Page 34 of Whispers at Seaside
“ButHagen?” She was concerned about her son, but she was beginning to wonder if she was using him as an excuse to keep a little space between her and Matt soshedidn’t get too attached.
“I just answered that. This is about you. You don’t want a knight in shining armor anymore. It scares the heck out of you, and don’t even try to deny it. You’re afraid that after you spent all these years building a solid life for you and Hagen, someone—or more specifically, super-sexy, super-smart, secret saviorMatt—will upend it.”
Mira rolled her eyes. “I hate that you know me so well. I shouldn’t have told you what I heard about all that secret savior stuff. It’s not as worrisome as I thought. He helped a woman having a seizure when we went to lunch, and he was amazing. Like a true EMT.”
“Even more of a reason to let him in. He’ll always keep you and Hagen safe, and even though you don’t realize it, you could use that comfort in your life.”
Everything Serena said made sense, but Mira was still nervous. She wished there was a guidebook to help her know hownotto mess up her son’s life.
“Now, tell me, worried mommy, have you played naughty coed yet?”
MATT AND MIRA spoke with the head counselor of Hagen’s summer camp. Nora was a friendly blonde with anI’ve got everything under controlvibe, an athletic figure, and serious green eyes, all of which Mira assumed she needed to manage a children’s day camp.
“And Hagen hasn’t given you any indication of who might be teasing him?” Nora asked.
“No,” Mira answered. “He hasn’t specifically said that anyone was teasing him. He asked if we thought he was a nerd, and the question came out of the blue, which to me is a red flag.”
Matt squeezed her shoulder supportively. He’d agreed to let her do the talking, and she could see by the tightness of his jaw that he was struggling to hold back his thoughts.
“Then it could be that he’s just worried about it,” Nora suggested. “When you enrolled Hagen, you mentioned that he was teased during the school year, and we’re all keeping our eyes open for any hints of that type of behavior. When he brought his robot in the other day all the kids seemed intrigued, so I’d be surprised if someone was teasing him. But they are children, and you never know what goes through their heads. We’ll keep a closer eye on him.”
“Okay. Thank you. Please let us know if you notice anything.” Mira turned to leave, and Matt’s hand slid down her arm to her hand, keeping her there.
“One more thing,” he said to Nora. “Is there any time when the kids pair up away from the group? When they use the restroom or take walks?”
Mira hadn’t even thought to ask. She was glad he did. She had to admit that it was nice to have his support. Otherwise she’d just silently agonize over it. At least now she had someone to talk to. She’d tried to talk to her brothers and Serena about it before, but all of them—even Serena—had reacted so strongly it had scared her into silence. She didn’t want anyone going into the school—or camp—ready for a fight. Their intentions were good, but Hagen would pay the price of such actions in a hundred little ways that Mira didn’t want to think about.
“Well, sure,” Nora answered. “We use the buddy system, so they have someone with them at all times. As you said, if we’re doing an activity across the field, we’ll send them in pairs to the bathroom. But they don’t always have the same partner.”
Matt shifted serious eyes over Nora’s shoulder at the children playing in the distance. His dark eyes then swept over the grounds and landed softly on Nora once again. “Thank you for your help, and please keep us in the loop if you notice anything.”
“I hate this,” Mira confided on the way back to the car. “When they haven’t seen anything and Hagen isn’t clear about why he asked the question in the first place, I’m left wondering what I’m missing.”
Matt put an arm around her waist as they crossed the parking lot and pulled her against his side. The possessive touch sparked a hum of desire low in her belly.
“But you’re not left to wonder on your own,” he said in a low voice. “Together we’ll get to the bottom of this.”
How did he know exactly what to say to make the woman in her and the mommy in her want to kneel at his feet? He kissed her neck, sending shivers down her spine. His hand moved along her hip as his talented mouth distracted her from her thoughts, placing kiss after wonderful kiss along her neck. Thank goodness they’d parked at the far end of the lot. They were almost to the car and out of sight from the camp. But then again, she knew Matt was fully aware of their surroundings. He was always careful.
She felt sneaky and naughty and it was such a rush, she wanted more of it. More ofhim. She’d never been like that, not even when she was first dating and everything was new.
He guided her around the car, blocking them from the rest of the lot, and trapped her between the cold metal and his hard body. He lowered his mouth to her neck again, and oh, he knew exactly where to kiss her to make her knees weaken. When he drew back, his riveting stare turned her to liquid fire. She pushed her fingers into the waist of his jeans and held on for dear life to keep from puddling at his feet. His lips curved up in a toe-curling grin.
“You make me want to jump in the backseat and skip work.” Her confession came fast and breathless.
“You make me want to take you back to my bed and skipeverythingelse until we have to come back and pick up Hagen,” he whispered, and then he kissed her—hard.
His mouth was hot velvet, and she wanted it all over her. His hands moved over her hips to her bottom, and he held her as he had last night, deliciously, perfectly, enticinglytight. He groaned into their kiss. The raw need of that sound shattered what little restraint she had. Her knee rode up his thigh and his hand moved beneath her skirt.
“Ohmy,” she whispered. “Matt,” she panted out.
He claimed her in another kiss.
“What time do you have to be at work?” he asked against her neck.
Work? Oh right. Work. Um…“Nine thirty.”
He dragged her to the passenger side of the car, threw open the door, and nudged her inside. He ducked in and kissed her hard. “It’s only five after eight.”
