Swept Away for Christmas

by M. J. Fredrick

  “I don’t even have underwear.”

  “We’ll go to Gulf Shores tomorrow.”

  She choked out a laugh. “Tomorrow needs to be about forty-eight hours long.” And she could sleep for forty of them.

  “It’ll be okay.” He caught her arm and drew her against his chest, stroking her hair back from her face.

  She stiffened at first, then slid her arms around his waist, letting herself relax against him, to absorb his strength.

  “How can you be so calm?” she asked, drawing back to look up at him.

  “Oh, I’m pissed. If I see him, I’m kicking his ass. But he didn’t take anything from you that can’t be replaced, and if anything, he just made his life harder. Come on. Let’s go home.”

  Chapter Six

  Harley didn’t know how she was going to sleep in Liam’s house, with her view of the water, wearing his T-shirt to sleep in. Grabbing the blanket from the end of the bed, she slipped out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen. She winced when Mia whined from her crate, the sound echoing in the quiet house. She crossed the room to open the kennel and Mia followed her hopefully to the refrigerator, where Harley discovered Liam’s sweet tooth was limited to restaurants. He had nothing to snack on. She snagged a bottle of water and closed the door.

  She jumped when she saw Liam leaning against the counter, arms folded over his chest. Good thing she held a plastic bottle, because it bounced when it slipped from her fingers.

  “Holy crap, Liam.” She bent to scoop up the bottle, tugging the hem of his T-shirt over her ass. “I didn’t hear you.”

  “Couldn’t sleep?”

  She pressed her hand to her chest. “I was going to sit outside.”

  “There are cookies on the boat.”

  “I was going to go sit on the boat,” she corrected.

  He nodded toward her bare legs. “Like that? It is December, even though it’s the coast.”

  “I brought my blanket.”

  “All right, then. Let’s go sit on the boat.”

  She looked at the hand he extended toward her, then put her hand in his, letting him link his fingers through hers. She grabbed her blanket with her other hand and barely stopped herself from giggling as they ran down the dock to the boat. She’d never kept such crazy hours, even in Nashville, when Tony was playing the bars, because she’d always had to get up early to go to work. She loved the freedom of being outside in the wee hours of the morning.

  “Stay here,” he said once they were on deck. “I’ll get the cookies.”

  She wrapped the blanket beneath her and sat, flipping it over her like a cocoon. When Liam returned with a pack of chocolate chip cookies, he plopped beside her, making the boat rock.

  “Give me some of the blanket.”

  She hesitated. Giving him some of the blanket meant he would be closer than was good for her peace of mind, his legs against hers, though at least he was wearing sweats. He didn’t wait for her to invite him, just flipped up the edge and slid in beside her.

  His body heat warmed her instantly, and his scent enveloped her, making her nipples hard and the rest of her—including her brain—soft. Oblivious, he tore open the cookie packet and offered her the first selection. She plucked out a couple and focused really hard on the night sky above them, not his proximity.

  He shifted down on the seat, resting his head on the edge of the boat to look at the stars, crunching on a cookie.

  “I haven’t done this in a long time, just sat out here and looked at the stars. I used to know the names of all the constellations, in the summer sky, anyway. For some reason, girls really liked that, especially if I remembered the story that went with them.”

  She got it. He had a number of conquests, she’d only ever been with Tony. What was she thinking being out here with him, her body against his, beneath the blanket in the middle of the night? But she couldn’t bring herself to pull away.

  “I’d do it all the time if I lived in a place like this, with no light pollution.”

  He rolled his head on the railing to look at her. “You do live here.”

  “Not officially. Not forever.”

  “Do you think you’d want to live here?”

  Did she? She loved the ocean, loved the small-town feel of Starfish Shores. Lov—well, was very fond of—him. “What would I do? I don’t have any particular skills for what jobs are available. Heck, I’m not even a good waitress.”

  “There are a couple of colleges within commuting distance. Have you thought about that?”

  “I have. I feel ridiculous, going to college now, though. By the time I get done, I’ll be almost thirty.”

  “And no one’s ever done that before.”

  “I don’t even know what I’d study.”

  “So go, get your basics, something will come to you.” He linked his fingers with hers under the blanket, against her bare leg, driving all her attention to that spot. “I really want you to stay, Harley.”

  “Liam.” She lifted her free hand to rest against his chest when he shifted, his intent clear.

  “Been thinking about this for days,” he murmured, and touched his lips to hers.

  The charge that went through her was electric. She’d heard the saying before but hadn’t know something could feel this way, blowing through her defenses, all with a simple touch of his lip. He reached around and cupped her face, his thumb brushing lightly over her cheek. She captured it against her and held on, savoring the caress as she tilted her chin up, asking for more of his kisses.

  He shifted, drawing her closer against the line of his body and moving them so that they lay along the seat, his back to the rail. His legs twined with hers beneath the twisted blanket, and her shirt rode up between them.

  She should stop. She should stop this. They were outside, he was her brother’s best friend, her last relationship was barely cold, but she didn’t have the strength to push him away. She wanted to know where this would go, what he could make her feel.

  He broke the kiss and looked down at her, his hand on her bare waist. She didn’t give him a chance to say anything, but sat up, straddling him, the blanket still wrapped around them. This time she took his face in her hands, savoring the roughness of his stubble against her palms, against her lips as she rained kisses over his face before claiming his mouth. He moaned and pulled her closer as their tongues slid and tangled, their breathing deepened, his fingers found the edge of her panties, then danced away.

  Everything in her wanted to drag his hand back, to push his touch lower. Instead she savored the taste of him, the warmth and hardness of him.

  “So many reasons we shouldn’t be doing this,” she breathed against his mouth.

  He grunted, wrapped his arms around her and stood with her still straddling him. He marched them across the deck, pushed open the doors of the boat, and carried her down the steps, through the galley, and lowered her to the bed, following her down.

  Chapter Seven

  Liam knew he should let her go, walk away. He wasn’t manipulating her into staying in Starfish Shores, but when she looked back on it, she might think that was his intention. Honestly? His only intention was to bury himself deep inside her and stay there until morning.

  For now, he satisfied himself with kissing her, tasting her, feeling her tense and reach for him, slide her hand over his hair, down his neck, his shoulder, his back. He stroked his tongue over the lower lip that had been driving him nuts for two weeks, captured her gasp in his mouth, and slowly, slowly stroked his hand down her side to the waistband of her panties. She stilled absolutely beneath him, holding her breath, and he glided his hand up to curl around her breast. Her breath exploded in a gust and she arched against him, into his touch as he stroked his thumb back and forth over her nipple.

  Then, as he knew would happen, she brought her hands up between them, breaking contact. Disappointment poured through him even as he knew it was the right thing to do. He dropped his hand to the mattress beside her and rose to put dista
nce between them, but she didn’t take her hands from his chest, just continued to push until he was on his back and she was over him, her hair falling forward, the sexiest damn sight he’d ever seen.

  She was taking charge.

  Just the thought had lust surging through him, and he lifted into her. “Harley.”

  She shushed him and pulled his shirt—his new favorite shirt—over her head, leaving her naked but for tiny cotton panties.

  His eyes may have rolled back in his head, because he got dizzy there for a minute. Then he opened his eyes and stroked his hands up those long long legs, up the curve of her waist to her breasts, and back down to rest on her hips. This was her show. He just wanted her to know he appreciated it.

  She slipped her hands under the hem of his T-shirt and stroked the hair on his stomach, following it higher.

  “I never thought chest hair was sexy before you,” she murmured, pushing his shirt up.

  He wriggled, sitting up enough to tug the thing over his head and give her free rein. He loved the sight of her slim fingers ruffling his hair. She bent to kiss him, long and slow, her breasts against his skin, small moans of appreciation coming from her throat.

  Then she sat up. “Do you have condoms?”

  He would have liked to spend a little more time exploring, but since she was taking initiative... “In the drawer there.”

  She nodded but didn’t move for them, not yet. Instead, she shifted so she straddled his thighs, and went for the waistband of his sweats. This time he knew his eyes rolled back in his head when she closed her fingers around him and stroked lightly. He closed his hands around him and showed her what he liked, then captured her wrist to remove her touch.

  “Take off your panties, Harley.”

  She stilled, then rose over him to peel them down. When he touched her, she let out a shuddering breath, then stretched to open the drawer of the bedside table. She dropped the condom packet on his stomach and let him take charge of protection. Once he was sheathed, she was over him again, guiding him to her.

  God, being inside her felt just as good as he’d imagined, but the real pleasure came from watching her face. She closed her eyes and bowed her back as she took him deep, held him there for a long breathless moment before she began to move. He gritted his teeth as he allowed her to set the pace, slowly at first, experimental. She opened her eyes and met his gaze as she moved, as she touched him, and she let him join in, holding her hips as he met her thrusts, watching her face transform into pure pleasure as he touched her, caressed her, took her over the edge and followed.

  Harley fell onto her back and stared at the ceiling of the bedroom—or whatever a boat bedroom was called. What the hell had they just done? There was no undoing that—not that she’d wanted to, it had been amazing. Except he was her boss and her brother’s best friend and her friend, and now the only guy besides Tony she had slept with.

  Liam was way too important to her to be a rebound guy, but how could they have a meaningful relationship so soon after her relationship with Tony had ended? She’d given into emotions too soon, and now she’d spoiled everything.

  Worse, she had no idea what to do now.

  Liam dealt with the condom and turned to loop his hand over her naked waist—and she stiffened. Always alert, he lifted his head to look at her.

  “You okay? Did I hurt you?”

  Hurt her? Was that even possible for him?

  She did what she knew he valued. She told the truth.

  “We should have waited. I’m not ready to give another man power over me, Liam.”

  He removed his touch, and she could tell she’d wounded him.

  “I’d never want power over you, Harley.”

  “Not—not like that. But to have control of my emotions, my heart. For me to make decisions based on a man, on wanting to be with him, or him wanting to be with me. I did that once and lost myself. I can’t do that again. And it’s worse because I really like you and you’ve been great, and you’re Sam’s best friend. We can’t let him know about this.”

  He was silent, his hands on the bed, away from her. “I thought of all this before. I knew we were taking a risk, but I did it anyway, because I feel like you’re worth the risk. I’d never stand in the way of anything you want to do. I know—maybe you’re right, it’s too soon, and maybe I was selfish because I did want you to think about me before you make a decision about the rest of your life. But yeah, I see your point about not telling Sam until we have this worked out, until we know what’s going to happen next. But I’m not going to be sorry, Harley. I’ve waited thirty years to find someone like you. I’m not saying that to manipulate you,” he said quickly when she opened her mouth to protest.

  “There’s nothing special about me,” she protested. “I’m a boring receptionist-turned-waitress who has made nothing but bad decisions.”

  He sat up with a bounce of the mattress and looped his arms over his bent knees. “You’re a receptionist-turned-waitress who is taking charge of her life, who has the whole world opening before her, who has so many options, and you chose me to be part of your path. You can’t tell me what just happened here was all impulse.”

  “Very little of it was impulse,” she admitted. “I’ve had a crush on you since you played football with Sam. You make me feel…I don’t know. Things besides anger and despair and hopelessness. But don’t you see—that’s why I don’t want to give you any power. I need to feel on my own, not have some man showing me.”

  He blew a breath through his nose, like he wanted to say something else, but he pressed his lips together instead. “Right. I get it. I’ll back off, until you give me the word. And if you don’t give me the word, well, all right.”

  Relief rolled through her, and she reached over the edge of the bed for her T-shirt. She hated being afraid of her own feelings, but was grateful he understood. Of course, she wouldn’t have these feelings for him if he wasn’t that guy. “Thank you.” She tugged the shirt on and wriggled back into her panties. It would be a cold dash for the house without the blanket, but she needed distance between them, now.

  She headed for the deck and the neglected Mia, who wriggled her whole body in greeting before she went stiff and whipped around toward the house. A moment of terror seized Harley when Mia started barking before she recognized her brother standing on the back patio. She smiled and started toward him before she heard Liam’s steps behind her. Even in the dim predawn light, she saw her brother’s face darken when Liam emerged, shirtless, giving Sam no doubt what had been going on in the boat.

  Chapter Eight

  Harley bolted off the boat toward her brother, determined to stay between him and his best friend before something drastic happened.

  “This is how you look after my sister?” Sam barked over her shoulder as she pressed both hands to his chest and pushed him toward the house.

  “Let’s go inside.” The last thing they needed was to wake up the neighborhood with a shouting match before sunrise.

  He dug his feet into the patio and reached past her for his friend, who, like an idiot, kept coming forward.

  “Inside, Sam, please.”

  He looked from Liam to her, betrayal etched on his face. “Inside, yeah, that would have been a good plan. You inside my house and him inside his.”

  “If you’re here, then you’ve been by your house,” Liam said, his voice steady.

  “I have, and had the shit scared out of me. What happened?”

  “Asshole Tony,” Harley said. “Liam didn’t want me staying alone so I came over here.”

  “Yeah, I bet he didn’t want you staying alone.” His gaze snapped back to Harley. “What do you mean, Asshole Tony? Did he hurt you?”

  “Let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you. Please.”

  He paused just a moment longer, probably to let her know she wasn’t calling the shots before he turned around and walked into Liam’s living room.

  Harley sat in one of the armchairs, sensing she needed to b
e calm, though her instinct was to stand between Liam and Sam. But they’d been friends longer than she’d been involved with Liam, so she’d let him make the call. Quietly, she told Sam about Tony tracking her down, showing up at the bar, making Liam nervous. She told him about Mia spending the night and how Liam really had looked out for her.

  “We had the house all decorated for Christmas to give you a good homecoming, and instead, we have this.” She spread her hands in front of her.

  “That doesn’t explain how you go from spending the night here to...what happened on the boat.” Sam waved his hand in the direction of the dock.

  “Something that’s been building between us,” Liam said quietly.

  “In two weeks?” Sam turned to Harley. “I thought after what happened with Tony, you’d be more careful.”

  “Are you telling me Liam’s not a good guy?” She kept her voice soft. “You know he is, or you wouldn’t be friends, wouldn’t have left him to look out for me.”

  “I didn’t think he’d seduce you.”

  She smiled, remembering the power Liam had given her less than an hour ago. “He didn’t.”

  Sam slapped his hands over his ears childishly. “I don’t want to hear this.”

  “Then don’t. Put it out of your head. What happened tonight was for me and Liam. We’ll deal with the consequences, not you.” As she said the words, she felt another kind of power come over her. “Let’s all get some breakfast, then we’ll head home and get everything put to rights. It’s not too late to have a merry Christmas.”

  ***

  But it wasn’t the Christmas she’d pictured. The tension between Sam and Liam was palpable as they swept up glass and boarded up windows that couldn’t be replaced until after the holiday. They were almost done when Liam’s cell rang.

  He checked the display and looked over at Harley. “My mom.” He stepped out on the back stoop to take the call.

  She was left alone with Sam for the first time since he’d seen them on the boat.