A Kiss in the Moonlight (Pelican Bay #3)

7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

After they’d polished off the wine and most of the brownies and ice cream, Maddy’s friends left. Emma had gone upstairs to read and wait for Jason to return. Restless, Maddy stretched out on the chaise lounge on the patio while the fire from the pit continued to burn. With her guitar in her lap, she strummed a melody, paused, scribbled notes, and strummed again, this time singing along.

Earlier that day, after Emma left to bring Dylan to swim lessons, Maddy had spent time rehearsing songs from her upcoming album. She experimented with different background vocals, making notes on where in the songs she thought they should go. It still needed work, but every time she started, lyrics and a melody for another song kept popping into her mind.

Finding it too distracting to ignore her muse, and with the peaceful quiet of the house surrounding her, Maddy allowed her creativity to flow freely. She nailed the beginning and the chorus. It was a ballad, a song about a mystery lover who kissed her under the moonlight.

Much like the dream she’d had weeks ago. Only instead of the faceless man, Maddy saw Ty. Not the boy she grew up with, but the man, the very sexy man who touched her and made her feel things she hadn’t felt in forever…or maybe ever.

She’d hurt him today when she told him they had to forget what happened. And she’d lied about having already forgotten. There was no way she could forget the look on Ty’s face when she’d brushed across his erection or how he held her gaze while she stroked him. And the choked sound he made when he came would forever haunt her dreams.

She blinked away the memory. He was better off without her. She hadn’t been lying when she said her life was complicated. Her music commitments added a new level of complexity that she hadn’t fully resolved when she moved back to Pelican Bay.

Her manager Gabe gave her leeway, but there was an expectation that she’d tour and do all the publicity that came with being pop star Maddy Kinkaid.

The burden of it all weighed heavily on her shoulders. What she’d once thought would fulfill her no longer did. She wanted different things. She still wanted the singing…but there had to be more in her life than jet-setting all over the country.

An image of Broadway Betty’s came to mind. Not the abandoned building she’d toured the other day, but an updated version…where you sang what you felt like singing and didn’t care if anyone recorded it and posted it on social media.

A version where you were free to just be.

Maddy had avoided Cade’s call the other day, and he left her a voicemail asking whether she had decided about the empty building. She sent him a text that she was still interested but thinking about it. How long could she wait, though? Property was being snatched up all over the island, and by people other than the Maguire brothers. If she waited much longer, she risked losing it .

Pushing it aside, she started at the beginning of the song and began to play and sing.

“Sounds nice,” a voice called from the direction of the enclosed patio.

Maddy jumped. “Ty.”

The door creaked when he opened it and stepped onto the patio. He wore dark gray board shorts and a T-shirt. His hair was mussed like he’d been swimming.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Keep playing.” He sat in a chair next to her and sipped from a bottle of beer in his hand.

He looked tired. Drained, like he’d had a rough day…or lost his best friend.

She picked out the notes from one of the new songs from her album and sang. Was it her imagination, or did every song remind her of falling in love…of looking for happiness?

“How about the song you were playing before I interrupted you?” he asked.

“That was something new I was fiddling with. I’m sort of stuck and can’t figure out the ending.”

“I liked it. How do you do it? Come up with new material?”

She was often asked that question in interviews and was never sure how to answer.

“It’s hard to say. It’s a process. Sometimes I’ll wake up with a few notes of a melody in my head. Then I’ll play it and hope that the rest of it comes to me.”

“Do you write the lyrics or the music first?”

“It depends. I can’t predict which will come first. Sometimes the beginning or a portion of the lyrics will come to me, and I’ll experiment with chords on my guitar until I find the melody. Other times, the music comes to me first. I’m friends with the session musicians who play during the recording of my albums and tour with me. If they’re available, we’ll practice and they’ll help me work through the rest.”

He nodded. “It works. All your songs are great.”

“You listen to my music?”

“I have all your albums.”

She was touched…and a little embarrassed.

“You’re going back to L.A. to record a new song?”

“I recorded the album before coming here. But they need me to record background vocals so they can get it ready for when it’s released in February. Plus, there’s publicity stuff they need me to do.”

“You like it, though?” he asked.

She hedged. “Some of it. It was different before. Before Dylan. Now it’s harder and—”

“And what?”

His deep blue eyes bored into hers, causing her heart to beat a little faster.

“Sometimes it feels more like work than fun. I don’t like being away from Dylan, especially overnight. This is my first album since she was born, and I’m not sure how it’s going to work when I have to go on tour.”

“Do you have a say in where you go and for how long?” he asked.

“I never have in the past, but that was before Dylan.”

“Maybe they can plan it so you could have downtime between shows. Will you take her with you?”

Maddy shook her head. Being on the tour bus was no place for a four-going-on-five-year-old. “My mom lives with us and watches her when I have a work commitment.”

“Have you thought about moving back here? Permanently, I mean.”

She had.

“Yes.” She let the word slip out in a breathless whisper.

“But?”

“I still have another album to record under my contract and will have to fly back and forth a good amount. That means time away from Dylan or bringing her with me.”

“I see what you mean about things being complicated,” he said.

Poor pop star with money and an empty bed. And a lonely heart.

“The things you don’t realize when you pursue a career in the music industry.”

“We’ll always be here for you, Maddy. For you and Dylan. Especially if you want to make Pelican Bay your home base.”

“I know. That means everything to me.”

He stared into the fire. She felt his sadness, and it pulled at her to want to fix it.

“I’m sorry about earlier. About what I said before the foundation meeting. But I get the sense that something else is wrong.”

He blinked and took another swig of his beer. “What makes you think that?”

She shrugged. “I can just tell.”

He sighed, but held her gaze. “I went into the ocean tonight.”

Maddy’s eyes widened. “Oh…wow. How was it?”

“The first time, the guys had to help me out before I passed out. The second was better, but it’s hard not to remember.”

She locked eyes with him. “I know.” She swung her legs over the side of the chaise to face him. “I’m sorry, Ty.”

He set the bottle on the ground. “No. Don’t be sorry. I don’t need the weight of that on my shoulders, too.”

“I don’t know how not to be sorry.” Her eyes filled with tears. “How can I help? ”

“Swim with me. Let’s tackle this together.” He moved and sat next to her. “I’ve tried by myself, but all I see is you, Maddy…that night…me unable to help you.”

She set her guitar against the chair. “You did help me. If you hadn’t done what you did, I likely wouldn’t be here either.”

“In my head, I know it. So why can’t I get beyond it?” he asked.

“It sounds like you made progress, though, right?”

“Barely.”

“You’re one of the strongest men I know.” She squeezed his hands. “You’ve overcome so much. I know you can overcome this, too.”

“How can you know that when I don’t?”

“Because you can do anything.”

The glow of the fire illuminated his face, bathing it in soft light against the dark-blond scruff along his jawline.

“Look at how you were in the bay. Maybe you should start there before trying to tackle the ocean,” she said.

“That’s what Connor said. We’ve gone out in the bay a couple of times, but I haven’t been able to go out too far without feeling the onset of a panic attack.”

The pain etched on his face nearly crushed her. Ty always had his act together. No surprise, since Emma was raised the same way. He’d been like a kid brother to Maddy, but that changed when he hit high school. He’d grown six inches after his freshman year and filled out. With his broad shoulders and lean frame, he had the natural build of a swimmer. Working out gave him just enough muscle—not like the muscle-heads she’d seen on the beaches in L.A. who strutted around without shirts to show off, but the perfect amount.

And now, at twenty-six to her twenty-eight…he took her breath away.

“I’ve been thinking about the swimming thing,” she said .

He turned back to her. “And?”

“I’ll do it.”

A smile lit up his face. “Really? You won’t regret it, Mad.”

“No promises there.”

He laughed and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “We’ll take it slow.”

The air changed around them, sizzling with awareness…desire.

“Ty.”

He shifted and lifted his hands to cup her face.

Maddy didn’t think…couldn’t think. She just knew she needed to taste him.

They met in the middle, a slow melding of lips barely moving as they touched. Ty pulled back a little and searched her face before reaching for her again. Some guys dove right into a kiss, and it had always put Maddy off. But Ty took his time, as though kissing her was something to be savored.

When he parted her lips, she couldn’t contain the moan that had been building. She tugged at his shirt and pulled him closer. Shifting, she made room for him until they lay side by side on the chaise, no easy feat for someone his size. And it brought them close enough for her to feel every delicious part of him.

With her hands, she explored his back, sliding them under his shirt to stroke the smooth warmth before moving to his ass and squeezing. The kiss went from zero to sixty, and it was like she couldn’t get enough of him.

When he cupped her breasts, pulling down the neckline enough to slide a finger in and pull away the fabric, she sucked in a breath, wanting more. He trailed kisses along her jaw, down her neck, until he took an exposed nipple into his mouth. She arched her back, wanting to get closer. He was hard, everywhere, and when she thrust her hips against his burgeoning erection, he emitted a groan that rumbled through her .

He ravaged her mouth, tangling his tongue with hers. So familiar and not at the same time.

Suddenly she stilled. This was familiar, yet they’d never kissed before.

Or had they?

She pulled back and stared at him, his eyes dilated with desire. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Ty tried to suck breath into his lungs, but it was difficult when he lay with Maddy pressed against him, his hands full of her breasts, his cock straining against the fabric of his bathing suit. She practically lay across him, and it was all he could do to maintain a pace without ravishing her the way he wanted to.

“Ty?”

She’d asked him something. “What?”

“A few weeks ago, I had a dream I kissed someone under the moonlight. Like what we’re doing now.” She swallowed. “Was it a dream?”

Busted.

He cupped her chin. “Not a dream.” She tried to push back, but he wouldn’t let her. “Let me explain.”

“It was the night of the shots,” she said.

“We walked home from Toninos and you wanted me to light a fire. I helped you onto the chaise and we kissed.”

She wrinkled her brow in concentration. “We kissed for a while.”

“We did. And then I brought you upstairs to your room.”

“Because I passed out.”

“Yes. ”

She lowered her head to his chest. “Why didn’t you say something the next day?”

A question he’d asked himself multiple times over the past few weeks. “I wanted to, but you were hungover. You acted like you didn’t remember anything, and I felt like a jerk for taking advantage of you.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

He sighed. How did he tell her what was in his heart without completely freaking her out?

“Because I have thought about being with you for so long and didn’t want to do something without you being completely aware and sure of what you were doing.”

She stared at him, speechless and touched by the sincerity of his words.

“You’re one of a kind, Tyler Erickson…a real gentleman.”

Because what he wanted to do with her wasn’t at all gentlemanly, he inhaled slowly before releasing it. “I don’t want you to think I just want sex.”

“You don’t want sex?”

“Of course I do. I don’t only want sex, Maddy. I’ve felt this way for a while. I want to go out…just you and me.”

“Like on a date?”

“Exactly like that.”

“What about our friends? Won’t they think it’s weird if we start dating?”

“What they think shouldn’t matter. Emma and Jace are getting married. Plus, Con and Abby. Everyone is moving forward with their lives. We need to as well. ”

She gnawed on her lower lip. “I’m leaving for L.A. soon. This is all so much…so fast.”

He didn’t want to seem desperate, but they’d come too far for her to let him down. “We’ll wait until you get back from L.A.,” he said.

“And what about this?” She thrust against his crotch.

“That’s what cold showers are for, Mad. I can wait for”—he met her thrust with one of his own—“this.”

He saw the passion in her eyes. And while it was clear she wanted him as much as he wanted her, he didn’t want to pressure her into anything too soon.

“Let’s have dinner. Just you, me, and Dylan. I’ll grill burgers and we can play a game.”

“You know my daughter will want to play the Mermaid Island board game.”

He laughed. “I know. And I’m sure she’ll want to watch The Little Mermaid , too.”

“You are a glutton for punishment.”

“It’s not punishment if it means I can spend time with you.”

She sucked in a breath. “You really have a way with words.”

God, he loved her.

Too soon, man. Keep things cool.

To stop himself from speaking his heart, he kissed her. A slow, tender kiss intended to show her how much he cared, but ended up leaving them both breathless.

With reluctance, he pulled away. “I’m going to go upstairs before we do something you’re not ready for.” He kissed her before she could argue. Perhaps he’d found a way to get in the last word with Maddy Kinkaid. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Rising from the chair, he made his way to the patio, taking one backward glance to see her watching him.

“Night,” she called .

He waved and slipped inside. Going straight to a kitchen cabinet, he removed a tall glass and, using the water feature of the refrigerator, filled and drained it. While the cold water did nothing to help his throbbing cock, it helped bring clarity to his mind.

They needed to go slow. For Maddy’s sake.

He kept thinking it, hoping he’d believe it, but it was hard. As evidenced by what still pulsed in his pants.

Refilling the glass and taking it with him, he went upstairs, hoping he wouldn’t run into Dylan or his sister while in this condition.

In the bathroom, he shed his clothes and turned on the shower. While he waited for it to warm up, he stared at his reflection. He looked the same, yet felt different…like maybe the tides were turning in his favor.

Stepping inside the tub, he let the spray of the warm water from the shower flow over him. He squeezed a small amount of shampoo in his hands. It was only when the coconut scent reached his nose that he realized he’d inadvertently picked up Maddy’s bottle.

He rubbed at his scalp, imagining washing Maddy’s hair…long, dark red tresses that trailed like wide spiral ribbons down her back. He’d had his hands in her hair earlier. So silky and soft. He could imagine her poised over him, her hair a curtain around them, and the image was so clear it brought him to full arousal again.

There was no question he was a pathetic, horny mess. Hard not to be—he could barely remember the last time he’d had sex, and the only time he got off by something other than his own hand was a few days ago with Maddy in the bay.

Rinsing his hair, he grabbed the soap and washed his body, stopping when he reached his throbbing cock. Putting the soap back, he stroked the hard flesh. He had one of two paths. One would leave him frustrated…the other only partially sated.

The lesser of two evils .

He stroked again, this time imagining Maddy’s hands over him.

He barely registered the cool air before he felt hands on his back. “Let me help with that.”

His eyes snapped open. “Maddy?”

“I hope you weren’t expecting someone else,” she said.

Turning, he stared at her, his eyes roaming down her naked body, and fought back a moan.

God help him. She was even more beautiful than he imagined. And he’d imagined a lot over the past ten years.

She’d moved under the spray of water, and the water running down her body over her breasts, down past her stomach, even further down between her legs, made for an erotic sight that almost had him coming.

“Do I smell my shampoo?” she asked.

He snapped out of his fog. “I grabbed the wrong bottle.”

She picked it up, poured a generous amount, and started massaging it into her scalp. “How often do you use the wrong bottle? I’ve been noticing I go through it faster than usual. I thought Dylan was pouring it in her bath.”

He replaced her hands with his. “I guess you can say I’ve had a fantasy about you and this shampoo.”

She feigned shock. “Tyler Erickson, are you saying you’ve been having erotic fantasies about me?”

He massaged her head, rinsing away the shampoo before moving down to her neck and soap-covered breasts. “Only a few thousand.”

Covering her mouth with his, he kissed her, trying to touch all of her at the same time.

“Is this real? Are you really here?” he whispered.

She encircled his cock and stroked. “Does that answer your question? ”

He groaned and pressed into her hand. “Are you sure, Maddy? There’s no going back after this.”

“I’m sure.” She stood on her toes and kissed him. “You’re not the only one who has had fantasies.”

That was the last string holding him together. With those words, he lifted her up and kissed her. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and he pressed her against the side of the shower. With his mouth, he captured her nipple, pleased when she gasped at her pleasure. She straddled him, which allowed him to slip a hand between her legs. Slipping a finger inside her, she thrust against him.

“Maddy…you feel so good,” he murmured against her throat.

“Ty, I’m more than ready. I need you inside me.” She reached for him.

“Don’t have a condom in here.”

“I’m on the pill, and I haven’t had sex since before Dylan was born, so I’m clean.”

“It’s been a while for me, too.”

He didn’t need any further encouragement. He started out slow, giving her petite frame a moment to adjust to all of him.

“You okay?” he asked when he was fully inside her.

She squeezed his ass and rocked her hips. “Never better.”

He wanted to go slow, wanted to savor every gasp and sigh she made, but he was too far gone. She came quick and hard, almost taking him with her. He pulled out and dropped to his knees, kissing down her belly until he reached her center. Brazilian wax, he noted a second before he parted her folds and kissed her, the taste of her arousal a sweet nectar he’d never get tired of sipping.

He added a finger and sucked on her clit until she cried out her release. Only then did he enter her again, this time moving fast.

He lifted her leg and pressed her against the wall as he thrust in and out. “Come again for me, baby. ”

Swallowing her cry, he let out a low growl as he came in a hot rush.

Setting her down, he kissed her slow. “Was I too rough?”

She cradled his face. “You were the perfect amount of rough.”

Even though the water had run cold, they quickly washed off. Drying each other with towels proved a new form of foreplay, and Ty was partially aroused by the time they were done.

“Stay in my room tonight,” he whispered against her mouth.

“What about Dylan? She usually comes into my room in the morning and wakes me up.”

“What time?”

“If I’m lucky, around six.”

“We’ll set the alarm for five…although…” He slid his hands under her towel.

She laughed and tried to bat his hands away. “Although what?”

He let his towel drop so she could see he was fully aroused. “Don’t plan on getting a lot of sleep.”

Maddy awoke slowly, cocooned in a blanket of warmth named Tyler. She slept in his arms all night, her back to his front, with his hand possessively under the slope of her breasts.

It had been the best sleep of her life.

When they weren’t making love, that was.

A quick peek at the clock on the nightstand showed it was four a.m. The alarm Ty had set would go off in an hour, which didn’t leave her a lot of time to enjoy being cuddled and basking in the pleasure of the past six hours.

Six magnificent, sex-filled hours in Ty’s bed after a glorious shower that she’d spend hours over the day remembering in fine detail .

Ty’s mouth on hers, kissing her…touching her. Making her come with his hands and mouth until she lost count, along with the ability to speak.

Now that she was awake, she should probably get up, in case Dylan made an I-had-a-bad-dream visit. Maddy shifted, trying to slide out from his possessive grip.

Warm lips kissed her neck. “Not yet.”

Ty slid his hand to cup her breast, the pad of his fingers slowly circling her nipple into a hard point and causing her to catch her breath. With a tilt of his hips, the hard column of his erection pressed against her backside. She pressed back, and he moaned into her shoulder.

She started to roll toward him, but he held her in place.

His fingers moved lower and parted her already damp folds. In and out he thrust until she was on the brink of orgasm.

He withdrew and shifted down the bed. “Part your legs, sweetheart.” Before she could register what he was doing, he entered her from behind. “Let me know if you’re uncomfortable with this.”

“I’ve never done it this way before,” she said. “I can’t see you.”

“Just let yourself feel.” He raised her top leg so he could thrust deeper.

She curled her body and, using her hands as leverage on the bed, met his thrusts. He moved achingly slow while his hand explored her, building up speed when she picked up his rhythm until she was clawing at the sheets.

“Yes, yes…So good, Ty.”

He caressed her clit until she gasped and came when he pressed down.

“That’s a girl, Maddy.”

Her orgasm went on forever, and before she was done, he was calling out her name as he came .

Breathless, she lay facedown on the bed.

He pulled out and rolled her over until she lay draped across his chest. “You okay? I didn’t hurt you?”

She opened her eyes and ran her hands over his hair, which stood on end in patches. “You didn’t hurt me, but damn…you’ve got some moves. That was incredible.”

“I’ve never done that before either,” he confessed. “But I’ve thought about it enough.”

She raised an eyebrow. “With me?”

“With you.”

He looked at her with reverence, like she was everything he ever needed. She’d waited a long time to feel like that. She wasn’t all that experienced with sex. People assumed she was because she lived in L.A., but truth be told, she’d only had one other lover besides Dylan’s dad.

The first was with another contestant on America’s Teen Talent . And then Reece.

But Maddy had never felt as free as she did with Ty. With him, she didn’t have to pretend to be anything or anyone other than she was.

She smiled at his words. “I’m glad. Why didn’t you tell me you liked me?”

“You used to avoid looking at me and talking to me unless you had to. I didn’t think you liked me .”

Maddy cringed. “I was trying not to like you.”

“Why?”

She stroked his chest, loving the feel of lying this close to someone and talking after sex. Talking with someone who wanted to understand her better.

“Because of what I do, where I live, Dylan, your sister, our friends—”

“I support your career and what you do and love Dylan like she’s my own. My sister will be supportive of us, as will our friends,” he said before she could finish.

“But I live in L.A.”

He tilted her head up. “You live in Pelican Bay right now. Let’s figure us out first and then we’ll figure out L.A.”

“I’m afraid, Ty.”

“Of what, sweetheart?”

“Of hurting you…of making bad decisions.”

He kissed her, slow and sweet. She loved his mouth. He took his time, savoring each touch, each caress.

“I’ve had a crush on you since I was sixteen, Maddy Kinkaid. I’m pretty resilient. You have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders.”

“So do you. So do all our friends.”

“True, but you have Dylan. You need to think about you and her first.”

“How are you always so optimistic? You and Emma are alike that way.”

“Our parents raised us to look at the bright side. Even when things were bad, we tried to find something positive. And when it was a challenge, we held on to our family and friends for support.”

“Like when your dad died.”

“Yes. Same when my grandfather and gram died.” He fingered a curl. “Some people think we didn’t leave Pelican Bay because of Samantha.”

“That’s why Emma didn’t leave.”

“At first. But my sister could have gone to college. Our mom made that clear and encouraged her to go. Em’s acceptance at Pratt had been deferred a semester and then a year. It was her choice to stay.”

“You left for college. ”

“It was easier for me because I still had two years left of high school after Samantha. Even after graduation, I went to community college before transferring to Rowan for my final two years. I lived there because it was something I needed to do. To know I could be on my own yet be close enough to come home.”

“I never wanted to go to college. My mom pressured me to apply to community college, but my dream was to sing. Once Samantha hit, going to school didn’t make financial sense. Instead, I focused on the music.”

“And look at how much of a success you are.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Maybe, but there’s a price to pay—privacy is something sacred, which is why I get worried about Dylan and fans or the media bothering her.”

“And we’ll all be here to help her handle that and chase away anyone who tries to mess with her.”

He was such a good guy. All these years…How could she have stopped herself from seeing that, allowing herself to feel something for him? “I know you and everyone will help. She’ll be the most protected kid in the world.”

“You know it.”

She circled his nipple. “So, you’ve had a crush on me since you were sixteen?”

He winced. “I was hoping you forgot I said that.”

She rolled on top of him. “I had a crush on you when you were sixteen. You couldn’t tell?”

“I was sixteen. I didn’t know how to tell if a girl had a crush on me.”

“Don’t you remember the skimpy bikinis I used to wear?”

He groaned. “Every damn one of them. You have no idea how hard it was—and I do mean that literally—to be near you when you pranced around practically naked. ”

She giggled. “You always found a reason to leave or go to swim practice.”

“Because I was too afraid people would see me like this.” He thrust his hard cock against her.

“I wish I had known.”

“I was a walking hard-on, with a wild crush on my sister’s BFF. And I was too shy to do anything about it. I thought you saw me as a kid.”

“When we were younger, I did. But not that year.” She rubbed at his neck and shoulders. “You grew overnight, and your shoulders were so broad. And swimming kept you fit.” Her hand continued down to his washboard abs and then to his cock. “You’re a sexy man, Ty. I noticed it then, and I notice it now.”

She straddled him, sitting up to take him inside. She’d enjoyed sex before, but she’d never burned for someone as much as she did for him.

With their hands intertwined, she moved on top of him, tilting her pelvis back and pulling away before sitting back down on him.

“You are so beautiful, Maddy. And you are driving me wild right now.” He sat up with her in his lap and kissed her. He thrust up. “Ride me hard, Maddy.”

She did until they both came in a cry that shook her to her core.

She could so easily fall in love with him, was possibly more than halfway there already.

What did they do when they left their bubble of sex and faced the rest of the world?

That was the part that worried Maddy. How could they make this work without one of them compromising something vital to them?