“Hah! I guess I was too busy being the super-nerdy Beta Club president-slash-school newspaper editor, until my senior year of high school. But believe me, that summer, all my girlfriends had the hots for the hunky deckhand on the ferry, because we thought you looked exactly like Don Johnson.”
“Who?”
“The guy who played Sonny on Miami Vice. You always had that same stubble he had.”
Nate laughed. “That’s because I was too lazy to get up in time to shave before I went to work, and my dad wouldn’t allow his employees to have beards, because he said only bums had beards.”
Riley sipped her wine. “I was just remembering—that summer, my girlfriends and I would always try to get down to Southpoint in time for either the early-morning ferry or the last one of the day, because we figured out that’s when you’d be working.”
“Because I had football practice during the day,” Nate said.
“I thought you were sexy as hell back then,” Riley said.
“I’ve still got the stubble,” Nate pointed out.
She reached out and ran a finger down the graying stubble on his jawline. “And I think maybe I’ve still got the hots for you.”
“But earlier, at the Holtzclaws, you accused me of everything just short of burning down this precious island of yours.”
“I know,” Riley said with a sigh. “And I want to apologize for the way I treated you. I’ve been a total bitch. Suspicious and paranoid.”
“Not bitchy, but you sure made it clear you wanted no part of me or anything I wanted to do here. What made you change your mind?”
“It was something Parrish said. She told me I was bitter and unforgiving, and she was right. And then, when I heard what Annie told Parrish about your donating the Holtzclaw property to the university, it made me realize who you really are and what you want. Why didn’t you just tell me that the day we were together?”
“It wasn’t a done deal yet. It still isn’t. I think it will happen, and I’m excited about it, but it’s early days yet. And, let’s face it, you wouldn’t have believed me anyway.”
“I do now,” Riley said. “Parrish was right, damn her. You do want what I want.”
She inched over beside him on the sofa, until she was close enough to smell the wood smoke on his skin and hair and clothes.
“Riley Nolan. Are you trying to put the moves on me?” Nate pretended to be shocked.
“If you have to ask, I must be doing it wrong,” Riley said, leaning in to kiss him.
She’d known this would happen, from the moment she’d asked to buy him a drink back on the beach. Maybe even before that.
Her kiss was tentative at first, and tender.
Riley felt his lips curve beneath hers, into a smile, and then he was holding her face between both hands and the kisses became deeper and more insistent. She slid backward onto the sofa, pulling him down with her, and they were lying sideways, facing each other, the space between them disappearing, the old fears and distrust dissolving.
She ran her hands up under the back of his T-shirt, craving the feel of his warm skin beneath her splayed fingertips. His shoulder muscles knotted at her touch. She slid her hands around to his chest, felt his rib cage, brushed one nipple with her thumb. He inhaled sharply, and she felt him smiling again.
Nate nibbled at her earlobe and found the hollow in her throat. She inched his shirt upward, letting the palms of her hands rest lightly against his erect nipples.
He kissed her deeply, his tongue teasing hers, while his hands found her breasts, gently pushing them upward until they spilled from the deep V neckline of her dress. His lips found one nipple, kissed it, teased it, nipped at it, and she rolled onto her back to allow equal time for the other nipple.
Riley let her hand slide down his abdomen until it was resting squarely on the crotch of his jeans. His response was immediate. He reached for the hem of her dress. It was still damp and sandy from where she’d stood in the waves, a lifetime ago, watching the moon spill silver onto the night.
Nate tugged the dress upward, past her hips. He stopped suddenly, propping his head on one hand, gazing down at her. There was that smile again.
“You keep doing that,” Riley said.
“I smile when I’m having a good time,” he said, trailing a fingertip down her chest, toying with her nipple again. “Don’t you?”
“Maybe, but I can’t remember when I’ve had as good a time as this,” she said truthfully, kissing him again, rolling his T-shirt up, then pulling it over his shoulders as he very helpfully raised his arms to allow her to remove it entirely.
She gazed down at his sun-browned chest, at the golden and silver curls of hair, and then at the dark line of hair that extended below his navel, toward his groin. Her fingertips followed the trail, pausing at the metal snap of his jeans.
“And we’re just getting started,” Nate promised. He reached behind her neck and expertly untied the halter top with one hand. He’d always been good with knots. A moment later, he yanked the dress over her head, tossing it to the floor. Riley curved herself into him, yearning to feel the warmth of him pressed tight to the entire length of her body. Moments later, he’d done away with her panties, his knee parted her bare legs, and his hand was sliding down and into her, and when she moaned very softly she could feel his smile grow wider, matching hers, because she was having a very, very good time.
Riley cupped her hands on Nate’s butt, drawing him closer, feeling the bite of the metal snap over his swollen fly digging into the sensitive flesh of her belly. She reached around and managed, with both hands, to unfasten the snap and slide the metal zipper slowly downward. She tugged at his waistband, hooking her thumbs into the fabric of his briefs and jeans, rolling them down over his narrow hips past his erection and then to his knees, before using her toes to push them around his ankles.
Nate stood, kicked off the rest of his clothes, and pulled Riley to her feet. He placed a hand on either side of her face, resting his forehead against hers. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted this?” he asked.
“No,” Riley whispered, kissing him lightly. “How long?”
“Since the first time I saw you prancing around in that one-piece bathing suit of yours, on the beach, with your friends. You were all dancing around, trying to copy the girls in that Robert Palmer video.”
She buried her head in his chest. “‘Simply Irresistible?’” Oh, my God! You saw that? I was such a klutz. I would have died if I’d known somebody saw us.”
“Nobody saw you but me,” Nate said. “But if I’d known what was under that bathing suit of yours…” He ran his hands slowly down her back, grinding his hips into hers. “I’ve always wanted you, Riley. Always.”
“I was just a stupid, naïve girl the first time we were together,” Riley said. “I didn’t want you then, or maybe I did, but I was too dumb to realize it. But I do now. I’ve wanted you for a while, but I just didn’t know it until now. Right now.” She kissed him and felt the heat and need within her building to a fever pitch.
“You’re sure?” he asked. “No second thoughts?”
“I’m sure.” Riley looked up at him, suddenly shy, through lowered eyelashes. “I think I’m ready to smile again.”