Gansett After Dark (27 page)

“Abby… Come on. This isn’t how we roll. We air it out. Don’t we?”

She wanted to be cool and calm and collected, but this was too important, and she’d already been burned twice before by long romances that didn’t work out in the end. If that happened this time…

“Baby, why are you crying?”

Abby hated herself for the tears that came despite her ardent desire to be unemotional and pragmatic about broaching this subject with him. She forced herself to look at the face she loved above all others. “I want to get married, Adam,” she said softly, “and we never, ever talk about that. Which leads me to wonder if that’s what you want, too.”

“It is what I want.”

“Then what’re we waiting for?”

“The right moment.”

“For what?”

“For this.” Before she knew it, he was on his knees in front of her. “Abigail Callahan, I love you more than anything in this world. You’ve changed my life in every possible way, and I want to be with you forever. Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

She was crying so hard that she could barely hear him over the sound of her own sobs, but his words registered just the same, as did the slide of the ring over the third finger on her left hand.

“Where… What… How long…”

“On the mainland, two carats and about three months ago now. Any other questions before you answer mine?”

She gazed down at him and then at the exquisite ring and shook her head.

“You aren’t saying no, are you?”

“I’m not saying no.” She cupped his cheek and leaned in to kiss him. “I’m definitely not saying no.”

“A double negative is hardly what a guy is looking for when he asks the most important question of his life.”

“How about a triple positive, then? Yes.” She kissed him. “Yes.” She kissed him again. “
Yes
.” She kissed him a third time and stayed there when his arm encircled her neck, keeping her trapped against him.
 

“I like triple positives,” he said, coming up for air after kids walking by on the street yelled at them to get a room.
 

“Did you say that about engagement parties on purpose?”

“Maybe. I’ve been waiting for an opening.”

“I’ve always been open to this conversation. Since the day you told me you were moving back here permanently.” She paused, needing to ask him something but unsure of how she should put it. “Adam?”

He rejoined her on the bench. “Yes?”

“We’re going to actually
get married
, right?”

“Of course we are,” he said, laughing. “Why would you ask me that?”

“I don’t have the best track record when it comes to making the close.”

He waggled his brows. “You have a very good track record for making the close with me.”

“I’m not talking about sex.”

“I know you’re not, honey, and I’m well aware of what you’ve been through in the past. And you know what’s happened to me. I think it’s safe to say we both want to see this through to the finish line. I know I do.”

“So do I. I can’t wait to be married to you.”

He propped his sexy glasses on the top of his head and leaned in to kiss her again.

“Don’t you guys have your own house?” a female voice behind them asked.

Abby looked up to see Owen and Laura walking toward them, holding hands. Abby held up her left hand. “Big news, and you’re the first to know!”

Laura let out a shriek and came over for a closer look at Abby’s ring. “It’s gorgeous! Congratulations, you guys.” She hugged Abby and then her cousin. “Nice job on the ring, Adam.”

“Why, thank you.”

Owen shook Adam’s hand. “Congrats, man. Happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

“We’ll leave you to celebrate in private,” Laura said, taking Owen’s hand and giving a gentle tug. But before she walked away, she gave Abby one more squeeze. “So happy for you. I know you really wanted this.”

“Thanks, Laura.”

“We’re going to be cousins!”

Abby laughed at Laura’s delight and waved as they headed off toward the Surf.
 

“What do you say we go home and celebrate this momentous occasion?”

“I would like to celebrate, but not the way you have in mind. Until later, anyway,” she said with a giggle at his distressed expression.

“What do you have in mind?”

She took his hand and turned it so the palm was faceup, drawing a line across the inside of his wrist. “I would like for both of us to get today’s date tattooed right here, so we’ll never forget it. And then when we get married, we’ll put our wedding date on the other wrist.”

His smile stretched across his face as he shook his head.

“No?” she asked shyly, uncertain of what he was thinking.

“I love the idea, and I love that my sweet, gentle girl has an inner wild child. I want to see plenty of her after we’re married, okay?”

“Okay.” When he leaned in to kiss her, she met him halfway. “So that’s yes to the tattoos?”

“That’s yes to the tattoos. It’s yes to everything.”
 

Chapter 18

“I’m so happy for Adam and Abby!” Laura said as she walked along the sidewalk with Owen’s arm draped across her shoulders. His mother had chosen to sit out the engagement party, preferring to stay home with Holden so they could have some time to themselves.
 

“They’re great together. I’m happy for them, too.”

“She’s been really wanting this. She’s never actually said so, but I can just tell by the look on her face when everyone is talking about weddings and husbands and babies that she wanted in on it all.”

“It’s nice to see good people get what they want.”

“Yes, it is.”

Though he was participating in the conversation and had done the same with their friends at the party, he was distracted and distant and not fully present. “Want to take a walk on the beach? I’m sure your mom won’t mind a little more time with Holden.”

“If you want.”

She stopped walking and turned to him. “I’m asking if
you
want to.”

“I’d rather take a nap than a walk.”

Now
that
sounded like the Owen she knew and loved. “Is that so?” she asked, smiling up at him.

His gaze took a greedy, hungry journey over her face as he nodded.

Holding his hand, Laura went up the stairs and into the lobby, where they greeted the young woman working at the reception desk on the way upstairs to their apartment. She released him only so he could use his key in the door. Inside, they found a note from Sarah that said she and Charlie had taken Holden to Charlie’s house for a couple of hours and would be back after dinner.
 

“Have I mentioned how much I adore your mother?” Laura asked.

“A few times.”

“Never more so than right now.”

“Is that right?”

“Uh-huh.” She unbuttoned the dress shirt he’d worn in deference to the location of the party at one of the fancier venues on the island. Pulling the shirttails from the waistband of his khakis, she pushed it over his broad shoulders and tugged it down his arms until it was on the floor behind him. Next, she unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his pants.
 

The whole time, he kept his hands by his sides, waiting and watching her undress him.
 

“What’s on your mind, love?” she asked.

“Not a single thing besides wondering what Laura is up to.”

She laughed softly, charmed by his reply and the effort he was making to connect with her despite the burden of his thoughts and worries. She peppered his belly with kisses, nuzzling the trail of golden-blond hair that led into his pants. Unzipping him, she worked slowly and carefully around the huge bulge. He held his breath, waiting to see what she would do next.

Working her hands into the back of his pants, she pushed them down over his hips and then rubbed her nose and lips over his cock through the soft cotton of his boxer briefs.

He gasped and clutched handfuls of her hair. “Laura… Come here.”

“Not yet.”

Still on her knees in front of him, she eased his underwear slowly over the straining tip of his cock, letting the elastic rest halfway down his shaft. Then she ran her tongue over the area she’d exposed while cupping his balls through the cloth.
 

His breathing became choppy and erratic as she teased him with her tongue and lips, focusing only on the wide head.

“Babe,” he said on a gasp. “Are you trying to make me lose my mind here?”

Knowing he was now thinking only of the pleasure and not of the many other things that had been weighing so heavily on him for the last few weeks, she kept up the erotic torture. Sliding her free hand around him, she cupped one of his tight, round cheeks and squeezed.
 

“God, Laura,” he moaned. “You’re killing me.”

“Relax and enjoy.”

“Right… Relax? Not bloody likely. Enjoy? Hell yes.”

Smiling, she pulled his underwear the rest of the way down and wrapped her hand around the base as she sealed her lips over the tip and sucked. She dipped her tongue into the slit at the top and ran it back and forth while stroking with her hand. He was far too big for her to take more than a few inches into her mouth, so she did what she could while continuing to knead his backside.

“Feels so good,” he whispered.

She looked up to find him gazing down at her, his eyes heated with desire and passion. In them she saw none of the torture that had been so prevalent over the last few difficult weeks. She saw only the pleasure.
 

“Come here, Princess. Let’s do this together.”

Without releasing him, she shook her head. Though her own sex tingled with need, she loved knowing she was thoroughly distracting him. His thighs tightened and quivered, and his cock got even larger in her mouth, stretching her lips to their limit. When she pulled back to readjust, he pounced, lifting her from the floor into his strong arms, devouring her mouth with his lips and tongue. They landed on the bed in a tangle of arms and legs without losing the kiss.

He was careful, as always, not to put too much weight on her abdomen, but his hands were all over her, lifting her dress and breaking the kiss only to pull it over her head. Her bra was next, followed by the matching panties, a set she’d bought from Tiffany.
 

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered as he tongued her nipple until it was standing up tall. “Sometimes I still can’t believe that I can hold you and touch you this way any time I want to.”

“Any time, Owen. I always want you.”

With his hand on her face, he brushed back her hair and kissed her again, softer this time but with no less urgency. He broke the kiss and raised himself up so he was above her, kissing a fiery path down the front of her. “You know what they say about payback, don’t you?”

Laura let her nervous laugh speak for her as he propped her legs on his wide shoulders and used his fingers to open her to his tongue. She was so ready, so primed, that all it took was a few concentrated strokes of his tongue to trigger her orgasm. He extended it by sliding two fingers into her, connecting with the place inside that set off another wave of intense pleasure.

Before she could come down from the incredible high, he aligned his cock with her entrance and pushed into her, moving slowly, giving her time to adjust and accommodate him. She liked to tease him about getting more than his share, but she loved the way he felt inside her.

“Easy, babe,” he whispered as he rocked against her. “Nice and easy. You can do it. You can take me.” Bending his head, he laved her nipple, sending a bolt of heat to where they were joined. “That’s it. Let me in so I can love you.”

His words were almost as potent as the tight squeeze of his hard flesh, and then he added the press of his thumb against her clit, and Laura came again, drawing a deep groan from him as she clutched him from within.

“Christ,” he whispered on a gasp as he surged into her, riding the waves of her release to gain entry. Once he was fully seated, he stayed still, letting her catch her breath. “Every damned time.”