Reunited with His Runaway Bride

by Robin Gianna

  Still, he watched the two of them sleep. Wanted to lie there forever, pretending this could be his life, until his watch chimed that it was time for Bree to go to work soon. The clock was striking, and she’d be running out the door without leaving even a shoe behind, just the memories of her he’d never forget.

  He exhaled slowly, lifted his hand then hesitated, not wanting to ruin the picture before him. Finally ran his fingers up her soft cheek to cup it in his palm. “Bree. Wake up. It’s seven.”

  She made a little sound that reminded him of last night and his body began to stir again. He leaned over to press his mouth softly to hers, kissing her awake, because it might be the last time he could. The thought tightened his throat, and he had to swallow hard before he tried to talk. “Bree. It’s time for you to go to the hospital.”

  Her eyelids flickered and she blinked at him as he studied the color of her eyes. Committing each gold and brown fleck within that beautiful green to memory. “What time is it?” she murmured.

  “Seven. Your shift starts at eight, right?”

  She stretched her arms above her head, arching her back, and the outline of her breasts pressed against the sheet as she did. It just about took more willpower than Sean had in his possession to not pull that sheet down and enjoy their sweetness for breakfast.

  “I’m not working. I didn’t know what all would be going on with your mom last night, so I found someone to fill in for me, since you’re working today.”

  He stared at her. Bree, calling off work for the whole day? “Well. That’s really nice of you. But it so happens that I took the day off, too. Not knowing what would be going on with Mom.”

  “Well,” she echoed, a small smile curving her lips. “How about that.”

  The way she was looking at him sent him reaching for the top of the sheet after all. Why should he resist, if neither of them had to be at work, and he’d enjoyed kissing and touching them half the night last night anyway, with those memories humming in the air between them?

  He inched the sheet down, exposing the rosy tips of her breasts. Ran his fingers across them as they instantly peaked in response.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s someone in this bed with us,” she said, a half smile on her parted lips. But she kept her arms above her head. Her breasts were rising and falling as she breathed faster, and her eyes were looking at him in a way that tightened his groin and obliterated any and all worries.

  “Don’t think he’ll notice if I do this.” He slid the sheet farther down and followed it with his mouth. Kissing and licking her breasts, her flat stomach. Laving her navel until she wriggled and laughed. The laugh turning to a soft moan when he kept going, pushing her thighs apart. Moved to kiss her there, too, and the scent of her robbed him of breath all over again. Robbed him of strength, because she was made for him. Damn it, she was.

  But just before his mouth could connect with her sweetness, a short whimper he didn’t think came from Bree morphed into a full-fledged wail. He lifted his head to stare at the distraught baby, then at a laughing Bree. “What the heck? Did he have a bad dream, or something?”

  “I don’t know—do babies dream?” she said. Sean reached to pick the kid up before his red face exploded. “He sure went from sleeping to freaked out in about a nanosecond.”

  They both grinned at the decibel of noise that could come from such a tiny being. Sean put his knuckle in the kid’s mouth and he went to town, sucking on it as if he were chewing on a steak.

  “Good thing he doesn’t have any teeth, yet,” Bree said, “or you’d be bleeding by now.”

  “Maybe he’s not human and eats flesh.” Sean cocked his head at the baby. “Right now, the way his hair is sticking straight up off his head, he looks a little like a dark-haired baby orangutan.”

  “Orangutans are vegetarian, with a few insects thrown in. Not flesh-eaters.”

  “An alien, then. After all, Emma never would tell us who Will’s father is.” And in spite of his joke, that reality still ticked him off. He had hopes he or his mother could squeeze it out of her one of these days.

  “You’ve been watching too many sci-fi movies.” Bree shook her head, but her eyes sparkled. “And free-spirited though Emma is, I doubt she’d get involved with an alien.”

  “Yeah, well, with Emma, you never know.”

  Bree kept smiling as she shook her head again, but Sean’s amusement faded as he thought about spending this day with Bree for the last time. He didn’t have to think for more than a second to know how he’d like to spend it. Other than in bed with her, that was.

  “I’ve barely seen the sun for about two weeks,” Sean said. And wouldn’t that have been incomprehensible when he and Bree were together? The surf and sand were two of her favorite things. He’d been a favorite thing back then, too, and his chest tightened with emotion. But she was here with him now, and it was too late to try to protect his heart anymore. “What do you say we hit the beach for a few hours?”

  “What would we do with Will?”

  “Take him. Don’t worry. I know how to pack all the stuff he needs, now.” He stuck the baby in the curve of his arm and smiled at the brown eyes staring up at him expectantly, his lips making adorable little Os as he kicked his feet, as if he was excited about something. “Look at him—he seems to know he’s about to go on an adventure, doesn’t he?”

  Bree leaned over to look at the baby. “Gotta say, I think that might just be another burp coming on. But we can pretend he’s excited if you want to.”

  Her green eyes met his with a teasing smile, and his smile back started deep inside before it even formed on his lips, accompanied by that ache he felt every time he was around her. He knew, though, that the ache would be there regardless. A whole day with her would be like a painkiller, getting rid of it short term until it came back in spades later. Being with her had been like a drug anyway, hadn’t it? He’d take it until there was none left.

  His free hand reached for hers. “How about showing Will how an international surf champion does it, Dr. Donovan?”

  Her hand took his, and as their eyes met, he could tell she was feeling the same mixed emotions. “You’ve got some good moves of your own, Dr. Latham. He’s a lucky boy to have an uncle like you teaching him all you have to share.”

  He nearly blurted that he wanted to keep sharing it with her, but managed to keep his mouth closed.

  “I’ll get dressed and pack a lunch for us,” she said. He watched her slip from the bed in all her naked glory, and it was a good thing he had Will in his arm, or he’d have pulled her back to bed with no chance of seeing the sun that day after all.

  “And I’ll put him in his seat and grab the surf stuff.”

  He let himself keep watching her as she moved to the bathroom. The long line of her spine, her skin smooth over the perfection of her toned body, her athletic rear swaying slightly as she walked. Nothing shy about his Bree, which was one of the many things he’d loved about her.

  The thought stabbed, and he closed his eyes for a second. Emma was probably right. If he didn’t start dating again sometime fairly soon, he might find himself single forever.

  The question was, how could anyone else begin to measure up to Bree Donovan?

  He shook off the melancholy that threatened to ruin the day, which he couldn’t let happen. He wanted his last hours with her to be another good memory to carry with him forever. “Wilson, today the sack’s not going to cut it. Real clothes for a beach day, and an umbrella for your car seat. Are you in?”

  The child blinked, which he took as an affirmative. He got the boy ready, pulled all his stuff together, then sat him by Bree’s feet in the kitchen as she put together sandwiches. His chest kept filling with an odd happiness, considering everything. As if he were living his dream, and it was real. For this one day, at least, he had everything he�
��d ever wanted. “I’m going to get the wet suits and surfboards.”

  “I checked, and the water temperature’s seventy today, so we won’t need the suits.” She looked up at him with a question in her eyes. Maybe accompanied by a little frown. “You don’t have one that would fit me anyway. Do you?”

  Was she asking if he’d been seeing anyone else? A horrible part of him wanted to lie. To say, I have a suit that’ll fit you, in a voice that would imply it without actually saying it. To make her jealous. To make her feel bad she’d broken up with him. But that would be childish, and also wouldn’t accomplish a thing except to drive a wedge between them, which was the last thing he wanted. “You left one of your older suits here. I didn’t bother calling you about it because I knew it was one you wouldn’t want back.”

  “Oh.” She turned back to the sandwiches, focusing pretty fiercely on folding turkey slices. “I’m almost done. I’ll watch the baby while you get the boards.”

  It seemed to take a lot longer to get rolling than it usually did. He finally slid into the driver’s seat and looked over at Bree as she clipped her seat belt. “How could the addition of one baby create three times more work?”

  He watched her turn to him and open her lips, then close them. Shrug. “Mystery of life.”

  He hadn’t thought about how his words had been part of her many arguments about the reasons why she didn’t want kids until he’d opened his mouth. He turned his attention to the road and finally had to ask. “Aren’t you going to say it?”

  Her green eyes caught his. He couldn’t read what all was inside them, but she didn’t pretend to not know what he meant. “There’s no point,” she said quietly. “Even if one of us changed our minds on the having-kids issue, there are other reasons it didn’t work out.”

  At that moment, he had a hard time conjuring the reasons. What had they been again? He almost asked, but reminded himself the day was about fun and not conflict.

  Hauling all their gear and Will, they walked up the boardwalk to a good surf spot, then climbed over the seawall to set up the blanket and umbrella, putting the baby in his car seat beneath its shade. “I’ll stay here with Will while you surf,” he said.

  “Okay. I’ll go get a few. Then it’ll be your turn.”

  “Looks like there are some big rip currents today, so be careful,” he said as she took the board. And, yeah, it was a stupid thing to say, since she’d surfed more hours than he could imagine, in a lot more treacherous places than San Diego, but he couldn’t help himself.

  “I’ll be careful.” Her smile said she knew what he was thinking, and, because she was confident Bree, didn’t need to call him out on that, either. She went on tiptoe to give him a lingering kiss, and his arms wrapped around her, held her close until she drew back, their eyes meeting in a long connection as silence stretched between them. Finally, she turned and he dropped his arms from her body, but kept his eyes on her as she picked up her board and headed to the surf.

  He sat next to Will as the pleasure of the day drifted through him. The baby started making little smacking noises and yips, and Sean looked down at him, assuming that meant he must be hungry. But if he was, why wasn’t he doing his usual fussing? Maybe he hadn’t cried because, tiny though he was, Will liked being on the beach. He was a Latham, after all, wasn’t he? As for him, Sean was enjoying it more than he had in a long time, and he knew part of it was his heightened awareness of the sensory sensations. The briny scent of the air, the rhythmic sound of the surf, the feel of the breeze and the heat of the sun on his skin.

  The vision of Bree Donovan in a bikini.

  Yes, he’d enjoyed her nakedness just hours ago, but seeing her in a swimsuit was an entirely different kind of pleasure. He’d gotten to enjoy that vision briefly on the bay, her body partly covered with a baby. But today there was no such barrier, and he watched her wade through the water much the same way he’d watched her walk into the bathroom. Not much equaled the pleasure of watching her gracefully maneuver a surfboard through the waves, and he felt that same bittersweetness fill his chest.

  He sat there half under the umbrella, feeding Will his bottle with the sun burning his shoulder, and let himself soak in the sensations. Thinking about how Bree had felt in his arms. Her kisses. Her touch. The joy and the ache.

  How was he going to get over wanting this every day? Just being with beautiful, amazing Bree. Having her beside him. In his life forever. To kiss and touch and make love with. To watch her surf, or work, or make sandwiches, or whatever—it didn’t matter. The woman excelled at everything, demanded it of herself, which made mere mortals like him stand in awe. Demanded too much of herself, really, but she didn’t believe that.

  Sean held the baby closer to his chest, felt his warm little form curling against his bare skin. Bree would be such a wonderful mother, except she didn’t want to be. Watching her joy as she jumped off her board, beaming a smile and wave his way before paddling back out to the waves, he knew with certainty any kids would be beyond lucky to have her share her shimmering inner joy with them.

  Maybe that was enough. Maybe she’d share that joy with children, like Will, who weren’t her own, but who could benefit from who she was when she spent time with them. Maybe achieving her goals, living her life with those accomplishments in mind, were simply who she was. And he was who he was. The end.

  “Oh, my gosh, he’s so adorable!”

  Sean looked up to see two young women in bikinis drop to their knees in the sand, grinning at Will.

  “He’s so cute and tiny! How old is he?”

  “Six days. I think.”

  “You’re not sure?” They both laughed. “Isn’t he yours?”

  “No, he’s my nephew.” The girls scooted closer, touching the baby’s head, oohing and aahing, and Sean gave a brief smile. He’d had guy friends tell him that babies and puppies were chick magnets, and here was the proof. Maybe once Bree was gone for good, he’d bring Will to the beach to help him pick up women. Unfortunately, though, pretty as these two were, his gaze moved past them to the woman in a blue bikini stepping off the surfboard. Watched her squeeze water from her hair, then tuck the board under her arm to head their way.

  With her tanned limbs glistening from the water and droplets cascading down her taut belly, she looked more like a swimsuit model than a caring doctor. A smart, talented athlete who was pure eye candy, too? No wonder the woman was regularly featured in surf magazines.

  Even if he’d known how things would turn out between them, there was no way he could have kept from falling for her. Had known from almost the instant he’d met her that he was standing at the epicenter of a coming earthquake, and there was nothing he could do to escape it.

  The joy he’d seen on her face was gone, replaced by an odd expression, and it suddenly struck him that maybe she was none too happy that two half-naked young women were kneeling so close to him their breasts were about to touch his arm and shoulder. Well, well. Bree, jealous? It didn’t change anything between them, but he couldn’t help but feel good about that, anyway, even though that was pretty lame of him.

  He turned to the girls, trying to come up with some conversation to prolong the moment. “You like babies?”

  “Love babies!” one gushed.

  “Who doesn’t? I can’t wait till I have one someday.”

  He looked up at Bree as she came to a stop in front of the beach blanket to see how she’d react to this statement. Her jaw had clamped shut and her eyes were sparking like the green flash of San Diego lore that could sometimes be seen on the ocean’s horizon at sunset. “Your turn, Sean. I’ll take Will.”

  She leaned down, her breasts practically in Sean’s face as she snatched the baby up, and he wanted to pull her into his lap as she did. The part of him twisting all around with different emotions nearly told her not to because babies weren’t her thing, but how peevi
sh would that be? She’d taken care of the child every bit as much as he had this past week.

  She sat on the blanket next to him, cuddling the lucky baby against her breasts, and the girls clearly took this as a hint they should disappear. His arm wrapped around her cool, damp shoulders before he’d even thought about it. “You look good out there, Bree. Wish I could come see you compete in Honolulu next week.”

  “Me, too.” Her lashes were stuck together with salt water, and the green gaze studying him seemed somber. The irritation or jealousy or whatever had been there melted away into the same sadness and longing that kept overpowering him.

  He pressed his mouth to hers. Soft and slow. Wanting to feel the connection between them that, for this moment at least, filled every empty hole that had been gouged in his heart since she’d thrown the ring back at him. “You taste salty,” he whispered.

  “And you taste sweet. Maybe together we’re like one of those energy bars they sell.”

  He smiled against her mouth. “Maybe. Any idea how we should use our energy?”

  “Several good ideas come to mind. How about—”

  A small fist flew up between them, giving Sean an uppercut that was so startling, he actually reeled back from it.

  “Did that hurt?” she asked, laughing as she kissed Will on the top of his head before jiggling him, since he was squirming around. “Maybe he’s going to be a prizefighter.”

  “I hope not. That’s a stiff punch he’s got there already. I—”

  He stopped talking because Bree had quickly turned her head away from him. He could feel her stiffen as she stared intently at the water. He followed her gaze to see the lifeguard taking big leaps over the waves, carrying an orange rescue can in her hand. Looked beyond to see a bobbing head far out in the water, past what Bree always called the kill zone of the biggest waves boogie boarders and surfers looked for. Farther out than a swimmer would normally be.