by Julie Kenner
“Seriously?”
“Yep. If they find a place they like, then they settle in for a while until they get tired of it. Their ultimate destination is Alaska. They want to pan for gold.” She brushed a speck of sand off her face. “Who knows how long they’ll stay there.”
She must miss them, Adam thought. He knew she didn’t have any other family. She had no siblings and he remembered her grandparents passing away while he and Winnie had been in school.
“But they’ll be back,” she continued. She shot him a smile. “Everybody always comes back to Bethel Bay.”
Ah. Dangerous territory, Adam thought. She was right—most people who left their small community usually returned, and he imagined he probably would, as well. Eventually. But that was decades down the road for him. His path was set on life in the military. He would go where he was needed until he wasn’t needed anymore.
Adam knew this as well as his own name.
It was just his personal life that was suddenly out of focus.
While he still believed that leaving Winnie was the best thing he could do for her, Adam also knew that it was going to be one of the most difficult things he’d ever done. The ache and burn in his chest, the pall of dread that settled around him, even now was enough to make him almost choke with regret.
But…he couldn’t be the man she wanted. Not ultimately.
His gaze slid over her small, athletic form and the rush of emotion he felt made him quake with its intensity. Smooth tanned skin, gleaming in the sunlight. The intriguing shadow between her breasts, the soft slope of her womanly hip. Her untidy black curls were windblown and sexy and her mouth…
Lush, plump and kissable, it was one of the most sensual things he’d ever seen.
Unable to help himself, Adam bent forward, tilted her chin up with his index finger and kissed her.
She drew back, smiling and seemingly surprised. “That was unexpected.”
His broody gaze dropped to her lips again. “You have a gorgeous mouth. Sexy.”
The smile faltered with the barest hint of modesty and she blushed. “Thank you.” She treated him to the same sort of lingering perusal. “I happen to like that little patch of soft skin just behind your ear,” she said. “It makes my insides jittery.”
He frowned and fingered the part in question. “You mean here?” he asked, amazed. Aside from his mangled leg, he’d always been relatively proud of his physique. That she preferred a part of him that he hadn’t truly worked on was somehow as appealing as it was annoying.
Her lips twitched and she nodded. “Yes, that’s it.”
He quirked a dubious brow. “Not the abs, then?” He sighed dramatically and looked away, as though wounded. “All that work for nothing.”
She chuckled. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I like those parts, as well. Actually, all of your parts are pretty damned appealing.”
A thought struck. “Really? Because I seem to remember you telling me that I’d put on weight. Gone soft,” he added distastefully. She’d mentioned it not long after he’d come home. It was a bit of a turning point really. She’d stopped looking at him as though she’d wanted to cry and had suddenly started treating him the same way she always had.
Then again, maybe that had just been him transferring his assumptions onto her actions. Because Winnie had never been anything but honest with him.
Winnie laughed out loud, evidently remembering. “I had to do something,” she said. “You wouldn’t even look at me.”
Because he was trying to resist her, Adam thought. It had been futile, he realized now. He’d never stood a chance. The sudden chemistry coupled with their easy relationship—friendship, even—was more than a force to be reckoned with. He’d been powerless to resist.
And the kicker? Right now, at this moment, he didn’t care. Because he was with her.
Adam winced and pushed a shell into the side of their castle. “Sorry about that,” he said. “I, uh… I’ve been a bit of an ass.”
“You have,” she conceded. “But you had your reasons. You’re forgiven.”
She would have forgiven him regardless, he knew. She loved him. He could see it in her eyes, the soft melting look in that deep blue gaze, the barest hint of indulgence in her equally tender smile.
God, he didn’t deserve her. How in the hell was he going to walk away? What kind of person was he to take advantage like this, knowing the outcome wouldn’t be the one either of them wanted.
Then again, how could he not?
Winnie leaned back, stretching her spine and tilting her face toward the sun. “I love this time of day,” she said. “The heat is fading, the sun is settling over the sea.” She jerked her head toward the ocean. “Just look at that sky. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”
He had, actually. He was looking at it.
Rather than embarrass her again, he turned to look at the sky and nodded in appreciation. “It’s gorgeous.”
She turned toward him and smiled. “This has been fabulous,” she told him, her voice wistful. “I haven’t spent a whole day at the beach in years. It feels positively decadent.” Her gaze slid over his chest, up his neck, along his mouth and finally settled on his eyes. “And the company hasn’t been half bad, either.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Are you about ready to head back to my place? Have a little dinner and watch that movie you mentioned?”
“I am,” he told her, wondering if he could feast on her first. Honestly, he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her today.
They’d knocked the edge off the attraction last night—he still couldn’t believe they’d made it right there on the floor of her shop—and had enjoyed a repeat performance later in her back room. On a table this time. He’d never look at powdered sugar and almond icing the same way again, Adam thought, his dick twitching with remembered pleasure.
Tonight they were going to act like an ordinary couple, do ordinary things like having dinner and catching a movie. Then they would go to bed, make love, and then fall asleep. Together. Like normal couples did.
The mere thought made his chest expand with some unnamed emotion.
His gaze dropped to his leg, to the prosthesis that made them different and regret barreled through him once again.
Normal, he thought with bitter melancholy. If only.
SHE WAS READY To go, too, Winnie thought. She hadn’t been lying when she said she’d had a wonderful day, but frankly, she was in the middle of a little sexual meltdown and she needed the privacy her place would afford them. A thought struck.
“Er…have you told your parents that you won’t be in tonight?”
Adam looked at her and chuckled. His hair glowed with rusty highlights in the afternoon sun and his nose and shoulders were turning a little pink. Winnie inwardly tsked. She’d warned him, the moron. But he was too tough for sunscreen.
“Actually, yes. I told them I’d be staying with a friend tonight. My mother said to tell you hi.”
Winnie felt her eyes widen, then she laughed out loud. “Wow. That’s…interesting.”
“Does it make you uncomfortable?”
She thought about it. “No, not really. We’re adults, right? I just don’t want them to hate me for taking you away from them the last few days you’re home.”
Adam waved off her concern. “They’ve had me for months,” he said. “Honestly, I think they’re pleased.” He pressed another shell into the castle, this time above the door. “They’re probably getting sick of me.”
She sincerely doubted that, but she wasn’t surprised that Adam’s parents were happy that he was making emotional progress. Even if it was only temporary—and she knew it was—Adam had at least realized that he was still man enough to make love to a woman.
And mercy could he ever make a girl feel special…
Her nipples tingled and her sex flooded with heat at the mere thought. Winnie had always been a fan of powdered sugar, but after Adam
had painted her nipples with it last night, then carefully licked it off, she could see herself becoming a little obsessive.
A shudder moved through her.
Having noticed, he frowned. “You’re not cold, are you?”
She shook her head. “No, just caught a little shiver.” Adam had always had that effect on her.
He looked at her for a minute longer, gauging the truth of her statement, she imagined, then looked back out toward the ocean. Kids slid on thin wake-boards in the immediate surf and seagulls darted in and around a small pool of water that had washed into a shallow spot on the beach. Music wafted in on the salty breeze and the briny scent of the ocean filled her senses. Ah…she loved the beach.
“What are you thinking?” Adam asked.
She looked at him. “What?”
“What are you thinking? I know it’s the nosiest and most intrusive question in the entire history of the world, but I still want to know,” he said. “I want to know what that little smile you’re wearing means.”
Her smile widened. “It is an intrusive question. And it’s usually a woman that asks it, you know.”
He dipped his chin and glared at her. “You’re not implying that I am a woman, are you?”
“I have biblical knowledge that you’re not,” Winnie said, laughing. “I am merely pointing out that you’re nosy.” She waited. “Like some women.”
“You’re really enjoying yourself, aren’t you?”
She chewed the inside of her cheek, trying not to smile. “Yep.”
His deep laugh sounded, and she felt that laugh vibrate against her heart. “Well, at least you’re honest about it.”
“It’s one of my finer qualities,” Winnie told him, feigning modesty.
He snorted. “Smart ass.”
“Sarcasm,” she said, releasing a pent-up breath. “Just another little service I offer.”
Another laugh, just as potent as the last. Sheesh, she was so pathetically in love with this man. He sighed heavily and looked at their handiwork. “What do you think?” he asked, gesturing toward the moat. “Think this baby will hold water?”
She rolled her eyes. “You built it, didn’t you?”
He gave his head a small shake and smiled. “You give me entirely too much credit.”
“Wrong,” she said. “You don’t give yourself enough.”
And it was true. He genuinely didn’t have any idea how extraordinary he truly was. Of course, if he did, then he probably wouldn’t be quite so perfect, now would he? She much preferred him humble than arrogant. But surely there had to be a compromise there in the middle.
Adam got up, filled a bucket with water, then settled back down across from her once again. “Okay,” he said. “Here we go.” He carefully poured the water into the moat, making sure not to flood one area and erode the sand.
It held.
She smiled, triumphant. “I told you it would hold.”
He inspected the castle. “It’s quite nice. We work well together.”
The compliment pleased her. “Your building skills and my attention to detail do seem to compliment one another, don’t they?”
He expelled a heavy breath. “So that’s that, right? We’re finished?”
“Not quite,” Winnie said. She picked up the small stick she’d been drawing with and drew a large window in the top of the tallest turret, then added a damsel in distress.
“What are you doing?” Adam asked.
“No castle is complete without a princess in need of rescue,” she told him.
Using the same stick, she drew a horse upon the lane leading to the drawbridge and a prince atop the one-dimensional steed. She finished with a flourish.
“Ah,” she sighed, smiling. “Now it’s done.”
Adam wore a pensive, slightly brooding expression. He looked from the princess to the prince and a line emerged between his brows. She couldn’t begin to guess what he was thinking and wished at that moment that she was a mind reader. Something significant was going on in that complex brain of his and she desperately wanted to know what it was.
He reached over and took the stick away from her. “Er…in this case—for our castle—I think this whole prince saving the princess is wrong,” he said, his voice slightly hoarse.
“What? Wrong?” she asked, confused.
He smoothed the hair off the princess in the turret with his finger and then, using her stick, replaced it with short, wavy curls reminiscent of his own.
Winnie’s throat tightened.
Next, Adam moved onto the man on horseback. He studied Winnie’s hair for a moment, then applied the tool to the prince, changing the locks on that figure, as well. He added the distinct silhouette of a breast and did something to the eyes to make them appear bigger, more feminine.
He looked up at her then and the gratitude she saw in those beautiful blue-green eyes made a lump the size of a golf ball form in her throat.
“See,” he said, as though it wasn’t a big deal, as though he hadn’t just shared a major revelation at all. “The princess saves the prince in this story.” He nodded once and gave the castle another once-over. “It’s perfect now.”
Winnie merely nodded, unable to speak.
Yes, she thought. Yes, it was.
10
IT SEEMED INCREDIBLY odd to Adam that he’d been friends with Winnie for years, but had never set foot in her house. The small dark green craftsman was two blocks from town, a five minute walk to her bakery. And, much like her shop, it had her whimsical sense of style all over it.
“Home sweet home,” she said, shooting him a nervous look as she mounted the back porch to open the door. Fanciful wind chimes—spoons and forks, crystals and glass, copper and beads—hung in one foot intervals around the perimeter of the porch and a huge painting of a mermaid lounging on the beach had been hung on the wall. A colorful rug, complete with fringe, had been painted onto the floor and a sign that read “I like my crazy” hung above the back door.
The sentiment made him chuckle. Only Winnie.
She followed his gaze and grinned. “What?” she said, her eyes playful. “I do like my crazy.”
He did, too. Her crazy was sexy. “Did you paint that?”
She nodded as though it should be obvious. “You can’t find that sort of quality artwork just anywhere, you know.”
He laughed again and followed her inside. “Right.”
The kitchen was outfitted in fifties décor. The same harlequin pattern that covered the bakery floor was here, as well. Old red and white aprons had been fashioned as curtains over the sink and cherries seemed to be either painted or printed on most of her décor. The only nod to modernization at all was her appliances and countertops. They were all sleek stainless steel.
An orange and white tabby the size of a small toddler waddled into view and meowed loudly. Its face looked like it had been walloped with a frying pan.
Winnie bent and rubbed the feline behind its ears. “Sorry, Fido.” She winced. “You’re on a diet.”
Adam snorted. “You’ve named your cat Fido?”
She grinned at him, then stood and shrugged. “I liked the irony.”
He had to admit he did, as well. As for the diet, the enormous feline definitely needed to be on one. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a cat quite so…large.
“He’s huge,” Adam remarked.
“I know. He’s a glutton. The vet finally said it was time to intervene.” She glanced at him, endearingly unsure. “You want to see the rest of the house?”
“I’d love to,” Adam said, following along for the tour.
The living room was loaded with comfy furniture and an eclectic mix of antiques. He spied the flat screen television mounted above her fireplace—which at the moment was filled with assorted candles—and nodded with satisfaction. A bat hung from a wrought-iron arm mounted to the wall and a collection of colored glass globes in varying sizes and shapes were suspended in her wide, living room window. Books and magazines were
stacked in tidy piles and a pair of funky reading glasses lay on her coffee table.
“What’s with the bat?” he asked.
She lifted one shoulder. “I just liked him.”
Adam merely grinned and shook his head.
“The bedrooms and bathroom are this way,” she told him, leading him into a small hall.
The bathroom held an old clawfoot tub—shower attached above—and black-and-white toile covered the walls. Simple, but effective. Little glass knobs had been added, holding her towels, robe and whatnot. A soft floral smell emanated from the room, the same scent as her hair. The thought made him smile.
“Nice,” Adam said, nodding toward the tub. “That looks big enough for two.”
“Probably,” she said, and he had the pleasure of watching her eyes darken with desire. “I’ve never tried it.”
Oh, they’d need to rectify that, Adam thought, sidling closer to her. “That’s easy enough to remedy.”
She flushed. “The b-bedrooms are over here,” she continued. She pointed to a room on his right. “This is the guest room, which I tend to use as more of a closet. The closets are tiny in these old houses.”
He grunted, barely noting the green spread and peacock tapestry above the headboard. “That’s because people didn’t have as much crap.”
“True,” she said, gesturing toward the other door. “And this is my room.”
Intensely curious about this particular space, Adam peered around the doorframe and absorbed every detail. A huge four-poster shaker-style bed stood in front of a large window. Dark purple velvet hung in curtains around it, though they’d been tied back at the moment. A velvet coverlet and cream and silver pillows were scattered over the surface.
A silver filigree jewelry box, a picture of her and Natalie and a picture of Fido sat on her mirrored dresser. A pair of running shoes were tucked in the corner against the wall and a black lacy bra hung on the closet doorknob. Art deco prints of half-naked women dressed the walls and purple tassels dangled from the lampshades. It was lush and decadent and feminine…just like Winnie.
