Loving Eden (5 page)

I figured they had a nice spring date on the calendar when Padre wouldn’t be blistering hot and they could have another eight months to get plans underway.

“It’s going to be the end of October.”

“As in next month, October?” Maybe she meant a year from now.

“Yes!” She started hopping again.

Just then, the door flew open and the guys staggered in with the mattress.

“Babe, I’m headed to work,” she called to Pick as he shuffled past her.

“All right, call me later.” He huffed as they turned the corner for the bedroom.

“Eden, let me know if you need help getting settled. I’ve got to get to work.” She twisted the watch on her wrist.

“Congratulations, again.” I watched as she practically skipped out the door.

Grey kicked on the door with three boxes stacked in his arms. I rushed over to let him in.

“I just heard Marin and Pick’s news.” I slid my hands in my back pockets.

“Oh yeah?” He crouched low to put the boxes on the floor.

“Yeah.” I smiled. The misunderstanding in the moving truck seemed stupid and insignificant.

“What do you think about that?” He stood, his arms crossed. I wasn’t sure he wasn’t still annoyed with me.

“I think it’s great news. I can’t believe the wedding is next month.” I didn’t have a chance to get all the details from Marin, like how Pick proposed, where they were going to live, or were both families supportive. I didn’t want to wonder about whether she was pregnant. It did seem kind of rushed.

“She couldn’t wait to tell you. Made all of us keep it a secret until you got here.” He took a step closer and my heart rate sped up. “Found my phone.” He held it up, and moved even closer.

“That’s good. Where was it?”

“In the maintenance cart inside the storage closet. I forgot I had put it there when I was checking rooms.” His eyes followed his fingers as they tangled through my hair, sweeping along my collarbone.

Pick and Connor were in the other room, but all I could think about was getting Grey’s lips on mine.

“I’m sorry if I overreacted in the truck.” I edged toward him, my chin tilted up, my eyelashes fluttering more than usual.

“Don’t they say moving is one of the most stressful life events?” He caught the small of my back with his palm and placed enough pressure so that I was firmly pressed against his body.

If he didn’t kiss me now, I thought I might die on this kitchen floor. My chest tightened with heavy breaths, ready to feel the warmth of his mouth, his tongue. Taste his breath on my lips. Why were there other people in the house?

My arms snaked around his neck, tugging him closer to me. “Yes, that’s what I’ve heard. Tons of stress.”

He grinned, and I felt my knees quiver. He could drive me crazy with only a smile.

“I think I know a few ways to help you with all of the stress.” His eyes dipped between my breasts. I pushed against him, begging him to make a move. To hell with the guys in the other room.

“We only have a dresser left and we’re done,” Connor called from the hall.

Grey kissed me on the cheek. “Let me help them with that, and then we can work on the stress relief.”

I refrained from letting out the full-fledged groan that was building in the back of my throat. He got me all worked up on purpose, I thought. I tried to focus on the stack of bowls I had begun to unpack.

Somewhere in one of these boxes was a set of glasses. I at least needed one tall glass of ice water to cool down everything he started.

I threw myself on the bed, utterly exhausted. I didn’t know which was more tiring: driving or unpacking. I looked around our bedroom. There was a bed, two bedside tables, and a long dresser with a mirror attached to the back. Somewhere in one of the boxes was a pair of lamps. The room couldn’t hold much more.

All the things that we couldn’t find a home for ended up in the spare room. I’d eventually sort through everything in there.

We still needed living room furniture. I had brought a kitchen table and chairs, with the idea that I could cram it into the corner of the motel room in case I needed a place for my computer. With each passing minute, I was more and more thankful for the beach cottage. Half of my stuff wouldn’t have fit in Palm Palace room twenty-four.

Grey strolled into the room, and then dropped onto the bed beside me.

“I think it’s official.”

“What’s that?” I asked, rolling toward him.

“We are officially living together.” He grinned as he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me on top of him.

I pretended to squirm. I hadn’t forgotten his earlier promise for some much needed stress relief.

His fingers worked their way under my shirt and grazed my skin. I giggled as his hands went straight for the clasp on my bra.

“Finally, I have you all to myself.” He rolled me on to my back, pinning my hands over my head. He had moved from playful to serious in a matter of seconds.

“I think you could have had me a lot sooner than now,” I teased. I arched my back off the bed as he unbuttoned my shirt and pulled the sleeves and straps off my arms, leaving my breasts exposed.

“Isn’t this worth the wait?” His mouth descended on the sensitive flesh around my breast until his tongue lashed and swirled around my nipple. He nipped at it before moving to the other side.

I moaned, trying to keep my breath steady under his delicious torture. His hands moved to the waist of my shorts, but before I could help him with the button, I felt the heat of his breath slide along my stomach, his mouth stopping at the button.

I watched with amazement as he shimmied the shorts off my hips.

“You have on pink,” he growled.

I nodded, knowing this was his favorite pair I wore during spring break. I wanted every day with Grey to be like that week. Mind-blowing and body-shattering sex every day. I rocked my hips forward unable to control how I reacted to him. He traced the edge of the panties, and I felt my breath quicken despite my inner scolding.

His head dipped between my legs, and I felt his teeth tugging on the lace. I arched toward him, needing to feel this, wanting to feel everything he could give me.

“You are so damn sexy.”

He growled before his tongue began to move, slow at first and then faster. Dipping and swirling, bringing heat with every movement. My hips quickened their pace until my head was thrashing from side to side and I didn’t know which way was the end of the bed. I grasped our new comforter, trying to hold on to something, trying to center myself before exploding into a million pieces of ecstasy. One hand pried the lace to the side so his tongue could play while the other pinched and squeezed my nipple, creating a sensation that ran through the center of my body, back and forth with intense pulses. Just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, he stripped the panties from my legs, giving him deeper access with his tongue. I pressed forcefully against him, wanting him to know how much I loved this, how good he was making me feel. My body bowed off the bed when I felt his fingers mimic the same movements as his tongue. The pressure was building so quickly, I couldn’t control it anymore. I had to surrender.

I screamed his name as I skyrocketed off the bed. Grey crawled toward me, kissing my stomach and then my breasts as he rested beside me.

“How is that for stress relief?”

I nodded, barely able to form words.

He stood next to the bed and scooped me in his arms.

“Wh-where are we going?” I searched his face. I had just started to relax into the bed we had put together.

“Next room.” He smiled. “We have to christen this whole damn house.”

“But this is the only bed.” I thought about last night and the floor. I wouldn’t turn that down, despite the rug burn.

He laughed. “Baby, the next room has a wall.”

And just like that, I was Jell-O in his arms.

I
flipped through the reservation book in the Palm Palace office. Grey had told me there were a few customers booked into the fall, but not many.

The goal was to turn the Palm into a year-round destination for families and couples, not a spring break hangout for one month out of the year. Spring break was an incredible way to make money, but Grey needed steady income he could count on when the spring breakers weren’t in town. Now that I was on the payroll, I needed that consistent cash flow too.

The agreement I made with Grey was that I wouldn’t start accepting a paycheck until the motel had a fifty percent reservation rate for three straight months. It wouldn’t be much, but I’d be able to pay myself a small salary if the motel could bring in that kind of income. I had a savings account I could use in the meantime, but it made me nervous to live off it for too long. That pot was finite, and when it ran out, I didn’t have anything else to fall back on.

I had convinced myself that my business degree had prepared me for this. I had marketing classes and economic training under my belt. If I could make an A in class, I could definitely make an A for the Palm.

The little window unit hummed along as I scanned the calendar. It was hard to believe I had already been in South Padre for a week. I had managed to unpack the rest of the boxes, and set up the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. Grey promised we could start hunting for living room furniture over the weekend.

I didn’t think a couch was essential, but I did have a nice TV, and it was funny to sit on the floor and watch it without the usual furniture ensemble.

I think Grey and I were finally starting to get the hang of living together. It wasn’t the same as sharing an apartment with Taylor. Whenever she and I lived together, there was a more clearly defined barrier of personal space. Living with Grey, all the personal space boundaries were blurred. We slept in the same bed, shared the same bathroom, and cooked meals together in the kitchen. Essentially, what was mine had become his, and it the same was true for his things.

I didn’t realize he had a night routine that lasted almost as long as mine. I tried to give him his space to shave and brush his teeth. It seemed weird to hover over him in the bathroom.

I thought he was trying to figure out how to approach my bedtime reading. The first few nights all we did was have sex, but part of me wanted some kind of normalcy. For me, that meant pulling out one of my books before I turned off the lights. I could see him from the corner of my eye debating whether he could pounce on me or not. I discovered the solution was to let him pounce, and then I could start reading again.

We were navigating through it one day at a time. So far, I was proud of us for making it this far without any major blowups or arguments.

I looked up as he walked into the office.

“Hey, I have to run to the mainland to pick up some things for the other rental properties. Want to ride with me?”

“Actually, I just started digging into the reservations. Is it ok if I stay?” I wasn’t sure how long he would be gone and I felt guilty for neglecting my new job’s duties.

“Sure. I’m picking up a new door and some shingles. It shouldn’t take me long.” He strolled over and kissed me long and hard, before retracing his steps to the door.

For that, I would have ridden over the bridge with him. I sighed. Grey knew how to get to me every time.

I logged on to my laptop, ready to start work on my social media campaign. I had made a list of all the places we could start posting and advertising the Palm Palace that might attract an older clientele.