Sweet Heat at Bayside(30)

"And you think this is it? Working for KHB?"

"I'm not sure," she said honestly. "It's too early to tell, but parts of it, maybe. What about you?"

"This is a step in a ladder for me. I'm thirty-one years old."

"Me too," she said.

"Really? And you haven't outgrown your cookie habit?"

She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'll never outgrow that."

"Good. Some things should always be part of who you are. For me, it's  family. I know what I want to end up with. A wife who understands  marriage won't always be easy, because the last thing I need is a diva  who has no idea what being a family really means, more reasonable hours,  and-like everyone else-something of my own."

"Laura said the last two senior designers left for bigger, better  opportunities. Is this a stopover for everyone? Is that why it feels  like something's missing?" She didn't even realize she'd nailed down her  feelings to something being missing until just then. She'd never felt  like something was missing at the resort. Her need to move on was driven  by her job, the one she'd been hired to do, being completed. She'd  readied the resort for someone else to walk in and run the areas she'd  set up and managed. But had she felt complete for so long there because  of Drake? Because of her friends?         

     



 

"Until you own your own business, I think everything is a stepping-stone."

"I guess that's true." Wasn't everything in life a stepping-stone to  something? Like school was to a career and dating was to marriage?

"My guess is the reason it feels like something's missing is because  you're looking for small-town friendships, loyalty, and comforts in the  big city. Like I said, that might change. I've seen good people like you  become hardened, disloyal, and impersonal in a matter of months."

"How did you escape it? You seem pretty down-to-earth."

"I keep my eyes on the prize. I may not know what that prize is right  now, but I have faith in myself. I know one day my future will become  clear. My small-town roots have kept me grounded. I might want more  professionally, but the day I walk out the doors of KHB for the last  time, it's not going to be as a lesser man."



DRAKE PACED AT the end of the resort driveway waiting for Serena to  arrive home Friday night. She'd texted when she'd reached the roundabout  in Orleans, which was only a few minutes away, and he'd been edgy ever  since. The drive had taken her an extra hour and a half. He expected her  to be tired and irritated, and he told himself to chill out and try not  to devour her the second he saw her.

Headlights appeared at the end of the road, and he jogged into the  street, every nerve aflame, his fingers curling in anticipation of  holding her again.

Her window was down as she rolled to a stop beside him. "Hey, big boy-"

Her words were smothered with a ravenous kiss. So much for holding back.  He couldn't resist leaning through the open window and taking the kiss  deeper. She clutched at his hair, holding tight the way she must have  learned turned him on. Sinful sounds slipped from her lungs, and the car  began rolling.

"Brakes," he ground out between urgent kisses.

She slammed on the brakes, pulling him by his hair into another kiss.  The sting shot darts of pleasure straight through him. His Supergirl was  back, and he needed her in his arms. The car rolled forward again, and  she grasped the wheel with one hand, still tugging his hair with the  other, and slammed on the brake.

"Park," he ground out. "Fast."

He gave her a chaste kiss and sprinted down the driveway beside her car.  The second she parked in front of the office, he pulled the door open  and she jumped into his arms. Her mouth crashed against his, knocking  their teeth together. They both groaned, but neither broke their  connection as he carried her into the office and strode up the stairs to  his apartment.

Halfway up she pulled back and pressed her hands to his cheeks, her eyes  dazzling with heat as she said, "I swore I wouldn't do this."

He grinned. "You and me both. Everyone's at the Beachcomber tonight, if you want to-"

"No! I need to be with you. It's been a long week."

"Thank goodness," he ground out.

He reclaimed her mouth as he opened the door to his apartment and pushed  it closed with his hip. She wriggled from his arms, and they tore at  each other's clothes, stumbling toward the bedroom. They tumbled to the  bed in a tangle of hungry kisses.

He buried his face in her neck, breathing her in. "How is it possible that I've missed you so much?"

"I don't know. I look for you at every turn. When I'm in my office, I  wish you'd come in after your morning run, shirtless and sweaty, with  that look in your eyes that always made my heart go crazy."

He kissed her cheek, then brushed his lips over hers and said, "You mean  the darn-I-want-you look that was immediately followed by an  I-need-a-cold-shower grimace?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

He lifted one of her hands to his lips and pressed a kiss to each of her  fingers. Then he settled her hand beneath his on the mattress and did  the same with her other hand. "This is the first time you've been in my  bed, and I want to remember everything about it. Your hair spilling over  the pillows, the feel of you beneath me, the look in your eyes."

"It's not the first time," she whispered. "When we finished decorating  your apartment, I lay right across the bed, staring up at the ceiling  while you were talking with Rick, remember?"

"I do, actually. I remember wondering if he'd think I was a jerk if I asked him to leave so I could try to seduce you."

"Liar." She grinned.

"You're right. I wondered if he'd think I was a jerk if I told him to leave and flat-out took advantage of you."

Passion simmered in her eyes. "Gosh, how I wish you had."         

     



 

She leaned up as he lowered his lips to hers, meeting him in a slow,  sensual kiss. This, her, their coming together, was truly and utterly  perfect. Her eyes opened, and she held his gaze, sending his heart into a  spiral of emotions. His girl knew just what he wanted-what he needed-to  see and feel all of her.

"I adore you," he said passionately as his mouth covered hers in a  greedy kiss, and then he spent a good, long time loving the rest of her.

They lay together afterward, Serena's fingers trailing lightly over his  skin as she nuzzled closer and whispered, "I have to pee."

He chuckled. "You're so romantic." He kissed her forehead, then patted her butt and said, "Go."

He laced his fingers behind his head, watching her full hips sway as she  padded across the floor. She'd never seemed the least bit  self-conscious about her body. Most women tried to cover up their  bodies, but Serena was comfortable in her own skin. He loved that about  her. A whisper of a voice in his head wondered if she'd been like that  with all the guys she'd been with. He glanced at the card she'd given  him on his nightstand, and he knew the answer didn't matter. Her heart  had always belonged to him, just like his had to her.

She came out of the bathroom with a playful expression on her face and  grabbed one of his T-shirts from the stack of clean laundry on the chair  in the corner. "Mine."

He laughed as he stepped from the bed. "I sure am."

He helped her put on his shirt, which covered far too much of her. Then  he gathered her in his arms and kissed the tip of her nose. "I'm glad  you're here, Supergirl. Not just for the incredible sex, but I think now  I know why I've never brought a woman here."

"You never … ? Not once?"

"Not once."

She pressed her lips to his chest. "Because you knew it would break my heart to see them leave in the morning?"

"I never got that far in my thinking. You and I picked out this bed, and  you know I always hoped that one day we'd finally get our timing right.  It would have felt wrong to bring you into my bed after someone else  had been there."

The appreciation in her eyes made the pit of his stomach go all squirrely.

"You just earned major bonus points."

"Good, because I definitely want to collect on them later. I'll be right  back." He went to use the bathroom and was pleased to discover the  scent of her perfume lingering in the air. He loved that.

After washing up, he returned to an empty bedroom and spotted Serena  standing out on the balcony. She was leaning on the railing, arms folded  in front of her as she gazed out at the bay. The breeze lifted her hair  from her shoulder, pressing the soft cotton of his shirt to her curves.  Her left knee was bent, her toes perched just behind her right foot.  She looked sexy and innocent, and she was finally his. Drake couldn't  resist snagging his phone from his shorts pocket and snapping a picture.  My girl.

He grabbed a pair of boxer briefs from the pile on the chair and stepped  into them. Then he went to her, wrapping his arms around her from  behind.