Geoducks Are for Lovers (19 page)

When he returns, she uses a stick to spread out the dampened wood, checking for any remaining hot spots. 

“I think we’re good,” she declares and turns to look at Gil. 

He’s standing at her side and watching her. Darker now the firelight is gone, his eyes twinkle in the light reflecting from the slim moon over the water. 

She wants to kiss him. Standing here in the dark on a quiet beach, sleepy, and chilled by the night, she wants nothing more than to curl back into his warmth and kiss him.

Gil watches her face. 

She licks her lips and tilts her head up to him. 

He takes a step closer to her, then leans down to brush his lips against hers. With their lips a breath apart, he waits.

Her breathing pauses when she feels his lips on hers. Before she can process they’ve kissed, he pulls away. Going on instinct, she kisses him back. Her body melts with his as she pulls herself closer to him.

Gil moans when she presses against him. He deepens the kiss and she responds by brushing her tongue against his. She fists the back of his shirt. 

When he reaches a hand into her hair and tilts her head, Maggie’s head begins to spin. Needing to take a deep breath, she pulls her mouth from his. 

He kisses along her jaw, nibbling behind her ear. “God, you are as amazing as I remembered,” he whispers.

“Memory doesn’t do you justice.” She sighs as he trails kisses down her neck.

He kisses her again, cradling her face in one of his hands. She reaches under his thermal to stroke his back.

Leaning back to meet her eyes, he softly says, “I’d be lying if I said I haven’t dreamt of doing that for the past twenty years.” 

“I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t crossed my mind several times since Wednesday.” Her joke falls flat.

“Wednesday? Always out of sight, out of mind with you?” 

She hears the hurt in his voice and flinches. 

“Gil…” she pauses.
What can she say?
She’s ruining the moment. “Wednesday of this week and many Wednesdays between now and then, I’ve thought about kissing you, being with you.”

“Nice backtracking. My ego thanks you.” He kisses her forehead. 

“I’m sorry, Gil.” She looks at him. “For so many things.”

“Apology accepted,” he says, before gently kissing her again. 

  Kissing Gil is amazing, and she definitely wants more. Selah might be right about this living in the moment stuff.

“We should go to bed.” 

“I thought you’d never offer.” He teases.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” She knows she didn’t mean to invite Gil into her bed, but the idea of Gil sleeping beside her is something she likes.

“I know, I know. I’m not going to push my luck.” He holds her hands and squeezes.

They turn and walk back to the house. When they drop the blankets in the basket by the door, Biscuit gets up from his bed next to the wood stove and walks upstairs.

“What time is it?” Gil asks, walking over to the kitchen. “2:30,” he reads the time on the kitchen clock.

“Wow. We were asleep out for a while.” Maggie takes a glass out of the cupboard. “Water?” 

“Sure. I have Jameson and sand breath.”

“Sand breath?” She laughs. 

“Mmm hmm,” he hums, drinking his water, and then setting his glass back on the counter. “You didn’t seem to mind my sand breath.” He leans into her and gently kisses by her ear.

“I didn’t even notice your sand breath.” Her heart races. Somehow kissing Gil outside in the dark was different than standing close to him in her own kitchen. This feels more real, bigger than a few kisses.

He pauses and pushes her hair behind her shoulders. “We should go to bed,” he repeats her words from earlier.

Maggie hums and finishes her water. While turning out the downstairs lights, she tries to organize the jumble of mixed thoughts and emotions inside her. A big part of her wants to invite him to sleep in her bed—this part sounds a lot like Selah.

He follows her up the stairs and Biscuit trails behind him. Pausing at the door to the room he’s now sharing with Selah, he waits while she deliberates. After a moment, he moves to turn the knob on the door.

“I think the door is locked,” he whispers.

“That’s weird.” She tries the lock herself. “Well, it appears Selah is meddling again.” 

“Guess I’ll find out just how comfortable that couch is after all.” 

Making up her mind, she grabs his hand, and pulls him down the hall to her room. “I have the couch in my room. Plus, all the extra linens are locked in that room,” she whispers as she opens her door.

Gil smiles and allows himself to be lead.

Once in her room, with the door closed behind them, she continues to whisper, “You can sleep in here tonight.”

“Why are you whispering?” He chuckles.

“I don’t know,” she whispers again, then laughs.

“Isn’t it only fair to wake up Selah since she’s the one to lock the door to my room?” He teases her. “Or you can admit you want a co-ed sleepover for old time’s sake.”

“One of us can sleep on the love seat.” Maggie ignores his teasing and points to the small sofa.

“Okay…” He sounds confused. “Sounds like a lot of subterfuge to get me into your room. You could just ask. I would say yes.”

She tries not to get flustered. She wants to have Gil close, but isn’t going to have sex with him tonight. Sleep, yes. Sex, no. This is what she tells herself. She pulls a pillow off the bed and then removes the back cushions from the love seat. Unfolding the throw from the arm, she makes a cozy, but very small bed.

“I don’t think you are going to fit.” She glances over her shoulder at him, taking in his long legs and broad shoulders. “Maybe you should take the bed.”

“I’m not kicking you out of your bed,” he says, walking over and sitting on the love seat. It looks tiny beneath him. He lies down, stretching his legs over the arm, his calves and feet dangling in the air.

Maggie laughs at him looking so uncomfortable.

“Quit laughing at me. I’ll be fine. “Let me grab my toothbrush in the hall bath and I’ll be right back. I’m warning you, I have nothing to sleep in but my boxers.” 

“You can get your toothbrush. I’m fine if you sleep in your boxers.” She nods to show how fine she is.

After he steps out of the room, she goes through her nightly routine before changing into her navy cotton nightgown that falls a few inches above her knees. Not sexy, she thinks, but she isn’t trying to seduce Gil.
Is she?
Her mind drifts to sleeping, or not sleeping, on a twin futon with Gil. She smiles at the memory. 

When she leaves the bathroom, Gil goes in to brush his teeth. He walks out and heads over to love seat. She watches him toss and turn into a semblance of a comfortable position. 

“Night, Maggie May,” he tells her, turning his head to face her.

Looking at how uncomfortable he looks, she realizes she is being ridiculous. She might not be ready to have sex with him, but she can’t torture the sweet man by making him sleep on what is essentially a large dog bed. 

Deciding to be honest, she dramatically sighs. “Okay, you can share the bed. I liked sleeping next to you on the beach. Reminded me of all those times in college we’d fall asleep watching movies or reading.” She hopes she sounds casual.

He unfolds himself from the love seat and approaches the bed. “I see how things work around here. The dog gets the prime spot,” he says, nodding at Biscuit curled up in the middle of the bed.

“Biscuit, get down,” she says, patting the dog’s back. Biscuit gives her what can only be a dirty look as he jumps down, then lies on his cushion in the corner.

“It’s a big bed,” she adds to remind herself of the boundaries she’s created.

He flops on the bed, stretching out his limbs. “This bed isn’t all that big. I’m just sayin’.” He smirks at her.

She pokes his leg where he is starfished across her. “If you’re going to hog the whole thing, you can go back to the love seat or wake up Selah to sleep in your designated twin bed.”

He smiles at her and rolls to one side. “We both slept in the same twin bed a few times in college.” He notices her arched eyebrow. “Fine. I’ll behave. But I can’t promise there won’t be cuddling.”

She smiles back. “There better be cuddling. I fully expect cuddling. Thoughts on spoon size? Big or little?”

“Oh, I get to be the big spoon. No doubt.” He gives her a playful, but wolfish grin. 

Gil climbs under the covers and turns toward her. “This isn’t awkward. See?”

“Shh,” she hushes him. “Less talking or I’ll make you sleep on the couch.” She smiles and curls into his side

“I won’t say another word.” He pulls her close, but doesn’t make a further move. “Goodnight.” He kisses the top of her head. “Oops.”

Tilting her head up, she gives him a soft kiss on the lips.

“Goodnight.” Snuggling into his side, she drifts off to sleep, feeling a long-forgotten sense of peace. 

He takes a few minutes longer to fall asleep, mulling over his impossible luck to be sharing a bed with Maggie again. He thinks about his wishing rock. Maybe those rocks are magical. 

Biscuit jumps back on the bed and curls up behind Maggie. He swears the dog winks at him.

“Feels like home,” he whispers before closing his eyes.

* * *

Maggie stretches and feels a warm body against her back. An arm wraps around her middle and she freezes.
Arm?

Gil stirs and pulls himself closer to her. 

“Morning,” he whispers.

It takes a minute for the events of last night to drop into place. She remembers the game of I Never and a few rounds of Jameson. Blurry images of falling asleep on the beach with Gil filter through her mind, followed by kissing, lots of kissing. She vaguely remembers something about locked doors and him sleeping in here with her rather than with Selah. Must have seemed like a good idea at the time. 

“Morning,” she says, turning her head to face him.

Yep, Gil is snuggled in her bed. She kissed him last night. It wasn’t a dream. She smiles at the memory.

As she’s fully waking up, a quick knock at the door and Quinn’s cheerful morning voice break the silence. Before she can tell him to go away or hold on a second, Quinn walks into the room holding two coffees.

She’s impressed he doesn’t drop the cups when he realizes she and Gil are in bed together.

“Well, well well, well,” Quinn tuts. “I should have brought another cup this morning.” He sets a mug down on the nightstand closest to Gil before joining them on the bed. Not awkward at all.

“Morning, Q,” she greets him, tucking the sheet around her waist as she sits up. 

Gil is clearly less shy, and sits up bare-chested.

“Do you ever wait for a ‘come in’ after you knock?” Gil asks, rubbing his hand through his hair and down his face. His scruff has grown in overnight, casting a dark shadow on his jaw.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Quinn hands Maggie the other mug of coffee. “Plus, why would I ever think Maggie would have company?”

She gratefully accepts the mug, giving her hands something to do while she waits for Quinn’s inquisition. She isn’t ashamed Gil is in her bed, far from it. Quinn’s appearance has burst their bubble sooner than she hoped.

“So?” Quinn asks, looking between them. “This is interesting.”

“It isn’t what it looks like, Q.” She gestures between herself and Gil. “We fell asleep on the beach, and it was late. Then, Selah locked Gil out of their room.”

“I see.” Quinn scratches Biscuit’s belly. “Just like old times when you two would have co-ed sleepovers and actually sleep?”

“Exactly,” Gil agrees. “Nothing to see here. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.” He drinks Quinn’s coffee.

Quinn pretends to lift up the sheet. “I’ll be the one to make that decision.”

Gil bats his hand away. 

“Okay, boys. Behave,” Maggie scolds.

“Behaving is so boring. I keep telling you this, Magpie, when are you going to listen to me?” Quinn lies along the bottom of the bed.

“What time is it anyway?” Gil looks around for a clock. He stretches over her to glance at the alarm clock. “8:00? Ugh.” He falls back into the pillows.

Maggie thinks she should be entirely uncomfortable with Gil in her bed and Quinn finding them entangled, but she isn’t. Instead, she feels happy and invigorated.

Quinn takes his coffee back from Gil and sips it. “So, are you two going to go public with the rest of the house?”

“There’s nothing to go public about.” Maggie stiffens. She can sense Gil’s eyes on her, so she turns to face him. “What? There’s nothing to tell.”

“Okay,” Gil says and drinks her coffee. 

Quinn watches the unspoken exchange between the two of them. “More going on here than sharing a bed, but it’s clear Maggie doesn’t want to admit anything.”

Maggie yawns and ignores him. “Jeezy-pete, so early. Why are you awake?

“I’m excited to see a man about a clam this morning.” Quinn hands her his mug.

“Ryan won’t be arriving on the island for a few more hours. And that’s if his plane isn’t delayed.” Maggie yawns again. 

“Sounds like someone didn’t get enough sleep.” Quinn gives her a pointed look.

“Q, stop. Gil, tell him nothing happened.”

“Q, nothing happened,” Gil says without conviction. “Not in bed anyway.” 

Quinn’s eyes sparkle. “I knew it!” 

“You know nothing. Hush.” Maggie laughs, finishing the mug of coffee. “Now if you two will excuse me, I’m going to take a hot shower and try to remind myself all the reasons I don’t drink whiskey until the wee hours any more.”

She manages to untangle herself from the covers without flashing anyone. “There’s a key on the hooks by the front door for the all the room locks, Gil. Will one of you let Biscuit out for his morning constitutional? I’ll feed him when I get downstairs,” she says as she walks into the bathroom.

Nineteen