Chapter 14

Fourteen

Silas

“ W hen no one is cheering for you, you have to clap for yourself,” I said. A desire to be the one by her side made my chest tighten.

Her lips twisted. “That’s kind of sad.”

“You’re your biggest cheerleader,” I said, leaning against the counter and sipping my coffee.

“I suppose that’s always been the case. It’s not like my family supported my decision to open Happily Ever Afters. Harper’s always been by my side, encouraging me, but you’re right. I don’t need it.”

“You’re like me. You’re driven by an internal force, not an external one. That’s the best way to be.”

Gia smiled. “We’re a lot alike.”

I winked at her. “That’s why we didn’t get along.”

She gestured between us. “I think it’s because we both knew this would happen.”

“You mean on a subconscious level?” I was very much aware of my attraction to her and how bad of an idea acting on it would be.

“Yeah.”

I leaned on my elbows, and she raised her brow in surprise. This thing with her was a game. It was a balancing act of getting close one minute and giving her space the next. I wanted to draw her in, but not so much that she bolted. “You can tell yourself that.”

She blinked at me. “Are you saying you know you were attracted to me?”

“That’s right. No point in pretending I wasn’t.” I straightened and checked on my omelet. Seeing it was almost done, I sprinkled shredded cheese on it.

“I had no idea.”

“You had this way of pushing me away whenever I was near. But that’s in the past. All that matters is what’s happening between us now.”

Then I tensed, waiting for her response. I busied myself sliding the omelet onto a plate and then turned to face her, eating while standing up.

She arched one delicate brow. “And what is going on?”

I could smirk and say something cocky, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t be a good move. She’d made herself vulnerable by asking. “Whatever it is, I like it. I want to keep enjoying it. No pressure. No labels. Can you do that?”

She sighed and finally nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

I wanted to pump my fist in the air, but I restrained myself. I was positive she wouldn’t appreciate it. “We’ll eat, get your stuff, and spend the day on the water.”

Gia smiled softly. “I’m actually looking forward to it.”

Her shoulders had relaxed a bit. I could tell she was worried about staying overnight and when she should make her escape. But I’d changed everything with my impromptu offer of a boat ride. I usually went with friends or on my own. I’d never taken a woman out on the boat. I’d never wanted to before, but Gia was breaking all my rules.

I wanted to do something for her, pull her out of her usual routine. Make her see there was something more out there for her than proving herself to her family. She was incredibly successful and should be proud of her hard work, but she needed to enjoy life too.

I was positive I was the man to show her.

We finished eating, and I cleaned up, and then we went to her suite, where I waited while she got dressed.

I looked up from my phone when she came out of the bathroom and almost swallowed my tongue. She wore a red string bikini and cutoff jeans, a throwback to the day I saw her when she was sixteen. There was no way she could know how much that outfit affected me. There was a lot of bare skin, and when she turned around, the cheeks of her ass were visible.

I cleared my throat.

“Is there a problem?” Gia asked.

I gestured in her direction. “Those shorts—they seem to be missing something.”

This time, she smirked. “They’re on trend.”

I stood and moved closer to her. “Your ass hanging out is a trend? What do your brothers have to say about it?”

Her face clouded over. “My brothers have no say in what I wear. Nor should they.”

“That’s not what I meant. I just—it’s going to be hard for me to keep my hands off you.” And I didn’t want anyone in the hotel to get a glimpse of her.

“That was the point,” she said, moving past me to grab a bag and stuffing sunscreen and a book inside it.

“You think you’ll have time to read?”

She raised her brow. “You said this trip was for me to relax, and I can’t remember the last time I was able to. I’ve been carrying this paperback around with me for a long time. So far, all it’s accomplished is building my shoulder muscles.”

I moved toward her, kissing her softly. “If you want to read, I’ll make sure there’s time for it.”

I wanted to swim, eat lunch, and just relax with no destination in mind.

“Perfect.” She smiled, and she looked so much younger.

I liked this look on her. I loved her in the morning, soft and pliable from her orgasm, and I liked her even more like this. I wouldn’t talk about work or what any of this meant. I wanted to enjoy it, and I wanted her to do the same.

She slung her bag over her shoulder. “Are you ready?”

I draped an arm over her shoulder as we headed out. “For someone who didn’t want to go, you seem eager.”

She hung her head, hiding her face from me. “You convinced me this would be fun.”

I squeezed her shoulder. “You’re going to love it and want to go every week.”

She grinned but tried to cover it. “You wish.”

“You know I’m right. You can’t resist this or my boat,” I said, touching my stomach.

She laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”

I grinned, enjoying myself. “But just what you need.”

She sobered. “I’m starting to think you’re right.”

“It’s just you and me today.” I’d called ahead and had the kitchen staff pack snacks and a lunch for us, so we headed straight for the dock. Since I owned the marina, my boat was in the largest slip at the end of the dock.

When we reached the end, Gia paused, taking it in. “This isn’t a boat. It’s a yacht.”

I shrugged, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the one flashy thing I owned. Besides a five-star resort. “Labels are just semantics.”

Her lips twitched. “Yeah, okay.”

I held out a hand for her to board the boat.

“I was expecting something smaller, like a sailboat.”

“What’s the fun in that? I like to entertain,” I said lightly.

The box of food sat on the bench, so I took it below to refrigerate it.

Gia followed me as I set the box in the kitchen galley and turned on the air. “Does someone drive it for you?”

“Sometimes, but I wanted to be alone today. You can help me drive to the cove, and then we’ll anchor for a bit.” It was the only destination I had in mind. I wanted her focus on me.

Gia relaxed even more, and I liked to think that she enjoyed spending time with me. She moved around the room, touching the wood. “I bet you impress women with this baby.”

It was large and comfortable, with several levels to enjoy. There was a large master bedroom that I hoped we’d get to experience today, but I didn’t want her to think this was a regular occurrence for me. “You’re the first.”

Her wide gaze met mine. “Are you serious?”

“The yacht is my baby, and it’s my time to relax. I don’t bring dates here.” I moved closer, her chin lifting so her gaze could remain connected with mine. “Until you.”

“Does that mean I’m special?”

“It’s whatever you want it to mean. I like spending time with you, and I wanted to share my favorite thing with you.”

“Wow. You sure know how to smooth-talk a woman.”

“Everything with you is natural. I never could control my reaction to you.”

She finally nodded as I leaned down to steal a kiss. I loved having her near, kissing and touching her whenever I felt like it. I had a feeling she wouldn’t be so free with affection when we were around others, so I wanted to take advantage of her relative comfort when we were alone.

“Let me get things ready so we can get out on the water.”

“I can’t wait.”

Hope bloomed in my chest that I’d finally found someone who was not only a match for me but could be that soft place for me to land too. I never thought I wanted a relationship, but Gia was making me rethink everything.

“Relax while I get everything ready.”

She pulled her book out of her bag. “I can read?”

“There’s a hammock on the front end of the boat.”

Her eyes lit up as she went on deck to search for it, and I enjoyed the view of her ass cheeks peeking out of those cutoffs. I adjusted myself before focusing on the task of preparing the boat for the day. When I was finished, I called one of the staff members from the marina to untie the lines from the dock.

When we were sailing out of the marina, Gia moved out of the hammock and into the cockpit.

I slung an arm over her shoulder. “You enjoy the hammock?”

She cradled her paperback against her chest. “It was amazing. I could lie there all day.”

I tucked her into my side and kissed her temple. “Feel free.”

She rested her head on my chest and didn’t move away from me. I took the opportunity to explain the various things we saw as we traveled toward the cove.

“I love hearing about the history of the area.”

“I always wonder what the story is for every family that lives inside.” There were large homes lining the shore.

She rested a palm on my chest and looked up at me. “Are they rich? Do they live here all the time, or is it a vacation home?”

I loved being close to her, breathing in her flowery scent and wondering if this could be an everyday thing. “I’d love to know.”

She smiled mischievously. “You can make it up. That could be fun too.”

I pointed at a particularly sizeable house with a large deck and patio. To get to the dock, you needed to move down a big hill. “What about that one?”

She tapped her chin with her finger. “Mmm. The dad is an attorney at one of the big firms in Baltimore. The family summers here, and he comes for a week when he can.”

“Wow. You have an imagination.”

She shrugged. “I like to think about what other people’s lives are like.”

I wondered if she wanted a different one when she was growing up. If she felt stifled at the pizzeria as the youngest of so many siblings. “Did you want to be someone else?”

She laughed. “I love myself, and I’m happy with where I am.”

Maybe that’s why Gia was so attractive to me when other women weren’t. She was extraordinarily confident in herself and didn’t need a man to fulfill anything inside her. “Have you thought about creating your own life story outside your business? Like falling in love and starting a family.”

She shook her head. “I’m focused on the business.”

“Have you had any long-term relationships?”

She stiffened in my arms. “Just one in college. Looking back, it was only serious for me. He was just having fun.”

Was this the man who’d changed Gia’s outlook on life?

She elbowed me in the side. “What about you? Any girlfriends?”

“I dated a girl in college for a couple of years. I thought it could lead somewhere, but she wanted to move back home to Oregon. This will always be my home. I love the bay and crabbing. Oregon doesn’t have Old Bay.”

“You gave up a woman over Old Bay Seasoning?”

“It was more than that. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else, and neither could she. It was a realization over time that we wouldn’t work out. But it was fine. We had fun in college.”

“I wish I could see things so easily. When our breakup happened, I was surprised. I thought we had something, and he didn’t see it that way at all.”

“You fell for him.”

“Yeah, I guess I did. At home, I felt looked over. As soon as the first boy paid attention to me, I was a goner.”

“I bet it was nice not having your brothers there to stop anything from happening.”

“That too. Although they protected me from heartbreak. I see that now. I couldn’t have gone through that in high school.”

“It was a learning experience.” Except I worried it might be a wound for her, the thing that was keeping her from opening up to me. I hated that for her and for me. We had so much potential, if she just had the courage to reach out and grab it.

“Thank you for bringing me. This is so much fun.”

I loved her like this. Relaxed and happy. Enjoying life. I intended to do many more outings, just like this. Maybe we could make boating a weekly thing. I wouldn’t mind having someone to share this with.

“Let’s head to the cove so we can swim and relax.”

“That sounds perfect.”

I showed her how to steer and let her do a little of the driving until it got trickier near the cove. It was a larger cove that accommodated my boat, but few people spent time here. That’s why I loved it so much. I dropped anchor, grabbed the food, and took it on deck.

We ate on the deck, the breeze rustling our hair. There were sandwiches, fruit, cheese, and crackers with water. It was the perfect day.

After we cleaned up lunch, I asked, “Want to rest in the hammock for a bit?”

We managed to both get in the hammock, my arm under her neck, as it swayed in the breeze. I’d put this hammock here for relaxation, but I rarely ever used it. We stared up at the mostly cloudless sky, content to be together.

We must have drifted off, waking up a short time later. “Are you ready to go swimming?”

“Yes,” she said as I helped her get out of the hammock without falling. We went to the back of the boat, and she pushed down her shorts, revealing red bottoms that curved high on her waist.

I wanted to strip the suit off her and taste her, but I promised her a day on the boat, and I wanted to give her the full experience.

I took off my shirt and waited while she put on sunscreen and offered to spray my back. I would have preferred she use her hands to smooth lotion over me, but the spray was quicker. When we were ready, I took her hand and led her onto the diving ledge at the back of the boat. “So, we just jump?”

“You can, or dive.”

She let go of my hand and executed a perfect dive into the water. Her form was smooth. I dove in after her, eager to see how well she could swim. She emerged on the surface, swimming a perfect freestyle.

When she eased up, I stopped alongside her. “Were you on the swim team?”

Gia smiled. “For a few summers. I liked the competitions.”

“You’re a good swimmer.” I drew her into my body.

She wrapped her legs around my waist and tightened her arms around her neck. “I feel a little rusty, but it’s coming back to me.”

I loved that she enjoyed swimming. I had a feeling most of the women I’d been with would have stayed on deck, sunbathing while I brought them food. None of them would have dived off the back.

She smiled down at me, so effortlessly filled with joy. It was a moment I wanted to remember forever.

She lowered her mouth to mine and said, “Thank you for inviting me.”

Her appreciation washed over me.

“Any time, sweetheart.”

We kissed in the water until I couldn’t keep us afloat anymore, and then we swam for a bit, racing each other to a buoy and back to the boat. On the last race, she pulled ahead of me, and instead of increasing my speed to beat her, I dove underwater and snagged her ankle, pulling her to me.

She gasped. “What are you doing?”

“Capturing you.”

She arched a brow, then wiggled away from me and dove underwater. I easily followed her as she darted here and there, trying to lose me. But I was a strong swimmer too, and whenever she came to the surface, she couldn’t stop laughing. It greatly reduced her ability to escape me.

I finally got her, wrapping my arms around you. “I’ve got you now.”

“What are you going to do with me?”

I bit her earlobe and tugged as a shiver ran through her body. “I’m going to keep you captive on my boat.”

She laughed. “I might like that.”

I ran my nose over her neck. “You’re supposed to be scared of me.”

She tipped her head, giving me more access to her skin. “But it sounds so enticing.”

I bit her neck, and she melted into my arms. I swam with her over to the diving platform, allowing her to pull herself out, and then I followed. Water fell from us as we kissed, stumbling our way down below, where we finally landed on the bed. I didn’t care that we were wet or that the bedding would be soaked.

All I could think about was her mouth and her wet skin. Chasing her in the water brought out this primal need in me to claim her for my own. All the talk about capturing her was real when I thought about how elusive it felt to be with her. I wanted to grab on to her with both hands and hold on tight, never letting her go.

I untied her top and then her bottoms, letting her suit fall away. I took a few seconds to take her in, her body beaded with water, her nipples hard points. “So beautiful.”

She reared up, kissing my chest. “Silas, I need you.” Then she attempted to shove my swim trunks down. They were wet and wouldn’t budge, so I stepped off the bed to do it for her.

I loved that we’d forgone condoms a long time ago. I didn’t need to stop to find one or worry about having one. Everything with her flowed naturally from one step to the next.

I kneeled on the bed, kissing her and touching every inch of her, kneading her breasts, tweaking her nipples, and finally sinking my fingers inside her.

She widened her legs in an open invitation for me to sink inside her. But I held back.

“Silas, please, let go. I need you.”

I knew what she wanted. She felt just as wild and desperate as I did. So I withdrew my fingers and lined up my cock. With one thrust, I was inside her, filling her up.

Her eyes widened, and her skin flushed; her hips lifted, enticing me to move with her. “I love you like this. Wet and wild. Desperate for me.”

Her nails trailed down my back as I leaned over and kissed her roughly, letting go of finesse. This was rough and raw and primal. I was barreling toward my release, and I couldn’t stop it if I tried.

I reached down to touch her clit, but she eased off my cock and rolled onto her knees.

“Fuck, yes.”

There was nothing more primal than this position. I wasted no time in getting my cock inside her, my fingers gripping her hips as I thrust inside her.

She was gorgeous on her knees for me, her ass tipped up to meet my cock. The orgasm built again, and I knew I was in danger of going over before her, so I reached around to circle her clit with my fingers, pressing hard.

She spasmed around my cock, sending me over too. I groaned into her shoulder, and she slumped onto the bed. I lay there, exhausted from the swimming and the sex, unable to move or think.

I kissed her shoulder as I eased my weight off her and to the side.

“That was nice,” she finally murmured, and I couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that flew from my lips.

“Nice? I must be doing something wrong.”

She touched my chest with her palm. “Your ego doesn’t need any boosting.”

I leaned in for a quick kiss. “With you it does.”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way,” she said before falling silent, and I knew deep down she was right. I more than liked this girl. I was falling hard. I just hoped she was following me down.

“Mmm. That was amazing,” she said as she rolled onto her back and stretched her arms over her head.

“Much better than work.”

Gia smiled. “Much.”

“I’m going to show you how to have fun if it’s the last thing I do.”

She moved into my arms and wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her breasts into my chest. “I just like being here with you like this.”

I stroked her back, closing my eyes and knowing that I wanted this—her and me—forever. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I was relentless when it came to getting what I wanted.