by Abby Brooks
“That sounds absolutely perfect.” Like, one hundred percent absolutely the best way to finish the evening. A little wine, a romantic setting, maybe a little make-out session...
Harry threw a blanket over a shoulder, grabbed a fresh bottle of wine in one hand and his glass in the other. “You ready?”
She looked down at his bare feet. “You going like that?”
“Yep. And I’d advise you to do the same.” He smiled down at her shoes. “As sexy as those things are, the sand isn’t all that forgiving to high heels.”
Willow slipped off her shoes and swept up her glass. “All set.”
Harry was right, the stars were absolutely amazing, although as they got further away from the house and the lighting grew more and more dim, Willow got a little concerned about not being able to see where she put her feet.
“I’d hate to roll an ankle,” she said, putting a hand on his arm. “Would you mind terribly if we just made camp here?”
Harry laughed. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but I’m more in the mood for sitting and talking and getting a little drunk with you than I am to go stumbling along a moonlit beach.”
“Well, why didn’t you say something?”
“Because what really matters to me is making you happy. If you wanted a walk, then I’d give you a walk.”
Willow was thankful for the darkness because it covered up the absolutely ridiculous look that smeared across her face. To have someone put her needs, no … her wants … in front of his? That was such an amazing feeling. She closed her eyes and squealed to herself. This man. This one man was absolutely the most amazing human being she had ever met in her entire life.
Harry dug a little hole in the sand and put the wine bottle down before spreading out the blanket and having a seat. “Did I see Juliet drop you off?” he asked as she joined him on the blanket.
“Yep.”
“Didn’t she trust you with the car?”
Willow laughed. “No. She really didn’t. And I fully support that decision.”
“Okay, I’ll bite.” Harry leaned back on an elbow and the moonlight illuminated his face. “Why not?”
“I don’t know how to drive.”
“You’re kidding me. You never learned?” He sat up and crossed his legs.
“I moved to New York when I was sixteen, remember? There are subways and taxis and all manner of ways to get around. Plus, who was going to teach me, in the city like that? My parents were still in Pittsburgh. And then there’s the cost of storing the car.” Willow flared her hands. “I just never had a reason to learn.” His look of utter astonishment was kind of adorable.
“Well, that simply won’t do. One of the great joys on this earth is driving down the road on a sunny day with the wind in your hair and the radio on as loud as you can handle.”
Willow shrugged. “I’ll just have to take your word for it, I guess.”
“Nope. I’ll teach you tomorrow and you can drive around the rest of the week, free as a bird.”
Now that sounded exciting. Willow loved learning new skills. “Really? Would you do that for me?”
“Willow, I’d do anything for you.”
She dug her wine glass into the sand and took his from him and put it next to hers before she climbed into his lap and wrapped her legs around him. “Anything?” she asked, her face just inches from his.
“Anything.”
“Would you kiss me right here?” She touched a finger to her cheek.
“Of course.” He grazed her skin with his lips, just a whisper of contact.
“And here?” She tilted her head to the side and ran her hands down her throat and along her collarbone.
“Gladly,” he growled, tracing the line she drew with his mouth, sucking lightly at her neck.
“What else would you do for me?” she asked, her chest heaving.
Harry slid his hands underneath her hips and lifted her just enough to unfold his legs and lay her down on the blanket. “Everything. I’ll make you feel like a princess. I’ll cherish you. Meet your every need and desire. Lift you up and make you feel strong.” Harry kissed her lips and then trailed kisses down her body while sliding his hands up underneath her dress. “Damn your legs are amazing.”
He trailed his fingers along the edges of her panties and wetness pooled between her legs. She arched her back, desperate for him to slide those fingers underneath the fabric, desperate to feel his skin against hers. He slid her dress up, exposing her bare stomach and the sheer lace of her underwear.
“Holy hell, you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Harry kissed down her abdomen, trailing his mouth down towards her panties. Willow’s breath came quicker and quicker. She hadn’t had a man touch her like this in so long. Need flared to life inside her and lust ignited her senses. Here she was, stretched out on a blanket on the beach, exposed and aching to be filled. The rush of the ocean joined with the rush of the blood in her veins and never once in all her life had she been so lost in the moment that she didn’t care who might see or what might happen.
All she knew was that she needed him. She wanted him. That everything in this one moment—this one delightful moment—hinged on him.
He rubbed a thumb across her clit and she practically detonated, moaning loudly, so lost in the sensation that she didn’t even think about trying to be quiet.
“Does that feel good?” he asked.
She managed to answer, just the quietest of affirmative sounds and he slid a finger inside her panties and caressed her slit.
“I like making you feel good.” He slipped a finger inside her and she combusted. Set on fire by need and desire. She wanted more. Holy shit, did she ever want more.
And then she heard the tiniest little buzzing sound and Harry froze. Sat back and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “Sorry,” he said. “Forgot I brought it with me.” He threw it onto the blanket without looking at it and leaned over her, reigniting her with a lingering kiss. “Now, where were we?”
He crept down between her legs and brought his face to her panties, sucking on her clit through the lace while she arched her back and gripped at the blanket underneath her. Just as he moved to slide her underwear down her legs, his phone started buzzing again.
“Shit. Let me turn that off.” He picked up the phone, and then cursed again. “Well, in case you weren’t sure you wanted to learn to drive, this should do it for you.”
“What?” Willow was too consumed with lust and need to make a whole hell of a lot of sense out of his statement.
“Juliet’s here. Now. In the driveway, ready to take you home.”
12
The ride home with Juliet reminded Willow of the time her dad caught her smoking a cigarette in her room when she was fifteen. He found it hilarious while she was mortified at having been caught doing something wrong. He fought back laughter and tried to look stern while she just tried to hold it together long enough not to cry in front of him.
Willow didn’t feel like crying now, but she sure was embarrassed. Thankfully, the house had blocked Juliet’s view of what they were doing on the beach, but there was no way for Willow to hide her mussed hair and flushed cheeks. The sand clinging to her back and the heated eye contact after a long and sensual kiss goodbye from Harry.
“Have a good time?” Juliet finally asked after a few awkward seconds of silence. Even in the darkened cab, Willow could see the look of utter delight in her friend’s eyes.
“I most certainly did,” Willow said. “Although I could have used just another half hour or so.”
“Half an hour? You think Harry has that kind of stamina in him?”
“I don’t know, but I’d love to find out.”
“Ohhhh…” Juliet laughed in understanding. “You were still … err … getting started.”
“Yep. So thank you for ensuring that I spend the rest of tonight all hot and bothered.”
“Hey. You’re the one who lost track of time. You knew what time I was
coming back to pick you up. You could have called if you wanted to ask for an overnight.”
Willow shook her head. “Bitch,” she said playfully, a joke they’d had between them for years.
“Floozy,” Juliet threw back at her.
“Thing is, Julz,” Willow said as they pulled into the driveway. “I was so wrapped up in him that I forgot there even was such a thing as time.”
The look on Juliet’s face was priceless. “Oh, Willie. I’m so happy for you. I know exactly what you mean and I feel it all the time when I’m with Ian.”
“Harry’s so sweet. So gentle. So tasteful. But, he’s like actually a man, you know? With his gruff voice and rough hands and love of cars. He’s this awesome blend of two things that typically cancel each other out.”
“Oh, believe me, I know,” Juliet said, beaming at Willow as she put the truck in park.
“And we start talking and I lose all track of everything but him. What he’s saying. The thoughts behind our conversation. The way his voice sounds. The feel of his skin. The smell of him…” Willow trailed off and closed her eyes. “And as if that wasn’t enough, I haven’t even begun to tell you about all the signs!”
Juliet turned the key in the ignition and killed the engine. “Oh no,” she said, swinging the truck door open “Here we go.”
“Even you will think these are worth paying attention to,” Willow said, as they hopped out of the truck. “First there’s his name, which isn’t a big deal, but it’s the first sign I got.” She knew she was talking fast, but she was too excited to slow herself down.
“His name?” Juliet led Willow up to the front door and pushed on through as she called out to Ian to let him know they were home.
“Yeah. Harrison Moore. Like Harrison Ford, the guy who played Indiana Jones. And my nickname is Willie, which was the nickname for the chick he fell in love with in Temple of Doom.”
“Willow, that’s kind of a stretch,” Juliet said as Ian appeared at the top of the stairs looking delectable in a pair of pj pants and nothing else. “I’ll be right up,” she called up to him. “I need to get the play by play first.”
“Oh goody,” he said. “More girl talk.” With that, he ambled away towards the bedroom, his bare feet slapping the hardwood floor.
Juliet led Willow into the living room and offered her a glass of wine. Willow shook her head and curled up into the corner of the couch. “Okay,” she said, holding up her hands. “Even I can admit the name thing is a little far-fetched. But just wait. It gets better.”
She explained the coincidence with their birthdays. The fact that he loved Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet as much as she did. “And Julz, he’s never seen the ballet, but I swear to God he kissed me right at the very moment Romeo is supposed to kiss Juliet in the balcony scene.”
Juliet sighed and flared her hands. “So the birthday thing is pretty strange. I’ll give you that. What are the chances that he shares a birthday with your grandpa and you share a birthday with your grandma. That’s a pretty hefty coincidence.”
“Oh, come on. That’s it? The whole sharing a love for the same piece of music thing is nothing to you? His kiss coming right at the perfect time? I mean the exact time the kiss is supposed to happen in the ballet?” Willow punctuated her words by stabbing the air with her pointer finger. How could Juliet not understand?
“I don’t know, sweets. A lot of people like the same songs. I think it’s just more proof that you guys are good together.”
Willow shook her head and grabbed a throw pillow to clutch to her belly. “It’s deeper than that.”
“Well, then, how about this? I’m about to blow your mind. Have you realized that his last name is an anagram for Romeo? If you rearrange the letters in Moore, you get Romeo.” Juliet raised her eyebrows at her friend.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Willow tossed the pillow at Juliet. “How could you not tell me this? This is big! Huge, even.” Willow was off the couch and pacing before she had time to fully process what she was even thinking. “What’s it mean?” she asked the air. “I’ll tell you what it means. It means that this is worth cultivating. That even though it seems absolutely impossible for two people married to our jobs who live a thousand miles away from each other to create a relationship, it means that we have to do it.”
“And the chemistry and attraction, the fact that you have similar interests and personalities, that means nothing?”
“All of that is just the mundane stuff. The rest, that’s powerful. The Universe is talking to me and when the Universe speaks, even a little, you gotta listen. And this, with Harry, it’s like the Universe is jumping up and down and yelling at me.”
* * *
Willow’s phone buzzed on her bedside table and pulled her from sleep. Light poured in through her windows and she stretched and groaned, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in through her nose and letting it out through her mouth. When she was done, she grabbed her phone and bit her lip in excitement when she saw that she had a text from Harry.
We never actually talked about that party I want to throw for J&I. I couldn’t think about anything but you last night.
Still can’t.
Willow rolled onto her back and grinned up at the ceiling.
You’re making me smile.
It’s your turn to make me smile, then. Let me cook you breakfast.
I’m still in bed.
All the better. I like the thought of being the first part of your day.
Still making me smile.
Good, then come downstairs and let me in.
Willow sat upright in bed, adrenaline lighting up her system. He was here? Now? And she hadn’t even brushed her hair or her teeth and she was wearing a goofy pair of shorts and a ratty ACB t-shirt. Her phone buzzed in her hand again.
Please? I can’t survive another minute without you.
Plus, all this food is getting heavy.
Willow took a moment and rinsed her mouth, pulled her hair back into a messy bun and made sure she didn’t have any leftover mascara giving her raccoon eyes. She looked decent, but she was far from looking good. Her fair hair meant she had really light eyebrows and eyelashes which made her look very strange without makeup. Her makeup artists loved it because it was so easy to transform her face, but for the everyday? Her fair hair was way more curse than blessing.
But, Harry was here and she couldn’t keep him waiting. If he was turned off by her so-blonde-they’re-clear eyebrows and eyelashes, than he really wasn't the guy she thought he was. She bounded down the stairs, clutching her phone, and threw open the door to find Harry standing in a pool of sunlight as if the Universe itself had decided to illuminate him for her. As if all the signs weren’t enough, he just got to walk around in a big spotlight, another flashing neon sign that made it impossible to ignore him.
“Hey,” she said, breathless in the sight of him.
“Wow. You’re even beautiful first thing in the morning.” His gaze swept across her face and she felt a blush flaring alive under the scrutiny.
“Liar.”
Harry looked stern. “I don’t lie. You look amazing.”
“Well thank you. You don’t look so bad yourself.” She eyed the food-laden bags in his arms and stepped aside to let him in. “That looks like a lot of food. What are you making?”
“It’s not as much as you would think. I just wasn’t sure what Ian had in his kitchen. I brought everything I even thought I might end up needing, just in case.”
“What in the world are you doing here?” Ian’s groggy voice came from behind Willow as he lumbered bleary-eyed down the stairs. “Didn’t you get enough of each other last night?”
Not even close, Willow thought and saw the sentiment echoed in Harry’s eyes.
“Oh come on now. Grumpy doesn’t suit you, big brother. Make some coffee and sit down. I’ll make you a breakfast that will make you thank me for being here.”
Harry proved himself true to his word and within half an hou
r had created a delicious breakfast that the four of them enjoyed between laughter and conversation. Willow couldn’t think of a better way to start the day. Here she was, surrounded by people who made her happy, eating good food, drinking warm coffee, watching the sun sparkle across the water and the palm trees sway in the breeze.
“Okay,” Harry said as she took her last bite and sat back in her chair, patting her belly. “You go on upstairs and get dressed. We’ve got big things to do today.”
Beside her, Juliet stifled a giggle and elbowed her under the table. I know what big thing you’ll be doing today, said the little sideways glance Juliet gave Willow.
Shut the hell up, said Willow’s sharp elbow digging into Juliet’s side.
“Oh yeah?” Willow said to Harry, ignoring Juliet as best she could. “Care to share these big things with the rest of us?”
Juliet choked on her coffee and Willow wished she had chosen her words more carefully.
“Nope,” said Harry. “Just you.”
That was all Juliet could take. She dissolved into laughter. “Thank goodness,” she said in between hitching breaths and laughed even harder at Harry’s confusion.
“Oh hell,” he said as he finally understood what had her laughing so hard. “You and your dirty mind.” He turned his attention to Willow. “Go on and get dressed so we can get outta here.”
Laughing, Willow stood and did just that.
13
Harry was pretty damn sure he deserved an Olympic gold medal in self-restraint for making it through breakfast with Willow’s pert little nipples poking through that thin t-shirt and not having anyone see the near constant erection he had for almost the entire morning. Now that she had disappeared upstairs to get dressed, he finally had more room in the crotch of his pants. Which was good, since he was going to have to start moving around again, cleaning up the kitchen.
