“What time is Daddy coming home?” Luna asked. She was doing everything she could to delay bedtime. She’d complained she was thirsty so Chelsea had gotten her a bottle of water to take to bed. Then she’d chosen the thickest book she had for Chelsea to read to her, and then she’d made Chelsea go back to an earlier page because she wanted to know exactly what the tiger had said.
And now she was tidying up her room, which she usually hated doing, all in an effort to keep Chelsea from leaving her alone.
“He won’t be home until early in the morning,” Chelsea said patiently, because she knew how much Luna hated change. “You’ll see him for breakfast the same way you did today.”
They’d been back from L.A. for a few days, and Chris was now on his week of night shoots. Luna was still so amped up from her trip to Disneyland. She kept coming up with facts that the tour guide must have told them as he escorted them around the park.
They’d ordered every official photograph that had been taken. Cardboard folders with images of Luna with Mickey and Minnie and all the gang were propped up on the hall table. Chelsea planned to get them all framed before filming was over and they all went their separate ways.
Not that she wanted to think about that now. Nothing was going to ruin her good vibe. It had been with her since Saturday and she liked it too much to give it up.
It was like something had shifted between them. On the way home from L.A. while Luna slept softly in the back of the car, Chris’ eyes would catch Chelsea’s and he’d smile softly as though he was remembering the previous day and night.
They’d barely gotten out of bed. Only long enough to swim and eat before he’d chased her back up the stairs and she’d giggled loudly when he caught her.
The sex had been amazing, but so were the softer moments when she lay in his arms as he played with her hair and they talked about their lives. He’d told her that he’d never wanted to be an actor – he’d always wanted to be on the other side of the camera – but he’d received an offer too good to refuse.
And she’d told him about her love for her job. How much she cared about the children she looked after – and he’d stared at her intently before kissing her and telling her that he was so lucky to have found her.
“It’s really hot in here,” Luna complained. “Can I sleep in Daddy’s room? He keeps the window open for the ocean breeze.”
“He closes it when he’s asleep.” Chelsea was trying not to show her amusement. “And it’s cool in here. Only sixty-eight degrees.” She pulled Luna’s sheet from the mattress and pointed at the bed. “Come on, I’ll tuck you in.”
Luna wrinkled her nose. “Can I have one more story?” she asked, scrambling onto the mattress. “I didn’t like the last one. It’ll give me nightmares.” She widened her eyes. “Or night terrors.”
Chelsea had been waiting for this one. She had to look away so Luna couldn’t see her smile. “The doctor said the best thing for night terrors is a cool room and lots of sleep.”
“Just one more?” Luna asked, batting her eyelids, and for one moment Chelsea could see her dad in her. He had that same look when their eyes clashed. She let out a mouthful of air. Luna was such a good kid, she didn’t usually push for things.
“Just one. Then you have to promise to sleep.”
“Okay.” Luna nodded. “I’m gonna try really hard.”
“Good girl.” Wiping the hair from Luna’s brow, she winked. “Since you made a promise, how about I go get one of my special books.”
“The ones you read when you were little?” Luna blinked. Chelsea had only read from one of them once for Luna. She preferred the more contemporary books. But Luna’s restlessness came from a need for connection. And since she couldn’t have it with her daddy right now, Chelsea wanted to give her that security.
“Okay,” she said, when she’d gotten the book and was back in Luna’s bedroom. “This one was my very favorite when I was little. My mom bought it from the bookshop here in Angel Sands.”
“The one with the cushions?” Luna asked.
“That’s it.” They’d spent an hour in there last week, stocking up Luna’s story collection.
“That must be really old if it was there when you were little.” Luna’s eyes widened.
This time Chelsea didn’t hide her laugh. “I’m not that old.”
Luna’s expression was serious. “I mean, you’re not as old as daddy. But you’re an adult, right?”
“Right.” Chelsea opened the book, an old, worn copy of Guess How Much I Love You. “Would you like to read it? I think you can read all these words.”
“No.” Luna shook her head and laid back on her pillow. “I’m tired. You read.”
“Okay.” A smile flitted across Chelsea’s lips, because Luna was finally giving in. She cleared her throat and ran her finger along the page, turning it to show Luna the illustrations of Little and Big Nutbrown Hare, the book reminding her so much of her dad. He’d loved doing the voices and making her giggle.
So she did the same for Luna.
“It’s Angel Day on Friday. You’re coming, right?” Ember asked, as Chelsea sat in the living room looking out at the darkness. The sound of the ocean crashing against the sand wafted in through the open doors, a breeze dancing with the voile curtains as she spoke on the phone.
“It’s this week? I thought it was earlier in the year?” Chelsea frowned, confused.
“It usually is,” Ember admitted. “It’s a long story, but it involves Frank Megassey, a stray dog, and a broken femur. Long story short, we had to move the day to now.”
“Do I want to know the story?” Chelsea asked. Frank Megassey was the unofficial mayor of Angel Sands, and a bona fide busy body. If he’d broken a bone and couldn’t go to Angel Day it stood to reason he would have postponed it.
“Not really.” Ember shook her head. “Just take it from me it’s this week.”
“Is Lucas on duty this year?” Chelsea smiled because her brother-in-law always claimed he hated Angel Day, but she knew he had a soft spot for it. Not least because it was at the fair that he first kissed Ember.
“Of course.” Ember nodded. “But I managed to get out of it because it’s the first year Arthur can go on some of the rides. Do you think you can come with us? I figure there’s safety in numbers.”
“I’m working on Friday. Chris is still doing night shoots.”
“Oh.” Ember sighed. “I guess I’ll ask Mom. She’s just such a worrier, she’ll panic every time I take him on something.”
“I could bring Luna with me, maybe…” Chelsea mused. “I’d need to ask Chris.” Luna would love Angel Day. It was the town’s annual foundation day, full of music and fairground rides. As a kid, Chelsea had loved it, too.
“You think he’ll go for it?”
“Maybe. Leave it to me, and I’ll let you know.” Chelsea picked at a piece of lint on her denim shorts. “Changing the subject, how are things with you and Lucas going?”
“Better.” Ember lowered her voice. “We talked things through. We’ve stopped putting so much pressure on ourselves. Just see how things go.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Chelsea nodded. “I knew you two would work things out.”
“The sex is better already,” Ember said, laughing when Chelsea told her to stop.
“Seriously. I don’t want to think about you or Lucas like that.”
“Well at least one of us is getting some,” Ember told her. “Mom’s worried that you’ll never find a guy.”
The laughter died in Chelsea’s throat because she felt so bad hiding that part of her life from her sister. But she didn’t want to worry her. And as far as she knew, when her job was over, she and Chris would be too.
He hadn’t made any promises and she didn’t ask for any. She was taking things one day at a time.
And Ember would never understand that. She’d had two long term relationships, one with her ex-fiancé who’d left her, and then with Lucas.
“What is it with Mom wanting me to settle down?” Chelsea asked, shaking her head. “Doesn’t she know that women nowadays don’t need a man to be complete?”
“She just wants you to be happy,” Ember said softly. “I do, too.”
“I am happy.”
Ember let out a breath. “Okay. But at least let me introduce you to some of the guys from the firehouse that we talked about. They’ll all be on duty at Angel Day.”
“I’ll have Luna with me,” Chelsea said, relieved to have an excuse. “I can’t be talking to guys when I’m on duty.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to throw them down on the ground and ravish them,” Ember said, amused. “Just say hi. Be friendly. Then later you can tell me which ones you think are hot. There are some seriously good looking single guys at the station.”
“We’ll see,” Chelsea said lightly, though she planned to do nothing of the sort. A noise came from the second floor. “Listen, I have to go. I think I can hear Luna moving around upstairs.”
“Okay sure.” Ember paused for a moment. “Honey, you know I’m kind of kidding, right? You don’t have to date a firefighter. You can just make some new friends.”
“I know. And it’s sweet.” Chelsea pushed herself up. “But you don’t have to worry about me, I can manage my own love life.”
“Of course you can. But everybody needs a little help sometimes.”
She felt lips on hers. Soft and warm and oh so teasing. For a moment she wasn’t sure if it was a dream or if it was real. She blinked, her eyes slowly coming into focus, and she saw Chris kneeling next to her bed, a smile playing on his lips.
“What time is it?” she murmured, turning onto her side. It was gloomy in her room, the only light coming from the hallway.
“Four a.m. I just wanted to see you.”
Her lip curled. “You’ll see me at breakfast.”
“Okay, I wanted to kiss you.”
This time her smile was big. “Then why aren’t you?”
He looked tired. She reached for him, and he let her pull his face toward hers, their mouths connecting as she let out a soft sigh. He moved onto the bed, his body hovering over hers, the sheet a barrier between them. When he broke the kiss he was still smiling.
He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Everything okay here?” he asked.
“Mmhmm.” She was still half asleep. “How was the shoot?”
“Long. And you weren’t there.” There was warmth in his eyes. “No night terrors?”
“No. She slept like a log. When she finally got to sleep, that is. She came downstairs about five times with flimsy excuses.”
“Sounds like my girl.” He lifted a brow. “How about you. Were you lonely without me?”
“Always.” He smelled of the night air. Cool and crisp. She lifted the corner of her sheets. “Lay down for a minute.”
He glanced at her closed door and back at her. “Only for a minute,” he agreed, shucking his jeans off and climbing beneath the sheets with her.
She reached for him, hooking her leg around his hip. “This is nice,” she murmured.
“Yes, it is.” He reached behind him and checked the monitor connected to Luna’s bedroom. No sound was coming out of it. “I need to be in my own bed by five though. In case she wakes up.”
Chelsea wriggled over to give him more room on the mattress, and he rolled onto his back, pulling her into his crook. Sliding her hand beneath his t-shirt, she sighed when she felt the warmth of his chest. A little pulse of pleasure rushed through her as she traced the ridges of his stomach muscles.
He squeezed his eyes shut. “You’re making this really hard.”
“That’s the plan,” she teased, then pulled her hand away. “Sorry, I was just kidding. It’s good to feel your skin though.”
He put her hand back where it was, pressing it down with his own. “I like it. Don’t stop.”
He kissed her again, his mouth achingly soft. She wondered if this was what it would be like to wake up with him every morning. To be able to roam her hands freely over his body, to feel his warm lips urging her awake.
To make slow, sleepy love as the sun rose in the sky.
She could feel the outline of his excitement pressing against her pajama shorts. “I wish…”
“I know.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But we can’t. If Luna comes in now at least I can jump out of bed and be fully clothed.”
She grinned. “True. Though I’d love to hear you explain to her why you’re in here in the first place.”
“You had a nightmare.” He traced her bottom lip with his finger. “I heard you scream. I’m just comforting you.”
“Is that right?”
He looked down at her mouth then back at her eyes. She could see a desire there, the same need that she felt rushing through her veins. “Yeah. You were inconsolable. The only way I could stop your screaming was to put my rock hard…”
“Shut up.” She laughed, batting his hand away and snuggling closer to him. She loved the way his chest felt against her cheek. “You are hard, though.”
“I know. I’m working on it.” He groaned. “We need to plan another night away.”
“Let’s check with your nanny and see when she’s free.”
It was his turn to laugh. “She’s a pain in the ass. Keeps bossing me around.”
“Sounds to me that you like it.”
He traced his finger down her bare arm. “Maybe I do.”
“Tell me about your shoot,” she said, closing her eyes. “Did you get everything done that you needed to?”
“Four scenes in the can. We need another couple of nights and we’re done.”
“That’s good news. I’ve never seen a night shoot. What’s it like?”
“The same as the day except everybody’s a little more tired.”
“I meant technically.” She shook her head. “Do you have to light it differently? What about catering? It must take a lot of organizing.”
“It does. We have a catering truck and craft table for food, and the crew takes breaks the same way we do in the day. But there’s something about a night shoot that concentrates the mind. It’s more serious somehow. Most scenes require less takes than during the day. Maybe we all just want to get home.” He kissed her brow. “I know I do.”
“Hey, I have another question for you,” she said, changing the subject. “My sister called. She asked if Luna and I would join them at the Angel Day Fair.”
“What’s Angel Day?”
“The town’s foundation day. Rumor has it that a ship’s captain was sailing along the coastline and saw an angel pointing right at where the town is now. He thought it was a sign so he dropped anchor and started building houses and businesses here.”
“An angel…”
“I know. The other rumor is that he’d drunk half a barrel of rum a few hours before.”
“This place is so damn quaint.” Chris shook his head. “What kind of fair is it?”
“The usual. Sideshows and rides. Food stalls and choirs and dancers.”
“Is it safe?” he asked. She could hear the frown in his voice.
“As houses,” she promised. “The only accidents are from the little kids going on the ghost train.”
“Ugh. No ghost train then.”
“Wasn’t planning on it. But seriously, my brother-in-law will be there. And most of the firefighters from his station. Everybody knows everybody, nothing will happen, I promise.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Let me think about it and I’ll let you know later today.”
“Sure.” That was fair enough. It was so early she could barely stay awake. And he’d been working all night, he must be exhausted. “Hey, can you grab my phone?” she asked him.
“Why?”
“Because I want to set my alarm in case we both fall asleep. That way Luna won’t have to hear about your rock hard…” she trailed off.
He smirked and passed her the phone. “Set the alarm, woman.”