“Even when the seas are rough, I find comfort in them.”
“Why don’t you feel safe outside of Cape Cod?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Decker wished he could take them back.
Her back stiffened and the light faded from her eyes. “I just don’t.” Roxi glanced at the watch on Decker’s wrist. “What time is it?”
“A quarter to five.”
“Shoot.” She scrambled to her feet, brushing sand from her backside. “I have to get back and help Frank manage the dinner crowd.”
Decker rose to stand beside her and reached for her hand, holding it lightly in his own. “I’m glad you came for a walk with me. I haven’t walked on a beach with a woman for a very long time.”
Her gaze locked with his. “Since your wife died?”
He nodded.
Roxi’s brows puckered. “You must have loved her a great deal.”
“I did.” His glance dropped to where their hands touched. “But I have to get on with my life.”
Roxi lifted her other hand to cup his face, stepping close enough Decker could smell the fragrant scent of her hair. “Yes, you do. You have a lot to offer some lucky woman.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I have too much baggage.”
“Not, really. You’re not bad to look at, and you seem nice. Or at least you’ve been nice to me.”
“It’s easy to be nice to you.”
Roxi leaned closer and pecked him on the cheek, her lips brushing lightly, barely a whisper across his skin.
Before she could back away, he turned his face and swept his lips across hers, his free hand cupping the back of her neck, applying a slight pressure to bring her closer.
Her body grew rigid, then relaxed, melting against him, her hand rising to rest against his chest, her touch burning a path straight through to his heart.
Then she turned and ran, Otis racing after her, barking.
Decker stood rooted in the sand until Roxi and Otis disappeared beneath the shadowy pier.
That kiss had cost him. No longer could he cling to the memory of Allison and wallow in the self-inflicted guilt that had kept him celibate for the past two years. He couldn’t continue to bury himself in solitude, not when the troubled gaze of a beautiful bar owner and the tingling sensation of her kiss lingered on his mind and lips.
BY THE TIME Roxi arrived at the bar, she was panting and her heart raced, not only from the sprint, but also from the realization that she’d kissed a man for the second time, and hadn’t felt smothered or forced in any way. Which left her feeling baffled, anxious and twitchy. If it felt so good, why had she run?
The freedom of that kiss and the way her body begged for more, was so foreign to her that it had both frightened and excited her at once. Instead of entering through the front door of the bar, she rounded the building and stood outside the back entrance, pressing her palms to her heated cheeks.
Wow. In her head, she repeated that one word. Wow .
She was torn between getting back to her normal life and running all the way back down the beach and into Decker’s arms for more of the magic that lifted her long-running trepidation over intimacy. Not only did she like the kiss, it inspired a desire that swept over her, making her want so much more. And they’d kissed in broad daylight…on a public beach. She could imagine how much more sensuous a kiss in the moonlight might be and wanted to test the theory.
Roxi stood at the bottom of the staircase leading up to her little apartment, frozen in thought. Would kissing Decker in the darkness remind her too much of when she’d been attacked?
Roxi shook her head. No . She’d been with him in the moonlight the night before and hadn’t felt the least bit threatened. Granted, they’d just survived a wicked riptide and neither one of them had the energy to do anything else besides breathe and let their muscles rest from the strain of swimming to shore.
Hell, she was over thinking everything about the man. With a business to run, she couldn’t
“Why don’t you feel safe outside of Cape Cod?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Decker wished he could take them back.
Her back stiffened and the light faded from her eyes. “I just don’t.” Roxi glanced at the watch on Decker’s wrist. “What time is it?”
“A quarter to five.”
“Shoot.” She scrambled to her feet, brushing sand from her backside. “I have to get back and help Frank manage the dinner crowd.”
Decker rose to stand beside her and reached for her hand, holding it lightly in his own. “I’m glad you came for a walk with me. I haven’t walked on a beach with a woman for a very long time.”
Her gaze locked with his. “Since your wife died?”
He nodded.
Roxi’s brows puckered. “You must have loved her a great deal.”
“I did.” His glance dropped to where their hands touched. “But I have to get on with my life.”
Roxi lifted her other hand to cup his face, stepping close enough Decker could smell the fragrant scent of her hair. “Yes, you do. You have a lot to offer some lucky woman.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I have too much baggage.”
“Not, really. You’re not bad to look at, and you seem nice. Or at least you’ve been nice to me.”
“It’s easy to be nice to you.”
Roxi leaned closer and pecked him on the cheek, her lips brushing lightly, barely a whisper across his skin.
Before she could back away, he turned his face and swept his lips across hers, his free hand cupping the back of her neck, applying a slight pressure to bring her closer.
Her body grew rigid, then relaxed, melting against him, her hand rising to rest against his chest, her touch burning a path straight through to his heart.
Then she turned and ran, Otis racing after her, barking.
Decker stood rooted in the sand until Roxi and Otis disappeared beneath the shadowy pier.
That kiss had cost him. No longer could he cling to the memory of Allison and wallow in the self-inflicted guilt that had kept him celibate for the past two years. He couldn’t continue to bury himself in solitude, not when the troubled gaze of a beautiful bar owner and the tingling sensation of her kiss lingered on his mind and lips.
BY THE TIME Roxi arrived at the bar, she was panting and her heart raced, not only from the sprint, but also from the realization that she’d kissed a man for the second time, and hadn’t felt smothered or forced in any way. Which left her feeling baffled, anxious and twitchy. If it felt so good, why had she run?
The freedom of that kiss and the way her body begged for more, was so foreign to her that it had both frightened and excited her at once. Instead of entering through the front door of the bar, she rounded the building and stood outside the back entrance, pressing her palms to her heated cheeks.
Wow. In her head, she repeated that one word. Wow .
She was torn between getting back to her normal life and running all the way back down the beach and into Decker’s arms for more of the magic that lifted her long-running trepidation over intimacy. Not only did she like the kiss, it inspired a desire that swept over her, making her want so much more. And they’d kissed in broad daylight…on a public beach. She could imagine how much more sensuous a kiss in the moonlight might be and wanted to test the theory.
Roxi stood at the bottom of the staircase leading up to her little apartment, frozen in thought. Would kissing Decker in the darkness remind her too much of when she’d been attacked?
Roxi shook her head. No . She’d been with him in the moonlight the night before and hadn’t felt the least bit threatened. Granted, they’d just survived a wicked riptide and neither one of them had the energy to do anything else besides breathe and let their muscles rest from the strain of swimming to shore.
Hell, she was over thinking everything about the man. With a business to run, she couldn’t
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