Lorelie Brown - Riding the Wave

She swallowed on a soft sigh. “Good morning, Tanner.”

Avalon wanted her camera in her hands rather than the mug of coffee.

But she didn’t usually get what she wanted, did she?

It wasn’t like Tanner’s hands at her face was any sort of hardship. She’d find a way to endure. Somehow.

She had to bury the sudden smile in her coffee mug. Explaining that one might be a wee bit difficult.

Tanner didn’t return to his seat and she didn’t want to examine how happy she was. The sun peeking over the rooftops had nothing on the happiness beaming through her. He stood between her knees, though he lowered his hand to her knees. The tingle that went up the inside of her thighs was proximity and possibilities.

She couldn’t resist the devil on her shoulder. The slightest move tightened her legs and her knees brushed his sides, along his ribs. The man had incredible lats, that was all there was to it.

The very thought brought back the rush of holding him. Gripping those very sides.

He could go straight to her head—and other parts. Especially with the steady way he looked at her. As if he could see right down inside her, and maybe didn’t mind what he was finding.

The fear that prickled along her skin at that thought was more than she could bear. She hadn’t earned that level of interest. The smile she forced to her lips felt unnatural, but she made it. “Do we have plans? And mind you, I’m asking as your assigned photographer. Not the pickup chick who won’t go home.”

His smile was pretty, though she’d never tell him that. And the scar only added a tiny dash of recklessness. “I don’t kick my pickups out quite that fast, thank you very much. There’s always time for a second round.”

“Oh?” She wanted to kiss him again. Lose herself in him, tell him there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for another chance.

Which was patently ridiculous. She didn’t have any time for the likes of him, not when they’d both be moving on so quickly. Not when he’d need so much from her. “Make them earn their keep, do you?”

“Of course.” His hold on her legs was completely possessive and self-assured. She almost felt like she could settle under a hold like that. “I’m not kicking you out, either.”

“What are you saying, Tanner?”

“I’m saying whatever you want to hear.”

On the surface, Tanner seemed as solid as the shore. Unmoving against the pounding surf. But what people didn’t realize was that shorelines shifted. Sand slid away. Currents took it to rest elsewhere. Even land couldn’t be trusted.

He might be offering her more time, but that didn’t necessarily make it a good idea.

She had a history of making bad choices. Look at Matthew and every other boyfriend she’d had, after all.

She shook her head. But looking down at her coffee was the only chance she had of escaping him; he’d crowded in that close. Truthfully, she didn’t want to get away. Not yet. She could give him up later. Or he would realize she didn’t have enough to keep him intrigued.

“Schedule, then. As both photographer. And pickup.” Her hands would have shaken if she’d given them half a chance.

He grinned at her. Then sank his fingers deep in her hair and tugged her mouth to his. That smile tasted as brilliant as it looked.

For the shortest moment possible, Avalon let her eyes flutter shut and let herself . . . go. Whitewater froth come to rest. Temporarily.

Miracle of miracles, he managed to hold her up.

When he pulled back, it was everything she could do not to throw herself at him.

He brushed a thumb over her cheek. Bad man, to tempt her so. “I was going to go for a run now. Surf a little after that.” His gaze flicked away from hers, noticeable in its absence.

“And then?”

“This one’s not really photographer or pickup territory.” He looked back at her, at her mouth this time. His hands kept roaming over her, touching. Everywhere, practically. Down her arms, over her hips. Almost hypnotizing. But so definitely not calming at the same time. “But Avalon can come.”

She tilted her head. “Who’s left of Avalon if I’m not a photographer or the chick you laid?”

The laugh that rolled out from him was part comfort and part embarrassment.

“You. You’re here. My sister’s friend. Honest chick. Great sport. Decent surfer.” A wrinkle drove between his brows. Confusion clouded his eyes. “Did you really mean that?”

She pulled her mouth into a smile. Took that kiss she’d wanted, because it was easier than being looked at. Her forearm looped around the back of his neck, but he wouldn’t have moved if he hadn’t felt like letting her. He was such a brick house of muscles; there’d be no taking him anywhere he didn’t want to go.

“Course not,” she finally said, after she’d battered herself on his calm for a minute. “The phrasing made me curious.”

He studied her for a minute more, as if he could see further through her words. Her heart tumbled in her chest and bounced up to her throat as she reminded herself it wasn’t exactly a lie. And beyond that, it was none of his business if she didn’t know who she was beyond her goals. “So what is it, then?”

“Sage called. I’m summoned for the afternoon.”

“And you want me to go?”

His hands finally settled at her lower back, thumbs curving over onto her waist. The drape of his fingertips at the top of her ass sent a wiggle through her that was entirely too naughty for the subject.

“I bet Sage would have insisted on it too. If she’d known you were here.”

Wasn’t that one subject she’d like to skim right by. She swallowed down a silly burst of adrenaline. It wasn’t as if they were about to be caught right then and there. Or that Sage would really care.

But man would it make for one awkward afternoon.

Good thing her mother had taught her to lie like a pro.

* * *

Only problem with that plan proved to be her failure to check with Tanner.

Avalon sat in the back patio area, her seat carefully chosen to be the max distance from Tanner’s. And she’d managed to keep her eyes off him for the most part, even though he sat with a stillness she found fascinating.

He wore an old dark blue T-shirt that did amazing things to the color of his eyes. Cargo shorts showed off his thick thighs and calves, borne from hours and hours of balancing on a surfboard. He looked so damn calm and focused.

She wanted a piece of that. Or she wanted to climb in his lap and shake him up. Either would do.

But Sage and Eileen sat leaning against each other on the padded swing. They looked flat-out miserable. No two ways about it. Sage’s blond hair had been wound into a limp ponytail, and dark shadows ringed Eileen’s eyes. The woman hadn’t slept, that much was obvious.

“One more question.”

He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. His body became a thick curve. “Anything.”

“Do you know what he said about me? To her?” She leaned into the arm Sage put around her shoulders. “I know Hank had to mention me for Mako to find us.”

Tanner shook his head. Sympathy darkened his eyes. “No. I stopped talking to Dad, and . . .”

“And things went downhill from there.” Eileen let her head fall back against the swing. Sunlight spun around her in a gentle caress, lighting her features and pointing out the delicately wrinkled skin at her jawline. She wasn’t exactly a young woman anymore. “Neither of you have expressed any wish to involve yourself in the retail portion of the store.”

Guilt pinched Sage’s features, but she never stopped rubbing Eileen’s arm. Tanner shifted back in his seat, his hands folding over the wrought-iron arms. “Not really,” he said.

Eileen pushed up from her seat, then set her glass down on the table. She patted Sage’s shoulder, left her hand there, but the move seemed empty. Her gaze was focused somewhere else. Maybe somewhere inside herself. “It was your father’s idea to even open the store. Everywhere I look, I see him. I might sell it.”

“Oh, Mom,” Sage said. Her eyes widened and she grabbed at the hand resting on her shoulder. “You don’t want to do that.”

Eileen patted her again, then patted Tanner, as if they were little children. Avalon sat quietly on the other side of the patio. This was their moment, their time. She’d be intruding.

“I might,” Eileen said. “No decisions now, but remember what I’ve always said about telling others how to feel.”

Sage pulled a face, her nose wrinkling, but she didn’t protest. And when Eileen walked away, toward the house, the brother and sister pair let her go.

Fear prickled along Avalon’s forearms and wedged a hot rock under her ribs. Awful. Miserable. The thought of the store being gone, this family falling apart . . . She couldn’t stand it.

The Wrights were all she had. Over the years, they’d given her more support and love than she’d known what to do with at times. This couldn’t be allowed to happen.

Sage watched the door Eileen disappeared through, sadness etching her delicate features. Sage pulled her legs up onto the seat of the swing, curling them up under herself in her usual way. But she didn’t look as relaxed as normal. The back of her neck was stiff in a way that Avalon had never seen before. “She didn’t sleep last night. Kept going downstairs and making cup after cup of tea. I don’t think she could have possibly drunk all of them.” Her wide blue eyes fixed on Avalon. “I peeked in your room but you weren’t there.”

The rasp of Avalon’s tongue over her lips didn’t help much. Her mouth had gone dry as sand. The last thing Sage needed was to know exactly what Avalon had been doing last night.