Dare to Dream (Carolina Beach #1)

by C. A. Harms

  “I know I’ve said it before, but I need to say it again.” I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat. “Thank you,” I whispered, “for being so great with them. For letting them be kids, and letting them cover you with syrup without complaining about the mess. For all of it, thank you.”

  She turned in my arms and placed her hands on my chest. “You don’t have to thank—”

  I pressed my lips to hers.

  She just didn’t get it. She didn’t understand what her kindness meant to not only them, but to me.

  They were a stranger’s children; she owed them nothing. But she hadn’t denied them once since meeting them and was right there with them, acting crazy and laughing without hesitation. She didn’t let the fact we just met keep her from acting as if she had no one to impress. And that to me not only made her more beautiful, but made me want her more.

  She pulled back, her eyes remaining closed.

  “They adore you, Greer,” I told her. “I adore you.”

  She opened her eyes and locked her gaze with mine.

  “I never thought I’d take a chance with anyone after Lynn, but you make me wanna try. You make me want more in my life.” So much more.

  “Darren,” she replied, her eyes glossy.

  “You being here with us just feels right.” If felt more than right, but I didn’t want to scare her off by telling her.

  “It feels perfect,” she whispered before rising onto her toes and kissing me once again. “And I should be the one thanking you for allowing me to be in their lives.”

  Once again this woman took my breath away with just one simple sentence, and again I asked myself what I could have possible done to deserve a chance meeting with a woman like Greer.

  Chapter 14

  Greer

  I’ve always loved the beach, in addition to the sunsets and sunrises. But with Darren and the girls, I loved them even more. Each night I looked forward to curling up next to Darren to watch the sunset with one of the girls snuggled up to each of us. Though Darren woke up early to visit his jobsites, he made sure to hurry home so we could once again make plans to do something with Violet and Vivian.

  I guess being the owner and operator of a construction company had its perks. He was able to hire people to do jobs for him and simply had to oversee from time to time.

  Three fast-moving, fun-filled weeks. That’s how long it had been since Darren first invited me into his home and Violet and Vivian made me fall in love with them. Their sweet faces alone had the ability to cure the shittiest of moods, and I had no hope of survival when they started giggling. When I was around them, I felt like a kid again.

  Vivian and Violet had even gone as far as talking Darren into buying me my very own doll to play with when they gathered me on the floor for what they referred to as “our time” together.

  Every day with them was like Christmas. That rush of excitement, that unpredictable joy you get knowing you’re about to receive something you asked for. The heightened rush of urgency to see what the package before you holds. They gave me that. I loved the surprises, the games, and, yes, even the messes. I’d never imagined I would be dancing in circles on the beach wearing a tutu, but I did it for them. Anytime they asked, I’d imitate a tiger, complete with growling and roaring, while they tried to capture me with imaginary nets. In fact I’d loved every second of that game, and I’d be first in line to let them give me a makeover again. I was well aware I looked like a Maybelline explosion when they were done, but it made them happy.

  And Darren still told me I was beautiful afterward.

  Hell, I didn’t even think twice about playing Simon Says in the middle of the grocery store when they asked. And the fact Darren let us do our thing while he continued to gather the items he needed to make us all dinner later that night made him the sexiest man I’d ever known.

  The man was a dream, and sometimes I wondered how on earth I got lucky enough to be the one he chose to finally take a chance with. But if I were being honest, it terrified me too. But that didn’t stop me from falling even harder for him and his girls.

  My days and nights were overflowing with the happiness they brought me. They consumed so much of my time that I rarely had a moment to feel sad or read the text messages Tucker had been sending lately. I didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say. I wouldn’t let him taint the happiness that now engulfed me.

  But on the nights when I was alone, reality would hit me, and I remembered I would have to go back to my petty life in Missouri and all the drama that came with it.

  The thought of leaving them broke my heart.

  As I sat on the couch awaiting their arrival, I found myself tearing up at idea that they would no longer be part of my life.

  The knock on the door made me jump in surprise, and I rushed toward the mirror on the wall near the front door to make sure my tears hadn’t ruined my makeup.

  I couldn’t do this right now; I had to hold it together because the girls had planned on taking me out to dinner and disappointing them was not an option.

  My heart wouldn’t be able to take leaving them when the time came, so it was better to start the process now while my heart was still intact.

  ***

  I spent the evening fighting down the lump in my throat and the unmistakable dread threatening to drown me. Darren had taken us to a restaurant I hadn’t visited. Larry’s was family owned and operated, and from the looks of it, most the people in town loved it. The place was packed to the hilt and the wait was horrendous, but we were seated right away. It was as if they already knew we were coming, and the hostess seemed to know Darren and the girls. He chose the space next to me, and the girls sat on the opposite side of the table. He draped his arm over my shoulders, and his thigh pressed tightly to mine, as if showing me affection was second nature.

  My chest felt tight, and the final punch came when a man stepped up to the table and the girls called him Grandpa.

  “Hey, Dad,” Darren said after the girls had finished mauling the man. “This is Greer.”

  When he turned to face me, I saw he had the same gorgeous eyes.

  “Good evening Greer, I’m Larry, and welcome to my restaurant,” he said, holding his hand out to me. I was a little shocked hearing that this was Darren’s father’s restaurant and a little impressed too. “I’ve heard a lot about you from my wife.” I shook his hand and looked at Darren, wondering what he could have said to his mother about me. This was such a surprise.

  “Look at those two.” He pointed at his granddaughters. “They’ve gone on and on about the princess that lives in the blue house since the first night they talked to you.”

  I tried to refrain from losing it right there.

  “I may have mentioned you a few times to my mother too,” Darren whispered as he leaned in close. His lips skimming over my temple had my eyes fluttering shut.

  How did he make me feel this way? I’d known Tucker my entire life, and never once had he given me an ounce of the excitement I felt with Darren. What did that mean?

  “Well, whoever the source was, my wife seems to be crazy over the mystery girl she’s heard so much about,” Larry said, regaining my attention. “I’d like to invite you to join us for dinner tomorrow night. She’d loved to have you.”

  I tried to politely decline. “I’m not sure—”

  “We’ll be there,” Darren said without hesitation. We, as in all of us. Like I was part of his world now.

  My heart raced and tears pooled in my eyes. Unable to control them, I nodded, trying to refrain from making eye contact.

  “Great,” Larry said. “Now I better get back to the kitchen and keep this place running.”

  I kept my eyes on his retreating back until he disappeared through the swinging door.

  “I hope that was okay,” Darren said from my side, but I was too scared to face him. The tears that had formed in my eyes were too close to falling, and I knew if I looked over at him, I wouldn’t have been able to sto
p them. “My mother is chomping at the bit to meet you.”

  I closed my eyes tightly, trying my best to talk myself through this moment.

  I could do it.

  I could rein in my emotions and do this.

  I couldn’t be responsible for crushing the excitement in the girls’ eyes and Darren’s voice.

  I took in one last deep breath before finally looking up to meet his curious stare. “It sounds fun.”

  “Fun.” He arched a brow, a grin pulling at his lips. “Not sure that’s how I’d categorize it, but we’ll go with that so you don’t go running in the opposite direction.”

  I forced a smile, trying to hide that I was freaking out a little on the inside. I didn’t want him to worry. Later I would get through the panic churning deep in the pit of my stomach. For now I would continue to hold it together.

  Chapter 15

  Darren

  I’d noticed Greer’s reaction to my father’s invite. Hell, I’d noticed that strange way her mood had shifted the moment she turned back to face me after he walked away.

  I tried not to read too much into it, but it was impossible to ignore.

  Soon after that, she insisted on ending the night early, saying she was tired, but I could see right through her.

  I’d tried calling her three times over the last hour with no answer, and I knew she was awake because I could see her moving around inside. I’d resorted to my old habit of sitting on my back porch watching her windows.

  I was now on my fourth beer, which was not like me since I usually stopped at two. I wanted to remain alert for the girls at all times, so I didn’t have the luxury of drowning my sorrows. I went over the last few weeks in my mind, every moment, every word we shared, and I still couldn’t tell what had spooked her, but it was driving me insane.

  I’d finally let go of my concerns and gone with what I was feeling for once, and look where it got me. My concern had quickly turned into panic before morphing into irritation. All she had to do was say she didn’t feel the same way I did, and I’d step back. But instead her solution was to avoid my calls.

  Before I knew what I was doing, I was marching across my yard, and in one swift move I jumped over her four foot fence. I took her stairs two at a time before rapping on the screen door of her back porch as my body hummed with alcohol-induced adrenaline.

  The back door opened and there she stood in one of those short T-shirts she slept in. Her golden hair was piled on top of her head in a mess of curls. She unlocked the screen door, leaving nothing to separate us, and looked over my shoulder toward my house, her eyes wide.

  “Darren,” she said, sounding concerned, “are the girls okay?”

  She fucking cared, it was obvious. So why was she hiding?

  I stepped closer, invading her space and gripped the back of her neck to pull her near.

  “Darren,” she repeated, still looking worried.

  I leaned in, pressed my lips to hers, and backed her toward the house, pressing her body between mine and the solid space next to the door. I took the chance I’d been granted to kiss her like I never had before. I put everything I had into it: the hungry ache I’ve had since the moment I first tasted her lips and the emotional rush I felt each time I watched her with my girls.

  When her body melted and molded to mine, I knew she felt it. She had to. I pulled back, looking into her now-lust-filled eyes.

  “Why are you avoiding me?” I asked.

  “I’m not avoiding—”

  I kissed her again, and she moaned against my lips and combed her fingers through my hair, fisting it at the ends. The pain felt good, driving me to want more.

  “Tell me you don’t feel this,” I dared her as I pushed against her harder. “Tell me that with every kiss you don’t feel the same ache I do. Deny it and I’ll walk away now.”

  Silently I begged for her to give in and not use this as her chance to escape. I know I said I’d walk away, but doing that would be harder than I could imagine.

  “I feel it,” she whispered, and my knees felt weak with her confession. “But it scares me,” she added, making my heart beat faster. Her body shuddered against mine as I held her close.

  “Me too,” I confessed. “But I’d rather be scared than let this opportunity pass by.”

  I pulled back enough to look into her eyes. They glistened in the night with unshed tears, which made my chest ache even more. “Nothing is a guarantee,” I told her. “We are each given a certain amount of time to make the most of. We of all people know this. I’ve spent so much time alone already, and hidden behind my fear of moving on. I know you have too. Isn’t it time for us to live? To feel?”

  “What happens when I leave?” she asked. “What happens to us when I go home?”

  I didn’t want to think about that. Because in a perfect world, she would choose to stay. She would choose me and my girls over a life that had made her so unhappy, she’d run from it.

  “You’re here now,” I told her, still looking directly into her glistening eyes. “We have this time together, and I have to believe there was a reason you ended up here out of all the other places you could have gone.”

  I’d do all I could to convince her that Carolina Beach was where she belonged. I had to believe that.

  She hesitated, but then her lips were pressed to mine once again in a slow, sensual kiss. One that only gave me a tease of what was to come before she pulled back once again.

  Her lips hovered over mine, so close I could feel her breath against my lips. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to leave after meeting you three,” she confessed. “I don’t think I can.”

  “Then don’t,” I said as I turned her in my arms and moved toward the wicker couch only a few feet away. I sat and pulled her body toward mine, and she straddled my lap willingly. Her shirt rode up her thighs, exposing her to me even more.

  “Stay,” I whispered as I griped the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to mine once more. “I think we both deserve to find out where this will go,” I whispered against her lips, hoping what I was saying was somehow sinking in.

  She no longer fought her own hunger as she shifted her hips and pressed herself against the hardness beneath my jeans. It was my turn to moan as my dominant side cried out to take over. I griped her hips, shifted her forward, and thrust upward, grinding against her.

  “I want this,” I told her. “I want you.”

  “I want you too,” she whispered.

  I felt like a staving man. I wanted to do so many different things to her. I wanted to control her and make her beg for more and cry my name. I craved her touch everywhere.

  The warmth of her arousal spread through the fabric that separated us, and her thighs shook under my palms. Her lips quivered as she gasped and whispered for more. It was like a drug to me.

  I lifted her shirt, exposing her bare breasts and continued to pull it up over her head.

  “The girls,” she said, looking back toward my house.

  I pointed to the monitor that lay on the floor by the door. In my heated reaction to her presence, I’d dropped it upon entering her porch.

  “I’ll hear them,” I assured her as I leaned forward. I took her nipple between my lips and sucked it softly.

  She whimpered and arched her back.

  I spread my palms over her hips and held her in place as I continued to taste her skin. I bit her hardened peak and tugged gently, triggering a moan that echoed throughout the darkness.

  Fuck, that was sexy. She was so responsive to my touch.

  She began to rock her hips against me, riding my hard cock that was pressing painfully against my pants. She brought her hands to my waist and began fumbling with the button of my jeans, and I did nothing to stop her. I wanted this, and being outside where the neighbors could hear us if they walked by wasn’t going to stop me.

  She took no time at all in freeing me from my boxers, then fisted my cock and began to stroke me.

  My thighs tensed beneath her, and I
thrust upward, helping her. Her hands on me felt better than I could have ever imagined.

  I should have stopped her when she raised herself up and pulled her panties to the side, only I couldn’t. I wanted this more than anything I’d wanted in a long time. I wanted to feel her warmth wrapped around me. I wanted to feel her come apart as I took all she was willing to give. I was so hungry for her. We’d slow things down our next time together, but I needed this now.

  I pushed my jeans down my thighs as she sank down over me, and we moaned in unison. As her tight, slick pussy took in every inch of me, every ounce of control I had went right out the window.

  I think I surprised her when I lifted her and flipped her around to position her body beneath mine. I placed my hands on her stomach and slowly ran them up over her breasts, cupping them. She whispered my name breathlessly as I pinched her nipples, and that was the last bit of fuel I needed. I pulled my hips back and slammed into her in one strong thrust. My head spun with the pleasure of being buried within her heat as I moved inside her. She felt perfect.

  “Oh yes,” she panted as she moved her hips to meet my thrusting. Fuck, she felt good.

  An uncontrollable rush of euphoria hit me and I picked up the pace. “Damn,” I moaned, “so perfect.”

  “More,” she begged. “Don’t stop.”

  Never, I thought. If she would let me, I’d never stop.

  When she tightened around me, I knew she was close. The need to feel her come was overpowering.

  “So close,” she confessed as if I couldn’t already feel her body gripping me. She was so tight, like a vise holding me hostage. Her eyes were closed tightly as she hooked her legs around my waist, refusing to let go.

  “Open your eyes,” I said. “Look at me.”

  She did, but her eyelids fluttered.

  “I want you watching me,” I told her. “I want you to see me and only me.” I craved her desire; I wanted her all.

  When she clenched around me, her eyelids sagged again, and I gripped her hips tighter, regaining her attention. “Eyes on me, Greer,” I demanded, not ashamed of expressing my need for her. “I need you to see me, baby. See what you do to me.”