“Missed you, too.” I pepper the side of her face with kisses that trail all the way up to her ear. “You have a good time?”
“Anything but.” She makes a face, and it’s only then I notice she has on her bathing suit under her shirt.
“You want to go for a ride?”
Reese gives a dangerous smile. I have a feeling she would let me take her to the edge of the universe if I wanted.
I drive us out past Pleasure Point to the dunes on the distal end of the lake where the roads turn to crap and you might have to consider four replacement tires after the visit. But it’s a private beach, and that’s the point of this afternoon, some serious and much-needed privacy at least on my part. Selfishly, I want Reese all to myself without Warren’s prying eyes, or anyone else’s prying eyes for that matter.
The white sand looks pale as salt, and the water glistens a glacial blue. I keep forgetting how gorgeous the Eagle’s Nest dunes are. Of course, Reese is the one who’s making its beauty spring to life. Without her here, it would be just another lonely trek to the desert end of the lake.
I park under a rolling oak and pluck out a blanket and a paper bag I filled with sodas and chips on the way out the door—a far cry from the five star meals she was no doubt treated to this weekend.
Reese wraps her arm around my waist as we find a spot under a spreading tree and lay out the blanket. The sunlight dapples around us just enough to ensure me I’d better keep the both of us hydrated just so we don’t pass out.
“You know what my favorite part of today is?” She stretches over the blanket before pulling off her T-shirt and shorts. Her hair falls around her tanned shoulders, and her eyes glow like silver flames.
Holy shit. I stare wide-eyed at her barely-there red bikini. Reese Westfield has a body that doesn’t quit and curves for miles in all the right places. She clears her throat, and my gaze pops right back up to her eyes. Caught red-bikini handed.
“What’s your favorite part of the day?” I take off my shirt before landing on the blanket next to her.
Reese glides in beside me, her cool thigh grazing over mine.
“Coming home and seeing you.” She lands her slender arms over my waist, and I lean my head into hers. Reese starts in on the whole story, and I give a sorrowful laugh when she tells me she felt like the lobster was her only friend.
“You’ll always have me.” I pull her in tight. “At least you caught a show and got some shopping in. It wasn’t a total loss.” And, yet, if she were there with me, there’s no way I could have taken her to see a Broadway show or outfitted her with a new wardrobe. We’d probably have to hit the dollar menu and hightail it to the library for entertainment. Not really, I’d empty out my bank account to show her a good time. We’d tour the city, climb to the top of the Empire State building—climb each other in a fit of passion.
“It was a totalkidnapping.And I swear if that ever happens again, I’m not boarding the helicopter, or the train, or the cruise ship he’s commandeered. I’m through being nice.”
“Warren is just being Warren,” I say, as she slides over into my lap. Her skin warms against mine, and I drop a kiss over her forehead without putting too much thought into it. “We’ve both known him forever. Plus, your dads are linked at the hip, so keeping your distance isn’t a reality. I get it.”
Her mouth falls open as she glances up at me. Reese’s eyes are the exact shade of the sky today, and I want to always remember how she looks, nestled here in my arms.
“Ace”—she lowers her lids a moment—“thank you for understanding. A part of me wanted to knife my way out of that room and, yet, the other part of me wanted to be nice—I mean he made a serious effort. He apologized for what he did. But obviously he thinks we’re more than friends.” She shakes her head. “I pretty much gave him the cold shoulder anytime he came near me, so I think maybe he got the hint. He was pretty frustrated when he dropped me off.”
“I bet.” I didn’t mean for that to slip out. That conversation I shared with him comes back to me. He mentioned being with someone wild and, at the time, I wondered if he meant Reese. “So, you and he…” I let the words hang in the air to see if she wants to go there. Really, it’s none of my business what they’ve done together.
“Nope.” She runs her finger over my chest. “I mean we’ve kissed. His hands have tried to score a touchdown all on their own, but I’m just not that into him.” Her lids hood over with grief as if maybe deep down she wishes she were. “It’s some twisted dream of my dad’s for me to end up with him. It’s ridiculous.” She shakes her head.
“Sounds like a lot of pressure.”
“Oh, it is. Most of the time the only reason I don’t tell Warren to stay the hell away is because of my dad. I know he really likes the synergy our families have—the businesses, the countless vacations we’ve taken, and, now, it’s like some fantasy to have Warren and I both at Yeats.”
She buries her face in my chest a moment. Her lips brush against my skin, and I take in a breath at how damn good it feels.
Reese leans up and brushes her lips over mine. “I wish you were going to Yeats.”
“What would change?” I cinch my lips in a crooked smile.
“I don’t know.” Her eyes widen a moment. “We could continue to do things like this.” She leans up and sears a kiss off my lips. Her eyes remain closed long after she pulls away.
“That would be amazing.” For a moment I contemplate telling her I was accepted, that I made the rowing team right alongside Warren, but I don’t want to complicate what we have, so I keep it to myself. “So what’s it like at Yeats?” I run my fingers over the length of her arm before landing my hand flat over her belly.
“Lonely.” She lays her hand over mine and leans in to kiss my bicep. “Lots of wild girls and boys but I try to steer clear from those—tons of parties. I thought about maybe joining a sorority, but after discovering that Kennedy wasn’t a one of a kind, I decided not to.”
“You should find someone to hang out with, maybe get a boyfriend.” Shit. I meant me, but now, she’s going to think I’m pushing her off on some faceless junior.
Reese bubbles out a laugh, and the soft skin on her chest ripples in tune with her rhythm. “I don’t need a boyfriend to make me happy, Ace.” She slides down until her head is in my lap. Reese smiles up at me while using my dick as a pillow. “You make me pretty happy, though.” She tugs at her bottom lip with her teeth. “I’m excited to be with you.” She glances at her thighs. “I’m all done down there—short and sweet, just three days. But I thought maybe we could make this afternoon about you.” She reaches up and drips her fingers slowly off my chest. My heart drums, fast and furious, I’m sure she can feel it.
