Grace. Grace. Grace.
Everything inside of him exploded, blindingly bright and colorful. He’d never experienced a storm so wild, or one so precious.
Moments later he was on his knees with her, their kisses even more passionate for all they’d just given—and taken—from each other. Only when the sound of footsteps came and he heard someone say his name was he able to drag his mouth from hers.
He looked into her eyes, still beautifully hazy with pleasure. “Someone’s here.” He knew they needed to get their clothes back on, but he couldn’t stop himself from giving her another kiss before, and after, each word.
The second time the visitor called his name, her eyes went wide as what he’d just said finally registered. “Someone’s here,” she echoed.
Grace scrambled for her dress, but Dylan was already drawing it over her head. They were both on their feet again, her lingerie shoved into the pocket of his jeans, when his visitor poked his head around the hull of the boat and saw them in the back corner.
“Ah, there you are, Dylan. Grace, it’s good to see you again.”
His brother Adam looked far too pleased by what he saw. Dylan had walked in on his brother once when they were teens, and he had no doubt his brother saw this as payback.
Grace’s skin was flushed, both from their kisses and from obvious embarrassment at nearly being caught without their clothes on, but Dylan was impressed by the lift of her chin. Her strength had drawn him from the start, and he loved the way she calmly met his brother’s eyes.
“It’s good to see you, too, Adam,” she said smoothly, despite the fact that her underwear was stuffed into Dylan’s jeans pocket.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” his brother said, even though he knew damn well that he was.
Grace raised an eyebrow in Adam’s direction, the same look he’d seen her give Mason once when he was misbehaving at the aquarium. A warning not to mess with her. “Actually,” she said with a small smile, “your timing was perfect.” Turning back to Dylan, she said, “I need to get back to my babysitter now.”
He wanted to reach for her, wanted his brother—and the rest of the world—to know for sure that she wasn’t just a journalist doing a story on him or just a sexy fling. She was his. And yet, he knew he couldn’t force anything, knew that no matter the physical barriers they’d begun to knock down between them, she’d only resent him if he tried to push her faster than she was ready to go.
Thankfully, though, instead of simply walking away, she reached up to put her hand on his face and then went on her tippy-toes in her heels to press her mouth to his in a soft kiss. She was smiling when she pulled back. “‘Bye.”
* * *
“I knew when you called us together last night that things were serious,” Adam said, “but seeing you two together today? Love at first sight has clearly struck again. It’s like an epidemic in this family.”
Dylan only grinned. “You know what they say—the longer you hold out, the harder you fall. Which means you’re going to be dust when it happens to you.”
“Nope,” Adam insisted. “At least one of us has to keep having fun. Do you know what you’re doing, gunning for a ready-made family with Grace and Mason?”
Adam might think he was happy with his parade of one-night stands who had nothing of substance to say outside of the bedroom, but his brother didn’t have a damn clue what he was missing. No-strings fun got real old, real fast.
Grace’s beauty, her innate sensuality, had been what had drawn Dylan in at first. And every time they touched, he knew how perfectly matched they were as man and woman. But it was her resilience and strength that had solidified his knowledge that she was the right woman to go the distance with. He’d grown up with a strong woman leading their family, and he couldn’t imagine settling for anything less than the example their mother had provided. Grace was everything he could ever have wanted. Everything he could ever have wished for.
“If there was a chance that she’d agree to marry me today, I’d jump at it.”
Adam studied him for a moment before nodding. “She makes you happy. A different kind of happy than you’ve always been.”
“Trust me, you’ll understand once it happens to you.”
Deliberately ignoring that last statement, Adam said, “While nearly walking in on the two of you going at it was fun, I’m here because I’ve got a favor to ask. Turns out the city is planning to tear down the old Maritime Museum to rebuild something flashy and modern.”
Dylan frowned. “I thought that had been tabled for the time being so that more people could weigh in.”
“Not according to what I just heard this morning from a friend on the board.”
“The place needs a hell of a lot of work, but there’s major history in that building.”
“I know. That’s why I’m going to convince them to let me restore it instead. Which is where you come in. You not only speak their language, but you’ve built boats for half the people on the board. They’re having a cocktail event in a couple of days. It would be great if you and Grace could come.”
“I’m in, and I’ll check with Grace,” Dylan said. “In return, I could use an extra pair of hands putting the final coat of urethane on the boat.”
“Man, this sloop is a beauty,” Adam said, already rolling up his sleeves to help. “You’ve built some great boats, but I think this one might be your finest yet. Your client is one lucky S.O.B.”