Begin to Begin (22 page)

Everyone seems to be mingling and having a good time when Amelia whistles loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“ETA is five minutes!” she yells. Everyone quiets. “Dalton, dim the lights!”

He reaches behind where he’s standing and flips the lightswitch then moves over to where I’m standing.

He pulls me close to his side and looks down. “I’ve never been to a surprise party before. This is pretty intense.” I look up at him and he has a huge smile on his face and looks the most excited that I’ve ever seen him. Liam made his way across the room to where Gwenn’s friends were gathered and seems to be hitting it off with them. Dalton wasn’t lying; he definitely seems to have a way with the ladies.

We hear voices approach the door. The latch turns and the bell rings. “Cole, what in the heck did you forget?” Gwenn asks, confused. Before he has a chance to answer, the lights are flicked back on and everyone yells.
“Surprise!”

Gwenn about jumps out of her skin and I almost feel bad until I see giant crocodile tears drop from her eyes. “Oh, my god, you guys!” Cole grabs her and pulls her into a big hug.

“You didn’t think we were going to let you out of Florida without a party, did you?” She laughs and then starts to make her way around the room. He leans down and places a small kiss on my cheek.

“Thanks for including me even though I don’t know Gwenn that well.”

“You know her well enough, and I wouldn’t have left my date at home,” I joke.

“Your date, huh?” He nudges me with his elbow and I nudge him right back. I love how comfortable we are with each other now. It’s so easy being with him. He takes what I have and never asks for more in return.

“You want something to drink?” he asks as he starts to back away.

“Sure, whatever you are having his fine.” He winks and turns toward the drink table as Gwenn reaches where I’m standing.

“Marin!”

“What?” I ask, like I don’t know what she’s talking about.

She throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly.

“Thank you so much. This is seriously beyond incredible.”

“Hey, like Cole said, we weren’t going to let you get away that quickly without a party.”

“Well, thank you. For everything. It’s been such a pleasure working here and I already miss it. It means so much to me that you invited not only my friends but my regulars.”

I wave her off. “If they knew they knew we were having a party for you and they weren’t invited, I’m sure they would have crashed it.”

She laughs. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

She gives me another hug before she moves on to the next person.

Gwenn’s smile doesn’t leave her face the entire night. There are laughs and a few tears but Gwenn is surrounded by family and friends the entire night and that was all I could have asked for.

Everyone is gone except Dalton, Cole, and myself. Liam left with Gwenn and her friends. I had a feeling that was going to happen. He’s a player, but a nice guy and he could use someone like Gwenn in his life. Even if it’s just for tonight. Amelia and Joey left earlier than I thought but they were pretty touchy feely all night so we all have a good idea why they left.

Cole is gathering a few things up but appears to be on his way out the door as well. James, his boyfriend, had to work tonight and was unable to come, but he will be home soon I’m sure.

“Well, you two, I’m heading home. I assume you will make sure our Marin will get home safely tonight,” he says sternly to Dalton.

“That I will,” Dalton exclaims proudly. They shake hands and Cole leans in to give me a quick kiss.

“See you tomorrow, doll face.” And with that, he’s out the door.

Dalton turns to me and shoves his hands in his jeans pockets. “I like your friends.”

Walking over, I start to push one of the lounge chairs back to its original spot. “Yeah, they are pretty incredible. I don’t plan on getting rid of them anytime soon.”

“Marin, stop.” I look up and he’s walking toward me as I try to maneuver the chair. It’s not heavy, just awkward. “Let me help you.” He stands beside me and we both push the chair easily into its spot.

He’s standing so close to me that the heat of his body is easily felt through my thin, button-down blouse.

Reaching over, he places his hand on the small of my back and takes a step toward me. He slowly turns me to face him. All things cease to exist except him standing before me. His emerald-green eyes glow with a heat that consumes me.

He leans down and I think he’s going to softly kiss me but he does the opposite. He devours me. His lips are frantic against mine and mine are just as needy against his. Slowly, his hand makes its way up my back until it’s softly cradling the back of my head.

Pulling back a fraction of an inch, he whispers against my lips, “I’ve been wanting to do that all night, Marin. If all you ever want me to do is kiss you like that, I will be a happy man.” He returns his lips to mine, this time at a slower pace. And though I also would be totally fine with kissing him forever, because … damn, he’s an amazing kisser, I definitely want more. I wasn’t sure before but as of last night I’m sure.

A soft whimper escapes my lips at the thought of more. I need him. I want him.

Tonight.

This time, I’m the one to pull away. At first, he looks confused because I walk to the front and start pulling down the blinds in the windows. I turn the lock on the door and dim the lights again. I don’t even want to wait until we get to my place. I need this now.

The fire that’s been burning inside me needs to be extinquished. I realize now that it’s been burning since I met him—I was doing everything in my power to ignore it.

He watches me with uncertainty in his eyes.

No words need to be spoken. He knows what I want.

I start unbuttoning my shirt as I walk toward him but his gaze never strays from my eyes. I get to the bottom button and let my shirt fall open, revealing my white lace bra.

Reaching where he stands I place my hands on his firm chest and I finally speak. “I want more.”

He doesn’t respond with words. He slips my shirt off my arms and it falls to the floor. His lips place small kisses down my neck and shoulder, they cross over to my other shoulder, and he moves my bra strap down slowly. He does the same on the other side. Looking up to me for approval, I nod and he slowly unhooks the clasp at the back of my bra. He slides it slowly down my arms the rest of the way and takes a brief moment to gaze at my breasts. He finally speaks but it comes out as only a whisper, “Beautiful”.

He reaches down and lifts me up by the back of my thighs and carries me off into the stacks of books. It takes a moment for me to realize what he’s doing but he’s shielding me within the stacks in case we are still visible through the cracks of the blinds.

He lies me down on the faux, white, bear-skin rug that I have in front of one of the bookcases and then sits back on his knees to gaze down at me once more, and it’s the first time I notice a hint of a smile on his lips. “Just tell me if it becomes too much, if you want to stop,” he says, right before leaning down and kissing my breast. I moan loudly at the sensation.

It’s a feeling that I came close to feeling the other night.

It’s a feeling I didn’t think I would ever feel again because I thought it would be wrong. But I was the one that was wrong.

This is only perfection. This is everything that is right.

He leans over and places a light kiss on my other breast before slowly swirling his tongue around my nipple. The feeling makes my knees weak, and if I wasn’t already lying on the floor, I would have fallen.

I rasp out, “I haven’t done this in a long time.” He pauses then sits up and pulls me into his arms.

“Neither have I,” he whispers back, and I look up at him, in total disbelief.

Then he smirks. But it’s sweet, not sly.

“OK, that’s a lie.” Reaching up, he places a finger under my chin and tilts it up so I’m looking into his deep green eyes. “But …” he pauses to take a breath, smirk now gone, replaced with seriousness, squeezing his eyes shut at the same time; like it hurts to say the words. “My heart has never done this. That’s the truth.”

A small gasp escapes me at his words, and before I can respond, his lips capture mine. His kiss turns frantic, our lips not able to get enough of each other now. I reach behind him and pull his shirt up as far as I can and he reaches back and removes it the rest of the way. He unzips my skirt as I’m in his arms. He then lies me back onto the rug, slowly removing my skirt down my legs as he goes. He stands up and looks down at me, now only in my white lace panties, and I may just combust from his gaze alone. He slowly removes his jeans and kneels in front of me.

He’s beautiful.

Without knowing why, a single tear slips down my cheek.

He reaches down and wipes it away and whispers, “If this is too much, we stop. I can wait. I
will
wait.”

“No, I want to be with you.” He leans back to me and places a small kiss to my lips.

“Promise me that you want this for you. Promise me you aren’t doing this because you think I need it.”

I place my hand upon his cheek as I say, “I’m doing this because I need it.”

His body engulfs me in an embrace and his heart beats against mine. Two hearts beating the same beat.

We lie together, lips touching, bodies touching for what feels like hours but could only be minutes, but in that time the heat slowly builds between us to the point of being unbearable. My want for him grows, and when I think I can’t take anymore, he starts to kiss down my body.

“Please, Dalton. I need you,” I somehow manage to say.

He continues kissing me all over. I feel his tongue take small tastes of my skin. He savors me as if I’m a dessert he will never taste again. When he reaches the top of my panties, he runs his finger across the top of them causing me to whimper softly.

He glances to me again for approval and I give him a small nod before he slowly pulls them down my legs. He then starts kissing from my feet up. I would have never thought a man kissing the arch of my foot would have made me feel the way I’m feeling, but I’m ready to combust.

He lets out a soft groan when he finally touches me where I need him most. “My god, Marin. You will be the end of me.”

Gripping the sheets, I brace myself for the explosion that is barreling down on me like a freight train as he continues touching and tasting me all over. “Now, Dalton. I need you now.”

He slowly pulls away from me and leans back on the bed. I’m about to complain until I realize what he’s doing.

I hear the crinkle of paper and realize he’s putting on a condom. He makes his way back up to me and covers my body with his. “What are you doing to me?” he asks right before he enters me.

We both gasp at the feeling, not moving, slowly catching our breaths together. Staring deep in my eyes, he starts to move slowly. Reaching around with my legs, I anchor myself to him and he leans down to kiss me. We rock slowly together, and I feel him everywhere.

He’s in my body, in my heart, and most of all … in my soul.

We lie together intertwined and there is no better feeling in this world than the feel of Marin’s skin against mine. I know we are going to have to leave soon; we can’t stay in the store all night. But when I look down at her, she is sleeping deeply, her lips parted slightly and she looks like an angel with not a care in the world.

I want to keep her here in this moment as long as I can because I have to tell her about my past and about me working with Detective Merritt. She has to hear it from me. I’m surprised he has held off this long in telling her and I am shocked as shit that he’s been able to keep it out of the media thus far.

Trying to stir her awake, I run my hand down her cheek and slowly down her neck and shoulder. She whimpers softly and I want nothing more than to pull her in my arms and make her mine again. But I want to get her home so I whisper in her ear, “Wake up, sleeping beauty. It’s time to go home.”

She stretches and opens her eyes lazily.

“Hey,” she whispers.

Placing my lips to hers, I kiss her softly. “Hey.” I probably look like such a cheeseball because I can’t keep the smile off my face. I’m so fucking in love with her but I can’t tell her that now. I won’t do that to her. If she somehow miraculously forgives me then I will tell her. I will shout it from the rooftops.

“You ready to go home? I can drive you.”

“Yeah, I suppose we better go. If we fall asleep and Joey comes in and finds us naked on the floor that may be just a bit awkward.”

Laughing, I pull her close. “Yeah. Probably, and he would probably ban me from your life.”

She kisses my cheek and gets up off the rug. “Nah. I think they really likes you.”

“Well, that’s good.” It won’t last long, though, so I don’t dwell on that too much.

I grab my pants and pull them on as she stares down at the rug. She looks in deep thought and slightly confused.

“What?”

“I’m gonna have to move this rug into my office. I will never be able to see someone down on their knees looking for a book on it again.”

Laughing, I jump up and grab her clothes from the floor.

“Yeah, that might be a good idea.” I watch as she puts on her clothes. I’m not going to lie, I’ve seen my share of naked women but Marin … she is perfect. More than perfect. She fits to me like a glove, like she was made specifically for me.

She turns back to me with a wicked smile on her face. “Let’s go, lover boy, I want to get back out of these clothes.” She winks and grabs her keys and heads back up front.

I watch her go then look around. Taking in my surroundings. I don’t want tonight to be my last night with her, but I fear it might be. I want to remember everything about this night. I walk closer to the bookshelf that towered above us and read a few of the titles,
East of Eden
,
The Grapes of Wrath
both by John Steinbeck. I’m not a reader, but I vow tonight to read those books. So I never forget that they were the ones there the night I loved Marin Thompson.