A rumbling overpowered the sound of the waves, and Paige glanced up as a fighter jet came into view. She followed it across the sky until it got too far away, then gazed down at the beach again. It was still early; only a handful of people dotted the pristine sand and even fewer appeared in the water. Later the beach would be full of vacationers in bathing suits, and beach umbrellas would be everywhere, but for now most of the people down there were employees getting the area ready for the day. Regardless of what else they did today, she hoped to spend some time on the beach and in the water. Even though she’d been in the area for several days, her and Scott’s walk on the boardwalk last night had been the closest she’d gotten to the sand since she arrived.
Down below a couple walked along the boardwalk holding hands, and memories of her and Scott’s walk surfaced. Nothing had prepared her for his announcement even though she’d already realized she loved him.
He loves me. And I never would’ve met him if not for Aunt Bebe’s interference. Perhaps she’d apologize for giving Aunt Bebe a hard time after the auction. She’d have to think about it. The last thing she needed was Aunt Bebe interfering in her life again.
“I didn’t hear you get up,” Scott said, stepping out onto the balcony dressed in only running shorts. “What are you doing out here?” He pressed his lips against her cheek and put his arm around her.
“Taking in the view and enjoying the quiet.” After waking up, she’d lain there enjoying the view of him naked until her bladder threatened to explode. Rather than risk waking him, she’d sneaked out of the bedroom, made herself a coffee and stepped outside. “Later I’d like to spend some time down there. It’s one of the nicest beaches I’ve ever visited.”
“We’ve got the whole day to ourselves. We can do whatever you want.”
“Well, not really all day. My brother wants us to come over before we leave. I thought we could do it today and get it out of the way.” Since he wanted her to meet his family, he shouldn’t mind doing the same. “Do you mind?”
“I’d rather not share you, but it’s okay. What time?”
“Not sure. I’ll call him and see what works for him and Trish. We can keep the visit short. It’s not like I haven’t spent time with them all this week. And they’re coming up to Rhode Island soon anyway, so I’ll see them again then.”
“What else should we do today? I saw an advertisement for parasailing last night. I did it down in the Caribbean a few years ago. It’s a lot of fun. Are you interested?”
She hated telling him no, but some experiences she didn’t want to repeat. “I’ll pass. I tried it last summer when I came down to visit Joe. Discovered very quickly it’s not for me, but go ahead. This is your vacation too.”
“Nah, some other time. I’d rather do things we’ll both enjoy.”
Another fighter jet screeched overhead, and she again followed it until it disappeared from view. “Every time one of those goes by, I wish I was on board flying it. Or at least a passenger in it.” She turned, her back rubbing against the railing.
“You and probably a lot of other people. I’ve flown planes and imagine controlling one of those is amazing.”
The simple statement reminded her of just whom she was standing next to. He loves me, she told herself. Nothing else mattered. Especially not who his family was or how much money he had in the bank. “I didn’t know you had a pilot’s license. I pictured you being more into boating since you have a house in Newport. Maybe scuba diving too.”
“Enjoy both those things a lot, but there’s something about being up there. It’s nothing like when you travel on a commercial jet. I’ll take you up sometime.”
A warm breeze blew around them, sending her hair in every direction. “Stupid hair,” she muttered, reaching for the elastic on her arm so she could pull it up.
Scott’s fingers closed around her wrist before she got it secured. “It’s gorgeous.” He trailed his fingers through it much like he had the night before in bed, and her body took it as a cue to wake up. “I’ve never felt hair this soft.” He wrapped some around his fingers. “You should wear it down like this more often.”
Releasing the strands around his finger, he pulled her hair forward and over her shoulders his hands running across her breasts in the process. Beneath her thin cotton top, her nipples hardened and pressed into his palms. Memories of him using his tongue and lips to tease them in bed rose up, making her heart race faster, and she leaned into him.
“Looks like I’ve got someone’s attention.” His mouth curved into a knee-melting grin. Before she could respond, he inched his palms lower until he reached her waist. With painstakingly slow movements, he pushed her shirt up until her breasts were bared to him and she said a silent prayer her back faced the beach.
“Missed seeing these when I woke up. I think they deserve some TLC.” Scott held the shirt up with his left hand while he cupped one breast with his right and lowered his head. “Yeah, they need some extra special attention.”
His warm breath blew across her breast moments before he closed his lips around her. Scott took his time teasing and licking one nipple. Once satisfied he’d teased her enough, he switched to the other breast and repeated the sweet torture.
Paige closed her eyes, her head falling back. “That feels so good,” she said, her voice somewhere between a moan and a sigh, her entire body on fire.
Scott released her breast and pulled her just inside the room. With the sliding glass door still open, the curtain fluttered against her bare legs. Then he tugged her shirt off. “Wait. I’m just getting started.” He dropped to his knees before her and hooked his fingers under the waistband of her shorts. Once again he moved slowly, inching her pajama bottoms and her panties down over her hips. When he reached her ankles, he lifted one foot then the other, leaving her standing there naked.
With her eyes still closed, she didn’t realize his intent until his mouth came down on her.
“You’re already wet,” he said, removing his mouth and dipping one finger inside her.
She groaned and gripped his shoulders. A sudden loud rumble permeated her sex-muddled brain, and another light breeze sent her hair dancing as it blew across her hypersensitive skin. “Scott, stop. We’re in front of the door.” Heat filled her face. “We need to move.”
“No one can see us well up here, and the curtain’s closed babe.” A second finger dipped inside as he spoke.
They were up on the twentieth floor, and the curtain was more or less closed, but it could blow open at any second, so neither guaranteed no one could see what they were doing. Since it didn’t appear he planned on stopping, she clamped her hand around his, making it difficult for him to move it. “Someone might. Let’s go inside.” In case he needed a little more incentive, she bent down and rubbed her hand across his erection. “I promise you won’t be disappointed if we do.”
***
By the time they emerged from bed again, it was well past nine. Rather than waste time with a leisurely breakfast, he grabbed them some muffins from the hotel café before they walked down Atlantic Avenue to the Sunset Surf Shop and School. While he’d surfed several times and Paige had kayaked a lot, neither had ever tried paddle boarding. The surf school offered both one- and two-hour lessons followed by a guided tour on Rudee Inlet. Even though he guessed an hour lesson would be enough for him, Paige suggested they go with the longer option. Four other people joined them for the lesson and Scott found himself behind Paige as the group made its way down the inlet. Since numerous times he found himself paying more attention to Paige in her bikini rather than the instructor, it probably wasn’t the best place for him. He didn’t ask anyone to switch with him though, because then one of the other two men in the group might end up behind her and they’d be able to ogle her all they wanted, something he couldn’t allow to happen.
After their lesson, they headed toward Thirty-Fourth Street and Paige’s favorite Italian restaurant in the area. While he polished off his entire meal, he wasn’t surprised she left more than half behind so she could order dessert. Today, she went with a large slice of chocolate seduction cake.
“You don’t know what you’re missing.” She licked the frosting from her fork and he watched her tongue, remembering how it’d moved against his dick earlier. Damn, the woman knew how to pleasure him.
Looking for a distraction, he stabbed at the mixed berry pie on his plate otherwise, it’d be a long and uncomfortable walk back. “I disagree. This pie is delicious.” He chewed the forkful of food before he spoke again. “You can keep your chocolate cake. Pie is far superior.”
Her mouth fell open, mock outrage on her face. “I don’t know if I can be with someone who thinks pie is better than chocolate cake. I’m going to need to think about this.”
“Is that so?”
“Yep. If someone would rather eat pie than chocolate, there must be something wrong with them. It’s a proven scientific fact.”
He knew she was only joking around, but it’d taken him this long to find her. He didn’t want anything coming between them. “What about chocolate peanut butter pie? I love that.”
Paige pretended to wipe sweat off her forehead. “Thank goodness. For a minute there I thought I’d have to stop seeing you.” She leaned closer to the table and dropped her voice. “I mean, no matter how good the sex, I can’t be with someone who avoids chocolate. Sorry.”
The sex wasn’t good. It was the best he’d ever had, and he’d had his share of partners. When they made love, it was more than insert tab A in slot B. Emotion encompassed them and wrapped around them.
“For you, I’d give up pie and switch to chocolate cake all the time.” A few months ago he wouldn’t have inconvenienced himself for any woman he knew outside his family. Now, he couldn’t think of anything he wouldn’t do for Paige. Life changed quickly.
With her brother not expecting them until much later, they returned to their hotel for beach supplies after lunch. Unlike earlier in the day, lounge chairs and sun shelters dotted the sand now. While many people relaxed, soaking up the sun, others chose to swim or toss around footballs, and not far from the giant statue of Neptune a group of people had a soccer game going.
Stepping off the concrete, he took off his flip-flops, the hot sand immediately warming the bottoms of his feet. “Where to?”
“How about over there?” She pointed to an empty area not far from a lifeguard chair.
Two smiling children around nine or ten years old darted around them carrying boogie boards as they ran toward the water. A moment later a man jogged by, calling to the children to wait for him and not jump in the water without him.
“I don’t think they’re going to wait.” Paige removed the shorts she’d thrown on over her bikini and stretched out on the beach towel she’d spread out. “I’m not even sure they heard him.”
Neither child paused when they reached the water’s edge. Instead, they raced in and got ready to ride the next wave. “Do you blame them? I wouldn’t have waited either.”
Paige lowered her sunglasses and peered over the top of them at him. “So you were a disobedient child? Why am I not surprised?”
“Just the usual stuff kids do. Tease younger sisters and cousins. Tell my parents I’d be at one place and go somewhere else. You know the kind of stuff I mean. I never got into real trouble. And I stayed away from drugs.”
“No younger sisters to pick on, and I never lied to my parents when I went out. If I told them I was going to a friend’s house, that’s where I went. Joe gave my parents enough headaches.”
“You never did anything wrong?” Propped up on an elbow, he leaned over her. “Come on, I don’t believe it. No one’s perfect.”
“Once I snuck out of school. My brother found out. One of his friends, who’d also skipped, saw me and told him. Joe threatened to tell Mom and Dad if I ever did it again. For some reason he thought it was okay for him to skip school and sneak out of the house, but not me. Go figure. Anyway, missing a day of school wasn’t worth getting grounded.”
She was so close he couldn’t keep from touching her. “Huh, I guess you two didn’t have a great relationship.” Scott ran his fingers over her shoulder and down her arm. When he reached her wrist, he reversed his path.
“Just the opposite. But he’s always been protective, which is part of why we’re seeing him tonight. He makes sure he meets every man I get into a relationship with. He started doing it when I was in high school.”
“Nice. And I thought you just wanted me to meet your family.” He understood the protective big brother thing. Growing up, if anyone had tried to harm either of his sisters, he would’ve paid them a visit. Even now he’d consider doing the same thing, depending on the situation. He didn’t go so far as to meet everyone Courtney and Juliette dated; one, he didn’t have the time, and two, he trusted their judgment. Both were smart women who made good decisions.
“I do want you to meet my family, Scott. If I didn’t ,I would’ve told Joe we were too busy when he asked. And I was thinking the next time you visit we could get together with my parents.”
“Set it up, and I’ll be there. I don’t anticipate any more travel for several weeks.” A breeze blew over them, sending hair across her face. Scott brushed it away before she could react. “So your brother is protective. What else should I know about him before we get there?”
***
Paige picked at her fingernail as she watched Scott and Joe talk. She saw no reason the two men wouldn’t get along, but she’d been wrong before. When she and Benjamin had started dating, she’d expected Joe to love him. They’d had a lot in common and were only months apart in age. However, her brother disliked her ex-husband more than any other guy she’d dated. He’d even tried to talk her out of marrying him when she’d told him about their engagement. He’d insisted it wouldn’t last. At the time she’d laughed at him. After all, what did her brother know; he’d married his college sweetheart. In hindsight, maybe he’d seen something she hadn’t. She really didn’t want that to be the case tonight.
“Aunt Bebe sure has good taste,” Trish, her sister-in-law, said, pulling Paige’s attention away from the men in other room. “I still can’t believe she bought him for you. I love her and think she’s great, but she doesn’t know anything about boundaries. But maybe this one time we can forgive her.” Trish looked into the other room. “Since you’re on vacation with him, I’m guessing it’s going well.”
“Almost too well.”
The oven timer buzzed, and Trish walked away from the counter. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She left the tray of stuffed mushrooms on the stovetop and returned to the counter. “Things are either working or they’re not. There’s no such thing as too well.”
“So far everything’s been perfect. We don’t argue. He calls all the time. He travels to Rhode Island from wherever in the world he is to see me.”
“And you’re worried why?”
Paige shrugged. She couldn’t explain it, but unease had bothered her since he’d said he loved her. “Nothing stays perfect forever.”
The sound of Gabby moving around in her crib came through the baby monitor on the counter. “Relationships aren’t about perfect. There about loving someone enough to work through the tough patches,” Trish said, just as the additional timer she’d set for the crab cakes went off. “Do mind getting Gabby?”
“You twisted my arm.”
When she carried Gabby into the living room, she found Scott sitting alone. “You look like a natural holding her,” he said, his eyes following her across the room.
“Years and years of babysitting.”
“It’s more than the way you carry her. There’s something about the expression on your face too.” Scott touched Gabby’s arm. “I don’t spend a lot of time around babies. Whenever I see them, I’m amazed by how small they are.”
“Do you want to hold her?”
“I’ll give it a try. Last time I held my cousin Callie’s son, he spit up all over me.”
Paige transferred Gabby into his arms. “She hasn’t eaten yet, so you’re probably safe.” A golf ball formed in her throat and her heart literally ached at the sight of him holding her niece. “How old is your cousin’s baby?”
“James will be one in September. My cousins Trent and Jake have children too. Jake’s son, Garret, was born in March, and Trent’s son, Kendrick, was born in June.”
She remembered reading about all three births. “Looks like the family name will be carried on.” Some men like her ex-husband got obsessed with the idea of their family name being carried on.
“It’s not the end of the world if a family name ends.” Scott smiled when Gabby wrapped her hand around his finger. “If I have only daughters, that’ll be fine. It’s more important that they’re healthy.”
The man came from a large family, it made sense he’d want children. The unease lurking inside her pushed forward. She’d have to tell him soon. “You want kids?”
“Not tomorrow, but yeah, eventually.” He looked up with something close to concern etched on his face. “You don’t?”
“Oh, I do.” I just might not be able to. She tried not think about the fact too often, but it looked like she needed to start. Nothing stays perfect forever. Hadn’t she just told Trish that? Most of the time she liked being right. For once she wished she’d been dead wrong.
“Dinner’s ready,” Joe said, entering the living room and going straight for his daughter. “She usually cries her head off when someone other than family holds her.” Joe shot her a look, which she interpreted as “I like him and approve.” “She even lost it when Tim held her,” he said, referring to his brother-in-law.
“I’ve met Tim. She’s got good taste.” Right now she wouldn’t think about anything serious. Instead, she’d enjoy an evening with her family and the man she loved. Tomorrow would be soon enough to tell him what she needed to. Or maybe the day after that.