Sand Castle Bay (Ocean Breeze) - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,79
no touching, nothing too intimate that might cause him to ask questions. How about that? It’s a fair compromise, Boone. Fair to B.J., to you and to me.”
He sighed heavily. “I can’t argue with that.”
“But can you live with it?”
“What if he does start asking questions or getting ideas about the two of us?” he asked, still clinging to his worry.
She tossed the question right back at him. “What if he does?”
“I suppose we’d have to tell him the truth then, that we’re trying to work things out as a couple,” he said as if testing an idea he wasn’t entirely happy about.
“That seems like a good way to handle it,” she agreed. “No more information than he asks for or needs to have.”
“There’s just one problem with this sane, rational plan of yours,” Boone said, an unexpected twinkle appearing in his eyes. “Suddenly I want to throw you right back into my bed and spend a couple more hours rolling around naked with you.”
Emily laughed at the unmistakable frustration in his voice. “Good. That’ll keep you highly motivated to find a way for us to have some more alone time before I leave.”
“Sweetheart, you can count on it.”
And that was exactly the response she’d been hoping for.
* * *
Boone drove B.J. to his first day of school on Monday and was back at Cora Jane’s by eight-thirty. When he walked into the kitchen, only Emily was there.
“Where is everybody?”
“Grandmother and Samantha left before dawn for Castle’s. Gabi drove back to Raleigh yesterday.” A slow smile spread across her face. “That leaves me. I got out of going to Castle’s by pleading a full day of phone calls to stay on top of the work at the shelter and at the ski lodge.”
Boone pulled her out of her chair and into his arms. “So you’re going to be tied up all day long?” he murmured, kissing her neck. “The whole day?”
“The whole day,” she confirmed, snuggling closer.
“Too bad,” he said.
“Why is that?”
“I had some interesting ideas about what we could do to keep ourselves occupied with a whole house to ourselves.”
She kissed him then, a long, slow, deep kiss that encouraged whatever plans he had in mind. “Such as?” she murmured against his lips.
“Well, this is definitely a good starting point,” he told her. “You know, Em, it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen your room.”
“You never saw my room,” she protested. “Grandmother would have shot us both.”
“Probably true,” he said. “I just imagined every detail, so I could think of you there at night. I had some very vivid fantasies back then.”
Emily smiled. “Want to come upstairs and tell me about them, maybe see if we can make one or two come true?”
“What if Cora Jane catches us?” he asked, knowing there was little likelihood of that. She’d be at Castle’s for most of the day.
“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Emily said. “If she were here right now, she’d probably be shooing us along in that direction with a broom. She is very anxious for the two of us to figure this out. All those rules she once had have definitely been set aside in favor of reaching her latest goal.”
“I’m thinking we shouldn’t let her down,” Boone said. “How about you? Or did you really want to make all those calls?”
Emily glanced toward the clock on the wall. “It’s not even six o’clock in the morning in Los Angeles, not yet seven in Aspen. We have time.”
“Certainly enough to get started,” Boone agreed, scooping her into his arms.
She grinned at him. “Aren’t you optimistic?”
“What can I say? You inspire me.” He winked at her. “And I did have a lot of fantasies we need to get caught up on.”
Emily also made him just a little bit reckless and crazy, traits he hadn’t allowed himself to express in years. One of these days he’d have to figure out if rediscovering that side of his personality was a good thing...or dangerously bad.
* * *
Emily rolled over and groaned. “Go home,” she murmured emphatically, giving Boone a halfhearted shove.
He regarded her incredulously. “You’re kicking me out of your bed? After I worked so hard to make sure you were totally satisfied?”
“I am,” she confirmed. “You have to pick your son up from school. I have to make at least some of those business calls. And, despite my earlier comments, I really don’t think Grandmother should come home from Castle’s and find us in my bed.