Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56893 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 284(@200wpm)___ 228(@250wpm)___ 190(@300wpm)
He leaned back on his hands. “Harrison and Winter have a girl, Jules, named after her late mother, Julianna. As for Asher, he and Nikki aren’t ready yet. She’s much younger and they wanted to wait.”
She pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. “So all the Dare men have baby girls. I love it. I can imagine each with a shotgun in hand when they’re old enough date.” Hadley’s grin was infectious, and he laughed.
“You are so right.”
She glanced his way. “Someone’s due for a boy.”
A little boy with Hadley’s silky brown hair with streaks of blonde and her light blue eyes, flashed through his mind. The possibility warmed him, filling empty spaces inside him he hadn’t paid attention to before. Except that was a dream that wouldn’t be coming true. She hadn’t said or done anything to indicate her plans had changed.
“Which siblings are you closest to?” she asked.
“All of them.” Thanks to his contacts and skills, Zach was the brother everyone turned to in times of crisis and he was grateful he could help. Family meant everything to him, something his biological mother’s illness and suicide had reinforced.
“I really envy you that,” she murmured.
He wanted to tell her she could have that too. His family could be hers. Something that couldn’t happen if she went home. But he remained silent. Convincing her by showing her what they could have was one thing. Verbally pushing her was another. She needed to come to her decision to stay or go on her own.
The rest of his meal went down like sawdust until he told himself he had time to show her everything they could share after her father’s issues ended.
If she agreed to stay.
Once they finished eating, he stood, pulling her to her feet.
“Shouldn’t we clean up?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Tonight is for you to enjoy.” The service included set up, décor, food and cleanup later.
He clasped her hand and led her to another blanket a little farther down the beach. There were backrests set up along with lanterns and citronella torches burning behind them.
They settled in, resting beside each other, the conversation still flowing and when pauses happened, they were comfortable and easy, the silence peaceful. This was what he’d never had with another woman. What he’d watched his siblings find and what Zach both needed and had been missing.
Because Hadley had been missing.
Music sounded in the distance, the band tuning up. He resettled them against the cushions and pulled her into his arms.
Chapter Thirteen
When Hadley fled her home, she expected to be alone with her sister and afraid for their lives. Instead she was wrapped in the arms of the man she’d always loved and her sister was with people she trusted. Her father was in the wind but there wasn’t anything she could do about that. So she intended to enjoy the evening with Zach and face one day at a time. It was all she could do. Because her life wasn’t here.
After she’d arrived in the Hamptons, she’d called school and explained she’d had a family emergency and had to rush out of town without notice. Principal Doyle had been understanding. He’d wished her the best and said he’d see her at the end of the summer. Which was the issue.
Would her situation be resolved by then? She needed to go back or risk losing tenure and her student loan coverage. She couldn’t afford to start over as a first-year teacher with a first-year salary, nor could she take the financial hit of losing her student loan forgiveness. Not to mention that her sister needed her life, her friends and stability.
“Where’d you go?” Zach’s deep voice brought her back to the present.
She shook her head in a futile attempt to push the future out of her thoughts. “Sorry. Just thinking.”
He kissed her forehead. “Well don’t. The music is too good not to let it take you away.”
“You’re right.” The strains of the music calmed her and she snuggled closer.
Zach placed a hand high up on her thigh and her skin immediately began to tingle. He didn’t rush, just leisurely brushed his thumb back and forth. Resting her head on his shoulder, she closed her eyes, only to realize he was slowly moving his hand. He inched upward until that same finger traced the line along the crease of her thigh.
Her body responded, her panties growing wet with desire and a throbbing need pulsed in her sex. She arched her pelvis and began to roll her hips in circles, silently begging him to relieve the ache he was causing.
A new band took over and the music turned to country, the beat more in time to the throbbing of her clit. She moaned and he reacted, sliding his fingers beneath her string-bikini underwear, gliding over her slick sex. His fingers skated over her outer lips, squeezing them together, teasing her, touching her everywhere except where she needed him the most.