Sweet Heat at Bayside(36)

Serena introduced her to the others. "Daphne, this is Mira, Rick and Drake's sister, and this is my sister, Chloe."

"Hi," Daphne said. "Thanks for letting me crash breakfast."

"I'm crashing, too," Chloe said as she slung an arm over Serena's  shoulder. "I'm not usually here this early, but I wanted to see this  girly one more time before she goes back to Boston."

"That's sweet. When I left for North Carolina my twin brother and our  sister probably threw a party." Daphne laughed and said, "Not really,  but my sister was glad to have our apartment all to herself. When is  your baby due?" she asked Mira.

"Not soon enough." Mira patted her belly.

"Hi, Daphne," Rick said. "I'm glad you made it."

"Thanks," Daphne said as she set the baby seat down beside the table.  "It'll be nice to have friends around again. I've been so busy, I  haven't gotten out much since I moved back, and so many of the people I  grew up with have moved away."

"With this crew, you'll never be alone," Dean said. "And you might never get your baby back."

"I can deal with a few hours of freedom," Daphne said as she fished around in her baby bag.

Rick sidled up to Serena and said, "It's good to see he didn't scare you away with all that slow dancing last night."

"Quite the opposite," Serena said, remembering how incredible it had  felt to be in Drake's arms, dancing beneath the stars. "It's called  foreplay."

Rick chuckled, then turned to Drake and said, "Practicing?"

"Jealous?" Drake tickled Hadley again, earning another smile. Then Hadley turned an almost-scowl to Rick.

"She's cute. You keep missing our morning runs, and you might end up  with a tiny human sooner rather than later," Rick teased. "I hear it all  starts with matching sunglasses."

Drake held the baby up in the air, and she giggled. "What do you think, Hadley? Does it all start with matching sunglasses?"

"In my experience," Daphne said, "it all starts with a back rub."

All the girls laughed. The guys smirked.

"You're going to fit right in," Serena assured her.

Desiree, Emery, and Violet came out of the house carrying trays of muffins, eggs, bacon, and sausage.

"They're here!" Emery said. "Look at that baby!"

She and Desiree hurried over to the table and set down their trays. Then  they rushed over to see the baby, while Violet gave Hadley a wide  berth.

Serena introduced Daphne to Emery, Desiree, and Violet and told her a little about each of them.

"There'll be a test later," Violet said as she snagged a piece of bacon.

"I've got it," Daphne said proudly, pointing to each person as she said  their name. "Emery, yoga instructor and Dean's fiancée. The yoga pants  helped with that one. Desiree, Rick's other half, co-owner of this  gorgeous inn, and sister to Violet, who is the coolest chick I've ever  met. I want to be you when I grow up. I have a thing for motorcycles,  and I really want a tattoo with my baby girl's birth date, but I'm  afraid to get one."

Violet finished her bacon and said, "There's a cure for that. It's called a few shots of tequila."         

     



 

As Violet and Daphne discussed tattoos, Drake sat down, bouncing Hadley  on his leg, which earned him more sweet baby giggles. He pulled Serena  down beside him and said, "She's pretty cute, huh?"

"There really isn't anything sexier than you holding a baby. Seeing you  with her almost makes me want to drag you back to the bedroom."

Hadley's brows knitted tighter than ever, and her face turned red. A  second later, the smell of baby poop wafted around them, causing  everyone to laugh.

"Oh gosh. Sorry." Daphne took her from his arms and grabbed her baby bag. "Babies are the ultimate love-moment blockers."

"You can say … " Violet grinned and said a dirty word. "I'm pretty sure  your little one isn't going to be repeating anything you say anytime  soon."

Desiree gave her grief for using foul language in front of their new  friends. Rick and Dean were busy harassing Drake about spending so much  time with Hadley, and Serena sat back and enjoyed the show. She missed  this fun banter, the closeness with the girls and teasing the guys. It  was a wonderful morning, and Daphne fit right in. Although Hadley seemed  a bit nonplussed with all of her newfound aunties and uncles, which was  what Emery dubbed them, except Drake, whom she seemed to adore.

After Daphne left, they cleaned up and made plans to go tubing after the  tasting session with Brandy, which was now scheduled for two weeks  after the grand opening.

They spent the afternoon hanging out on the beach, and Serena made a  point of lying beside Drake with her hand on his chest to mark her  property.

Drake lay with his eyes shaded by his sunglasses, his lips curved up in a  sinful smile as he said, "How about if I strip down and you put that  hand on the property you really want to mark?"

"Hey!" Mira snapped. "How about no naked debauchery when I'm around?"

"It's okay. This is the property I want to mark anyway." Serena laid her hand over Drake's heart.

He placed his hand over hers and pulled her down to whisper in her ear.  "Nice cover, babe. Next weekend we'll lie out naked behind your cottage  and you can mark any part of my body you want."

That gave her something to look forward to.

By late afternoon, Serena was doing everything she could to  procrastinate leaving, but she knew traffic would be a nightmare, and  she needed time to get ready for her work week. She'd purposefully left  her work at home this weekend, knowing she wouldn't give up a second of  her time with Drake and that Drake would feel guilty if he knew she  wasn't getting her work done. But hey, that was what lonely Sunday  nights were for.

After saying goodbye to Chloe and all their friends, Serena and Drake  stood beside her car, kissing and murmuring promises to call. Why was  she getting teary-eyed? She wasn't the kind of girl who cried at  goodbyes.

Drake lifted her chin. She loved that intimate touch, the way it set her  apart from all other women. She loved everything he did, like the way  he was gazing at her right then, as if he understood and wanted to erase  all her sadness.

"I know it's silly, but it's harder to leave this time." She half laughed, half sighed into his chest.

"What can I do to make it easier? Do you want me to come there on the weekends instead? Would that help?"

"No," she said quickly. "I want to see everyone. It's hard leaving you,  but it's hard leaving everyone else, too. I'm sure it's just that I  haven't found close friends in Boston yet." Even as she said it, she  knew that wasn't all that was bothering her. She'd been replaced, and  Drake hadn't needed her to set up the music store. Life was going on  without her. She'd known it would, but thinking about it and  experiencing it were two totally different things. And after spending  the morning with Hadley, she couldn't stop worrying that she and Drake  were on different time tables. She knew she was getting way ahead of  herself, but he'd looked out for her best interests for so long, she  couldn't ignore the possibility of something so important to him.

"What else?" he asked. "I see a storm brewing in your eyes, and I don't want to let you leave until we talk it out."

"It's ridiculous. Not important." She put her arms around his neck and said, "Kiss me. I'll be fine."

"But I won't be fine knowing you're not really fine," he said sternly,  and that dimple appeared in his cheek. "If this is going to work, we  have to be totally honest with each other. Talk to me, Serena."

"It's just … I really like Daphne, and I'm happy you guys hired her.  She'll do a great job, but it feels weird being replaced so quickly."         

     



 

"Remember how irritated you were when I didn't hire her right away?"

"I know," she said sharply. "I told you it was ridiculous."

"No. It's not ridiculous."

"It's reality, and I'm not upset over it. I'm just soaking it in and  processing the finality of it." She gazed into his caring eyes and knew  she had to be completely honest with him. "There's more. I have to ask  you something that's going to seem like I'm rushing our relationship,  but I don't mean to. I just don't want to hold you back. You're in your  midthirties. Are you ready for a family?"

He cringed. "Can we not call thirty-four midthirties?"

"I just meant that maybe you were ready. I know you want a family, and I  do, too, one day. But I'm not anywhere near ready, and just like you  didn't want to hold me back from achieving my dreams, I don't want to  hold you back from the things you want, either."

"I want a family one day, Serena, but I'm in absolutely no hurry. I want  time to build our relationship as a couple." He brushed his thumb over  her cheek and said, "You could never stand in my way, because my path  includes you from here on out."