Sea of Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens, Book 4) Contemporary Romance Read Free Page A

remember ever feeling so drawn to a man. The soft lines of his cheeks were so different from the sharp edges of his brother Rex’s chiseled jaw or the refined angles of Treat’s nose and chin.
    Dane leaned his forehead against Lacy’s and said, “I’ve missed you.”
    She could get lost in Dane’s eyes, the way he looked at her like she was the only girl in the room.
    “I missed you, too.” She rocked her hips to the slow beat of the music, and he moved in perfect rhythm.
    “Why did we wait so long to see each other again?” he asked.
    Lacy had been wondering the same thing. “Schedules,” was all she could manage. She’d been up for a promotion at World Geographic, where she worked as an account executive, creating and managing marketing strategies for nonprofit organizations. After five years of working her way up the corporate ladder, she finally had a shot at a senior-level position, and with the other account executives nipping at her heels, she hadn’t been able to afford to take time off.
    He leaned closer, and Lacy held her breath, thinking he might kiss her right there in the middle of the dance floor.
    “Stupid schedules,” he whispered next to her ear.
    His breath was warm on her skin.
    “You smell so nice,” he said, nuzzling into her neck.
    Every nerve in her body tightened, including the ones down low—the ones she’d been trying so hard to ignore for the last few months, which called out for Dane and only Dane. Lacy had gone on a few dates when she and Dane first began their long-distance relationship. If she could call it that. She wasn’t sure how to define what had developed between them, but she knew that she couldn’t go to sleep without hearing his voice, and even now, so many months later, when she saw his name on her caller ID, her heartbeat quickened. She’d had opportunities to sleep with the men she’d dated, but every time a date turned intimate, she pulled away. It was Dane she wanted to be close to. It was him she craved. How the hell did that happen after one afternoon together? The answer was not far behind. Fifteen months of sharing secrets without the pressures of sex had allowed them to develop a closeness that included sharing their hopes, their dreams, and their fears.
    Dane said something, but Lacy was too lost in her own thoughts to comprehend it.
    “I’m sorry, what?” Get a grip .
    “The song is over,” he said.
    Lacy looked around and cringed. She and Dane were the only couple left on the dance floor, moving against each other in a sensual rhythm…with no music.
    “Oh my gosh. I’m sorry.” She pulled away.
    Dane kept hold of her hand. “Come with me,” he said. He pulled her through French doors that led out to the terrace. The cool night air sent goose bumps racing up her arms as she hurried beside him to the waist-high wrought-iron railing overlooking a carpet of grass below. She could hear the crashing of waves in the distance.
    The stars speckled the blue-black sky like hundreds of eyes gazing down on them. The moon cast a romantic haze into the night. Music filtered out from the reception and disappeared into the breeze. Lacy gripped the edge of the railing, hoping Dane wouldn’t notice how nervous she was.
    “I know we spoke earlier when you were on your way into town, but how are you?” he asked.
    Nervous. Horny. Embarrassed . “I’m well.” I’m well? I might as well have said that I’m a loser. “The wedding was beautiful, wasn’t it?” she asked, trying to find something to talk about that would take her mind off of how much she wanted him.
    “Treat knows how to put on a wedding.” He moved closer to her, his shoulder rubbing against hers. “Lacy, talk to me.”
    She turned to face him, and all those nights flashed in her mind like a silent movie: the way Dane had been overcome with sadness when he spoke of his mother’s death and how he’d stayed up all night with her on Skype when she’d had the stomach flu, just to make