I’ll never let your life get boring.”

  Bella rolled her eyes. Caden whispered something to her that made her turn beet red.

  “I’m going!” Bella bounced down the steps.

  Caden lifted Summer from her high chair. “You guys know she adores Theresa. She wouldn’t prank her if she didn’t.”

  “We know,” Jenna said. “And now she’ll probably pull more pranks in hopes of getting even more sexual favors.”

  “Lucky me.” Caden smiled and lowered Summer to the deck. The moment her feet touched down, she was off and running, which caused Amy and Tony’s daughter, Hannah, to squeal with delight and fight for freedom, too.

  “Of course you want out.” Amy lifted Hannah from her high chair and kissed her cheek, setting her down to chase Summer. Pepper, Leanna’s dog, popped up and followed the girls. “Where Summer goes, Hannah follows.”

  “Which will be hell when they’re teenagers,” Tony added.

  “Not this one,” Grayson said, kissing Bea’s cheek, then lifting her into the air. “Pete’s going to lock her in a closet as soon as she discovers boys.”

  “Gway!” Bea shrieked.

  Gway. You’re too freaking cute.

  “Bea!” he teased, and pulled the baby down to kiss her chubby cheeks, earning more sweet giggles and melting Parker’s heart.

  “He will,” Jenna said to Grayson. “But I’ll have the key.”

  “Keep dreaming, babe,” Pete said. “She’s not dating until she’s thirty.”

  “Don’t worry, Jenna,” Sky said. “You can give Bea to me and Sawyer when she’s a teenager. We’ll raise her right.”

  Sawyer’s dark eyes narrowed. “What makes you think I’d let her date? I’m right there with Pete. Thirty sounds about right.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “But Sky believes in experiencing love as it comes, and we all know we women eventually get our way.” She jumped up as Jessica and Jamie came out of their cottage and headed toward them. “Hey, guys!”

  Experiencing love as it comes. That was so similar to Grayson’s thoughts on their real lives being right that moment, whatever that moment might be. It must have come from their father.

  “Did we miss breakfast?” Jamie carried their son, Dustin, who had been born around the same time as Sloan. Dustin had hair as black as his father’s and eyes as blue as Jessica’s.

  When Dustin saw the mayhem on the deck, he thrust his hands out and bounced up and down in Jamie’s arms. “Pu, pu, pu!”

  Jamie set him on his hands and knees, and he crawled over to Pepper, who slobbered his cheeks with puppy kisses.

  “How can you stand it?” Parker loved babies, although she had little experience with them. “I’d spend all day making them giggle.”

  Grayson lowered Bea to his lap, his eyes honing in on Parker. “I’m not sure you’d get much acting done.”

  “Who cares?” Parker looked around the table at the high chairs, colorful plastic toys, wet wipes, sippy cups, and other baby paraphernalia. She was surrounded by the sounds of toddlers giggling and running along the deck and Pepper’s nails tapping out his sentinel path.

  “This is what life should be about. A gaggle of kids, surrounded by friends, and—” She realized everyone had gone silent, save for Hannah and Summer, who giggled as they snuck down the deck stairs backward. Tony stood watch at the bottom of the steps. “Anyway, acting is great, but this would be nice, too.”

  On that little reveal, all eyes shifted to Grayson, who was still staring at Parker like she’d just revealed she was a long-lost princess. Thankfully, the others chose that moment to begin cleaning up from breakfast, causing a flurry of activity. She and Grayson pushed from their chairs, but he was still giving her that look.

  “What?” she finally asked.

  “Nothing. I just figured…” He shrugged. “I didn’t expect to hear that.”

  Neither did I, but it’s true.

  Bea pulled his hair, breaking their connection, and Jenna lifted her from Grayson’s arms.

  He waited for Jenna to leave, then guided Parker away from the others. “So, you want a gaggle of children?”

  “One day. But isn’t it too soon to talk about this? We aren’t even talking about what’s real, like where we both live. Not that I want to jump into that, but…” She paused, not knowing where she was going with that thought, because part of her wanted to talk about everything, but a bigger part of her didn’t want to think about the harsh reality of their lives being on opposite ends of the country.

  He searched her eyes, his own serious—and slightly annoyed? “You’re absolutely right. It’s too soon.”

  A confusing wave of disappointment swamped her.

  Chapter Nineteen

  GRAYSON WAS WORKING at Grunter’s on the railings for Parker’s house two days later, still thinking about what she’d said Sunday morning. Isn’t it too soon to talk about this? We aren’t even talking about what’s real, like where we both live. He’d been the one to say they should take things as they came, and now he regretted ever saying it. Even though she hadn’t confessed her love for him, he knew she loved him. Knew it with the same confidence he knew he loved her. Maybe it was time to get it all out on the table and deal with what they’d been trying to avoid.

  He gripped the metal tongs and held a piece of metal over the brick forge, trying to lose himself in the sounds of the blowers, the heat thrown by the brick hearth, the scent of smoldering metal. But the things that normally calmed him weren’t even scratching the surface. His gut churned with the need to clear the air with Parker.

  Hunter came into the workshop with a big grin on his face as he texted, which told Grayson he was texting Jana. The two of them texted often, or rather, sexted, which Hunter loved to gloat about.

  Hunter shoved his phone in his pocket. “Hey, bro. You look about ready to explode.”

  “I’m good,” Grayson lied.

  “Uh-huh.” Hunter began sifting through a stack of iron rods. “How’s the railing coming along?”

  “Good. Couple more weeks.” He shouldn’t take out his bad mood on his brother, but he’d done him a favor by taking on the travel for their contract with CCF, and he wished there were someone in line to do the same for him. Only he didn’t really wish he could move out to California. He just hated the idea of being away from Parker.

  Last night, after they took a walk around the pond with Christmas, Parker had spent an hour on
the phone with her agent. Grayson was looking forward to spending time with her in her world and sharing that part of her life, despite his distaste for the celebrity lifestyle. They had planned on traveling back to LA when he was done with the railing, but after her phone call she’d told him she had to leave next week to attend meetings for the role she hoped to get in the new film, and reality came rushing in. He had to stay here and get this railing done if he was ever going to get back to finishing the work for CCF. The designs for the last two sites, Texas and Georgia, loomed. The sooner he completed the work, the more settled he’d feel, making it easier to deal with their schedules and living arrangements.

  He carried the red-hot metal to an anvil and picked up a hammer, thinking about what his future with Parker really looked like. Eventually Parker would be filming on location, even if she didn’t get this role. Very soon their lives were going to be even farther apart.

  Grayson focused on hammering the metal, forming it into the image he’d created in his mind. If only life were that easy.

  “You wanna fess up about whatever’s got your briefs in a knot?” Hunter asked. “Or are we going to pretend you’re not chewing nails?”

  He stopped the hammer midswing and met Hunter’s gaze. “It’s nothing anyone can fix.”

  “Try me.” Hunter leaned against the drawing table and crossed his ankles, casual as could be. Cocky bastard. Probably where Grayson had learned it.

  “Okay, sure.” Why the hell not? Grayson clearly didn’t have the answer. Maybe Hunter would. “I want to be with Parker. Her life is in LA, and traveling to film on location all over the world. Except for the travel for the foundation, my life is here. I can’t see a way to make those two things come together.”

  Hunter shrugged. “Why not?”

  “What the hell do you mean why not? She lives across the country. It’s not a weekend drive.”

  “And…?”

  Grayson clenched his teeth against the urge to throttle his brother. “And I’ve got to work. She’s got to work. What should we do? See each other once every few weeks?”