ANNIE SAT ON the porch swing and stared down at a blank sheet of paper, all she’d had to show after an hour of trying to write her first contribution to the Wanderings column for Topsail magazine. They’d wanted an article for the September issue, and since she’d start her trip in September, they wanted her to talk about herself, her reasons for taking the cruise and the setup of the Honeymoon.
She’d arrived home a week ago, just hours before the next class of student sailors had begun to arrive for the third session. The counselors had kept the camp in shape while she was gone, completing a long list of tasks she’d left them along with enjoying seven days of freedom.
Annie stared out at the water, at her boat bobbing at anchor, then glanced down at the pad of paper. She’d been trying to start her article for the last hour but couldn’t seem to come up with a suitable first line. Her mind was such a tangle of emotions, she couldn’t sort it all out, at least not enough to make sense of it.
In another month, she’d be gone, sailing away from the comfort of a soft bed and running water. The first leg of the trip was simple. A thousand miles in the protection of the Intercoastal Waterway. But Annie was starting to reconsider that part of the plan. If she sailed on open ocean, still keeping close to the shore, she could make better time. And if the hurricane season stirred up some storms, she could duck into a nearby harbor and wait out the weather.
She’d dreamed about this trip for many years, but before Erik’s death, she’d always pictured the two of them together, working the sails, strolling through quaint villages, making love on the deck at night under a starry sky.
Those images barely surfaced in her mind anymore. In truth, she found herself thinking of what it might be like to have Gabe along on the trip. Not that she was afraid of the task she faced, but he always was such good company. When she felt down, he always had a way to brighten her mood. She felt like a better version of herself when they were together. At least she had until their last encounter.
Why did it have to end that way? Why couldn’t she have just allowed him the pleasure of loving her for as long as he wanted? What harm could there be in his feelings? And why did she feel the need to reject him so completely? So many questions. And not a single sensible answer to any of them.
It had been almost two weeks since she’d said goodbye to Gabe, and in that time, there had been no word, no call. Nothing to give her a clue as to how he was doing. Maybe that was for the best. If he was miserable, she’d probably be racked with guilt for her part in it. And if he was blissfully happy with a new woman in his life, she’d be left to question whether she’d made the biggest mistake in her own life.
Annie reached out and picked up her journal, the one Gabe had given her as a gift. She smoothed her fingertips over the gold-embossed cover and smiled. If it weren’t for Gabe, she wouldn’t have the writing job with Topsail, or sponsors willing to provide her with sails and foul-weather gear and an emergency radio beacon.
He’d worked on the boat as if it were his own, and she’d never really thanked him properly. In truth, he’d done so much for her in such a short time that she felt positively ungrateful and selfish for not finding a way to express her gratitude.
Annie reached for her cell phone and brought up Gabe’s number. But she couldn’t bring herself to push the button to dial it. What would she say to him? They’d shared so much in such a short time, and now they were back to being strangers.
A car horn broke the sleepy silence of the afternoon, and Annie’s heart leaped when she realized that all the counselors were still in camp. She got up from the swing and wandered to the far end of the porch, peering around the edge of the house to find a familiar van approaching.
Annie ran to the steps, then circled the house, ending up at the driveway just as Lisa pulled the van to a stop. She pulled open the driver’s door and dragged her friend out, drawing her into a fierce hug.
“What are you doing here?” Annie cried. “Why didn’t you call?”
“I knew you’d be here as long as the sailing school was in session,” Lisa said. “And I wanted to surprise you.”
“I needed a nice surprise,” Annie said, pulling her into another hug.
“I figured you might. Nellie said that you and Gabe have stopped seeing each other.”
“I told him I just wanted to be friends, and I guess he didn’t want that, because he just stopped any kind of contact. He hasn’t called or written. I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing.” Annie shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about him. Let’s talk about you. Why are you here?”
“Nellie had to come up to Pax River to finish up the project he was working on with Gabe. Then he and I are going to have a nice little weekend in DC, away from our three lovely children and our adorable dog. It’s our last chance before I start to blow up like a balloon.”
“Come,” Annie said. “Sit down on the porch and I’ll get us some drinks. What would you like? Iced tea? Or I have some raspberry lemonade.”
“Iced tea is good for me,” Lisa said. “Though I’d truly crave a glass of wine.”
Annie giggled. “All right. Iced tea for both of us.”
She hurried into the kitchen and poured two glasses of tea from the huge pitcher she kept in the fridge. She added sugar and a few slices of lemon, then returned to the porch. Lisa was stretched out in one of the old wicker rockers. Annie handed her a glass, then sat down beside her.
“You look so beautiful. It’s true what they say, about pregnant women having a glow about them.”
“Oh, please. That glow is sweat and it comes from six hours in a van with no air-conditioning.” Lisa took a sip of her tea. “Do you want to tell me how you managed to screw things up with Gabe Pennington? Or would you prefer to talk about my swollen ankles?”
“Why do you think it was me?”
“Because that man would do anything for you, and I mean anything. There’s no way he would have messed it up. It must have been you.”
“I just wasn’t ready,” Annie said. “It all happened so fast, and it felt as if he was trying to pull me away from all of these plans that I’d made.” She paused. “I got married so young, and after Erik died, I had no idea who I was. I was finally starting to figure it out, and then I found out that my marriage was a complete lie. I didn’t want to start living my life for another man, just to have it happen all over again.”
“Guys like Gabe don’t come along very often,” Lisa said. “He’s crazy about you. He’ll treat you like a princess. I know it sounds silly, but that kind of love is something you can build a life around.”
“What if I don’t feel the same way?” Annie asked.
Lisa groaned. “Don’t be silly. I know you love him. I can see it in the way your face lights up when you talk about him. And how you say his name. Annie Foster Jennings, do not mess this up!”
“I’m not sure I want to get married again.”
“What about children?”
“You weren’t married when you had your kids. And you raised them as a single mother for most of their lives. It can be done.”
“Why would you want to do it when you can have a guy like Gabe to—”
“A guy like Gabe, a guy like Gabe. What if he turns out to be a guy like Erik? A guy who cheats and then turns around and tells me how much he loves me.”
“Gabe wouldn’t do that. He’s waited too long to risk losing you.”
Annie held out her hand to stop Lisa. “Can we talk about something else? Thinking about him just makes me more confused.”
“All right. But I do plan to return to the subject before I leave.”
“Oh, goody,” Annie said, taking a long drink of her tea.
Lisa’s cell phone rang, and she pulled it out of her purse. “Oh, a text from my hubby. He misses me already. Isn’t that—” The smile slowly faded.
“What is it?”
“Nellie says that Gabe’s been in an accident. They’ve taken him to the hospital on the base. He says we should come right away.”
For a moment, Annie couldn’t speak. Her throat had gone dry and her mind was frozen. “Was it a crash?” Annie finally asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
Lisa shook her head. “He doesn’t say. He says ‘surgery within the hour.’”
“Let me just let the counselors know where I’m going and I’ll—”
“I’ll let them know,” Lisa said. “You go change and throw some things in a bag. You might want to stay overnight. I’ll see if I can get more information out of Nellie.”
Annie hurried back into the house, still clutching her iced tea. She tossed the glass into the sink and it shattered. When she reached her bedroom, her pulse was pounding so hard she could barely think.
Her mind wound back to the day she’d found out about Erik. They’d sent someone from the base. The officer had stood on her front porch and explained what had happened, how Erik had died in service to his country. “Gabe’s not dead,” Annie murmured to herself. “He can’t die.”
She threw some clothes into a bag and rushed back downstairs. Two of the counselors stood in the kitchen with Lisa, and Annie paused. “Take the kids for pizza tonight like we planned,” she said. “Sarah will be in to cook the meals tomorrow, so you should be set. Call me on my cell if you need me. And please don’t let anyone get hurt or drown. Promise me?”
The two counselors nodded. “Will you let us know how he is?”
“I will,” Lisa said. She grabbed Annie’s bag. “I’ll wait for you in the van. And I’ll call Nellie to see if I can get more information from him.”
“I’ll be right out,” Annie said. She gave the counselors a few more instructions, then hurried outside to join Lisa.
When she got in the van, Annie looked to her friend for more news, but Lisa shook her head. “He’s not answering. But that doesn’t mean anything. He might have had to turn his phone off because he was in the hospital.”
“Right. That’s probably it.” As they sped out to the highway, Annie tried to keep her thoughts positive. An accident. He could have sprained his ankle or bumped his head. But then, that wouldn’t require surgery, would it?
“This doesn’t mean that I love him,” Annie said, her gaze fixed on the road ahead. “He’s a good friend and I’m concerned about his well-being, that’s all.”
“I know that’s what you’re telling yourself,” Lisa said. “But I think you’re full of doo-doo.”
“Doo-doo?” Annie giggled. “Really? I’m full of doo-doo?”
“We try not to swear in our household. And now that Nellie is home nearly full-time, it’s getting a lot harder. I just think you should stop being a poop-head and admit that you’ve been wrong about Gabe. Admit that you’re in love with him.”
Annie wrapped her arms around herself, a shiver coursing through her body. She felt as if she couldn’t catch her breath, and she’d grown light-headed. “I’m feeling a little dizzy.”
“Put your head between your knees,” Lisa said. “And take long, deep breathes.”
Annie did as she was told, bumping her head on the glove compartment as she went down. “Ouch,” she cried, rubbing her head. She stared at her toes, painted a pretty shade of pink, as she moderated her breathing. Within a few minutes, the panic had subsided, but the feeling of dread was still there.
“How long will it take to get there?” Annie asked.
“It took me fifty minutes to drive the distance this morning. If I drive a little faster, I suppose forty or forty-five minutes.”
“How long have we been gone?” Annie asked.
“About five minutes. Just sit back and relax.”
Relax, Annie thought to herself. It was an impossible task when all she could think about was Gabe Pennington, lying in a hospital bed, close to death, his own feelings still bottled up inside him.
Annie said a silent prayer and then made a deal with God. If He spared Gabe, then she would forget her plans to sail to San Diego and allow herself to fall in love.
* * *
GABE OPENED HIS eyes to a hazy world of beeping machines and harsh white lights. He reached up to rub his forehead but found his right wrist enclosed in a splint. He wiggled his fingers, but there was no pain.
When he pulled up his left arm, he found tubes taped to the skin on the back of his hand. Pushing up on his elbows, he examined the rest of his body.
“Shit,” he muttered when his saw his right leg enclosed in a plaster cast.
“Gabe?”
The sound of Annie’s voice cleared the cobwebs from his head, and he turned to find her sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed. She stood and crossed the room to stand beside the bed.
“You gave me quite a scare,” Annie said.
“What are you doing here?”
“Nellie called. He said you’d had an accident and you needed surgery.”
“What happened?” he asked.
“You were on a ladder doing something to the helicopter and you lost your balance,” Annie explained.
He watched as her eyes filled with tears. “Hey, why are you crying? It’s not your fault I’m a klutz. It could happen to anyone. And it’s not the first broken limb I’ve had. I broke my arm once after a hard landing and my ankle when my chopper ran headfirst into an embankment.” He glanced down at his leg. “It looks like the doctors fixed me up pretty well.”
Annie smiled, brushing away the tears. “You do sound like you’re feeling all right.”
“Massive amounts of painkiller, I think,” Gabe said. “I’m pretty sure that’s what this little button is for.” He held it out to her. “Should we give it a try?”
A nurse strode into the room, holding an electronic notepad in her hand. “Captain Pennington, good to see that you’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“Good. What time is it?”
“It’s half past eight,” the nurse said.
Gabe frowned. “Morning or night?”
“Night,” she said. “The painkillers have kept you sleeping for most of the afternoon, and now that the anesthesia has worn off, it’s time for you to get up and get moving.”
“My leg is broken.”
“In two places. They had to put in a couple plates and some screws to stabilize the bone. But you should heal quickly. The physical therapist will be here in a few minutes to give you some crutches, and then we’ll get you moving.”
“Is everything else all right?” Annie asked.
“Is this your wife?” the nurse asked.
“Yes,” he said, and the same time Annie said, “No.”
“Which is it?”
“She’s my girlfriend,” Gabe said.
Annie gave him an odd look, and Gabe shrugged. “And you can tell her whatever information you tell me. How long am I going to need this cast?”
“The doctor will give you that information,” she said. “He’ll be in tomorrow morning. And he’ll be able to tell you when you might be going home, as well.”
“If you had to guess, when might that be?” Gabe asked.
“If you’re getting along on crutches, it could be as early as tomorrow. I guess I don’t need to ask if you have someone who can take care of you.”
“No,” Annie said. “You don’t need to ask.”
After the nurse left the room, Gabe patted the edge of the bed, and Annie sat down next to him. “You’re not going to have to take care of me. I’ll figure out a way to get by.”
“No, I want to. I owe it to you. You’ve done so much for me this summer and I—”
“It’s not a debt that has to be paid,” Gabe said. “That’s not why I did those things. Besides, you have plans at the end of the month.”
“I don’t have to leave right away,” she said. “It would probably be better if I waited anyway.”
Gabe shook his head. “No. I plan to stand on the shore and wave goodbye as you sail out into the Chesapeake. After all the work we put in on the boat, I’m counting on it.”
She nodded and forced a smile. “All right. If that’s what you want.”
He saw the relief on her face, and Gabe knew that the lie had worked. His feelings about the trip hadn’t changed, but his feeling for Annie had.
In the time they’d spent apart, he’d realized that loving a woman as bright and capable and determined as Annie would come with some challenges. She was also fiercely independent. And if he truly loved her, then he’d have to let her exercise that independence whenever she wanted to.
It was one of those qualities that he loved in her. There were far too many to list, but with time and distance, he was beginning to understand what made her so attractive.
“I could go get you something to eat,” Annie said.
“They’ll probably bring me dinner at some point,” he said. “Unless I slept through it.”
“Knock, knock.”
They both looked to the door to see Nellie and Lisa at the door. They both carried bags from a local restaurant, and Nellie set them on a nearby tray table and began to unpack the contents.
“We figured you’d be hungry, so we picked up some sandwiches and a few other goodies.”
“Weren’t you two supposed to be on your way to DC for the weekend?”
“We can’t leave you stranded here,” Lisa said.
Gabe chuckled. “I’m not alone. Annie is here.”
“I’ll be fine,” Annie said. “You guys need to go.”
Lisa looked at her husband and shrugged. “I suppose if we left now, we’d still be able to get our room.”
Nellie nodded, then grabbed her hand. But Lisa stopped him as he pulled her to the door. She reached in her pocket and tossed Annie her keys. “We’ll pick it up on Sunday evening,” she said.
Annie tucked the keys in the pocket of her jacket. “Thanks,” she said.
“Take good care of him,” Nellie said.
A few moments later, the room was silent. Gabe wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to reach out and pull Annie into his arms, to kiss her like he’d kissed her in the past. But he was no longer certain she’d respond.
There seemed to be a wall standing between them, thicker and stronger than anything that had come between them in the past. He sensed that it wouldn’t come down with kisses or sweet promises or even just the simple truth.
“I never got to say goodbye to him,” Annie murmured, staring out the window at the setting sun.
“Nellie? I’m sure he doesn’t mind.”
“No, Erik. One minute, he was part of my life, and the next minute, he was gone. I thought I would have felt it or sensed it somehow. But I didn’t.”
“It doesn’t always happen that way,” Gabe said.
“We fought the last morning we were together,” Annie said. “It was a real barn burner. And after he left, I was so angry that I decided I’d give him an ultimatum. He either left active duty after his tour was up or I’d divorce him. Did he ever say anything to you about that?”
Gabe took her hand and slipped his fingers between hers. Her hand felt so small and fragile enclosed in his, and yet he knew the power of her touch and what her hands were able to do to his body. “No, he never said anything.”
“Do you think that it was on his mind when the crash happened? They said it was pilot error. Maybe it was my fault.”
Gabe groaned. “Is this what you’ve been carrying around? Annie, it was not your fault. Accidents happen, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them.”
Gabe slid across the bed, making a place for her to lie down beside him. He didn’t have to make a formal invitation. As soon as he did, Annie stretched out beside him, resting her chin on his chest.
“I’ve missed you,” Annie said softly.
“And I’ve missed you.”
“I don’t like sleeping in an empty bed,” she said.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, wondering if the first brick in the wall had just fallen. “I don’t either.”
“Can’t we go back to the way it was between us? When we were both happy?”
“I’m not sure we can,” Gabe said.
She pushed up against his chest so she could look into his eyes. “Do you still love me?”
Gabe nodded. “I do. And how do you feel about me?”
“This afternoon, when I heard you’d been hurt, I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. Like I couldn’t breathe. Like I was drowning and I couldn’t pull myself up to the surface. And I thought it was my fault. Because we fought that day.” She paused, then drew a deep breath. “And for a very brief moment on the ride to the hospital, I thought I might have loved you.”
“Just for a brief moment?”
Annie nodded. “Then I realized that it was probably guilt.”
“Maybe it was love,” Gabe suggested.
She shook her head. “If I love you and then lose you, like I lost Erik, I’m not sure I could live with myself.”
“Sometimes, you have to just take a risk,” Gabe said.
She nodded, then put her head back down on his chest. He didn’t want to talk anymore. The more they talked, the more convinced she became that they could never be together. No, instead he just needed to touch her and hold her and make her feel safe.
Annie was such a complex creature that he hadn’t figured out every little twist and turn in her personality. That could take years. But if he could just untangle a few of her worries, then maybe she could make a place for him in her life.
A soft knock sounded on the door, and a few seconds later, the physical therapist stepped inside, holding a pair of crutches. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb.”
“Can we do that tomorrow? She’s had a really rough day.”
“Visiting hours are over at nine,” the therapist said.
“I think she might be staying the night.”
“Is she your wife?” the therapist asked.
“Yes,” Gabe lied. “She’s my wife.”
“Then it’s fine. We can bring pillows and blankets in for her, but she’s supposed to sleep in that chair. The beds are for the patients.”
She left the crutches against the wall near the door, then promised to be back in the morning around 8:00 a.m. Gabe smiled to himself as he settled back into the bed. After falling off the ladder, he’d cursed his bad luck and his lack of focus.
He had been thinking about Annie when he’d been working. But maybe it hadn’t been bad fortune at all. Maybe it had been the luck he’d needed to bring her back into his life.
She was here in his bed. And she’d offered to help care for him once he got out of the hospital. They could start again, only this time they’d begin as friends and add the benefits later. The fates had given him one last chance and he wasn’t going to mess it up this time.
* * *
“YOU ARE NEVER going to be able to get from the dinghy onto the boat without falling into the water.”
“So, I get a little wet,” Gabe said. “I’m not going to melt.”
“The doctor said you can’t get your cast wet. And if you fall in, you’re going to sink like a man wearing cement overshoes. You’d never be able to swim with that thing on your leg. And I couldn’t save you.”
Gabe had been staying with her for nearly a week, and with each day that passed, he grew more and more restless. And more irritable, as well. It had become a battle of wills to get him to rest and keep his weight off his broken leg.
He’d learned to get around with his crutches in the house and on the porch. When he ventured out on the lawn, he drove an old golf cart that her father had restored for hauling sails back and forth from the loft to the customer’s cars and boats.
Out of sheer boredom, he’d taken a greater interest in the school and had taught a few navigation classes for a group of younger students.
But it was the nights that Annie feared the most. They hadn’t slept together since he’d returned. He’d taken up residence in the bedroom downstairs where there was a bathroom nearby.
Late at night, she could hear him pacing, his crutches clunking on the wood floor. Annie would lay awake, waiting to hear the sound of his footsteps on the stairs. There were some nights when she prayed that he’d make a move and visit her bed again. Other nights, she convinced herself that it was all for the better that they’d put the physical part of their relationship behind them.
“It wouldn’t be impossible,” Gabe said. “It would just take a little bit of effort on your part. Unless you don’t want me to enjoy myself as I’m trying to regain my health.”
“Well, I just happen to think you’ll find a brand-new way to kill yourself. And it will be all my fault.”
“Is he giving you trouble again, Annie?” One of the counselors approached, a wide grin on his face. “You know, he’s tried to pay three of us to take him out there, and we’ve always refused. Do you have any idea how slippery it will be on deck? You’ll be in the drink before you know it.”
“Go away and leave me alone,” Gabe said in a glum tone.
“Sit down and read a magazine,” Annie said. “I’m just finishing up the dishes. We can play some cards or get out a board game. There’s an Orioles game on television in about an hour.”
“I hate the Orioles,” he said.
“Then you can sit out here and pout like the big baby that you are.”
Annie and the counselor began laughing, and that only irritated Gabe more. He turned and walked into the house, slamming the screen door behind him. Annie looked at the counselor. “Don’t you dare let him get on that boat, do you hear me?”
Annie turned and walked back inside. She expected to find him pacing the kitchen, his crutches clunking with every step he took. But he wasn’t waiting for her.
She wandered through the house and found him in the guest bedroom, sprawled across the bed on his stomach, his face buried in a pillow. “Please don’t put the kids on the spot like that. It isn’t fair.”
“Life isn’t fair,” Gabe grumbled. “I’m going to go crazy if I don’t find something to do. I was going to start taking a few classes during the fall semester, but I can’t drive. I’m stuck here for at least another six weeks until this cast comes off. Hell, I can’t even go back to active duty if I wanted to.”
“Not with a broken leg.”
“After the cast is off, I have to have therapy and they won’t let me go back until I get approved. For pilots, that’s always a tricky business.”
“You could get some reading done,” she suggested.
He rolled over onto his back. “There is one thing we could do that would alleviate my boredom,” Gabe said.
“What’s that? Please. I’m starting to go a little stir crazy, too.”
He sat up on the bed and grinned. “All right, then. I want you to take your clothes off while I watch.”
Annie gasped. “What?”
“You heard me. Take your clothes off. I’m going to sit here and watch.”
“No!” she said, shaking her head. “I’m not going to provide X-rated entertainment for you.”
“Really?” Gabe said. “X-rated seems a bit overly confident, doesn’t it? You’re really more of a PG-type entertainer.”
“You don’t think I can be sexy?”
“Not that sexy,” he said.
Annie knew she was being played, but it didn’t matter. She had reached the end of her rope, as well. The intimate moments they’d shared were played back over and over in her head while she tried to sleep. Maybe it was time to act on those impulses.
Annie returned to the bedroom door, but instead of shutting it, she wrapped her leg around the doorjamb and slid down and then up, using it like a stripper’s pole. The expression on his face was priceless.
“I usually do this with music, but you’ll just have to imagine some raunchy bump and grind.”
Annie moved away from the door and closed it, then bent down provocatively as she locked it with the old skeleton key. Then she pulled the front of her shorts out and dropped the key inside.
“You are naughty,” he said with a chuckle.
“PG naughty?”
“I haven’t seen enough to judge. Keep going.”
Slowly, she removed each piece of clothing, moving around the room and allowing him tantalizing views of her body. About halfway through the striptease, Annie noticed that the commentary stopped and he watched her silently, the desire evident in his eyes.
They were going to indulge their desires today, and Annie wasn’t sure she wanted to do anything to stop it. She’d missed having him in her bed, and as the date of her departure approached, she was beginning to wonder if it might be nice to enjoy themselves just a few more times.
When she was finally naked, Annie walked to the foot of the bed, then crawled across the mattress until she knelt beside him. Taking his hand, she placed it on her breast, then closed her eyes and smiled.
When she felt his mouth on her nipple, she drew in a sharp breath and let the sensations wash over her. His hands skimmed over her body, touching every inch of skin as if he had to remind himself how she felt beneath his palms.
Everything happened so quickly as they rolled around on the bed, playing at seduction and laughing at the results. His cast seemed to get in the way of everything they tried to do, throwing him off balance.
Finally, she laid him on his back and unzipped his cargo shorts. His erection sprang to attention the moment the fabric parted, and he grabbed her waist and set her down on top of him.
Annie held her breath as she took in every inch of his shaft, wriggling until he was buried deep. “Now what are you going to do with me?”
He growled softly. “I think you’re going to have to make all the moves.”
Annie smiled, then began a lazy rhythm, rocking forward and back as she arched against him. He drew her down, burying his face between her breasts, then taking the time to tease each nipple to a hard peak.
As she gradually increased the pace, she watched his expression go from pleasure to exquisite torture. He tried to bring her along with him, but she brushed his hands away, holding his wrists on either side of his head.
She could tell he was close, and watching him resist the impulse to come was increasing her own pleasure. But she ignored the knot of tension that tightened in her core, determined to give him what he wanted.
His hands gripped her hips, and she followed his lead, driving hard and fast. And when he finally fell over the edge, he fell hard, his body jerking with deep spasms, his hips arched into hers.
He was incredible to watch, all his masculine strength and power distilled down to a few seconds of extraordinary pleasure. As she continued to move, he twisted beneath her, his body suddenly sensitive.
Gabe gripped her hips, and she enjoyed the warmth that he’d left inside her as she lay down on his chest. “How was that?”
He chuckled softly. “Definitely X-rated.”
“No,” she said. “That was an R. We couldn’t possibly get to X with that cast on your leg. We’ll need to leave that to later.”
“Next time, we need to find a video camera,” Gabe murmured as he toyed with a strand of her hair. “I’m going to need something to enjoy while you’re off sailing the world.”
“Just one video?”
“Several would be nice. Maybe a whole library.”
“That sounds a bit dangerous,” Annie said as she crawled out of bed. She began to gather her clothes from the floor.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ve got some work to do.”
“You’re just going to leave me here?”
Annie sat on the edge of the bed. “You can come out and help me sort the last of the gear for my next group of students. And then, if you’re really good, I might let you take me out for a little row in the dinghy. And after that, I’ll make you some dinner.”
“You’re an easy woman to love, Annie Jennings.”
“And you’re an easy man to seduce, Gabe Pennington.” She pulled on the rest of her clothes, then gave him a quick kiss and headed out of the room. When she reached the kitchen, Annie sat at the table and cupped her chin in her palm.
Nothing had changed between them, and yet everything had. He was still in love with her, and she was finally ready to admit that she loved him. She wasn’t quite sure when it had happened and had spent hours trying to pinpoint the moment. Annie suspected it was when Lisa told her that Gabe had been in an accident, the flash of terror that raced through her at the thought of losing him.
But even though the feelings were there, new and fresh and surprisingly uncomplicated, she still couldn’t say the words out loud. Not yet. In two weeks, she’d say goodbye to him for six months. In that time, he’d go on with his life, free to choose another path...another woman.
But if he was there when she arrived in San Diego, waiting for her, still wanting her, then she’d know for sure. And after that, they’d begin a life together. Suddenly, she wanted to leave the next day. The sooner she was on the water, the sooner she could come home to the man she loved.