Forgive & Forget (Love in the Fleet) Read online

  “I’m serious.” She flashed him a do-me smile while lifting his shirttail and running her finger from his navel down the line of hair to his shorts. “I’m dying to know what’s at the end of this happy trail.”

  He grabbed her hand to stop her, his mouth frozen, his brain on fire. Mixed messages. The hell with mixed messages. Sails? Anchor? Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.

  Shit. No condom.

  “You bring in the sails and I’ll make the bed,” Hallie cooed.

  “But—”

  She put her finger to his lips. “Shhh. Love now. Talk later.”

  He was dying here. “No. We need to talk now. I wasn’t prepared for this. I mean, I’m not prepared for this. I don’t have a condom on board.”

  He told Sky’s voice in his head to shut up before it even got started. No way was he expecting this in his wildest dreams. Not even if they’d already been intimate would he have thought of making love on the sailboat. Like where? There was just enough room in the well between the bench seats.

  The cockpit.

  Whole new meaning.

  “It’s okay. I’m on birth control,” Hallie said.

  “No, it’s not okay. I’m sorry, but that’s just how I do things.”

  Damn it anyway.

  “Did a paper on STDs once and got an A on it?” She challenged him with a smile.

  “Something like that.” He grinned slyly and cleared his throat. “That’s not to say there aren’t other ways to pass the afternoon, if you’re still interested.”

  Hallie pulled her T-shirt over her head, threw it on the deck, reached into her bikini top, and extracted a condom package. “What’s the matter? Flunk boy scouts?”

  Philip was dumbstruck. She put her finger to his lips and repeated her command. “Love now. Talk later.” She pulled his shirt over his head. Then continued her exploration of his happy trail.

  Her finger burned him. He grabbed her hand. “Don’t. Please.”

  “Don’t or please?”

  Philip couldn’t breathe. He knew if she did that again, there was no way he’d be able to bring in the sails or make it to the cockpit.

  “I thought you said you had control over your destiny when you were out on the water.” She teased him with a sexy half smile.

  And he gave one right back to her. “Not if you touch my happy trail again, I won’t.”

  Her bikini top hit the deck. Philip filled his hands and mouth with her. He somehow managed to bring in the sails, when his hands weren’t on her breasts. He blindly found the anchor and threw it overboard. They somehow managed to slide the cushions down into the cockpit, along with a couple of life jackets for a mattress.

  Their kiss was uninterrupted. A wicked gleam lit Hallie’s eyes as she again trailed her finger down his abdomen, but this time he let her reach for him through his shorts. Philip’s eyes glazed over as if in pain and he was certain his knees were going to give out. She unlaced his shorts and drew him out as she pulled him down onto the cushions.

  He had no choice but to lie on top of her. That was all the room they had. His mouth returned to hers. Still slow, but deep. His tongue filling her mouth. Then to her breasts. Licking them, making her arch her back toward him. He taunted her with each of his slow, deliberate actions. And then went back to her mouth, while trying to shield her face from the sun as best as he could.

  Philip slid his left hand into her bikini bottoms, finding her hot and wet and more than ready for him. He rolled right and braced himself with a hand and a foot, so he could peel down the bikini.

  Hallie’s hungry eyes invited him in, as she raised her hips. This was really going to happen. He deftly used a big toe to hook her bikini bottoms and slide them off. How he removed his shorts he had no idea. All he knew was he was naked with this incredible, equally naked woman who had just said, “I want to make love with you. Right now. Right here.”

  And Philip Johnston had always been one to comply.

  After tearing the condom package with his teeth, he put it in her hand and closed her fingers around it. Hallie reached for him and slid along his length, slowly driving him almost to the brink, before covering him.

  Inch by painful inch.

  He wasn’t sure he’d make it inside her.

  Philip broke the kiss. Bracing himself on his elbows, he took her face in his hands, and while looking deeply into her eyes, he slid home. Just like his kisses. Slow and deep. Filling her.

  Hallie moved first and he matched her stroke for magnificent stroke. In perfect rhythm. Gazes locked in sizzling intimacy.

  She pulled his head down, begging him to kiss her as she arched her hips up to meet him. Their pace quickened, until they were grinding and pounding, rocking the boat. Despite the intensity, they fought to keep their eyes open, lost in each other’s ecstasy.

  She grabbed hold of his hips and rocketed from side to side.

  Her eyes slid shut and she cried out her release as wave upon wave of pleasure ripped through her. And the combination of her orgasm pulsing around him and hearing his name being screamed to the heavens above, took him right over the edge to join her in oblivion.

  Their eyes closed briefly as they enjoyed each other’s aftershocks. The waves rocked them gently, cradling them in the cockpit. They couldn’t move, except to take little nips and give baby kisses to each other’s faces, cheeks, and shoulders. Still loving. Not talking. There was no need to say anything.

  Slowly coming back to the world of the living, Philip squinted against the sunlight and reached for his hat to shield their faces. He kissed Hallie’s mouth, her neck, her hair. His eyes returned to hers between each kiss. Was it possible for Hallie to be more beautiful than she’d been before lovemaking? But now bathed in a satisfied afterglow, her face was angelic. An extremely sexy angel, but an angel nonetheless.

  Hallie broke the silence first. “Well, no wonder you don’t talk much, Cowboy. You don’t need to.” She giggled. “I’m sorry I screamed like that, I’ve never—”

  “Sorry?”

  “It wasn’t very ladylike of me.”

  “Men don’t want a lady in the bedroom. Or in the cockpit.” He kissed her again. “I’m guessing you don’t know that having a woman scream during sex is like the highest compliment a man could ever receive?”

  And somebody owed him a beer, but no way in hell would he ever tell Sky that.

  “It is?”

  “Well, why did you scream?” He nuzzled her neck.

  “I totally lost control. God, you were amazing.”

  “I rest my case.” He knew that scream would echo in his head for the rest of his life, reminding him of a sultry June afternoon, lying naked with this woman on a sailboat in the middle of nowhere. A woman who he hoped would be around for a long, long time. “Let’s just be glad there weren’t any other boats around, because somebody might have called in the Coast Guard.”

  Philip pulled her tight and rolled them onto their sides. Seeing her fully naked, tracing the path of her bathing suit tan lines with a forefinger, had him practically ready for another round. He cursed himself for not having a condom, but he vowed never to be unprepared again. Not with Little Miss Full of Surprises.

  “I have a question,” he said.

  She smiled. “Do I always carry a condom in my bathing suit?”

  “No, that would be question number two. Why did you stop things last night when we could have made love in my perfectly comfortable bed, and then seduce me on the sailboat today? Not that I’m complaining.”

  She turned serious. “Because you took me home last night.”

  “I like your reward system.”

  “Because you refused to put sunscreen on me today instead of trying to pick up where you left off last night. I am so charmed by you. Your standards, and the way yo
u have a condom policy.”

  He laughed. “A condom policy? Never heard it put like that before.”

  “And you actually tried to turn me down when you didn’t have one. I mean that really turned me on. I take care of my own birth control, but I always carry a condom, because I don’t take chances with STDs. You’re such a good person, Philip. You make me feel safe. Do you know the moment I fell in love with you?”

  Warmth flooded his chest. She was in love with him? He was toast. And completely hard again.

  He knew if he lived to be a hundred years old, he’d never get enough of this woman. “When you first met me in my BCGs while I was elucidating you on sewage?”

  “No, when you took my chin in your hand and asked, ‘Did I do this? I’m sorry if I hurt you.’ Instead of talking me into going to bed with you after those kisses in the rain, you took me home and then you were concerned that you’d hurt me. You’re different, Philip. Most men live in the moment and try to take whatever they can get.”

  “They think with their dicks.” He nuzzled his way up her neck to her ear. “As a matter of fact, it’s what’s thinking for me right now. Sorry to sound so crude, but I’m in the Navy, remember?”

  Hallie suddenly sobered. “And Philip?” She paused long enough that he brought his head back up to hers, shielding their faces from the sun with his hat. “I’ve never made love with my eyes before.”

  “You mean with them open?”

  “That too.”

  Desire shot through him all over again. He knew exactly what she meant. “Me either.”

  Her blue eyes were hypnotic. For a nanosecond, there was something familiar about them. But then it was gone and they were just Hallie’s deep blue eyes. Beyond cobalt and almost into purple.

  “My grandmother’s got these dishes,” he said. “You know for Thanksgiving and stuff. I wasn’t allowed to eat off them until I was, like, ten. She calls them the good cornflower dishes. And they are the exact color of your eyes.” He shook his head. “Sorry, that was cheesy. But true.”

  “That’s something else about you. You don’t tell me I’m pretty or anything like that.”

  “And that would be a good thing because?”

  “Because boys have told me that since I was in the sixth grade. I want to be more than that. I want people to like me for me.”

  Philip went back to exploring her neck with his kisses. “I was just trying to get in your pants—or get you out of them. You know how we cowboys are.”

  Hallie laughed.

  Philip continued. “And since I did get you out of them, how about we take this new relationship for another ride. You don’t need a condom for everything. Unless you happen to have a back-up in that purse of yours.”

  “Well, actually…” She paused so long, he looked up at her. “I thought about throwing in another one.” He continued to look at her hopefully as the faintest trace of humor lit her eyes, “But I didn’t have time to open a new package and get one.”

  Damn.

  She reached for her beach bag and flashed him a sexy, wicked smile. “So I just threw in the whole box.”

  God, he loved this woman.

  “Philip, it’s getting late.”

  Hallie glanced up at the vermillion sky in the west as Philip raised the anchor. They had made love all afternoon, but now the sun was settling low and it was time to sail back to the marina.

  As Philip unfurled the sails, he said, “I guess we better head home to my nice, comfortable bed, if we can walk, that is. But do me a favor when we get there, okay?” A bad boy grin shined in his soft brown eyes. “Don’t scream too loud. Don’t want the neighbors calling the cops.”

  Hallie socked him in the arm. “Come on, we better head home. It’s going to be dark soon.”

  Philip glanced at the horizon. “Check out the sunset. You know what we say about the sky in the Navy?”

  Hallie’s heart missed a beat but she managed to reply, “They say it on sailboats too. Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Red sky at night…”

  “Sailors’ delight,” they recited together.

  Hallie thought about her plans to sail off into the sunset alone. Suddenly it didn’t sound like such a good plan. She belonged here with Philip. And he belonged with her. They should be able to sail off into the sunset together. However, this boat was not their real world. The USS Blanchard was. And the longer she drew this lie out, the more she jeopardized his career.

  But what about their hearts? Didn’t they count for anything?

  Apparently not in Uncle Sam’s Navy.

  Chapter 9

  They say a guy is in a serious relationship when there’s a box of tampons in his bathroom cabinet. A woman’s toothbrush is one thing, but tampons signify a Category-Five relationship. Several weeks after sex on the sailboat Sunday, Philip charged out of the bathroom brandishing a wrapped tampon. “These damn things are the bane of my existence!”

  “Tampons?”

  “Do you have any idea how much damage one of these can do to the sewage system on an aircraft carrier? Don’t they have shots for that kind of thing now?”

  Hallie found that amazingly humorous. “Wait. Are you suggesting all the women on your ship get shots so they won’t have periods?”

  “I’ll pay for ’em.” He joined her in mirth. “I’ve got this girl who works for me. Everybody calls her Trixie. She’s a real piece of work. I love having her in my division, because she’s a real hard ass, so I made her responsible for all the female heads. She’s planning to go to plumbing tech school when she gets out of the Navy. She tells the men she’s only in the Navy so she can get some mentoring while she’s working on her plumber’s crack.”

  Hallie snorted with laughter, because she could just hear Trixie saying that.

  “She came to me the other day and asked if there was anything else she could do to speed up her advancement. I told her, ‘Williams, I’ll promote you to captain if you can get those ladies to read the freaking signs and stop trying to flush tampons down the hoppers.”

  Weak with laughter, Hallie collapsed against him. She’d witnessed Trixie walking through berthing announcing “No plugs in the shitters, girls. You do and I promise they’ll come back to bite you in the butt. And if they don’t, I will!”

  “Actually, it’s kind of funny. The guys hate it that she’s got head duty in all the female berthing compartments now. They used to count on going into those spaces and fixing things. Apparently when we’re deployed the enlisted ladies string up clotheslines in their berthing areas to dry their unmentionables. But with Trixie on the prowl, there’s no chance of the guys checking out the girls’ skivvies on the lines anymore.”

  Hallie knew the clothesline well. It was strung up right under the 1917 recruiting poster of a woman in a sailor suit, with the caption, “Gee I wish I were a man. I’d join the Navy.” Hallie would be using the clothesline herself once the ship deployed and she could no longer avail herself of Rebecca’s or Philip’s washers and dryers. Guilt gnawed at her.

  The cruise. The days were ticking by. This fairy tale was going to end soon.

  “I still think you made Hallie up. How come I can’t meet her?” Sky said over a pitcher of beer.

  “I don’t know. She’s always got some excuse. And I’m really busy these days too. I shouldn’t even be here tonight.”

  “Oh, come on, Bill, all work and no play. Bet you’re getting plenty of play time at night with Hallie.” Sky’s mouth curved into a roguish smile.

  Joy lit Philip’s tired face. “Never too tired for that.”

  “You got a picture of her?”

  Philip turned serious. “No, I don’t. She’s funny about that. I went to take a picture of her once and she put her hand over my phone. Said she didn’t like her picture taken.”

  “
Oh, she’s ugly! I get it now. Billy Boy keeps his woman to himself because she’s a dog.”

  “Trust me. She’s no dog.”

  “Course you’d say that cuz she’s ringing your chimes. I bet she’s a double bagger. No double bagger wants her picture taken.” A double bagger was a woman who was so ugly she’d need to wear two bags over her head in case the first one fell off.

  The dreamy look was back on Philip’s face. “And she’s no double bagger.”

  “You still watching Jeopardy and necking on the sofa?”

  “Yeah, cuz you know what?” He paused for emphasis. “The winner gets to be on top.”

  Sky roared with laughter. “Told you she was a nympho-brainiac. No wonder you can’t meet me for a beer. You got to get home for Final Jeopardy every night. You’re not only dating a dog, but a smart dog. Nerd meets nerd. I love it!”

  Philip chuckled with him, but guilt stabbed at him from sharing too much about Hallie. This was his best buddy and even though Sky teased him mercilessly, he loved him like a brother. They had a deal whereby they owed the other one a beer any time they made a woman scream during sex. However, there was no way Philip was collecting that beer by telling Sky that Hallie was a screamer. Okay, he wasn’t going to collect that case of beer, even though he’d never been on the receiving end of the deal before. He’d keep it his own little secret. He didn’t need his ego stroked when he had Hallie.

  “Time for truth. Have you done the dirty deed?”

  “Many times.”

  The dirty deed had nothing to do with sex. Well, not really. It was saying, “I love you” to a woman—and meaning it.

  “You used the L word?”

  “Many times.” He gave a self-satisfied smile before taking a sip of his beer.

  “And meant it?”

  Philip could not contain his smile. “Every time.”

  “Swear on John Paul Jones’ crypt?”

  The body of the Revolutionary War hero and Father of the American Navy had been disinterred in Paris in 1905, and brought to the United States, where it lies today in a sarcophagus beneath the Naval Academy chapel at Annapolis. The Holy Grail for Academy graduates.