Waiting for Love (38 page)

It was after one the next morning when the party at the Surf finally broke up. Fortunately, Abby had traded champagne for water hours ago. Other than a few curious looks, no one had made much of her sitting close to Adam all night, which had been a relief. No one really seemed to care that they were spending time together.

With his hand on her lower back, he escorted her across the street to the Beachcomber.

“What’s this about you renting my sister’s place?” he asked.

“She’s decided to take a year off from vet school after the baby comes.”

“So I heard.”

“They need a bigger place for the baby. When she said she’d be renting her place, I snapped it up.”

“I love her house. It’d be perfect for you.”

Her heart ached at the reminder that she’d be back to living alone, no closer to her one-time goal of being a wife and mother. That was okay, she told herself as they took the stairs to the third floor. She’d make a happy, productive life for herself, and if she fell in love again someday, it would be with someone who wanted her more than he wanted his next breath. Being with her friends tonight, she’d seen that kind of love in action and wanted nothing less than what she’d seen among the other happy couples. 

“What’re you thinking about?” Adam asked as he watched her withdraw her key card from her bra.

“You ask me that a lot, you know.”

He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “It’s because I genuinely want to know what’s going on in there.”

She smiled at him, amazed once again at how attentive he was. “I was thinking about how happy everyone seems to be. Mac and Maddie, Luke and Syd, Tiffany and Blaine, Evan and Grace, Laura and Owen, Janey and Joe…  Engagements and babies… They’ve all found the one they were meant to be with.”

“I confess to feeling a twinge of envy over that tonight.”

She opened the door and went in ahead of him. “Really?” she asked, turning to him.

“They’ve got it all figured out. They know who they’re going to spend forever with. It must be nice to have all the questions answered so definitively.”

“They’re lucky to have that.”

He put his arms around her. “I want that,” he said. “I want the answers to the questions.”

“Despite my statements to the contrary on the ferry the other day, I suppose I do, too.”

“Have you considered that this, right here, might be the answer for both of us?”

Abby stared up at him, amazed again.

“I’m sorry,” he said when she didn’t reply. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, I mean yes. Yes, I’ve considered it.”

“You have. Really?”

She nodded. “I’ve let myself entertain a few fantasies in which you play the starring role.”

He took her hand and sat on the bed, tugging lightly to bring her down next to him. “Tell me about them.”

“I can’t. You’ll think I’m crazy. I left Cal only a few days ago. I’ve got no business having fantasies about you.”

“Tell me anyway.”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“After the stuff we’ve done together, you’re still embarrassed around me?”

“This feels more intimate somehow.”

He caressed her face, his touch setting off a riot of sensation that traveled to all her pleasure points. “Before you tell me, I have a confession that might make you never speak to me again.”

She couldn’t imagine never speaking to him again. “What’s that?”

“When I found you on the beach last night? It was because I programmed your phone so I could find you. I felt guilty about it the minute I did it, and I felt worse when I actually used it.”

“I don’t understand why you would do that.”

“Because I was worried about you. I didn’t want some dickhead like that guy in the bar taking advantage of you. Selfishly, I wanted you all to myself. I’m sorry. Are you mad?”

“I want to be.”

“My intentions were good even if I went about it the wrong way. I wanted to make sure you’d be safe. That’s all. I promise.”

She handed him her phone. “Turn off whatever you did.”

Adam took the phone from her, clicked around in the settings and handed it back to her. “Sorry.”

“Don’t use your mad techno skills on me again. You got me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Could I ask you something that might make you mad?”

“What’s that?”

“What happened with Grant today?”

“That doesn’t make me mad.” He relayed the story of what had happened to Grant after the accident.

By the time he was done, Abby had her hand over her mouth as she blinked back tears. “Poor Grant. What an awful thing. Is he okay?” She shook her head. “That’s a stupid question. Of course he isn’t okay.”

“He will be. In time. We’ll all see to that.”

“Is it okay that I asked about him?”

“It’s fine, honey.” He kissed her cheek and then her lips. “Now, you mentioned some fantasies that involve me… I want to hear about them.”

“I’d feel foolish to speak of things that’ll never happen.”

“Haven’t I shown you that it’s never foolish to ask for what you want?”

“That might work in bed. It’s not as cut and dried in real life.”

“It can be. There’s nothing you could say that would make me think you were foolish.” He corralled her hair into a ponytail that he held with one hand. With her hair out of his way, he bent to kiss her neck, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. “Tell me. I really want to know.”

It was hard to form a reasonable thought with what he was doing to her neck. “I had this thought about running my new store while you served as the island’s resident computer geek. See what I mean about it being foolish? Everyone knows you have to go back to New York at some point. You’ll have to get back to your real life.”

“What if that’s not my real life. What if this is? What if you are?”

“Don’t say those things. You don't mean that.”

“How do you know? The last few days I’ve spent with you have been the best I’ve ever spent with anyone. Do you know what I adore about you?”

His use of the word “adore” killed her. “What?”

“That I can be totally myself with you. I don’t feel the need to put on an act so I can be what you want. It seems you like me exactly the way I am.”

“I do. How could I not like you? You’re…”

“What am I?”

“You’re amazing.” Was there any other single word that could better describe him? Not that she could think of.

“Abby…” Their lips came together in sweet communion. His hands on her face made her feel safe, treasured, adored. The kiss turned hot and potent when he wrapped his arm around her, as if he needed to be closer to her.

Abby returned his embrace and let out a sigh of completion when he urged her to lie back on the bed. Wrapped up in his arms, Abby allowed herself to be swept away by the possibility that he might be the answer to all her questions. Wouldn’t that be lovely? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to feel this way all the time?

He drew back from her, gazing at her intently. “I want to make love to you. I want to show you what might be possible.”

“I’m afraid.”

“Of what, honey?”

“Of how you make me feel, of what will happen when you go, or what will happen if you stay…”

“Let’s live the fantasy. For one night, let’s pretend it’s exactly the way you imagined it.”

She looked up at him, so handsome and dear to her, and decided to take a gamble. “Okay.”

Chapter 19

At the look of utter trust she directed his way, Adam’s chest tightened with emotions that hit him one after the other—protectiveness, tenderness and fierce longing. Even after what he’d recently been through with Sasha, he had no hesitation about giving himself over to Abby’s keeping. Somehow he understood that he’d be safe with her in a way he’d never been with Sasha. He knew that now. 

It had taken only a few days with Abby to show him there might be something far better waiting for him. And now he wanted to share everything with her, beginning with this one night steeped in a fantasy that was quickly becoming reality. During the hours he’d spent away from her, he’d thought of little else beyond getting back to her. Images of her had tormented his mind, making it impossible to concentrate on the poker game or the conversation or anything other than her.

After what they’d all been through with Grant earlier, his brothers had been more subdued than usual, too, which was probably the only thing that had saved him from being grilled by them about his obvious distraction. 

He’d met a lot of women in his life, spent time with them, slept with more of them than he probably should have. Sasha had been his third significant relationship, but none of those three women had touched him in years together the way Abby had in the last few days.

One thing had become very clear to him—this was way more than a rebound. 

She was different. She was
special
. She was everything he hadn’t realized he wanted until he was holding her in his arms and she was looking up at him with those big trusting eyes that seemed to see all the way inside him. And she apparently liked what she saw, which made her that much more attractive to him. 

All at once it was vitally important that he have a real chance with her. He wanted to find out what they might have together beyond the casual fling they’d begun with. He wanted to show her what she’d come to mean to him, and the best way he could do that was to focus all his attention on her. He needed to convince her that he could be what she needed, both in bed and out.

With that in mind, he helped her out of her clothes, taking his time to worship each bit of soft skin as it was revealed to him. When she was down to a lavender lace bra and panties, he said, “Keep your eyes closed. Don’t think. Just feel.”

“I’m trying.”

As he removed his own clothes, he wondered if she realized she was trembling. “I want you totally relaxed.” Adam let his hands do the talking for him, massaging the tension from her body as he moved from her shoulders down her arms, from her ribs to her hips, from thighs to feet.

Her small sighs and the loosening of muscles under his hands were the only indication he had that his efforts were having the desired effect. 

“Turn over,” he said.

She opened her eyes, gave him a wary look and then turned.

When she was settled, he started again with her shoulders, kneading her tense muscles until they were pliable before moving down. At the midpoint of her back, he unhooked her bra and let it fall open. It became a herculean effort to not fixate on the sight of the thong disappearing between supple cheeks. But he refused to rush this, so he took his time, working on her back until every muscle was relaxed.

He moved farther down on the bed, straddling her thighs as his hands coasted over her bottom, making her tense at first.

“Relax,” he said. “No thinking. Just feeling.”

“Adam…”

“Shhh. Feel.” He squeezed for emphasis and smiled when she tensed up again before relaxing her muscles. “That’s it.” He slid his fingertips lightly over her bottom, letting one of them follow the line of the thong. That drew a sharp inhale from her. “Easy, honey. Relax. Let me touch you.”

“Not
there
.”

“Everywhere.” He leaned forward to kiss her neck as his finger delved deeper, pressing against pleasure points until she wriggled under him, straining for more. Leaving her wanting, he withdrew and hooked his fingers into the waistband of the panties, dragging them halfway down, until the elastic was snug against the slope of her bottom. The sight was so erotic, he had to look away for a minute or risk embarrassing himself.

The guttural moan that came from her was even more erotic as was the scent of her arousal. Even though he knew it wouldn’t help to relax her, he couldn’t resist moving so he could kiss his way down her back, stopping at her panties. Touching his tongue to the tender skin just above the waistband, he drew a line right up the middle and then came down the other side, making her gasp.

“
Adam
…”

“Feel good?”

“So good. I didn’t know…”

“You didn’t know you liked to have your bottom kissed?”

She dropped her head to the pillow, groaning. “Do you have to say it like that?”

Laughing at her dismay, he said, “Yes, because it turns you on. Knowing what you like turns me on, too.

“It does?”

“Uh-huh.” He tugged on her hips. “Lift up on your knees.”

“I don't think—”

“You’re not thinking, remember?”

Sighing, she did as he asked.

He arranged her so her bottom was raised and her chest pressed to the bed. She’d wrapped her arms around a pillow, almost as if she needed something to hang on to. “That’s it,” he whispered, blowing lightly on her bottom and watching as goose bumps formed on her skin. The reaction pleased him. Everything about her pleased him. He took advantage of her new position to kiss and lick and nibble on her cheeks until she was writhing and pressing back, looking for more.

Adam added his fingers to the mix, sliding them over the silky damp fabric between her legs, making teasing passes over her clit until she was nearly begging him. 

That was his cue to move things along. He reached for the condom he’d left on the bedside table and put it on quickly before he eased her panties slowly down her trembling legs. When she wasn’t expecting it, he leaned forward and dragged his tongue in a half circle, making her scream.

He loved making her scream, he realized as he did it again, leaving her teetering on the verge of release when he turned her onto her back. Adam pushed her hair out of her face as she reached for him, seeming almost desperate.

“Not quite yet, honey.”

“Oh God, please. I can’t take it.”

“Yes, you can.” He cupped her breasts and drew one nipple and then the other into his mouth, sucking and biting and teasing as her hips rose seeking him. Releasing one breast, he ran his hand down her belly to cup her, urging her legs apart as he found her slick and ready. He focused on the tight bead that throbbed under his fingers as he sucked hard on her nipple, watching her expressive face for the reactions he wanted.

“That’s it,” he whispered. “Come for me, Abby.”