Barefoot at Sunset (Barefoot Bay Timeless Book 1) (18 page)

“And your point is…”

Being with a woman had never made him feel guilty before. Or at least it hadn’t made him feel like something inside him had changed. But Emma did. She made him feel like he was breaking the bond with his soul mate…the one whose voice he couldn’t even remember.

“Mark, what is it?”

He just shook his head, slowly pulling her into him and easing her head against his shoulder and chest. Just to feel her there. Just to feel her body press against his and give him…comfort.

Why the hell did he need that? Why was she able to give it when no one else had? Because their connection, brief and new and crazy, was emotional and not just physical.

Although, right this minute, it was all physical.

He felt her warm breath on his bare skin and closed his eyes, not caring that the simple contact did exactly what a woman’s breath on a man’s chest should do…made him hard.

The tiniest whimper of a response caught in her throat, but she didn’t move.

“This could get complicated,” she whispered without looking up.

“It could.” He stroked her hair and let his hand drag over her back, enjoying each curve and muscle, finally setting on the small indent right above her ass. He felt her inhale a steadying breath, the move pressing her breasts against him just enough to make him grow stiffer against her. “In fact, it already is,” he said. “Complicated.”

She finally lifted her head and looked up at him, the tiniest smile pulling at her lips. “Is that what you call it?”

“Complicated and, um, hard.”

She laughed softly, but didn’t pull away. “You really can’t resist a good sex pun, can you?”

“I’m sure you consider them the laziest form of verbal play.”

“The worst.” Smiling, she arched enough for their bodies to rub in a way that shot a gallon of blood to his already aching lower half. “But you make it cute and, let’s be honest, we’re both thinking about it.”

“Mmm. Constantly.” He punctuated that by lowering his head and taking the kiss he wanted so much. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, one sure hand on the back of his head, digging into his hair, angling him where she wanted the kiss.

And she wanted the kiss. Her mouth opened to his, inviting him in, taking his tongue for a playful thrust against hers. She tasted like mint and sweet woman, her lips so insanely soft, he let out a moan for how much he loved the feel of them.

She moaned softly, too, breaking the kiss and lifting her face to let him press his lips on her jaw and throat. He turned so her back was against the railing, bracing them so he could add pressure and feel her woman’s body fit perfectly into his.

He slid his hands up her sides, moving the shirt higher and letting his hands still at the sides of her breasts. He wanted to touch them so badly. He wanted to fill his hands with her body, strip the shirt off, and taste every inch of her.

Fire shot through his veins and made him throb against her.

“Mark,” she whispered as he dipped his head so he could kiss the skin exposed by the vee of her sleep shirt. “It’s still complicated.”

“And getting harder.”

She chuckled a little, but that slipped into a moan as she dropped her head back, eyes closed, surrender in every cell of her body.

He looked at her like that, studying the lines of her face, her throat, and…he had to touch her.

He moved his hand over her breast, both of them hissing in a breath when his palm covered her budded nipple. He thumbed it, the flimsy fabric like a shield from what he really wanted—her skin.

“This would probably be a good time to tell you another one of my fears.” She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Except who knows what you’d make me do three times.”

Oh, he knew. “We can stop anytime you want.” Except he continued to caress her breast, which was round and tender and perfect.

She let out a little whimper of uncertainty and pleasure. “I don’t want to stop, but…I was engaged to another man two weeks ago.”

And the bastard went on a ski trip with Rachel.

The reminder that he hadn’t told her everything made him pull back an inch and move his hand.

“And that’s enough to make you stop,” she surmised.

“I don’t want to stop,” he told her. “I think you can feel that I don’t want to stop.”

Her breath already tight from lust, she bit her lip and considered that. “I just…I didn’t think I’d be with someone so soon,” she said.

“I didn’t think I would be with someone here, this week. God knows, it was the last thing I expected. And we can stop at any point.”

“Oh, Mark.” She reached up and put her hands on his face, pressing his cheeks. “You are an amazing and awesome man.”

Amazing and awesome? Wouldn’t an amazing and awesome man tell her the truth? This woman whom he’d promised he’d be honest with in this villa?

But what good would it do her to know that her ex had cheated on her? She’d just—

“You’re thinking too hard,” she said, a tease in her voice as she added pressure to her touch. “And I don’t know why, but you’re not entirely sure about this, either. I mean, this isn’t sure.” She tapped his temples. “The rest of you feels quite certain.”

And once again, she nailed it.

“Em, I’m damn near fifty years old. I know how this goes and what’s involved. And with that maturity comes discipline and self-control. And the sense of when the time is right and when it’s not.”

“You know, that’s pretty sexy, too.”

He lowered his head and placed a light kiss on her lips. “We have the rest of the week. Let’s take it slow.”

She sighed in agreement, a mix of relief and disappointment. “But I am not sleeping in that comfy bed tonight.”

“You’re not?”

She slipped away from the railing, taking his hand and pulling him with her. “You are. There’s no reason why I can’t take the couch, at least every other night.”

“No, I wouldn’t hear of that.”

She tugged him toward the French doors. “You are going in there. Alone.” She didn’t sound exactly happy about that, but maybe a little relieved. “And I’m sleeping in the living room. No arguments.”

She had him through the doors now, onto the cool marble floor. The bed was unmade and inviting, draped with sheer fabric that screamed sex.

“Sleep with me,” he said gruffly, pulling her into him. “Just sleep, I swear.”

She snorted softly. “Yeah, right.”

“We can try.”

“We would fail.”

He wrapped his arms around her for one last kiss. She complied, kissing hard and with her whole self, wrecking him when she stepped back.

“I totally get the whole self-control and discipline thing,” she said, her voice breathless and rough. “But I’ll be on the other side of that door if yours crumbles.”

“Same.”

She blew him a kiss and slipped away, going through the French doors to the patio, closing them behind her.

How long could he last? The night?

Maybe. Long enough to be completely sure he knew what he was doing, because this didn’t feel…standard. If it had, they’d be on that bed right now. But it didn’t.

He climbed into her bed, which already felt a million and a half times better than the one he’d been on, stretching out on her sheets, inhaling the faint floral scent of her all over the bed.

Which did nothing to get rid of his raging hard-on.

He closed his eyes and rolled over, wishing like hell she was there and he didn’t have so much freaking self-control.

His breathing evened out and his body settled down, and he tried one more time to remember Julia’s voice, but the only thing he heard was the sound of Emma’s sweet sighs.

And for the first time in sixteen years, he fell asleep wanting a different woman in his arms—someone who wasn’t Julia.

Chapter Fifteen

Everything was different.
Everything
.

From the moment Emma woke just after dawn, an hour she rarely saw by choice, she sensed the change in her world. Not only did the sky seem brighter and bluer, and the coffee taste richer and better, but her whole attitude felt…fiery.

Was it the new idea for her career that had taken hold of her heart?

Or the man who’d kissed away her cynicism and bitterness, promising more and making her…
optimistic
?

She wasn’t certain if she was just hopeful they’d have a great session at the dance studio or that there would be a lot more of what they started last night, but she felt like someone had taken a foggy layer of plastic off her world and the new view was beautiful.

That’s the power of…love.

The music thrummed through the studio. “Twirl right now, Emma!” Jasper called out. “On the
pow
of power! Try it again.”

Before they could breathe, he’d started the segment of music again, and Huey Lewis belted out his anthem while Jasper clapped. “Five, six, seven, eight.”

Without even blinking, Mark reached out and took her hand, following the admittedly simple steps Jasper had taught them. They moved left, right, one, two, repeated it several times, then added the twirl on the
pow
, ending with her body right smack up against his.

The studio door popped open, and another dance instructor stuck her head in.

“Jasp! Need help for a second.”

“Coming.”

“You’re going to help the competition?” Emma teased.

“Under this chest of steel and ink is a heart of gold,” he said, sweeping by them. “Let’s break for ten! Somebody probably needs a lesson in how to do a plié.”

He disappeared out the door…but Mark and Emma were still body to body.

“You’re on fire today, Em.” He didn’t let her go. The room still crackled, and both of them worked to steady their breath, a sheen of sweat on their skin, hearts hammering in perfect unison.

Dancing. Who knew it was just like sex?

“I’m on
something
,” she agreed. “Someone planted big ideas in my head last night.”
And kisses on my lips.
She looked up, not at all opposed to the idea of another one while they were alone.

“When do you want to talk to Lacey?” he asked. “There’s a committee meeting this afternoon I was hoping to avoid, but if you come with me, you could get some time with her.”

“Today?” she almost choked.

“Well, you only have a week,” he said. “And you’re here on the property. You could put some ideas together and pitch them to her before the reunion.”

But would that mean an end to this lovely interlude? Maybe not if they convinced Lacey to keep their secret. But if she refused…

She stomped the thought away, refusing to allow anything into her head that didn’t fit with today’s sunny optimism.

“Today is so soon.” She started to pull away, but he was having none of it. In fact, he drew her closer.

“Are you scared?”

Only of losing this. Of the inevitable solitude of a Brooklyn apartment after dancing days and moonlit nights. “I love the idea of starting my own business and getting Casa Blanca as an account,” she said, sticking to the subject and not her mental copywriting.

“You could spend more time down here, since you love it so much.”

“I do, and I’d like that.” She’d love that, in fact.

“Then come with me to the meeting and talk to Lacey.”

She took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

He angled his head and looked at her. “What the hell do you have to lose, Em?”

She let that breath out on a whoosh. “We’ll see.”

His expression changed enough for her to know she’d disappointed him and that bothered her. She wanted to impress him.

Which was just crazy. Almost as crazy as hitting a soon-to-be-former East End Marketing client up for business. But there it was…motivation so strong she could taste it.

“I’ll go to the meeting,” she said. “And take it from there.”

He lowered his head and got his mouth near her ear. “And after you set up a meeting with her, we’ll celebrate by conquering the champagne popping fear and…”

And drink it naked, she hoped.

He didn’t finish the sentence, but placed his mouth over hers, taking a soft, slow kiss.

“Mmmh.” She sighed into him, sliding her hands into his sweat-dampened hair and lifting up on her toes to get the full effect of a perfect kiss.

“That’s it!” Jasper’s exclamation, and the smack of his hands nearly threw them apart. Except Mark didn’t let go, holding her firmly in place, close to him.

“That’s what?” He ground out the question, clearly not happy with the interruption.

“That’s how we’ll start
Endless Love
.” Jasper marched over. “You come together at the end of
Power
, then we do a hard break in the music, perfectly silent while you kiss, then…we start
Endless
. Now, do not move. Not one muscle. Not one hand. Not one little tippy-toe, Miss Emma. And do not, for the love of Isadora Duncan, take your eyes off each other. Stay exactly like that. Frozen.”