My Calendar Men Boxed Set (12 page)

Patience laughed. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Stephen was the last to kiss her, and he lingered. They had been getting closer and closer. Private chats and secluded walks while the others hung out and watched TV. No matter what happened with their merry foursome, she thought something was beginning to form between the two of them, and she would like to see it continue. He’d even given her his private email address and let the other guys know it too. While she thought it might cause some friction, Derrick and Matt seemed genuinely happy at the thought of her and Stephen being a couple at some point.

“I’ll miss you, sweet Patience.” Stephen rubbed his hand across her cheek gently. “I wish we had more time to see where this was going, but by the time we get back, I’ll know for sure.”

She nodded feeling tears threatening to brim her eyes and fall. “I’ll miss you more, Stephen.” She sniffed and pointed at Matt and Derrick. “And you guys too.”

With a few more kisses, whispered farewells, and naughty words from each of them, she watched them head off to their gate while she took the handle of her roll-on suitcase and walked in the other direction. She looked back more than once and found them doing the same thing. She waved, and they waved back until they blended in with the crowd and she could no longer see them. With a sad sigh she checked her bag and took a seat by the gate to wait for her flight back to New York. Ten months was a long time, but like her name, she had Patience. To be with the marines she met in May, she could definitely wait.

Mr. June

The sun was just hot enough to make her sweat, and it didn’t faze Sandi in the least. In the tankini she was wearing while her boat bobbed merrily in the water off the coast of Nantucket, she was quite comfortable with the cool breeze that blew across the deck of her little sailboat and the heat of the sun on her shoulders. This was why she’d moved here, for the amazing summers and the winters that would leave the island almost empty so she could spend her days creating in piece.

Trying to be young adult mystery writer in the middle of Boston was not working out. So, she sold her condo and went back to the place that had brought her so much joy when she was growing up. Now, she had a cottage over the sand dunes and her cute little schooner aptly called
Living the Dream.

On the deck of her boat, she used the kitchen lighter to start the coal in her little hibachi grill. She had her chicken marinated and her veggie kabobs in the cooler, ready to make a fabulous lunch out on the water. It was June and the tourist season was getting ready to start. She smiled in delight thinking about the festivals and antique shops she could wander through. The deadline for her newest novel wasn’t until late December so she had a few weeks that she could call vacation.

With the coal burning, she put her chicken on the grill and her tummy rumbled with hunger. Sandi was not a natural chef in the kitchen. In Boston, she ate out or ordered in, and one of her missions when she’d moved was to learn how to cook. She was not faring well. Every recipe she tried over the last week came out like mush, rock hard, or burnt to a crisp.

The wait staff at the local restaurant had seen a little bit too much of her over those days, so this was her next endeavor.
If I can’t cook, how hard could it be to grill?
She put the cover down on the tiny grill and put her big, floppy hat on her head. She lay out on the deck and opened the book to the marked page where she’d left off. A
good book and a great dinner cooking. This is the life.
She must’ve fallen asleep because  an acrid smell woke her and when she looked at the grill, black smoke was billowing out and the wood beneath it had caught on fire.

“Holy shit!” Panic filled her and she scrambled up, looking around for her fire extinguisher. Sandi popped the cap off and did as the directions read. “Point nozzle and spray in the direction of the fire.  Point the nozzle and spray…. Why isn’t this working?” The man she’d bought the boat from said it was brand new, yet nothing was coming from the extinguisher.  The fire grew bigger and she threw the skewers out of the small cooler and filled it with water. Before she could throw it on, she heard a loud honk and the sound of a powerful engine coming her way. A Coast Guard boat was heading her way with urgent speed.

By the time it was pulling up beside her, one of the men in blue overalls hopped onto her boat with his own fire extinguisher. He had the fire out in a matter of seconds and then rounded on her with a glare. She’d seen him before, took his class on boat safety. Sandi had seen him around the island, too, and each time their eyes met, she would walk just a little faster. He made her heart race and she didn’t know why, even now as he stood glowering at her from the deck of boat.

“Lady, are you crazy? First, it’s illegal to grill on the deck of a boat, and why didn’t you use you extinguisher that’s lying there on the floor?” he barked. “Did you think dancing around the fire would put it out?”

Sandi put her hands on her hips and glared back. “Hey, I had it under control, and I’ll have you know the guy who sold me the boat told me that was brand new. He obviously lied.”

“Yeah, it looks like it. You city folk always have things under control, huh? You would’ve been swimming home in a minute if we hadn’t shown up.”

“I’ll have you know, I live here and I took the classes to get recertified to be out on the boat, so there!” Sandi stuck her tongue out at him a childish move, but she did it nonetheless.

His face broke out in a slow smile. “Yeah, I think I remember you from my class. You sat in the back wearing sunglasses, the writer chick.”

“How do you know that?’ she snapped.

“You put it on your form as occupation.”

“I’m sure I didn’t put writer chick.”

“Excuse me, novelist slash author.”

“Well you must have not impressed me because I can’t remember your name,” she shot back.

Damn, why does he have to be so drop dead gorgeous
? With close cropped dark hair and green eyes that twinkled with amusement, his face had the angular shape that she liked in a man. Sexy lips that curved in an easy smile. He was tall and he had to be around six-two. He was an all around great package to look at if he didn’t irritate the heck out of her.

The boat lurched suddenly as the current moved beneath it, and it sent her into his arms. He dropped the fire extinguisher and caught her against him. Sandi’s eyes widened in surprise as his strong arms went around her and it felt great. She was pressed against his hard chest and when she met his jade green gaze, something had replaced the humor in his eyes.

She pushed back and looked away from him. “Um…. Anyhoo, thanks. I’m good now. I’ll motor in and find someone to do the repair on my boat.”

“Sorry, no can do. We have to tow you in. We can’t risk you starting the boat, in case there is any damn to the engine or if a remnant spark could make it explode.”

Sandi sighed. “Fine.”

“My name is Commander Chase, by the way, Donovan Chase.” He boarded the Coast Guard craft easily and held out his hand to her. “I hope it’s more memorable this time around.”

“Sandi Dowell.” She took his hand and an electric thrill run up her arm.

“I know,” Donovan replied with a smile.

She sat quietly while he and his crewmate tied up her boat and powered back to the marina.  Donovan and his first mate helped her tie up her boat.

“Thanks, um…yeah, bye,” she murmured, and began to walk away.

He caught her arms, stopping her movements, and bent close so only she could hear him. “You may think I haven’t noticed you, Sandi Dowell, but I have.  I’ve thought about walking across the street and kissing you senseless more than once. Each time you look at me and look away, it seems so shy, and I want to bring out the fire in you all the more. I want to hear you call my name, hot and breathless as you come.”

Her body flushed with each word. “I-I don’t know what you mean by, that but you presume too much, Commander Chase.”

“See, even the way you talk all uppity at me is so very sexy,” he murmured.  “What’s under all that has to be so very sweet. You’ll say yes to me, Sandi, because you want me too.”

“You think so, huh?” Sandi replied.

“Oh yes, I think, Sandi Dowell. See you around.”

Without a word, she turned and walked away because, honestly, she didn’t know what else to say to his bold statements. His eyes on her with each step, she knew it  and she didn’t turn around once to look back. Instead, as usual, she quickened her steps and finally expelled her breath when she rounded the corner away from his eyes. First, she would find a repair shop for her boat and go home to sulk. 
After I buy yet another meal from the restaurant,
she thought gloomily. After she replayed what he’d said in her mind over and over again.

* * * *

Later that night while she sipped a glass of wine in front of the bonfire she’d built on the beach, To Sandi the day had been redeemed. She was dressed in a bulky sweater and shorts while she sat on a small blanket in the said. The night still carried a chill from the wind off the water. The summer breeze would still be cool as the months progressed. She would be out here more often at that time.  Her dinner of a Caesar salad and grilled snapper was better than just heating up a frozen meal. When she hunted drift wood for her fire and dug out the sand, it brought back wonderful memories of her father’s lessons in building the perfect fire.  Now, a good cabernet catching the light of the fire—she definitely felt better.

Even the cost of repairing her boat was not bad. Surface damage mainly. She had to hear from the repair guy about how wrong she had been for taking the grill out on the boat.  She’d seen her father do it and she could hear his voice now…
Do as I
say, not as I do.
But she’d learned her lesson. From now on, she would make her food and take it out instead of trying to cook.

Her mind had just wandered to the too handsome face of Donovan Chase. He was right. The things he said to her had made her ache on the inside.
It’s not like you never had sex before,
she thought angrily, but then her mind came back with the truthful answer
. Not sex like what he is offering.

It was true. Because, of the few men she had dated and had shared her bed with, none of them had been able to bring her pleasure that left her breathless. It was adequate, to say the least, and those men had left with a whistle on their breath and a spring in their step the next day. For awhile, she’d dated until whatever they had faded. She refused to settle for less anymore. She wanted to feel intensity and passion, desire at a man’s touch. The way Donovan approached her was not like the Boston elite who took her out for oysters in hopes that they would get lucky. He came to her like a man would, a rogue from the old romance novels she used to read. He saw what he wanted and would take it.
Hard and fast until I
scream his name.
She was so immersed in her thoughts, she didn’t hear the roar on the engine until it was right upon her. Her eyes widened as the humvee kicked up the sand of the dunes and threw some of the grains into her fire.

Donovan got out of the big black beast and, this time, he was dressed casually in cargo pants and a black tee. Even in the waning light of the night, she could see each defined muscle of his chest and arms.
Such broad shoulders
. She took a sip of her wine and looked into the fire. He strode over in such a casual gait that she wondered if he ever hurried a day in his life. He sat down next to her without invitation and, somehow, it pleased her all the more.
Maybe if he’d asked, it would’ve ruined the mysticism of him being a rogue,
she thought, and laughed to herself.

“You’re smiling,” he commented.

“I’m not supposed to do that?” Sandi asked.

“It suits you, is what I’m saying. It makes your eyes light up and they look like warm melted chocolate.” He said. “I wonder if you’ll taste like that.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She was amazed at her brazen comment.

“I’m going to,” he said with confidence. “Aren’t you going to offer me some wine?”

“I don’t have two glasses.” 

“I’ll share yours.” He plucked it from her hand and took a sip. “It’s good, a bold flavor. I like it. I can still taste the flavor of your lips on the rim. I like that best.” He pulled the bottle that she’d stuck in the sand from its place, filled the glass, and handed it back to her. “You can taste mine if you want.”

“Your lips from the glass?” she asked, and heard the tremor in her voice.

He laughed. “No, in person. You can kiss me.”

“Here I was thinking you were a man who would take the kiss,” she replied boldly.

“I am, but like in any battle, I am giving you the first shot,” Donovan replied.

“So this is a battle?”

“Sandi, love is always a battle and the winner gets the spoils.”

“Which are?”

“The heart you are fighting for. And the lucky thing is, the other heart is quite happy with that arrangement,” Donovan explained.

“Am I to take it that you want my heart?” Sandi asked.

He gave her a look that was filled with intensity. “Baby, I want all of you, so go ahead, you get first taste. But you can’t stop me when I taste all of you.”

His offer was too appealing to resist. He was so shameless and bold, so unlike any other man she had ever met. Sandi leaned in and kissed him. His mouth opened under hers and dared her to enter. She hesitated from a moment, her tongue poised on the tip of their lips moving together. She dipped her tongue inside his mouth just past his teeth before pulling back.

He pulled away from her and pinned her with a stare. “Take more.”

She grabbed his face and pressed her lips against his, burying her tongue into his mouth. Sandi moaned into his mouth, surprised by his taste and how much it excited her. He let her play willingly and she opened her eyes to see him watching her as they kissed. Green eyes so dark with desire that it made her breathless.