Page 26 of Sweet Escape at Bayside
She wanted to share that with him, too, but a new reality was dawning on her, and it brought another wave of trepidation. She was used to facing unsettling things with fierce determination, but when it came to Andre, she wasn’t quite as brave.
“We’re at opposite ends of the spectrum again,” she said hurriedly. “My life is here, with Desiree, and you’re…Where are you living?”
He shrugged and said, “‘Wherever the wind takes me.’”
She smiled. “Smart aleck. That’s what I said to you when we first met, and you asked me how I decided where to go next.”
“I wish I’d known it had blown you here.”
“Well, you know now. Doesn’t this—where we are right now in our lives—scare you? What happens in a month?”
“I don’t know what’ll happen tonight or tomorrow, much less a month from now. But even if this is all we’ll ever have, it’s already more than I ever thought possible.” He leaned closer and said, “I learned my lesson with that proposal. From now on it’s one step at a time.”
One step at a time.How was she going to manage that?
Steph and Dwayne moved to the mic, and Steph began strumming Rod’s guitar. Dwayne pulled out his harmonica and joined in.
Andre pushed to his feet and hauled Violet up against him. “Except right now,” he said as he pressed one hand to her lower back. His other slid hot and heavy beneath her hair, keeping their bodies flush from her hips to her chest. “Right now I want dancesteps,” he said seductively. “Lots of hip-swaying, body-rubbing dance steps…”
THE EVENING SLIPPED effortlessly by as Violet and Andre danced, talked with her friends, held hands, and stole kisses. When Steph asked how they’d met and reconnected, Violet was glad Andre took the burden of answering off her plate by saying,We met overseas when I was volunteering at a clinic in a village where Violet had been staying, and fate recently dropped me on her doorstep.
How could a man who made things easier be the same person who pushed her into revealing her truest self? He was as good at pushing her out of her comfort zone as he was at finessing her into doing things she’d avoided forever, like dancing. Before they’d met, she’d never danced with any guys. She hadn’t attended a regular school since she was seven. After that she’d been homeschooled by Lizza until her mother had lost interest and Violet had been forced to take charge of her own education, turning to online information when she could. There were no high school parties or proms to attend, or other means by which a typical teenager might have attended dances. But one evening Andre had taken her into his arms and suddenly she was slow dancing. There had been no music, no couples around them to watch or learn from. There was only the two of them and the desire in his eyes. She’d never known she could feel so close to a man, but that night had sparked a love of dancingwith Andre.
“Ready, babe?” Andre asked.
She realized everyone else was preparing to leave. She wasn’t ready for their evening to end. As she said goodbye to her friends, she was glad to see them embracing Andre, giving him warm pats on the back, and hearing them say they hoped to see him again. On their way out the door, Elliott gave Andre a high five, and her chest felt full.
“I like your friends,” Andre said as they walked to her bike hand in hand.
“I’m glad.” She pulled her keys from her pocket and inhaled a deep breath before holding them out to him—and it wasn’t because he’d driven her crazy on the way up. She’d never trusted anyone to drive her bike before, but she trusted Andre, and this was the best way she knew to show him how much.
“What’s wrong? Afraid you can’t handle my roving hands?”
“Something like that,” she said, because some things were too hard to admit.
Chapter Seven
ANDRE WAS GOING to lose his mind. Violet’s warm body pressed against his on the way home. She wasn’t groping him or trying to make him want her, but she’d never had to rely on tactics other women used like bait. Just the feel of her had always done him in, and after spending hours holding her hand, kissing her beautiful lips, and hearing the voice he’d missed so much, being apart was the last thing he wanted. As he pulled into the driveway and parked in front of their cottages, he thought up a million excuses to extend their evening. A walk on the beach, stargazing, hearing more about her life. He’d take any excuse he could find. But he’d screwed up by going too fast once, and he wasn’t going to make her feel boxed in now.
He parked the bike and helped her off. “She rides like a charm.” He knew how big a deal it was for her to trust him with her bike, and that made saying good night even more difficult, because he knew trust didn’t come easily to her.
As they carried their helmets toward her cottage, she said, “I’ve never let anyone drive her before.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
He set his helmet on the stoop, and then he placed hers beside it and gathered her in his arms. This time he didn’t have to guide her hands around his waist. She gazed up at him with a mix of longing and trepidation, bringing a rush of memories. Even after three months, she’d still been nervous when they’d finally made love. He’d never forget the sounds of her breathless whispers, the feel of her hot hands on his flesh, or the intensity of making love to her and feeling like his whole life had led up to that very moment—all of which only made him want to be that close again.
“I had a great time tonight.”And I don’t want it to end here.“Think we can spend some time together tomorrow? I’d love to see your pottery studio.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I’d like that.”
He touched his lips to hers, taking her in a slow, deep kiss, reveling in her soft curves pressed against his hard frame. Kissing her was heaven; having to stop was torture. He brushed his lips over hers and whispered, “I’ve missed you.”
“Me too.” Her fingers pressed into his back, as if she was having trouble saying good night, too.
He traced the bow of her lips with his tongue and she pressed for more, as hungry for him as he was for her. Her mouth was warm and sweet, and as he intensified the kiss, her hands pushed beneath his leather jacket and up his back, and she moaned. That sensuous, needy sound wound through him, taunting, drawing him deeper into her. He threaded his fingers into her hair, his kisses rougher, painfully more intense, as he made love to her mouth the way he wanted to make love to her body. It wastorturenot being able to claim her the way he wanted to, but the thought of going too fast and losing her again was too much for him to handle.
He reluctantly eased his efforts.
