36. Caleb
THIRTY-SIX
Caleb
I ’d never taken a girl to Café Midnight. Margot was the first. My brother used to tell me it was the place you took a girl if you wanted to get laid. I’d learned early on the tourist girls weren’t looking for fancy restaurants and candlelight. They wanted an escape from wherever they had been dragged from. An island boy in a uniform was usually enough of an escape for them. I’d never bothered with taking them on the ferry. Fuck. I sounded like an asshole when I thought about it.
Margot took a bite of her chocolate cake. “Mmm. Everything tonight has been delicious. Can we eat here all the time?” she joked.
I liked to see her happy. Helping her get away from the Blue Heron was good for her. The problem was still there. My idea about the bookstore blew up in my face. I had one more I needed to broach with her.
“We could come here more.” I tried to fight her for the next fork full of dessert.
“Good.” She smiled over the candlelight.
“If you want to eat at Café Midnight more often, does that mean you’re thinking about staying?”
She was slow to place the fork on the plate. “You want to know if I’m going to try to keep the Blue Heron?”
I shook my head. “No. Yes.” I exhaled. I’d been keeping this to myself for way too long. The doubts had been there. Did I really think someone like Margot with no ties to the island would want to stay?
“I want to know if you’re going to stay,” I admitted. “Stay here.”
“Stay?”
“Yes. Are you going back to New York when the summer is over?”
There was confusion all over her face. Had I said the wrong thing? Was I pushing too hard and too fast? A girl like Margot could go anywhere in the world. Any city. Once she started writing again she could live anywhere she wanted to live. It was only a matter of time before she found a new agent and found her way back to her career.
The sinking feeling in my stomach expanded. It was getting deeper with each passing second as if someone had cast a weight and it had reached the bottom of the ocean floor.
“I need you to know something, Margot. I’m here. This is where I’m from. Where my family lives. Generations of Coastguardsmen have been here at the same station.” I took a big breath, worried I was throwing all of this at her. “We haven’t talked about it, but I want you to stay when the summer ends.”
Her mouth opened. “I—umm.”
“I know, it’s a lot and I’m not trying to put pressure on you, but I can’t go anywhere. This isn’t just home, it’s work and I have orders. I can’t pick up and leave. I can’t go where you go.”
“I think I understand what you’re saying. And there’s something I wanted to bring up that happened today. Dean stopped by this morning with bad news.”
“What kind of bad news?” I felt the tenseness creep into my shoulders. I didn’t like that Dean was working as the attorney of the estate. I didn’t trust him. It was obvious he was still interested in Margot.
“It’s not just the back taxes that I owe on the property and all the other bills. There’s a new tax bill.” She had stopped eating the chocolate cake. “Basically, I need to come up with thousands of dollars or I’m going to lose the Blue Heron either way and still owe on it.”
“Shit, that’s terrible.”
“It’s not good. So I’ve been trying to think about how I can get things going a little faster. I’ve been jotting down ideas at night.”
I blinked. “In the notebook?”
She tilted her head. “You’ve seen that?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t want to pry. I didn’t know if it was some kind of diary thing or maybe you were coming up with new storylines. I guess I was afraid to ask.”
“The notebook is neither of those. I’ve divided it into sections. There’s one that lists what needs to be fixed that’s broken. Then there is a section on what works that can make money.” Her eyes flickered with excitement. “And my favorite one is the new things that Uncle Walt never installed or just didn’t get around to trying.”
“Like what?” I wanted to hear every detail. She had been thinking about this. Writing it. Planning it.
“Well, the two things that are operational and consistently bring in cash are the boat ramp and the boat slips. But I don’t have any advertising and no way to bring in new business to the marina without that. I thought I would set up some social media. Seems like the easiest and cheapest way and I need to make sure those two things can be ready every day.”
“That’s true. It makes sense.”
“I have to start small but what if I can make the Blue Heron more of an overnight boater destination? Like a boaters’ AirBnB kind of thing?”
I chuckled. “I’d love to hear this plan.”
“Okay. I don’t have all the ideas, but I could show outdoor movies, it’s inexpensive and people could watch from their boats, and it might even bring in locals.”
My jaw dropped. “That’s an incredible idea.”
“I have more.” Her face lit up.
The waitress paused at the side of the table and asked if we wanted to order anything else. I handed her my credit card. As much as we enjoyed Café Midnight, I wanted to continue this conversation back at the marina.
“I want to hear all about it.” I took her hand in mine. “This means you’re going to stay?”
She nodded. “Yes. I’m going to stay.”
A s we drove away from downtown, I couldn’t help but think about the first time we were in Harbor Pointe together. The girl I had met that day, soaking wet in her pajamas, who wouldn’t even accept dry clean clothes from me, was a different woman than the one I had shared dinner with tonight. Our world had changed.
When I pulled onto the ferry and put the car in park, I cracked the windows slightly for the cool sea cross-breeze. It whipped through the car. I cut the ignition and we immediately looked at each other. It was as if I had to fight through the air between us to get to her. My heart was pounding out of my fucking chest. My hand traced the side of her face as she crossed the console. My lips swept over hers. I could taste hints of wine and chocolate on her breath. I couldn’t wait to get her out of the restaurant to kiss her. To touch her. My other hand roamed over her knee before sliding the cute sundress up her thighs. It was a damn cute dress. A distraction. Right now it was in the way.
“What are you…”
“Shhh,” I warned her. “I don’t want Donnie or the other guys to hear the noises you’re about to make.”
“What noi?—”
My thumbs stroked the soft skin of her inner thigh as I slid her panties to the side. I slid my index finger just over her clit. Margot whimpered as I grazed up and down. Then I began to explore deeper between her legs, giving her clit special attention.
“Ohh, shit.” Her head fell back on the headrest as her hips moved at my instruction.
Fuck me. She was wet. I wanted to taste her. Smell her. Bury myself inside her. The ferry ride wasn’t long enough. I wanted her to come before we reached the Marshoak docks.
I timed the orgasm, building her to a frenzy as she clutched the handle over the window. My fingers plunged inside her and I kissed her roughly. Our tongues thrashed together. I pumped my fingers, swirling over her clit, rubbing her swollen nub. She gasped for air and whispered my name. The ferry horn blasted just as she came in my hand. I smiled, kissing the corners of her lips. I watched the satisfaction on her face. She was beautiful and sexy. I felt the aftershocks of her orgasm quiver around my fingers. If only I had time to make her come again, I would.
“Ohh.” She sighed, trying to catch her breath. “Can we do that again? Do it again.” She looked at me, her lips ravenously moving against mine. Her hand explored the outside of my khakis, rubbing over my erection. Shit. I was hard. Turned on. Her palm was on a mission.
“We have to get off this boat,” I choked. “I swear I’ll drive fast.”
I thought she was going to climb in my lap and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
Before things turned completely X-rated on the ferry, Donnie slapped the bumper. I looked in the rearview mirror. He had already moved on to the next car. They were pulling chalks.
“Let’s go home.”
She nuzzled into my neck. Her hand didn’t move.
“You have to wear your seatbelt, Margot.” I tried to act stern and serious, but the massage she was giving my cock was hard to argue with.
“Fine,” she huffed playfully. She strapped it across her chest and buckled it again. “But I’m not done.”
“You better fucking not be.” I laughed and steered us off the ferry, driving like a bat out of hell to get to the Blue Heron.
I rolled the windows down, letting the night air cool us for the quick ride. Margot laughed. Things had changed tonight at dinner. I reached for her hand, kissing the tops of her knuckles.
“Hey, so there was something I wanted to ask you.”
“What’s that?” she asked with a lazy sexy smile on her face. “Because yes to whip cream. Yes to anything else you want to do in bed.” She laughed.
“Family dinner.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s not sex talk.”
“No.” I laughed. “But, what do you say? My parents have been on me for not spending time over there. I thought you might want to meet them.”
“Yes.” She answered with confidence. “I’d love to meet your parents.”
“Good. They’d love to meet you too.”
“Just tell your mom I have a horrible track record with spilled milk, so scratch that off the beverage list.” There was a tiny giggle. I’d have to reassure her before dinner that my mom didn’t have anything in the house that was priceless and she had nothing to worry about.
Everything was expanding beneath my ribs with the new connection Margot and I had created. Tonight, could not be more perfect. She was going to stay. The sex was getting better every time. She was beautiful and creative. I was impressed that she was willing to take a risk with the Blue Heron. Sure, the money was still the biggest obstacle. But she wanted to stay. And that’s all that mattered.
I took the turn onto the gravel road a little quickly and we were jostled in our seats.
“Sorry. Maybe a little too anxious to get you home,” I teased.
I took the rest of the drive to the marina with more caution. It felt like an eternity. I slowed when a raccoon ran out in front of us. Margot squealed.
“I still forget all my neighbors around here are nocturnal.” She grinned. Her hand moved back to the top of my leg. I didn’t want her to start something again that would leave us stranded in the car in the parking lot. But her hand felt so damn good.
The tires crunched over the gravel. As we emerged from the overgrown drive, I realized there was a car I’d never seen before parked in front of the cottage.
“Who is that?” I asked. I shone the headlights in its direction. The reflection bounced onto the license plate. “New York?”
Margot’s reaction to the parked car told me she knew exactly who it was. I pulled around the side, glaring at the man sitting on the porch steps.
“Ethan,” she whispered.