Shaking off the rain on my hair, I stepped into the darkened, intimate atmosphere of the Sherman Inn. My stomach was roaring and my mind was in knots.

As for my dick, I wasn’t going there.

It had taken me days of wearing her down, but Ally had finally agreed to meet me for dinner and “some time” in town on Friday night.

“Some time” probably being an hour or less, considering her skittish tone as we’d talked that afternoon. But hell, after Sunday’s kiss, I considered it huge progress that she was talking to me at all. She’d run awful damn fast the other day.

I couldn’t even really blame her. I’d pushed for the kiss to happen and it had still almost blown my fucking head off.

“Table for two, please,” I told the maitre d’. I was running late, but Ally tended to run even later so I felt safe in assuming I’d be snagging our table.

Normally, I would’ve placed a reservation, but this wasn’t supposed to be a date. Reservations screamed dates, according to Ally, so she’d wanted us to try our luck for a table. At one of the busiest restaurants in Crescent Cove on a Friday night at the start of summer.

Right.

“This way, sir,” the maitre d’ said, proving me wrong. Even as I followed the tall, severe-looking man in black, Ally’s voice echoed in my head.

Hamilton money buys tables. You don’t need a reservation. Watch.

“Did someone just leave?” I asked.

The maitre d’ shot me a cool smile. “On weekend nights, we’re booked solid all day and night. Your table, sir.” He gestured toward a secluded corner table with a lake view and candles flickering under glass domes.

“You know who I am then.” Why I needed the confirmation, I didn’t know. Maybe some part of me hoped Ally was wrong. She had to be wrong now and then.

It wasn’t as if I didn’t know my family’s influence in Crescent Cove. Of course I did. Hamilton Realty had been a fixture in the community since my grandfather was a young man. I was also a regular at the Sherman Inn. But I’d never seen this guy before in my life.

“Yes, sir.” He pulled out a chair and gestured. “Your server will be here in a moment with the wine list. Your companion’s name so I can direct her to your table?”

“Alison Lawrence. She should be here soon—”

“Right behind you,” she said cheerfully. “Got a table, huh?” she commented as I turned and tried not to swallow my tongue.

She wasn’t wearing anything special. Correction—she wasn’t wearing anything I hadn’t seen her in a hundred times before. She had on a pale yellow sundress with tiny purple flowers, cowboy boots, and a tight jean jacket, with her long hair flowing in every which direction and matted a little from the misty rain. It didn’t matter. She was simply stunning.

How hadn’t I noticed before?

“Miss,” the maitre d’ said, pulling out the chair opposite me while I stood and stared. Mutely.

Smooth, dude. Real smooth.

Ally shot me a sidelong glance as she skirted around me to slip into her seat. “Thank you.”

“Enjoy your meal.” The maitre d’ melted away and almost immediately, our server appeared.

I dropped into my chair and accepted the wine list, ordering a bottle of rosé for the table before my brain clicked back into gear.

Ally kicked me as soon as the server went to fulfill my request. “Hi there, remember me? I wanted a martini.”

“Since when?” Oh look, my lips could come unglued long enough to stick my foot between them.

“Since I felt like a damn martini. What is wrong with you?” She leaned forward and laid a hand on my forehead. “You’re flushed. Do you have a fever?”

“Some virus is running through Laurie’s class, so maybe.” I eased away from her hand and she picked up her napkin. Her touching me right now was not the best idea.

My cock thought it was awesome, but that part of me wasn’t known for its good judgment.

“And you left her with a babysitter just to come out with me?”

“She’s not sick,” I snapped irritably. “And I left her with her uncle. Oliver took her to the Faraday party so he doesn’t have to stay long.”

Ally paused midway through spreading her napkin on her lap. “He brought your little girl to a fancy work party? Why didn’t you go?”

“Because I’m having dinner with you.”

“Oh, right, because this is such an important event that you can’t miss it.”

“I haven’t seen you since the weekend. Every time I stop in the diner, you’re not there.”

“Darn. Must’ve missed you.” She glanced out the window. “Damn rain. Can barely see the lake.”

“Yeah, you’re wet.” I brushed a damp curl away from her cheek and she bristled, backing away from my touch just as I’d done.

My words hung in the air between us. Heavy, rich with meaning well beyond what I’d intended.

“In your dreams, Hamilton,” she said, her taunt falling short of the target.

She didn’t know my dreams. I was only beginning to fathom their scope myself.

Our server returned with our bottle of wine. After pouring it into two glasses, I ordered Ally a martini even though her stare nearly burrowed a hole into the side of my head.

If she wanted a martini, a martini she would have. With an extra olive I could steal.

“He probably thinks I’m a wino,” she muttered as she opened her menu.

“Can’t please you, woman.”

“Sure you can. Stop ordering for me like this is a date. We never order for each other.”

“I beg to differ. Did you or did you not order the tiramisu for me the last time we went out?”

“That’s because it was a sacrilege you’d never had it. And you licked the plate clean.” She disappeared behind her menu and I grinned down at mine, barely resisting the urge to make a sly remark.

Thank God we were back on an even keel. If she stayed hidden behind that menu, I might not be starstruck by just the sight of her again.

Maybe I did have a fever.

Through our salads, braised lamb for me and chicken parm for her, and our tiramisu desserts—hey, I could admit when I’d seen the error of my ways—we kept the conversation light and easy. She had two martinis and a glass of rosé, and I had two glasses of wine. Neither of us were drunk, just relaxed. Easy with each other, as we’d always been.

After the weirdness I’d introduced into our relationship with my contract, it was nice to be chill enough to laugh and tease each other as we usually did. My getting annoyed at her mention of a cute guy seated in her section of tables at the diner was new, but I chalked that up to thinking way too much about her reproductive organs lately. Thoughts in that direction tended to spread.

Kissing her senseless the other night—and being kissed back the exact same way—also probably didn’t help.

I didn’t actually care if she found another man “cute.” Bully for her.

Okay, so I cared. A lot. And that might’ve been when I’d decided to go for that second glass when I usually stopped at one when I was driving. But we wouldn’t be on the road for hours yet, since we intended to walk the shops that lined Main Street and head up the pier to check out the lake. If the freaking rain ever decided to stop screwing with our plans.

We had summer splendor to appreciate, goddammit.

Also rain meant Ally was more likely to make excuses about cutting the night short. I wasn’t in any hurry for that to happen.

At least until we squabbled over splitting the bill. My insistence on paying added an extra sour note to the evening, but I pretended I didn’t notice her dismay and headed up the street in the light drizzle as planned.

Eventually, she caught up with me, grumbling only a little.

“Cowboy boots probably weren’t the best choice of footwear, though I do like how they make your legs look.”

“You can’t see my legs in this dress.”

“Sure I can.”

“It’s dark out.”

“Your point?”

She blew out a breath and turned up the walk to one of the quaint old homes in our small town that served as a shop—in this case, a year-round Christmas store. “You can’t see my legs and you have no reason to check them out in any case.”

“I can see your ass too.” I tilted my head as she climbed the stairs to the shop. “It’s kinda perfect.”

“I miss the old Seth who never said shit like this.”

“Blind Seth who never noticed what was right in front of him?”

“Yes, Blind Seth was awesome.” She rolled her eyes at me over her shoulder and opened the door before I could, slipping inside. She didn’t hold the door for me, and even that made me grin.

Damn, I liked having our rhythm back. Even if it was now heavily laced with innuendoes, we were on track once again.

Mostly.

As always, Ally touched every trinket and ornament she came across. She was so tactile. Always had been. She claimed not to have a special affinity for any holiday, but she took every opportunity to visit this shop and pick up something small for Laurie. An ornament for the tree, or a little figurine she might like. She never stopped thinking about my little girl.

“She’d love this, don’t you think?” Ally angled her head to study a tiny ballerina with a glittering tutu hanging from one of the higher branches of a Christmas tree. Her cowboy boots made her taller, but she still had to stretch to reach so I helped her by tugging the loop off the branch.

“She loves pink,” I agreed. “We’ll get this for her, and something for your new tree with Sage.”

“Oh, Christmas is so far away.”

“No further for you than it is for Laurie.” I moved around the tree and picked up a shimmery silver arrow ornament, cupping it in my hand when she tried to get a peek. “It’s a surprise.”

She tugged on the sleeve of my suit jacket, but I kept my fingers in a tight fist. Shaking her head, she laughed. “You’re a silly man.”

“You haven’t had nearly enough silly in your life for a damn long time.” Something shifted through her expression and I leaned down to speak against her ear. “Let me give you some things you aren’t used to tonight. We’ll start with silly.”

I grabbed a string of mini flamingo lights off a small tabletop tree and draped them around her neck without revealing the ornament hidden in my hand. It was difficult since she kept trying to get a glimpse of it, but I had big hands and stealth.

And long jacket sleeves I could slip it into.

After I’d paid—and insisted she wear the still blinking lights out of the store—Ally shook her head and aimed for the next shop. This time, we walked together. Our hands brushing back and forth, fingers colliding, wrists bumping. Neither of us making the grab.

Best friends didn’t hold hands. God knows we never had before. But tonight, I wanted to. I wanted her fingers to clutch mine as I pulled her in close by that strand of madly blinking lights and met her smiling mouth with my own.

I’d give my right nut to keep that grin on her face. Pay any price. Risk anything.

Even us.

In the next store, she browsed the kitchen gadgets and cookbooks and household knickknacks with her typical curiosity. Her gaze touched every item before her hands followed suit. I swallowed hard, imagining what it would be like to be the object of all that fascination.

To be her sole focus, even for an hour. For a night.

She bought a cow salt and pepper set and some hot cocoa mix and we headed to the coffee shop where we studied rows of truffles through the glass cases and debated hot apple cider or cappuccino. She went for the cider and I chose black coffee with a shot of maple.

Maple like the golden brown eyes that smirked at me when I gave in and dumped some cream into my coffee.

Getting to black only was a process for me, one she was sure I’d never manage. She thought I enjoyed my sweets too much.

If she only had a clue.

Outside the rain had started anew, so we ducked into another shop, this one with ship memorabilia and nautical apparel. I grabbed her a tote bag and tucked her flamingo lights and her surprise present and her kitchen shop purchases inside then threw it over my shoulder, ignoring her laughter at the picture I made in my business suit.

Whatever. It was only half a business suit, since I had jeans on with the shirt, jacket and tie as always.

Perk of owning my own business. Casual Fridays were every day of the damn week.

The next time we slipped outside, the rain had lessened, so we decided to take that walk on the pier. The long length of it was draped in white lights, and the tiny flickers bounced off the rippling expanse of dark water that stretched far in the distance. At the end of the pier, she stopped and leaned over the railing, her dark hair billowing behind her in the wind. Her flirty dress clung to the backs of her thighs and her ass, and the illicit glimpse I took of both probably had something to do with why I crowded her against the rail. I didn’t move back as she stiffened and regained her full height, her ringed fingers suddenly clutching the rail.

“Personal space, Hamilton,” she tossed back, but she didn’t look me in the eye. “Ever heard of it?”

“I’ve been giving you all kinds of space.” Testing us both, I gripped a handful of the fabric swishing around her thighs. Step one to touching her bare skin. “Doesn’t seem like it’s getting me anywhere.”

“Since when is it supposed to? We’re friends, remember?” There was no missing the thread of desperation in her tone, even with the wind kicking up and making it harder to hear her.

I didn’t need to grasp every nuance in her voice to know how she felt. Her body was telling me with every rigid, unyielding curve. She was holding herself as far away from me as she could, practically leaning over the water.

Her reaction was a clear sign to back off. To steer clear.

Not interested, pal. Hate to break it to you.

I could almost hear her lobbing the words at me even in the heavy silence of the night. But it wasn’t completely quiet. There was the wind, and the lapping water, and my heartbeat thudding crazily in my head. In the distance, people were laughing, and music was playing, and life went on.

Out here, it had stopped. Suspended in a moment we’d never get back.

As if she sensed me moving too close, she whirled around, nailing me in the gut with her elbow then pressing her spine to the railing. Her gaze never lifted above my Adam’s apple. “Here we go. Should’ve known you’d try this. Always gotta close the deal, and so much for giving me space to make up my mind. Ha. Like you or Oliver ever give anyone a chance to say no. You cajole and wheedle and insist—”

I braced my hands on the rail on either side of her hips. “I haven’t said a word about it tonight. You’re the one who has it in your head every time you look at me.” I dropped my voice. “Speaking of, why don’t you try doing that?”

“How am I supposed to not think about it? You didn’t ask me to to go for takeout or on vacation. Hell, you didn’t even ask me to have a crazy fling, as insane as that would be.”

“Alison. Look at me.”

Her eyes flickered up to mine and away, holding on some far off spot while the lights danced along the gold of her irises. She might not be able to meet my gaze for long, but I was riveted on hers. On how she couldn’t seem to take a full breath that didn’t shudder out between her parted lips. I didn’t look lower because I couldn’t. One glimpse of those perfect tits straining the cotton bodice of her dress and I’d be a goner.

When she didn’t make an effort to shift her focus to my face, I gripped her chin in fingers I deliberately kept gentle. I didn’t want to scare her any more than she already was.

Hell, any more than I was too at this moment. So much hung in the balance, far more than contracts and deals and egg meets sperm.

“I’m not forcing your hand,” I said quietly, staring at her eyes though she wouldn’t look any higher than my mouth. “I told you what I want, what is important to me and why. Now the ball’s in your court.”

“You can’t make a move like this based on the whims of a three-year-old. It’s not logical. She wants a puppy too. Is that next?”

“Maybe, but puppies are easier to get my hands on than babies. And I’d rather like to see what a combination of our DNA would look like. Gold eyes, maybe, crazy temper, a slightly hysterical laugh? Should I invest in earplugs?”

“Ugh. You’re impossible.” She nudged me back, and I went, but only far enough for her to move to the opposite railing. “Laurie’s going to change her mind, decide she doesn’t want a sibling after all, and then what? My birth canal isn’t the customer service counter at Macy’s. You’ll be stuck with the kid.”

Though my temper jumped to life, I leaned back on the railing. Perhaps if I adopted a relaxed pose, the rest of me would follow suit. “Mind keeping your voice down? There’s not many people out right now, but there’s enough.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s storming. They can’t hear us.” As if she’d called down the rain, lightning forked through the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance.

“Okay, keep screaming. I’m cool with it. And guess what, Lawrence, I want the child too. To complete my family. Not that my family isn’t complete now, but I want another baby. Is that so crazy? If I was a woman, no one would be questioning why I’m doing this.”

“Wrong. Big time wrong. They’d be thinking you couldn’t get a man and wanted a love substitute.”

“Well, that’s not entirely wrong. I can’t get a man, but I have to admit I haven’t tried.”

Her lips twitched. “You’re such a jackass.”

“Yeah, and I can see why you’re wary about crossing streams with me. Hamilton men aren’t easy to take on. Why we all end up divorced and bitter, or in the case of my twin, just the bitter part.” I moved toward Ally, boxing her in again neatly against the rail. Some part of me enjoyed doing that far too much. “Why I’m giving you an escape hatch. Do the deed, make the baby, escape while you can.”

Her lips trembled. “That’s not why at all. You just want the kid, not a woman.”

“Oh, I can assure you that’s not true, especially right now.” I tipped up her chin. “God did me a favor by blinding me to your beauty all these years. Otherwise I would’ve had you under me before we made it out of high school.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do these lines work on other women? Because gotta say, I’m not falling for them—”

My mouth covered hers just as thunder shook the sky one more time, but the crack wasn’t enough to disguise her moan. She lifted her hands up to my chest and I didn’t press for more, just kept my lips against hers, sucking down her staccato breaths while I gave her the moment to accede or shove me back.

Then her fingers curled into the fabric of my dress shirt and it was on.

I buried one hand in her hair, tilting her head back so I could have her the way I needed to. The sweetness from our tiramisu and her strawberry lip gloss battled in my head, setting off a furious pounding in my groin that had nothing to do with making a baby and everything to do with getting her naked.

Now.

Whatever it took.

I lowered my hands to her hips, fisting the cotton that barely hid her curves from my view, twisting it as our tongues touched and tangled. Without warning, I lifted her up on the railing and she gasped, wobbling, her hair streaming behind her as her honey eyes went wild and frightened.

“I’ve got you.” Tightening my hold, I moved between her legs and ran kisses over her delicate collarbone, tracing the edge of the arrow necklace she never took off. Aiming lower, burying my face in her cleavage so that her frantic heartbeat seemed to throb in tandem with my own.

Turning my head, I nipped the side of her breast through the material, just to hear her broken moan. She didn’t disappoint me. One hand gripped the railing and the other came up to grasp a handful of my hair as I lowered my mouth, making a wet path to where her nipple stood so tight and proud.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think past wanting her. My sanity was gone, blown away with the rising wind.

Hovering there, my breaths puffing out against the swelled flesh, I searched for words. Something to make this okay. Her legs trembled on either side of my hips, and I was holding onto her with every bit of strength I possessed. Her long dark hair blew against my face, tickling my skin, and I was helpless not to suck her nipple between my teeth, to scrape the edge of them over that sensitive tip.

A quick yank on my hair drew me closer, not away. Thank fuck.

Only half aware of the rain now pelting my back, soaking through my jacket and shirt to the skin, I sucked on her, already thinking about how I was going to get inside her. This wasn’t the end. I couldn’t have her walk away from me tonight like she had on Sunday.

Not if I wanted to survive it.

She bent forward, leaning over me, her hair surrounding us as I tugged at the fabric and the lacy bra beneath. A hint of pink gleamed wetly in the darkness before she covered herself, her long fingers caging in her nipple. Keeping it from my mouth.

Acute regret cleaved through me. I set her down on her feet, already fighting to shove myself back in line. My tongue buzzed from the taste of her, from the tang of my own needs. I couldn’t go home and jack myself off again with her flavor on my lips. Jesus, I’d go mad.

“Sage is home,” she said, and I stared at her, not understanding. “She doesn’t usually go out on Friday nights.” She pinned me in place with her stare and clutched her arrow necklace. “Your house is on the other side of the lake. The Inn. If there’s a room, we’ll do it and be done.”

Joy coursed through my body, and I nearly freaking dropped to my knees in gratitude.

Then what she’d said sank in.

“Just do it and be done,” I repeated. “Just like that.”

“If there isn’t a room, that means this is a mistake. Hell, it probably is anyway.” She started hurrying away, her heeled boots clacking on the cobblestones of the pier. “But you’re the big stud, Mr. Important, so see if they give you a suite. Text me the number if you get it. I’ll find you.”

“What the hell are you babbling about?” I caught up to her in a couple long strides, seizing her arm and spinning her to face me. “You’ll find me? Where are you going?”

“You may not care about being discreet, but I do. I’ll go back to my car, give it some time. Go up once it’s not obvious we’ve gone frigging nuts. And we’ll take care of this…issue.”

“This issue? The one where I want to fuck you until you’re hoarse from screaming my name?”

She nodded primly. “That one.”

I didn’t mention the baby plan. She didn’t either. Okay, so we weren’t going there. At least we were going somewhere that might lead to my balls getting some goddamn relief.

But that whole getting it over with thing? Was not happening. And she would soon realize that, too late for her to do anything but lie there and take every bit of what I dished out.

I tugged out my phone and hit the speed dial for my brother. Rock-hard dick or not, my little girl was my number one priority.

“Laurie?” I asked as soon as my twin answered, turning away so I didn’t have to see the melting expression that overtook Ally’s face.

“She’s fine. Curled up with some rum and an episode of Empire.”

“What?”

Oliver laughed. “Make that rum raisin ice cream and an episode of some Care Bears crap on Disney. So easy to rile, brother.”

“How was the party?”

“Good. She was a hit. I collected numbers like it was my damn job. Now to sort through the prospects.”

Christ, only my brother would use his three-year-old niece both as a way to ditch a party and as date bait. “Can you keep her tonight? I know it wasn’t part of the deal—”

“Well, now, this is interesting. What happened to Ally?”

I swallowed and tried to come up with something that wasn’t a lie. And also was absolutely not the truth. “Plans changed. Can you keep Laurie or not? I’ll be there early to get her.”

“Of course I can. This Care Bear shit isn’t half bad, if you’re practically wasted.” Before I could question him, Oliver sighed. “I had two fingers of Scotch. Your child is perfectly safe.”

“Thanks. I’ll owe you. Tell her I love her?”

Out of the corner of my eye, Ally turned away, and if I wasn’t mistaken, lifted her fist to her mouth.

“Will do. Whatever happened to your plans, hope it’s good. Don’t forget the condom this time, little brother.” Oliver clicked off before I could toss something back, probably rude as hell.

Pocketing my phone, I dipped back my head. The relentless rain streaked down my face as I hauled in a breath that didn’t do a damn thing to ease the constriction in my lungs.

Time to get this night moving. First, some insurance she wouldn’t run.

“Ally,” I rasped, sure she could hear me, rain or no rain.

She turned, studying me warily.

“Your panties. Give them to me.”

“What?” Her mouth rounded.

I moved in closer and spoke against her hair, raising my voice just above the rain. “You want to be discreet. I do too. I also want to smell your pussy before we get in that hotel room. Take them off and give them to me.” I eased back enough so our eyes were level. “Nice and slow.”

Even with the weight of what we were about to do between us, it was good to see I could still shock her. Enough that she seemed to move as if she was in a trance, casting a quick glance around to discover what I already had—the driving rain had sent the few tourists still wandering about scurrying into pubs and the ice cream shop, seeking shelter from the storm.

Right fucking now, the storm was inside me, throbbing in my head, my dick, my chest. Everywhere she’d touched and the places she still hadn’t.

But she would.

She shifted closer to the railing, reaching out to use it for balance. And bent to whip off her panties, barely even glancing my way as she pressed them into my hand.

Warm. Even with the cool rain sluicing down my neck and face, there was no denying the heat I held in my palm.

Blinking the water out of my eyes, I held her gaze and lowered my head, drawing in a deep breath of Ally and rain, mixed together. Her excitement and the burnt ozone in the air, colliding together and somehow mixing. Sweetness layered over fire.

Helpless to resist, I buried my face in them and she watched me, hair streaming back from her face, lashes starred, mouth trembling and used from mine. The tip of my tongue touched the delicate fabric and she shuddered visibly, hauling her thin jacket in more tightly around her body.

We were both soaked to the core, but she’d had a goddamn head start.

Stepping in close again, I flexed my groin lightly against hers. Her breath hissed out. She was well aware of how she’d affected me. “I’ll text you the room number. If you don’t come to me, I’ll find you.”

She said nothing, her soft exhalations somehow loud in spite of the storm.

A finger under her chin brought her face up to mine. “Every moment you make me wait is one more I’ll spend between your legs, making you beg.” Cupping her panties in my fist, I stepped back. “The choice is yours.”