And Then Forever (10 page)

He did the same with her, and a second later, their shirts were on the deck. He reached behind her, unfastening the hooks of her bra. The straps slid carelessly down her arms. Kincaid caught one in the crook of his finger, then stepped back. His gaze connected with hers, hot and dark, as he pulled down the strap and revealed her breasts a little at a time. The bra fell to the floor, and she stood there in the moonlight, half naked.

“God, you are still so beautiful,” he said. “So, so beautiful.” His fingers danced along her skin, skipping over the swell of her breast, then along the edge of her nipple. Then he trailed his touch lower, lingering along the silver ring in her belly. “You still have it.”

She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “It’s part of me.”

“It’s one of the parts that turned me on the most. Then. And now.” He dropped down, placed a soft, quick kiss on her bellybutton, then rose again and kissed her, deeper this time, hotter, his tongue playing with hers.

She ached, oh how she ached for more, for him to grab her and take her now, right now. She fumbled in her back pocket for the condom, having that one moment of clear thought of never making the same mistake twice, and pressed it into his palm. She wanted him, wanted him more than she wanted to breathe, and if she thought about it another second, her common sense would stop her. She didn’t want common sense. Didn’t want to think about tomorrow. She wanted Kincaid, in her, on her. Now. “Don’t say anything, Kincaid. Just…just fuck me.”

He arched a brow, and a smile filled his face. “Darcy, I—”

She pressed her palm over his lips. If he said another word, she’d change her mind. Her brain would start telling her it was a mistake, that she could lose her heart a second time. So she shushed him and shushed that part of her and whispered, “Just fuck me.”

His hands went to his shorts, and a moment later, they were undone and on the ground, followed by her shorts, her cowboy boots. The moonlight glowed on their bare skin, kissing them with silver. Kincaid lowered her to the floor, on top of the pile of their clothes, and grasped both of her hands in his. He raised them above her head while his mouth slid lower, lower, to take one nipple in his mouth. She arched against him, seeking more, needing more, and he slipped two fingers inside her, working the deepest parts of her at the same time his mouth toyed with her nipple. The first orgasm hit her fast and hard, and then she was tugging her hands out of his and grabbing his hips and urging him into her.

Kincaid sank his cock inside her, in one long, hard stroke. Darcy gasped, and gripped his ass, his back, anything she could touch, hold, grab, to bring him closer, deeper still. His hazel eyes met hers, and she had to look away because it was too much, too close, and all she wanted right now was the sex. She could handle that.

He sped up his strokes, harder, faster, and she was gripping at him and calling out his name and meeting his thrusts with her own. The orgasm built inside her, spiraling upward, seeming to explode in her body like a tidal wave, and then she was lost, lost inside Kincaid, in a long, hot, sweet moment that stole her breath.

He stayed on top of her for a moment, reaching up a hand to brush away a tendril of hair off her face. He met her gaze, his expression serious, and once again, Darcy had to look away. She rolled to the side, forcing Kincaid to move off of her and over to the other side.

All Darcy wanted to do right now was run. Her heart was hammering, not because of the orgasm anymore, but because she realized that she hadn’t just had sex with Kincaid. She’d unlocked her heart again, nudging open that window between them that she had shut years ago. A part of her wanted to curve into the protective circle of his arms, lean her head on his chest and listen to his heart beat, just as she had a hundred times that summer. She wanted to feel the rough touch of his five o’clock shadow against her forehead, listen to the low rumble of his voice as he talked.

Instead, she picked up her bra, not even caring that she only managed to get one hook fastened. She slid on her panties, and had her shorts halfway on before Kincaid stopped her. “What are you doing?”

“I have to go home. It’s been a long day and I’m tired and…” Her voice trailed off.

“And you’re having second thoughts about what we just did?”

“No, of course not.” She might as well brand herself with the word
liar.
“It was fine.”

“Fine?” He chuckled. “Then I have lost my touch.”

“You haven’t lost anything.” The words escaped her before she could stop them. Damn it. This wasn’t the plan. Wasn’t the plan at all. She wrangled into her T-shirt and started pulling on her boots. “I just…I have to go.”

Kincaid got to his feet and pulled on his shorts. “That’s it? Wham, bam, thank you?”

“Come on, Kincaid, we both know this isn’t going anywhere. You’re eventually going back to your life, and mine will always be here, on this island. We’ve already been down that summer fling road before.”

“Is that what you thought it was that summer? Just a fling?”

No, she’d thought it was something more. Something permanent. Something she could have and hold for the rest of her life. Back then, she’d believed that. But now…she knew what a price she would pay if she brought Kincaid any further into her life.

How could she have been so stupid? How could she have let her desire take over like that? It was as if she was eighteen again, impulsive and heedless of consequences, doing whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it. As if she wasn’t the mother of a six-year-old, who had bills to pay and a daughter to protect and an impossible, controlling contract that hung over her head every day of her life.

“I always thought you were an open book, Darcy.” Confusion glimmered in Kincaid’s eyes. “That I could tell you anything because I knew you, knew you better than myself. And you’ve been that way, until just now. It’s like you put up this wall.” He shook his head.

“I’m just being realistic. This…whatever this was tonight probably won’t last. It happens all the time,” she said. Lying to him. To herself. “People fall in love during the season, then they go back to reality in the fall.” She gathered the glasses and the bottle, holding them against her chest, as if it the tequila would provide enough of a barrier between her heart and Kincaid.

“It was more than that for me that summer, Darcy. I never expected you to break up with me like that.” He took a step closer. “Why did you do it?”

She looked away. “It’s past history. We can’t go there again.”

“We were so happy, Darcy.” He let out a breath and laced their fingers together. How she wanted to hold onto his hands, to hold onto his touch, his words. “I…I wanted to marry you.”

Marry?
The word hit her like a lightning bolt. She jerked away from him, met his eyes. He really wanted to marry her back then? “You…you did?”

“Yes, I did. I even had a ring.” He shrugged, like it was no big deal, but she could see the shimmer of hurt in his eyes. “I bought it from Betsy Cohen’s shop, the one on Main Street. It wasn’t much, but that summer, all I wanted was to be with you forever.”

Her heart stuttered. What if she had told Kincaid the truth? Would he still have wanted to marry her then? Would they still be together now, a little happy family of three? She couldn’t go back and do all that over. She couldn’t think of those
what-ifs
because they would destroy her. What was done was done, what was signed was signed, and she couldn’t change any of it. “Oh, Kincaid, don’t say those things. It’s over. We’re two different people now.”

“Are we? Because I saw the same people we used to be, out here on this deck tonight.”

She wanted to believe him, wanted to trust in a future that had never happened. But then she thought of his father and the contract she had signed. She couldn’t risk her heart, and certainly couldn’t risk losing Emma. So she steeled her features and feigned a coldness she didn’t feel. “That was sex. Nothing more.”

His face hardened. “Maybe it was to you.” Then he gave her one last long look, before he turned on his heel and headed down the stairs. A second later, he was gone, swallowed by the dark night.

“W
ho switched your Froot
Loops for All-Bran this morning?” Abby asked. She and Kincaid were sitting at the small kitchen table in Whit’s rental house. Abby had tried several times to talk to Kincaid, telling him how much the baby was kicking, how she wanted to go into town today to buy a few more things for the nursery, how she should probably start looking for a more permanent housing solution over the next few days, and he’d responded with nothing more than grunts.

“Sorry. Just a lot on my mind.”

Worry clouded Abby’s face. “Is it Father? Has he tried to contact you?”

“He did. I shut my phone off.”

She laughed. “Getting nothing but voicemail is going to drive him nuts.”

“It is. But it’s better than him calling me every five seconds to yell at me for abdicating my responsibilities.”

Abby chewed on her bottom lip. “Do you think he’s going to figure out that we’re here?”

Kincaid had paid cash for everything that he had done with Abby, from the rental to the crib. He’d left no paper trail because he knew his father would try to track his son and daughter with any means possible. With their phones off, Abby knew Edgar couldn’t track them, but there was a possibility he had already started doing that before Kincaid powered down.

They both had worried from the start that Gordon might go looking for Abby. The cash choice had bought them some time, but not as much as Kincaid or Abby would like. She could see the stress and worry in her big brother’s face, and wished she could help ease his fears. But they were the same fears that tightened her own chest.

“I think he will figure out we came to the island very soon,” Kincaid said. “If he hasn’t already. And he’ll show up, with the cavalry, if he needs to.”

“To bring us both back in line.” Abby squared her shoulders and sat up straighter in the chair. She could do this. She would do this. She was no longer going to let anyone—her own father included—decide where and how she lived her life. “I’m not going back, Kincaid. I don’t care if I’m penniless the rest of my life. I don’t care if Father never speaks to me again. All I care about is right here, in this kitchen.”

He covered his sister’s hand with his own. “Me, too. And I have enough saved that you won’t ever be penniless. You’ll be fine. I swear it.”

Her eyes watered and she gave his fingers a squeeze. “You are a good big brother, you know that?”

“Only because I have a better little sister.”

She laughed. Kincaid deserved to be happy, she thought. He deserved and needed a woman who would spoil him, give him a family of his own. “Well, some woman is going to be mighty lucky to marry you. But you better choose wisely. I want a sister-in-law who will eat cake with me and talk smack about you behind your back.”

“Hey, I thought I was a good big brother. Why would you do that?”

“Because I can’t let your head get too big. Or you’ll never fit through the door.” She grinned. Just being around Kincaid made her feel happier and stronger. She was so grateful to have him. “Seriously, though, back to lucky women, have you seen Darcy?”

“I need some more coffee.” Kincaid got to his feet.

“Grab me the cereal box,” Abby said. “I already want seconds.”

He chuckled. “I think you are taking this eating for two thing literally.”

“Hey, it’s the only time in my life I can do that without guilt.” She took the cereal box from him and dumped some more into her bowl. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you avoiding the question. Have you seen Darcy lately?”

Oh yes, he’d seen Darcy, Kincaid thought. All of her. Just a few hours ago. His mind had replayed their lovemaking a hundred times last night. It had been hot and furious and amazing, and already he craved her again. Hell, he’d been craving her from the minute they finished. He’d never been able to get enough of Darcy, of her smile, her body, her laugh.

But there was something between them now, something he couldn’t put a finger on. A wall of sorts, that he saw in her eyes whenever she looked at him. And when he’d talked about seeing her more, she’d looked almost…afraid. Which made no sense.

“I’ve seen her,” Kincaid said now to his sister, “but I don’t think she wants to see me.”

“Really? Because Darcy was totally in love with you that summer.” Abby toyed with her mug. “Heck, she even put up one of the dollar bills.”

That surprised him. “She did?”

“Yup. I was there when she did it. I don’t even think she knew I was there. I was in the back, with a bunch of those girls I made friends with that summer?” Abby’s gaze went out the window. “I wonder what happened to them. We kept in touch for a while, but I haven’t seen Leanne or Jennifer in ages. Maybe I should email them.”

His sister was like that—she’d tell a story and detour onto three other paths before she got back to the point. Kincaid tried not to be impatient. “Tell me about the dollar bill.”

“Oh yes, right. Sorry.” Abby redirected her attention to him. “Darcy was sitting with Jillian, and they were talking about you. I overheard her a little. And she was all smiley and happy and giggly…you know how it is.”

“Yeah, I get giggly all the time.” From her place in the corner, Mooch let out a little yip, as if agreeing. But the thought of Darcy being giggly about him…well, it kind of made his heart sing a little.

Abby swatted at him. “Well, you would giggle if you were
in love
like Darcy was with you.”

Darcy had been in love with him? She’d never said anything, never even said the words
I love you
, but then again, neither had he. He’d thought it a thousand times, but it seemed so impossible to love someone you’d only known for a summer. He’d planned to tell her when he proposed, even had the whole dorky speech in his head:
I love you, I want to be with you forever.
“Then what happened?”

Abby arched a brow and sat back in her seat. “So you
are
still interested in her.”

“I didn’t say that. I…just wanted to hear the story.”

“Right.” She scoffed. “Maybe I shouldn’t finish it just to drive you crazy.”

“If you do, I will throw away every single Tastykake in this house.” For the last few weeks, Abby had been craving the chocolate frosted treats. Kincaid had bought an entire case of them on the mainland, and already they were half gone.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Don’t tempt me. I’m bigger and stronger than you.” He grinned.

She pursed her lips, then couldn’t hold the expression and ended up laughing. “You do not play fair.”

“I’m not supposed to.” He wagged a finger at her. “I’m your big brother.”

She shook her head. “All right. I don’t remember everything, because it was a few years ago, and I didn’t know there’d be a quiz today, but Darcy was talking about you and getting all giggly, and the next thing I saw, she pulled out a dollar bill and a marker and wrote something with her initials and yours, then she ran across the room and stapled it on the wall. Far as I know, it’s still there.”

He made a mental note to look for the dollar bill the next time he was in The Love Shack. He knew the old legend about the wall, how anyone who wanted true love to come their way or for the love of their life to last forever, posted their feelings on the dollar bill and tacked it there. At the time, he’d thought it was a dorky rumor, one of those silly things that bars started just to add that little extra edge of mystique. He never thought Darcy believed in that legend either, but if she’d put a bill on the wall, maybe she did.

And maybe that meant she’d felt more that summer than she’d ever let on. And if that was so, maybe she still could.

He’d only been here a week, and already he found himself settling into Fortune’s Island like he had years ago. The place felt more like home than any of the fancy monstrosities he’d lived in over the course of his lifetime. And whenever he was with Darcy, that feeling multiplied.

He still wanted everything he’d wanted that summer—only he wanted it more now because he knew what it was like to live without the tranquility he’d found in her, the acceptance of the residents, and most of all, Darcy’s smile. If there was still a chance that they could make it work, he was going to go after her.

Because nothing had changed in his heart. Not in seven years. And after last night, he was beginning to have hope that nothing had changed in her heart, either.

“Hey, Kincaid, I want to get out of here today,” Abby said. “What do you say we go down to the beach for a little while?”

This side of the island wasn’t as busy as the other side, and not nearly as tourist-invaded as the northern end. Though he worried that someone would recognize himself or Abby, he thought it might be safe enough to venture down to the water for a little while. Besides, his sister had been cooped up in the house for days, and walking was probably good for her pregnancy. He’d keep an eye out, nonetheless. “Sure. But only if you promise to put on tons of sunscreen and drink a lot of water.”

“Yes, Mommy.” She stuck out her tongue at him, then got to her feet. She packed a bag with sunscreen, towels and a floppy hat and the two of them headed for the door, with Mooch tagging along. The dog was already becoming a part of his life, and he knew he’d be sad the day he gave her up.

On the porch, Abby turned back to face him. “You know, Darcy is a pretty awesome person. If she loved you once, she can love you again. While you’re here, I think you should see what could be. Because if you ask me, someone like that doesn’t come along very often.”

No, Kincaid thought, as he followed his sister down the path to the water, someone like Darcy sure didn’t come along very often. Then he smiled. What was it Abby had said? If she loved him once, she could love him again. And that would be good, Kincaid decided. Very, very good.

*~*~*

D
arcy awoke to a
six-year-old staring into her face. “Good morning, monkey.”

“Good morning, Mommy.” Emma’s face was serious, which meant she was about to ask for something. Darcy bit back a grin. “Nona says she has to go home soon. And I wanna go to the beach today. Can we go to the beach?”

Darcy sat up, pressed a hand to her forehead. She’d only had two shots last night, but they were lingering in a headache on the fringes of her skull. That’s what she got for rarely drinking. Then she remembered where the tequila had gotten her—underneath Kincaid in a hot, sweaty, mindless moment of sex that had been amazing. But incredibly stupid.

Good lord, she really needed to get her hormones under control. They clearly weren’t the smartest part of her.

“Emma, I don’t know if we should go to the beach today—“

“But, Mommy, you promised. And Nona bought me a new ball. A red one. And I wanna take it on the beach and play with it. And take my Barbies and let them go swimmin’.” Emma pouted for emphasis.

Darcy
had
promised Emma a trip to the beach, and ever since Kincaid arrived, she’d procrastinated and found excuses to keep Emma home. Maybe if they went early enough, Kincaid wouldn’t be up—hopefully nursing a hangover of his own—and she could manage to get Emma home without running into her father. “Okay, we’ll go but you have to—”

Emma was already shouting her joy and running out of the room to change into her swimsuit. Darcy laughed, then got to her feet. She pulled a robe over her tank top and boxers, and padded out to the kitchen. Emma might be able to bounce into action first thing in the morning, but Darcy needed coffee—and lots of it—to even begin to function.

Nona was sitting at the kitchen table, working on a crossword puzzle, when Darcy walked in. Sometimes seeing Nona there was like having a mom, Darcy thought, a mom who was invested in her granddaughter and her daughter. For the thousandth time, Darcy thought how grateful she was for the family she had formed on Fortune’s Island.

“Good morning,” Nona said

“Good morning.” Darcy pulled the biggest mug she owned out of the cabinet and filled it with hot, rich coffee. She added a spoonful of sugar and a dollop of cream, then slipped into the opposite kitchen chair. “Thanks for staying last night.”

“No problem. Sometimes, it’s a lot nicer to be here than alone in my big empty house. I almost feel like I’m part of a family again.”

Darcy covered Nona’s wrinkled hand with her own. Nona’s husband had died several years ago and both her grown children lived far away, which was part of why she’d sort of adopted Darcy and Emma. Family, Darcy had realized, wasn’t about blood, but about love. And she was terribly grateful to have such a loving family here on Fortune’s Island. “You are.”

Nona gave her a watery smile. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

Darcy snagged a donut out of the box on the counter, then peered over at Nona’s crossword. “Eleven down, three letters, make a bad choice. Err.”

“Ah, yes, I see.” Nona filled in the letters.

Darcy wrapped her hands around the mug.
Err.
Yes, she had indeed done that. In the light of day, the decision to drink and then have sex with Kincaid hit her hard. She could have lost everything—and all because she’d let some warm memories and noisy hormones rule her choices. “Next time I ask you to stay overnight, remind me that I’ll regret it in the morning. Because I think I erred times ten last night.”