Free Just Married! by Shirley Jump Cara Colter Page A

them.
    Waldo moaned from shore, a plaintive howl, and it pulled her, ever so slightly, from the place she was.
    Enough that she remembered all her brothers’ warnings about what men really wanted. It was what she really wanted, too, wasn’t it?
    But somehow it wasn’t. Some instinct for survival told her it was way too soon, told her that there would be nothing but regret at the end of this road if she followed it too far.
    Regretfully Samantha took advantage of the fact he was distracted—very distracted—placed both her hands on his shoulders, pushed hard enough that he lost his footing and went under the water.
    He came up laughing, shaking droplets of water from his face and hair, and then he came after her, and they played it all out again, the kisses never quite as deep, never quite as hungry as that first one.
    Finally exhausted and exhilarated they moved out of the water. She managed to snag her skirt, now as attractive as a lump of soggy tissue paper, from the surf. Ethan had left his shirt at the water’s edge, and he pulled it quickly around her, but not before his gaze burned her.
    They had no towels, so they lay down in the white, fine sand, the sun kissing them back to warmth.
    His shoulder touched hers, his eyes stayed on her face, a small appreciative smile on his lips.
    “Do you think things have blown over at your place? I could drop you off, you could change clothes. I’ll go back to my hotel and change, too. Then we could go grab a bite to eat together.”
    Together. A small word, used every day, thousands of times a day.
    How could it sparkle with new meaning? How could she feel like she didn’t want to leave him, not even for as long as it took to change clothes?
    It was weak to feel this way. So why did she feel as if she had waited all her life to feel it?
    “Dinner,” he said. “Somebody told me the Clam Digger is spectacular.”
    She remembered her last date at the Clam Digger. She wasn’t quite ready to expose all the rawness of these new feelings to her watching community—or her overly protective brothers. Not that they had acted very protective last night.
    But brothers could be unpredictable, especially Mitch.
    “I could grab my little barbecue and we could pick up some steaks and shrimp, barbecue down here on the beach.” That felt private. And easier than looking at him over a dinner plate, with strangers all around them.
    Or worse, in St. John’s Cove, not strangers at all!
    “Perfect.”
    He didn’t seem to care about the effects of the sand and the salt water on his car any more than he had cared about the skirt. He helped her in, and they drove back to her apartment.
    She was happy to see that the street in front of her place was quiet. The ladder had been moved and theletters taken down, only straggly pieces of tape left where they had been. Unfortunately she could still see the nose of Amanda’s yellow convertible.
    He saw it, too. “You want me to come in with you? Maybe I could say something helpful.”
    She was touched that he didn’t want to leave her alone to deal with Amanda’s heartbreak, but she wasn’t sure if Amanda would appreciate his concern or be embarrassed that her very successful cousin was witnessing the breakdown of her life.
    “No, it would be better if you didn’t.”
    “Okay. How about if I come back for you in about an hour?”
    “Fine.”
    Not the least self-conscious—this was a resort town after all—Sam took the stairs two at a time, loving the feel of his too large shirt brushing her naked thighs.
    She opened the door to her apartment and felt that wonderful sensation of homecoming that she felt every single time she walked through the door.
    Her apartment was a treasure. This building was nearly as old as the town, and Sam’s apartment had many of the original features, gorgeous hardwood floors, wainscoting, copper roof panels, leaded glass windows, luxurious oak crown moldings and trim.
    It had character, she had always thought