“Given how I’ve never managed to tie you up completely, I think some handcuffs would be my thing,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “Handcuffs? That’s so lame,” she muttered.
She laughed and reluctantly slid off my lap and onto the seat next to me. “We’re done,” she said, tapping my thigh.
“Good luck convincing the big guy of that,” I grumbled while Lexi snickered.
“Consider this payback for when you didn’t let me finish last night,” she said, waggling a finger at me.
“Evie had woken up,” I protested, pulling her flush to my side.
“In the next room,” Lexi countered. “Our door was locked. Evie could have waited a few—oh.”
She stopped speaking when I pulled her to me, crushing her lips with mine. Within a minute, she relaxed against the kiss,and I picked up speed, my fingers going to the back of her head, tipping it up to an angle so I could kiss her more deeply. She melted against me.
“Anyway, I have something to tell you,” I began.
“Are you breaking up with me?” she asked casually, twirling a strand of her hair. “Because if so, I saw a really handsome man at the resort earlier today…”
I put my hand over her mouth to stop her from speaking. “When?” I demanded. “When were you checking out other men?” I asked in surprise. “I was with you all day.”
“Well, there was that one time when you stepped out to the restroom.” She laughed and snapped another photo. “I take it back. This is the one that will go on your new job announcement. You look like a sad pup.”
I looked at the picture she showed me and had to agree that I had a bit of a pout.
Damn. She’d call it ruining my “tough-as-nails persona,” and honestly? I never wanted her to stop.
We got back to our resort room with no scandalous outcomes from our evening sojourn.
We shared a quiet dinner with Evie on the resort’s terrace, watching the sun paint the sky in brilliant hues of pink and orange. After Evie had yawned through her dessert, Anne had taken her to the adjoining room, reading her a bedtime story while Lexi and I walked back to our room.
“I spoke with Brian and Stacey earlier today,” Lexi told me as she lay down on the bed.
I raised my eyebrows as I moved in next to her. Lexi reached for my hair, which was thick and growing out a little, going on three weeks without a trim, because she had told me she wanted me to look more human than robotic. She ran her hands through my hair gently a few times.
“They said they could see the happiness on me,” she told me. “Now that we’re no longer keeping our relationship a secret from the world.”
“Well, of course,” I drawled out, settling down next to her as I began stroking her arms lazily, the back of my fingers brushing against her skin. “And I make a pretty amazing boy-friend.”
“Oh, they know I’m dealing with a jerk of the highest degree,” she informed me with a straight face. “But that he makes up for it by constantly giving me mind-blowing orgasms, making last-minute getaway plans, and torturing me with daily coffee choices that have no business being asked.”
My lips twisted as I tried to curb my smile. “So I’m irritating and irresistible. Nice combination, I might add. But how did they respond to that?”
“Stacey wanted to know where she could find more of such jerks, and Brian told me he can never look at coffee the same way again.”
I laughed. “Well, I would have them know that I’m seeing the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. If they ever asked me about it.”
I slid my hand under her blouse, my hands sliding around her hips.
“Stacey was initially worried for me,” she said with more seriousness. “In the weeks after we told her about us, she kept warning me about getting too involved with you.”
I raised my eyebrows as I undid the buttons of her yellow blouse, slowly, while she kept her gaze on me. “Why?”
“She and Rafael had been all about the secrecy, and apparently, that should’ve been her warning sign. But the fact that we were open about our love for each other and meeting people as a couple made her feel better about us.”
Her blouse fell open, revealing that she was braless. My hands ached to cup her swollen breasts, and she lifted her armsas I pulled her blouse off her shoulders. In a few minutes, she’d gotten her shorts and underwear off as well, while I bent down to trail kisses from her shoulders down to the dip in her cleavage.
“There’s no way I would keep you away from my side when I face the world,” I admitted, pausing to look up at her. “I want to show you off to everyone and let them know what an amazing woman I found. You’re the most important thing in my world, Lexi, and I want you to never forget that.”
