Firefly Mountain (29 page)

They danced to four more of Raina’s songs. Time lost its meaning. There was nothing but the two of them, the shore beneath their feet, and the moon overhead. Gini drank in the serenity, filled herself up.

“This is Raina’s last one,” Patrick said. “She’ll be looking for me.”

“I should be taking more pictures,” Gini said.

Neither one of them released their hold on the other.

Gini leaned back a bit to look at Patrick’s face. Funny how his features were sharp and clear to her, but the background behind him, everything else, was fuzzy, unfocused. Unimportant.

“I like
this
picture,” she said.

Patrick pressed his lips to Gini’s forehead, and she felt it all the way down to her soaking wet, sand-covered toes. He dropped another kiss on the tip of her nose and hovered, just waited, at her lips.

Gini flicked her gaze up to his. He was facing the reception area so the lights strung in the trees reflected in his eyes, illuminating those golden brown flecks swimming in the forest green.

“Patrick, please,” Gini whispered.

He closed the distance between his lips and hers. Soft, warm, so gentle. Gini’s entire body responded. She could barely contain the desire to crawl inside Patrick. Or have him crawl inside her. To be that close to him.

His hands pressed against her backside, fingers stroked the silky material of her dress, slipped along her contours. Patrick deepened the kiss, his mouth drinking her in.

Gini slid her hands underneath Patrick’s suit jacket and up the span of his shoulder blades. She circled his tongue with her own, drawing him deeper, closer, taking more, wanting more. She broke away from the kiss only to forge a trail along Patrick’s bearded jaw and down his neck with her lips. Gini breathed in his scent, somehow sawdusty though there couldn’t be any on him. She wanted to check though. Check thoroughly.

A hum of pleasure vibrated in Patrick’s throat as she canvassed across his chin and back up to his lips. They kissed and massaged until Raina’s voice held an impossibly long note and faded on the sea breeze.

“How long are you staying in Rhode Island?” Gini’s voice sounded lower to her own ears.

Patrick took a step back as if he needed to in order to form a response. “We’re driving back Monday morning. You?”

“The same, I think.” Gini chewed on her bottom lip, enjoying the lingering taste of Patrick she found there. “I was planning on a bike ride tomorrow morning and some beach time in the afternoon. You wouldn’t…you wouldn’t want to join me, would you?”

Patrick looked out over the rippling water.
Please say yes, please,
Gini thought. She didn’t like the thought of not seeing him tomorrow.

“I can do the bike ride, but my afternoon might not be available.”

Gini watched that cautious look wipe across Patrick’s face. He was relaxed only a moment ago, and now, not so much. Did the idea of spending an entire day with her frighten him?

It would if he knew her. Really knew her.

****

“I don’t know about this.” Patrick slipped on a maroon T-shirt and tucked it into his khaki cargo pants.

Raina put a hand on his forearm. “Don’t tuck, honey. That shirt is long enough. You’re well covered, and so what if you’re not.”

He shrugged out of his sister’s hold and finished tucking. “Don’t make this more difficult, Raina.”

“It shouldn’t be difficult, Patrick.” Raina let out a huff. “Gini asked you to join her in some fun, not solve calculus problems.”

“I enjoyed calculus.”

Raina rolled her eyes. “You like her, right?”

“Yeah, I like her.”

“She obviously likes you if she invited you on this bike ride. Go with the flow. Have fun. You do know what that is, don’t you? It’s the opposite of what you normally do.”

“You’re being particularly tough on me this morning.” Patrick stuffed his keys, cell phone, and wallet into the zippered pocket of his pants and sat on the end of the bed to put on his sneakers.

“I don’t want you to screw this up with your insecurities. You’re a lot more than you give yourself credit for, Patrick. Gini’s seen something in you that you’ve lost sight of. Let her shine the flashlight on it for you.”

Shine the flashlight.
Sounded too much like exposing all his secrets. That’s why the beach was totally out of the question. Nowhere to hide in a setting that called for minimal clothing. The beach at night was one thing. During the day, forget it.

He’d ride bikes with Gini, maybe allow a kiss or two—he’d thought of her lips all night after saying good night to her at the reception. He’d excuse himself for the afternoon and be on his way back to Vermont tomorrow. What would happen once they all got back to Burnam? Well, he wasn’t entirely sure. He’d deal with that when the time came.

“I’ll try to have fun, okay?” Patrick stood and looked at Raina.

“That’s all I’m asking,” Raina said. “Well, that and to admit you’re hot enough—every part of you—to be attractive to someone like Gini.”

“Aren’t you going to be late?” Patrick checked his watch and motioned to the door of their hotel room.

“Where’s Julianne going? She’ll be home no matter when I decide to roll around.” Raina shrugged. “You going to stop by to see her?”

Patrick closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, I’ll go see her.”

“Good.” Raina grabbed her purse and put on her sunglasses. “You need a ride to meet Gini?”

Patrick shook his head and donned his own sunglasses. “I’m renting a bike downstairs at the activities desk and pedaling over to Cliff Walk where I’m meeting Gini. It’s not far.”

“It’ll let you burn off some of that angst, perhaps.”

“Ouch, again, this morning.” Patrick rubbed his jaw as if Raina had punched him there.

“Sorry, sorry.” Raina held up her hands. “I can’t help it. I think I’m cranky because I feel all romantic and lovey-dovey after Andrew’s wedding, and Mason’s not here to enjoy the buzz with me.” Her lips curled up into a smile as she said Mason’s name.

“Oh, isn’t that sweet?” Patrick said. “I think I may puke.”

“Shut up.” Raina opened the hotel door and let the sun blaze into the room. “Whew, hot one out here. Enjoy your bike ride.” She sauntered to the stairs at the end of their row of rooms.

Patrick went the other way and headed to the main office of the hotel. After renting a bike and helmet, he bought a bottle of water and slid it into the holder on the bike. He hopped onto the bike and pedaled the short distance to the Cliff Walk. As he approached, he saw Gini sitting on the stone wall above Easton’s Beach. She had on a bright blue tank top and black shorts with black sneakers. Her hair looked like rays of sunshine caught in a low ponytail. A black bike helmet sat on the wall beside her, and a silver mountain bike leaned on its kickstand in front of her. Her head was thrown back as she sunned herself, dark sunglasses hiding her beautiful eyes.

Patrick took a moment to admire the view. Spending the morning with her looking like that was going to be a challenging exercise in restraint. Good thing he hadn’t agreed to the entire day option.

He coasted down the street and stopped in front of Gini. She turned her face away from the sun and smiled at him. Why hadn’t he agreed to the entire day option again?

“Morning.” Gini pulled her helmet into her lap and patted the space beside her. “Sit with me for a minute.” She swiveled around so she faced the water.

Patrick slid off his bike and put down the kickstand. After unfastening his helmet, he hung it on the handlebars. He straddled the stone wall and sat about an arm’s length away from Gini, one leg on either side of the wall. His gaze shifted to Gini’s long legs dangling over the rocks that lined the beach below. She swayed them back and forth so the heels of her sneakers hit the wall and bounced away. Gini was simultaneously as cute as a little girl, her hair in springy curls, and as sexy as a full-grown woman, her physique designed to awake every cell in Patrick’s body. He didn’t know whether he wanted to pinch her dimpled cheeks or make love to her until she screamed his name.

Quite possibly he wanted both.

“Picturesque,” Patrick said.

“Isn’t it something? I love the beach this early in the morning.” Gini threw her hands open wide toward the water.

“Ah, the beach. Yes.”

Gini turned to look at him. “Didn’t you mean the beach?” She raised her sunglasses to the top of her head revealing eyes as blue as the summer sky above them.

Patrick shook his head. “I was looking this way.” He motioned toward her.

“Pretty smooth, aren’t you?”

“I have a few smooth moments here and there. They happen quickly though.”

“I’ll be sure to pay attention. Don’t want to miss any.” She pulled her sunglasses back down and slid one leg over the wall so she faced Patrick. “Aren’t you hot in those pants?” She rested her palm on his knee.

“No.” He looked down to her hand. “I wasn’t.”

“Didn’t bring any shorts with you?”

“Don’t own any shorts.”

“How come?”

Damn.
He didn’t owe her an explanation of his wardrobe. She didn’t want the real explanation anyway.

“Don’t like them.”

Gini moved her hand up to his thigh and squeezed. “Doesn’t feel like you have chicken legs, and you look like you tan well. Most guys who don’t wear shorts either have chicken legs or are really white.”

Although Patrick didn’t want to talk about his lack of shorts, he had to laugh at Gini’s reasoning. “You’ve done studies on this apparently?”

“Nothing formal. Just observations and interviews mostly.” She grinned and slid her hand off his leg. “Nice color on you, by the way. Another observation.” She poked a finger to his T-shirt.

“Thanks.” Patrick shrank back, her finger hitting too close to what he desperately wanted to keep hidden. He angled his head toward the bikes. “Shall we?”

“Sure.”

Gini stood and put on her helmet. Patrick did the same, and they both mounted their bikes. Gini looked over her shoulder at Patrick.

“Try to keep up, okay?”

“I’ll do my best.”

She laughed and released her hands on the brakes. Her bike took off down the hill, and Patrick only had a second to think perhaps his best wasn’t going to be enough.

The rocky coastline and impressive mansions of Newport zipped by as Gini and Patrick navigated their way around the area. Gini slowed down now and then so she could ride alongside Patrick. He didn’t say much and she didn’t want to seem too chatty, but just being beside him made her feel…whole.

As they climbed the hill back to Easton’s Beach, Gini’s legs were ready to quit. She stood to give herself some extra pedaling strength, and Patrick made a noise behind her.

“You okay?” she called.

“Fine, fine. Just warn a guy when you’re going to change the view like that. My heart’s already pounding with this bike ride. You sent it into hyper-drive.”

“I do know CPR if you need it.”

Patrick made the noise again, and Gini couldn’t stop the ripples of giddiness that coursed through her. She was like a kite someone had let go of, soaring higher, reaching for the sun. She’d spent so much of her life forcing herself to be happy that she’d forgotten what it felt like to actually
be
happy. Truly, naturally happy. In fact, she didn’t think she ever had been happy. Not like this.

When they crested the hilltop and reached the spot they’d sat on earlier, Gini slid off her bike and removed her helmet.

“You have time for a walk to cool down the muscles?” She angled her head toward the Cliff Walk.

Patrick nodded without checking his watch, and Gini had a feeling she might be able to kidnap him for the day. They chained their bikes together at the bike rack and turned onto the path. Gini’s legs were rubber bands, but walking felt good. Walking with Patrick felt extra good.

They passed breathtaking views of the ocean to their left and The Breakers mansion on their right. Mrs. William Vanderbilt’s Chinese Tea House at the Marble House mansion always fascinated Gini.

“I have at least three albums dedicated to that.” Gini pointed to the ornately designed roof of the tea house. “Morning shots, afternoon shots, night shots, seasonal shots, cloudy day shots. And yet, I wish I had my camera with me now to take more.”

“Wait a minute.” Patrick touched her arm to stop her from walking. His fingers on her skin made her heart jump in her chest. “I thought that tiny purse you had last night was pushing it. But no purse at all? How are you managing?”

“I’m not apparently. I’m without my camera and I need it.”

“Along with, and I’m just guessing here, PVC pipe cement, a wooden spoon, and…” Patrick paused, squinting one eye as he thought. “A plastic bag full of acorns?”

Gini placed her hands on his chest and shoved him back a bit. “Don’t make fun. Acorns are good for making friends with squirrels.”

Patrick caught her wrists and laughed. He pulled her a little closer and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. “I’ll bet you don’t need the acorns. The squirrels just line up at your door wanting to be friends with you.”

“Sometimes.” Gini gazed at the tea house again. This was truly the best shot. Patrick in front of the tea house. Another mental picture taken. “Spend the day with me, Patrick. We can have lunch on the beach where we danced last night. Please.”

Gini looked up into Patrick’s face and watched him battle with his thoughts as he stared over her head to the ocean. When he met her gaze, a smile spread across his lips, and Gini let out the breath she was holding.

“I guess I am hungry.” He tightened his hold on her and brushed his lips against Gini’s. A quick peck, but the impact left Gini wanting so much more.

They walked back toward the bikes. Part of her was thrilled Patrick had agreed to spend more time with her. Another part was afraid of scaring him away. He had been snuggly on their walk, but she knew his mood could change in the blink of an eye. If he spent the day with her, Gini wanted the happy vibes he was giving off right now to last the entire time they were together. She made a mental note to proceed with caution, to think ahead.