Resplendent (20 page)

“Aren’t we way past checkout?” I asked, walking out of the bathroom with the complimentary hotel robe wrapped around me.

“I booked another night, early this morning,” Andres said simply, as if money grew on trees and he didn’t just fork over a good chunk of money on the first night.

I gaped at him and Andres flicked off the TV and laughed. “What?”

“You’re crazy,” I said and kneeled down on the bed. He smiled deviously and pulled on my arm, causing me to squeal and fall into him.

We laughed, and he kissed my cheek, my jaw and then finally my lips.

“Let’s go down to the beach,” he said.

I giggled. “In my cocktail dress or my robe?”

Andres ran the tip of his nose along mine. “I prefer you in nothing, but unfortunately, it’s a public beach.”

He pulled out a shopping bag and shook it in front of me.

“Open,” he said.

I smiled at him and looked at it curiously. “What’s in it?”

“Open it and find out.” He grinned at me and shook the bag again. “I also went to the gift shop downstairs this morning.”

I leaned over to him and gave him a quick kiss. “Well, you sure were busy.”

He squeezed my nose playfully. “And you were a little tired.”

Kneeling on the bed, I opened the bag and pulled out two swimsuits. A white string bikini and dark blue men’s swimming shorts. I could tell from the gap between the drapes that it was a sunny day, and I would love nothing more than to get in the ocean.

My eyes lit up and I hopped off the bed with the bikini in my hand. “I’ll go get ready!”

When I emerged from the bathroom, Andres gave me a once over and his frown grew deeper. The bathing suit top gave my breasts volume and the bottom was low on my hips, showing off the v-cut of my hips and my flat stomach. The fabric stopped quite a few inches below my belly button. I thought I looked pretty hot.

“Fuck, I got the wrong size.”

I looked down and laughed. “No, you didn’t.”

He stood up. “Clearly,” he gestured up and down my body with his hand, “I did.”

I shook my head at him and it was my turn to cross my arms.

“Your tits are showing!” he said, exasperated.

“It’s a bikini!”

I could see his teeth grinding as he narrowed his eyes at me and stood his ground.

“Dre, you know skin
does
show with a bikini, right? I’ve seen worse on South Beach!” I placed my hand on the curve of my hip and waited for him to respond.

Just then my phone vibrated on the night table and Andres peeked at it. He quickly grabbed the phone and brought it to me. “He called while you were getting dressed. Answer him. Tell him to leave you alone,” he growled. My eyes widened when I saw it was Sebastian calling. I shook my head, sending the call to voicemail instead.

“Why aren’t you going to answer?” Dre inquired, taking a step closer to me.

“I’m going to talk to him but not with you hovering over me.”

“I don’t want him thinking you’re his.” His nostril flared.

There was no way I was going to announce I’d moved on with Andres listening in. He’d just make me nervous and the conversation would be over in a minute. Sebastian’s a nice guy and deserved better than that.

I took a step forward, but he wouldn’t move out of the way.

“You’re mine now,” he stated, it wasn’t a question.

“Does that mean you’re mine, too?” I inquired and stood my ground.

“I’ve always been yours,” he responded without hesitation. He placed his hand on my cheek and ran his thumb over my lips. “I need to know where we’re going with all of this.”

I leaned my head into his palm. “So do I, but can we please just take it a day at a time?”

He frowned at me, and I walked around him toward the bed.

“You’re going to have to face him sooner or later, Peach.”

“I’ll call him back later,” I said and began to put on his dress shirt to use as a cover up, when he reached behind me and lifted my right leg up to rest on the mattress.

He pressed himself against me, his hard length rubbing my lower back. His left palm reached for my chin and pulled me back to rest on his chest. Lowering his lips, he licked my earlobe before whispering, “Answer it and let him hear how a
real
man should treat you.” He dragged his palm from my knee to the back of my thighs. His fingers traced the outer fabric of my bikini bottom, and then slid right under the fabric to cup my most sensitive area, already wet with desire. I closed my eyes and stayed absolutely still right before he abruptly pulled away and smacked my backside.

“Be sure to call him soon.”

We picked a tiny spot near the shore and placed a towel and Andres’ dress shirt on the hot sand. The scent of salt water and tanning lotion circulated around us as we walked hand in hand along the water. I shielded my eyes from the glare and took a look around at the interesting arrangement of bathing suits and well-oiled bodies. A sea of colorful beach umbrellas emphasized how busy Miami Beach could get. Andres distracted me from the view as he pulled me into him, wrapping his arms around me. We hugged for several minutes, listening to the waves crash and the sound of children and laughter in the faint background. I squealed when I felt the water hit my feet.

“It’s so hot outside, the water is freezing!”

The light in Dre’s eyes lit up. “You want a piggyback ride?” he asked.

“Yes,” I gushed, which amused Andres. “I’ve never had one before,” I continued.

“You’ve never had a piggyback ride?” Andres asked, his eyes wide.

“Not that I can remember...” I grinned up at him and he was happy to oblige. He turned around so I could climb on and he continued the walk. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pointed at the sand castles different children had built.

“You know the best thing about piggyback rides?”

“What?” I tilted my head to look down at him and watched his line of vision. His sights were solely fixed on the ocean.

“Dre, don’t you dare.”

But he ignored me. He ran into the water, breaking the waves in two as the coldness splashed over my body and buried itself under my skin, causing goosebumps to erupt all over me. I yelled, “Dre!” but it was too late, we were waist deep. I squirmed to get down, away from the ice water. He dragged us both in, yelling and laughing until we were shoulder deep and then let go, bringing me around to the front of his body.

I smacked him playfully on the chest and tried to escape, but he dragged my legs around to his front and wrapped them around his waist.

“Asshole,” I muttered. I wanted to push his head down into the water, but I knew I’d never have the strength.
Payback’s a bitch.

“But you still love me, right?”

“No.”

He winked and kissed me deeply, passionately, without a care in the world, as if we were the only two people on the beach. Finally, he pulled away. I was still imagining his lips on my own before he pecked my forehead.

“Stay with me this week. Stay at my house,” he said against my temple.

My tummy fluttered. I rubbed his lips with my thumbs and looked up into his eyes. “Really?”

He nodded and kissed my nose. “You stay with me this week, and next weekend my sister is visiting, and the following we could go on vacation somewhere else, or do whatever you want to do,” he said it all in a rush, as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough.

I tilted my head back and laughed. My legs were still curled around him, so I inched closer until we were skin to skin. He lead us to deeper waters.

“Are you going to plan out your whole life?” I teased him and wrapped my hands around his neck.

All traces of humor left his face. “I just need for you to be in it.”

He tickled my waist and I wiggled against him, laughing.

“Some things you can’t plan.” I rubbed my nose along his jaw and then hovered over his lips. I could kiss him for hours and never be bored.

He stopped his assault on me for a bit and stayed serious.

“You’re right. I didn’t plan on you coming back to me.”

I placed my forehead against his and smiled.

“I don’t want to ever let you go again, Peach,” he said and frowned.

I tilted my head and kissed him softly on the lips, lowering my fingers under the water to his waistband. I tugged on the strings, and pulled down his shorts so I could grab his length. Once he was free, I pulled the sides of my own string.

“You know the best thing about string bikinis?”

He grinned at me. His eyes twinkled in the sun, as drops of salt water dripped from his hair onto his cheeks and trailed over his chest. Soft waves broke apart around our bodies. He knew there was no one near that could watch us, but still, he took us both deeper, the water almost up to his neck.

“I do now.”

Spending a whole week with Peach as a couple instead of just friends had been pure bliss. There was no other word for it. Now that my sister was in town visiting with her boyfriend, Jared, it was as if all the puzzle pieces in my life were connected. I had my two favorite girls with me under one roof. Even if it was temporary — Victoria lived in Orlando — we still made time to hang out.

I glanced down at the meat on the grill. Damn, I was starving. The smell of seasoned burgers woke up my taste buds, and I salivated as I flipped the meat. Victoria had stuffed them with bacon. I couldn’t wait to dig in. I closed the cover and wiped the sweat off my forehead. I needed a beer.

I went to the mini fridge in the backyard I had stocked earlier with all kinds of drinks and pulled out a Corona.

“You want one?” I offered to Jared, who was sitting on a bench watching Victoria and Savannah play with Lucky, V’s dog.

“Yeah, sure.”

I grabbed a second one and made my way to sit next to him.

“Thanks,” he said after grabbing it. I grinned again at his T-shirt. I had told him when he arrived I should order one for myself. It said:
It’s all fun and games until someone eats my bacon.

So true.

I felt like I was melting under the heat and I chugged the beer, enjoying how the liquid cooled off my dry throat.
Ahhhh, still missing something
. When I stood for salt and limes, Jared put his hand on my arm and held me back.

“I’m going to ask her to marry me,” Jared informed me. I sat back down slowly and glanced over at him.

I scratched my chin and rubbed on my stubble. Being as I was the only male figure in her life before him, was he asking for my approval? What would my dad say? I looked at her closely. She had been devastated when they’d broken up, but they’d worked it out. She seemed happy and different somehow. More relaxed in a way. My dad would have probably lit up a cigar and done some big fancy toast. So whether he was asking for my approval or not, I did what I had to do and gave it to him.

“That’s cool,” I said and took a swig. Hey, I never claimed to be Tyler Gregson.

He nodded and took a swig as well. I squeezed a lime into my beer and took another swig. The sun set facing us, and I squinted when I got up to check on the meat. It was hot as shit in Miami. Whose smart ass idea was this? I looked up over the cover and saw Peach smiling at me, a little bit of humor in her eyes. I’m sure she’d figured out I had reached my boiling point hanging out in front of the grill with the sun in my face and the sweat sliding down my back. That woman could ask anything of me and I’d do it. Just like I wanted, Peach had spent the entire week with me. I knew she’d called her shitty ex-boyfriend like she said she would. She hadn’t told him about me — something about not wanting to hurt his feelings — but as long as he wasn’t coming around to find her, I’d keep my cool. I trusted her.