Free Prince Charming Can Wait (Ever After) by Stephanie Rowe Page A

him again?
    "I should get you back." Harlan turned away and started the engine. He didn't look at her as he drove the boat in a sweeping turn, heading back toward her dock.
    There were no further words between them, but she could still feel her lips burning from his brief kiss. She could still feel his hand in her hair. His palm sliding down her arm in the most seductive of caresses, sending electricity tingling through her body. She hadn't thought she had the ability to react to a man anymore. Too many walls, too many shields, too much fear. Sexual desires had died long ago for her...and yet, one kiss, one sweet, magical kiss from a man who lived a life of violence, and everything had come roaring back to life.
    Emma leaned back in her seat, the wind whipping her hair around her cheeks as she watched Harlan drive the boat. He was focused on the water in front of them, searching the blackness for the safe route that he had clearly memorized.
    He looked over at her and smiled, and she smiled back. "There's nothing like being on the water, is there?" he shouted over the roar of the engine.
    "It's amazing," she yelled back. The air was so fresh and pure, the water splashing over the sides of the boat, the night a heavy blanket hiding them from the world. Harlan grinned wider as he opened up the throttle, his body relaxed as he allowed himself to absorb the pitches of the boat with ease.
    He might not fit in the small town society of Birch Crossing, but as she watched him embrace the experience of being on the water, she realized that he was a perfect fit for life on a lake. A man who could be at peace in the utter simplicity of nature and companionable silence. She envied him, a man who carried all that weight and darkness, but could shut it all down for a boat ride.
    He looked over at her again, then held out his hand. "You drive."
    "What? No. I'm fine—"
    He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Come on." He pulled her in front of him, squeezing her between the front of his body and the steering wheel, though he did take a step back, bracing one bare foot on the seat behind him. "You're in control, babe. Enjoy it."
    "I don't know the lake well enough," she shouted at him over the wind. "I can't—"
    "I'll watch. You drive." He set her hand on the steering wheel. "Go for it."
    Emma grabbed the wheel as the boat started to veer off to the left. The leather was cold and smooth to the touch, and she gripped it tightly. Despite growing up in Birch Crossing, she hadn't spent much time on the lake, and she'd never had an interest in actually driving a boat. But as the wind hammered at her face, and the boat bounced across the open water, a strange exhilaration began to flood through her. The engine was roaring, the water churning up in their wake, and the wind whipping her shirt against her body.
    "Faster," Harlan yelled, taking her right hand and setting on the throttle. "Push down a little bit more."
    Emma tapped the throttle with a couple fingers, and Harlan's laughter echoed in her ear. "Really? That's all you've got?"
    She grabbed the gearshift and pushed down hard. The boat leapt forward so fast that she pitched backward into Harlan. He braced her fall with his body, his well-muscled arm reaching past her shoulder to grab the windshield for balance so he could support them both. He leaned forward, his face so close to hers that his cheek was against hers. "Awesome, isn't it?" he yelled. "Total freedom."
    She nodded, her eyes watering from the wind. It was incredible. They were going so fast, screaming across the black lake, hidden by the darkness of the night. She had no idea where they were going, or what they might hit, and she felt crazily wild and reckless, like she was throwing herself off a cliff on a stormy day and letting the winds hurl her around for an exhilarating, dangerous ride.
    Harlan inched closer, his body against hers, moving in perfect tandem as the boat lurched beneath them. The heat from his body,