Lying in the Sand (4 page)

“You really shouldn’t piss off the man that worked his ass off to get you here.” He pushed his head inside her, making her breath hitch slightly. “Now fuck me the way I like.”

Feeling him inside her distracted her thoughts. Even though he was a cocky asshole she couldn’t deny her attraction to him. Somehow their constant arguments and his attitude made her more drawn to him. She moved him all the way inside and watched Coen’s face change.

He moaned quietly, deep in his throat when he felt her completely. “Just like that.”

She gripped his shoulders then moved up and down.

“Slow. I want this to last as long as possible.”

She used her ass and thighs to move up and down, using his shoulders for balance. Coen kept his hands behind his head and just watched her, enjoying the sight of her bouncing up and down.

“Thanks for taking me here.” She breathed heavily while she took him over and over.

He watched her breasts shake while she moved up and down. “You’re very welcome.” Unable to keep his hands off her, he gripped her hips and moved her up and down. “Fuck, you feel good.”

“Does that mean you forgive me for being reckless?”

“I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

Her nails dug into the muscle of his shoulders while she sheathed him over and over. She bit her lip when she felt the tenderness between her legs. She started to pant, spiraling out of control. Coen pressed his thumb to her clitoris, rubbing it in a circular motion. He gave her the extra push she needed. Then she rode him hard, hitting her climax.

Coen’s eyes darkened while he stared at her. His fingers dug into her hips then he grabbed her breasts, squeezing them. He loved her body, found every inch perfect and sexy. He leaned his head back when he felt the heat deep in his groin. Then he pressed his mouth to hers and exploded. He breathed hard, feeling himself crumble. He filled his wife, loving every second of it. When he was finished, she stopped.

“So, you forgive me?” she asked, breathing hard.

He was a little winded. “Hmm?”

She smirked. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

When they got off the plane, Sydney was depressed.

“I don’t want to go home,” she said sadly.

“I know, seahorse. But our vacation had to end sometime.”

“At least we got some really great pictures.”

“And survived.”

They got into the Jeep then headed back to the shack, enjoying the silence. Coen turned on the radio and they drove with the top down. He wore his sunglasses while Sydney looked through the pictures on her camera.

When Coen pulled up to the house, Sydney saw the line of cars. “Are we having company?”

He shrugged. “We might be having a BBQ.”

She smiled. “I guess I’m not so depressed anymore.”

He smirked. “That’s what I was hoping for.” He parked the car then carried their bags inside.

“Welcome home!” Ren held the banner above her head. It read CONGRATULATIONS.

“Congratulations for what?” Coen asked. “For fucking my wife on our honeymoon? Because I was fucking her far before that.”

Sydney hit his arm. “Could you be a little more PG around our friends?”

“Fine.” He rolled his eyes. “I
made love
to my wife far before that.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Sydney said.

“Then what did you mean?” he asked.

“Just forget it.” She hugged Ren tightly. “Thanks for the surprise.”

Henry clapped Coen on the shoulder. “Had a great time?”

“Sydney wanted to swim with sharks the whole time. It wasn’t my idea of a relaxing vacation,” Coen said.

Henry laughed. “That sounds about right.”

Derek nudged Coen in the side. “Lots of honeymooning, tiger?”

“Don’t ever call me tiger again,” Coen snapped. “People are going to think I’m married to Sydney as a cover up.”

“Are you saying you aren’t?” Derek teased.

Coen stared him down.

“Anyway…” Derek walked away and grabbed a beer.

Nancy hugged Sydney. “Was it wonderful?”

“So wonderful,” Sydney said excitedly. “I have to show you all the pictures.”

“I’d love to see them,” Nancy said.

Thatcher hugged her. “Welcome home.”

“Ugh.” Sydney made a face. “I wish we were still there.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re having a great time,” Nancy said sarcastically.

Thatcher moved to Coen. “Have a good time?”

“The water was clearer than it is here,” Coen said. “It was pretty cool.”

“You were on your honeymoon and that was when you had a good time?” Thatcher raised an eyebrow.

“Do you want me to go into detail about my sex life?” Coen asked.

“Not particularly…” Thatcher smirked.

Henry grabbed Sydney’s camera. “I want to see these.”

Sydney started to flip through the pictures. “I met a sunfish.”

“So cool,” Henry said.

“Is that a shark in the background?” Nancy asked.

Sydney rolled her eyes. “Yes. And no, he didn’t try to eat us.”

“I assumed…” Henry laughed.

Sydney flipped through the pictures until she found some that weren’t taken outside. “Uh…” She tried to filter through them.

Henry cringed. “I’m never going to get that naked picture of Coen out of my head.”

Coen drank his beer. “As long as you didn’t see my wife I don’t care.”

Nancy looked away. “Maybe you should delete those before you show people…”

Sydney moved the pictures to another file. “Okay. Now we’re good.”

“You’re sure?” Henry had his hand over his eyes.

“Yes,” Sydney said. “This is a barracuda we met.”

“Aren’t those aggressive?” Henry asked.

Sydney shrugged. “He was nice to us.”

“Snorkeling with this girl was torture,” Coen said. “She’s fucking crazy.”

“You just noticed that?” Henry asked. “She and I went swimming with whales and she didn’t blink an eye over it.”

“Whales aren’t going to hurt you,” Sydney snapped.

“If their tail hit you it would knock you out,” Coen snapped.

Nancy cringed. “I feel a war coming on…”

Coen rolled his eyes and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator. “I need alcohol.”

Everyone gathered around and looked at the pictures. When they were all seen, Sydney sighed sadly. “And now it’s over…”

Nancy rubbed her shoulder. “There will always be other vacations, especially when you guys are done with school.”

“You’re right,” Sydney said.

“Thatcher and I have a gift for you,” Nancy said.

Thatcher grabbed the frame from the ground then handed it to her. It was heavy so Sydney had to put it on the ground. Then she tore the newspaper off. Coen stood beside her and looked at the picture.

It was a painting of the shack, exactly as it looked in real life. But standing in front were Sydney and all her friends. She stared at it for a long time, unsure what to say.

Coen looked at Thatcher. “You painted this?”

Thatcher nodded, humble. “I didn’t have the honor of attending your wedding, but I still wanted to give you something.”

Sydney’s eyes watered. “Thatcher, this is beautiful.”

His cheeks blushed slightly. “Thank you.”

“Coen, we have to hang this up.”

“We will. Where should it go?”

“Right above the couch so everyone can see it.”

“Good idea, Seahorse.” He kissed her forehead and continued to stare at the painting.

Sydney didn’t want their honeymoon to end because it was so magical. She didn’t have a family to go home to because Coen was all she had. But she was wrong. Her friends were her family. Every single one of them.

Chapter Four

Work was uneventful. Cheyenne noticed it was another slow night. She kept checking the time, wondering when she would get off. She hoped she would run into Gray again but he never made his appearance. She wanted to thank him for teaching her coworker a lesson.

The end of her shift finally arrived and she left the hotel, reaching the entryway. Bryce stood off to the side, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He wore flip-flops and a green t-shirt. His chest was prominent and his toned arms were noticeable. She stared at him for a second before she came to him. “Thanks for picking me up.”

“Not a problem.” He looked at her gray dress then into her eyes. “I’m glad I can help.” He walked with her to his truck in the parking lot and then they drove to his house.

“Why are we going to your place?”

“Your car is there. I couldn’t leave it at the taco shop because I thought it might get towed.”

“Oh.”

They arrived at his house in a small neighborhood. Kihei was near the beach and he lived at the edge of it. Her car was in the driveway. He parked the truck then got out.

“All it needed was a new battery,” he said. “Now she’s as good as new.”

She pulled the cash out of her wallet. “Thank you.”

He held up his hand. “I don’t want your money.”

“But my battery wasn’t your responsibility. You did so much.”

“No,” he said firmly. “I’m not taking it.”

She sighed then put the cash away. “Well, thank you…”

“I didn’t mind at all.” He put his hands in his pockets then looked at the car. “It doesn’t have too many miles on it. You can probably keep this car for a long time.”

“That’s good since I don’t have any money to buy a new one.” She laughed at her own joke.

“How was work?” he asked. He leaned against the car door while he stared at her.

“It was fine. Pretty quiet. There’s not too many tourists right now.”

He nodded. “It’s nice. I hate it when they flock the island.”

“If they didn’t you wouldn’t have a job,” she noted. “And neither would I.”

He smirked. “Touché.”

Cheyenne examined his face, seeing the hard line of his jaw. He was similar to Henry but they had stark differences. She noticed Bryce’s arms and bright blue eyes. Their intensity was obvious in the light. But even in the dark they were visible. She and Bryce didn’t have anything connecting them. It seemed like Bryce helped her for no reason. He just chose to. Whenever Cheyenne hung out with her brother Bryce was always there. And he always talked to her, ignoring everyone else. She assumed he had feelings for her. He must. Right…?

But he hadn’t asked her out. He hadn’t even hinted at it. Their conversations were always light-hearted and fun. There was obvious chemistry between them. But did he feel what she felt? She and Ryder had been broken up for six months. She was over him—long over him. And being around everyone and their partners just reminded her that she wanted a love like that, a relationship that was more than sex and more than friendship. A perfect balance.

Maybe she should just ask him out. Maybe he was shy or unsure what she wanted. He didn’t seem that way but she could be wrong. He was quiet about his personal life, and it didn’t seem like he had a serious girlfriend in the past few years. And she highly doubted he was celibate. “Bryce?”

“Yeah?”

“You want to have dinner with me tomorrow?” Girls weren’t supposed to ask out guys, but she didn’t care about tradition. She had the confidence to ask for what she wanted instead of waiting around for him to make up his mind.

Bryce suddenly looked uncomfortable, almost squeamish.

That wasn’t the reaction she wanted.

“I have plans tomorrow night.” He left her car then headed up the driveway.

Okay… “Maybe another night?”

Bryce still seemed awkward. “We’ll see…”

That was a firm no. And now she felt embarrassed. Maybe she had read him the wrong way. Perhaps he only saw her as a friend. Now she felt stupid, incredibly stupid. “Well, I’ll see you later then.” She got into her car without waiting for his response. She started the engine then left quickly, avoiding eye contact with him.

Once she was on the road, she felt her cheeks redden. Embarrassment flooded her veins. She’d never been rejected like that before. She always went for the wrong guys, and when she finally went for the right one, he wasn’t interested.

She sighed when she walked into her apartment, just wanting to forget about the last conversation with Bryce. Now their friendship was going to be awkward and tense. She put the strain there, and now she felt guilty for doing it.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, she took a shower and went to bed.

Bryce sat in his truck outside the bar, staring at the neon sign that said it was open. His hand stayed on the steering wheel, clenching it tightly. He wanted to walk inside and wallow in his misery, to find solstice in the delusional cloud of alcohol. But he pulled out his phone instead.

“What do you want?” Henry asked over the phone. Henry never liked to be bothered past nine. He usually spent the evenings with his girlfriend, Ren.

“I…I need help.”

Henry knew what that meant. His tone quickly changed. “You want me to come get you?”

“No. I just need help driving away.”

Henry was silent for a moment. “You quit for a reason. Don’t forget why.”

“I know.” He rested his head against the glass.

“Why do you want to do it?”

“I guess because I can’t have what I really want.”

“Which is?”

He’d rather not say.

“Bryce, go home.”

“I’m just so addicted. I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”

“You will. I know you will. Now start the car and go.”

Bryce sighed then turned the key in the ignition.

“Good,” Henry said. “Now start driving.”

Bryce pulled onto the road and hit the gas.

“Tell me about your day.”

“I picked up Cheyenne from work and gave her back her car.”

“What was wrong with it?”

“Bad battery.” He pulled onto his street and then found his house.

“You like her?”

“I think it’s obvious how I feel about her.”

“Have you told her?”

“No.” Bryce hated thinking about the way he turned her down. She tried to hide the hurt she felt but he saw it.

“Is there any reason why?”

“I think that’s obvious. I’m a total mess. How can I have a girlfriend when I can’t stop being a drunk?”

“Having a girlfriend would help—I promise you.”

“But she deserves better than that. And Derek is my friend. I don’t think he would approve.”

“He doesn’t know you’re a drunk,” Henry argued.

“But I’d rather look him in the eye knowing I’m good enough for his sister instead of lying about it.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself.”

“No, I’m not. I’ve done a lot of bad things when I’m drunk. And if it gets tough with her, if we fight, if we break up, I’ll hit the bottle even harder. It’s just not a good idea.”

Henry sighed. “How much more time do you need?”

“I don’t know…I think I’m doing better.”

“You
are
doing better. Instead of walking inside that bar you called me.”

“But I don’t want to have to call you. Actually, I don’t want to drive to the bar to begin with.”

“Remember where you were before?”

How could he forget? “Yeah…”

“You’ve come a long way. And you keep going. You’ll get there, Bryce.”

He leaned his head against the glass and sighed. “Why did all this shit have to happen? Why did Dad have to die? How are you so much stronger than me? I’m older than you but I’m weaker.”

“You aren’t weak, Bryce. I clung to another person to solve my problems. You clung to alcohol. It’s not that different.”

“Your liver would disagree…”

Henry sighed into the phone. “Go inside and get some sleep. You did good today, Bryce.”

“Yeah…thanks.”

“I can talk to Derek for you if you want. We’re good friends.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He hung up then sat in his drunk, wanting to disappear. Then he finally got out and walked inside, still hating himself for rejecting an amazing girl.

Cheyenne didn’t hate her job but she didn’t love it either. Snooty rich people were the worst. She preferred down-to-earth modest people instead of the fancy people with their pearls and high-limit credit cards.

But she couldn’t complain. She had a job and that’s what mattered. She was putting her life back together, becoming stronger, and working toward being a better person. She had a long way to go, but a slow beginning was better than no beginning at all.

Working in the evenings was laid back and mellow. Most people checked in during the day. The nights were for routine checks and maintenance notifications. Most of the time, Cheyenne was bored.

When the last hour of her shift arrived, she stared at the clock, wanting it to go faster. When there was nothing to do at work, she thought about Bryce and the cold way he turned her down. Never in her life had she felt so stupid. Why did she have to ask him out? If he wanted to date her he would have just asked. It was a mistake she wouldn’t make again.

Someone approached her desk, so she looked up, thankful she had something to do.

“Slow night?” Gray stood at the counter, wearing a buttoned shirt and slacks. His brown hair was slightly messy, curly at the ends. His blue eyes reminded her of the ocean outside the doors. When he was around, she felt timid, nervous.

“What gave you that impression?” She smirked, trying to hide the butterflies in her stomach.

“The fact you’re checking the clock every other minute.”

“You caught me.” She straightened her shoulders. “What can I do for you, sir? Book a massage in the spa? Make reservations for a luau on Wednesday?”

“Sir?” He cocked an eyebrow. “Please call me Gray.”

“My apologies.”

He looked down the counter, knowing I was the only concierge working. “No one is watching you. Be real.”

“Real?”

“Be yourself.”

“I don’t think that’s what I’m getting paid to do.”

“And people like me are the reason you’re getting paid, so just humor me.”

She wasn’t sure if that was arrogant or not. Perhaps he didn’t mean to come off that way. She sure hoped so. “What can I do for you, Gray?”

“When is your shift over?”

Uh…why? Her heart moved into her throat. “Nine.”

“Have dinner with me.”

Did he just ask her out? Like, on a date? “Me?”

His eyes twinkled in fondness. “Yeah, you. I don’t see any other pretty girls working here.”

Her cheeks blushed slightly.

“Meet me in the entryway at nine. I’m sure you’ll be hungry when you get off work.”

She never said yes.

“I’ll see you then.” He walked away, his back perfectly straight. The muscles were noticeable through his shirt, and his waist was thin. He had long legs, where most of his height came from.

Cheyenne stood there, still trying to process what happened. One of the most handsome men she’d ever seen had asked her out. Her. She was plain and unremarkable compared to him. And she was a concierge. If this guy frequented the hotel often, he was loaded. And she was…well…poor.

When nine came around, she clocked out and grabbed her purse. She wore a black dress with stilettos. At least she looked nice for work. She didn’t have to worry about changing.

She walked outside and saw him standing near the valets. He wore the same outfit he had on earlier. She eyed his entire frame, noticing his thin hips and broad shoulders. He had a chiseled jaw, and his eyes were easy to get lost in.

“You look even more lovely without the counter blocking you.” He smiled when he came close to her, catching her off guard.

She didn’t know what to say, so she said the only thing that came to mind. “Thank you.”

“Are you hungry, darling?”

Darling? “Starving.”

“Good. That makes two of us.” He opened the passenger door of his Maserati.

She eyed it for a moment before she got inside.

They hit the road then drove to a restaurant sitting on the beach. Judging the outside, it wasn’t cheap. He opened her door again before he escorted her inside. Then he pulled out the chair for her, catching her by surprise.

He sat across from her, sitting perfectly straight. “I recommend the white wine. Would you like a glass?”

“Sure.” She was too nervous to say much else.

The waitress came over and he ordered drinks for the both of him. He was forward and aggressive, but gentle as he did it. Then he turned to her, giving her his full focus. “How are you liking the job?”