Chloe asked Robert, her dad’s driver, to drop her and Nicolas off at the beach. She had her guitar and a beach blanket for them to sit on.
“Can I carry that?” Nicolas pointed to the guitar.
“Sure. Thanks.”
It gave her a happy little zing when he linked his fingers with her free hand as they walked toward the bonfire. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She side-eyed him to make sure he was comfortable with the idea of hanging out with her family tonight. He seemed fine—jaw relaxed, shoulders not climbing up to his earlobes, a soft smile lifted his lips. She probably looked the same. It had been a long time since she had felt so good. He’d loved all the stress out of her limbs.
“Aunt Chloe! You’re late.” Henry ran toward them. “We’re making s’mores.”
“Yum.” She smiled at her nephew. “My favorite.”
“Hey, Fish made it,” Matt called out.
“Fish?” Nicolas asked.
“It’s my nickname. I used to spend hours and hours in the ocean, chasing after these two—bodysurfing, swimming to the buoys and doing handstands in the water.” She leaned closer and whispered. “We’ll swim later.”
“Finally,” Jeff said, to which Michele playfully slapped his arm.
Chloe blushed. “Yeah, uh, sorry we’re late.”
Matt was watching her with a strange look on his face. Concern? “You missed my friends from my Forestry volunteer work. They had to go. We still have some of the tri-tip and I think there are some Santa Maria beans left, but the rest is gone.”
“They all ate like it was their last meal,” Julia said.
“I tried to get them to wait, but...” Jeff raised both hands.
Did Jeff give her a weird look, too? They were both worried about her. Protective. Huh. She did not expect that. At least their expressions didn’t seem to be judgmental. Maybe Nicolas had been right all along when he thought her brothers wouldn’t judge her for having a boyfriend. Her heart squeezed.
Boyfriend? Was that what Nicolas was?
In an attempt to not look any of her family members in the eyes while she sorted out all the crazy thoughts in her head, she spread the blanket down on the sand. The blush was already warming her neck and cheeks.
“My fault,” Nicolas said. “Chloe was showing me her yoga moves.”
“I bet she was,” Michele mumbled.
Julia fake-coughed.
Could they all tell she’d been having wicked sex with the man of her dreams?
“Henry, how about you make me a s’more?” Chloe changed the direction of the conversation. “Nice and toasty.”
“Sure thing, Aunt Chloe!” Little Henry hustled off to stake a marshmallow for her.
“You brought your guitar. Are you going to sing for us, sis?” Matt elbowed her.
She snorted. “Right. Nicolas doesn’t want his ears to bleed.”
“Come on, you’re good. You used to sing a lot,” Matt said.
“Yeah, all the time. Day and night, everywhere. Seriously annoying, but I liked your voice,” Jeff said.
What were her brothers trying to do to her? She stopped singing long ago because her Dad told her to stop the noise when she was small. She had craved love and needed attention and had been devastated when her dad had shut her up. Her heart had broken and her voice went silent. She never sang in public again. And she for sure would not sing in front of Nicolas now. “Uh-uh. You two are nuts. Maybe Nicolas will channel his younger self and treat us with a song, though. I can strum along, or he can use my guitar.”
Nicolas rubbed her shoulder. “I would like to hear you sing. No judgments.”
As much as she loved him rubbing her skin... “My brothers are joking around. Ignore them. Let’s eat. I’m starved.”
They all got comfortable around the campfire. Michele sat in front of Jeff on a blanket, leaning against him. He played with her hair. Julia sat behind Matt, rubbing his neck and shoulders, while their son squatted next to them in marshmallow-roasting bliss. It was the picture of a happy extended family. Chloe’s heart melted. She’d wanted to be a part of this scene for so long that she’d almost given up hope that it would ever happen. And yet here she was. It made her happy that her brothers had both found true love.
“Shall we?” She motioned for Nicolas to sit down on the blanket she’d brought. She sat beside him. Shoulder to shoulder. Touching but not nearly enough in her book. His body heat was lifting the hairs of her arm, and his manly fragrance was making her achy again.
Gosh, she was always in a state of want around this man.
She had to focus on something other than her insane desire to push him back on the blanket and have her way with him. “Hungry?” she asked.
“Starved.” He gave her a lazy, sexy glance. “For something as sweet as honey.”
She swallowed loudly, remembering how he’d tasted her as if she was the best dessert he’d ever had. Bumping him with her elbow, she whispered. “Later.”
“Promise?”
She nodded. Her imagination was already getting ahead of her.
He took her hand and said far too loudly. “Okay, then. I’m going to hold you to me.”
Everyone stopped talking. All eyes were on her.
“The expression is hold you to it,” Jeff corrected him.
Nicolas lifted his shoulders casually and looked her in the eye. “Not the way I do it.”
Chloe sputtered. “Tri-tip! Can we eat now, Matt?”
They ate their share of barbecue meat and beans, and had their fill of s’mores while Matt shared some of the search and rescue stories that he’d assisted on with the Forestry team. Matt didn’t need to work because he was the heir to the Harper family fortune but he volunteered as a pilot for the forestry service because her loved rescuing people who were in trouble or lost. He’d always loved flying. His little boy hung on every word, but Chloe could see that his eyes were getting heavier and heavier. It was late for him. Finally, Henry curled up next to his mom and fell asleep.
When the conversation hit a lull, Nicolas picked up the guitar.
Her teenage, fan-girl self silently squealed. Her mature self politely clapped to cheer on her man and then promptly had heart palpitations. Was he really her man? It was crazy and so sweet at the same time. But mostly crazy. Her emotions were a hot mess.
“Are you going to sing ‘Baby, Come After Me’?” Michele asked.
“And are you going to dance?” Julia pressed her hands to her heart. “I used to love watching you dance.”
“Hey, I thought you loved watching me dance,” Matt grumbled.
“I do, amor. But Nicky M was...” Julia fanned herself and didn’t finish the sentence.
Everyone chuckled. Chloe knew exactly what Julia meant, but suddenly didn’t want him dancing for anyone but her. She truly had lost her mind. “No, we will not make him dance.”
“I’d dance with you,” he said to her.
“How about Saturday night at the restaurant opening?” Michele said. “We’ll have a small orchestra and you all can show off your moves. Maybe my hubby will spin me around the floor.”
“Jeff?” Chloe laughed. “I hope you have steel-toed shoes.”
“Hey! I’m not a ballroom champ like Matt, but I’m not a bad dancer,” Jeff complained. To Michele, he said, “I’ll spin you like you’ve never been spun.”
“Promises, promises.” Michele winked at Chloe. They had a running joke that Jeff would make any excuse not to dance. He wasn’t bad; he was just such a perfectionist that he hated that he wasn’t great at it. Apparently, a little healthy competition was going to get him out there.
Nicolas had a wistful look on his face as he watched the family discussions. Did he miss his own family? She rubbed his arm.
“Nicolas, as much as I loved your big hit, my favorite song was that soft one. What was it called? ‘Meu Doce Amor’?” Michele asked. “Will you play that one?”
My Sweet Love. Chloe sighed. “I love that one, too. I learned to play the guitar to that song.”
“Yeah, no duh. She strummed that song a million times until I heard it in my sleep. My sister taught herself.” There was a fierce pride in Jeff’s tone. “She’s amazing like that.”
“Stubborn and determined. It runs in the Harper blood,” Matt added.
“No duh,” Julia laughed.
“From now on, when I sing it, I will think of you,” Nicolas said to Chloe.
She pressed her hand to her chest like Julia had done earlier. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“Come.” He motioned for her to sit in front of him. “You play. I’ll sing.”
She sat cross-legged and picked up the guitar. She could not lie—the thought of playing the song in front of Nicolas made her hands tremble. Casually, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he put one hand on her thigh. The zing shot through her body.
“Relax. Breathe in light, let out fears,” he whispered in her ear. “You’ve got this.”
Repeating her yoga mantra back to her word for word? Could he be any more perfect? She smiled at him. “Piece of cake.”
She strummed and he sang the melody next to her. To her. His voice was deeper than it used to be, richer, sexier. She didn’t need to focus on the chords, for her fingers knew how to play this one by heart. Instead she turned to watch him.
The way he looked at her when he sang...
His gaze was sizzling hot—as if he meant the words. The lyrics about everlasting love and forever promises caressed her skin like soft rose petals. For years she had wanted to believe that this song he wrote was nothing but pure truth. That it was possible for her to fall in love with someone who wouldn’t send her away. But the truth she knew up until today proved the song to be nothing but a fairy tale. She had stopped playing it a long time ago because it broke her heart. No one loved her like the lyrics promised. There wasn’t a person in her life who hadn’t abandoned her.
When Nicolas got to the last line, he sang it softly and straight to her. “My love, my sweet love, forever mine.”
She stopped playing. The tears welled in her eyes. For a long beat they stared at each other in silence, as if they were the only two people on the beach, next to a crackling fire.
And then her family clapped.
“You were great.” His voice was thick with emotion. “I have performed that song many times, but never like that. What you do to me, gata.” He wiped the tear off her cheek with his thumb. “Come.” He stood and offered his hand to her. Sexy desire hooded his eyes. To the others, he said, “Thank you for a nice evening.”
She blinked and let him pull her to her feet. “We’re leaving?”
His thumb made slow circles on the palm of her hand. “After is about to begin.”
“Wait!” Jeff rose to his feet, too. “I need to speak to you, Nicolas.”
“Now?” Chloe asked.
“Yes, now. I’ll take Nicolas back to his room and Matt, you bring Chloe back.”
Nicolas’s eyes narrowed.
“What is this about, Jeff?” Chloe asked.
Matt rose, too. “I need to talk to you about something important, Fish. Sorry, man.” He shook hands with Nicolas. “Family matters.”
Dad. Her heart pounded. Why didn’t they say so earlier? Was that why her brothers had looked so worried?
“I understand. See you later, Chloe.” Nicolas placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.
“You better. I can’t wait for after.”
When Jeff’s car pulled out of the lot, she turned to Matt and her sisters-in-law. “Spill it. What’s going on?”
“It’s your father, Chloe,” Michele said.
“I think it has something to do with my mom, too,” Julia added.
“My sources say he’s been talking to the FBI to try to help Angel, to stop that gang she used to be involved in. Stupid. He should stay out of it.”
“He loves her, Matt,” Chloe said. “He’ll do what he has to do to save her.”
“He’s not in the right frame of mind and shouldn’t be driving himself anywhere.”
“Driving himself?” Chloe asked. RW Harper didn’t put his hands on a steering wheel. He had drivers for that.
“The Bugatti is not in the garage. No one has any clue where he went. Dad’s gone missing.”