“Are you as nervous as I am?” Dane asked.
Lacy let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “Oh my gosh, yes. I thought it was only me.”
“I just can’t believe you’re finally right here by my side. Sometimes this past year went by so fast, and some days it seemed treacherously slow, but the distance between us always seemed too vast.” Dane paused to pick up a shell. “I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to just forget about work and get on a plane to see you. I was so nervous about today, tonight. We’ve gotten so close that part of me worried what might happen when we finally came together.”
Me too. Me too. Me too.
DANE LOVED THE feel of Lacy’s feminine hand in his own and the way her slender fingers curved over his knuckles. Every time he looked at her, his gut tightened. Even when they’d been texting and video chatting, it had taken all of his focus not to let his nerves get the better of him.
“I’m thirty-six years old, Lacy, and I can’t remember the last time I was nervous around a woman.” Dane saw the tension in Lacy’s shoulders ease. “I don’t know how I can feel comfortable and nervous around you at the same time. It’s very weird.”
“I know. I feel it, too.”
“Yeah? Good. Then we can be nervous together.” He squeezed her hand and thought about Treat’s warning. “My brother warned me to be careful with you,” he admitted.
“Your brother? Why?” Her voice escalated in surprise.
“It was Treat. He’s very protective of family, and you’re Danica’s sister.” He shrugged. “He wants to make sure I’m not going to hurt you.” He searched her eyes for a response and wondered what she’d think of his honesty. Dane was nothing if not honest, in all aspects of his life. He’d learned a harsh lesson about breaking trust with those he loved when he’d slept with Treat’s girlfriend, and it had cost him years of his brother’s trust. He’d never make such a mistake again.
“Well, are you going to? Hurt me, I mean.” Her eyes grew wide like two blue moons. Lacy drew her eyebrows together and bit her lower lip again.
God, she looks cute when she does that. Dane shook his head. “It’s not my intent to hurt you.” Her bare shoulders glistened in the moonlight. He ran his finger from the arc of her shoulder down to her elbow.
“Lacy…” He lowered his voice to nearly a whisper. “I don’t know what this is, or what it will end up being. All I can say is that I’ve thought of no woman but you for well over a year.” Treat’s words came back to him. Get to know her. “Maybe it’s because I thought we’d have more time together in Nassau and then I was called away, or maybe it’s because the attraction was so intense my stomach was tied in knots for the first time in forever. I don’t know, but I know that when we kissed earlier this evening, it was like no kiss I’d ever experienced before.”
Lacy lowered her eyes, and even in the dim moonlight, he could see her cheeks flush. He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.
“Did you feel it, too?” I have to know.
She nodded, looking at him from beneath those glorious blond curls. He stifled the urge to pull her to him. Treat was right. He needed to be careful with Lacy, but not because she was Danica’s sister. It was the tenderness he saw in her eyes that made him want to protect her. She wasn’t a girl he was interested in just for fun, and he had to make sure she knew that.
“I’m a big girl, Dane. I make my own decisions and my own mistakes, so tell Treat that he doesn’t have to worry about me.”
She looked so sexy that for a moment Dane forgot he needed to hold back; then the warmth of her touch on his hand reminded him.
“I guess I don’t know what this is either, but I want to find out.” She held his gaze for a beat too long, translating her desire loud and clear. “When do you leave again?”
“I’m here for the next week or two, depending on the success of our tagging. They’ve had a number of great white sightings this summer on the Cape, and they’ve asked Brave to tag and track them.” Dane loved traveling, and every tagging mission renewed his focus and drive. He’d been tagging sharks for thirteen years, and he never stayed in one place very long. Normally, he looked forward to the next mission, the next state or country. Tonight, he wished he had a month, or a year, before heading out again. He wanted more time with Lacy.
“Is Rob here, too?” Lacy asked. Dane had spoken highly of Rob over the past year. She knew they were very close.
“He arrives Sunday. When do you go back home?” he asked.
Lacy lived just outside of Boston, two hours from the Cape. “Sunday. I have to be at work on Monday. I heard about the sharks around Chatham. Is that where you’re working?”
“I don’t want to talk about work, Lace. We have forty-eight hours, and I don’t want to waste a second of it.”
“What did you have in mind?” Lacy asked.
“I have no idea, but I know I want to kiss you again.” He leaned in close, then hesitated, until he was sure the darkening of Lacy’s eyes was a sign of acceptance. She tightened her fingers around his and closed her eyes. The moment his lips met hers, every muscle constricted. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him deeper. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and he felt a familiar tightening in his groin. He swept her mouth with his tongue, drew one hand up to the back of her neck, kissing her deeper, then, fighting every force of nature that was driving him forward, forced himself to draw away.
“Jesus, Lacy. I could make love to you right here.”
“Here,” she whispered.
Dane was unsure if it was a question or a statement. What was he doing? He might not be certain of what was between them, but he knew Lacy wasn’t a girl he wanted to forget—or could forget. He needed a distraction to keep his lust in check.
“We need to walk,” he said with a wavering voice. He took her hand and walked down the beach. “I’m sorry. I know I’m hot and cold, and I’m not usually like this.”
“Is it me?”
He heard the worry in her voice and stopped abruptly, looking her in the eye. “Yes. It’s you, Lacy, but not in a bad way. Believe me. I want to make love to you here and now, but I told myself we’d take it slow. It’s just…” He rubbed his forehead, wondering how he could possibly explain what he didn’t even understand. “Lacy, I’ve got months of fantasies racing through my mind. Images of what I wanted to do with you, thoughts of touching you. Christ, I can practically feel you beneath me.” He pulled her closer. “All those intimate thoughts and pictures are chased by my wanting to slow down and get to know you better.” He searched her eyes again, looking for a clear indication of what she felt. What he saw was something he didn’t expect—surprise.
Lacy let out a long breath. “Dane, that’s exactly how I feel, like there’s all this pressure to make those thoughts come through, but then there’s the other side of wanting to get to know you, so it doesn’t feel so…I don’t know…dirty.”
“You’re anything but dirty.” He kissed the tip of her nose, and she smiled. “Although, we could be dirty if you wanted to.” He raised his eyebrows in quick succession.
Lacy’s jaw slacked and her eyes opened wide in an exaggerated fashion.
“I’m kidding,” he said quickly.
“I know. So was I. Didn’t you get my over-the-top gawk?” she teased.
He pulled her to him and kissed her again.
“God, you surprise me.” He touched the soft skin of her jaw and kissed her again. “So, we should take it slow?” he asked when they parted. “Get to know each other?”
“I think we should just let nature take its course.” She leaned in and kissed him.
Jesus. All it took was that one kiss to send his desires careening out of control. The hell with it. He took her hand and, while still kissing, they stumbled up the beach to the dunes, where the grass grew in tall tufts. He pulled his lips away long enough to find a path up the sandy hill.
He threw his jacket on the sand, and before he could reach for her, Lacy was in his arms, kissing him again. Her tongue probed his mouth with urgency, as she pulled the tail of his shirt from his pants, then slipped her warm hands underneath. He heard himself groan and winced, not wanting to seem too eager, but she met his groan with a moan, and it spurred him on and kicked his steely resolve to go slow out with the tide. He unzipped her dress with trembling hands—he’d waited so long to be with her that his breath caught in his throat. He kissed the tender spot at the base of her neck, then licked the sweet saltiness of her skin, relishing in the taste of her. Dane couldn’t get enough of her. He trailed kisses across her breastbone as her dress dropped to the sand and dragged his eyes down her incredibly sexy curves, remembering every word they’d spoken over the previous months, every secret they’d shared, every intimate desire they’d whispered in the dark.
“God, Lace, you’re beautiful.” In all the months he’d dreamed about seeing Lacy again, he couldn’t have come close to the way his heart seemed to swell within his chest at the sight of her and how his body ached for more as he tasted her sweet flesh.