Page 89 of The Art of Loving Lacy
Dane took her face in his hands and met her lips with his in a soft, tender kiss. “You need a warm bath and someone to love you until you feel better. I’ll run the tub; you relax for a minute.”
She watched him walk into the bathroom.Into my bathroom.She’d dreamed of him being in her apartment for so many months, and now that he was there, she realized she never could have dreamed how right it felt.
LACY RESTED HER head against Dane’s chest. Bubbles surrounded them like clouds that had fallen to the bathtub from heaven. He closed his eyes, relishing in the weight of her against him, the feel of the silky skin of her legs against his.
“I could lie here all night,” Lacy whispered.
“Mmm.” He nuzzled against her neck. “I don’t care where we lie as long as we’re together.”
“Thank you for coming here.”
He gathered her hair and placed it over her other shoulder, then he kissed her glistening skin.
“Lace, I tried to do the right thing. I wanted to protect you, but I never wanted to be without you. This whole being-in-love thing is new to me, and I’ll probably make mistakes, but there are two I’ll never make. I’ll never be unfaithful, and I’ll never ask you to leave again.” He cupped water in his hands and released it on her shoulders, watching it disappear into the bubbles.
“I know.” She traced circles on his thigh. “I’m learning, too, about you and me and about us. I knew how close we had become after Nassau, but it was all one-step removed—always through electronics. Being here with you, spending those days together on the Cape, it’s like you crept into my chest and sank into my heart. And when we were apart, I felt like you’d left this big, painful hole inside me. I can’t imagine life without you.”
Dane wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head on her shoulder blade. “You’ll never have to.” He was careful not to hold her too tightly or move too suddenly. He worried about her pain from the accident, but every ounce of him wanted to be closer to her.
“Love my pain away,” she whispered.
Could his heart get any fuller? He drew her face toward him and kissed her tenderly, but their kisses quickly turned fierce. She turned in his arms, as eager for more as he was. He felt the rapidthump, thump, thumpof her heart against his chest, and drew back, but she pushed on, reclaiming his mouth in a demanding kiss.
He smiled into their kisses and said, “I’m trying to be gentle. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her eyes glistened with desire. “You don’t have to be gentle. Being close to you makes the hurt disappear.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Four weeks later…
DANE LAY BACK with his iPhone in his hand. The bed rocked with the gentle caress of the Atlantic Ocean. The sun-kissed skin between the open buttons of his dress shirt gleamed in the flickering light of the candle on the bedside table. He read the message on his screen.Lacy wants to FaceTime.The excitement of seeing Lacy hadn’t dimmed one iota. If anything, the desire to see her grew with every call, every wink. He accepted the request and was met with her lust-filled blue eyes, her wayward curls framing her face. She’d never looked so pretty.
“There’s my beautiful friend-with-benefits.”
“Just one push of a button away,” she teased. “I miss you.”
“How much?” he asked.
Lacy looked behind her, then back into the phone. “I can’t show you how much right now, but I think you can conjure up an image in your mind.”
“Mmm. Yes, I think I can, of your naked body beneath—”
“Hush,” she said, shooting a look behind her again. She sighed. “When are you coming?”
“You’re not here. How can I?”
“You’re such a pig,” she teased. “Seriously, I’ve been waiting for you forever. Don’t make me wait too much longer.” She blew him a kiss, and Dane saw a male hand cover the spaghetti strap that rode her bare shoulder. “I gotta go.” The screen went blank.
An ache of longing ran through his chest. Every minute away from Lacy felt like an eternity. He rose and looked at the framed certificate beside the bed from the International Star Registry.The Lacy Star.Dane hadn’t even realized a person could name a star, but leave it to Treat, master of romance, to clue him in.Oh, man. I love her, and I’m so lucky that she loves me.Dane pushed the jealousy aside and went to the closet. Before reaching for his jacket, he ran his fingers over Lacy’s clothes. They’d had to make a few changes to the closet setup to fit her clothing, and now Dane couldn’t remember what the closet had looked like before she’d moved in. It was like she’d always been there, or maybe he’d just always been waiting for her to come into his life. He laid his jacket on the bed and went to brush his teeth. Seeing her toothbrush next to his still gave him a warm feeling.
He passed through the galley and reached out to touch the metal fish on the wall, remembering Lacy’s sweet face when she’d said she could almost feel them breathing. The way that night had ended was something that at one time Dane had wished he could forget. He’d slowly come to realize that they’d made it through.We made it through.They’d gone back to Wellfleet and purchased the sculpture and all those tiny fleeing fish as a way to remember that no matter what they encountered, their love would pull them through.
Up on the deck, he spotted her with Rob and Sheila, each holding a glass of ice water. Dane was pleased that Rob had pulled himself together and fully recovered from his accident. He would be attending AA meetings for a long time to come, and Dane was proud of him. Lacy stood with a drink in one hand and tossed her head back. Her feminine laughter filled the night air. His father approached her from behind and laid his arm across her shoulder, as if she’d always been part of the family. Savannah and Hugh sidled up to him.
“I don’t know how you convinced her to leave her job and move onto a boat,” Savannah said.
“She didn’t reallyleaveher job. She’s still working for World Geographic. She’s just working remotely. The great thing is, Fred gave her the promotion she was after, so she calls the shots on which companies she works with,” Dane explained.
