What a Woman Wants (A Manley Maids Novel) (24 page)

The shrubbery was interesting. He wasn’t familiar with that particular plant. It lined the beach like a fence with walkways cut through it, but they were starting to grow over. “She pensioned off the gardener, too, didn’t she?” Yes, that was it. Focus on the grass. Guaranteed to destroy any moment.

Livvy nodded. “Somebody’s going to be doing a lot of hiring.”

He already had the specs in to a staffing agency.

They walked through an orchard of fruit trees.

“Oh, wow!” Livvy clapped her hands. “Pears and apples and peaches and cherries. And, look. Blueberry bushes as well. This is awesome.” She touched the budding fruit almost reverently. “Do you know how many pies I can make with these?”

“Let’s not forget the scones.”

She smiled at him, her amber eyes twinkling like sunshine. “Would you be willing to help?”

“I didn’t do so badly last time, right?”

“No. You were great.
It
was great.”

And just like that, all his good intentions shifted. The flora and fauna were no longer interesting. He couldn’t care less about the island and the pristine water surrounding it, or that it’d be the perfect place for a private getaway.

He’d like to get away with her. Just the two of them, with nothing between them: no secrets, no clues, no history or future, and definitely no clothes.

He reached out to tuck that errant curl back again, but she cleared her throat and turned away.

It bothered him that she did. It bothered him that it bothered him. He ought to be glad she could walk away. If she could, so could he, and then the whole issue of the inheritance wouldn’t be an issue. They could enjoy each other, then go their separate ways, doing what they needed to do.

Except he wasn’t wired that way. Gran had instilled a strong sense of right and wrong. A sense of self-pride. Fairness.

“I don’t think the clue is going to be here,” she said, leaving the orchard. “The last clue mentioned something about fishing.”

Sean nodded and followed her, not trusting himself to speak—not sure what he’d say. He wanted to come clean. Tell her what was going on and ask her help in resolving it. But what would be the point? She wanted out of this place and she needed the money. Only a fool would give it up for a guy she’d in all likelihood hate when she heard the full story, so why bother?

“Ah ha!” She pointed to yet another statue, this one on the beach.

From the watermark on the guy’s leg, Sean would guess that at some point the statue had been in the water.

“Merriweather did love her statues, didn’t she?” Livvy checked out the life-sized stone carving and real tackle box slung over his shoulder. “Aha again!” She held something up. “Bingo. Another clue.”

Sean walked over as she unfolded it.

Your great-great-grandfather, William, my beloved Henry’s father, loved to fish. Your father asked for this statue for his tenth birthday, the year his grandfather died. They would go fishing together every Sunday in the summer, and I’ve never known your father to be happier. He was never the same once his grandfather died. To cheer him up, we had this statue commissioned and Lawrence would keep it filled with lures. Behind the stand of white pines is a small shed with other fishing items for anyone to use. He lost that part of himself as he grew older, and I’m sad to say his father and I didn’t think to fix this. I did upon his death, and I hope you will continue this tribute to both men if you inherit.

If
she inherited. Merriweather
still
didn’t think she was capable of figuring everything out.

Livvy stuffed the rest of the letter into the back pocket of her shorts.

“Who’s he? What’s the next clue?”

Sean had stood by silently while she’d read it. Thankfully, she hadn’t read it out loud. She didn’t need him to hear about her grandmother’s utter lack of faith in her.

“He’s my great-grandfather. He loved to fish. Used to hang out here on Sundays with my dad.” She shielded her eyes from the sun and looked out across the lake. “You know what? Let’s forget about the clues for a while, okay? It seems like that’s all I’ve been thinking about since I got here and I could use some time off.”

“First of all, it’s not the
only
thing you’ve been thinking of.” There he went with that eyebrow-raising thing again. “And second, you just went to the market, so you’ve had some time off, and third, isn’t your deadline looming? I’d think you’d want to find these clues as quickly as possible.”

“You’d think.” She shrugged, putting as much nonchalance into it as she could muster. Either that or break out in tears over her grandmother’s brutal honesty. “But I don’t. I could use a nice, relaxing afternoon. Let’s go eat lunch and then maybe we’ll figure it out.”

Sean looked a little impatient and she couldn’t blame him. His future was tied up with these clues, too. Would he have a job or wouldn’t he?

“You know,” she said as they headed back into the water. “If you’re worried about your job, don’t be. I told you I’m going to put some money aside to help you get over the hump if the new owners don’t want to renew your contract.”

“I don’t want your money, Livvy.”

She liked that he was proud. Liked that he had scruples. But she’d been in the position of having nothing and it sucked. She was about to have more than she could ever use, so she could afford to help him out. But with the way his tone had changed about the clue, she should probably get some food into him before continuing with the subject. “I just didn’t want you to worry, is all.”

“I’m not worried.”

Uh huh. That’s why those gorgeous lips of his had tightened into a straight line and his shoulder muscles were standing at attention.

About fifteen feet from shore, she decided to do something about it.

“Sean!”

He turned around and got a face full of water. “What was that for?” he asked, shaking his hair out of his eyes and spitting out lake water.

“I thought you needed some fun.”

“You call drowning me fun?”

“You were never in any danger of drowning and you know it.”

He raised an eyebrow again. “You’re playing a dangerous game, woman.”

“Who’s playing?”

She loved the look in his eyes now. Narrowed and focused on her, their blue color so vivid it made her catch her breath.

And then he started swimming toward her.

Uh oh.

Livvy looked back at the shore. They were halfway across. She’d never outswim him and even if she could, he’d outreach her.

“Should have thought about that before you splashed me,” he said, his voice low as he glided through the water like a deadly crocodile.

Darn. She was in for it.

Then he slipped below the surface.

Jaws
was up there with
The Shining
on her Worst Movie Ever list.

She turned to the right and kicked as hard as she could.

Once.

Then his hands clamped around her ankle and he yanked her under.

She gulped some air and went with it. Too much fighting would deplete her energy, and while she might not be able to outswim or outreach him, she was going to try to outsmart him.

She didn’t fight him when he grabbed her around the waist, and she tried not to smile when he glared at her, the crystal- clear water making his blue eyes shimmer.

Then she kissed him.

It surprised him all right. He let go of her waist and his hands were drifting up toward her head, but Livvy kicked hard and got away.

She poured on the speed, zigzagging across the lake, and managed to drag herself onto the shore before he got to her.

“I call foul!” He stomped onto the beach.

“All’s fair in lunch and war!” Livvy was on her feet and running toward their blanket.

She didn’t make it.

Sean came running up and scooped her into his arms, barely breaking stride. “I’ve got you now, my pretty!”

He sure did. And she was going to let him have her.

He plunked onto his knees on the blanket before setting her down. “I win.”

“If that’s what you want to believe, go ahead.”

“What are you talking about? The only reason you’re on this blanket with me is because I didn’t run past you. If it weren’t for me, you’d still be running.”

She let her fingers dance up his forearm. He had really nice forearms. Strong and muscular with just the right amount of hair that tickled her skin in so many delicious ways. “Yup. That’s right. You’re the winner.”

He looked at her hand. Then he looked at her, the cutest bit of confusion on his face. He’d figure it out sooner or later.

“We both won, didn’t we?”

Sooner. Definitely sooner.

She nodded. And nibbled her lip just because.

“Ah, Livvy.” He bent down to kiss her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on for dear life, because, seriously, that’s what this felt like.

Her senses went on high alert. Everywhere Sean touched her—from his hand stroking down her back to where her thighs rested across his to the catch in his breath and the stroke of her breast that was much too light—made Livvy utterly and completely aware of him. How his arms tightened as he lifted her to him, how his thighs bunched beneath hers as she shifted to kneel up straighter, how his tongue thrust between her lips like he’d thrusted into her last night—Livvy couldn’t stop the groan at the memory.

Sean answered it with one of his own, tearing his lips from hers to bury them against her throat. “I want you. Here. Now.” He untied the back of her bikini one-handed.

Talented guy. As she knew firsthand.

“We don’t have any condoms.” She’d realized that when she’d packed the basket, but short of going off-property to the closest drug store, which was about twenty minutes away, she hadn’t had a choice. The two she’d had last night had been in her luggage. She knew for certain there weren’t any more in there.

“We don’t need condoms for what I have in mind.”

She could only imagine what was in his mind . . .

“If you want to find out, that is.”

“I want.” That was a no-brainer.

His eyes flared and he sucked in a breath. “You can’t possibly want as much as I do.”

“Wanna bet?”

“No betting. Just you and me and . . .” He flicked his thumb over her nipple. “This.”

She shivered down to her toes.

And that’s where he started kissing her. All ten of them. One at a sweet, too-long time.

Then he moved to her instep. Then her ankles.

It took him forever to get to her calves, and by the time he reached her knees, Livvy wasn’t sure what a knee was, let alone how much more of this she could take.

Quite a lot as it turned out.

Sean kissed every inch of her.
Every
inch. Some longer than others. Some not long enough. But when he returned to the one place that she really needed him, he took his time. Made it worth her while. And if his growl of satisfaction was anything to go by when she cried out his name on a wave of pleasure that was so amazing she was sure the sky had opened right up and given her a glimpse of heaven, it’d been worth his, too.

“See?” he said when she could finally open her eyes to see him kneeling between her legs, his smile of satisfaction probably as large as her own. “No condom necessary and all the pleasure you could want.”

Smug bastard. She bit back a smile. “Oh, I don’t know. I want a lot more.”

He flopped onto the blanket beside her. “Jesus, woman. You’re going to kill me.”

“I’m going to kill you if you don’t get my name right. It’s Livvy, not Jesus. And while I’m more than happy for you to think of me as a divine being, I do so enjoy
my
name being the one you call out when you come.”

“And when I do, I’ll be sure to do that.”

“When you . . . Is that a challenge?”

He lifted that one eyebrow. “If you want it to be.”

Oh she wanted.

Livvy sat up and kicked her bikini bottom off her left foot where Sean, for whatever reason, had left it. She wanted complete freedom of movement because when he’d challenged her, he’d had no idea what he was going to get.

Neither, as it turned out, did she.

Livvy took her time exploring every inch of his body. Well, not quite
every
inch; she wasn’t as much into toes as he’d been, but there were certain
inches she was
very
into.

“Jesus—God, Goddess—Livvy,” he called out, his fingers tightening in her hair as that final moment approached, giving her scant warning so she could pull back to watch the pleasure overtake him.

“At least you got my name in there somewhere,” she said, settling her head in the crook of his arm, her fingers still wrapped around him, enjoying the shudders that wracked him afterward. The heck with outswimming him; she might have just out-
sexed
him.

“Sweetheart, I knew exactly who was doing what to whom.” He threaded his fingers through her hair, the tugs zinging through her.

She played with his chest hair, wanting to return the favor. “So you want to tell me why this isn’t a good idea?”

He stiffened then. Darn. She shouldn’t have brought it up.

But then he relaxed. “Never mind. I was wrong.”

“Wow. A man who can say those three little words and not shrivel up in the sun. You
are
amazing.”

He turned his head and tilted her chin. “Bad experience?”

She shook her head. “Long ago. I shouldn’t have said anything. You’re nothing like him.”

He tapped the tip of her nose. “And don’t you forget it.”

He was teasing, but she wasn’t. She rolled onto her stomach and worked her hand beneath her chin as she lay on his chest. “It’s true, Sean. You aren’t like any guy I’ve ever been with. I like you much more.”

He stiffened again momentarily, but then he smiled. Okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have been so candid.

“You’re just saying that because I do windows.”

Okay, she could go with levity. “And toilets. Don’t forget that you scrub toilets.”

“As if I could.”

“And shovel alpaca poo.”

“Ah, but that’s going to cost you.”

She licked her lips. “Name your price.”