Ian didn’t even want to contemplate the end of summer. Really, he couldn’t. Right now was more than enough to focus on.
“I don’t right know what happens after the end of summer,” he confessed. “Let’s just take it one day at a time.”
His words did little to ease Sarah’s troubled gaze, and because he’d wanted to do it for the last few moments, he reached out to trace his fingers over the pale softness of one cheek.
Surprisingly, she didn’t pull away and her lips even parted slightly. Resignation flared with the heat in her eyes, as if she realized, as he had, that fighting this passion between them was hopeless.
“Sarah,” he murmured her name on a sigh.
Her eyes rounded and he was again sucked in by their dark intensity.
Alone together on the wharf, with the stars above them and their bodies so close, he couldn’t help but be aware of her. To let his mind drift back to what it had been like to make love to her again like he had last night.
To erase the bullshit experience he’d given her yesterday morning, and replace it with something more romantic.
Romantic? What the hell was wrong with him?
With every breath he drew in, there was the smell of salt and seaweed from Penn Cove, but there was the scent of lavender lotion that he would always associate with Sarah.
When she shivered, his attention shifted to her bare arms. He wasn’t cocky enough to think it was all due to him. The tank top must not be keeping her warm—beneath the cotton he could see her nipples pressed taut.
“You’re cold?”
“A little,” she mumbled, before her gaze slipped away.
“Here.” Shrugging out of the flannel he wore over a T-shirt, he placed it around her shoulders.
“You’ll be cold,” she protested, even as she slipped her arms into it.
“I don’t get cold easily. Too much body fat.” He deftly fastened the buttons on the shirt.
She made a soft snort of derision likely at his unwarranted fat joke, but it ended on a gasp when his fingers brushed the swell of her breast.
This time, when he met her gaze, there was nothing but desire in her eyes.
Ah fuck it all. With his fingers still holding his shirt, he used it to tug her closer.
Her hands came up between them, resting on his stomach as her head tilted up toward his. Her mouth parting in an offering maybe she wasn’t even aware of.
Whether it was a good idea or not, Ian took it. He lowered his head and kissed her.
First just a taste. A reminder of the soft fullness of her mouth that he’d always loved. And then, when she made that breathy little sigh, he dipped his tongue past her lips to drink deeper.
So sweet. Almost intoxicating. It had always been like this when they’d kissed. He’d become drunk on her mouth.
His body stirred to life, but he struggled to control it. They couldn’t take this too far. Sarah had to get back to Emily soon.
But for now, for a few more minutes, he could enjoy her. Enjoy the moment. He loved the gentle way her tongue sparred with his, and the way the tips of her breasts just barely touched his chest.
When they pulled apart a few minutes later, he drew in a long, unsteady breath. She laid her head against his chest, and he folded her tighter into his arms.
It felt so good to hold her like this. Without anger. Without motivation.
“We’re good this way.”
“What do you mean?”
“Physically. We work really well together.” His mind latched onto the idea. “We shouldn’t write the possibility of us off.”
“I don’t know.” Wariness crept into her words, but she didn’t pull away. “It might just complicate things.”
How could it complicate things? They’d already stepped in that puddle anyway by sleeping together. They already had a daughter together, and after their little slip up this morning, there was the possibility of another one.
An idea flashed through his head again, just as it had several minutes ago. At first he’d written it off as ridiculous, but it hadn’t gone away. And the longer it fermented in his head it began to almost make sense.
“Sarah, maybe we should just get married.”
Now she did pull away, and rather quickly. “Get married? What…? Where did that come from?”
“It’s actually quite a brilliant solution, the more I think about it.” The idea gained momentum and he could hear his words grow more animated. “I mean the number one reason would be for Emily, but getting married wouldn’t be so bad.”
She tilted her head and said flatly, “Just a little bad, huh?”
“Look, we’re amazing in bed. We likely even care about each other if we would stop being stubborn and admit it—”