“The talk with your dad,” I whispered. “What did he say?”
He stepped back, his hands still clasped tightly around my waist.
“The one word I’ve been waiting for him to say for over a year.”
I searched his eyes. “What’s that?”
He clenched his teeth, trying to steel himself, and then he leaned his forehead against mine. “Sorry,” he said quietly. “He told me he was sorry.”
I stood on my toes and stroked his hair, listening to his unsteady breaths. Gwen had been right. The talk between David and his son had been good. It had been very good.
“I love you so much, Aubrey,” he whispered. When his lips met mine, his kisses were heavy with feeling. “I want to take you home right now.”
I was suddenly overcome with a desperate, aching need, but I tried to think rationally.
“Daniel, we should get outside.”
He shook his head, and this time when he kissed me, he slowly gathered the fabric at the back of my dress with his fingers.
“Everyone’s waiting for us,” I protested.
He walked me backward toward the built-in bookshelves.
“Didn’t you hear my mom? She said to take our time. The door’s locked. They can wait. I don’t care.”
He didn’t care. Did I care? He nuzzled the spot on my neck that always made me tingle. At the same time, one of his hands crept under the hem of my dress and then snuck inside my panties. Fuck, no. I didn’t care either.
He pushed me into the bookshelf. I wiggled shamelessly against his fingers while he rubbed himself just as brazenly against my leg.
“See the predicaments you get us into by being so sexy?” he breathed into my ear.
“Oh, God,” I gasped.
He slowly slipped my panties down, making me step out of them and tucking them into his pocket with a divinely dirty laugh. Then his hands were everywhere—in my hair, feathering up and down my arms, sliding inside my dress to caress my breasts, moving down to clutch at my ass—and, God help me, I didn’t stop him. On the contrary, I spurred him on, kissing him wildly, rubbing him through his pants and uttering wicked words of encouragement against his lips.
Months ago, I’d dreamed of Daniel taking me like this. My dream had been incredibly sexy, but reality with Daniel always surpassed my fantasies. He raised my hands above my head, curling my fingers around a shelf and telling me to hold on, and then he unzipped his pants and buried himself inside me. He swore and moaned, tugging on my lower lip with his teeth, and my whole body quivered. For a moment, I forgot where I was.
“Daniel…oh fuck…”
“Shh, Aubrey,” he murmured, tilting his head, his lips at my ear. “Whisper…”
“This is crazy…”
“But really fucking hot…”
It was hot—and terribly reckless. But now it was too late. We were both too far gone. I was certain I could feel the ridges in the wood grain of the shelf as I gripped it, and I could definitely feel Daniel’s heart beating against mine. In the silence of the room, our uneven breathing and muted moans were amplified and deliciously sensual.
I slid my hands along the shelf, imagining the scene as it would appear to an onlooker—Daniel and I, still partially clothed, but obviously in the middle of a steamy encounter. One of his hands grasped my right wrist while the other was wrapped around me, steadying us as he pinned me to the shelves with every thrust. Instead of making me tense and self-conscious, the threat of being caught created another layer of exhilarating pleasure.
I focused on the twitching muscle in Daniel’s jaw as he struggled to control himself. I wanted nothing more than to let loose, but like Daniel, I held back, pressing my lips to his neck and digging the heel of my shoe into his leg, aiming my quiet whimpers toward his ear. He returned the favor, swearing through gritted teeth and sinking his fingers into my hip with his final deep thrusts. A moment later, we both laughed breathlessly at our audacity.
“I can’t believe we did that,” I said, hastily sliding the strap of my dress up while Daniel fixed his boxers and zipped up his pants.
“Yep. Incredibly foolish.” He winked slyly. “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
“Me too,” I said, with a mischievous smile. “Crap, we really need to get outside.”
“We should wash up first, don’t you think?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I cringed. I definitely needed a washroom.
“We’ll duck into the powder room. Come on.”
We snuck out of the music room, looking around guiltily as we dashed across the hall. Daniel locked the bathroom door and washed his hands while I cleaned myself up as best I could. He was trying to tame his tousled hair when I spun around and slipped my hand into his pocket. He caught my eye in the mirror.
“Miss Price, I’m going to have to ask you to try to control your insatiable urges,” he said, with a sardonic tilt of his head.
I pulled out my panties and swung them in front of his face.
“Since you just had my panties in your pocket, I’d say we’re long past the days of Miss Price, wouldn’t you?”
I slid my panties on.
“Ready?” he said.
“Ready.”
He reached for the doorknob, but after wiggling it ineffectually for a few seconds, he dropped his head forward.
“Oh, shit.”
“What is it?”
“The door. I can’t believe it. My parents still haven’t fixed the damn thing. We’re locked in.”
I should have panicked, or at the very least felt embarrassed by the fact that Daniel and I were about to get caught hanging out in the bathroom together, but I didn’t. Instead, I started to laugh, and I couldn’t seem to contain myself. Daniel rolled his eyes at me, but a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth too. He pulled his phone from his back pocket.
“What are you doing?” I asked between giggles.
He held his finger to his mouth.
“Hey, Jeremy? It’s me. Look, don’t say anything, but I need you to come inside right now, and grab a coat hanger. Yep, both of us. Don’t you dare, just get in here.”
“Well, sailor, this is another fine mess you’ve gotten us into,” I said, trying not to burst into gales of laughter again as he re-pocketed his phone.
He shook his head and sighed. A moment later, we heard a scratching noise and then a pop as the locking mechanism was freed. Daniel opened the door, and Jeremy stood on the other side holding a misshapen coat hanger, looking back and forth between the two of us. He tapped the mangled hanger against his other hand.
“I don’t even want to know, do I?”
On Monday, Daniel and I set off for Toronto Island, hoping to enjoy a sail around the harbor before settling in to watch the Labor Day fireworks from the island. Lost in his thoughts, Daniel gazed out at the skyline as we crossed the harbor in the water taxi.
“How do you feel about tomorrow?” I asked him. “Are you nervous?”
“Not at all. I was actually thinking about how anxious I was in February. I feel completely different heading into this school year.”
“Those freshman will love you. This is going to be an awesome year for you, sunshine.”
He smiled, his fingers tightening around mine.
“No comment?” I asked.
“What can I say? Sometimes, when the person you adore says something really wonderful, it’s best to just smile and nod.”
He kissed me softly, and then we sat back, gazing out at the water again. Daniel bobbed his head skyward.
“Those clouds don’t look promising.”
“Maybe we can have a quick cruise around the island before the weather turns,” I said, doing my best to be optimistic.
Arriving at the island dock, Daniel clambered out of the boat, holding his hand out to help me. We couldn’t have walked more than six steps before several giant raindrops splashed around us, and then the clouds opened. We sprinted toward Daniel’s slip, but by the time we’d re
ached the boat, we were drenched.
“Watch your step—it’ll be slick,” he shouted, helping me aboard.
He fumbled in his pocket for the cabin keys while I hopped around behind him, giggling and shrieking in the pelting rain. The more he hurried, the longer it took for him to juggle the right key into his fingers.
“Damn it!” he yelled, finally slipping the cabin key into the keyhole.
I took his hand and pulled him away from the door, throwing my arms around him so he couldn’t move.
“What are you doing?” he exclaimed, rain streaming down his face.
“What’s the big deal?” I laughed. “We’re already sopping wet.”
He shook his head in disbelief, but he wrapped his arms around me anyway and kissed me passionately—and soggily. He finally wrenched the cabin door open and ushered me in ahead of him. He slammed the door and threw a towel on the floor. We both stood on it, panting and dripping wet.
“You are a head case,” he marveled, slipping my bag off my shoulder and tossing it on the counter.
“Oh, that was fun, and you know it,” I said.
“You’re right. As usual. And you’re soaked.”
He helped me take off my sopping T-shirt and then unclasped my bra. Pulling off his own T-shirt, he held me close and kissed me again. All wet lips and warm tongue, he chuckled as I rubbed my chest against him.
“You’re also very slippery,” he said.
“I bet you say that to all the girls.” I looked up at him, doe-eyed.
“Nope, only the slippery ones.”
I laughed, and he peeled off my soggy shorts and finished undressing himself. Then he pulled the blanket back on the cabin’s tiny bed, revealing the clean sheets underneath.
“I’m really wet. Don’t you think we should dry off?” I asked him.
“Uh-uh. You being really wet is pretty much perfect for what I have in mind right now.”
He tugged me onto the bed with him, moving me onto my back. I reached down to squeeze his butt playfully.
“Your ass is cold, sweet-knees.”
“It’s your job to warm it up.”
“I don’t remember ass-warming being part of my job description.”
“That’s because I only added it ten seconds ago.”
Still giggling, I reached up to comb his wet hair off his face with my fingers, wiggling underneath him and guiding his hips forward.
“What, no foreplay?” he asked, looking down at me with a dimpled smile.
“Daniel, you should know by now—just living with you is foreplay.”
My hair was stuck to the side of my face, the sheets were damp under our tangled legs, and our plans had gone completely awry. Oddly enough, I wasn’t irritated in the slightest. Daniel sighed, equally content as he wrapped himself around me. We lay still and silent for a long time, listening to the rain pattering on the boat, but finally he pushed himself up onto his elbow.
“Miss Price, I think that was the soggiest, slipperiest, most glorious boat romp we’ve had to date.”
“Gah, that’s it!” I laughed, rolling onto my back. “You and the Miss Price-ing. I’m strongly considering changing my name.”
He looked at me with a strange expression.
“You know, I might be able to help you with that—one day.”
I blinked up at him stupidly. Help me change my name? Huh? What was he saying? I swallowed thickly as he ran his finger across my collarbone.
“I’m not trying to pressure you,” he said, his eyes darting anxiously across my face. “I’ve been thinking about us a lot the last couple of weeks…about our future. I guess I’m wondering if you’d be averse to me asking you an important question one day. I’m only running this by you because I wouldn’t want to get my hopes up unnecessarily…”
I smiled, my heart too full to even try to unpack it with words.
“You’ve been a chatterbox all day, sweetheart. Did you really have to choose this moment to lose the power of speech?” He chuckled nervously.
“Well, you see,” I said. “I’ve heard that when the person you adore says something really wonderful, it’s sometimes best to just smile and nod.”
He breathed out evenly and tucked a few wet strands of hair behind my ear.
“I love you, poppet.”
“I love you, sailor. So much.”
And that was enough. Those six words told him everything he needed to know.
Epilogue
Journey’s End
Journeys end in lovers meeting,
Every wise man’s son doth know.
(Twelfth Night, Act II, Scene iii)
AS DANIEL AND I CROSSED the underground parking garage one Friday night in November, he stopped to pull me into his arms impulsively, his lips warm and insistent against mine. I curled my fingers around his lapels, eagerly returning his passionate kisses. What was it about Daniel in a suit that made it impossible for me to think straight? I contemplated the evening ahead. Perhaps we could have appetizers at Canoe and then call it a night.
“We’re going to be late again, sailor,” I whispered.
“It can’t be helped. I think it’s this dress. I’m not sure how I’ll keep my hands to myself at the restaurant.”
“You’ve outdone yourself, too. Incredibly swoony. I should’ve brought my smelling salts.”
“I seem to remember a time when you gave me permission to catch you if you fall. I promise, I’ll be right there with my arms ready in case your knees fail you tonight,” he said.
And…commence swooning.
It had been months since we’d driven down Lakeshore Boulevard. I was reminded of the night in March when Daniel and I had traveled westward along this same road toward an unknown destination, me simmering in anger and resentment, while he’d been awash in guilt and despair, wondering if I’d be able to forgive him for falsely accusing me of messing around with Matt.
Tonight, although there was a similar chill in the air, it was a chilliness borne of the temperature alone. Instead of staring out the windows while listening to a mournful song, we had the Flaming Lips cranked, both of us bobbing our heads in time to the music. Even the brutal traffic couldn’t dampen our spirits. Daniel sang along as he drove, tapping his palm against the steering wheel.
“If you don’t pay attention to the road, we’re going to miss the turn-off,” I said. “Your family’s going to think I’m a bad influence on you. We always seem to be the last ones to arrive, these days.”
“The last thing my family would think is that you’re a bad influence. Anyway, they can think what they please. It’s not our fault the traffic sucks. We’ll get there when we get there.”
He continued singing, his fingers routinely squeezing mine as we crawled toward the Palais Royale. Ten minutes later, we were on our way into the dance hall, the big band music floating from inside the ballroom, carrying with it the loaded memories of our last visit. We shrugged off our coats and gave them to the girl behind the counter.
“Your family is waiting for you in the private room,” she said, gesturing to the door at the end of the lobby.
Daniel slipped his arm around my waist, guiding me to the room in which we’d shared our first dance and our almost first kiss on March thirteenth—eight months ago to the day. Before reaching for the doorknob, he brought his fingertips to one of my earrings, his eyes dropping down to my necklace.
“Thank you for wearing the jewelry I’ve given you,” he said, lifting my hand and kissing my wrist above the spot where the bangle sat.
“They’re all beautiful pieces. I love wearing them.”
His eyes clouded, and he kissed me, his lips continuing to hum against mine, even as the kiss ended.
“Do you ever feel so happy that you can’t help wondering what the catch is?” he asked.
“Sometimes there’s no catch. Sometimes, it’s just your turn to be happy.”
“You’re right.” A gentle smile tugged at his lips. “Come on.”
&n
bsp; We entered the room. Gerald and David were engrossed in a conversation by the bar. Penny, Brad, Jeremy, and Julie were sitting on the sofa talking in hushed voices. Penny waved, and we strolled over to join them.
“Municipal politics,” Penny said, bobbing her head at her father-in-law and Gerald. “I think David’s found himself a new debating partner.”
“Let them get on with it.” Daniel motioned for me to sit down in the remaining armchair. “Where’s Mom and Patty?”
“Patty had to use the washroom. Gwen went with her,” Julie said.
“So, you guys look rested,” Daniel said to Penny and Brad. They were both tanned thanks to their recent southern getaway. “Did you have a good time?”
Brad rubbed Penny’s back, doting on her as usual. I tried to imagine him in the delivery room. He’d either be a godsend or a menace. I was inclined to think Penny would pronounce him the latter.
“We had a fab time,” Penny confirmed. “I’m glad we went away before I got any bigger. I was self-conscious enough as it was.”
She patted her gently rounded tummy.
“Believe me, babe, no one was staring at your belly,” Brad said.
Daniel eyed her chest. “Yeah, I didn’t think it was possible for you to get more endowed, Penn. Holy shit.”
“I have half a mind to get a massive breast-reduction after I’ve finished having children. Then what will you lot talk about, I wonder?”
“The good old days?” Jeremy suggested.
Before Penny could rebut Jeremy’s comment, Daniel’s mother and grandmother returned.
“Daniel, how was your week in British Columbia?” his grandmother asked, patting his hand as she moved to sit beside Penny on the sofa.
“The symposium was very enjoyable. It’s good to be home, though.”
“I’m sure it is. You must have missed each other?”
“Terribly,” I confirmed.
“You’ll have to make up for lost time,” Patty whispered.
“Luckily, I have next week off,” Daniel reminded his grandmother with a sly wink.
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