Page 116 of The Havenport Collection

Callum

H avenport was blessed with a beautiful sandy beach that stretched almost ten miles across a barrier island. A short ride from town, it was a major tourist draw due to the dunes, the light sand, and the charming, retro-style boardwalk.

Farther down, on the far side of the island, beyond the National Wildlife Refuge, was a small private beach for residents. It was one of the major perks of living here and almost made the rising property taxes worth it.

It lacked the glitz of the main beach, but it was quiet, the parking was free, and the views were spectacular.

I jumped out of the passenger seat and opened the hatch on Violet’s Volvo wagon—this thing was deceptively spacious—and pulled out chairs, towels, a cooler, and the largest bag of sand toys I had ever seen.

Violet had texted me this morning that she promised the boys one last beach trip before school started, and they had asked if I could come along.

I wasn't doing anything important, and I would have walked across hot coals to spend more time with Violet, so here I was, ready for a day at the beach.

Loaded up with our gear, we trudged through the sand to find the perfect spot. Since it was a Monday, the beach was relatively quiet. It took a few minutes to get the boys situated and slathered in sunblock, but then I finally sat down and let out a deep exhale.

I almost choked on my tongue when Violet peeled off her dress to reveal a bright yellow bathing suit.

It was vintage style, modest, and unbearably sexy.

She was all curves and freckles, and I had never been so grateful to be wearing sunglasses as I'm pretty sure my eyeballs jumped out of my skull like a cartoon character.

She settled down with her big straw hat and smiled at me as she opened the small cooler she had packed.

She handed me a Binnacle IPA which I gratefully took, desperate to cool down after getting an eyeful of Violet.

The best part about the town beach? Unlike the tourist beach, the open container laws were not enforced here. As long as everyone behaved responsibly and didn’t litter, the police looked the other way, which made for a very fun beach experience.

I cracked open my beer and stared out at the ocean. My ancestors had crossed this very ocean generations ago in search of a better life. It never failed to kick me in the ass. It was so vast and unforgiving, I couldn't imagine having that type of courage.

“This doesn’t suck.”

Violet leaned over and clinked her can against mine. “No, it doesn’t.”

We sat companionably in our chairs for a while, enjoying the sea breeze and watching the boys play with their mountain of toys.

“Are you okay?” Violet asked gently.

“I am now. Thanks for inviting me. This is just what I needed.”

“I figured. The boys really like you.”

I laughed. “Sam does. I think Henry is still angry about Mr. Pickles.”

“He’ll get over it. “What’s a little attempted chickenslaughter between friends?”

“I guess I’ll have to build an epic sandcastle then.”

She smiled and went back to her book. I wanted to ask her how things were going. Ask her about the rumors of selling. But I held my tongue. This day was perfect, and I didn’t want to mess it up.

After an hour and two beers, I noticed the boys were restless.

“Mom. Can we go swimming?”

“I’m hot!”

Violet and I looked at each other. As natives of Massachusetts, we both knew just how cold the ocean could be.

Yes, even in late August, the water temperature would only be in the high sixties.

But I was a Quinn, there was seawater in my veins, and the boys wanted to swim.

They already had life vests on, but they needed an adult.

And Violet looked so tranquil, so relaxed. I wanted to help out where I could.

“I’ll take them,” I volunteered, standing up and stretching my arms overhead. It was scorching hot, and being in such proximity to Violet was not helping things. The icy cold ocean would be good for me.

I ripped off my T-shirt, shouting to the boys to tell them I’d be joining them shortly, and turned around to see Violet blatantly checking out my body. She had sunglasses on, but I watched as her head traveled up the length of my body, a smile curling on her lips.

I had a moment of self-consciousness. I had lost a lot of muscle recently from too much running and too little food and sleep.

I was feeling like a weakling, especially when compared to my brothers, Declan the Greek god and Liam the strongman who could probably bench press a bunch of kegs.

You used to look way better. You’re old and skinny now.

I took a breath, pushing aside my anxiety, and tried to at least enjoy a beautiful woman checking me out.

Violet stood up abruptly, spilling her beer down the front of her swimsuit.

I watched in fascination as a droplet of beer traveled down into her cleavage.

I was overcome with the urge to lick it.

That was a fantasy I didn’t know I had before.

This woman had a way of making my brain do wild things.

But I made a mental note that if I was ever lucky enough to get a chance, I would lick cold beer off her creamy cleavage.

She toweled the beer off her legs, giving me such a spectacular view of that cleavage that I had to look away before things got awkward.

“You need sunblock!” she trilled, clearly nervous. She fussed around in her gigantic bag and pulled out a bottle. “Here, let me do your back.” She walked over to me and gestured for me to turn around.

I felt her small, strong hands gently massage the sunblock across my shoulders. Her hands felt so good. She knew exactly what she was doing, and it was hard not to melt into her touch.

As she got to my lower back, she continued to carefully massage every inch of skin, making sure I was thoroughly covered. It felt good, too good, to have her hands on me, caring for me.

“Okay, thanks,” I said, turning around.

She still had sunblock on her hands and reached up to my chest. I was perfectly capable of applying my own sunblock, but the fire in her eyes rendered me speechless.

She took another step toward me, bringing us only inches apart.

She began to carefully and purposefully rub the sunblock all over me, never taking her eyes off my skin, never breaking her concentration.

I watched as her chest heaved. Clearly she was struggling with self-control just as much as I was.

Then she moved south to my abs. I resisted the urge to flex and instead closed my eyes as her hands traveled lower and lower. I watched as her gaze traveled below my waistband, and I couldn’t miss the way she bit her lower lip, as if she was in pain.

I could not afford to pop wood at a public beach in front of her kids, but this was one of the most sensual experiences of my life.

She took such care in exploring every muscle, it made my mind wander to what she was like in bed.

And that was a dangerous place to wander.

Okay. Baseball. Think about baseball. Shit, that’s not going to do it.

Climate change. Yes. Rising oceans, extreme weather, species loss. Okay. Crisis averted!

Usually sports could do it for me, but with Violet’s hands on my body, only global catastrophe and potential human extinction could take care of it.

I fully snapped back to reality when I heard small voices whining, “Are you ready yet? We want to go in the water.”

“It’s soooo hot out here.”

I made quick eye contact with Violet, who had blushed so thoroughly her face was the same color as her hair, and nodded at her.

I stepped away from her, which required all my mental strength, and took the boys down to the water’s edge.

I turned around and saw Violet watching us intently, a smile playing on her full lips.

After a long day at the beach and some ice cream, Violet drove me home with the boys napping in the back seat.

“It’s amazing that they finally crashed.”

“It takes a lot, but you guys were in a water for a while.”

“They didn’t want to get out.”

“Because they loved splashing you. You were a really good sport, by the way.”

I had fun. The boys were a lot, but having grown up with Declan and Liam, I was used to it. We ran and splashed and played for hours. I was tired but happy.

Violet gently grabbed my hand, and I felt a warm sensation spread throughout my body. “I really appreciate it, Callum. They had a great time, and I know it means a lot to them.”

I looked down at where her tiny hand covered my larger one and noticed how perfectly our fingers laced together. I couldn’t say anything, too afraid to ruin this perfect moment. Just holding her hand was the highlight of my month so far.

Violet pulled up in front of my condo, and we were forced to separate.

As I was walking up to the entrance she rolled down her window. I could have sworn I saw her check out my ass. “Hey,” she yelled, gesturing for me to come back over.

“Come over tonight. Hang out by the fire, after the kids go to bed.”

I almost tripped over myself saying yes. She could ask me to rewire her house, and I would teach myself how. After this perfect day I would pretty much do anything she asked.

She drove away, leaving me standing on the sidewalk, confused, happy, and more than a little horny. But I realized that when it came to Violet, I would probably always feel this way.