See You at Sunset (36 page)
Authors: V. K. Sykes
“Are you complaining?” he said, nuzzling her neck.
“Not a chance, but I don’t want to show up at Lily’s looking like I’ve just gotten my ashes hauled. Again.”
“You won’t,” Micah said with a laugh. “Let’s walk.”
His arm wrapped securely around her waist, he led her to a grassy area in the shadow of a pair of tall pines. Micah propped his back against one of the trees and settled Holly against his chest. She snuggled into his warmth with a happy sigh, content to quietly live in the moment as they took in the view.
Finally, Micah stirred. “I was thinking this morning about how cool it is that we’ve been getting more people moving back to Seashell Bay. A lot of locals worry about the island’s future, but I think we might just get a little population boom in the next while.”
“Well, I know Aiden and Ryan are certainly keen to do their part,” Holly said drily. “Lily’s already trying to get pregnant, and Morgan wants to have a big family too. I think it’s just a matter of time before we have a new crop of Butler and Flynn kids populating the local school.”
She felt him hesitate.
“And what about Lancaster kids?” he finally said. “Think they’ll be showing up on the school playground at some point?”
Ah, there it is.
She and Micah hadn’t yet talked about children. She was sure he didn’t know she’d been pregnant once, finding out shortly after Drew left for his final deployment. She’d suffered an early miscarriage a week after his helicopter was shot down, redoubling her misery. Holly had only told Lily and Morgan, and she’d sworn her friends to secrecy. At the time, the last thing she’d needed was more sympathy to remind her of everything she’d lost.
But she was done with secrets and with being afraid of living again.
“Micah, almost nobody knows this, but I was pregnant once. I miscarried right after Drew was killed.”
His arms tightened around her, then he turned her in his arms. His eyes were dark with sympathy and worry. “Babe, I’m so sorry. I had no idea…”
“I only told Lily and Morgan because it was too painful to talk about. And too…”
“Private?” he guessed.
She managed a smile. “Yeah, you know me. Miss None of Your Business. But I was so miserable that I didn’t even want to think about it, you know? And for a long time after that, I wasn’t sure I would ever want to have children again.”
He nodded, looking solemn. “And now?”
“I do want kids with you,” she said. “Very much.”
The tension bled away from his face. “That makes me very happy, but you need to know that it wouldn’t make any difference if you didn’t. Whatever is best for you—that’s all I want.”
Holly went up on her toes and kissed him. “You’re a hell of a man, Deputy Micah Lancaster.”
He smiled and nestled her under his arm so they could both look out over the ocean. “This area is where Aiden and Lily held the ground-breaking ceremony last fall. It was exactly one year ago today. I remember it so well.”
Holly had missed it, too busy with work to make it up that weekend. “And?” She could tell he wanted to say more.
“Morgan and Lily were plotting about how they could lure you back to Seashell Bay. They said it would make things perfect if you came back.”
Holly rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s me. Perfection personified. And what did you say to that plan?”
“I was all for it but didn’t say much. How could I?” He paused for a moment, his gaze drifting out to the horizon. “I wanted it so bad, but I never really thought it could happen.”
Like he’d done to her a few minutes ago, she reached a hand up to nudge his jaw, making him look at her. “It all worked out in the end, didn’t it?”
The shadows that lingered in his gaze vanished with his smile. “It sure as hell did. So… I’ve got something for you.”
“A present?” she asked. He was always bringing home little things for her—flowers, her favorite bottle of wine, a pretty piece of sea glass to add to her collection.
“You might call it that.”
“I hope it’s good,” she said in a joking voice. “My standards are high, you know.”
When Micah pulled a small jeweler’s box from the pocket of his leather jacket, Holly’s heart practically stuttered to a halt. But when he went down on one knee in front of her, it kicked back into action at about a thousand beats a minute.
“Holly, I love you, and I’m going to love you until the end of time.” He opened the blue box to reveal a truly stunning diamond ring set in white gold.
Wow.
On top of everything else, the guy had amazing taste in jewelry. Holly instantly fell in love with it.
“I might sound like a total sap,” he said in a serious voice, “but I want to raise our kids and grow old with you right here in Seashell Bay, surrounded by the people we love and who love us right back. So, how about you show off this ring at the party and make me the happiest guy in the world?”
He took the ring out of the box, ready to slip it on her finger. “Will you marry me, Holly Tyler? Will you spend your life with me here on this funny little rock in the Atlantic Ocean?”
Sucking in a huge breath, she tried to calm the tidal wave of emotion surging through her. She’d need to sort out some of what she felt later, especially her lingering sadness about Drew, but right now it was all good—perfect, as a matter of fact.
She extended a hand to pull him up. “I love you too, Micah Lancaster, and yes, of course I’ll marry you. And thank you for never giving up on me. I promise to spend the rest of my life making sure you don’t regret that for a single instant.”
He slipped the ring on her finger and then swept her into a tight embrace. Holly hugged him back, torn between laughter and tears, reveling in the joy of the moment.
“I’ll hold you to that promise, babe,” Micah whispered in her ear. “And right back at you.”
Meet Me at the Beach
Summer at the Shore
Acclaim for the Seashell Bay Series
SUMMER AT THE SHORE
“4 stars! A quintessential love story set on a romantic island, the second in the Seashell Bay series delivers readers a great summer read. Morgan and Ryan have sizzling chemistry and the plot stays consistently interesting and keeps things moving.
Summer at the Shore
is definitely not to be missed.”
—
RT Book Reviews
“Well-developed characters and a realistic plot give depth to this sweet contemporary.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“4 Stars! I have to say that
Summer at the Shore
had me hook, line, and sinker from the first page to the last. The road to HEA for these two takes its twists and turns, but in the end, it will have you cheering and sighing.”
—HarlequinJunkie.com
MEET ME AT THE BEACH
“4 Stars! A sexy series starter set on an island where anyone would love to spend the summer, Sykes’s latest is a winner.”
—
RT Book Reviews
“As Aiden and Lily take a chance on their romance, neither knows whether it will be fleeting or turn into forever. Their intense romance is sensuous and moving, with a perfect small-town setting.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“V. K. Sykes has created a unique island removed from the chaos of the mainland, accessible only by ferry or private boat, and populated it with a community of strong-minded people who work hard, take pride in their heritage, and band together to celebrate the good times and get through the bad times as they protect and support each other… It’s a place I want to visit with people I want to know. They’ve touched my heart and I’m now invested in their happiness. I can’t wait to catch the ferry over for my next visit to Seashell Bay!”
—TheRomanceDish.com
“Genuine emotions plus intriguing characters make
Meet Me at the Beach
constantly enjoyable, and V. K. Sykes always keeps the reader engaged during every entertaining scene. This author is a talented husband-and-wife writing team, and they perfectly balance duty with dreams for a very imaginative story.”
—SingleTitles.com
Aiden Flynn returns to Seashell Bay to sell his family’s coastal land to a developer. But beautiful Lily Doyle will do whatever it takes to convince him to save their island home—and the love that still burns between them…
Please see the next page
for an excerpt from
Meet Me at the Beach.
A
iden stared down into emerald eyes just as bewitching as he remembered—eyes that now also held a depth and maturity that sucked him right in. As much as he might have liked to deny it, he felt the pull toward Lily as strongly as he ever had, and he’d be willing to bet his parcel of land she felt the same.
But frigging darts… really? If Lily had no intention—sadly—of leaping his bones, he would have expected her to get down to business right away, pumping him for info about his position on the development project.
He glanced away from her challenging, amused stare to take in the avid gazes of the crowd, waiting with bated breath for his answer. And his destruction, he suspected, given the nasty smiles of anticipation that lit the faces of at least half the people in the bar. It was Thunderdome, Seashell Bay style, with Aiden tagged as the loser.
Just swell. Nothing like a little ritual humiliation to cap off his fabulous homecoming.
Lily Doyle had always had a touch with darts, just like Aiden had the God-given ability to hit baseballs. Most people thought it was simply a matter of natural coordination, but there was more to it than that. Lots of people had great coordination. Damn few, though, could hit a ninety-five-mile-per-hour fastball or throw a dart with perfect precision.
Lily had coordination in spades and a sweet, sweet form.
Aiden clapped a hand to his chest, trying to look like a wounded puppy. “Such a coldhearted way to welcome a native son back to the island. Since you’re the top dog in these parts, I reckon you have some ulterior motive for wanting to whip my ass in front of the entire damn town.”
Her gaze cut off to the side for a few seconds, surprising him. Lily was never one to dodge a question or a direct challenge. But then she looked back, dazzling him with a glorious smile that fried the logic part of his brain.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she replied with a throaty purr that made Aiden want to lift her over his shoulder and haul her out to his truck. “I guess I’m pretty good, but you’re a
professional athlete
, after all. You’re not afraid of a little old game of darts, are you, Aiden Flynn?”
“You tell him, Lil,” Boone Cleary said, leaving his bar stool long enough to weave over and see what the fuss was all about. “Nobody walks away from a challenge on Darts Night. Not on this island, anyway.” He belched as if to emphasize his weighty intervention, which prompted a whack to the back of his head from Miss Annie and a lecture on minding one’s manners in public.
Bram whispered into Aiden’s ear, “He’s right, bro. Look, just keep saying stuff that’ll get her rattled. You can start by reminding her of that time when you and me tailed her down to Bunny Tail Trail and saw—”
“Shut up,” Aiden said through gritted teeth.
Lily had crossed to the dartboard but now came back to Aiden, still giving him that sexy smile that said,
What are you afraid of, big boy?
His brain might have been addled by waves of hot lust, but he couldn’t shake the feeling she was somehow trying to manipulate him.
“Well?” She held her palm out, daring him to take the three darts that lay there.
Instinctively, he reached out, his hand swallowing hers and the red-tailed darts. Her skin felt hot and almost as smooth as he remembered from that long-ago night, when her hands had been all over him. That surprised him, given the work she did. Of course she wore gloves on the boat, but she set and hauled traps all day long. Both his dad and Bram had always suffered from unending cuts, scrapes, and chewed-up hands from snapping lobster claws.
He froze for a few seconds, her small hand trapped in his, and his mind became swamped with images of the battle-hardened warriors who fought the cold sea and the unforgiving elements to eke out their living. He could only imagine what Lily had gone through all these years he’d been away. While he’d been playing and partying in the glamor of big-city pro baseball, the slender, fine-boned woman before him had toiled long and hard on her lobster boat, facing down the dangers—and the dangers were real and ever-present—of a brutally unforgiving family trade.
When Lily tilted her head, her half-smile curving with an unspoken question, he released her.
“You go first,” he said, sliding his hand across the swell of her hip to gently turn her toward the throw line.
“You are such a gentleman, sir,” Lily said over her shoulder, flashing him a mocking yet heated smile that went straight to his dick. “Okay, we play the usual rules here—501, straight start, double finish.”
In that sultry voice, even the scoring rules sounded like an invitation to bed boogie. “Fine. Say, who’s that girl keeping score?”
He nodded toward a tall, young woman at the side of the board who was staring intently at him as she gripped a black marker. She had cropped, dark hair and wore a black T-shirt and leggings so tight she couldn’t possibly have been wearing a scrap of fabric underneath them. Though he didn’t recognize her, she sure seemed to know him.
Lily swung around and shot him a look somewhere between puzzlement and annoyance. “That’s Jessie Jameson.”