It had been three days since Emily and Nolan had last seen each other, without even so much as a text between them. It seemed a wise decision, met in mutual silence, to take a step back and refocus themselves for a time. Emily understood the need for distance, but as she reclined under the oversized umbrella for the third day in a row of lounging shoreside, she couldn't help but think of him.
At night, she imagined the man coming into her room, while during the day she often found herself picturing him in whatever situation her mind could conjure, from whether or not he liked sushi to what he would do in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.
On this particular day, Emily was not alone, and she had not been able to contain herself any longer; she had finally given in to Ashley's none-too-subtle questions and given her friend the explanation she'd been after all along.
Emily told of her first visit to his house, their dinner at Silver's, their kiss and then, what Emily deemed, the Bait Bucket Disaster: the perfect storm of alcohol and humiliation.
For her part, Ashley sat silent through her stories, but then in all her posh British wisdom, she called Emily "mental" on learning of her connection to the man.
Emily laughed at her, "What's so crazy about it?"
Ashley swept her hair away from her face as the wind picked up. The girls had found a few hours to spend together that afternoon, and did as all summering girls did, by whipping up cocktails, chips, guacamole, salsa and gossip.
Regarding Nolan, Ashley had several stories to tell, tales she would embellish because of her dislike for the man, of course, but all the same Nolan had a habit of getting under her skin.
Despite their new connection, or perhaps because of it, Emily only knew the best of Nolan; she didn't know how devious he could be.
Of course, Ashley had no way to prove that Nolan was behind it all, but she was sure that he had been the one to cause the mischief of overriding the music at the Taylor's ball just a few weeks ago to play some filthy rap selection at top volume, and infecting her own tablet with a virus that flooded the screen with pornography.
Nolan had annoyed her before these incidents, of course, with his flirting, his probing questions and then, with that damn smirk that seemed to say he'd found something she'd tried to keep hidden...and that could be many things.
Ashley struggled to find the right words to encapsulate her emnity against him. "He's just so...Nolan!"
Ashley said this as if the man's name was enough to encapsulate his every fault.
Emily only sipped her drink, smiling thoughtfully. "You're right about that."
The party had been in full swing by the time David and Emily arrived; the family hosting the party, the Timores, were, as far as Emily could tell from what she'd heard from her father and Ashley, no different than any other family of influence in the Hamptons. The husband was a hedge fund manager, his wife a chairwoman of several different charities and a fine trophy for his arm, their children a bit younger than Emily herself, both of them abroad for the summer.
Their home was a beach front property, as most homes were in the Hamptons, and filled to bursting with guests, catering staff, food and music. David had been in talks to join the Timore firm, though he hadn't signed on yet - he preferred his lone wolf way of consulting, but there were many benefits to being part of a team.
He liked these parties, though after greeting several old colleagues and the hosts, he noticed that Emily, ever by his side, was growing restless.
"Try not to sulk," David said, nudging her in the ribs with his elbow. "It's a party, not a death march."
Emily snorted at his joke, "Come on, dad, I'm not that bad."
"You were quiet in the car on the way over and you look a little shifty now, everything all right?"
She shrugged as she took two flutes of champagne from a passing waitress and handed one to him. "I'm fine, really. The DJ is good," she said, gesturing to the improvised dance floor, which was filling with guests of all ages to an interesting Journey remix.
David tasted the champagne - it was good, and had been mixed with fruit to complement the summer. He shrugged, "I'll introduce you to some more of the people I've worked with later, but go on, you're free to mingle and if I'm not mistaken, I see a couple friends of yours."
Emily looked over to where David was pointing and couldn't help her smile. At the front foyer, she could see Ashley and Nolan in a heated argument.
"Dad, do you mind if I-?"
David nodded, "Go on, but try to stay out of trouble tonight."
"Thanks, I promise I'll be back to schmooze." Emily kissed her father on the cheek before approaching the pair at the front of the house.
As she made her way toward them, weaving around the other guests and staff, she could hear more and more of their conversation.
"-just like you always do!"
"Oh, this again? What, you think I just sit at home all day plotting against people?"
"It wouldn't surprise me for a second." Ashley hissed.
"If I'm that good then you ought to be a little nicer to me, wouldn't want anything personal to make its way into, say, Victoria Grayson's inbox."
Ashley's eyes went wide, "You wouldn't dare-!"
Emily didn't want them drawing more attention to themselves, and hurriedly interrupted. "Ashley, Nolan, hi!"
Nolan looked up, his expression immediately softening. "Oh, Emily."
"Nolan, I didn't know you would be here." Emily smiled, so happy to see him. Her chest fluttered and she could feel heat blooming up her throat, clear signs of her regard, and wished she wasn't so obvious.
"He's not supposed to be," Ashley cut in, irritation clear in her tone. "I don't have your name on the guest list, so you need to leave."
Emily frowned to see her friend's dislike of the man in action. Nolan, however, wasn't fazed. "Are you sure about that? I told you to check again, Ash."
Before she could bat his hand away, Nolan reached forward and tapped the screen, which flashed for a split second. Ashley scowled to see that, yes, the name Nolan Ross now appeared on the list. She glared at him and shook her tablet, "Nolan, how did you-?"
"I have the magic touch, babe." Nolan was smiling but his eyes cut into hers. He was enjoying this immensely.
Bastard.
"Be nice and I'll work my magic again to clear up that mystery virus for you." He said easily, the very fact that he knew anything about it being proof enough for her that, yes, he was the cause of the initial infection.
"And why would I let you even look at my tablet twice?" Ashley demanded.
Nolan shrugged, glancing to Emily who still stood at his side, bemused at their bickering. "It'll be a favor since you're Emily's friend. No funny business, I promise."
Ashley looked from him to Emily, then back to him again before surrendering her tablet. "Somehow I know I'll regret this."
"There's always a chance of that." Nolan agreed as he took it.
The two girls waited patiently as Nolan tapped and swept his fingertips across the lit screen, then he held down the 'power' button to reboot the thin machine.
"There you go," Nolan carefully passed it back to her. "It's been fun, Ash, but if you don't mind..."
Nolan looped his arm through Emily's and lead her away, deeper into the party. Now the urge to cause trouble was satisfied, he had other, more pressing urges to attend to.
Ashley watched as Nolan lead Emily toward the tables that had nearly buckled under the weight of ice sculptures and food before she looked over her tablet. The programs had been restored, but the background picture and lock screen were different.
On seeing them, Ashley couldn't restrain herself from yelling his name in a minute fit of rage.
"Nolan!"
Excited to be spending time with him again, Emily squeezed his hand as he drew her through the crowd. "I didn't know that you would be here."
Nolan smiled, "I don't usually come out for these parties, but I...might have had a look at the guest list and decided to crash this shindig. I hope you don't mind."
"Mind?" Emily shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me, Ashley is the only one I would want to talk to but she's working. Talk to me, dance with me, please."
"If the lady insists."
"This lady demands!" She laughed, "What have you been doing for the last few days? Practicing your crochet hobby, right?"
Nolan cleared his throat. Obviously she knew he'd never sewn a thing in his life and his hobby was a bit more mischievous than making tea cozies. "Maybe a little. I saw your dad trying to show you off."
Emily rolled her eyes lightly. "I know, he brought me out tonight so I can meet about a hundred of his past clients and investors. But since you're here I can finally talk to a normal person."
"Normal, me? Ems, I'm insulted." Nolan feigned a look of irritation that immediately fell away when she raised her brows at him in challenge.
"Let me make it up to you, dance?"
"I can't really dance. I can sway." He offered.
She smiled that smile, and winked. "I'll take it."
Nolan followed her onto the sparsely crowded dance floor and assumed the position: one hand resting on her waist, the other holding her hand. He was thankful that the music was mid-tempo, something light and a bit playful. No need for any real skill, they could sway in circles and he wouldn't embarrass himself by looking down at their feet every few seconds.
Emily's free hand was resting on his shoulder, and they were content to sway and smile at each other, their grins being more genuine than what they had shown to the other party guests. It wasn't that Emily disliked anyone in attendance or thought herself above them, it was only that she would have been happier to have been somewhere else - back under the big umbrella with Ashley or playing darts with Nolan at the Bait Bucket.
"What's with that look?" Emily asked, noting the sly look passing over his face.
Under her hand, Nolan lifted and dropped his shoulder in a signature shrug. "Just thinking how fast things can change in the space of a few years."
"What do you mean?"
"A few years ago, I'd never even been to the Hamptons, let alone been invited to these summer parties."
"You weren't invited," Emily reminded him, quirking her brow.
"Ah, that's just details." He said dismissively. "But now, after years of building up the business, here I am with the prettiest girl at the party and Daniel Grayson trying not to be caught staring at us."
Emily couldn't help herself, she turned her head and saw Daniel there, amid his friends, staring right at her. Their eyes met for a moment, but Emily broke the eye contact to look back at Nolan. He quirked his lips at her, "Smooth, Ems. That wasn't obvious at all."
"I didn't mean to. Why's he staring? I told him I didn't want..." Emily trailed off, seemingly talking to herself.
Nolan tilted his head, wondering at her connection with Daniel. He was tempted to do his own investigation, but he had to respect her privacy. Women loved to have their secrets, he knew. He suspected whatever had been between them had ended, but Emily seemed unnerved by the boy's silent attention.
"Do you need me to be your shield for tonight?" He asked.
Things had not gone well for him the first time he'd faced off with Daniel, but this was now, and he would do what he had to do to keep Emily secure.
Emily nodded. "I didn't plan this, but if you don't mind."
Out of the corner of his eye, Nolan could see Daniel Grayson and his friends across the room, suited up with drinks in hand, all of them just waiting to take the place of their fathers. "Do you want to go somewhere more quiet?" He asked, cocking his head toward the nearby shore. For the conversation he wanted to have with her, they didn't need to risk anyone eavesdropping.
Emily nodded, letting him lead the way. "Please."
Mirroring their first visit to the beach near his home, Nolan gave Emily his light jacket for protection against the ocean spray that blew over them with each wave. He did not waste time. "Was your father very upset with you about the other day?"
Beside him, Emily shrugged. "Only for keeping it a secret. Everything else...I told him the truth."
"That's good." Nolan said vaguely. He hoped Emily had kept quiet about what had went on between them in the bedroom before he'd left her, but he could never be sure with this woman. That was the main reason he had grown so fond of her.
"I saw him hit you, and I'm sorry about that."
Nolan shook his head. "Don't be, you're worth a bruise. He only did that to make me think twice before I keep another secret where you're concerned."
"He told me the same thing, but we don't that've to tell him everything." She said playfully.
He glanced back to the party still going strong at house, the laughter and chatter carrying over to them. He felt restless at the idea of going back there, having to watch Emily put up with the arrogance of the young men trying to impress her while he would be swarmed with those wanting a good faith investment in their new tech start-ups.
Why stay and suffer through that hassle when he had a house perfect for company?
"Do you want to get out of here?"
Emily looked up, blinking in surprise. "What - to your house?"
He shook his head to reassure her. "No pressure Ems, but it'd be nice to get away for a little while. Unless you'd rather get back to the trust fund crowd..."
"Lead the way, Mr. Ross."
Nolan opened the door, letting her walk in ahead of him. He followed, turning on the lights as they advanced further inside. There was a thread of tension between them, unspoken and unfulfilled.
"My humble abode." Nolan said, turning on the overhead lights in the living room and the patio lights just outside the back door.
"What happened to all the Girl Scout cookies?" Emily asked on seeing his kitchen cleared of the colorful boxes.
"I cleaned house and passed them out to the staff." Nolan noted her faint look of disappointment, but there was nothing for it now. "No more Thin Mints, but can I get you a drink?"
"Anything but whiskey." Emily said, smiling.
Nolan bowed at the waist, "Yes ma'am."
Emily slipped off her heels and crossed the living room, heading out to the patio. It had been only weeks since she'd first visited this place, but that had been during the day and the ocean beyond his home stretched out to forever. At night, one could barely make out the water that lapped at the shore below. All else was blackness.
Nolan emerged from the house and stepped to her side, offering a hard pink lemonade. "Here you are."
Emily took an experimental sip, letting the tart sweetness shiver its way through her. "Mmm, thank you sir."
Together they stood, enjoying their drinks and the warm salty breeze. Nolan glanced down and, hesitantly, he reached to touch her free hand with his own. Emily smiled but said nothing as she returned his light grasp.
Still silent, she took his empty glass and her own, half-finished, and set them on the patio table before going to him, leaning into the man for the comfort of his secure hold. She liked this, the way Nolan hugged her to him, the way they fit.
Nolan dipped his head, pressing his lips to her own. They kissed with lazy affection at first, a subtle probing of tongues to complement the exploration of their hands. Nolan held her at the waist before smoothing his hands up her back and curving forward to rest over her shoulders, then up, to cup her face. Emily was not passive to his touch; her own hands had bunched into the material over his chest, wrinkling his shirt.
In between planting kisses to her lips, her cheek, her jaw and her throat, Nolan murmured the question to her, "Mmm...Ems, what are we doing?"
Had she been able, Emily would have ignored his question. It was too much effort to think, to even reflect that she now had a nickname he had bestowed on her; how could she focus on anything but the sure hands that held her, the soft kisses that touched her? Heat was steadily rising within, sweeping over her chest and throat. She never lied to herself. She wanted this man, she wanted him now.
"I don't know. Don't stop." She breathed, pulling him closer so that she could nuzzle into his neck. She breathed in his scent, dizzying herself for a moment.
Nolan shivered, thrilled by her touch but reason still held in his mind. "I don't want to...but we have to."
Emily drew back from him, "Nolan, why? What's stopping you?"
"Ems. If this is just a summer fling for you..."
"What?"
Nolan stroked her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "If you just want a night or two, I'll understand, but I want more than that."
"More?"
"I told you the other night. I like you, I want to see more of you." He said plainly.
There was no hidden motive in what he was telling her, Nolan was speaking the truth. He had no plan to propose or even to ask that she take a place in his home; he only knew that he cared for Emily and he wanted her in his life, but only if she wanted it too.
With his words, he had placed their future in her hands.
Emily blinked at him. "You do?"
"Yes."
She hesitated. "Nolan I care about you, you know that, but...I'm not sure. I can't say where this will go."
He kissed her palm, then the inside of her wrist, and nodded. "I understand."
"I'm sorry."
"No, Ems, don't say that you're sorry." He smoothed his hand down her arm. "There's nothing to be sorry about. Do you want me to take you home?"
"No." She kissed his cheek. "If its all right with you, I'd like to stay."
"I don't mind at all. I like the company."
He took a step back from her, about to offer her something to eat, or to put on a film, or set up a game, when she surprised him again.
"Will you take off your shirt?"
Nolan started, "Take off-? Why?"
"I want to see the damage." Emily said, meaning where her father had struck him.
He eyed her, a spark lighting inside of him, some defiance stirring within that had him turn the tables on her. "You first."
His words seemed to silence the waves and the wind, the dare of a man to a woman.
Emily stood before him, barefoot, watching his eyes. They were burning into her, all blue fire.
She looked back at him, defiant, and didn't break her stare as she reached to her back, unzipping her dress and writhing out of the garment. With a quick shimmy of her hips and shoulders, the material pooled at her feet.
Emily stood before him, silent, every bit a woman confident in her beauty and in her power to captivate the man standing before her. And Nolan was captivated. How had this happened? How was it that he had daydreamed of Emily in this way a hundred times, and now she was standing before him in two scraps of lace, unafraid, daring him with her eyes to take her?
Nolan loosened his tie and cleared his throat. He couldn't speak and his eyes never left her form. Long, lean legs, a tiny dip of a waist, small pert breasts, long thin arms, soft hands tipped in polished nails. He wanted her hands on him, he wanted her legs wrapped around his waist. He wanted all this, and distantly, he was aware of how his expression betrayed him, how the fire in his eyes made his humor fall flat.
"Emily, you're way out of my league." He finally said.
She put her hands on his face. "Nolan, don't say that."
"All right, but you're still prettier than I am." He pressed his lips to the curve of her cheekbone.
Emily laughed and shoved at him playfully. "Well, I would hope you wouldn't like me if I looked like a man."
"Ah...yeah." Nolan didn't comment further on that, in this moment it was all about her. "So, you look pretty fit. Pilates?"
She wasn't distracted by his questions or his jokes. He had dared her, and now it was his turn to prove himself.
"Nolan, now you."
Nolan straightened to his full height, stepping forward so that she could see him as he had watched her. He loosened his tie and tossed it on the patio table, with his jacket and shirts quickly following. He slid out of his shoes, socks and pants, leaving them piled on the floor. In less than a minute, Nolan was standing before her in a plain pair of navy boxer briefs.
"Am I all you dreamed I would be?" He asked her, feigning arrogance when inside he was shivering with insecurity. He wondered if Emily was doing the same thing, but it was too late to turn back now.
Her curiosity and his dare had taken them this far.
Emily stared at him, taking in the creature before her. Nolan was tall, his form that of a fencer - lithe, agile, not an ounce of fat to speak of. The jockeys he wore hugged his thighs, doing nothing to hide his obvious state of arousal.
"Yes." Emily walked around him, the slow circle of the shark within. Admirably, Nolan remained still and did not reach to touch her, nor did he protest when she smoothed her hand over his left shoulder, then over the top of his chest, just under his collarbones, over his right shoulder and then, over the narrow expanse of his back. She paused, and he drew in a breath because he knew what she had found.
The scar was no real bother to him, but he'd had to explain it to his every lover in the past few years. Just once, and especially this just once, Nolan would have liked to forget that night. He didn't want to speak, he wanted to close his eyes and enjoy the feel of Emily's hand smoothing over him again. All men were dogs, and Nolan loved being petted.
"How did you get this?"
"Rough night on the docks." He answered easily, his eyes slipping closed as she resumed her slow turns around him, her hands exploring him respectfully. It was strange, to be touched, provoked in such a way. If Emily had been anyone else, they would already be in bed at this point in the evening, but as he had told her, Emily was special. He kept his arms at his side and managed to keep his breathing even as Emily embraced him from behind. She pressed her cheek to his shoulder blade, her hands coming forward to wrap around him, her fingertips moving down from his chest, lower, over his belly and then, just under his navel. He felt her lips touch his scar.
Nolan caught her hand and finally opened his eyes, turning around to face her.
"What happened?"
"A bunch of rowdy guys came after me one night after a shift at the Stowaway but Jack chased them off."
"Jack Porter? I'll thank him for that when I meet him."
Emily stepped in close, molding her body to his, feeling him, letting him feel her. Nolan held her, his hands smoothing up and down her back, but even then she could sense his restraint.
"Ems...I should take you home now."
She squeezed the hand that held hers, "I trust you."
"This isn't like the other night. I won't be able to keep my hands to myself."
"You don't have to."
"Emily..."
"Nolan, please. I need you to understand. I never went far with the boys in high school, and in college...they weren't like you. Sometimes I made mistakes because I was lonely, but this isn't one of those times. I'm here because I want this, and I need you to trust me enough to believe me when I say that."
"Emily...if you're sure."
"I am."