Broken Barriers (Barriers Series Book 4) Read online

  “Like I was saying, Jeremy here is another example of doing what you are destined to do in life. He never once gave up on his hockey career. He followed his dreams and look what that got him.”

  I was suddenly confused by this life lesson. “Didn’t it get you sent back to the minor leagues?”

  Jeremy let out a full belly laugh and said, “Well…yes…it did. Thanks for that reminder.” He took a couple of steps closer to me. “But had it not brought me back to the minors, I might not have ended up with Emily and Ben in my life.” He looked over his shoulder, and as if it was planned, Emily tilted her head over to stare back with a gentle smile. She mouthed the words, “love you” before returning her attention to Sam. God, those two really did love each other.

  I remembered hearing Josh’s mom telling Sam one day years ago that had it not been for Emily and Jeremy living their dreams and following their hearts, they might not have found their true happiness. It was a funny thing, those dreams. Each night when you went to sleep, you never knew what might cross your mind before you woke up. I never wanted to live through some of my dreams again. The dreams when I saw her—now, those were the ones worth living to the fullest. Those were the dreams that healed my heart and my soul. Only problem was…I woke up realizing that none of them were ever truly real.

  Josh and Jeremy made me recognize that when an opportunity came my way, I couldn’t turn my back on it. Josh finished placing the cooked food onto the platter and turned to hand it to me. I looked him in the eyes; he already knew what I was about to say before the words passed over my lips.

  “Josh, make the call. If I’m destined to be a police officer, then it will all work out in the end.”

  The next day I set about getting back into shape so I could put my best foot forward not only for myself, but also for Josh. I didn’t want to give him any reason to be disappointed in how I presented myself when I did finally go in for my testing for the force.

  He believed in me, enough to risk his own neck. I would not let him down.

  First step...exercising again. It was definitely not one of my joys in life. In fact, I honestly hated it, but I’d always had to do it for wrestling in college or the Marines. It had never been one of those tasks that I did only for me and enjoyed it. My plan today was to see if some recreational exercise did enough to spark some interest in working out for myself.

  The sun scorched my shoulders as I pushed the bright red kayak into the water next to our dock. Forecasters said most of southern New England would be close to record-breaking heat today. Fortunately for Lake Winnipesaukee, that only meant a high of around ninety, but it was still friggin’ hot no matter where you were. I grabbed the paddle off the dock, along with my supply bag stuffed with a small towel, sunscreen, shirt, and my clear plastic water bottle filled with ice water and stepped gingerly into the swaying kayak.

  After I adjusted my seat a little and positioned my feet within the kayak, I pushed off the beach with the end of the paddle and began floating on the smooth water. The small waves from the passing boat lapped against the edge of the dock as my kayak drifted with the current. With my shoulders squared, I placed my sunglasses over my eyes and set my sights on the open water.

  I dipped one end of the paddle into the water and pulled, repeating on the other side of the kayak. After a few strokes, I had enough momentum and distance in the bay to glide aimlessly. The water remained calm despite the boat traffic—not even a single ripple to interrupt the glassy surface. Most people were spending the day over on the other end of the lake, so this side was quiet. At just over seventy square miles, there was a lot of lake to be covered by boaters. The relentless summer sun tingled my bare chest, and sweat beaded all over my arms and face within minutes out on the water. I watched a few other boaters farther out on the lake as I pulled the top from my water bottle. The ice water refreshed me for only a few minutes as I wiped the sweat from my skin.

  Once I finally made it to the main part of the lake, that side was bustling with activity. Young kids ran and jumped off the end of their docks into the water while others held onto rubber tubes as parents dragged them behind their motorized boats. Cocky teenagers raced across the water with jet skis that would do nothing but piss off the big money yacht club members. Those old geezers just waited for these days so they could complain about the rambunctious teens who were bored and trying to rebel against their parents while forced here on vacation.

  Sam and I once were in that group. Although we never had the jet skis, we certainly had our fair share of run-ins with the yacht club members who liked the lake to be peaceful morning, noon, and night. During one of the last summer trips with my parents here, Sam and I found some of Dad’s fireworks and set them off along the banks of the club’s property. It did not go over very well. We were both grounded for the rest of the summer because one of the fireworks malfunctioned and ricocheted off a sailboat on the dock. That cost us our entire summer job paycheck to fix. You could say we learned our lesson that summer, as I was sure there were plenty of teenagers out here today who would also learn a lesson or two while rebelling.

  My mind drifted with the kayak through many memories of my childhood as I floated along the edges of Rattlesnake Island. The M/S Mount Washington passed by with a packed boat of vacationers heading to the other end of the lake. My shoulders finally received a reprieve from the blazing sun as I tucked the kayak behind the island and the trees. A few twigs snapped in the woods before a flock of birds scurried in the trees above me. As I tilted my head over my shoulder, I spotted a small white-tailed rabbit nosing through the dried ground cover. It lifted its head for a brief moment before hopping away into the bushes and out of sight.

  I rested my arms in front of me, stretching my back and my legs for a minute. Water dripped off the ends of the paddle while I floated with the current. As I checked my watch, I noticed how long my paddle just to this spot had taken me—nearly an hour, which for me wasn’t all that bad. But, my arms were throbbing, and if I didn’t get out of this kayak soon, my legs were going to start cramping. My back would also be the nice shade of lobster red since spray sunblock only went so far when you were spraying yourself. It was quite the look when one portion of your body was a lovely shade of golden brown while the rest was red.

  The paddle back into the bay didn’t take nearly as long as I had anticipated. I managed to hover along the shore for much of it. By doing this, I was able to avoid much of the current brought about by the number of boaters on the water. I also succeeded in keeping the sun from beating down on me with the trees beside the shore. They were a hindrance and a blessing at the same time.

  I dropped my paddle onto my lap for a second and caught my breath. I pushed up my sunglasses to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. In this heat, I couldn’t be too sure if it was a mirage or really truly there. I took a quick sip of water and stuffed the bottle back into the bag.

  Cole sat in a beach chair in front of her house, her olive toned skin soaking up the rays. Her hair was pulled up off her shoulders, and a barely-there black and pink bikini covered only enough to leave me wondering what lay beneath. My tongue darted out as I licked my lips. My eyes ran down her slender legs that tapped in the sand, and I was left panting more than I was during my paddle. Without taking my eyes off her and without thinking, I began paddling to the shore behind her.

  She didn’t hear or see me since she was turned away from me, facing the sun. I quickly pushed the kayak onto the sand and stuck the paddle inside it. With just a few, long, heavy steps, I neared her enough to know I desired her even more. Cole sat there with her earbuds in her ears and her tablet in her hands. A slow smile spread across my face as I heard her singing some song that had infiltrated the airwaves since The Hunger Games movie was released. Her head angled as she rubbed her legs together in a sensual way.

  I wanted to have those long legs wrapped around my waist and to know what it felt like to touch every inch of skin that covered her body. I focused on
how absolutely fucking perfect she was, and yet she had no idea what she did to me. A warm breeze blew against my face, and the subtle scents of vanilla and pear mixed with sunscreen teased my senses. I tried to stay away from her since I didn’t want to hurt her any more than the last guy, but dammit, if all my thoughts hadn’t been fixated on something revolving around her the last couple of weeks.

  I quietly took two steps behind her. Cole didn’t sense me hovering over her as I reached down and yanked the tablet from her hands. She gasped and nearly fell out of her chair, but I reached down and held it upright. Her head shot up along with her sunglasses as she jerked the earbuds from her ears. Her hand fell flat against her chest as she stared at me and panted frantically. “Drew! You scared the shit out of me!” Cole shouted before rising to her feet. “Give me back my tablet, please.” She cleared her throat as a slight redness spread over her cheeks. I chuckled to myself as I read what was on the screen.

  “He slides his legs between mine and pushes my knee up farther before slowly sliding between my lips. He thrusts and my body accepts him like a missing piece. Every hard inch buried deep, rocking me from the inside.”

  Whoa! “Holy shit.” I smirked and raised my eyebrow at Cole, realizing why her legs were rubbing together. “Cole Porter, you little vixen, you. You like smutty sex books.”

  “What? It’s not like you haven’t fantasized about women before?” Cole instantly went into defense mode. She crossed her arms over her barely-covered chest. Little did she know that only enhanced her cleavage, causing me to stare more. My eyes had a problem deciding between her eyes or her chest.

  Make up your mind, you idiot.

  Too late. Cole shook her head and huffed as she caught me moving my sights from north to south and vice-versa. “You’re such a guy.” She quickly grabbed her tank top and tossed it over her head. I pouted internally as her once succulent breasts that were just there for my pleasure had now been covered because…well, I was a guy, and yes, guys liked tits. All versions of them.

  She walked a few determined steps forward and reached out her hand, silently gesturing that she wanted her tablet back. I decided to play with her a little while longer. I held the device well above her grasp with one arm and read aloud another section that caught my eye.

  “His hand moves to my swollen, heated lips and he starts to stroke. Long, slow circles around my clit, twisting the slick flesh around and around.”

  “Drew Daley! You’re an ass!” Cole shouted and slapped my shoulder. I held out my hand, keeping her at a distance as I continued to read to myself.

  “Well…well…well.” I handed the tablet back to her. She snatched it and quickly turned it off before folding the cover over and tossing it into her bag. As she was bent over rummaging through her bag, she had no idea she was now gracing me with a perfect view of her butt.

  Blood rushed to all the wrong places, and a slight pulsing sensation shot through my veins. I groaned silently as I felt my cock throb just a little, and I immediately had to stop looking at her. I was wearing only my swim trunks, and if I got a semi in them, I was fucked.

  Cole stood up straight and returned with her hands full of plastic bags filled with a light yellow liquid and a straw sticking out of each one. Lemon slices and ice shuffled around as she pressed her fingers on a bag before handing it to me. “Adult lemonade slushy,” she said. “Or you can use it to cool down your sunburned shoulders.”

  She laughed before my eyes peered down to see just how red my skin had become. My finger poked my shoulder and it changed from white to beet red almost instantly. Yeah, figured. It looked pretty bad, but she was trying to change the subject by distracting me with other topics of conversation. “Oh, no, you don’t,” I told her. Her eyes narrowed. “You will not get me liquored up and try to change the topic off of smutty sex books.” I stepped closer. She slowly raised her eyebrows and licked her lips before her tongue snaked out to pull the straw into her mouth.

  Fuuuuck.

  I immediately wrapped my hand around the bag Cole handed me and sucked away at the refreshing concoction, instantly regretting my decision to think of anything besides her tongue enclosed around that long…stiff…straw. The cold frozen lemonade suddenly struck without warning. Immediate brain freeze hit me like a ton of bricks. I squeezed my eyes shut and smacked my palm against the throbbing in my forehead. I continued to drink, but my throat groaned as the freeze started to wear off.

  “See,” she said. My eyes relaxed and slowly rose to see Cole stepping closer. “Karma’s a bitch, isn’t she?” She chuckled and smiled cockily at me. “Oh, c’mon, Drew. You can’t honestly tell me you don’t have some secret sexual fantasy. So what? I read smut.” She shrugged her shoulders and took another sip of her drink. “I’m pretty sure you have some hidden sexual desires.” She tapped her finger against her lips, trying to think of mine.

  Little did she know what I would have liked to do to her on this beach.

  “Hmmm.” Cole thought. “Let’s see if I am close.” She inched closer. “I bet you are the type of guy who likes to be in charge in the bedroom.” My lips curled upward with the straw still in my mouth. The damn vodka was starting to work its way into my system now that the brain freeze had gone away. My body relaxed almost instantly.

  Cole’s eyes widened with excitement as she thought she was going to guess my secret sexual fantasies. I hated to disappoint her, but I was really just a vanilla sex type of guy. Sure, I’d dabbled in the occasional handcuffs and blindfolds and sex out in the open, but spanking and tugging hair were about as wild and crazy as I got.

  Cole took another step closer and lifted her head. She narrowed her bright blue eyes as she tried to see the secrets behind my eyes. I arched my brow as the frozen drink slurped through the straw. “You don’t strike me as the dominant type of guy, but I’d guess you have some fantasy about having sex in public or with a stripper or something.”

  I choked on the last few sips of my drink and keeled over as I tried to catch my breath between coughs. Shit.

  “Oh my God,” Cole exclaimed. “I’m right, aren’t I?” I stood up straight and stared at her as she backed up a couple of steps. Her feet shuffled in the dry sand, her mouth agape as she attempted to piece together the puzzle. “Which one is your fantasy?” she asked softly, almost ashamed in a way.

  I didn’t tell her about Katie. I was actually rather shocked that Everett had not spilled the beans about that night at the strip club, but I could tell she was trying to process it in her head. I licked my lips, not knowing quite what I needed to say, but I had to say something.

  As I was about to say some nonsense, Cole beat me to the punch. “Are you a Dom? You are, aren’t you? I thought those guys only existed in books. So, you’re into the whips and chains and stuff?” Cole rambled a mile a minute. She acted nervously trying to say anything, even though she had the whole thing wrong.

  “Cole,” I interrupted quickly. “I’m not a Dom. I fucked a stripper.” Oh, no. The words rolled off my tongue before I processed them in my head. “Wait. No. It’s not how it sounds. Well, it is, but it’s not.” I moved closer, but she took a couple of steps back. She looked surprised. “Cole…talk to me.” Thoughts in my head began to scramble. I needed to pull myself out of this hole, and quick.

  She cleared her throat as her eyes dropped to look at her fingers fiddling with her drink. She raised the drink to her lips and sucked back the remainder of the lemonade.

  “Cole.”

  “Yeah.” She looked up at me.

  “The stripper. It’s hard to explain. She was someone I knew from my past, but somehow she is now a stripper. That’s all. It wasn’t a random hook up.”

  “How long ago was it?”

  Shit. I paused for too long and ran my hand over my burning skin. My eyes dropped to the ground.

  “How long ago did it happen, Drew?” she asked again. I sensed the pain in her voice.

  I released a long breath before tilting my head back up and pu
lling my sunglasses off the top of my head. I gazed into her eyes, knowing I was about to land a punch to her gut. “A little over a week ago.” I watched as the words sank in. The drink pouch dropped from her hands, landing in the sand at her feet with a thud. She had no idea. How could she? Her legs grew unsteady, and I rushed over to her side, dropping my own drink and sunglasses in the process. “Cole.” I softly grabbed her elbows to steady her. “Cole, listen to me. I’m not perfect. I never claimed I was. But, I’ve only ever been honest with you, and I don’t want you to think less of me because of this. Yes, okay, I’ll admit it wasn’t a wise decision.”

  “Drew.” Cole firmly stated my name.

  “Katie and I had this thing a long time ago, but things happened, and I kept trying to push my past from my mind, and one thing lead to another when I saw her. I ho—“ Cole’s hand covered my mouth, and I instantly stopped rambling.

  Cole’s face inched closer to mine. “Stop…talking.” She rolled her eyes at me, her hand lowering from my mouth.

  “You aren’t mad?”

  “Drew, why would I be mad? Sure, it’s a little shocking, but who doesn’t have a past? We all make mistakes. Me included. I have two older brothers. Trust me, I’ve seen it all, but I’m willing to forgive and forget about your lack of better judgment on one condition.”

  “Cole, you know I’ll do whatever you ask.” I pushed a little closer to her, my hand sliding along her neck. My fingers gingerly played with the strings holding up her bikini top. She was weakening at the simple touch. I lowered my eyes and leaned down, placing my lips over her ear. I smelled her body spray mixed with sunscreen, and it did things to my senses that I barely withstood. I wanted to pull at her bikini strings and let gravity take its course, but I held back. My tongue licked at my lips as my breath against her ear made her body quiver in anticipation. “Cole.” She moaned as her hands softly wrapped around my bare waist. “Cole, tell me what you want.” My voice deepened with wanton desire.