Picture Perfect (Butler Island) (5 page)

Olivia tilted her head to the side,
giving him better access to the sensitive spot on her neck just
below her ear. “Yeah, you should”, she uttered
breathlessly.

 She gasped when his mouth grazed the
ticklish area just below her ear. She could feel the warmth of his breath on
her delicate skin and when he began spreading open-mouth kisses along her jaw,
her eyes rolled back into her head.

Every moan of pleasure, every
quickened breath aroused him. He felt as though he was being
engulfed by lust-saturated quicksand; his body
fighting to stay in control, every subtle movement threatening to consume him.
He knew if he didn’t regain his self-control now, the kissing would escalate.
And that couldn’t happen.

She was Ty’s little sister—
his
very beautiful, sexy, irresistible little sister.

Game over.

Reluctantly, Grant tore his mouth
away and stood up. “I’m sorry”, he said before walking away. He adjusted the
growing bulge in his pants and made a mental note to grab an icepack from the
freezer on his way out to soothe the severe case of blue balls he was going to
have by the time he drove the five blocks to his beach house.

Olivia ran the tip of her fingers
over her tingling lips, still wet and swollen from his kiss. She observed him
as he disappeared inside the house, leaving her alone on the lounge chair
they’d shared, aroused, with a mixture of emotions. She was surprised by how
easily she’d lost control.

 Yeah, she really needed to watch
that next time.

Next time?
—Jesus,
Joseph and Mary—
listen to her.
Their kiss had quickly ignited into a
raging firestorm. And then as quickly as it’d started, he pulled away. A
gentleman-like gesture?—or a quick recovery over a drunken lapse in judgment?
She wondered. The answer to that question: Only time would tell…

CHAPTER 4

The sweet smell of freshly baked
doughnuts saturated the air inside Olivia’s Mini Cooper, becoming increasingly
more intense with every passing mile. Ty had been hounding her to come by the
fire station to visit and even though it had been a while, she knew better than
to arrive without treats.

Olivia hadn’t spoken to Grant since
their kiss five days ago. The kiss had been…
well, it had been amazing
.
But maybe he’d regretted it. Maybe the brave juice he’d ingested throughout the
evening had altered his judgment. Maybe he’d awoke the following morning with
an aching head and clarity of what he’d done.

Since the moment he’d assisted her to
her feet on the beach after her jellyfish encounter, she’d wondered. Wondered
what it’d be like to kiss him and now that she
knew
…

Kissing had always been rather
trivial to her. Well, that’s not exactly true. She’d once went on a date with a
fellow freelance photographer and he’d nearly choked her with his
tongue—needless to say there wasn’t a second date. So maybe kissing wasn’t
trivial
,
but it also hadn’t been pivotal either.

Until she’d kissed Grant.

Now she was beginning to think that
maybe kissing wasn’t just a means to an end. Perhaps it was meant to be
savored. Her kiss with Grant had been perfect: aggressive, yet not
overbearing—lustful, yet not sloppy. There was no doubt about it: the man could
kiss—

“Damn it”, she muttered as she came
to a stop. She’d been obsessing over the kiss and had missed her turn. Olivia
made an illegal U-turn along the abandoned two-lane road and headed back to the
street she’d passed.

Take a deep breath and pull yourself
together!

She steered her car down the long
drive that led to the hidden fire station. Okay, no more driving with three
dozen freshly baked doughnuts in the car. Clearly it affected her mind.

Yeah, blame it on the doughnuts…

After snagging the last parking spot
in the small lot she removed her key from the ignition and inhaled a deep,
calming breath. Ty was going to be happy that she’d finally made the time to
visit the station. She hated to disappoint him and besides—she was hoping to
run into Grant so that she could apologize for the other night.

 
Alright, pep talk’s over. Time to
get inside and get this visit over with.

Olivia gripped the three rectangular
doughnut boxes from the passenger seat and strolled toward the open bay. It
housed the island’s only fire truck and a myriad of memories from her childhood
and adolescence. When she was within reach, she slowly glided her fingertips
along the side of the fire truck, reminiscing about the first time she’d sat
inside. She was nine and Ty had given her permission to sit behind the wheel
and pretend to drive. Her feet dangled from the seat, fidgeting with excitement
as he turned on the siren and coaxed her to beep the horn. She closed her eyes
as she recalled the vivid memory and felt the corners of her mouth turn up in a
wide grin.

Grant left the claustrophobic
firehouse kitchen in search of some fresh air. He hadn’t been able to get
Olivia, or the mind-blowing kiss they’d shared, out of his head all week. No
matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t escape the image of her emerald eyes
staring back into his. She was like a Picasso painting: beautiful, intriguing.
Rebellious.

As soon as he’d become aware that she
was Ty’s little sister, he’d told himself to back off. It didn’t matter that he
was incredibly attracted to her; she was off limits to him. She’d been rambling
on about how Halloween was her favorite holiday and when he’d asked why,
something unexpected happened: She softened that tough-girl exterior and
exposed a hint of vulnerability.

He knew the basics about her story.
Her parents died when she was young and Ty had raised her. He’d asked around
about her to the people on the island—nonchalantly, of course—and everyone
pretty much told him the same thing:
“She’s a sassy southern belle. A
free-spirited beauty. An angel with devilish spontaneity. A gorgeous doll with
a tough-as-nails attitude.”
He figured she’d had to be. Anyone who lost
their parents as unexpectedly and tragically as she had learned how to coat
themselves with armor to prevent experiencing another loss.

The kiss was a spontaneous reaction
to her vulnerableness—a comforting gesture, like patting someone on the back
when they choked…

 
Ah, hell
,
who was he
kidding?
He liked her. He liked talking to her, hearing her laugh.

 And he
really
liked kissing
her. 

He’d had every intention of calling
her—even came close a few times—but ultimately hesitated. Ty was his best
friend and he wasn’t sure how he would feel about him dating his little sister.
It was no secret that Ty was
overprotective
when it came to Olivia and
so Grant knew he’d have to proceed with caution.

A steady stream of brisk morning air
rushed across his skin as he stepped into the open bay. He briefly closed his
eyes, inhaling a satisfying breath and when he opened them, the woman he’d been
obsessing over was standing approximately fifty feet in front of him. He
studied her for a moment: she was balancing three large white boxes in one
hand; gently running her feminine fingertips along the surface of the fire
truck with the other. Her eyes were closed and the corners of her mouth were
slightly turned upward, suggesting she was thoroughly enjoying her nostalgic
trance.

Grant ambled forward, careful to
tread softly and when he reached her side, he paused briefly to take in her
beauty. She’d been concentrating diligently, completely unaware that Grant was
standing by her side watching her.

“You must have ESP”, he uttered
softly, inches from her ear.

Olivia opened her eyes and gasped for
a breath of air. Startled, she instinctively leapt back and quickly juggled the
three doughnut boxes to prevent them from falling.

“Sweet baby Jesus! What are you doing
here?” She shouted.

Grant reached for the tumbling
doughnut boxes and steadied them with his large hands before meeting her gaze.
He really hadn’t meant to frighten her, but discovering her standing next to
the fire truck, reveling in what appeared to be fond memories from her
childhood, fascinated him. The expression on her face had been peaceful and
carefree and he savored every second of it.

He smiled at her stupefied demeanor.
“I work here, remember…?”

Olivia took a deep breath and sighed
as she spoke. “Right. It’s all coming back to me now”, she answered.

Grant removed his hands from the
boxes and placed them safely in his pockets. He didn’t trust himself not to
touch her again. “What are
you
doing here?”

Raising the boxes slightly, she gave
them a slight jiggle. “I brought everyone doughnuts. Ty’s been hounding me to
stop by for weeks now—and
why do I have ESP
?” she asked confusedly.

“Because, I was just thinking about
you and now you’re here…” An awkward silence lurked between them for a moment
and in an attempt to gain comfort, Grant stepped in front of her and leaned his
shoulder against the fire engine. He blew out a puff of air and studied his
work boots as he began. “Look, Olivia, I’ve been meaning to call you and—”

“—It’s okay—no need to explain. You
and I both probably had too much to drink and I’m sure if we’d been sober,
nothing would’ve happened.”

Grant tore his attention away from
his shoes and pinned her with his stare. “Is that what you really think?
Because I’ve been fighting the urge to kiss you ever since I rescued you on the
beach.”

Her expression remained carefree,
although her stiffened posture revealed a glimpse of vulnerability. “You didn’t
rescue me—I’m not a damsel in distress”, she stated.

“
Oh
yeah?” Clearly amused, he crossed his
arms and felt the corners of his
mouth rise. “What would you call it then?”

Without missing a beat, she answered
with a wide grin. “Relocation and first aid administration.”

Grant felt a gut-busting laugh erupt
from deep within. She was such a tough girl—never wanting to admit she’d needed
his help that day. Never wanting to show any outward signs of weakness. “Well,
that’s certainly a first.”

 When he’d finally regained his
composure, he pointed at her with his finger and flashed a heated smile. “You
owe me a date.”

Hearing him laugh warmed her soul and
when he exposed that smile—
the one that could melt a woman’s panties in ten
seconds or less—
she couldn’t help but feel a rush of adventure. She felt
the tension she’d been living with for the past five days slowly recede. He’d
enjoyed the kiss every bit as much as she had and he was clearly attempting to
put plans in motion to kiss her again. A significant part of her wanted to jump
at the opportunity to spend an evening with him on the spot. But what would be
the fun in that?

That’s the kind of reaction he’s
accustomed to.

He says “jump” and they say “how high?”
It was time for Grant to sweat a little bit.

 
Heavens to Betsy—this was going
to be fun!
“You mean the drunken Halloween kiss wasn’t repayment enough for
your services?” she asked playfully.

“Nope—have any plans for tomorrow
night?”

“As a matter of fact, I was thinkin’
of color coordinatin’ my closet”, she attempted in her best poker face.

Grant laughed, but his expression
slowly faded when he realized she wasn’t smiling any longer. “You’re serious?”

“Uh-huh”, she responded, her lips
desperately struggling to conceal her growing grin.

“You’re not going to make this easy
on me, are
you?” he mumbled as he wiped his
hand down his
face.

“Are you implyin’ that I’m playin’
hard to get, Womack?”

Grant licked his
lips and smiled. “Well, you were
a referee for
Halloween—you seem to enjoy
games.”

“Alright, what do you have in mind?”

Grant shrugged his shoulders
attempting to appear at ease, but truthfully he was a mangled mess of nerves.
He’d practically begged her to go on a date with him—
that was certainly a first.
He couldn’t recall ever having to persuade a woman to spend time with him, but
then again he’d never met anyone quite as unique and fascinating as Olivia. “I
don’t know… I was thinking dinner—even referees have to eat, right?”

“Alright, I’ll
tell you what… I’ll
think
about
it…”

He watched as she sauntered away from
him and he couldn’t help but smile. In his thirty-three years he’d never
encountered a woman so indecisive, so determined to have the upper hand. He
felt like a racing greyhound chasing the mechanical rabbit; no matter how
diligently he followed, it was always slightly out of reach. Of course, he
wasn’t chasing a stuffed bunny—he was seeking quality time with a sassy
southern belle. He liked that she wasn’t overly
eager. It was intriguing, exciting, and incredibly
sexy…