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Authors: Elle James

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BOOK: Love on the Rocks
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“What’s wrong?” a soft, gravelly voice said behind him.

He turned to see Roxi standing in the bedroom doorway, naked, pushing loose, blond curls out of her face.

“Did I wake you?” he asked.

“No. I woke on my own, but the bed was empty. Are you okay?” She left that statement hanging, her head tilted to the side, her glance on him.

He swept his gaze over her perfect curves, from her full, lush breasts to the swell of her hips and down incredibly silky thighs to the tight muscles of her calves. God, she was gorgeous.

Decker’s groin tightened. He stood and closed the distance between them. “I’m fine, just couldn’t sleep. I guess I was too wound up.”

Her brows furrowed. “Wound up in a good way or a bad one?”

“Just wound up.”

She glanced over his shoulder at the television screen, her frown deepening. “Is that the weatherman?” Roxi slipped around him and came to stand in front of the screen.

Decker followed, resting his hands on her shoulders, liking how smooth and silky her skin was. “They usually blow the weather out of proportion. Once the hurricane hits land, it dies down.”

“But they’re issuing an evacuation order for all of Cape Cod, and they want everyone out by nightfall.” Roxi shook her head and watched the screen for a moment longer. “I have to go.”

Decker gripped her arms and turned her to face him. “You sure you want to leave now? It’s really late.”

“If we have to evacuate before nightfall, I have a lot to do to get ready.” Roxi hurried through the cottage gathering her clothing. Once in the bedroom, she stepped into the cutoffs, hooked her bra in place, pulled the straps over her shoulders and tugged her tank top over her head. She grabbed her deck shoes and stopped in front of Decker. “Thanks for a great evening.” Cupping his face with the palm of her hands. “No regrets, all right? I’m sure your wife would have expected you to get on with your life.”

Decker sighed. “You’re the one I was worried about. I hope I didn’t scare you off men.”

“On the contrary. I hope you’ll be around after the hurricane. But if you aren’t, I’ll understand. I don’t expect any commitment just because we had sex.” Then she leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

He gathered her in his arms and deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping past her teeth to slide along hers in a soul-wrenching connection he didn’t want to end. When he finally lifted his head, he stared down into her eyes. “I’m walking you home.”

“No need. Otis will keep me safe. Besides, you’ll want to close your storm shutters and pack up.”

“What do you have to accomplish? Maybe I can help,” Decker said.

“Frank and I can handle it. You need to get off the peninsula before the traffic comes to a standstill.”

“I’m not leaving until you and Otis are on your way.”

She slipped her feet into her shoes. “Really, we know the drill. We’ll be off before evening.”

Rather than argue with her, he opened the door. Otis rushed out and ran down the stairs to the beach. The wind whipped a lounge chair around, the legs scraping across the deck.

“I’m walking you home.” Decker held up his hand. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

She frowned and then the lines cleared on her forehead. “Okay. Thanks.”

Grabbing a flashlight out of a drawer in the kitchen, Decker followed Roxi out the door, closing it securely behind him. Once out on the beach, they had to lean into the wind to keep from being blown over. Sand blew up in their faces, forcing them to squint.

Decker held Roxi’s hand and walked all the way to her place and up the stairs to her apartment over the bar. The building blocked the full force of the wind, giving him a moment to properly kiss her.

He pulled Roxi into his arms and rested his forehead against hers. “I’m glad you came over tonight.”

“Me too.” She smiled up at him. “You’ve opened a whole new world for me. I realize I don’t have to be afraid to be intimate anymore. I can do it without freaking out.”

“You’re amazing. And I want to see you again. Maybe this time I can take you out on a real date.”

“I’d like that.” She touched his cheek with her fingers. “Be careful leaving the cape.”

“I will.” He didn’t add that he’d be careful to leave with her, and not any sooner.

Otis bumped into the backs of his legs.

Decker laughed. “I think someone wants in the apartment.”

Roxi unlocked her door and let Otis in, then stepped inside, turning to face Decker as she closed the door.

He waited until he heard the lock click in place before he descended the stairs to the beach. His walk back to his cottage was quick with the wind behind him. He let himself in and glanced around at the contents of the little house. He didn’t have much to pack. A suitcase of clothing, his laptop and files was all he would take.

By the time daylight arrived, gray and cloudy, he had everything he needed sitting by the door and all the storm shutters pulled in and latched securely. He wanted to check on Kurt’s place and make sure all the storm shutters were in place before he headed over to the bar to assist Roxi and Frank with their efforts. If they had to board the windows, they’d need help. The wind was almost too strong to allow them to position sheets of plywood over the windows.

Decker drove around to the secluded beach cottage Kurt used when he was at the cape. He found the key Kurt had hidden beneath a flower pot on the front deck and went from room to room on the inside, making certain everything was shut down, locked up and put away. Kurt had stored all the outside patio furniture in a shed before he’d left and closed the storm shutters. The cottage was ready for the coming storm.

By the time Decker drove the short distance through town to the Dream Spinner Bar and Grill, the residents of the little town were up and moving, packing their vehicles with their belongings and closing shutters. The business owners hung large sheets of plywood in their windows, boarding up in case the winds sent objects flying through the air.

Outside the Dream Spinner, Frank, Saul and Roxi struggled to get a sheet of plywood in place, the wind wreaking havoc with their efforts.

Decker parked his SUV and climbed out. Otis ran to greet him. His tail wagged and he nuzzled Decker’s hand. “Hey, Otis. Are you helping Roxi hang plywood?”

The dog pressed his nose into Decker’s palm, then turned to lope back toward the bar as if saying
follow me
.

“You’re just in time,” Frank called out. “We’ve been working at this since first light, but it’s only getting harder.”

“I can do this,” Roxi insisted.

“Maybe you can, but I can’t,” Frank said.

“I’m here, you might as well let me help.” Decker grabbed the corner of the heavy plywood from Roxi’s hands.

Frank winked at her. “He’s a keeper.”

She frowned and grumbled, “I could have done it myself.”

“I know.” Decker nodded, his lips curling into a gentle smile. “But there are a lot of sheets to do and if we want to get off the peninsula before dark, we’d better get cracking.”

With a nod, she stepped back. “Saul and I will start moving the outside tables and chairs inside.”

The four of them worked all day, with the weather getting worse each passing hour.

A line of cars with the residual vacationers and locals formed on the road, headed inland. Still, the team worked, boarding, storing and locking things down to keep them from being carried off by what Frank called
a stiff brisk ocean breeze
.

Once the boards were all in place and the outside furniture had been stowed, Roxi turned to Frank. “Do you need help at your place?”

“No. I closed it up before I came over here, and my vehicle is packed to the gills.”

“Good.” Roxi tilted her head toward Frank’s vehicle. “Take Saul and get going. At least the line of cars has thinned.”

Frank shook his head. “I’m not leaving without you.”

She hugged the older man. “I’ll be fine. Decker will make sure I get out on time.” She turned to him and grinned. “Won’t you?”

Roxi’s smile nearly floored Decker. He’d never seen this side of her. The more dangerous the situation, the more she threw herself at the work involved, and the more animated she became. The woman obviously loved a challenge, and Mother Nature was sending one her way. With the wind whipping her hair around her face and not a stitch of make up on, Roxi looked happier and more alive and beautiful than ever.

Decker’s heart squeezed tightly and he found himself falling even deeper for this incredible woman.

“I’ll make sure she’s safe,” he promised. He dragged his gaze from Roxi and shook the older man’s hand. “Go. We’ll be right behind you.”

Frank frowned at Roxi. “I’m counting on it.”

Roxi and Decker watched as Frank and Saul climbed into Frank’s vehicle and slid into the slowly moving traffic.

“What’s left?” Decker asked.

“I have a couple boxes I need to carry out to my car, and I’ll be ready.”

“Good, because the sun is setting and those clouds looked downright wicked.” Decker pointed to the wall of black clouds roiling in the sky, headed straight for them.

Roxi led the way up the stairs to her small apartment, grabbed a box and passed Decker. She nodded to another box on the floor. “I’ve got this one, if you can get that one.”

“Got it.” Decker lifted the box and carried it down the stairs behind Roxi.

She loaded the boxes into the trunk and hurried back up the stairs without saying a word to him.

Not that Decker expected anything, but now that they were alone, without Frank’s eagle eye watching over them, he’d expected her to say something about their night together.

Back in her apartment, Roxi was rolling a suitcase toward the door. “If you can take this one down, I’ll lock up.”

He took the case from her and set it aside. Then he took her hand in his, pulled her against him and kissed her long and hard.

When he let go of her, she stepped backward, her eyes wide. She pushed her hair back from her face and slid a tongue across her lips. “What was that for?”

“I’m sorry. I just couldn’t resist.”

She glanced down at her dirty shorts and shirt and tried to shove her wild hair behind her ears. “I’m a mess.”

“The prettiest mess around.” He turned her and swatted her bottom. “Now lock up. I made a promise to Frank that I’d get you out of here on time, and I don’t want to disappoint the man. He looks like he could whoop my ass with one hand tied behind his back.”

Roxi took one step, spun back around, planted a kiss on his lips and hurried back through the apartment, making one last pass.

“What was that for?” he called out to her back.

“Just because,” she said over her shoulder. “Chop, chop. We have to leave before dark. The weatherman said the hurricane will make landfall around midnight, but the storm surge and winds will be pretty bad ahead of it.”

For a moment, Decker considered following Roxi into her bedroom and taking her there on her floral patterned comforter. But one look out the window reminded him of the limited time they had left before they needed to be off the peninsula. He forced himself to snatch up the suitcase and carry it down to her waiting Toyota Rav 4. She already had several boxes jammed into the back. How she’d get the rest of her things into the limited space was a mystery to Decker. Shifting the contents, he made a hole large enough for the suitcase and shoved it in.

When he climbed back up the stairs, he found Roxi standing in the middle of the living room, a bulging suitcase standing beside her. “I missed this one, but think I now have everything I can’t live without. The rest will just have to weather the storm. Oh, wait. I almost forgot Mom.” She crossed to a shelf in the corner of the living room and lifted a photograph of a woman with a striking resemblance to Roxi. She had the same blond hair and blue eyes, with a few more crows feet on the corners. She definitely had the same smile.

“This is your mother?” Decker glanced down at the photograph. “You look just like her.”

Roxi shook her head. “Mom was much prettier. Inside and out. She carried the load for so many years as a single mother trying to raise a kid. I wish I could have helped her more.” She unzipped the suitcase and packed the photo beneath several layers of soft cotton shirts. Then she zipped the suitcase and straightened. “I’m ready.”

“Good. It’s getting dark out there.” Decker would have preferred leaving when Frank had, but hadn’t thought a few minutes would make that big of a difference, until he stepped outside. The clouds had thickened and churned, racing across the sky. Lightning flickered and thunder rumbled close behind. “We need to go.”

“Agreed.” With her hand on the door knob, ready to pull it closed, Roxi glanced around the small room. “Where’s Otis?”

Chapter Eight

A
BRIGHT FLASH of lightning blinded Roxi as she glanced down the stairs. Not even a second later, thunder boomed so loud, it made her jump.

As protective as Otis was, he was a big scaredy-cat when it came to thunderstorms.

Decker stuck his head inside the apartment and called out, “Otis, come!”

Nothing moved.

Roxi shoved the suitcase toward Decker. “You carry this down, I’ll check under the bed.”

Decker laughed. “Under the bed?”

Roxi gave Decker a stern look. “Don’t judge.” Her lips twitched. “Otis is a big baby when it comes to storms.”

Decker went down the stairs while Roxi reentered the apartment and searched every nook and cranny, which didn’t take long in the small space.

Worry settled in the middle of her chest.

Decker arrived at the top of the stairs as Roxi pulled the door close. “He’s not in the apartment.”

“Could Frank have taken him?”

“Not a chance.” Roxi shook her head. “Frank barely had room for himself and Saul.”

“Could he be in the bar?”

“Maybe.” She pulled her keys to the bar out of her purse and inserted them in the door to the kitchen.

“I’ll make a pass around the building while you check inside.” Decker headed around the side of the building.

Roxi entered the kitchen, flipped on the light and checked under every counter, behind the empty trash cans and stacked boxes. “Otis!” she called out, moving into the main room. The German Shepherd wasn’t behind the bar. After a thorough pass through the large seating area with the chairs stacked neatly on the tables and the outside tables and chairs pushed up against the walls, Roxi was no closer to finding Otis.

“He wasn’t outside hiding in the bushes,” Decker’s voice called out from behind the bar.

“I have no idea where he could have gone.” More worried than she cared to admit, Roxi led the way out of the bar and locked the door behind Decker, making a decision as she did. Grabbing her hair and holding it away from her face, she peered up at Decker in the light from the back porch of the bar. “Look, you need to go while you still can,” she said, shouting over the wail of the wind. “The tide is already rising. If the storm surge gets much higher, we could be cut off from the mainland. You should go while the going’s good.”

Decker’s bark of laughter startled Roxi. “You don’t really think I’d leave without you.”

“You should. I have no idea how long it will take to find Otis, and the weather is bad enough and will only get worse.”

As if to emphasize her point, a cardboard box bounced past them and continued rolling down the nearly empty street. The traffic had thinned to the last few residents heading to the mainland.

“I’m not leaving without you,” Decker said.

“And I’m not leaving without Otis.”

“Then let’s find him.” Decker stepped away from the building and shined his light past the end of the bar toward the water. Waves crashed against the shore and peer. “Does Otis ever visit other houses?”

Roxi shook her head. “Only Frank’s when I have to go to the mainland without him. But that’s two miles away and I never walked him there. He always rides in the car. The only other house he’s been in is yours.” She looked up at Decker, her brows dipping. “You don’t think he went back to your house, do you?”

“If there’s any possibility he went there, we’d better check it out.”

Roxi started for the beach, but Decker caught her arm.

“The surge has pushed into the shoreline and it’s getting too rough near the water. We’ll take my SUV and drive around.” He slipped his arm around Roxi’s waist and, shielding her from the worst of the wind, led the way to his vehicle, shining the light in front of them.

Roxi prayed Otis hadn’t gone down to the water. The way the surf pounded the beach, he could have been swept away. No matter how good of a swimmer he was, the tide would win the battle.

She scanned the sides of the road on the short ride to Decker’s cottage but didn’t see any sign of Otis. Rain started falling as they climbed out of his car and ran for the house.

“Otis!”

Lightning flashed, piercing the pelting rain. Thunder followed immediately behind. Bolt after bolt of electricity shimmered across the sky illuminating the billowing clouds.

“Otis!” Roxi called out, the sound of her voice whipped away by the wind. If not for Decker’s steadying arm around her, she’d have been blown over.

With the flashlight beam barely shining bright enough to see into the shadows, and rain driving into them like a power washer’s spray, they circled the cottage, checking behind bushes and shining the light beneath the tall peers supporting the house and the deck above. Just when Roxi thought they’d failed in finding the missing dog, the flashlight’s beam glinted off two red orbs.

“Wait!” Roxi grabbed Decker’s hand with the flashlight and shined it toward the farthest corner beneath the house. There in the shadows crouched Otis, his entire body trembling with each boom of thunder.

“Otis!” Roxi cried and, ducking low, she eased beneath the house to where the dog hid. “Oh, baby, come with me. We’ll take care of you.”

Otis dug his feet into the dirt and refused to come out of his hiding place.

Decker hunkered low and eased up beside Roxi. “Hold this.” He handed her the flashlight, grabbed the dog’s collar and pulled him into his arms. Then he lifted Otis and carried him out into the open.

By then, the sky had opened up and sheets of rain, carried on the wind pummeled them.

Roxi couldn’t see past the end of her arm and the blasting wind nearly pushed her over. But what scarred her more was when she swept the flashlight beam toward the cape, she could see that the tide was near where they stood. The storm surge had arrived.

“We have to get to high ground,” Decker shouted over the wind.

A sheet of metal roofing peeled off the home next to Decker’s and flew toward them.

Roxi screamed and ducked.

Decker, still holding Otis, turned and ducked, but not enough. The metal glanced off his back, hit his head and continued on.

Decker dropped to his knees, his hold on Otis intact.

Roxi realized they were too late to get off the peninsula. With the wind flinging debris everywhere and the tide rising at an alarming rate, they didn’t stand a chance. “Give me the key to your cottage,” she shouted.

“It’s in my pocket,” he said, swaying, where he knelt.

With water streaming down her face, she reached into Decker’s pocket and found his keys. She helped him to his feet and up the flight of stairs to the top. When she fit the one that looked like a house key into the lock, she almost cried with relief. The lock turned, the door swung open and they scrambled inside.

Roxi turned and leaned hard on the door to close it against the elements. The storm raged around the house as if angry they had dared to shelter inside.

Decker set Otis on the floor. The dog promptly shook, showering Decker and the floor around him with droplets of water.

“I’ll get a towel.” Roxi headed for the small bathroom off the bedroom where she had made love to Decker the night before. After all that had happened it seemed so long ago. As she passed the bed, her heartbeat fluttered and her body warmed with the memory.

Focusing on the wet dog and the injured man, she hurried through the bedroom, grabbed a towel and a couple of washcloths from the linen closet and hurried back to the living area.

The windows were shuttered against the storm making the cottage feel more like a cave or cocoon, closed off and protected.

Roxi chose not to dwell on the fact hurricane winds could level every building in its path, downing trees and pushing massive ships aground. Even if the cottage survived the hurricane-force winds, the debris or entire boats and ships in its path could be shoved into the pilings, sending the cottage crashing into the storm surge.

She forced the negative thoughts from her head and tossed the towel over Otis. To Decker, she said, “Sit.”

He collapsed on the couch and touched the back of his head. When he brought his hand around to look at it, it was covered in bright red blood.

Roxi pressed one of the cloths to the back of his head where blood matted his hair. “Hold this and apply pressure.”

While he did as she said, Roxi wet the other cloth in the kitchen sink and hurried back to him.

Decker turned sideways to allow her to sit on the couch behind him.

Carefully dabbing at the blood, Roxy located the injury. “It’s just a little cut, but it comes complete with a goose egg knot. Good news is that the bleeding has just about stopped.”

“Good. I want to get a shower before the electricity goes off.” He pushed to his feet and turned to her. His dark brows waggled. “The shower is big enough for two, if you’d care to join me.”

Roxi laughed, her pulse ratcheted up to full speed. “With a hurricane crashing in around us, you want to take a shower with me?”

“Damn right. If we’re wiped off the face of the planet by this storm, I want to die making love to a beautiful woman.” He held out his hand for hers. “Are you with me?”

“That’s some invitation, slugger.” Roxi stood, her heart rate already elevated by danger, her pulse increasing with the amount of passion reflected in Decker’s eyes. “Are you sure you’re up to it? You’ve had a head injury.”

“All the more reason to throw caution to the wind.” Decker’s gaze locked with hers, his voice rich, his tone deep with emotion. “I’ve spent the last two years of my life wishing I was dead. Now that I want to live, I want every day, hour and minute to count.”

Roxi laid her hand in his. “And I’ve spent the past fourteen years afraid to live my life to the fullest, hiding away from the world by staying here on the cape. If you hadn’t come along, I would still be living only half of a life.” She slapped her hand in his and laughed. “I’m in!”

They ran for the bathroom, clothes flying in their wake, Otis crouched beneath the dining table.

Roxi had never made love in the shower, but under Decker’s tutelage, she learned it could be every bit as sexy as in a bed, albeit a little more challenging. They laughed and soaped each other’s bodies as the storm raged outside, shaking the walls of the cottage. Roxi touched Decker all over and he reciprocated, stroking her in her most sensitive place, making her blood sing and her insides burn.

He brought her to the edge and launched her over, her cries echoing off the tiles.

When she could form a coherent thought again, she pressed her palms to his face. “You make me feel so…so…uninhibited.” Though she’d already come and her legs were like wet noodles, she wouldn’t feel complete until Decker filled her. She looked him in the eye and whispered, “As crazy as the storm is outside, I’m on fire inside, and I want you.”

Decker scooped her up by the backs of her thighs, wrapped her legs around his waist and stepped out of the shower. Dripping wet, he headed for the door, his face set.

“Was it something I said?” Roxi snagged a towel from a bar on their way out of the bathroom.

“Most definitely.” Decker winked, a wicked gleam in his eyes. “The protection is in the other room.”

“Oh.” Her core tightened, and she eased down to his erection, teasing him with her wet entrance. “You sure you can wait that long?”

“No, I’m not sure at all.”

Roxi’s stomach fluttered at the intensity of his confession. She held on as he carried her into the bedroom. “Shouldn’t we dry off first?”

“Details, details.” He sighed and set her on her feet. Then he took the towel from her hands and patted her dry from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, taking an inordinate and knee-melting amount of time at her breasts and the juncture of her thighs. By the time she dried him off, she wasn’t sure she could wait another minute. She hopped onto the bed and smiled as the storm pounded the house and Otis crept beneath the bed.

DECKER STOOD FOR a moment, drinking in the sight of Roxi, lying across the comforter, naked, a smile curving her full, lush lips, her eyes sparkling. She wanted him. And by all that was crazy, he wanted her too. They could be washed away by the hurricane at any moment, but he knew in his heart, he’d die a happy man as long as he had this time with Roxi.

The woman was strong and worldly in so many ways, and just as eagerly inexperienced in others. He worried that he was pushing her too fast, but she seemed happy to let him touch her and bring out the sex-starved woman in her.

She stared at him, her blue-eyed gaze intense, penetrating. “Remember,” she said. “This time, you’re on top.” Color rose in her cheeks even as her knees fell to the side, and she spread her legs, inviting him in.

Holy hell.
He couldn’t resist. Decker dove into the nightstand for a condom, ripped it open and rolled it over himself, then he climbed onto the bed like a conquering hero, claiming his prize. Taking deep, steadying breathes, he had to remind himself to move slowly, not to scare her or set off any residual memories.

God, he wished he could find the bastard that raped the thirteen year old Roxi. He’d kill him and leave him for the buzzards to pick clean.

BOOK: Love on the Rocks
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