Colin reached behind her
and rubbed her back. “You deserve better than that asshole.”
“I know.” She looked up at
him. “That’s when I decided to look for an administrative job outside of Virginia. A few months later,
Kelly told me about the job here and that’s
how I ended up in Harbor Bay.”
“Lucky us.” He rubbed her
neck and smiled. “Now I see where you’re coming from.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean with all this
secret stuff.” He pulled her closer. “We don’t have to be a secret. There’s
nothing wrong with us seeing each other.”
“I’m not so sure.” Her
smile wavered.
“I’m sure.” He reached for
her chin and raised it. “I’d really like to see you, date you ... kiss you ...
whatever you want to call this.” He shook his head. “Shit. I’m so bad at this.”
She giggled and reached
for his hands. “I want to do it too, but there’s a line drawn between us
already we can’t erase.”
“To hell with the line.
Dr. Patel can be your doctor from now on and your being Jason’s principal has
nothing to do with our relationship. There are principals and teachers out
there who teach their children. People do it. We’re just dating and we’re professional.
I mean, do you have something written in your contract that says, ‘No dating
doctors’?”
She opened and closed her
mouth. Funny how he just spilled his thoughts out in the open. She pulled her
ear and cocked her head. “Hmmm. I don’t think so.”
“Then to hell with it. We
deserve to try this thing out.” He motioned between the two of them. With her
hesitation, he added. “Maybe making out for a few minutes would help us.”
She laughed and pushed
him.
Then when he eyed her
closely, he added. “I mean it.”
She sighed. He was right.
Absolutely right. “Okay. Let’s try it. ”
His smile grew wider.
She held up a finger.
“But, when we’re at school, no physical contact.”
He grabbed her finger and
pulled her to his chest. “We’re not at school right now.”
She laughed against his
neck. “No, we’re not.”
“So, no more dating other
schmucks, right? No Kevin or ... whoever.”
“No. Only you.” She
moistened her lips.
“Then come here.” He
pushed her down on the blanket and held his body above her.
“You really drove me crazy
today, you know that? In that bikini of yours.” His hand grazed her stomach and
reached under the sweatshirt. Leaning down, he gave gentle kisses on her neck.
“God you feel so good.”
The mere touch of his hand
and the words from his mouth sent a shiver through her.
She placed her arms around
his neck and groaned. His hand moved up more onto her bare skin and up to her
bikini top, feeling her breasts underneath them. “So good.” He moaned.
She grabbed his face and
pulled it to her own. The kiss was as tender and light as the fall breeze
around them. But as soon as she opened her mouth, the breeze turned into a whirlwind
of desire. She wanted him and from what she felt against her leg, she knew he wanted
her just as much. The kiss turned into a burning ache for each other that had
been building for weeks. Opening up to him had pulled something within her,
too. A real relationship between them. No more hiding. No more denying it.
She quivered at his
tenderness as he showered more kisses around her lips and then moved around her
jaw. A low groan sounded from his throat and he stopped to look down at her.
“We better stop.”
She lazily smiled. “I
guess.”
“I don’t want to stop
though.” He grabbed her ass.
“We are on a public
beach.” And as if on cue, another couple walked by a few yards away from them.
“See.”
Colin laughed and he bent
down, first kissing her nose, then each eye and finally a sweet kiss on her
lips. He sprawled out next to her and grabbed her hand, taking a deep breath.
“This day is even better than I thought it’d be.”
She squeezed his hand.
“The best bucket list adventure yet.”
In their comfortable
silence, she could feel Colin’s heart beat next to her, even though they only
touched shoulders and hands. His foot lingered over and curled with her own.
They turned heads at the same time and he smiled at
her. “So, you’re my girlfriend, then?”
She bit her lip and tried
not to laugh. “You really are sweet, you know that?”
Groaning, he took his hat
off his head and pulled it on top of his face. “Don’t keep saying that, especially
around Tim. He’d never let me hear the end of it.”
Hope reached over and held
the hat up. “You’re sweet, Colin, whether you want to admit it or not. Sweet.
Sweet. Sweet.” She kissed him with each word and lay back down.
“I told you not to call me
that.” He rolled to his side and pulled her closer. “Bad girls will be
punished, Ms. Robinson. You should know that.”
Melinda
lives in Guatemala, Central America with her husband and three boys. She
teaches English to middle schoolers during the day and finds time to write at
night. Melinda has always been an avid reader and writer, enjoys watching
reality tv, blogs, and relaxes with Zynga games. You can find Melinda at www.melindadozier.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/melinda.dozier
OTHER GREAT STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION:
California
Sunset: Casey
Dawes
Divorced mother Annie Gerhard meets rugged new
bookstore owner John Johnson at the worst possible time in her life. Her high
tech company is threatening to lay her off if she doesn’t move from California
to New Jersey and her 15-year-old son David is causing trouble. The recession
has hit Silicon Valley hard and there are no jobs for a middle manager, even if
she hates what she does. And this is no time for romance, no matter how good
the man looks in his jeans.
John has escaped Montana memories of a deceased
wife and betraying girlfriend by buying an independent bookstore in California.
He’s got bigger problems than falling for a spunky woman with control issues.
Keeping a bookstore afloat in a recession and finding a home where he can
stable his horse are all he can handle right now.
Unless . . .
John and Annie must both face their pasts in
order to greet the future. Can they risk it?
Slow
Ride: Kat
Morrisey
Kyla O'Grady hit the
gas and drove her Mustang out of Rock River, Pennsylvania with one goal in
mind: find somewhere to start over. Her life had gone sideways back home and
Kyla needs something new, something fresh, and she needs to find the music
again. But on a stretch of road off the coast of Maine, her car has other
ideas. Broken down just inside the town limits of Ashten Falls, Maine, Kyla is
stranded.
Cooper Moretto has a
problem. In fact, the whole town of Ashten Falls has a problem in the form of a
corrupt town official. Cooper had enough on his plate to last a lifetime, but
on a stretch of highway heading into the town he spots a '67 Mustang Coupe and
does what any decent mechanic would do: stop to help. But getting this car back
on the road is the last thing on his mind when he sees its owner, singing as if
she weren’t in the middle of nowhere.
Kyla is speeding
away from her past, unsure how to move forward. Cooper has been on cruise
control, just hoping to get through every day without being arrested or
harassed. Can the two slow down long enough to see that maybe the answers to
both their problems lie in each other? And can they survive when enemies that
are lurking in the shadows try to destroy them both?
Coming
Home:
Christine S. Feldman
No woman ever really
forgets her first love. Callie Sorenson is no exception. Hers was tall, tanned,
and - as her older brother’s best friend - completely off limits.
Danny McCutcheon.
It’s a name that
Callie hasn’t spoken in years, even if the man to whom it belongs has never
really been all that far from her thoughts. Or her heart. But now a twist of
fate will bring her back to the childhood home she left behind years ago, and
to the hometown boy for whom she secretly longed.
When her mother
takes a bad fall and breaks her hip, Callie leaves the bright lights of New
York City to fly back west and help with the rehabilitation. It’s a tense
homecoming due to a long time estrangement between mother and daughter, and it
drives Callie to confront both a painful personal loss and her unanswered
questions about the father who abandoned her when she was just a child.It also
brings her face to face with Danny again, and Callie quickly realizes that old
feelings die hard.
But for Danny, it’s
new feelings that are a problem. Callie is not the young girl he remembers but
a woman now, and a very desirable one. They both have reasons to fight the
growing attraction between them, but the temptation may just prove to be too
much to resist, despite some very real risk to their hearts. The past casts a
long shadow over the future, though, and Callie will have to overcome it or
else face losing the one man who means the most to her.
Begin Again:
Christy Newton
What if one night changed your life forever?
Maisie Scott lost not only her husband and
unborn child in a tornado two years ago, she lost her will to live. Keeping
busy is the only way she can get by. This small town waitress won't let herself
get attached to anyone . . . until Ryan, the new veterinarian for exotic
animals, starts making regular trips to her diner. As hard as she tries not to
feel anything, Ryan ignites a spark in her broken heart.
Ryan Tucker craves a happy family of his own
more than his momma’s apple pie. Getting over his fiancée leaving him six
months ago, he moves to Pleasant Valley for a fresh start. When he meets Maisie
and notices the sadness in her eyes, he is determined to put a smile on her
pretty face.
When another dangerous storm hits, Ryan stays
by Maisie's side. She fills the missing piece in his heart, but will Ryan share
his secret? Can Maisie move on from the past and learn to begin again?
Lake Effect: Johannah Bryson
Shelby Aylesworth
knows what real love feels like. She also knows the pain of losing that kind of
love. With her faithful collie dog, Norman, she takes refuge on Whiskey Island
to try to put her life back together. When Norman arranges a most unusual
introduction to the island’s newest resident, Shelby finds herself wondering if
it isn’t time to stop grieving and start living.
Wyeth Packard has
come to Whiskey Island under the guise of restoring and making profitable an
old vineyard and manor house. What he really wants is some peace and quiet away
from the fast pace of NYC. Being considered one of the city’s most eligible has
thrown him into the path of every gold digging society princess out there. He
longs to find a balance but has given up on ever finding a woman who will love
him for who he is, not what he has.
Together they
navigate the slippery slope of what it means to begin again. Can a new love
fill the void left by an old love?
All
About Charming Alice: J.
Arlene Culiner
Alice Treemont has
given up hope of meeting the right man and falling in love. Living in
depopulated Blake’s Folly, a community of rusting cars, clapboard shacks and
thirsty weeds, she cooks vegetarian meals, rescues unwanted dogs and protects
the most unloved creatures on earth: snakes. What man would share those
interests? Certainly not Jace Constant whose life in Chicago includes elegant
women, fine dining and contemporary art. He’s in Nevada doing research for his
new book but definitely won’t be staying: he hates the desert’s bleakness, the
dust on his fine leather shoes and the dog hair on his cashmere sweaters. As
for snakes — they terrify him.
So why does the air
sizzle each time Alice and Jace meet? Why are they so fascinated by each other?
Their feelings might go deeper than raw desire, but any long-term relationship
is clearly doomed.
In need of juicy
gossip, the other 52 residents of Blake's Folly have decided Alice has been
alone for long enough. The attraction between her and Jace is so obvious, why
worry about differences? If you trust in love, solutions do appear. But don’t
those solutions call for too many compromises, too much self-sacrifice?
Broken
Wings, Soaring Hearts:
Beverly A. Rogers
Hailey Holman is a
woman determined to keep her dad's memory and his dream of reopening their
small-town Texas base station alive. Jack Stinson is looking for a peaceful
place to escape the rat race of the big city life and big city business of his
own family's airplane manufacturing business.
What a perfect
match. Other than the fact that her mom hates the flying business with a
passion and fights Hailey's every effort, and Jack's dad fought his every
effort to make the break, then disowned him for leaving. Throw in two town bullies
who insist on opening a base station of their own and reeking havoc on Hailey's
plans and her own determination not to get personally involved with the
employees, and it's anything but smooth sailing.
But these two
focused pilots might just be surprised how things can work out with enough
stubbornness . . . and faith.
Charmed: Inés
Saint
Jamie
Sullivan is a fun-loving, widowed mother of twin five-year old boys. A
creative goldsmith with her own line of designer
charms, she is determined to forge her
own unique brand of success. Jamie guards a painful secret that leads her to be emphatic about not letting a man into her
life.
Nick Grey is the gorgeous, charming, and
daydream-inducing headmaster of the private elementary school Jamie's children will attend. After single-handedly
bringing up his daughter while earning
his doctorate and proving himself to the school's board of directors and the community, he feels burned
out. Come the end of the semester, Nick
is taking a year off to travel the world.
When they meet, an instant attraction blazes
through both. Nick and Jamie soon find their hard earned peace of mind threatened by meddling matchmakers,
old rivalries, and children who can't
keep their feet out of their mouths. But Nick's not interested in starting over and raising kids again,
and Jamie's sure she can't trust her
heart. Will they be able to nurture their friendship and attraction into
something that can last forever?
Angel Without Wings: Mari
Manning
A war widow at twenty-six, Linnea Reyes is
haunted by the soul-shattering fight she had with her husband just before he
led his detachment into the ambush that killed him. When one of the wounded
soldiers from her husbands battalion asks her to help save his family’s farm,
she jumps at the chance for redemption. Unfortunately, she runs straight into a
six-foot roadblock – the soldier's older brother who has plans of his own.
After resigning from a promising army career to
help his mother and wounded brother, Jesse McCormick is at the lowest point in
his life. Now they are about to lose the family's organic farm and only one
plan will earn him enough money to get his family out of debt and him off the
farm – a dangerous assignment with a paramilitary group. He can brush aside the
protests of his worried family, but the good intentions of Linnea Reyes prove
to be more than he can handle.
