by Addison Cole
She paused, taking in his serious expression and the thoughtful way he was touching her now, his hands holding her around her waist. He’d become her anchor, knowing exactly what she’d needed. Again.
“I think the reason I let myself move so quickly with you is that I feel like we’ve been heading toward this for almost a year. That’s a really long time, and I know your family and friends, and I’ve had months to get to know you and trust you.”
He took her hands in his and gazed into her eyes. “I will always be honest with you. That’s one thing you can count on.”
She nodded, believing him with her whole heart, and her next words came surprisingly easily. “I don’t like to admit it, but it was hard, trying to juggle a new baby and work and life. Before your father hired me, the companies I worked for weren’t very accommodating when it came to time off for Hagen, and with kids you never know when they’re going to get sick. We’d moved a few times based on babysitters and jobs. Our lives are finally stable, and if something happens to me, my family is there for Hagen.”
“You’ve done a good job with him,” Matt reassured her, picking up the washcloth and running it along her back, bringing their bodies even closer together. “He seems very grounded and happy.”
“Thank you. My biggest fear is that I’ll somehow mess him up. The prospect of letting a man into my life is still scary, because in the end, my decisions affect Hagen’s life. You mentioned daddy issues, and I’m not sure he won’t have them, once he learns the truth.”
MATT HAD BEEN thinking about that himself, and about Hagen’s comment about being a nerd. That issue was far from closed in his mind. But Mira was telling him she needed to keep some boundaries and he knew he had to be careful how strongly he voiced his concerns.
He washed her tenderly, placing kisses along her wet skin.
“I don’t think all children who grow up with only one parent have issues. Hagen has a strong support system in place.”
“That’s true, and I hope it’s enough. I lost my dad when I was twelve, as you know, and that was hard. But I think it’s different, because I know how much he loved me before he died.”
“Yes, it’s different, but every situation is different. I wasn’t ready to lose my mother as an adult. But losing a parent and being treated as if you don’t exist to that parent are totally different. Maybe, when the time comes, when Hagen is older and inevitably learns the truth, you can get him into counseling, so he has a safe place to deal with it.”
“That’s already on my list. I’ll protect him from the truth as long as I can, but there’ll come a time when he’s filling out medical papers or just curious, when he’ll need to be told. I don’t look forward to it.”
Matt wrapped his arms around her and held her, wanting to promise he’d help her when the time came, but he sensed that wasn’t what she needed to hear, so instead he said, “He’s lucky to have you.”
When the water cooled, he dried her with a thick towel, blew out the candles, and led her into the bedroom. He knew she wasn’t used to all the physical activity they’d done today, and he’d planned a nice relaxing evening of pampering his lovely girlfriend.
She climbed onto the bed, moving like a seductive kitten across the mattress. Gone was the shy girl of last night. She looked over her shoulder, her hair tumbling over one eye, and he nearly forwent the pampering he’d planned, but he didn’t want her to miss out on being cherished like she deserved to be.
“Lie down on your stomach, beautiful.”
She followed his request, looking utterly gorgeous sprawled out on the blankets, her hair streaming away from her face in soft waves. She closed her eyes and he retrieved the body lotion from the bedside table and straddled her hips. Pouring the lotion into his hands, he brought them to her shoulders and began kneading what little tension she had.
“That feels so good.”
“You feel so good, baby.” He massaged her shoulders, down her arms, then worked his way back up each limb again.
“My arms feel like wet noodles.”
“Good. Relax, sunshine. You never have a chance to put yourself first, so tonight is all about you.”
“Matt?”
“Mm-hm?” He focused on the back of her neck, rubbing all the places he knew she carried tension.
“Why haven’t you been dating?”
He moved lower, carefully massaging her upper back. He smiled as he answered, because he knew how cheesy the truth sounded. “Because I met you, and you weren’t in New Jersey with me.”
She craned her neck and gave him a look of disbelief.
“It’s the truth.” Once she settled onto the pillow again, he said, “I’ve never been the type of guy who could sleep with a woman without caring about her. I know that makes me sound either like a liar or a fool, but I am who I am.” His hands glided over her sides, massaging all the way down to her hips.
“But look at you,” she said, eyes still closed.
He came down over her back and kissed her cheek. “Baby, look at you. There’s no difference, except you had Hagen to look after.”
She opened her eyes, and he shifted so he was lying beside her. “But you’re a guy.”
“I’m fully aware of that fact. But that doesn’t mean I’m an animal who can’t control myself. I had a healthy sex life. I wasn’t a saint, but once I met you, you were the only woman I wanted.”
She smiled and touched his cheek. “But you couldn’t have known we’d end up like this.”
He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them. “I didn’t, but my heart wanted you. I was busy with research projects and students and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. When they offered me the book deal, I took it as a sign. And here we are.”
“All that time?” she asked with wide eyes.
“It’s amazing what the mind and body are capable of.” He kissed her again and resumed massaging her back. She snuggled into the blankets with a sweet smile on her lips.
He worked his way down her spine, easing the tension from her muscles. Kissing the dimples just above her bottom, he reminded himself this was pampering, not foreplay, though his body had other ideas.
“Mm. Feels so good,” she repeated.
“Turn over, baby.”
NEARLY TWO HOURS, one shared shower, and several delicious kisses later, Mira stood on the deck gazing out at the water. Down the beach she saw twinkling lights. She squinted, trying to make out what it might be. The screen door opened behind her and she drew in a deep breath, her pulse quickening in anticipation of Matt’s touch. She’d already come to expect the feel of his warm lips, firm and insistent against her skin, when he greeted her.
His arms circled her waist, and he pressed a tender kiss beside her ear. “Are you ready to go to dinner?”
“Mm-hm. Look down there.” She pointed to lights dancing in the distance. “What is that?”
Matt slipped an arm around her waist, and as they stepped off the deck and onto the sand, she rested her head against his shoulder. He looked like a model in a pair of dark linen pants that tied at the waist, a white cotton shirt stretched tight across his broad chest, and those sexy glasses that made her stomach go ten types of crazy.
“Maybe we should go see what’s going on down there,” Matt suggested. He took her hand and led her toward the front of the house.
“But I thought we were going to see—” She swallowed her words at the sight of a horse-drawn carriage parked out front. A man dressed in black slacks and a white button-down shirt stood beside two impressive white horses at the front of the wooden carriage.
Matt placed a hand on her lower back. “I don’t think your dreams of being romanced by Mr. Right were immature. I think you simply had them too early.”
Her eyes burned with tears of happiness. “It’s…Oh, Matt.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I can’t believe you did this. How? When? I was with you the whole day.”
He lifted one shoulder in
a coy shrug. “When there’s a will…”
Matt gave the driver his phone and had him take a picture of them in front of the carriage. To remember our adventure. As if she would ever forget this magical moment.
The driver set a wooden stool on the ground, and Matt held Mira’s hand as she climbed into the carriage, where she found a bouquet of gloxinias waiting for her. Love at first sight.
“Happy Saturday night, sunshine.” He draped an arm over her as the driver took his seat in the front of the carriage and the horses led them down the cobblestone street.
She hugged Matt again, listening to the clippity-clop of the horses compete with the loud beat of her heart. “Thank you. You didn’t have to go to all this trouble. I’m glad you did, but just being with you is enough for me.”
“We’ll have plenty of time to just be together without any bells or whistles. But you’ve missed out on a lot while focusing on being a mommy. We’ve got catching up to do, and I’m going to make sure you never miss out on anything again.”
As the horses led them through the streets they’d ridden their bikes on earlier in the day, and some they’d somehow missed, Mira felt like she was living in a fairy tale. But fairy tales weren’t real, and Matt was very, very real. And you haven’t been with another woman since we met. She couldn’t stop thinking about that. She didn’t know men pined after women. She thought it was just something she read about in romance novels. Her mother often told her that good things came to those who waited, but she hadn’t exactly been waiting for Matt. He’d been off-limits in her mind. A man whose life and lifestyle were too far away from her own.
Maybe her mother had it wrong. Maybe good things came to those who got messed up by cheating exes.
“We have to bring Hagen here,” Matt said casually. “He’d love that little bookstore, and parasailing, and you know the minute he sees a horse-drawn carriage he’ll want to build one.”
She loved that Hagen was never far from his mind.
The carriage brought them to the edge of the beach where they’d seen the dancing lights. A shiny silver canopy draped in sparkling lights shimmered in the breeze above a table set for two. A waiter in full black-tie attire stood at the ready with a white cloth draped over his sleeve. Candles danced inside red vases, positioned around the canopy in the shape of a heart. Mira had never seen anything so elegant in all her life.
The driver stepped out and set the stool on the ground. Then he reached up and helped her out of the carriage. She clung to the lovely bouquet as Matt thanked the driver, and she saw him slip him something, which she assumed was a tip.
“You set up the dancing lights, too?” She probably shouldn’t be surprised, but she felt like a breathless girl of eighteen again.
“Let’s go find out.” Matt knelt beside her, smiling as he slipped off her sandals, removed his shoes, and set them off to the side.
He hugged her closer as they stepped onto the cool sand. Maybe she had been hoping for Mr. Right too soon.
Chapter Seventeen
MIRA WATCHED THE island fade in the distance as the ferry carried them swiftly back toward the Cape. Sunday had come too fast. She didn’t want their weekend to end. The thought came with a touch of motherly guilt. She and Matt sat by the railing with the midmorning sun shining down on them and the salty air kissing their newly bronzed skin. She closed her eyes and rested against Matt’s side, making a mental list of the things she’d have to do when she got home—check Hagen for ticks, laundry, prepare my spiel about the co-op—nixing her daydreams and the motherly guilt that accompanied them. It wasn’t like she’d dumped her son with a stranger to go away for a sexcapade. Hagen was probably having a great time with his uncles, and her life would go back to normal in a few hours. Thinking of all the things she had to do, she wondered when she was going to fit in the phone calls to the companies. The best time to reach any business owner was when the companies opened before they had time to get busy, but she’d be driving Hagen to camp at that time. She imagined leaving messages that would never be returned. Maybe she could call on her lunch hour, but what were the chances of business owners being available during lunchtime?
Matt kissed her temple, pulling her from her thoughts. “Ready to be a mommy again?”
She smiled, wondering if it would make her an awful mother to admit she wished they had one more day alone. “I’m always ready to be a mommy, but I want more time with you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He kissed her softly. “I like my writing schedule of getting up early and hammering out a few hours of research, sometimes seeing you for lunch, and being with you and Hagen in the evenings.”
She quieted her hopeful thoughts, knowing he was referring to the remainder of his sabbatical, not his entire future, which made her heart hurt a little.
“I meant now. Selfishly, I want another day alone with you.”
“Me too, sunshine. Don’t worry, when there’s a will…We’ll find time alone. What else is going on in that pretty head of yours?”
She shrugged. “Just work stuff.”
“Thinking about the co-op?”
“Yeah. I want to start calling companies tomorrow.” She explained her dilemma about timing.
“That’s easy to fix. I’ll take Hagen to camp tomorrow while you make the calls. That’ll give me more time with him. Maybe he’ll open up about why he asked about being a nerd.”
He kissed her again. He was always kissing her, and she loved it.
“But you just said you like to do research in the mornings.”
“That’s the great thing I’m discovering about being a real writer instead of a teacher who also writes papers. There’s no one to report to. I make my own schedule, and tomorrow I’ll drive Hagen to camp and work a little later.”
“Matt, I don’t want you to feel like I’m using you as a babysitter, or—”
He silenced her with another wonderful kiss. Maybe she should always ramble around him.
“I don’t feel that way,” he assured her. “I offered, and I’m totally okay with you using me as a boyfriend. There’s a big difference between a babysitter and a boyfriend. Boyfriends and parents don’t babysit. They take care of children they care about.”
She tried to swallow past the emotions clogging her throat. Most people had no idea there was a distinction. “You can’t possibly know how much it means to me to hear that.”
“You can’t possibly know how much it means to me that you’re letting me into Hagen’s life.”
They sat in comfortable silence as the Cape came into view. Mira got up to go to the ladies’ room, and Matt went with her, a protective hand securely in place on her lower back. She hadn’t needed to be taken care of or walked to the bathroom since she was a little girl, but Serena was right again. She took comfort knowing Matt cared enough to do the little things she didn’t think she needed.
As they approached the ladies’ room they passed a couple in a heated argument. They were whispering, but there was no mistaking their tones. Mira raised a brow to Matt, as if to say, Glad that’s not us, but it was lost on her overprotective man. His hand tightened around her, his eyes never leaving the angry couple. Mira didn’t know what he was so worried about. Couples fought. It was part of life. And it wasn’t like the guy looked like a derelict or the type of man who would fly off the handle. He looked like he’d walked off the golf course in a pair of nice khakis and a polo shirt. Although, after taking a second look, Mira noticed the woman slowly stepping backward.
“Go on into the ladies’ room, sunshine. I’ll be right here when you come out,” Matt said, nudging her toward the entrance.
She went into the ladies’ room imagining him standing with his arms crossed like a bodyguard waiting for her to come out. She pushed open a stall and heard a shriek. Mira ran out of the ladies’ room, and her heart lodged in her throat. Matt held the arguing man prisoner against the wall with one hand on his throat. His other hand was stretched out behind him, a barrier between
the man and the woman, who was now crying.
The veins in Matt’s neck and arms bulged like pregnant snakes. His narrow-eyed stare was lethal as he seethed through gritted teeth, “You lay a hand on one man, woman, or child and I will make sure you can never do it again.” He seemed oblivious to the gasping of the crowd gathering around them.
The guy cursed at him. His eyes shifted to the woman with a stare that made Mira’s blood run cold, but it was the bruises appearing on the woman’s arm that had her sidling up to the frightened woman and putting her arm around her.
“Shut. Your. Mouth,” Matt said too calmly. The restraint in his voice told Mira he was acting that way for the sake of the spectators. “The authorities will take care of you, but one more foul word out of your mouth and you won’t be able to tell your side of the story.”
Mira focused on the trembling woman beside her. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“I don’t”—she sobbed—“know. We had a blind date, and I…” She shook her head and swiped at her tears.
Mira embraced her, telling her it was okay and watching Matt with awe and concern as the authorities broke through the crowd and took over.
By the time the authorities released Matt, the ferry had docked. Matt’s arm circled her waist as they walked to the car.
“Sorry, sunshine,” he said casually. “Are you okay?”
“Me? Matt, you just put yourself in danger for a stranger. What if that guy had hurt you?”
He smiled down at her. “Then I’d say my years of self-defense training were pretty worthless.”
She was as turned on by his badboy manliness as she was concerned. He could have been hurt. And then her mommy brain kicked in again. “I’m serious, Matt.”
