Full Circle (13 page)

“Stubborn.”

Ellie gave him a sideways glance as she took the stool next to him.

“What?” he asked over the top of his mug.

“I wonder where she gets it from?” she said sweetly.

He shrugged, but with one eyebrow raised shot her a look that made her panties dampen all over again. “I guess it does run in the family.”

“At least you can admit it. Speaking of, what’s going on with you and your dad? Have you talked?”

“You get right to the point, don’t ya?”

“I figure we’ve wasted enough time
not
talking. It’s time we start sharing the big stuff.” She paused, surprising even herself with her forwardness, but she pushed through because if they were going to have a chance they needed to start by being honest. The sex had been spectacular, but it couldn’t be allowed to cloud the issue. “Like I said last night, the past thirteen years are not just going to vanish. They were real and a very painful time in my life.”

He took her hand into his and brought it up to his lips for a gentle kiss. “I can’t say I’m sorry enough for putting you through that. If it was humanly possible I would kick my own ass for it. You have to know if I could go back and ease that time I would for you.”

“And if I’d known about Katriana maybe I would’ve fought for you, not let you walk away so easily from me.” Until that moment Ellie had never accepted any of the blame. She didn’t think she deserved it, but maybe she did play a small part in their history—a very small one.

He gazed back at her with a blank stare. “None of this falls on you, Ellie. I was the one who easily believed Katriana, and it was me who ran.”

Her gaze fell to her coffee mug, hating that they still had to have this conversation. But she knew it was necessary. It was just easier to move on to the good stuff, to stop reliving the painful parts.

He tilted her chin up to him. “I love you. I know I’m thirteen years too late, but—”

“No,” she said, cutting him off. “You’re not too late. Being too late would imply there is no hope for us and that is far from the truth. Our hearts have been through more than they should’ve and it would be a shame if we let one more thing come between us. It’s the reason I want us to be upfront and honest about everything. Even the things you think I don’t need to know.” She leaned in and lightly kissed him. “I want to know everything.”

He nodded. “So where do you want to start?”

“How are things with your dad?”

Heath rubbed his palms up and down his jeans. “You know how strained things have been between us. My family has been somewhat broken since the day my parents told me and Mia they were divorcing. I could’ve made things easier for everyone.” He shrugged, as if maybe regretting that. “I chose the selfish route instead. Then after my mom died, I could no longer take it out on her. I mean, I’m a bastard, but even I’m not that cruel to take it out on her memory. Roy took all of the blame from then on out. Things only went downhill from there when he started dating. That was a blow I wasn’t ready for. I was disgusted by his choices. It was probably a good thing I wasn’t around for the other weddings.”

“I won’t even try to tell you I understand everything you and Mia went through. I do know that your dad has always regretted not fixing things between you two before you left.” She paused to take a breath because she wasn’t sure she should say what she wanted to, but they had decided to be open about everything. And she cared deeply for both Heath and Mr. Roy. “Your leaving broke his heart too.”

Heath’s shoulders slightly slumped as his eyes squeezed shut, and Ellie wondered if he was going to ignore that last part, but then he opened them and stared back at her. “I finally figured that out. For all these years I’ve been consumed with everything he did wrong as a parent that I forgot to ask him how he was doing after my mom’s betrayal. If it felt anything like it did for me when I thought you’d cheated on me, and I imagine it did since they’d shared a long life together, it must have about killed him.”

“He’s happy now,” Ellie said.

“I see that. Renee is great. She’s a perfect match for him. I’m glad I came back so I could meet her and be a part of their day.” A slow, sexy smile reached the corners of his eyes. “I’m also thankful Mia was stubborn and never gave up on me, because it brought me here to you too.”

“Me too,” she said. “Although if someone told me I would feel this way a week ago, I would’ve laughed in their face and probably suggest they be committed.”

She now admired the man in front of her. If she was being honest, she’d admit
admire
and
Heath
wouldn’t have been two words she would have ever thought possible to put in the same sentence. Not too long ago she wished harmful things on him, but after last night, when he showed up at her door with a sincere apology and chose to be upfront and honest with her, she knew she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t give him a chance. She could tell he was trying. He was slowly turning into the Heath she remembered and loved.

Had it had only been a few minutes since they did the deed? Because she wanted to do it again, just watching him and hearing him open up to her.

He laughed, and she liked hearing it. She hadn’t heard him do much of it since being back. “I deserve that.”

“How’s Mia this morning? Besides being annoyed with you?” she asked, trying to rein in her libido.

“She woke up stiff, but has pain meds if she’d just take them. Dad and Renee are taking care of her today. Trying to keep her still is more like it though. She’s determined to get back home. I told her she can’t climb those stairs yet, but it’s like talking to a wall.”

“Or talking to yourself,” Ellie joked.

His eyes promised sexy retribution, but he continued. “That Steve character we met last night seemed friendly enough and I believe he wouldn’t hurt anyone, but I still don’t know about Mia being there alone.”

“You’re right. Mia needs to stay at your dad’s for a while, but probably not because of Steve. He seemed a little hard around the edges, but not in a scary way. I don’t think he would hurt Mia, or anyone for that matter. I don’t think we need to worry about him anymore.”

Ellie intended to talk to Mia about Steve, because maybe it was just her, but Ellie sensed something there. She just wasn’t quite able to put her finger on it yet. She of course wasn’t about to share her suspicions with Heath. His Big Brother instincts were all over the place at the moment, probably making up for lost time. He wasn’t thinking clearly where Mia was involved.

“Maybe you can call or stop by the house later and make her see reason. She really needs to stay at Dad’s for the next couple days.”

“I was already planning on talking to her later today. I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you.” He pushed to his feet, bringing her with him so she was standing on her own. “I want you to spend the day with me. What are your plans?”

She wanted to say doing a little bit more of what they’d just done on the sofa, rolling around in the sheets, or hell even doing it right there on the kitchen counter. “Besides checking on Mia I’m free. What do you have in mind?”

“I want to take you sailing. You up for it?”

Excitement bubbled inside of Ellie at the thought of spending some real time with Heath outside of bed. This was their moment. She could now announce her love for him to the rafters if she pleased. No secrets had to be kept this time. “Absolutely.”

“It’ll be like that one amazing day we got to spend together back then.”

Tears threatened her eyes at his thoughtfulness. “You remember.”

“I remember it all, Ellie.”

Chapter Eleven

Heath checked the lines again and pondered the backstay. It seemed a bit loose but probably okay for the calm seas. The daysailer he’d rented was the right size for him to manage single-handed. Unless Ellie had spent more time on the water than she had years ago, she’d be a willing, but hardly helpful, first mate. He smiled to himself. His idea of first mate and another captain’s were probably quite different.

The cabin was too small for anything other than a few overnights at anchor or to store things to keep them out of the sun and salt, and to house a small head with a tiny shower above it. But she was a wide boat, with considerable freeboard, and the seating in the cockpit was well cushioned. Heath had plans for that berth-like expanse. He craned his neck to check out the tell tales and was satisfied they matched the forecast, although chances were the wind would pick up a little the farther out they got.

Heath wanted to sail, to put this baby through her paces, but it wouldn’t do to tucker Ellie out. Maybe she could sprawl out and rest—after he introduced her to the pleasure of lovemaking on a boat—while he flexed his sailing muscles again. Best of both worlds.

“Everything okay?” Ellie stood on the dock wearing a pair of shorts that showed off her long legs to perfection and a T-shirt that boasted a faded anchor across the front. He narrowed his eyes and stared.

“Is that—”

“Uh huh. It’s your favorite shirt. I kept it all these years. I’ve washed it so often I was afraid to wear it today in case it fell apart.” Her face pinkened and his lust made his khaki pants downright uncomfortable.

“You can take it off as soon as we’re out of sight of prying eyes,” he suggested. “Preserve it for posterity.”

“Heath.” While she chided him, he was certain that her eyes, shielded behind a ridiculously huge pair of sunglasses, were sending an entirely different message.

He helped her aboard and held her hand until she steadied her stance. “Okay?”

“Sure. What can I do?”

“Nothing.” He took her tote to set it below. “Holy crap. What’s in here?”

“I packed a lunch. Some drinks. Towels. Stuff. A book.”

“A book. You packed a book. What kind of book?” He swore she was laughing at him.

“Just a book. In case I get bored.” She visibly suppressed a smile. He loved the teasing part of Ellie.

“Ellie, if you get bored and need to entertain yourself with a book, then I’ll turn in my man status.” She was so going to pay for that.

The flush that climbed past the neckline of the shirt he’d given her maybe fifteen years ago darkened her cheeks way past pink, and he watched her nipples harden and press against the faded fabric right about where the anchor points were etched. His cock throbbed. All the women he’d been with in the intervening years vanished as though he hadn’t been with any of them, for he’d obviously been withholding some integral part of himself. His body knew its counterpart, just as his heart had known—before and during all that time apart. He mentally shook away his instant regret over time lost. The wind and seas were waiting, and he had a woman to impress.

“Where do you want me?”

On your knees, between mine, he almost said, again remembering how her sweet mouth felt around him. Maybe the memory of actual physical pain faded with time, but not pleasure. “Starboard. Can you reach the line to cast off the bow?”

“I remember.” She laughed at him as she took her place.

Taking his place at the rudder, he cast another look to make sure the centerboard was down and locked, and reached for the stern line. “Loosen it, sweetheart.”

He nearly swallowed his tongue as Ellie swiveled on to her hip, then up on those knees, reaching to free the cleat hitch. Her rounded buttocks filled out every inch of her tight shorts, and he admired the view while trying not to think about his own aching inches. His fingers automatically loosed the knot on the stern line and the daysailer floated free.

Ellie settled down and leaned back on her hands, breasts outthrust and pointed skyward. Her hair spilled over her shoulders and the waves of it mimicked those little ripples on the water. She was going to distract him to the point of causing an accident. The sun beat down and the breeze ruffled his hair. He resolutely didn’t look at Ellie, concentrating on getting them past all the other boat traffic and into open water.

Their speed was no faster than a man could walk and the sounds of the wind against the sail, the rush of water, and the occasional cry of a water fowl settled around them. Heath discounted the roaring in his ears as he moved to sit beside Ellie.

“It’s wonderful to be out here.” She leaned into him as he slid an arm around her.

“You don’t do it much?” He inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo.

Shoving her sunglasses up onto her head, she smiled sadly. “Hardly at all. In fact, close to never. Crazy, when you consider where I live.”

“I get out on Lake Michigan on a friend’s boat. It’s different. I miss this. I missed you.”

“About that, Heath.” She squirmed around in his hold and stared into his eyes. “What’s going to happen after the wedding?”

“I’ve been thinking about that nonstop. Since I found out the truth. I know you are pretty content here. You have a good business, and the weather is better for sure.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do a long distance relationship. Don’t ask me to do that now that we’ve found one another again. I’ll sell in a minute.”

How did he get so lucky? Because he sure didn’t deserve her. “You’d move to Chicago with me?”

“They have florists there.” She looked so determined, mouth set in a straight line, a little furrow between her brows.

“You wouldn’t need to work, Ellie. I make good money and I’d want you at home, raising our kids and being there for me at the end of the day. Unless that’s too chauvinistic.” Shit. Had he just come across like a paternalistic ass?

“Kids?”

Goddamn it, he’d made her cry. The sheen in her eyes manifested into two big fat tears that escaped the corners and trickled down her cheeks. He tracked their path and scrambled to fix it.

“Or I could sign up as a consultant, move here, and work from home if Chicago isn’t for you.” When he said it, the idea immediately had far more merit than them living in Chicago. The windy city had been good to him financially, but all he had there was his stressful job, an expensive apartment, and a bad track record with women. The two men he’d gotten close to would no doubt welcome an invitation to Seaside to sail and generally unwind. But Ellie was still crying.

“I want kids,” she sobbed out, swiping at her cheeks with the back of her hand.

Jeez. How thick was he? His chest had kind of compressed when it occurred to him, and he’d had a little time to think about it. He held her closer while she snuffled against his shoulder. “We’ll make a decision in the next while,” he promised, taking her nod for agreement.

They slipped along in a comfortable silence, lost in thought. He couldn’t remember being with a woman and enjoying the outdoors so much before. There was no other water traffic to be seen, and feeling alone and unencumbered soothed his soul, especially with Ellie at his side.

The small protuberance of coastline came into view portside, and he eased away to take up his position at the tiller. He began to lower the jib with a judicious tug on the line and the sheet flapped. They lost forward momentum and he started the small motor again—it wasn’t as if he’d forgotten this sheltered cove, but it had been a while since he’d entered it under full sail. The wind was going to hit them broadside.

“Switch to the high side, sweetheart.” Ellie ducked her head and slipped beneath the boom to equalize the weight differential as he lowered the jib the rest of the way. The boat settled and they cruised in, the water calming to nary a ripple. It was deep enough to leave the centerboard as it was, and for what he had in mind the extra stability would come in handy.

The boat came equipped with a fluke anchor, and he tossed it over, the instant drag as it bit into the sandy bottom making him set his feet against the loss of momentum. He took his seat and leaned back, stretching his arms out along the gunwale. Ellie regarded him with a sweet smile, just a few tear tracks evidence of her emotional outburst. A good reminder.

“Lose the shirt, sweetheart.”

Her eyes widened and her golden brows climbed toward her hairline. Her smile became sultry and knowing. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

Crossing her hands at the hem, she lifted the material up and over her head, tugging the T-shirt off. It fluttered to the floor of the cockpit and Heath feasted his eyes on the pale blue lace of her bra, the darker points of her nipples an enticing circle behind the fabric. He divested himself of his own shirt, tucking it behind the seat cushion. “There’s a topless policy on this boat.”

“I didn’t see those rules.”

He shrugged. “Long swim home, sweetheart.”

With a naughty grin, she popped the front clasp of her bra open, her round breasts spilling out of the confinement. The bra joined the T-shirt as her nipples pebbled under his gaze and the slight breeze.

“The first mate has certain tasks to perform, if you remember, Ellie.”

“I certainly do, Captain.”

He was impossibly hard, the banter and sly innuendo taking him back to the game they’d played when Ellie was an innocent. “Maybe I should have you scrub the deck. Or maybe check the rigging.”

She tilted her head and made a moue with her mouth, and his cock pulsed. Pink lip gloss was his new favorite color. “I’m not really dressed for that kind of hard work.”

“You’re overdressed, period.” His observation came out as though he’d swallowed gravel and Ellie giggled.

“Your orders, Captain?”

He motioned her to her feet and she stood, avoiding the boom. Laying one hand against it for balance, the other moved to the button on her shorts and she worked it open. The zipper took forever as Heath spent the eternity alternating between looking at her face, her bobbing breasts, and the pale blue upside down triangle being revealed with every tug of the pull tab. At last the shorts were open and she shimmied them off first one hip, then the other. Heaven help him but the scrap of panties clung to her cleft—she was wet for him.

Ellie snapped the thin elastic teasingly as she inched the underwear down, and he fantasied throwing them overboard and making her go home commando. He set his teeth and finally she stood gloriously naked, silhouetted against the sky in the brilliant sunshine. Heath’s mouth went dry and he wordlessly dropped a flotation device at his feet. Probably stripping back the buckles voided the device’s effectiveness, but there were lots of others onboard and he wanted Ellie to be comfortable when she floated his boat.

She took the two short steps necessary to reach him and dropped to her knees on the life preserver, the fabric squeaking a little against her skin. Sounds were magnified to Heath; his quickening heart rate, the pounding of blood in his temples, the air whistling into his lungs.

Ellie slowly stretched out her hands and pressed them against his chest, directly over his heart. He closed his eyes at the symbolism and when he opened them she was staring back with love written across her pretty face. She coasted her fingers over his abs and slipped them beneath the waistband of his khakis. Heath cursed himself for not wearing sweats, then was distracted by her efficiently opening his pants and tearing the zipper down. No more teasing then.

“You sure you want to do this, sweetheart?” He’d taught her some things about her body all those years ago, although they hadn’t had sex, but maybe she wasn’t inclined for this again and he’d never ask her to do anything she didn’t want to do.

“Um hmm.” Ellie concentrated on easing his shaft past his boxers and into the light of day, spreading his pants wide. At her gentle touch, he chewed the inside of his cheek so he didn’t go off in her hands.

She petted him, sliding one hand up and down. Aside from a quick glance at his face, she kept her attention below his waist.

“I remember this,” she teased.

“You do?” Heath did a mental head smack. Great conversationalist. Except it was freaking hard to think of anything but how good it felt to have Ellie touching him. He was just getting used to the sensations and allowing himself to relax into them when she leaned forward and took him into her mouth.
Holy.

“Ellie!” Her name came out strangled and his hips jerked.

Anything he tried to say was garbled and he finally settled for appreciative groans.

When she didn’t cease her attentions, he tugged her hair and drew her off of him. She sat back on her heels, lips swollen and sans that pink lip gloss.

The tip of her tongue slipped out and touched the corner of her mouth, and Heath wanted right back inside. Instead, he got his breathing—and his protesting lower half—under control.

“I wanted to.” She pouted.

“And I wanted you to. But another time. I want to make love to you more.”

She sagged a little and gave him a tremulous smile. “Can’t we do both?”

Heath laughed. When had he ever laughed during sex? “Sweetheart, I’m thirty-three. I’m not twenty anymore.”

“Well, I want to make up for lost time.”