A Summer Affair

I tossed the flowers, turned and started to head back, with the worst pain I'd ever felt shooting straight through my heart.

Then from behind me I heard her call out, "Ewan?" I stopped and waited, and I could hear her running across the sand. And as I stood staring straight ahead, I wondered if she was going to tell me that it was over and she was getting back together with the guy I'd seen her hugging. I felt her put her hand on my arm. And I held my breath, as she said, "Hey, I saw you coming. Why are you heading back? I was just going to introduce you to my cousin Len." Then she looked back and saw the bouquet of flowers I'd dropped in the sand. "Were those for me?"

Finally I turned and faced her, once I could finally breathe again. "He's your cousin?"

She started smiling when she realized what I'd thought. "Yes. My sister called and asked him to check in on me. Lucky I was at her place doing laundry or I would have missed him. So he stayed for a bit and we caught up over coffee. He lives up this way, so I don't see him very often. So, do you want to come and say hello?"

Though I felt like an idiot for doubting her, I nodded and turned around, and she smiled and slipped her arm through mine. But as we walked together side by side, it also made me realize, feeling that gutted by seeing her with another man, just how deep I was into her, though I'd never experienced even a pang of jealousy before her.

Noticing them lying on the ground, I picked up the flowers, shook the bit of sand off them and handed them to her. And her expression softened as she whispered, "Thank you," and I noticed she hugged my arm a little tighter to her side as she led me back to the cottage.

I thought I was fairly tall at six foot two, but I had to look up when I met her cousin. Len was a big guy, looked like a lumber jack with a big bushy red beard, and biceps the size of tree trunks. And when he shook my hand, I swear I could feel it rattling my teeth.

I was in shape, but nothing compared to him. The guy was just a wall of muscle. Good thing I didn't have to fight him for her, because I knew he could have snapped me in two.

We talked for a few minutes, and he told us that he had horses, and if we wanted to go for a ride one day, to give him a call. And he seemed like a pretty nice guy, despite how imposing he looked.

Once he'd left, I turned and faced Carly, knowing we had some talking to do, and she got right to the point. "When you saw me with him you thought I was seeing someone else, didn't you? And that's why you turned and left."

I wasn't going to lie. "I don't know. You acted kind of different today, kind of like you were upset with me, and when I saw you two together, I just thought..."

"Ewan, I'm not the type to cheat. Though I did almost lose my head once and nearly kissed you a few years ago, I held back because I was still married."

"I remember, it was on that ski trip -- and I think we almost kissed each other."

"You remember that?" When I nodded, she smiled looking pleased, but then she said, "Well, you're the first guy I've been with since my husband walked out and left me, so I'm not the type to hop from bed to bed."

"I know you're not."

She heaved a sigh. "And I wasn't upset with you when I left, I was upset with me, because we were having such a good time together that I realized I was letting everything else slide, and I hadn't even done any laundry lately."

I ran finger along her jaw. "So we're good now?"

She smirked and drew my finger into her mouth, slowly slid it over her tongue and sucked it deep inside, till she had my eyes rolling back in my head.

And I took that as a definite yes.

Glad that was resolved, I carried the clean clothes back to the cottage, with Carly clutching the little bouquet I'd picked for her, smiling as she looked them over.

And once we got inside, after I'd put the bag down, I took her by the hand and led her into the living room, so she could see what I'd done. "I thought we'd have dinner in here tonight."

I had a blanket spread on the floor and two candles waiting to be lit on the coffee table, and a bottle of wine chilling in a bucket of ice, with a few wildflowers spread around. And I thought it looked kind of romantic, and hoped she would, too.

Carly teared up as she looked at everything, and with her voice a little shaky, she whispered, "Oh, how sweet you, to do something so romantic."

What could I say? I was in love with her, and I wanted her to know it. But the problem was, I wasn't too sure she'd want to actually hear me say the words.

I'd made up platters of finger food; cold meats and a few different types of cheese, with crackers and pickles and olives, and a platter of shrimp, which we enjoyed feeding each other, laughing and giving each other the eye the whole time.

But once we pushed the food aside and started kissing, I helped her out of her clothes and I slipped out of mine. And as she slid over me, dusting kisses over my face and chest, before she got busy toying with my nipples, I kind of wished it never had to end. The cottage was winterized, so I knew we'd be okay over the winter, but unfortunately we still had our regular lives waiting for us at home.

But for now, we were here together, and that's all that mattered.

And since I'd chosen ice cream for dessert, both her favorite and mine, along with some strawberries for dipping and painting our bodies, our little picnic was not only turning out to be a lot of fun, but was getting pretty kinky, too.

Carly laughed as I pinned her hands over her head and started painting her body with a bright red strawberry; from her lips, down to her breasts, where I circled each nipple, with a long slow lick, and a little suckling, before I continued my quest to paint her navel and then gradually making my way lower, till I slid my tongue into her honey-sweet centre, and groaned at the taste of her washing over my tongue.

"God, I love... this with you," I said, catching myself before I said those three little words that just might scare her into leaving.

I knew that this summer we were spending together was just meant to be fun, and it was. But along the way, it turned into a lot more than just fun. And now I had to figure out how to let her know that one summer with her was never going to be enough, at least for me.

"When do I get my turn to torture you?" she asked.

I spread her legs, and wiggled my eyebrows. "Once I've made you scream my name at least twice, I'm all yours."

She laughed, but then she stopped pretty quick when I slid my tongue over her hot, tingling flesh and suckled at her clit, till she was pulling at my hair and starting to make some noise. I knew just the way she liked it, and as soon as she figured out that what we had was just about perfect, I hoped she'd change her mind about us just parting as friends.

When I finally surrendered, rolled onto my back, and let her have her way with me, she surprised me when she tickled me a little, and tugged at my nipples with her teeth, but then she slid on top of me, looked into my eyes for the longest time, and finally she just kissed me, lingering over my lips till I was so hard, I knew I had to get inside her. But I actually hated to let go of her, she just felt so warm and soft curled against my chest as she took her time mating with my mouth.

When she wrapped her hand around me, smiling into my eyes, I tried to memorize the look in her eyes as she sank her sweet body down onto mine, softly whimpering as I filled the void inside her. "Mmm, you feel so good," she whispered.

She'd get no argument from me. Every single time we made love just felt so amazing, that I knew it was way more than just sex we were sharing.

As she worked me into a climax, sliding her body up and down over mine, I slipped my hand between us and began to massage circles around her clit, so that I could watch her fall apart when she came. I just loved to see her shivering as she clenched her inner muscles around me, till I had her screaming my name.

As I felt the familiar rush racing through my veins, I tugged down her head and crushed my mouth to hers as we both let go, riding of wave of indescribable ecstasy together as we climaxed. It just felt so good to be inside her, with her so warm and snug around me.

Still slightly shivering, she curled her hand around my cheek and whispered, "This was wonderful tonight, thank you." And we just held each for the longest time.

I had a fire prepared and ready to go in the fireplace. And since the air was colder tonight outside, and was starting to filter in here, I thought we could sleep curled up close by the light of the fire, because with how quickly our time together was running out, I knew we might not get another chance.

CARLY

I promised myself I wasn't going to cry. Now here I was driving down the highway, heading home, sobbing my heart out.

I could see a rest stop up ahead, and I had to pull in, I was starting to cry so hard that I could barely see where I was going.

Once I'd pulled into a parking spot near the doors, I turned off the ignition, let go and bawled like a baby.

Ewan and I were done. And after the perfect summer we'd shared together, he never said he wanted any more. He just said goodbye and let me go.

Though I knew it was for the best for both of us, and of course our sons, I still couldn't believe with how close we'd grown, that he could just wave me off and watch me drive out of his life.

Once I finally got control of myself, and the tears had started to dry up, I finally took a look at myself in the mirror. Ugh, nothing like a good ugly cry to make my face all red and puffy. And my eyes look as blood shot as if I'd been on a three day bender.

Well, at least I had no one in my life to notice how I looked anymore. And the boys wouldn't be coming home till late tomorrow night, so if I could just stop crying, hopefully they wouldn't notice how broken hearted their mother was.

Especially when they'd inevitably asked me, "So, how was your summer, Mom?"

If I going to be honest, the summer we'd shared was the most wonderful time I'd ever had, right up until the end. But I got what I asked for, so I couldn't really blame him. He had his sons to think about too, and his teaching career, that I'm sure he wouldn't want to jeopardize for a little fun with me.

Eventually I pulled out and started back down the highway to a life I knew would no longer include him.

EWAN

I had loads of things to take care of to close up the cottage before I went home. I had to collect and put the garbage out in the box I'd built by the road, to keep the racoons out, and make sure the top was down tight. And I had to get all the food out of the fridge and put it in a cooler to take home, and of course anything in the cupboards that might attract mice. And I had to pack my clothes.

But went in the bedroom and I picked up the football jersey that Carly had worn, I dropped onto the bed, and just sat and ran it through my fingers, thinking about how much I already missed her.

She'd only been gone a few hours, but it felt like weeks since I'd watched her drive away.

I decided not to kiss her goodbye, or even pull her in for a hug, because the way I was feeling about her, I might not have been able to let her go.

I just hoped with the incredible summer we'd shared together, she might have a change of heart. And hopefully she'd call to let me know that she'd be happy for us to pick up where we left off, once we were both at home.

And if I didn't hear from her... I don't know what I was going to do.

I'd never felt this way about anyone before, and I couldn't believe that it was all one sided. And if I was right, I knew she had to be suffering, too.

But I decided I'd better get up and finish what I had to do, because moping around here wasn't going to help me get her back.

As I locked up the windows in the front porch, where we'd enjoyed most of our meals together, I looked out at the water and started to smile as I remembered the fun we'd had out there. And I just hoped we'd have a chance to come back up together at least a few more times before the weather started to turn cold.

I was sitting in traffic, thinking about all the things I had to do when I got home. My sons would back tomorrow night, so I knew I'd have to get some groceries in the house, and air out their rooms. And of course make sure they had everything they needed for school.

But there was something more important I had to do, before I did anything else.

I took a detour and pulled up in her driveway. I looked at her house, blew out a breath, walked up and knocked on the door.

And when she answered, a full minute passed before I remembered what I wanted to tell her; about giving us a chance, and not worrying about what anyone else thought. I'd rehearsed it all the way down the highway on my drive home.

But all I said was, "I love you."

Her bottom lip started trembling and her eyes were misting up. And then she whispered, "I love you, too."

Carly moved back and held the door open and I stepped inside, pulled her into my arms and I kissed her.

"We can make this work, I promise," I told her, smoothing my hand down her back.

She nodded and licked her lips and looked up at me. "I had a lot of time to think on the drive home. And the thing is, the boys aren't kids anymore and so far I think they've adapted pretty well to all the changes in their lives. They're pretty resilient. And knowing how much my sons like and admire you, I have a feeling that they might be okay with us going out together, especially once they realize how happy you make me. And if you can stand a little gossip about us, then I can, too."

I had a feeling that having her husband walk out and leave her for someone else, understandably had her feeling a little skittish about starting anything new. Which was probably why she'd put up the wall between us, so she could leave me first when the summer was over, before I had a chance to leave her. But hopefully after she'd left, she realized that what we have together is pretty solid and I'm not about to leave her, and she can trust me with her heart.

I tipped up her chin and smiled into those pretty green eyes. "The only thing I care about is us. And people will only gossip until the next scandal comes along, in about another minute or two, so I'm not worried about what anyone will say if they see us together."

I loved the way her eyes lit up when she smiled. "Then, I'm all for giving us a chance."

That had to be the best thing I'd ever heard.

Then finally I looked around and noticed she had a nice place. "You've got a beautiful house."

She nodded, glancing around, too. "I'm putting it up for sale soon. I want to give Craig his half, so I can close this chapter of my life. And now I've got to start looking for a condo for the three of us."

I just hoped I'd be part of the next chapter.

She flashed me a naughty grin. "You know my boys won't be home till tomorrow night."

I smiled right back. "So... where's your bedroom?"

We spent the rest of the day in bed, and I made sure to show her just how terrific our life together would be.

She was curled on my chest, and she tipped her head and looked at me. "I was thinking I should invite you and your boys over for dinner one night this week, so they can see that we're together. And we can just tell them that we met up at the beach, which is the truth, so they won't think we've been sneaking around."

"I think they'll be okay with it. And you just tell me when you want us to come, and we'll be here."

When we got together for dinner a couple a days later, the boys were really happy to see each other again. And I'd always got along with her sons, and I noticed my boys took to Carly right away, probably since she was a lot warmer than their mother. So, I had a feeling we'd be okay.

Her house sold pretty quickly, and she had to move out on Halloween. But since I had a five bedroom house, with plenty of room for all of us, rather her moving into a condo, I got her to agree to let us try living together as a family to see how it went. The boys thought it was great, like a permanent sleep over, and they got along really well together.

And by the time Christmas was approaching they were all after me to propose to Carly. But what they didn't know was that I'd put a ring box with a beautiful diamond in the bottom of her stocking.

So, Christmas morning, after everyone had opened their gifts, I handed her her stocking and said, "Hey, you forgot about this."

After she thanked me when she noticed the best seller she'd wanted to read sitting on top, and a bottle of her favorite perfume under that, once she pulled out the chocolates, her eyes went big when she noticed the blue velvet box tucked in the toe.

By the time she pulled it out of the stocking, I was on my knees. And when she looked down and saw me, she started to tear up. I took deep a breath, looked up into her eyes and said, "These past few months have been the best of my life. And if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife, and really making us a family, you'd make me the happiest man in the world. So, will marry me, Carly?"

She wiped at her eyes as the five of us waited to hear what she'd say. Until finally she smiled and said, "Of course, I'd love to marry you."

And we both laughed when the four boys pumped their fists and said, "Yay!"

When I stood up and pulled her into my arms, and planted a kiss on her, we both smiled when we heard Dylan behind us, saying to the rest of them, "Okay guys, I think we'd better leave them alone now to do whatever they're going to do. Oh, and congrats, Mom and Dad."

After they left, Carly looked down with her hand shaking, murmuring, "It's beautiful," as I slipped the emerald cut diamond ring onto her finger. And as I pressed a kiss to her hand, she looked up and said, "Did you hear that? He just called us Mom and Dad."

"Yeah." I smiled. "I think we're going to be okay."

Then she gave me a sassy smile as she said, "Oh, and the workmen are coming next week to take care of your gift. I'm getting a bench installed in our shower." She batted her eyelashes. "To enhance our showering experience."

I laughed and kissed her again. No wonder I loved her.

We decided to get married as soon as we could. So, on a blustery day in January, with the four boys as my best men, and her sister as her maid of honor, we tied the knot at a resort just north of the city. And she looked so beautiful in her knee length white dress with a little bouquet of wild flowers clutched in her hand, that I could hardly believe she was mine.

On our honeymoon in Hawaii, we decided our project for the New Year would be working on having a little girl. Of course we wouldn't care what it was, as long as it was ours.

I can't tell you how glad I am now that I went for that ice cream. Or I wouldn't be curled up in bed with the most beautiful woman in the world, and the best family I could ever ask for, all because I gave into temptation.