Sunset In Central Park (17 page)

“I know it well.” The smile on his mouth made her wonder how well.

At night the cave had been a favorite hangout for teenagers seeking privacy.

“We buried a box in the cave. Each of us put something personal in it.”

“I hope you buried it deep or that box is probably floating somewhere close to Greenland now. The wedding is on South Beach, so we can look for it.” Matt slowed as the road turned to a dirt track. It skirted the forest and headed
directly to the camp. “There’s a path from here that leads over the cliffs to Castaway Cottage.”

“I walked it a couple of times.” She’d been fourteen years old and isolated, with a secret she couldn’t even tell her closest friends. “I often walked as far as the cottage, but I never went inside apart from that one time. I used to sit on the rocks and stare at it for hours.” Until the welcoming glow of the lights and the curl of smoke from the chimney had increased her feeling of isolation and she’d returned over the cliffs to the shards of her own shattered family. “I remember it being cozy. Kathleen had framed photos of seabirds on the walls and in the kitchen there were huge jars filled with sea glass she’d picked up herself from the beach. Everything about the place made you think of the ocean. I remember wishing I could stay there forever, wrapped in that blanket, listening to the waves crashing onto the rocks. And Kathleen was so kind.” So kind that she’d almost told her everything.

Almost.

And that was the reason she’d never knocked on the door again. She hadn’t trusted herself not to blurt it all out. And the secret wasn’t hers to tell. It was a burden she’d unwillingly carried through her life.

“So you do have some good memories of the islanders.”

They drove past the main camp buildings and took the narrow track that led up the coast. Frankie saw groups of kids in kayaks bobbing in the water close to the shore, and another group building a camp on the beach. They were laughing, gathering pieces of driftwood and arguing with each other.
Making memories.

Did she have good memories?

“Maybe I do, but they were eclipsed by everything that
happened. After my dad left, my mom was so upset I didn’t know what to do.” She watched as two of the girls tried to wedge the driftwood into the sand, laughing and falling over each other. “There were days when she didn’t get out of bed at all. I was scared to leave her. That went on for months. People called around every day to check on us. Whenever I went into Harbor Stores people patted me and told me they were sorry for my troubles. We had a casserole on our doorstep every single day. And then Mom decided she’d had enough of being the victim so she got herself a makeover, went out partying, got drunk with Sam Becket and the rest is history. The casseroles stopped. After that I kept waiting to have one tipped over my head.”

“From what I heard the Beckets’ marriage was in trouble long before your mother decided to rediscover her youth.”

“I never heard that.”

“You were probably too young to pick up on it. If the rumors were correct, he had numerous affairs.”

Frankie absorbed that information. “He had other affairs? Why didn’t I know that?”

“You’ve never been one for gossip. It’s one of the things I like about you.”

Her heart gave a little jolt. “There’s more than one thing about me that you like?”

“Are you flirting with me?” He gave her a teasing smile that made her heart pump hard against her chest.

“I don’t know how to flirt. I was going to research it, but I’ve been too busy.”

“You can research flirting?”

“You can research anything. There’s probably even some online training you can do.”

“Flirting 101?” He kept his eyes on the track as he negotiated
the uneven surface, but the smile on his face widened. “So if you weren’t flirting, that means it was a serious question. I’ll answer, but I should probably warn you I’m into high numbers so it could take a while.”

“You’re full of crap, Matt Walker.”

“I think you mean charm.”

“And does that charm usually work for you?”

“I guess we’re going to find out.” He shot her a glance and she saw the burn of heat in his eyes but she didn’t have time to analyze his words because moments later he was pulling up outside a cabin. “We’re here. This is Seagull’s Nest.”

The simple log cabin nestled on the cliff where the forest met the sea. It had its own private deck suspended above the beach and on a day like today when the sea was rough, the waves spattered spray across the broad planks.

Charmed, Frankie slid out of the passenger seat.

The cabin was idyllic but secluded. Until today, she’d assumed they’d be spending the night surrounded by other wedding guests. She’d pictured group celebrations, drinking and hilarity.

She hadn’t imagined anything like the intimacy of Seagull’s Nest.

“Do you have a key?”

“In the door.” Matt lowered the bags. “No one bothers much with keys around here, which comes as a bit of an adjustment to us New Yorkers.”

He pushed open the door and Frankie walked past him, his body brushing against hers.

Her insides were a tumble of sexual awareness and nerves, which was crazy because this was Matt. Why should she feel so nervous when she’d known him forever?

Except that this wasn’t the Matt she’d known. This Matt was new to her.

The cabin was simple but stylish, the perfect hideaway for a romantic weekend. The large bed had been made up with fresh linen, and a bunch of scented flowers had been placed in a vase by the bed. The window was open and the cabin was filled with the smells of summer and the faintly salty air.

It was charming. And romantic.

Which was lovely, except she didn’t do romantic. She was clueless, and pretty soon Matt was going to discover just how clueless. What was he expecting? She was pretty sure that the list of reasons he liked her was going to dwindle to low single figures once he discovered more about her. She’d tried warning him but either he hadn’t been listening or he’d assumed that she was exaggerating the problem.

Or maybe he was one of those men who thought he was such a sex god he’d be able to get past the problem.

Which simply increased the pressure.

She was going to be the first woman he didn’t manage to turn on. Like an old, rusty engine that no amount of love and care could restore to working order.

She longed to have a normal, healthy attitude toward relationships. She should be flirting and laughing with anticipation. Instead, she wanted to run into the forest and hide as she’d done as a child.

Losing her nerve, she backed toward the door. “This place is for lovers.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” He slid his arm around her and hauled her back against him. “Is there something wrong with that?”

Everything was wrong with that.

Now she was here, all her insecurities came rushing back.

The fact that sex had never played a big part in her life had never bothered her much, and she realized now it was because it had never mattered enough. She’d never cared enough to be disappointed. To her, sex had been an activity fraught with complication and weighed down by uncomfortable memories of the past. But she’d never experienced the same electrifying urgency she felt with Matt.

She wanted him desperately. So desperately that the hum of physical awareness was something that seemed to be permanently switched on whenever she was near him. It had been that way since the kiss. And she wanted to kiss him again. She wanted to rip at his clothes and explore, a feeling she’d never had before. She wanted all of him, and the only thing stopping her was the fear that she was going to disappoint him. And herself. What if reality didn’t live up to the promise and expectation? Never before had she felt this delicious, intoxicating excitement. It was like being injected with a drug, and she didn’t want the feeling to vanish.

“Talk to me.” His voice was soft. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“This is never going to work.” Given everything he knew about her, she saw no reason not to be honest. She hated keeping secrets. She already had more than enough of those locked inside her. “Every time I go to bed with a man it’s a disappointment. I’m bored. He’s bored. You’d probably have more excitement trawling the internet. I can’t—I mean I’ve never—” And that was something else she’d never told anyone. “Never mind.”

“You could never bore me, Frankie.” He slid his thumb across her burning cheek. “And you don’t need to be stressed.”

“I’ll decide what I want to be stressed about.” If a situation
had ever been more stressful she couldn’t remember it. “I’m an adult. I own my stress levels.”

He smiled. “Sometimes the way to handle something you’re afraid of is just to do it.”

“Like going to the dentist, you mean?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty confident the experience will be a few steps up from that. Do you trust me?”

“Of course, but that has nothing to do with this.” She made another desperate attempt to make him understand. “I don’t think I’m very sexual. I’m not built that way. Or maybe the whole thing with my mom has just made me so tense I can’t relax enough to do it. I don’t know, but I do know that you being insanely hot isn’t going to change anything. You think this is going to work because you’re a rampant sex god who is going to be the one to show me what I’m missing?”

“No, I know this is going to work because I care about you and you care about me. And also because I want to rip your clothes off the whole time. That’s another clue right there.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips across her neck. “Stop thinking about how it was before, and focus on how it is now.” He was so self-assured, every movement was smooth and confident whereas she was a shivering wreck.

She closed her eyes, trying to control the waves of sensation. Her heart was thumping so hard she thought he must be able to feel it. “Matt—”

“Have I ever hurt you before?”

“No, but we’ve never—”

“No is all you need to say. You don’t need the
but
. If I do anything you don’t like, or that makes you feel uncomfortable, all you have to do is say and I’ll stop.” His hand curved around the back of her neck and his lips trailed from her
neck to her jaw, hovering tantalizingly close to her mouth. She wondered if he was doing it on purpose, teasing her, making her wait. Waiting increased the tension, and underneath the tension was excitement.

Her nerves and uncertainty didn’t change the fact that she wanted him with every fiber of her being.

She didn’t have the chance to speak because he lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her in a slow, seductive exploration that made her pulse pound. It was every bit as exciting as it had been the first time, and she gave a little moan and grabbed for the front of his shirt. This part she could handle. If only he’d stop at this, they’d probably ace it.

He pushed her back until her shoulders were pressed up against the door. She could feel the hardness of his thighs caging hers, and feel the thickened pressure of him against her. Trapped, she gave a little moan and wrapped her arms around the solid power of his shoulders.

Kissing Matt was a whole-body experience. She felt it right through her, little shivers of excitement chasing across her skin and sliding into her limbs. Her hands tightened on his shoulders, her fingers digging into hard male muscle. She was grateful for his strength because she wasn’t confident she could rely on her own body to keep her upright. Fortunately, she didn’t need to worry about that because he kept her clamped against the solid power of his body, holding her trapped while he kissed her. His mouth was hot and hungry, his kiss both demanding and explicit. His free hand slid upward, cupping the heavy weight of her breast through the thin layers of her clothing. It was the first time he’d touched her so intimately and she tensed. He paused and then dragged his thumb slowly over the tip. Sensation shot through her like a lightning bolt and she moaned
against his mouth. The craving was so acute it was hard to stay still. She felt his hand tighten on her hip, holding her still while the other continued to tease every nerve ending in her body with slow, delicious strokes that left her shaking. She could feel the hard, heavy ridge of him pressing against her and still he kissed her, holding her trapped.

Suddenly, it wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She didn’t want him touching her through her clothing; she wanted to feel all of it and she urged his hand down to the hem of her shirt. Without lifting his mouth from hers, he flicked open the buttons and pulled off her shirt, so that all that was between her and him was the confection of silk and lace that Eva had insisted she wear. She didn’t feel him unfasten it but he must have because she felt the soft slide of fabric whisper over her skin as it slid to the floor. And then he drew her deeper into the warmth of his mouth and she closed her eyes. His tongue slid in slow, delicious circles that sent her excitement levels soaring. Until that moment she’d had no idea that pleasure could be agonizing.

Without warning, he scooped her up and carried her to the bed.

He deposited her onto a downy nest of cushions and throws and she sank into a swirling world of sensation as he finished undressing her. Matt ripped off his shirt and she had a brief glimpse of taut muscle before he came down on top of her. The hair on his chest grazed supersensitive skin and then he was kissing her again.

The window was open, and the only sounds were the hiss of the sea as it lapped at the sand and the uneven tone of Matt’s breathing as he kissed his way down her body and eased her thighs apart.

For Frankie, sex had always been a deeply unsatisfying
fumble in the dark, but the cabin caught the full force of the late-afternoon sun, the warmth of the rays spilling over her skin and spotlighting every inch of her naked body.

She felt the maddeningly gentle flick of Matt’s tongue at the top of her thighs and tried to wriggle away.

“Stop!” Mortified, she tried to push him away. “You can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“It’s too embarrassing—”

“It’s embarrassing because you’re not used to being naked in front of me? You’ll get used to it.”