Barefoot Bay_Forever Yours Read online

  They had his features, his dark brown with caramel streaks hair color but her blue-green eyes. Four years old, they were exhausted and for that reason, had settled down enough to be picked up for a picture.

  Riordan and Rourke.

  Her babies. Her boys that had made her life all the more special. Her boys who’d been taken from her before they even reached the young age of five.

  The first hot tear splashed on her skin and she returned the picture with a trembling hand. After ensuring it was secure, she lay on the bed and curled up in a little ball. Her trip here was supposed to help her get past this date looming on the horizon, the anniversary of their death. And the one person she didn’t need close to her, the father of those very boys was closer to her now than he’d been the past six years.

  What hell had she fallen into?

  Chapter Two

  Sean punched the heavy bag at his brother’s house, sweat dripping down his body, heavy metal blaring in his ears. Sweat made his eyes burn and they watered. At least that’s what he told himself it was from…nothing more.

  Not the fact he’d run into the only woman he’d ever loved in this life. The mother of his boys and the one woman he’d pushed away when he’d needed her more than anything. And when she’d needed him.

  His brother watched him, he knew it, could feel his intense gaze on him. Slowing the relentless punches until the bag merely swung from the residual, Sean wiped his hand across his brow and pivoted to meet his brother.

  “Do you want me to stay?” Doyle asked.

  Forcing a slight smile, he shook his head. “No, business is business. Go, meet your lady and make more money. I’ll be fine.”

  Maybe if hell froze over and put him into a cube of ice, he would be able to forget the cutting pain in her expression when she saw him again. He’d been pumped to see her. She was his last link to their boys and he hadn’t realized how much he needed that in his life until he saw her running by him on the white sands of the beach.

  “Sean.”

  Holding up a hand, he shook his head. “Trust me, Doyle. I’ll be okay.”

  “I was supposed to be here for you this next week. I can only imagine how hard it is for you and thought maybe it wouldn’t be as hard if you had family around. You’ve isolated yourself from us for these past years. I’m calling her and telling her I can’t come.”

  “Go. I would have had Rica with me if I’d not been the world’s biggest asshole to her. Work is work. I understand that with having been military. You go when you are called. I’ll be fine Doyle.”

  His brother limped to his side and reached out to settle his hand on Sean’s arm.

  Dropping his gaze, he stared at the scaring on the back of his hand seconds before covering Doyle’s with his own. “Thank you.”

  “You have my cell, call me for anything at any time and I’ll fly back in a second. Even if it means bringing her with me.”

  “I know you would. Just tell me one thing.”

  “Of course.”

  “Did you know Rica would be here?”

  “No.”

  The response fell from his lips so fast, Sean didn’t think the man had time to lie. “That’s all I needed to know.”

  The doorbell pealed through the home and Doyle looked at him for a moment before stepping close and wrapping his arms around him. “Talk to her. You both need each other.”

  Then he was gone and Sean was once again, alone.

  However, this time, there was a woman near who could get under his skin like no other. One who could make him feel as if he were the only man in the world. Make him feel as if he were her whole world.

  All he had to was find her and convince her not to slam the door in his face. He wasn’t worried she would run. Rica didn’t run, she was full of stubbornness and spice. That had been one of the things first attracting him to her. The next had been how she approached her life and job. As if it were all an adventure, one to be explored with a reckless abandon. She’d been career oriented for sure, moving swiftly up through the ranks at the border patrol.

  She’d been a woman who understood when the phone rang and work called, you left. Theirs had been a passionate start, mostly sex when they could meet. But as that continued, he’d found she had latched onto him in a way no one else ever had. He thought about her when they were apart and grew jealous of her being around other men.

  He’d proposed to her right before they’d gone skydiving, and not just up in the plane but seconds before they were to jump. When they landed, she’d punched him before accepting.

  Damn he missed her. Missed it all. The way her lush body felt against his in bed. Missed the sound of her husky laugh. The way her eyes would sparkle early morning when they were up in time to watch the sun rise over the mountains.

  Making his way to his brother’s computer, Sean pulled up an image of Mimosa Key and took a look at the island. Sort of shaped like a question mark, it was approximately twelve miles long, eight miles wide at the thickest part and narrowing to less than two before coming to a point at the southernmost tip.

  He knew his wife. Ex-wife. She’d want to be somewhere that had exit points, as her work had bled into her daily life.

  Staring at the villas, he shook his head. Not her thing to unnecessarily spend money like that. But the resort and spa would have been a draw. A smile turned up the corners of his mouth, he found her. Now all he had to do was find her and convince her to have dinner.

  After a brief shower, he dried off then tugged on a clean pair of khakis and a gray cotton tee. Stepping into his brother’s garage, he shook his head over the impressive high end SUVs he had in there but clucked his tongue when he viewed the motorcycle.

  “Oh yeah,” he muttered, dragging his fingers along the brushed chrome with blue flames. This would be his ride of choice. Didn’t take him long to find the keys and soon, he was heading downtown to find his wife.

  Ex-wife.

  He saw a sign for Bud’s Buds, and parked along the street. Next to the flower shop, he noticed a sign for the Sheriff’s Department, then a small teahouse. He liked this town. Too small for him though and he figured most people would be in each other’s business and he was far too private of a person for that to ever be a draw for him.

  Swinging his leg off the bike, he made his way into the flower shop and looked around. It didn’t take him to long to pick out what he needed, or rather wanted. Rica enjoyed lavender cymbidium orchids, with some ginger flowers and a few other flowers in the arrangement. He paid for them and returned to the bike.

  At the resort, he took the flowers to reception. “These are for Patricia Sandford.”

  The blonde woman watched him as she took the arrangement.

  He nodded his head and walked out, not bothering to ask if she was there or what room she was in. Rica would be down soon enough.

  He returned to the motorcycle and rested against it, arms and ankles crossed. Waiting.

  In the grand scheme of things, it didn’t take her that long to come outside but since he was the one waiting, it had felt like forever.

  He ate up the vision of her walking toward him, slender and fit—she was still the woman of his dreams. No, not because she was in shape, because of who she was inside.

  “You’re not going to just let this go, are you, Sean?”

  He didn’t answer as he knew he couldn’t.

  αβ

  If Rica had any suspicion of the flowers when the call arrived from the front desk, it vanished the second she saw the arrangement. Her orchids, she loved them so much and in that moment, it hit her that he not only knew she was here but he was going to insert himself into her life until she left.

  The familiar physical response as well as the emotions slammed her once more. It wasn’t fair. Six years should have been enough time for her to get over the lustful and visceral attraction she had for him, but according to the taut nipples and throb in her core, that thought had been overrated.

  His firm lips kic
ked up in a small smile. “I’ve missed you, Rica. Have dinner with me, or hell, ice cream. Just talk to me.”

  Lord help her, she’d missed him, even more than she cared to ever admit out loud. She stopped a short distance from him and shoved her hands into her shorts pockets. “Where did you have in mind?”

  His gaze deepened and instantly, she knew where his mind had gone. No way, she wasn’t about to put herself in a place where they didn’t have other bodies around to remind her to keep her touch to herself.

  He jerked his head to the bike behind him. “Climb on.”

  Before she could either talk herself out of it, or walk away from him, she found she stood right beside him and slid on behind him.

  After he started the motor, he called out over his shoulder, “You have to hold on.”

  Yeah, she knew that. Wrapping her arms around him, she closed her eyes against the onslaught of memories, both painful and wonderful that slammed into her. His familiar scent wove deep into her. His broad back kept the wind from hitting her…even so she still burrowed closer.

  When he slowed, she looked around at where he’d brought her and smiled. A baseball stadium. A complex. The Barefoot Bay Bucks were a minor league team and right now, she was in front of their facility. “Why are we here?” People streamed in and she got off the bike before he responded.

  “Saw there was a game today, thought you might like to go.”

  She loved baseball, pro, collegiate, minor league. Just loved the game. It’d been where he’d taken her on their first date, to a baseball game. Air Force against someone she didn’t remember who. “I have no wallet or cash on me, Sean.”

  “I got this.” He brushed his hand along the small of her back before returning it to his side. “Let’s go.”

  The game was enjoyable, she had a wonderful time and after, he led her down to the restaurant and they got a table near the window. Once they’d ordered, she gazed around at the families going by with their children. The lump that never seemed far away showed back up in the middle of her throat.

  Sean reached out and took her hand in his, twining their fingers together. It didn’t matter how long they’d been apart, he never failed to make her feel safe. “It’s okay to be sad, Rica. I miss them too. Every damn day.”

  She shook her head slightly. “Don’t do this. Not here. Not now.”

  “We never talked about it.”

  Rica turned away from that straightforward assessing gaze. She swallowed hard and flicked her tongue over her dry lips. Everything inside her wanted to run away, she lifted her hand and scratched the back of her neck as she tried to retrieve her hand from his grip.

  He didn’t allow her to.

  “And that’s not something I want to do here, either, in a public place.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and released his hold on her when the waiter arrived with their drinks. “Fine, but after. Right now, something neutral.”

  Okay, she could do that. She skimmed him with her gaze. It was harder than she thought. Did she ask if he had remarried? Seeing someone new? Anyone she knew?

  She kept the topic to his brothers as they ate the simple but filling meal.

  He paid and got them back on the road until he stopped along a stretch of the shoreline and climbed off, leading her down to the water.

  Rica rubbed the palms of her hands along her upper thighs. “How’s life as a parajumper?”

  His hands nearly curled into fists before flattening out. “I’m out.”

  She drew back as if he’d reached over the sand and struck her. Never in all her life would she have imagined he would be out. “What?”

  He shrugged as if it didn’t mean the world to him, as had been her belief. “Bad landing on a jump. Obliterated my knee. Had to have pins put in.”

  “I’m sorry. I know what it meant to you being a PJ.”

  “It meant a lot, yes.”

  She canted her head to the side. “But?”

  “There were things in my life that meant more to me.”

  Her heart clenched painfully and she nearly bit her lip to keep the sob contained. He refused to release her gaze and she read every honest emotion in them, as he remained locked onto her.

  “We all had things that meant more to us than ourselves. But times change and we move on.”

  “Do we?” He moved closer, his scent intermingling with the smell of the slightly salty air.

  The warm breeze fluttered along her skin, teasing her hair, yet he still didn’t allow her to look away. She wasn’t about to break the stare first. Her heart thundered in her chest and she fought the urge to rub it. While not painful as it had been when she’d buried their children, this feeling wasn’t fun.

  “Do you blame me?”

  She snorted and opened her mouth to rip into him when it occurred to her, maybe he wasn’t talking about the divorce. There had been such raw pain in that simple four worded question. “Do I blame you?”

  The light hit his eyes, deepening the hue that snared her.

  “If you’re talking about the divorce, yes. I blame you for that. You brought the papers and put them in front of me. You didn’t think enough of what we had to feel we could weather the storm and its fallout. So yes, I blame you. God do I. Hell, I hated you for so long because of that. So much so it had begun to affect my work, but I moved past it, moved on.”

  He lowered his gaze.

  She immediately stepped closer, cupping his cheek as she’d done so many times when they were married…it was instinctive. “But do I blame you for the death of our sons? No. Not in a million years and Sean, I never will.” She positioned her other hand on his jaw as well. “No matter what our own issues were, you were one hell of a father and loved those boys so much. What happened wasn’t your fault and it wasn’t my fault. We know whose fault it was. And he’s behind bars.” She dug her nails deep into the flesh of her palm, determined not to cry.

  Sean drew her into his hard chest, arms like familiar bands of steel around her. “I miss them.”

  God help her, so did she. Rica crumbled and Sean lowered them both to the sand, still warm from the setting sun. Time ticked by as they both found their way back to the present.

  Pushing away from him, she drew up her legs and hooked her arms around them before resting her chin on her knees. She had to keep space there or she would fall to the charm of his touch, allow the security of his embrace to give her the false sense of security that would be gone the moment these two weeks were over, or until he left, whichever came first.

  The only question now was if she had enough mental strength to go through losing him all over again. Because if she did, all it would take right now would be for her to lean closer to him and press her lips to his. She knew him well enough to have full confidence about what would happen next.

  It would be the sweet bliss of oblivion and a world of pleasure that would put all the issues in her mind at bay, out of reach. Away. A place she hadn’t been to since the day the divorce papers had been put in front of her.

  He reached out and twirled some of her hair around his fingers before dragging them down to the ends. Then he did it again.

  His breath was warm against her skin and she shivered despite the temperature of the evening and the heat from his body. She wasn’t cold, no, that was a shiver of a different kind.

  “How did you deal with each anniversary of their death?”

  Nope. She was a strong woman. She was fearless, most of the time but this—she wasn’t ready to discuss in any form. Angling her head, she kissed him, pouring into it all the emotions from the past six years. The anger, sorrow, fear, and every other individual emotion she’d experienced.

  Sean stiffened slightly and for barely a second, she wondered if he’d changed so much since the divorce.

  Then he was kissing her back and Rica knew—he hadn’t.

  Chapter Three

  Sean dragged his fingers along the naked woman beside him, trailing up her spine, frowning as h
e felt each ridge of her spinal cord. She’d dropped some weight since he’d seen her last and there were large circles beneath her eyes.

  Right now, he didn’t care about that. She was with him again and even if he only had her for a few more moments, right now, she was his. Body sated in ways he’d forgotten about, he continued with fleeting touches, caresses as he rebuilt up his tactile memory of her to call upon later.

  If you keep her with you, this isn’t going to be necessary.

  Okay, so his brain had a point. Why not try to make it work between them? They still worked well together. At least in bed.

  Rica shifted, her leg sliding along the outside of his.

  The simple act sent more blood south, pushing his shaft against her as it stiffened. He took a deep breath and continued with the abstract patterns on her back. The moon had risen and was shimmering on the water outside the window, but there weren’t any lights on inside the room. Part of him wanted to turn one on, so he could see her and add to the visual memories.

  “Do you miss it?” Her voice was pitched low and husky from her earlier screaming of his name as he thrust deep inside her wetness.

  “Being a PJ?” He paused for half a second. “Yes.” Sean understood she was working through it in her mind and he didn’t want her to have a chance to regroup and realize she should leave. Sure, they’d been intimate but he needed to talk. Needed her to hear him.

  “I’m sorry. You know, for your injury.”

  “What about you? How’s the Border Patrol for you?”

  “I’m out as well.” She rolled so her head rested on his shoulder, her fingers trailed down his chest to his abdomen where she traced along his muscles. “I’m not in the right mind to be out there right now. Or rather, I wasn’t. I shouldn’t say I’m out, I’m taking a hiatus.”

  “Still up in New York?”

  “Northern Minnesota now.”

  He rubbed his hand up and down her back as she burrowed closer. “For how long?”

  “Since the divorce was finalized.”

  Sean closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Was this where the mood of the evening changed? “Why there?”