“Only you.”
I nodded. “You won’t go overboard because you know, and always have known, exactly what I need. But I promise, if you ever do, I’ll tell you.”
“All you have to do is say ‘stop,’ and I will, no matter what.” His brows furrowed. “I’ll never get so far that I can’t stop.”
I smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I know. Now, are you going to spank me, or are we going to surf?” My laugh turned into a squeal when he grasped my waist and dragged me facedown across his knees.
“Like this?” he asked. Since I was only wearing his t-shirt, he pushed the fabric up and exposed my backside. His hand ran over it tenderly before giving me a hard slap. I groaned with a quick exhalation, and he began to knead my skin, running his hand over the backs of my thighs. “Okay, up you go,” he said suddenly, lifting me onto my feet.
“No,” I protested.
“Yes. It’s time to surf. Let me see that itty-bitty bikini. Although, no—not with Brian around.” He frowned. “Actually, did you bring a one-piece?”
I laughed and shoved his shoulder before dropping to get my suit out of my suitcase.
Downstairs, Brian waited in the kitchen by himself.
“Ready toshred?” I asked and glanced at David. “Is that the right word?”
Brian laughed. “Yes, ma’am. Just waiting for your friend.”
With a small shuffle of feet, I jerked my head toward the pantry, where Brian’s girlfriend stood. Had she been there the whole time? “Oh. Morning, Kat,” I said. “Didn’t see you there.”
“Hi.”
“Are you getting a lesson, too?” I asked.
She shook her head, the corners of her mouth drooping. “I burn easily.”
“Oh.”
David’s face brightened as if that reminded him of something. He grabbed a bottle of sunscreen from the counter and passed it to me. “Slather it,” he said. “Don’t argue.”
The Miami sun had the potential to destroy me, so I did as he said. As I finished rubbing in the suntan lotion, Gretchen appeared, all shiny again with her hair and makeup fixed and her contacts in. “Let’s hit the beach,” she said cheerily.
David and Brian stuck longboards under their arms as the four of us made the short walk to the ocean. “The waves are small right now,” David observed. “We can just practice in the whitewater.”
“Whatever.” I shrugged. “Let’s go.”
“Uh, not so fast, little mermaid,” he said. “First you have to practice on land.”
“Why?” I wrinkled my nose. “Can’t we just do it?”
“No.” He set his board on the sand next to Brian’s. “On your belly.”
“Yes,sir,” I teased.
His expression remained serious. “The ocean is no laughing matter, Olivia. And these have to go,” he said, sliding my sunglasses off and tossing them with our stuff. “You need to be alert out there. No messing around. You could get hurt.”
I saluted him. Gretchen and I giggled, but his jaw hardened. We stopped laughing immediately and dropped onto the boards. He demonstrated how we should paddle and pop up. We both imitated what he’d done and held our poses as instructed. David squatted next to me, fixing my stance by adjusting my legs, as Brian did the same for Gretchen. I tried in vain to flirt with David as he corrected my back foot.
“What’s all this?” I heard Brian ask Gretchen. When I looked over, he was waving his hand near her face.
“What?” she asked.
“All this hair and makeup just to get in the water. It’s ridiculous.”
“So I want to look good.” She shrugged. “Who cares?”
