“I can tell you loved her.”
“She died before I met Dante, thank goodness. She didn’t have to know about any of that.”
Tripp ducked his head. “Hil, she wouldn’t have judged you. She loved you.”
Hilary snuggled into his side again. “Is that why you haven’t judged me?”
He turned and looked at her. Right at her. “Yes, that’s why I haven’t judged you.”
A blip of uncertainty crossed her expression. There one moment, gone the next. Tripp didn’t know what to make of it, but it didn’t settle well inside him. Their food arrived, and she peeled off part of the straw wrapper and blew the other half at him.
She laughed when it hit him square in the cheek, and he turned the conversation to lighter topics. He drove her home and followed her inside her bungalow.
“It’s not much,” she said, glancing around and picking up a pair of shoes she’d left by the front door. “You’re the first person I’ve ever had over.”
“The first?” Another layer of brick cemented itself to the pressured load he was already carrying. “Even Polly? Lucy?”
“They’ve never been inside. Just to drop me off or something.” She moved further into the living room and began reorganizing a pile of papers she’d left on the coffee table. He went to her side and stilled her hands.
“You want to pack a bag and stay with me on the boat again tonight?” He searched her eyes for signs that he was being too forward, too presumptuous. He wanted to offer that he could simply stay with her tonight. He had a shower and spare clothes on Betsy Ross. They could drive over together in the early morning hours.
He waited, and thankfully, she didn’t keep him waiting for long. “Of course.” She stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Just give me a few minutes.”
She returned ten minutes later with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She still wore the sundress from yesterday, the scarf still tied neatly in place.
“Maybe after we fish and you deliver tomorrow morning, you can bring me back here for breakfast.”
She glanced into the kitchen, a smile blooming on her gorgeous face. “I could do that.”
“You’ve told me you’re a great cook, but I still haven’t been able to taste anything you’ve made.”
“Or I could just cook on the boat.” Hilary looked at him for approval, and he nodded.
“Sure.”
Her smile was infectious. “We’ll have to stop and get some groceries on the way to the boat.”
“No problem.” Tripp grinned and couldn’t stop as they bought what she needed and he then drove south to the wharf. He felt like a rebellious teenager sneaking a girl into his bedroom while his parents were asleep as he parked as close to his boat as possible so they wouldn’t have to be in the open for long. Not that many people loitered down at the pier. Still, he waited while a couple strolled by, then he cut the engine and got out of the truck.
He collected her bag from the back and linked his fingers through hers. She’d boarded the boat when a man called his name. He turned toward the voice and found Jared striding his way. He glanced at Hilary, who stood waiting on the boat. He handed up her duffel bag with the words, “I’ll be up in a second.”
He met Jared down the pier a ways. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I got all the supplies loaded for the group from Billings.”
“Great, thank you.” Tripp forced himself not to check over his shoulder.
“Two furniture orders came in today. I said I’d talk to you and you’d let them know a timeline. I put them on your desk. Since we’ll both be out deep sea fishing next week, I wasn’t sure on that.”
“I’ll look at them. Dressers?”
“Picnic tables. Big ones.” Jared chuckled. “Do you remember Howie Jones? It’s his parents. Apparently they have a litter of grandchildren now, and they want long picnic tables for their backyard.”
Tripp did remember Howie, though he’d been several years older than Tripp. “That’s great. I’m sure we can get them done.” He couldn’t help himself; he glanced back to the boat to see if Hilary was waiting.
When he looked back at Jared, he was staring at Betsy Ross. “Anything else?” Tripp asked.
Jared jerked. “Yeah, today’s Friday, so I paid myself. Left you the stub so you know how much.”
“You’re still doing all the bookkeeping, right?”
“Yeah.”
Tripp chuckled. “Then I don’t need the stub, Jared. In fact, I wanted to talk to you about something.” Because the chain hotel had been dropped on him, he hadn’t had any time to look up how to make a partnership legal. Surely he could find a form online, get it notarized at the bank. He just hadn’t had a chance to do it yet. Jared might not even want it. “What do you think of—?”
Jared nodded toward Betsy Ross, his eyes suddenly alight. “I think you’re wanted on board.”
Tripp spun to find Hilary standing at the back of the boat, wearing some flimsy piece of purple silk. It barely covered what her swimming suit had. She lifted her hand in a wave, turned, and went below deck. Tripp’s blood turned to lava.
“Tell me you’re not sleeping with her on Betsy Ross.” Jared sounded half-horrified, half-gleeful.
“Okay.” Tripp met his cousin’s eye. “I’m not sleeping with her on Betsy Ross.”
Jared tipped his head back and laughed. “Sure you’re not. You can tell me what you wanted to say when we go out next week. I don’t imagine I’ll see you much before then.”
Tripp kept his mouth pressed into a line while Jared chuckled. “No,” he finally said. “I don’t expect you will.”
“Great, I’ll bring Millie to our place. That’ll be something new and fun for us.” Jared grinned at Tripp and rocked back on his heels. “Sorry to keep you from…whatever it is you’re not doing on the boat.”
“We don’t do anything while the boat is moving,” Tripp said, only telling half the truth. He’d made love with Hilary three times on the boat, and one instance had happened while Betsy Ross sailed out to the halibut pod.
Jared laughed again. “I’m not as serious as you are about the superstitions, boss.” He saluted and turned around. “Oh, is she coming to lunch on Sunday?”
Tripp had already taken several paces toward the boat. “Yes,” he called. “See you then.”
He stepped onto the boat and hurried downstairs, the fire in his belly already roaring upward. Seeing her perched on the edge of his bed in that purple lingerie was like fuel on flames.
She smiled. “Last night, you said half the fun was getting the clothes off.”
He prowled toward her. “Did I say that?”
Nodding, she stood to receive him. And when she kissed him, he knew the ride he was about to embark on would take him in a completely new direction.
Chapter Twenty
Hilary enjoyed the sincere, slow way Tripp loved her as much as the wild, near-frantic nature of their most recent tryst.
Or maybe not-so-secret, since she’d gone above deck and stood before Jared Newton in her lingerie. She cursed herself for being impatient, for being so reckless tonight. But something seethed beneath her skin, and she hadn’t been able to drive it away in any other way.
Tripp hadn’t seemed to notice her anxiety when Greg Howard and his associates had entered the city council meeting, distracted as he’d been by his own stress. She’d almost bolted, though.
Tripp slept next to her in the dark, and she held very still so as not to wake him.
When she couldn’t take another minute, she got up and wandered down the fork in the hallway toward the guest staterooms. The bottom of her pajama pants caught as she stepped into the first room. She didn’t regret her choice to come to the boat, to sleep with Tripp. But she didn’t want their relationship to only be about sex. She shouldn’t have gone above deck in her lingerie. She should’ve gone slower tonight, taken her time to enjoy him the way she had previously.
He hadn’t seemed to mind
the quick, rough-and-tumble nature of their latest encounter, but Hilary felt guilty about it. It reminded her too much of how Dante used to act. Like she was his for the taking whenever he needed a pick-me-up. She’d hated feeling used.
She hurried down the hall and around the corner to wake Tripp. “What’s going on?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“I’m sorry about tonight,” she said. “I shouldn’t have rushed you while you were talking to Jared.”
Tripp looked at her, and while she usually liked his appraisal, now it made her uncomfortable. “I don’t care about Jared,” he finally said. “He’s not going to care if we’re spending the night together.”
Hilary nodded. “It’s not that.”
He took her hands in his. “Then what?”
“Did you feel…used tonight?”
“Tonight was fantastic,” he said.
“So you liked me being in charge.” Confusion raced through her.
“I liked it, yes. I liked what we did yesterday too. I like it all.” He frowned at her. “Hilary, what’s really going on in your head?”
She fiddled her fingers over his. “Dante used to text me when he wanted me to come over. Things like, ‘I need ten minutes,’ or ‘We’ll be quick.’” She exhaled. “I never felt like it was about love with him. And tonight, I feel like I’m the one who did that. I wanted you, and I wanted you right then, and I didn’t give you any other choice but to—”
“Hilary.” He gathered her close. “You can have me when you want me.”
She wiggled out of his embrace. “It took twelve minutes, Tripp.”
“So?”
“I want more than twelve minutes.”
“Well, maybe don’t wear that purple thing again.” He grinned. “Honest, Hilary, it didn’t bother me.”
“I’m saying it bothered me.”
He frowned again. “So, next time, if you’re kissing me like you did tonight, what do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. Slow me down?”
“You want me to slow you down while we’re in bed together?” Tripp shook his head. “I’ve heard of dirty talk, Hilary, but I don’t think any woman gets turned on by, ‘Hey, baby, take your tongue out of my mouth because you’re going too fast.’ Do they?”
Hilary didn’t know what she wanted. She looked up at him. “Maybe ask me what’s wrong?”
His eyes sharpened, and Hilary knew she’d just given too much away.
Instead of asking her what was wrong tonight, he said, “Really? You want me to stop kissing the gorgeous woman who’s just torn off my clothes and ask her why she’s doing it?” His confusion could almost be considered cute, if she didn’t want to tell him about her father’s hotels. If she didn’t want to start with the men from Seattle showing up at the city council meeting, tell him about the strange man who’d raced out of Lucy’s diner, and finish with how she’d tucked two thousand dollars cash into her overnight bag to come stay with him.
“Hilary,” he said, his voice soft and sexy. “I thought you wanted me, plain and simple. I thought you wanted me so badly you couldn’t wait. And I liked that.”
“You really liked it?”
“You’re super sexy when you’re turned on. Should we try it again so I can show you how much I liked it? We can try to do it in eleven minutes this time so you don’t lose too much sleep.” His hands slipped under her pajama top.
She shook her head. “No, Tripp.” She kissed him. “Let’s do it again, but this time I want to take my time and explore a little bit.”
He lay back, a smile gracing his handsome face. “Oh, I like the sound of that too.” He let her kiss him, and she poured the heat pooling in her stomach into the touch. “And baby?”
“Hmm?”
“You’re going to have to tell me what happened tonight that upset you, okay?”
Instead of answering him, she decided to try for that eleven-minute mark. Maybe then he’d stop asking questions.
* * * *
Hilary poked around the galley, finding the utensils and pans pretty easily what with the limited cupboard space. She opened the fridge and found the groceries they’d bought last night: eggs and bacon, strawberries and butter, milk and lemon juice.
Tripp hadn’t gotten out of bed yet, so she opened a couple more cabinets before she pulled out the flour and sugar and salt he claimed were on board.
She hummed as she measured dry ingredients, as she sliced berries and added sugar, as she heated milk in a pan and added a package of yeast.
He’d claimed that Jared often made waffles for their tour groups, and sure enough she found a well-seasoned waffle iron in the last cupboard. The bacon was waiting on a paper towel and the first waffle steamed when Jared’s arms snaked around her waist.
“Morning.” She giggled as he kissed the spot just below her ear.
“Mm.” His fingers slipped under the waistband of her pajama pants, his mind obviously not on bacon and waffles.
“This is almost ready,” she said, swatting his hands away.
He chuckled, stepped away, and glanced at the mess she’d made. “Wow, and I thought Jared was unorganized in the kitchen.”
She pushed against his chest. “I don’t need your help. Go wait in the bedroom.”
His eyebrows shot up, he smiled, and he gave her a mock bow, which was quite entertaining since he only wore a pair of gym shorts. “As you command.”
A minute later, the waffle iron beeped and she dressed up the toasty waffle with strawberries and cream, stuck some bacon on the side, and took it in to Tripp. “Breakfast.”
“We can eat above deck.”
She turned to go make herself a waffle. “I don’t want everyone on the pier to see us.”
“We’re out at sea.”
She turned back to him. “What?”
“I can’t afford to take a Saturday off. I dropped the nets and came back to bed.”
“I didn’t hear you get up.”
“You were dead to the world.” He cut into his waffle and took a bite. His eyes rolled back in his head and he moaned. “Wow, this is delicious.”
Hilary basked in the compliment and poured batter into the hot iron. With her own crispy, light waffle smothered in sugar and fruit, she stuck a piece of bacon in her mouth and joined Tripp on the edge of his bed.
His waffle was nearly gone. “So,” he said. “What was last night about?”
Her appetite vanished, but she stuck a large piece of waffle in her mouth so she wouldn’t have to talk right away. She still hadn’t figured out an answer for him. Maybe the truth, she told herself.
“I…had a lot of pent-up emotions last night,” she said.
He watched her as he took another bite. “About what?”
So much, she wanted to say. You. My father’s hotels. Who I really am. The two grand I stashed in my overnight bag, just in case.
In case of what, she wasn’t sure. Didn’t dare think about.
Last night, she’d been able to distract him with kisses. But now, he’d even been fed and she couldn’t use that to get him onto another topic.
“I don’t know.”
The look on his face said he didn’t believe her. He stood and pulled a shirt on. “The bell’s ringing. You get ten minutes to finish eating and figure out how to tell me the truth.” He stuffed his feet into his boots and pulled the laces tight. “I’ll go pull in the fish so you can think about it.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Tripp thought he’d maintained a fair level of control as he spoke and walked away from Hilary. He fumed inwardly that she was still lying to him. After everything she’d already told him, everything she’d already shown him, everything they’d already done, he couldn’t believe she had more secrets.
He didn’t want secrets, wouldn’t tolerate them. He wanted someone to share everything with. Someone who could take his bad and ugly and help him through it. Someone who could give him what he needed and take from him what they needed.
He worked through his frustration as he pulled in the trawl and emptied the fish into the tank. Ten minutes came and went, and Hilary stayed below deck. Tripp cleaned the fish, giving her the time she obviously needed.
He’d known something was off when she woke him in the middle of the night to apologize—apologize!—for her wild streak in bed. Tripp had absolutely not minded, not even a little bit. He went along with her the second time, though he knew she’d just used sex to distract him.
Something was wrong with her, but he couldn’t figure out what. She hadn’t acted strange at all until she’d appeared on the stern wearing that purple silk. She’d seemed otherworldly then, almost too good to be true.
“Hey.” She tucked her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and sat next to him.
“Already cleaned,” he said. “You didn’t even do your five.” He didn’t look at her but focused on cleaning his tank and icing the fish.
“I saw someone at Lucy’s that scared me,” she said.
Tripp stalled and stared at her. “When? Who was it?”
“Yesterday afternoon. It was some guy Blaine knew in Arcata.” She removed one hand from her pocket and brushed her hair from her forehead. “But for a few seconds, I thought maybe it was one of Dante’s guys.”
Tripp returned to her side. “It wasn’t though.”
She shook her head. “It wasn’t.”
“And that’s why you needed to expend your emotions in a fast and furious way?” He blinked when she glared at him. “Which I really liked, by the way. I’m not complaining.”
“You don’t sound like you believe me.”
He searched her eyes for more, because he sensed it was there. If he’d learned anything about Hilary over the past few months it was that she’d share when she was ready. So he said, “I believe you,” and gave her a quick kiss. “What are the chances of having a second waffle?”
Until Autumn Falls Page 14
