Sea of Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 4) Contemporary Romance (14 page)

“I would bet that I did this when I was here, too,” she said with a laugh. At the end of the wall, she released his hand as she stepped onto the grass and he climbed the steps.

“This is gorgeous,” Lacy said as they passed through the entrance, lined with rich, dark wood, and crossed the Oriental rug to the hardwood of the library’s main room.

Dane waved to the women behind the desk and then guided Lacy to a particular aisle and began pulling books from the shelves.

“What are we doing?” she asked.

“You got the itinerary,” he said with a smile.

“All it said was,
library therapy
.”

“That’s what we’re doing. Come on.” He carried a stack of books to a table in the back of the library and sat beside Lacy. “Here. Take a look at this and tell me three facts about tiger sharks.”

“Tiger sharks?” She crinkled her nose.

“You’re awfully cute. You know that?” he asked.

“I haven’t been called cute for years. Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself,” she said.

He pointed to the book. “Tiger sharks.” Dane watched her open the book, mumbling,
Tiger sharks
, under her breath. He opened another book and ran his finger down the index, then opened to a page and set the book aside. He did the same thing with the next three books in his stack.

“Okay, I’ve got it,” Lacy said.

“You’re a quick study. Let’s have it.” Dane sat back, expecting Lacy to rattle off the first three facts in the book.

“They grow to be fourteen to twenty feet. They’re the fourth-largest species of shark; they’re solitary creatures living primarily alone—which is really sad. They must get lonely. They can live almost one hundred years. They sleep with their eyes open.” She stopped to take a breath, and Dane cut her off.

“Lace, their sleeping habits aren’t in that chapter,” he said. A flash of excitement ran through him. Maybe she wanted to overcome her fear as much as he wanted to help her.

“Oh, sorry,” she said, biting her lower lip.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think that you have been researching sharks.” Dane took the book from her and set another one in front of her.

“I might have read a few things about them,” she admitted.

He pushed another book in front of her. “Have you read up on these?” he asked.

“Basking sharks?” She clenched her eyes shut, and when she opened them again, she let out a breath. “The
Cetorhinus maximus
grows to a length of thirty-five feet; their mouths can reach three feet in diameter, and—this is cool—they swim with their mouths open because they eat zooplankton. I would think they’d eat seals, fish, gosh, anything, but they don’t. That’s weird, right?”

Dane was still hung up on the fact that she knew the genus of the species. “Yeah, that is weird,” he managed.

“And they’re known as sunfish because they like to swim up by the surface. I swear, if I saw one, I’d be scared to death, but they have these tiny little rows of teeth.” Lacy shook her head.

“Lacy, what’s going on?” Dane asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you know so much about sharks?” he asked. “I wanted to help you to understand sharks, but it sounds like you do understand them.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned back in the chair.

“Oh, that,” she said. “I sort of stayed up all night Sunday night reading about them. It was an accident. I was reading about a shark sighting off the Cape, and they mentioned Brave, and then I clicked around, and you know how the Internet is. A few hours later, I was neck deep in shark facts.”

“Amazing,” Dane said. The right side of his mouth lifted. “You are full of surprises. How do you feel about them now?”

“About sharks?” Lacy’s eyes darkened. “What do you mean?”

Dane leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. His hands stilled a few inches above her leg. He was careful not to touch her, though he wanted to take her in an embrace and kiss that confused look from her lips. “In here.” He touched his chest, just above his heart.

“I don’t know. I guess I hadn’t thought about it that way. I mean, until we were out on that boat together, I didn’t even know how scared of them I really was. Now that I’m thinking about it, when I was reading about them, I had started out feeling a little creeped out by the pictures. But then, by the time I was ready to go to sleep, I was actively searching for more.” Lacy looked at the books that lay on the table. “You know, I think it helped.”

“You beat me to the punch,” he said. “There’s a new aquarium about half an hour from here. Would you like to go?” Dane asked.

“I don’t know. It’s one thing to see them in pictures and a whole other thing to see them up close and personal,” Lacy said.

“It’s up to you,” he said.

Lacy’s eyes met his and held his gaze. “You brought me here to try to help me understand sharks to help me with my fear, didn’t you? Not to learn about Brave.”

Damn right I did
. “Is that such a bad thing?” he asked.

“It’s about the sweetest thing a guy could do.” Lacy reached over and touched his thigh. “Really sweet.”

The muscles in Dane’s legs twitched. “Babe,” he whispered.

Lacy leaned in closer. “Yeah?”

Don’t kiss her. Do not kiss her
. Dane leaned forward.
No. No. No. No
.

Her perfume permeated his senses. Dane held his breath and pushed away. He moved her hand from his leg.

“I’m sorry, Lace. No pressure. We have a pact,” he said. He leaned back, giving himself enough space to clear his mind. He was only human, after all. How close could he get without giving in?

“The pact. Right.” She straightened her back. “Okay, Mr. Braden, what’s next on the Brave tour?”

My lips on yours, my tongue in your mouth, my hands—Jesus. Stop it.
“Aquarium?” he asked.

“You’re the boss,” she said, holding his gaze.

They returned the books to the shelves in silence and left the library. Every glance stoked their fire, radiating tense, stifled passion between them as they made their way down the street toward the parking lot. Dane felt Lacy stealing glances his way, and it was all he could do not to turn and kiss her right there in the middle of the sidewalk. Instead, he picked up his pace.
Get to the car. I need a distraction
.

Minutes later, they were back at the car. Dane opened Lacy’s door for her. She leaned her back against the car, fiddling with the edge of her blouse.

“I don’t know what you’re worried about. I’m not going to fall in love with you,” Lacy said with that same dark challenge he’d seen the night before in her eyes.

Dane held the door with his right hand and clenched his keys in the left. He held her stare. Every breath pulled at his groin; every thought tightened the string of nerves that ran through his hard body.

Lacy looked up at him through a handful of curls that had fallen into her eyes.

Jesus, you’re sexy
.

“Maybe you can’t help yourself from falling in love with me…but I’m strong. You can put that hot body of yours against me every night of the week, and I’ll be able to resist,” she said.

Dane took a step closer to her. His mind raced, his body revved, and his hands had a mind of their own—reaching for Lacy, grabbing her by her slim waist and holding her tight, then pulling her hips against his. He leaned down and opened his mouth to settle it over hers.
Damn it.
He couldn’t fight the feelings any longer, especially when she was flashing a green light with every breath.

His lips hovered over hers. Lacy arched against him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Her breath was hot; her chest pressed against him.

“Test me, baby,” he whispered, and then he strutted to the other side of the car, gritting his teeth against his raging desires. Anyone looking would have seen a confident man in control of his emotions. Dane could barely see past his intense yearning for her or hear past the curses he tossed at himself for not kissing her. He slid into the driver’s seat.

Lacy threw herself into the passenger seat and clicked her seat belt in place. She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.

“You okay?” Dane asked in entirely too light a tone.

“Perfect,” she said.

“You look…frustrated.” He smiled to himself as he started the car. At least she was thinking about him now. His cell phone rang, and he let out a breath and answered the call from the unfamiliar number. “Excuse me,” he said to Lacy.

“Dane Braden.”

“Dane Braden? This is Officer Eaton of the Chatham police. Do you know of a Robert Mann?”

“Yes, he works for me,” Dane said. Fear flattened his desire. “Did something happen?”

“We’ve detained him for disturbing the peace. Are you willing to come get him?”

Shit, Rob, what did you do?
“I don’t understand. Disturbing the peace?” Dane shot a look at Lacy, who watched him out of the corner of her eye.

The officer explained, “He was provoking a group of college kids.”

“That doesn’t sound like Rob at all. Are you sure you have the right guy?” Dane asked.

“Robert Mann, thick brown hair, graying. Stocky, five ten, mid-forties. Says he works for the Brave Foundation,” the officer said.

“I’ll be right there,” Dane said. He ended the call and tried to mask his worry and irritation and tuck the guilt that was brewing inside him away. He should have forced Rob to talk and gotten to the bottom of this shit.
Damn it
.

“I’m sorry, Lacy. I have to table our aquarium date. I’ll take you to your cottage.”

“What happened?” She’d switched out of frustrated mode, and now her eyes were laden with concern.

“My buddy Rob. He’s at the police station. I guess he was provoking some college guys or something. I don’t really know,” Dane said.

“Want me to come with you?” She reached over and touched his arm.

“You don’t want to deal with this stuff,” Dane said.

“You probably don’t either. Maybe I can help in some way. Besides, I wouldn’t want to go to a police station alone, and I don’t mind going so you don’t have to either.”

He closed his eyes for a breath while he thought it over. When he opened them, Lacy was still looking at him, her hand still holding his arm. “Lacy, I don’t know what to expect. This has never happened before,” Dane said. “But he’s been pretty out of it lately.”

“I’d like to go. I’d like to be there for you.”

AS THEY DROVE toward the Chatham Police Station, Lacy wondered if she was doing the right thing by tagging along. She wanted to support Dane, and she wouldn’t want to face something like this alone, but as they neared the station, she envisioned all sorts of derelicts hanging all over her, groping her, reaching for Dane from within their meth-induced stupors.

One look at the benign nature of the police station and all that worry fell away. The station looked more like a school than a place for wayward criminals, with big white pillars holding up a newly painted and finely constructed A-frame porch, cream-colored siding with white trim, and beautiful gardens out front. Now more relaxed, Lacy followed Dane into the lobby, where he spoke to an officer through a glass window. They showed their identification; then he and Lacy were escorted down a hallway to another room. They sat beside a small table and waited.

“Why are we in here?” Lacy asked.

Dane shrugged. “I’ve never been through this before, so I have no idea, but I’d expect they need to go through some sort of out-processing procedure.”

Lacy wondered how she would feel if Danica or Kaylie had been detained by the police. Would she be mad that she had to come down and claim them? Embarrassed? Worried? Scared? Dane’s mouth was pinched tight. Worry lines crossed his forehead. He leaned forward and steepled his hands over his mouth and nose and closed his eyes. Dane’s concern for Rob’s well-being was written not only in his face and evident in his actions, but the air around him was becoming heavy, too. Lacy wanted to reach out and touch him and remind him that he wasn’t alone. She held back. She was so confused about what she should or shouldn’t do with him, how she should act. She’d been the one to break away, and now she was the one wanting to come back together. In the Chatham parking lot, Lacy had wanted to kiss him so badly that she was sure she’d attack him if he didn’t kiss her first. When he didn’t, she was hurt, and that hurt turned to embarrassment, which had quickly morphed to frustration at being played for a fool. All those emotions running together and fighting to be heard didn’t come close to the worry that consumed her heart right at that moment.

Her need to comfort him was too great. She touched his arm. “Are you okay?”

He nodded, then lowered his hands and shook his head. “I’m worried about Rob. He’s drinking again. I should have seen it. The other day, Hugh thought he was hungover when he came to work, and I didn’t want to see it. In all the years I’ve known him, Rob’s never done anything irresponsible. Now this. I’m just worried about him. He’s a good man. He’s my friend, and I feel like he’s slipping away. I wish I knew what to do.”

“Let’s find out how he is and what happened; then we can deal with the rest."

“We?” Dane asked.

Lacy shrugged. “Friends help friends.”

He smiled. “Yes, they sure do. Thank you.”

The door opened, and an older officer came in, followed by Rob and another, younger, officer. Dane shot to his feet and went to Rob’s side. Rob’s clothes were disheveled. He had a small cut beneath his eye, and he was favoring his left side.

“Rob, what happened?” Dane ran his eyes over Rob’s face, holding tight to his arm. The veins in Dane’s neck rose like thick snakes. His biceps flexed, and Lacy heard the silent accusation in the stare he pinned against the officer.

“He provoked a pack of college kids, got into a fight, and he lost,” the older officer said. “We didn’t book him, but we kept him overnight until he sobered up.”

“You were drunk?” Dane asked. “Jesus, Rob.”

Although his voice was harsh, the way he handled Rob, with one hand on his forearm, the other around his back, was gentle and nurturing. The word
protective
came to Lacy’s mind.

Lacy had seen enough photos of Rob to know how out of character he looked now, unsteady on his feet and leaning against Dane.

“What happened to the other guys?” Dane asked. “Were they detained?”

“One of them, yes, but the others were released. Mr. Mann provoked the group. We don’t take this type of thing lightly around here, and if it happens again, we will book him.”

“Understood,” Dane said. “May I take him home now?”

“Yes, sir. And, Mr. Mann, I suggest you steer clear of trouble, you hear?”

“Yes, sir,” Rob said.

Before they walked out the door, the officer said, “Lemme ask you a question. You’re the Brave Foundation guys, right?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Don’t you worry, going in the water with those sharks?”

Dane spoke to the officer, but his attention was still focused on Rob. “It’s less risky than driving down the street. Hell, you could choke on a chicken bone.”

IN ROB’S MOTEL room, Rob stretched out on the bed with a groan. Lacy watched Dane pacing the small, tidy room. He ran his hand through his hair, glanced at Rob, and shook his head.

“Aren’t you gonna say anything?” Dane finally asked.

“I’m sorry, Dane. It’s all this stuff with Sheila.”

“I could have helped you, taken you to AA meetings, stayed with you, given you time off, whatever it took, Rob. How could you let it go this far?” Dane’s deep voice softened, and his worried eyes washed over Rob.

“It sent me off the deep end, I guess. Those guys were talking about how they were gonna go…” He glanced at Lacy, then back at Dane. “They were gonna go hook up with a few unsuspecting women, only not in a consensual sense. I lost it. I kept thinking of Katie and how I’m not there to protect her.”

“Katie? She’s four,” Dane said. “You can’t go around busting on guys. Jesus, you’ve never done something like that before.”

“No, I haven’t, but I’ve never been separated before either,” Rob said.

“You know, I didn’t want to believe it when Hugh said you were hungover.” Dane crossed his arms over his chest.

Lacy watched Dane’s jaw clench as he stared down the man she knew he loved like a brother. The tension between the two multiplied in seconds; then Dane let out a sigh, and the tension deflated like a popped balloon. He sat beside Rob on the bed and reached for Rob’s arm, meeting his friend’s eyes with a softer gaze.

“Buddy, let’s get you to a meeting. Is this why Sheila left?” Dane asked. He squeezed Rob’s arm.

The harshness in his tone fell away, revealing the empathetic and genuinely caring man that Lacy had come to know. She felt a fissure in her resolve.

Rob shook his head and sat up. “I didn’t start drinking until after she left. We were arguing a lot. I guess I hadn’t realized how much. You know she’s been all over me to stop tagging. I can’t give it up. I can’t do it, but…” His eyes welled with tears. “I can’t lose her, man. She’s everything. My kids…I can’t lose them.”

Dane wrapped Rob’s burly body in his arms and placed one hand on the back of his head as he held him. “It’s gonna be okay. She loves you, Rob. This’ll work out. You said you had all that stuff worked out about work. I never gave it another thought. Listen, take the week off, go to Connecticut and see her. Talk it out. She knows how much you love what you do.”

You’re holding him like you held me
. She loved the way Dane and his family weren’t shy about their emotions, and as she watched him with Rob, she sensed that Rob really was family to him, which endeared Dane to her even more.

Rob pulled back. “I can’t. She said she needed space, but I’ll call her.”

“And a meeting?” Dane pulled out his phone and typed something in. “I’ll find a local meeting we can attend.”

“I went last night. I just fucked up afterward,” Rob said. “I can do this. I did it fifteen years ago, and I’ll do it again.”

“I’ll go with you. You need support,” Dane offered.

So available, willing to be there no matter what.
Lacy felt her heart opening like a flower in bloom.

“Nah. This is something I have to do alone. It’s all out in the open now, Dane.” He looked away as a flush crept up his cheeks. “I’ll call you if I feel like I’m falling off the wagon. I promise. I’ve only been back on the bottle for two days. I’m sorry, man. You don’t deserve this shit,” Rob said. He turned to Lacy. “I’m sorry, hon.”

“Please don’t apologize. I’m sorry you’re having such a difficult time,” Lacy said.

Dane pulled Rob close again and whispered, “I have faith in you. Just promise me this will be a good run, because I can’t walk out that door knowing I could lose my best friend.”

A good run
. She’d come to know that expression from Dane, and she knew it meant he trusted Rob to make it through this. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and suppressed the urge to open her arms and join the closeness that was coming together before her.

“I promise you, Dane.” Rob held his stare.

“And if you need me, I’m a phone call away. I can be here in minutes.”

Dane closed his eyes and Lacy opened hers.