Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
THEA
“Absolutely not,” Joe said with more confidence than I expected.
“How can you be so sure?” I pressed
“My parents loved you before, and they'll love you again.”
“Yeah, but my dad made us break up, and they probably didn’t appreciate how he treated you.”
He shrugged. “They're adult enough to be able to make the distinction between you and your father. Plus, my mom's the one who told Joey I wanted to marry you.”
“You really told your mom that?” I squeaked.
“Sure, I did. I want to marry you, so it’s nothing but the truth.” He was all easy breezy about it. “Thea, you’re it for me. I don't care what I have to do to help you believe me, but you are.”
My eyes stung with a rush of hot tears, and my heart felt as if it was about to be yanked out of my chest, the way a kite billowed abruptly when a gust of wind caught it. The sensation was joyful and terrifying because I couldn't control it.
“Oh, oh, oh, wow,” I breathed.
The sound of kids laughing in the play area reached us with the pitter-patter of feet following as a pair of girls ran by squealing. “I know this isn't a romantic place,” Joe said, his lips curling in a rueful smile. “I should have taken Joey’s advice and sat on the other side.”
Joy rose definitively through the rush of panic and emotion. I reached for his hand where it rested on the table, grabbing on to it as if it were a lifeline. His hand curled around mine, his touch strong and warm and sure. “This is perfect.” His intent gaze held mine while my heart thudded.
“Yeah?” His low, gravelly voice sent a shiver skating over my skin.
“It means a lot that you wanted me to meet Joey. You’ve really never introduced anyone to him before?”
Joe shook his head swiftly. “My life has been busy, and it's…” He paused, reaching to take a swallow of his water with his free hand.
After he set it down, he angled to face me.
“I'm busy with work and with my son. I wasn’t against having a relationship, but nobody came along. I never stopped wondering about you even though I kind of thought it was a lost cause.”
His comments stung. The memory hurt, like a jagged scrape torn open again.
The squeeze of his hand around mine brought my focus back. “Then I saw you, and it all just felt right. I don't even have to think about it.”
“But—”
He placed two fingers over my lips. “Let me say this, and I’m going to keep reminding you as long as I need to.
All the hard parts that other people struggle with come easy for us.
Geography is the only detail we have to figure out.
In the big scheme of things, that’s not much. Boston's not that far away.”
“Okay.” I took a breath, the tension in my chest easing.
Joy mingled with the intense love I felt for this man.
I heard Joey calling, “Dad, Thea, look!”
We swiveled in unison to see him standing atop the slide. “Watch me.”
Joe squeezed my hand, and we watched as Joey slid down the slide in a rush, bouncing on the ballooned landing platform at the bottom.
Joe was slick. He’d told me about our plans for dinner, but I didn't realize his other motives.
Joey was completely wiped out as soon as we got home.
He said he wanted to watch TV, but he fell asleep on the couch about five minutes into his favorite show.
Joe held a finger to his lips as he scooped him into his arms and took him to bed.
He'd already made sure Joey brushed his teeth.
“It's not even eight o'clock,” I commented when he returned to the living room.
He winked as he slipped onto the couch beside me. “Trust me, he won't wake up. That's one thing kids have good.”
“What?”
“Sleeping straight through the night. It's crazy. Once he falls asleep, Joey is out until morning comes. Once he wakes up, he’s like a cricket bouncing around.”
I giggled. “Nice description.”
“Hey, trust me. Wait until you see him. We won't be sleeping in tomorrow.”
“Should we go to bed early then?”
Joe dusted a kiss on my neck in that sensitive spot right behind my ear, and I shivered all over. “Yes, we should.”
He lifted the remote and clicked off the TV. I stood and started to move away, but he caught me by the hand. Spinning toward him, I found myself caught in the beam of his gaze. My face was just above his as I stood over where he was seated on the couch.
He leaned forward, palming my cheek. “It's good to have you here,” he murmured in a gruff whisper.
“It's good to be here,” I whispered in return, my forehead falling to his.
He kissed me—slow, lazy, and deep. By the time he lifted his lips from mine, my knees were liquid, and I was gasping for air. I melted straight through, like a stick of butter in the hot sun.
“Joe,” I scolded. “We’re in the living room.”
He threw me an unabashed grin. “I know. We're gonna go to the bedroom just in case Joey wakes up, but the odds of him waking up and walking out here after a night like tonight are probably less than zero.”
He stood and lifted me into his arms. There was something delicious about being carried by a strong man. I breathed in his scent—crisp with that hint of the ocean that always seemed to cling to him. I pressed kisses on the inside of his neck, murmuring, “You smell good.”
“Slow down, sweetheart. We’ve got to get to the bedroom,” he rasped before pausing to kiss me thoroughly.
He moved like a cat, stealthy and silent, down the hallway. Once we were in his bedroom, He eased me down and closed the door. “I'm not locking it,” he said. “It’s a dad thing.”
“Makes sense. If he needs to come in, you don’t want him locked out.”
“Exactly. We're gonna be under the covers and everything.”
“We are?” I teased. “Oh, I like this. It feels like we're breaking a rule.”
Joe's chuckle was low and sent a shiver chasing through me. In a hot second, he was tugging my clothes off while I yanked at his. We fell onto the bed, and he rolled over to lay a deep kiss on me. When we broke apart to gasp for air, he rolled me with him and pulled the covers over both of us.
“Have we done it under the covers?” I asked.
He nipped at my neck. “Not recently. I remember we fooled around once or twice at my parents under the covers back in the day.”
“Oh, wow. Now that's a memory.”
“Here's another one.” I felt the motion of his lips on my collarbone.
The feel of his calloused palm sliding up the inside of my thigh sent sparks in a scatter over my skin.
He pushed my knee to the side before he disappeared under the covers.
His lips dropped kisses on my belly, and his fingers delved into my channel.
I was already slippery wet with arousal, and I let out a gasp, immediately yanking the sheets to my mouth.
It was all I could do not to cry out when I felt his mouth join the fun.
Joe knew his way around, driving me crazy.
He teased me to the edge of madness, making love to me with his fingers and his mouth.
Again and again and again, he just barely glanced over my swollen and needy clit with his tongue.
He ignored my muffled pleas. Finally, finally, he rose, resting his hips in the cradle of mine. His thick arousal slid through my folds. I tasted myself on him when he kissed me.
He drew back, murmuring, “I want to feel you come on my cock, sweetheart.”
Then I felt the delicious intoxicating stretch as he sank into me in a slow thrust. My orgasm was already threatening.
He pulled back, giving another slow pump before I shattered, my orgasm pulling me under like a riptide.
As I came in deep surges, he kissed me, capturing my cries in his mouth.
I felt the heat of his release filling me as he shuddered roughly, burying his mouth against my neck in a hot, open-mouthed kiss.
He rolled swiftly away, bringing me with him, and I rested against his muscled body. My heartbeat echoed through my body, a rolling drum of emotion and sated need.
This. It always felt so profoundly right, with Joe, right in a way it hadn't felt before, even during the heady days of our forbidden crush so many years ago.
I let my fingertips trail over his chest before lifting my head and resting my chin on my palm, directly over his heart.
He opened his eyes to meet mine, a barely-there grin curling the corners of his mouth.
“What?” he prompted.
Leaning forward, I dropped a kiss in the divot at the base of his throat before lifting my head and replying, “I don't know. It's really good to be here.”
“It's really good for you to be here.” His fingers slid through my hair and down my back.
“Are you up early on the weekends usually when Joey’s here?”
Joe's laugh was dry. “I don't have much choice. Let's just say I'm grateful getting up early comes naturally. He’s conked out now, but trust me, he'll be bouncing around in the morning. I usually try to beat him up.”
I giggled, and he rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I know what you mean. You mean beat him to being awake.”
“Precisely. What's the plan for tomorrow?”