Amy gasped and swung her legs over the side of her lounge chair, staring at Bella with worry in her eyes. Bella sat up, and Jenna followed, trying for the millionth time to ignore the worry over her parents. Is there really such thing as forever for a relationship?
“You guys?” Jenna’s heart raced. “Maybe the connection we felt was momentary for him. I have to know.” She needed to talk to Pete, not wallow in her parents’ messy lives or let it screw up her hopes and dreams. Jenna jumped to her feet and gathered her towel in her arms.
“Where are you going?” Bella asked as she gathered her suntan lotion and slipped into her flip-flops.
“I’m going to Pete’s to see if he’s working on his boat. I have to talk to him.”
“Jenna, wait.” Bella was on her feet in seconds, holding on to Jenna’s arm. “If that was his emergency call, you don’t want to get upset in front of him. Are you sure you don’t want to call first? Maybe find out over the phone so you’re not alone? Just in case?”
She looked at her friends, both ready to stand beside her in her pain. She knew they’d both say horrible things about Pete if that was his emergency call. They’d slay him forever in all their minds—and after she got over the devastation of losing Pete, she’d probably thank them for it.
“No, but thank you. I couldn’t have misinterpreted our connection. I’ve never felt so much for a man in my entire life, and I swear, if you could have seen his eyes, you would have thought he felt the same thing, too. I can handle this.”
She headed for her house to grab a sundress to throw over her bikini. She turned back and said, “Besides, if I fall apart, I know you guys will be here waiting to put me back together.”
“With two full bottles of Middle Sister wine, which Amy and I will go buy right now.” Bella dragged Amy toward her cottage. “Come on, Ames. I need to grab my keys and purse.”
Twenty minutes later, Jenna drove down the private road leading to Pete’s house. The sun streaked through the tips of the tall trees that bordered the narrow road, striping the shaded areas with bright sunlight. It was a strange feeling to know that this time yesterday morning she didn’t know exactly where he lived, and just a day later, she not only knew, but had an intimate look inside who Pete really was. It wasn’t just the way they’d come together, or the power of his sexuality. She’d seen who he really was, marked by the family photographs all over his house, the masculine style of his furniture—substantial pieces of wood and warm, dark colors—the puppy beds in each room. The thing that lingered in her mind the strongest was that despite so many homey touches and Joey, when she’d first walked in, his house had felt a little lonely.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted his truck in the driveway. She parked behind it, and Joey bounded toward her from the barn, a good sign that Pete was in there, too. She crouched to pet Joey, who flopped right onto her back.
“Is your daddy home?” Jenna glanced toward the bay. The tide was on its way out, and the view of the wet sand was calming. She drew in a deep breath and then pushed to her feet.
“Come on, let’s find Pete.” She followed Joey as she sprinted into the barn. Country music filtered out the oversized doors. Jenna stopped at the entrance, mesmerized by the enormous boat looming above her, propped up by several metal stands that were also much taller than her.
Joey barked and ran around to the far side of the boat.
“Hey there, girl.” Pete’s voice sent a shiver through her. He was talking to Joey, and obviously hadn’t seen her yet. She spied his booted feet and followed them up to his muscular calves. Her view of him was blocked by one of the metal stands and the swell of the boat.
Jenna didn’t rush to his side, though she wanted to more than anything. Instead she took in the barn and bided her time, trying to figure out how to handle asking about the way their date had ended. She had much more confidence when she was with Bella and Amy, which was silly, given that she’d been so intimate with Pete.
She looked up at the ceiling. I can do this. He loves me. I know he does.
There were windows along the top of the exterior walls of the barn, and a built-in workbench ran along the wall to her left. The barn smelled of freshly sanded wood, paint, and the distinct scent of Pete. She heard a giant fan whirring but didn’t see it until she walked around the boat to where Pete stood in a pair of low-slung cargo shorts. His body glistened with sweat, and as he reached above his head, applying something in a long line across the lower section of the boat, his biceps flexed and his abs tightened. Jenna shivered with the memory of wrapping her hands around those muscles. Pete wiped his brow with the crook of his arm and looked down at Joey, wagging her tail at his feet. Pete flashed an easy smile—then his eyes followed Joey as she came to Jenna’s side.
Pete’s smile widened.
“Jenna.” He set down the tools he’d been holding, and in a few determined steps, he folded her into his arms, lifted her up, and pressed his lips to hers, obliterating the worry that the phone call had been a means for escape.
When their lips parted, he still held her against him. Jenna didn’t care about the perspiration soaking her sundress, or the fact that Joey was circling them and barking. She was overcome with the love in Pete’s embrace.
“I’m so glad you’re here. I was going to call you later, but I didn’t want to smother you.” He kissed her again and then lowered her feet to the ground.
She hooked her finger in his shorts, not wanting to break the connection.
“Okay, that’s a lie,” he admitted. “I want to consume every second of your time, but I don’t want to scare you off.”
“You did scare me, but you didn’t scare me off.” Jenna followed Pete’s eyes down to her chest, where two enormous wet spots circled her breasts from being pressed against his chest. “You’ve marked me.”
He pulled her close. “Not well enough, I haven’t.” He kissed her again, a long, deep kiss, as he had last night.
Heavenly.
He took her hand and walked out of the barn with Joey on their heels. “Come on. We’ll talk.” They walked to the edge of the bluff, where Pete pulled her down by his side on the large rocks. “I’m so sorry about last night. It was a struggle not to show up at your cottage when I was done.”
Done? She didn’t want to sound like a jealous girlfriend, but…she was. She couldn’t help it. “Was everything okay?”
He ran his hand through his hair, and his eyes became hooded. “Yeah, I guess.”
“I was worried that the phone call was a setup. You know, from a friend, so you had a way out of our date.”
Joey flopped down behind them with a loud sigh.
He laughed. “Do people really do that?”