“I didn’t mean to get to the hotel. I meant to get naked in a hot tub.” He settled her back on his shoulder.
“Oh, that.” She laughed.
“Did you ever think about it before this summer?”
“Getting naked with you? Uh-huh. Did you?”
He kissed the side of her head. “Other than when I was in high school and thought about fucking every girl I saw who wasn’t related to me?”
“Oh, great. I was part of the cast of hundreds in your teenaged fantasies. Just what every girl wants to hear.” Crossing her arms over her breasts, she drew back from him, trying to look angry.
“I didn’t say that was the only time, did I?” He pulled at her to get her back into his arms. “Since Mary Ellen’s wedding, I’ve thought about it a lot.”
“That’s better.” She returned to him. “We really blew it at Mary Ellen’s wedding, didn’t we? What exactly was the emergency that Noah dragged you off to take care of?”
“No emergency. Just saying good-bye to a couple of relatives. His mother had sent him to find me. He couldn’t look at me for weeks afterwards without a silly grin on his face. Seeing your uncle with his hands on the ass of a wedding guest while they kiss was probably more than a twelve-year-old should know about his godfather.”
“What did Catherine say?”
“Apparently he didn’t tell his mother because she hasn’t said anything. And I’m pretty sure she would have said something if she knew.”
“Pretty sure? She’d have had your head on a pike if she’s the same Catherine I knew.”
He laughed. “She is. Believe me.” He kissed the tip of her nose.
She sighed against his chest. “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. At least not then.”
“Oh, yeah, after fifteen years we needed another eight months to make it work out.” He shook his head and splashed her. “If I didn’t love you so much, I’d be pissed that you didn’t stick around.”
“Do you really? Love me so much, I mean.”
He kissed her temple. “Yeah, I do.”
“Good.” She put her arm across his chest and looked up at him. “I’m not big on unrequited love.”
“Is this your way of telling me you love me?” This time he kissed her mouth.
When he pulled away, she made a little sound of disappointment and tried to bring his mouth back to hers. He shook his head. “Nope. Not ’til you say it.”
“If I do, will you kiss me again?”
“Try me.”
She kissed along his jaw line over to his ear and whispered, “I love you, Tony.”
“There. That wasn’t so tough, was it?” He stood up and reached for her hand. “Now, how ’bout we take this inside?”
“Hey, you said you’d kiss me.”
“No, I didn’t. But if we go inside, you might get lucky.” He sat on the edge of the hot tub, pulled her into his lap and swung his legs over onto the balcony deck.