by Addison Cole
He chuckled. “You’re so romantic.” He kissed her forehead, then patted her butt and said, “Go.”
He laced his fingers behind his head, watching her full hips sway as she padded across the floor. She’d never seemed the least bit self-conscious about her body. Most women tried to cover up their bodies, but Serena was comfortable in her own skin. He loved that about her. A whisper of a voice in his head wondered if she’d been like that with all the guys she’d been with. He glanced at the card she’d given him on his nightstand, and he knew the answer didn’t matter. Her heart had always belonged to him, just like his had to her.
She came out of the bathroom with a playful expression on her face and grabbed one of his T-shirts from the stack of clean laundry on the chair in the corner. “Mine.”
He laughed as he stepped from the bed. “I sure am.”
He helped her put on his shirt, which covered far too much of her. Then he gathered her in his arms and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m glad you’re here, Supergirl. Not just for the incredible sex, but I think now I know why I’ve never brought a woman here.”
“You never…? Not once?”
“Not once.”
She pressed her lips to his chest. “Because you knew it would break my heart to see them leave in the morning?”
“I never got that far in my thinking. You and I picked out this bed, and you know I always hoped that one day we’d finally get our timing right. It would have felt wrong to bring you into my bed after someone else had been there.”
The appreciation in her eyes made the pit of his stomach go all squirrely.
“You just earned major bonus points.”
“Good, because I definitely want to collect on them later. I’ll be right back.” He went to use the bathroom and was pleased to discover the scent of her perfume lingering in the air. He loved that.
After washing up, he returned to an empty bedroom and spotted Serena standing out on the balcony. She was leaning on the railing, arms folded in front of her as she gazed out at the bay. The breeze lifted her hair from her shoulder, pressing the soft cotton of his shirt to her curves. Her left knee was bent, her toes perched just behind her right foot. She looked sexy and innocent, and she was finally his. Drake couldn’t resist snagging his phone from his shorts pocket and snapping a picture. My girl.
He grabbed a pair of boxer briefs from the pile on the chair and stepped into them. Then he went to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind.
“What’s going on in your beautiful mind?” He kissed her neck, and she closed her eyes, relaxing against his chest.
“You. Me. The Cape. Our friends. My new job.”
“And here I thought I’d worn you out too much to think.”
She turned in his arms. Her hands slid down his back, and she smiled up at him. “You did, but now that it’s over, all that happiness helps me see things more clearly.”
“And what do you see?”
“How lucky I am to have grown up where I did, with a mother who wasn’t always around.”
Every time he thought about her childhood, his blood came to a slow boil. She didn’t see much of her mother, just a quick visit a few times a year. He knew perfectly well it was because her mother was still chasing men instead of taking care of herself, which upset Serena. “Why do you consider that lucky?”
“Because if I hadn’t grown up where I did, or if I’d had it easy, I might not have ever gotten where I am today, with friends who have stuck by me and showed me that life could be anything I wanted it to be. And I might not have ever found you.”
“It’s hard to argue with that sort of thinking, but I still would have liked for your life to have been easier.”
“Easy is for wimps.” She wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him. “I’m Supergirl, remember?”
She was the bravest, strongest woman he knew. “That’s not something I’ll ever forget.”
“Can we bring blankets out here and sleep on the lounger beneath the stars? I miss being outside like this.”
“How about we bring the mattress out?”
She bounced on her toes. “Really? You don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
“I think you just earned some amazing sexual favors!” She dragged him inside. “Can we order a pizza, too? I’m starved.”
She was always starved, and for some weird reason, the fact that she never tried to hide it made him happy.
They set up their bed on the balcony, and when the pizza came, they ate it under the stars. He told her they’d hired Daphne. She was starting work in two weeks and would be coming to breakfast Sunday at Summer House to meet the rest of their friends.
“Really? That’s fantastic. I liked her a lot, and I know she’ll do a great job. So, you’re really okay with me living in Boston?”
“I’m okay with you being anywhere you want to be. I know you have some issues with your job, but overall, are you happy there?”
“Yes. I think so. There’s a lot to get used to, but today was great. The design center is incredible, and Gavin turned out to be even more down-to-earth than I thought. I like him. He seems honest, and I think he’s a good person. I never would have guessed he was from a small town, but after spending much of today with him, I can see it in the things he says.”
She set her plate on the deck and said, “I like everyone I work with, and even though my biggest client grates on my nerves, I don’t dislike her. I just want more freedom to design. I’m taking Laura and Spence to see the nerve grater’s space next week, and I’m bucking the system a little by taking them with me to meet a new client next week.”
“Why is that bucking the system? I thought they were your teammates.”
“They are, but it’s not like here, where we’re all an integral part of things. Or were, I guess. The company is all about prestige and money, so they really like senior designers to meet with clients alone initially, then bring in the team. But you know me. Why waste time with two visits when it can be done in one? I think showing up with a team shows them that they’re important enough to have all of our attention, not just mine.”
“Just don’t get yourself fired, Ms. Blaze My Own Path.” He pulled her against him and kissed her.
“As I told Laura and Spence, Mallerys don’t get fired. We get fired up.”
He nipped at her neck and said, “Fired up. Now, that’s something I’d like to explore a little more.”
“Mm. Think anyone can see us up here?”
“No, but just in case…” He pulled the blankets over them. “As long as you keep those sexy sounds you make to a minimum, we should be in the clear.”
He kissed his way down her neck, earning one seductive sound after another.
“You might want to dial it down a little,” he warned.
Her eyes flared with heat. “Maybe you should keep my mouth full so I’m not tempted to make noise.”
“Yeah, baby. I like the way you think.”
Chapter Fourteen
SERENA SNUGGLED DEEPER into the warmth of Drake’s body as sunlight shone through her closed eyelids. She didn’t want to open her eyes. She wasn’t ready to let the rest of the world into their private haven. She wondered what time it was. She wanted to have breakfast with everyone and catch up on the last week. She had a busy day ahead. She was having lunch with the girls while Drake worked at the resort, and then she and Drake were going to meet the furniture delivery guys at the music store. Mira had texted earlier in the week to ask if Serena and Drake wanted to see a concert across from Mayo Beach tonight, and Serena was excited to do that, too. She’d had a busy social calendar here, whereas in Boston, so far she’d rarely had time to do anything but work.
Drake’s thick arm tightened around her belly. “Morning, beautiful. Did you get any sleep, or did your mind whirl all night?”
He’d fallen asleep holding her, and he hadn’t moved an inch, except to hold her tighter every time she shifted positions. She’d lai
n awake thinking about her job and her life and what it might have been like if she and Drake had been together when she was working at the resort. She’d eventually drifted off to sleep and into dreams woven of moments with Drake.
“There was a little whirling, but I eventually fell asleep.” She opened her eyes, then immediately closed them against the bright sun. “Why don’t we sleep under the stars all the time?”
“Because we live an hour and a half apart,” he said groggily. “And we’d freeze our butts off in the winter.”
“But it would be nice in the summer months. I get vacation days. Maybe I can take time off next summer and we can do it then.”
He kissed the back of her neck. “I’m all for it.”
“Mommy! There’s someone on Uncle Drake’s deck! See the feet?” Hagen’s high-pitched voice drifted up to the deck.
Serena bolted upright on the mattress, scanning the ground. Mira was grinning up at her, one hand on Hagen’s shoulder.
Hagen waved wildly. “It’s Auntie Serena! What are you doing up there?”
Drake groaned, his arm snaking around her belly again.
“Hi, Hagen!” she called out as Drake sat up beside her.
“Hi, Uncle Drake! Are you having a slumber party with Serena?” Hagen looked up at Mira and said, “Mommy, can I sleep on our patio tonight? I want to have a slumber party, too!”
Mira said something to him that Serena couldn’t hear. Then she looked up at them and said, “You guys missed breakfast.”
“Sorry,” Drake called out. He leaned closer to Serena and whispered, “I’m not sorry in the least. Let’s go inside so I can feast on you.”
He kissed her shoulder, making her stomach somersault.
“Shh. Your nephew is right there.”
He pressed a tender kiss to her neck and said, “He can’t hear me.”
“But he can see you!”
“Okay, buddy boy, time to go,” Mira said, turning Hagen away from Drake and Serena. “See you at lunch, Serena!”
“Bye!” Hagen looked back and waved. “Maybe I can sleep on Uncle Drake’s deck tonight!”
“Not a chance,” Drake said as he brought Serena back down to the mattress and brushed his lips over hers. “Weekends are ours.”
“We are not fooling around out here in broad daylight.” She tried to squirm out from under him to escape the oral assault he was lodging with his wicked mouth, but he pinned her wrists to the mattress.
His eyes turned dark as night as he said, “Couch? Kitchen counter? Shower?”
“Yes, yes, and double yes!”
Several hours later, after they conquered the couch, counter, floor, and the shower, Serena realized she had no clean clothes. There was no need to pack a bag to come home when she had clothes at her cottage. She put on one of Drake’s shirts, tied it around the waist, and wore her shorts from last night.
“Aren’t you missing something?” Her panties dangled from his finger.
“I’m not wearing dirty underwear. I’ll run to my cottage and grab a pair.” Her phone vibrated. She pulled it from her pocket and read Desiree’s text. “Desiree said Violet left us a basket with breakfast on the stairs. I’m starved.”
“I’ve got a meal for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “I need sustenance. This girl’s got to keep her stamina up to keep up with our activities.”
On the steps to the apartment she found a basket filled with fresh fruit, two muffins, and a sealed pink envelope addressed to Drake. She carried it to the coffee table and handed him the envelope. “You and Des, huh? How does Rick feel about that?”
He plucked the envelope from her fingers and tore it open. After reading it, he handed the letter to her. “I think the Girl Squad is after me and Vi’s a Peeping Tom.”
She read the note as she ate her muffin.
Drake,
Deliver Serena, sated and happy to Summer House at 11:30 for a wedding dress fitting hen party followed by lunch in P-town a trip to the sexy-toy shop.
We’ll return her to the music shop at 2:30, and then she’s yours for more frickery until 7:30, when we meet at the Bookstore Restaurant to get sloshed before enjoying the concert across from Mayo Beach.
Do not deter from these instructions or you’ll be sorry. except for much needed frickery.
Love, Bayside Girl Squad
PS: You two horndogs might want to go inside tonight. The noises coming from your deck could drive a lonely woman crazy. Just sayin’.
Serena nearly spit out her muffin. “Oh my gosh! Do you think Violet really heard us?”
“Do you doubt it?” He snagged an apple and bit into it, chuckling as he chewed.
“Drake! This isn’t funny. What if other people, paying resort customers, heard us?”
He hauled her against him and pressed his lips to hers. “Then I’d say they got their money’s worth.”
“Forget your deck. From now on, we’re sleeping at my place.” At least there they’d have privacy.
“Until your lease runs out.”
She rolled her eyes as she pushed to her feet. “I have to go home and get clean underwear before I meet the girls.”
“Let’s go.” He stood up and grabbed his keys. “And let’s bring some of your clothes over, so if we do stay here, you’re not stuck going pantiless around other guys.”
“You’re coming? Don’t you have to work?”
“I’m taking a few hours off with my girlfriend,” he said, surprising her. Drake hardly ever took time off. “Unless you’d rather go alone?”
She went up on her toes and kissed his lips. “Heck no. I’m alone every night in Boston. That’s more than enough.”
“Good. Now let’s talk about your shopping list.”
“Shopping list?”
“For the toy-shop detour.”
Oh my…
SERENA AND THE girls weaved around tourists streaming in and out of an array of galleries, eclectic shops, and restaurants on their way to the boutique for Desiree to try on her wedding dress.
“So, you’ll just see each other on the weekends?” Emery asked. She and Chloe badgered Serena for the scoop on her and Drake as they hurried along Commercial Street in Provincetown.
Serena and Drake had started out as such close friends, it felt like they’d been a couple for much longer than they had. It was a little jarring for her to realize this was the first weekend her friends would see them acting like a couple. That made her acutely aware of everything she said and of the immensity of her feelings toward him.
“Yes. Did I tell you about my teammates?” Serena kept trying to change the subject to work, the inn, yoga, anything other than her and Drake, but they kept circling back to them.
“Stop with work already,” Chloe said. “We want details about your love life, which I might remind you, you haven’t had in a very long time.”
“No sexy details, please,” Mira said as she tried to keep pace with one hand beneath her belly, as if she could make it lighter. “My son nearly got an eyeful this morning.”
“He did not!” Serena insisted. “We were just lying there, and we were totally covered up.”
“On a mattress on his deck,” Emery pointed out.
“How do you know?” Serena glared at Mira.
Mira held her hands up. “Don’t look at me. Thank goodness we weren’t out catching fireflies in the middle of the night.”
“Mira didn’t spill the beans,” Emery said. “I have eyes. I was on my way to the inn to teach my early class this morning and I saw something on his deck. A closer look showed me two pairs of feet tangled up in sheets.”
Desiree gasped. “Seriously? Right there above the office? I thought I was risqué being naughty in the crow’s nest at the inn.”
“You’re still learning how to spell risqué, sis,” Violet said as they maneuvered around a family sitting on the front steps of a bakery, eating delicious-looking pastries.
“Serena, you and Drake were naked on his deck
?” Chloe went wide-eyed. “And this is the first I’m hearing of it?”
“We weren’t naked!” she lied. “At least not this morning when Mira saw us.” Geez, this was embarrassing. How could she joke about sex so easily when it was other people’s love lives under the microscope?
“Trust me. You would have heard last night had you been within a five-hundred-foot radius.” Violet flashed a satisfied smirk.
“We won’t make that mistake again,” Serena said under her breath as they walked by a crowd that had gathered around three young musicians.
“I should hope not,” Desiree said. “What if someone saw you?”
“Someone did,” Violet said, earning another harsh glare from Serena.
“Oh my gosh,” Desiree said. “That’s so embarrassing.”
“It’s not so different from everyone knowing about your sex life,” Emery pointed out.
Embarrassment flushed Desiree’s cheeks. She motioned ahead of them to an alley sandwiched between Puzzle Me This, an elaborate game store that was painted in vibrant shades of purple and pink, and Coconuts, a cedar-sided sunglass store. “Swank, the boutique where I bought the dress, is right down that alley.”
Serena was glad for the change in subject.
“We should stop and see Sky afterward,” Violet suggested. “I could use a new tat.”
Sky Lacroux-Bass owned Inky Skies, a tattoo parlor on the other side of the game store.
“You need another tattoo like I need more yoga clothes,” Emery said.
“I would like to stop into the flower shop and talk to Lizzie,” Desiree said. “And if there’s time, Brandy, too.” Lizzie Barber owned P-town Petals and was handling the flowers for Desiree and Rick’s wedding. “I know we have to be back in time for Serena to meet Drake, so if we run out of time, it’s okay.”
“Anything else, Queen Bee?” Violet asked as they turned down the alley.
“Oh gosh. Do I sound like that?” Desiree looked frantically from one friend to the next. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just wanted to thank Lizzie for answering all my questions this past week and to confirm the tasting session date with Brandy. The tasting is set for the weekend after Drake’s grand opening. You guys are all still planning on coming, right?”
