“And Winter Haven,” Gavin adds. “We need to let everyone know that volunteers are always welcome. It’s a great place to get lost while helping someone else.”
Demi nods. “It really does help you forget about all your troubles.” She looks to me with an impish grin. “So, where’s Abel?” She pulls back with a naughty gleam in her eyes. “Rumor has it, I should bring a fire extinguisher with me to see those sketches you did.”
Gavin groans, “And rumor has it, I shouldn’t be anywhere near them.”
“Both rumors are correct as fate would have it.” I wince at my brother as I hug him. “Please stay away or I’ll never look you in the eye again.”
“I don’t need to see them to know they’re unreal. And just for the record, if Abel ends up with a broken nose tonight, it was me who did it. At least I’m honest about it. Where is he, anyway?”
“He and Caleb picked up his mother.” A nervous laugh bubbles from me when I say it. “My God, how will I look that woman in the eye?”
Demi laughs herself into hysterics. “You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.”
A warm hand covers my arm, the heavy scent of that familiar cologne, and I turn around and gasp. Abel McCarthy has always had the power to take my breath away, but on a night like tonight, when he’s licked himself clean and dressed to the nines, sadly it only exemplifies how unworthy I really am of this otherworldly being. Abel is hauntingly stunning. His dark hair gleams under the lights, eyes that shine like flames, fresh shaven, scruff neatly trimmed, and yet still devastatingly sexy as hell. And don’t even get me started on that suit. I’m going to take him just like this when we get back to the boathouse. I want him dressed, or at least partially so.
“You’re here,” I breathe.
“And you”—he pulls back as his eyes sweep over me—“holy hell.”
Gavin clears his throat, and we look up with a laugh. “Dude, you want to live, right?” He slaps Abel’s hand in a sort of manly shake that comes with a slight threat. “Don’t worry. I’m not looking at your nudes.”
“I am.” Demi gives a quick wink. “In fact, I see Reese and Kennedy there now. I think I’ll need them to cool me down while I sneak a peek.”
“Don’t look too hard!” Gavin shouts after her as the music slows down a few notches. He points at Abel. “I’m grabbing a beer, and if you’re smart, you’ll ask my sister to dance.” He stares Abel down a moment. “You will not break her heart.” His voice hitches as he says it, and it wrenches me, makes my bones ache with how visceral he is about this. If he only knew what my heart has been through.
“I’m so embarrassed.” I shake my head, unable to look this handsome man in the eye.
“Don’t be.” Abel glides his finger down the side of my cheek until it settles under my chin, lifting me gently until I’m looking at him. “Dance with me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
My lips twist, unwilling to yield to that all-out grin wanting to break loose over my face. Abel takes me by the hand as we hit the edge of the dance floor built over the sand. He holds my hand while his left arm wraps around my waist, and we sway gently to the music. That magnetic gaze of his, that heady cologne, Abel McCarthy has managed to inebriate me without a single drop of liquor ever hitting my lips. I think I found the cure to all of my troubles, a new crutch, a better one, something far more satisfying.
“You are resplendent,” I say without hesitating.
“Resplendent?” He takes a mock bow. “And you, my love, are dangerously ravishing.” He leans in and sniffs just under my ear. “Remind me to ravish you with my tongue in about an hour.”
A dark laugh strums from me. “I think we’re going to do a little role playing when I get you alone. Big bad lawyer meets poor little call girl who can’t pay her bills.”
His chest rumbles with approval. “We’ll have to get creative with your payment method. I have a few ideas reserved just for you.”
“You are a dirty, dirty boy.” I pull back, pinning down my lip with my teeth. I’m so thrilled to be in this man’s arms, in front of God and the masses and then a thought occurs to me. “Oh my goodness, is your mother here?”
He grimaces at the mention of her. “Did we have to bring up my mother?” he teases. “Yes, she’s here. She’s somewhere out there with Caleb. I’ve charged him with keeping her from my nude pictorials.”
I give a little shrug. “Kennedy seems to think you got the long end of the McCarthy stick.”
He lets out a howl of a laugh.
“I wouldn’t tell your brother, though.”
“I’m not saying a word.” The music picks up pace as the band wails a familiar tune I’ve heard a thousand times before, and every sorority girl on the mountain shrieks with glee as they storm the dance floor en masse. “You ready to meet my mother?”
“I’d much rather meet your mother than get trampled by an army of stilettos.”
We head up toward the thick of the benefit as Abel navigates us through the tangle of bodies. The feel of his hand clamped over mine is electric. This is it, our foray into public opinion, our unofficial official announcement to the who’s who of Loveless. Abel and I are together regardless of whether or not we discussed this. His fingers threaded through mine is a proclamation of everything I had hoped we’d become but was too afraid to admit even to myself—especiallyto myself.
I spot Caleb and Kennedy up by the bar speaking with an older woman, gray hair, slightly slumped, dressed elegantly in a sparkling copper and black sequin top, paired with inky slacks.
“Is that your mother?” I’m so delighted to meet her, my insides swell with joy. I can’t help but wonder what my own mother would have looked like right now. Probably a variation on a theme, and it makes me adore this woman all that much more.
