by J. H. Croix
Trey put his hand under Stuart’s chin, his touch light. “How about this? You take a nap and we can ask Emma if she’ll have dinner with us tonight?”
Emma’s heart leapt at the question. She’d kept her feelings under control, but the part of herself she didn’t want to take the lead was begging for every moment with Trey. The more sane part of her realized Trey was wisely bargaining with Stuart.
Stuart tilted his head up to look at Emma. “Will you have dinner with us?” he asked. “You can meet Tootsie and Neon.”
“If I say yes, will you take a nap?” Emma asked, forcing her eyes away from Trey to Stuart.
Stuart nodded quickly. “Uh huh.”
“Then, yes. I’d love to have dinner. I’d especially love to meet Tootsie and Neon.” Emma looked to Trey when she replied, gauging his reaction.
Stuart was so tired his chin had dropped to his chest. Trey quietly closed the cooler, his eyes meeting hers. Without a word, he quirked a brow and nodded, one side of his mouth tilting up. He reached for Stuart and lifted him into his arms. Stuart was asleep in seconds, his head resting against his father’s shoulder.
Emma watched Trey carry Stuart into the cabin. He carefully laid Stuart on the bed, tucking a fleece blanket around him. Watching him with Stuart only strengthened the draw she felt to him. And that made her wonder if she’d truly lost her mind. Since she’d shaken free from Greg, for the most part, she figured she’d be perfectly fine steering clear of any relationship…ever. But when she allowed herself moments to wish for something, she knew that it would have to be uncomplicated. A way too sexy widowed pilot who also happened to be a single father was pretty much the opposite of uncomplicated. Not to mention, as she’d told herself about five hundred times today, if Trey knew even a hint of what her marriage had been like…
Trey climbed up the steps back onto the deck and quietly shut the cabin door. “He’ll probably sleep all the way back. He usually wears himself out when we fish,” he said as he moved to pull up the anchor. In short order, they were headed back to shore. Trey was quiet as he steered the boat. Emma couldn’t help but sneak glances at him. His dark silvered hair was windblown. Every time he looked at her, his velvety chocolate gaze stoked the burn she felt.
She forced herself to look into the bay. Keep it together. For God’s sake, just looking at him turns off your brain. It was early afternoon, the sun high and bright. She took a gulp of air, wondering just what the hell she’d been thinking when she agreed to have dinner with them. At the moment, she’d said yes for Stuart’s sake, but it was becoming obvious that her attraction to Trey was more than she bargained for. Another fortifying breath of the ocean air blowing by and she faced forward again. Just as she did, the boat’s engine stuttered. A few seconds of that and the engine stopped completely.
Trey was back by the engine before Emma could say a word. She followed him to the back of the boat. “Is there anything I can do?” she asked.
Glancing up, he smiled wryly. “Not sure what’s wrong. Mind holding the wheel while I take a look? Even though the engine isn’t running, the rudder still keeps us aimed in the right direction.”
Emma nodded and returned to hold the wheel. A few more minutes of Trey checking things, and he asked her to try starting the engine. Conveniently, it started right up. When Trey returned, she tried to slip out of the way. Her boot caught on the chair leg and she stumbled right into Trey. “Sorry,” she said quickly, glancing up as she did.
Her hands landed on his chest, and his face was barely an inch from hers when she looked up—straight into his mesmerizing eyes. Desire raced through her, a current striking sparks between them. Trey’s eyes darkened. In what felt like suspended time, Emma noticed that one of his hands had landed on her waist when she stumbled—its warmth seared into her, blazing a trail of heat that swirled through her center. Trey’s eyes fell to her mouth and flicked back to hers. Afterward she couldn’t be sure if there was a question in his eyes, but whatever he saw in hers must have answered. With no preamble, he closed the space between them, his mouth coming against hers.
Trey tugged her close against him. The feel of his body against hers was a heaven Emma hadn’t imagined. He stood just tall enough above her that she felt sheltered in his arms. He turned so that he could lift her onto the seat and pressed against her, standing in the cradle of her thighs. His hand tangled in her hair, slipping around to cup her face. His thumb stroked down the side of her throat, brushing across her pulse. His kiss was masterful—a patient, thorough and searing exploration. He traced the contours of her lips with his tongue, alternating with soft kisses, nips and deep strokes.
She was aflame, almost frantic at the intensity of his kiss. He was water to her parched desire. His lips traveled down her neck, shivery heat following. She gasped his name.
He paused, the moment heavy and humming with the sheer yearning between them. He lifted his head, his eyes locking with hers. All of his control, all of measured reserve had disappeared. His eyes held such bare want, it took her breath away. She couldn’t hide what she felt. She’d never felt anything close to this kind of passion with anyone ever, and she was utterly in thrall to the moment.
Wordlessly, she lifted a hand and traced his lips with her fingertip. Holding her gaze, Trey tipped his head toward hers. His lips landed against hers again, her hand falling away. Their kiss went wild. Emma was awash in sensation, her heart racing, heat unfurling through her body, desire sizzling in her veins. His hand slipped under her shirt, his palm strong and sure as it slid up her back in a heated caress. He deftly unhooked her bra, his palm sliding around her ribcage and softly curling around her breast. She gasped against his lips when he lightly rolled her nipple between his fingertips.
He pushed closer, though they were already plastered together. The heat of his hard length pressed into the cradle between her legs, right against her damp heat. What little hold she had on sanity scattered—she strained against him, desperate for relief. Trey broke away from her lips, his tongue blazing a damp trail down her neck and tracing her collarbone. His breath came in deep gusts against her skin. With a quick tug, her breasts spilled out above her tank top. He paused for a long moment, cupping both breasts with his hands.
Her nipples ached, peaked with desire. In slow motion, he circled one and then another nipple with his tongue. Pulling back, he blew softly against them. His warm breath heightened the ache she felt.
“Trey…please…” she gasped.
In response, his lips closed over one nipple and then the other, drawing deep and pulling back with a soft kiss. The relief was so acute, Emma’s breath came out in a sob.
“Dear God, you are beautiful,” Trey whispered, his voice raspy.
He pulled back to look at her, slipping his hands up to cup her face and then trailing down her neck, his thumbs tracing along her pules, skating over her shoulders to curl around her breasts again. Emma felt…treasured and vulnerable. She was lost in the fire between them. The raw vulnerability shattered her defenses. A distant warning bell rang in her head.
Trey caught her eyes and gave the barest shake of his head. “Don’t think,” he said softly, his words a warm command laced with an understanding that she didn’t know how he could have.
Just as she started to think, he slid a hand down her abdomen, shoving her flimsy tank top out of the way. Holding her gaze, he deliberately unbuttoned her jeans, hooking his thumb over the top and pushing her zipper down. Her eyes fell closed as his hand slipped down to cup her through the thin silk of her panties. She was dripping with moisture, which she knew he felt. Barely moving his hand, he established an incremental rhythm, stroking her through the damp silk. In moments, she was on the brink. All thought vanished. All she felt was what lay between them—an incandescent passion. Trey slipped his hand away, replacing it with the pressure of his hard cock through his jeans. He ground into her, cupping her face with one hand, holding her gaze. Just as she tumbled over into an orgasm that went on and o
n, he brought his mouth to hers, capturing her fractured cries in his kiss.
As she slowly stilled, the pulses of her orgasm fading, Trey gentled his kiss and pulled away. Tilting her chin up, she found herself once again looking into his intense brown eyes. Emma couldn’t have guessed what she would see, but she was startled at the bare desire reflected there.
Trey held her eyes, the moment shaped by a lingering pulse of desire and uncertainty. He finally spoke.
“I didn’t expect that.”
Emma wordlessly shook her head.
“I take it that means you didn’t either?’ he asked, a smile flirting at the corners of his eyes.
“No, no I didn’t,” she finally said, somehow finding her words. She forced herself to look away, staring blindly out over the water.
Trey remained where he was, his warm palm resting against her cheek, his thumb caressing her jawline. She could still feel his hard length against her, the denim rough against the damp silk. She took a shaky breath, trying to gather herself. Her wits had scattered. She felt out of control in a way she hadn’t ever experienced. Part of her wanted to simply revel in what just happened and perhaps allow herself to enjoy this moment with Trey—when he seemed entirely at ease, his focus on her laced with an intense passion and tenderness. And yet, now that reality was hitting her, the wheels in her mind started to turn. Aside from Greg, she hadn’t been with any other man, and she’d never had an orgasm with anyone but herself. She figured that she was too uptight to relax. With Trey though, it just happened. And that blew her mind.
Though her body, and perhaps her heart, thought what just happened was amazing, her mind…well her mind was definitely not in agreement. Her mind ran wild with reminders of why letting a kiss with Trey get so out of hand was plain stupid. And now she had to figure out how to gracefully handle this without looking like more of an idiot than she already did. For God’s sake, he just kissed her like she’d never been kissed and made her fall apart in his arms. And he didn’t seem to realize that what he’d done was a huge mistake. In fact, he seemed oddly comfortable with it.
Emma finally turned back toward Trey. Not yet able to meet his eyes again, though she felt them on her, she stared at his shirt, a soft worn navy t-shirt. She wanted to cry because so much of her wanted to let this be real, but she couldn’t. She was who she was with the past she had. This would have to be just what it was—a moment of time that could never happen again. She swallowed against the tightness in her throat.
“Hey,” Trey said, his voice low. “I don’t know what it is you’re thinking about now, but how about not worrying so much?”
Somehow, his soft question relieved the building tension inside. She took a slow breath and finally looked up at him. His eyes were still unguarded. He slipped his palm under her chin and leaned forward to press a soft kiss on her lips, lingering for a moment. When he pulled away, his eyes became serious. “Emma, I meant it when I said I didn’t expect that. But I won’t pretend I didn’t want it. I have since the first day I saw you. I just thought…” he paused, appearing to mull something over. “My life has been pretty focused since my wife died…”
“I’m so sorry that happened,” she blurted out, her words tripping over each other. Though she hadn’t known Trey long, she knew simply from watching him with Stuart that he was a good man with a good heart. She knew it must have been terrible for him to lose his wife.
Trey nodded, his lips twisting into a small smile tinged with sadness. “It’s okay. It’s been a while now. What I was trying to say is that even though I took one look at you and wanted to kiss you, it’s not something I considered because I haven’t let myself consider it with anyone. Not because I’m stuck in the past, but because it’s hard enough being a single dad without trying to figure out how to bring someone else into my life with Stuart.”
Emma began to nod. Trey was going to make this easy for her. Of course she understood how complicated that would be for Stuart. “I understand. I didn’t expect this either. You don’t need to worry. I’m not expecting anything from you, and I completely understand Stuart is your priority. There’s no way to make promises, so don’t worry. We can just be friends and pretend like this never happened,” she said quickly.
Trey gave her a long look, arching an eyebrow. “That’s not where I was going with this.”
Emma’s heart stuttered and raced, her nerves on high idle, barely settled from what had happened a few minutes ago. “What? I don’t understand…”
Trey released her chin and began stroking his hand through her hair, which had come loose from its ponytail hours ago. He carefully untangled it as he spoke. “Obviously this,” he gestured between them with his free hand “between us is a lot more than either of us bargained for. But I’m not going to just ignore it. It’s too amazing. I haven’t felt anything close to this. I know you can’t make promises and neither can I. But Stuart adores you, and you blow me away. I don’t want to pretend like this never happened. If I’m going to give myself a chance to try, it might as well be with a woman that I can’t seem to stop thinking about. Not to mention what you do to me,” he said, his voice deepening as he pressed his hips into her again. She felt the pulse of his cock against her.
In the quiet that followed, Emma felt Trey’s hand slowly caressing her hair. He’d shocked her into silence. She’d have guessed he would want to see this as an aberration, not as something to hold onto. The corner of her mind that had held so much power over her the last few years, the corner that had helped her stay sane, move cautiously and get away from Greg wanted to be heard and wanted to tell her to walk away from this before she got in too deep. But the rest of her wanted, so desperately wanted, to do just as Trey suggested—to try this.
Cautiously, she lifted her eyes to his again. Her doubts clamored for attention and yet—she knew in her heart that no matter what, he was just as vulnerable as she was, and his heart was true. Her heart shoved her mind out of the way as she nodded. “I don’t think I can say it quite like you did, but whatever it is between us… I don’t want to pretend it’s not there. I don’t know what this will look like, but…”
Trey cut her off with a kiss. It started gentle, but in seconds, she was on fire. He stroked deeply into her mouth, his tongue tangling with hers. For a brief moment, he pulled away, stared intently into her eyes and then brought his lips down hard. Several breath stealing moments later, Trey broke away. Emma wouldn’t have been surprised if steam lifted off of them. He took a step back and gave his head a hard shake. “If you were wondering what you do to me, let me just say this: we have to stop, or I won’t be able to stop. You have me so out of my mind, I can’t think straight,” he said, shaking his head wryly, a wondering edge to his words.
A laugh burst out of her. “It’s a two-way street. I almost forgot where we were,” she said. “We should get back,” she said.
Trey nodded and stepped close again. “Just a sec,” he said, reaching down to slowly pull her zipper up and tug her tank top back over her breasts, his hands lingering in a soft caress before stepping back again.
He glanced out over the water and looked back to her. “Hope you like fresh salmon because that’s dinner.”
“I love fresh salmon. Should I bring anything?”
Trey shrugged. “If you want. I’ve gotten so used to cooking for just me and Stuart, I usually have all the bases covered. What would you want to bring?”
Emma thought for a moment. “I could bring a salad. I make a great strawberry vinaigrette salad that kids usually like.”
Trey smiled slowly as he nodded. “That would be perfect.”
Emma thought she might just melt. Those smiles of his, which until their kiss had been like tiny surprise gifts, were so special she wanted to squeal. Instead, she kept it together and nodded. She finally slipped off of the chair behind the steering wheel, straightened her blouse and climbed onto the other chair. “Time to get going. I need to get back, so I have time to c
hange and get what I need for the salad.”
Trey shifted the boat into gear and flashed a quick smile in her direction.
Chapter 7
Trey checked the propane tank for the grill, confirming what he already knew—there was ample propane to grill salmon tonight. It was late afternoon, and Emma would be here any minute now. After they’d returned to the docks, Trey managed to steal a quick kiss before it was time to wake Stuart. Thoughts of Emma had turned in his mind ever since he’d been unable to prevent himself from kissing her. Kiss was a weak word to describe what happened. All he knew was that any restraint he had dissolved under the sheer power of the current between them. He’d wanted to kiss her the first time he ever saw her.
But he couldn’t have imagined what it would do to him. He chuckled to himself when he thought about how he’d imagined trying to start another relationship. He’d figured it would be months of dates, a careful introduction to Stuart, and then…something else. The last thing he would have guessed was that he’d get singed by the ferocity of passion that Emma elicited. He’d barely, just barely, remembered they were on a boat in the middle of the ocean with Stuart napping nearby. Oddly enough, he wasn’t too bothered by how much power she held over him. He’d known passion with Helen. But he’d never experienced anything close to the fire that swirled when he touched Emma. He’d also known love with Helen. And though he’d be a fool to think he knew Emma the way he’d known Helen, his heart sensed that she rang true for his—and that he recognized.
He hadn’t planned on this, not for a second. But he wasn’t going to be so stupid to let something this amazing slip away just because he didn’t anticipate it. Though he hadn’t known she’d all but bring him to his knees with one kiss, he’d been interested enough before today that he’d made some careful inquiries about Emma. He had a few friends around town, including Jared Winters, a fishing guide he’d gotten to know. They often sent business to each other during tourist season and fished together when they could. One of Jared’s brothers was married to Emma’s sister, Hannah. Jared had bluntly pointed out he figured Trey must be asking about Emma for a reason. When Trey hadn’t confirmed it, Jared merely shrugged and filled him in. That was how he’d learned Emma was a therapist, she’d moved here after finding out Hannah was her biological sister, and she was single and had been since she’d been in Diamond Creek. Jared had finished his quick summary by pointing out “…she’s low drama and beautiful. Perfect for you.”
