Seized by Love (Love in Bloom: The Ryders, Book 1): Blue Ryder (7 page)

Way to go, Lizzie
.

This isn’t a date.

Maybe not, but it sure felt like one.

“I can’t believe you came,” she said honestly.

He stepped in closer, sucking all the air from the space around her.

“You don’t think I’d pass up time with you, do you?”

She inhaled a jagged breath, filling her lungs with his fresh, manly scent, and smiled, which was about all she could muster at the moment.
This
was definitely a date. She may have been able to fool her mind into accepting the offer, but her body knew the difference.

Her body craved the difference.

Her body craved Blue.

She cleared her throat and tried to shake off the craziness that was sending her thoughts into overdrive. “I’m glad you did.”

“Are we visiting a particular grave?” Blue fell into step beside her, and they walked up the slight incline and across the lawn, toward the sea of headstones.

“Sort of. When I have flowers that don’t sell, sometimes I bring them here and place them on the graves that go unattended.” She’d never shared this with anyone before and wasn’t sure how he’d respond—or why she had invited him to join her when she’d always kept this private.

He placed his hand on her back again and didn’t say a word. She liked his quiet acceptance—and the feel of his hand sending heat and awareness through her like live wires.

“Some people find cemeteries scary at night, without the sunshine to give them a feeling of safety,” Lizzie said as they weaved through the headstones. “But when I come here I think about all the people who are buried, and I can’t help but feel like they would have wanted to be remembered.”

“Everyone wants to be remembered by those they love. Which graves do you put the flowers on?”

She liked that he was interested enough to ask. “I’ve been coming here for years, so I’ve gotten to know which graves are visited and which aren’t. Some people leave painted stones or letters, but some graves never have anything left on them. It can be tricky to figure out, but, for example, that one over there.” She pointed to a child’s headstone. “That one looks like all the others, right?”

His eyes slid over a line of headstones. “Sure.”

She walked over to it and crouched. Blue crouched beside her, their thighs brushing as their eyes met and held. He was doing it again, looking at her like she was all that mattered, like she was his total focus. She forced herself to focus on the explanation, when all she really wanted to do was get lost in the depths of emotions she saw there.

“This grave gets visited every other week. Sometimes I find remnants of flowers.” She pointed to the grave beside it. “But that one? I’ve never found anything there.” She pulled a rose from the tote and laid it across the headstone. Her fingers lingered on the cool marble. “I wonder what they were like. Was this person pensive and shy or aggressive and obnoxious?”

They walked between the headstones, his hand resting on her back, and it felt natural to share her thoughts with him. “I wonder if they were loved and who they left behind.”

Blue took a flower from the tote. “May I?”

She smiled and nodded.

He crouched before a headstone, his eyes running thoughtfully over the engraving. “I don’t see any remnants of flowers. This is for you, Helen Craft. I hope good feelings reach you.” He took Lizzie’s hand in his as he rose to his feet. “I never imagined you doing this, but it doesn’t surprise me.”

“I’m sure I do lots of things that you never imagined I would.” The way his lips tipped up told her that he thought she was implying something naughty. She loved that glint of wickedness in him, but she was too aware of her secret to let the mistaken innuendo go. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I’m sure you’re full of surprises, and I can’t wait to learn about each and every one of them.”

Wanna bet?

***

THE GOLDEN GLOW of the moon cast shadows like memories across the grass, and in the distance, the Pilgrim Monument stood sentinel behind a buffer of trees. Blue had driven by this cemetery hundreds of times, but he’d never given it a thought. He watched Lizzie crouch before another grave in her jeans and P-town Petals shirt, the moonlight dancing off her thoughtful eyes as she placed a flower in front of the headstone, then rose beside him. He reached for her hand and she laced her fingers with his. This might not be a typical date, but holding Lizzie’s hand, with no distractions, in such an unexpected place, seemed like a perfect evening.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She fidgeted with the seam on her jeans.

Unlike other women, Lizzie didn’t need special outfits or lots of makeup. She was a natural beauty, and after a year of wanting to be closer to her, Blue couldn’t imagine being more attracted to anyone. He stepped closer and brushed his thumb over her jaw. “This is a little embarrassing. I was just admiring how beautiful you are, and how thoughtful.”

Even in the moonlight he could see her cheeks flush as they began walking again.

“How often do you come here?” He wanted to get to know so much more about her, but even though she was holding his hand, he saw something in her eyes that told him she was still wary of getting too close.

“About once or twice a week. I also bring flowers to the assisted-living facility in Wellfleet, and sometimes I give them to tourists outside my shop, or I take them to the police station or the firehouse.” She shrugged like it was no big deal, but Blue knew how she raced around every day at work. He’d seen her in action, and he knew how big of a heart it took to make time after a long, busy day, when she had to be tired, to do something like this.

“Oh! Come with me.” Her eyes widened with excitement as she dragged him around a big tree to an old cracked headstone green with moss, and kneeled in front of it, tugging him down with her. Her smile was so bright that he was sure this was someone special’s grave. “This is Henry.”

“Henry?”

She traced the unreadable engraving on the headstone. “That’s what I call him. I sat here one night for a long time trying to figure out his or her real name, and as you can see, you can’t read a thing. But while I was sitting here, the name Henry came to me. So, this is Henry.”

She took the last flower out of her tote and laid it across Henry’s headstone with a sigh. Then she patted the headstone and smiled at Blue. “I’m glad you’re here with me. I’ve never brought anyone here before.” She shifted her eyes to the headstone again. “It feels good to do this, doesn’t it?”

“Better than you can imagine. I’m honored that you’re sharing this part of yourself with me.” Blue reached for her hand again, giving it a little squeeze to underscore how grateful he was to be included. He did a lot for other people, but it was rare to know someone who did for others without expecting an acknowledgment of some kind. He had a feeling there was a lot more to Lizzie than met the eye.

They walked back toward the parking lot hand in hand, and when they reached the edge of the lawn, Lizzie stopped walking and said, “I’m glad you showed up.” She smiled up at him, and like every one of her smiles, it reeled him in even more.

“I’m glad you asked.” He stepped in closer.

“I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to change or shower or anything.”

“Lizzie, you could be covered in mud and you’d be beautiful.” He searched her eyes and saw a flicker of embarrassment. “You’re beautiful, Lizzie, no matter what you wear.” He brushed his fingers over her cheek and felt her skin heat up with his touch. He fought the urge to press his lips to hers but couldn’t keep his emotions from coming out in words.

“I want to kiss you, but I’m so afraid of scaring you off that I’m fighting it every second.” He held her gaze, not wanting to steal the kiss as he had last night. This time, he wanted her consent, needed to know she was in this, too.

“You do? You are?”

“More than you can imagine.” He wrapped her in his arms, and she gripped his shirt as she had last night. “What do you want, Lizzie? Tell me what you want.”

She took tiny steps to the side, turning them as one, until Blue was standing on the low slope of the hill and they were eye to eye.

“I want you to kiss me.” She pressed a hand flat on his chest, keeping his efforts at bay. “But only if you can promise me we won’t go further, because I don’t trust myself, and I need to know I can trust you.”

His heart squeezed. Trust was everything to him. “You’re very brave.”

“How on earth does that make me brave?”

“And so cute with your brows all pinched together. It takes courage to admit that to a guy. What if I wasn’t someone you could trust? You could be taken advantage of so easily.”

She tightened her grip on his shirt, her eyes sharp and assessing. “But you are someone I can trust. I’ve known you for a year. I know the man you are, Blue, and I trust you. That’s the whole point.”

“And what about you, Lizzie? Are you someone I can trust?”

Warmth filled her eyes. “Are you asking if I’m going to take advantage of you?”

He’d like nothing better than that, but he kept that thought to himself. “No, I mean in general. If we were dating, could I trust you?”

Her brows knitted a little tighter, and something he couldn’t read flickered in her eyes. “I’d like to think so.”

He touched her hand, which was still pressed to his chest, and she opened her fingers, lacing theirs together.

“You can always trust me, Lizzie. I’ll never do anything to hurt you.”

She went up on her toes, and when their lips were a breath apart, she said in a tremulous whisper, “Then kiss me, Blue. Please, kiss me.”

Every muscle in Blue’s body flexed as he reined in the urgency mounting inside him and pressed his lips to hers with heartrending tenderness. His mouth moved over hers, devouring its softness while trying not to ravage her with the intensity thrumming through his veins. Her hand slipped from his, settling around his waist, and as he gathered her in closer and deepened the kiss, he felt her soft, pliant curves melting against him. He moaned at the sheer pleasure of their bodies coming together. He’d waited so long to kiss her, to feel her against him. And this kiss was so much more than a second kiss.

He felt her opening up to him, giving herself over to him. She had to feel the effect she had on his body, to understand how difficult it was to be this close, knowing it wouldn’t go further, to taste his desire in every stroke of his tongue. She had to realize that it took every ounce of his self-control to keep his hands from roaming over her luscious curves. He was lost in his own reveries of Lizzie giving herself up to their kiss, but true to his word—he’d always remain true to his word to Lizzie—he forced himself to draw back, pressing soft kisses to her lips, before finally pulling away completely.

His heart thundered at the sight of her half-lidded eyes, her body free of tension, completely unguarded and relaxed. He needed more, if only another kiss, another taste, to be closer to the woman he’d dreamed of becoming one with for months on end. He brought a hand to the nape of her neck and pulled her closer again.

“Lizzie,” he whispered against her lips, needing to know she wanted this, too. Her eyes blinked open. “Do you want me to ask every time I kiss you, or do you trust me enough to let me?”

Her dimples appeared as she said, “I trust you.”

“Thank you,” he murmured before recapturing her mouth, more demanding this time. He felt her entire body sink into him, and he welcomed the heat of her as their tongues found their rhythm once again. Her mouth was even sweeter, hotter this time, like she was just as lost in him as he was in her. But he’d made a promise.

“I will never get enough of kissing you,” he said as they parted again.

“Yeah.” Her breathy whisper brought images of her saying it while lying beneath him, naked and wanting, making him hard as steel.

It took every bit of his self-control not to take her up by the dunes and lay her down, strip away all of her clothing, and love her until neither one of them could think.

She circled her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek to his chest, and Blue knew in that moment, with the stars shining brightly above them and the sounds of the sea in the distance, that they were meant to be together.

When she drew back with a seductive look in her eyes, it took all his willpower not to kiss her again. Instead, he brushed her hair from her shoulder, needing even that small connection, and asked, “Are you ready for our outing?”

“Um…” She smiled up at him. “How about if we call it a date?”

“A date. Really? You want to go on a date with me?” He reached for her hand as they walked down the hill toward the lot.

She pushed him playfully. “
You
want to go on a date with
me
.”

He pulled her against him again and kissed her. “You’re damn right I do.”

They dropped Lizzie’s car off at her place. Before driving away from her house, Blue reached around her and lifted her across the bench seat of his truck, casually draping one arm over her shoulder as she sat, slack-jawed, gazing up at him.

“You
moved
me.”

“Aw, babe, you move me, too. Better put your seat belt on so we don’t get a ticket,” he said with a smile.

Lizzie put on her seat belt. “Do you do this to all your dates?”

She had no idea how special she was. He gripped the steering wheel tighter and admitted, “Actually, I’ve never done that before.”

“You literally scooped me up and moved me.” She narrowed her eyes. “It felt very practiced.”

“Seriously, I’ve never done that before. I’m not sure why I did it, but it felt right.” He started the truck, so thankful she was out with him again. “Just like this does.” He slanted his mouth over hers, immediately swept up in her taste, her scent, the sexy little sigh of surrender she made as he deepened the kiss.

“Wow,” she whispered. “Kissing you is a purely sensual experience.”

“Well, enjoy it, because that’s all you’re getting. Sensual kisses, nothing more. I made a promise to someone I respect, and I don’t intend to break it.”

She giggled, and it was the sweetest sound on earth.