Brenner smiled. “If anyone can, it’s you.”
I fluttered my lashes at him. “Was that a compliment? That deserves a kiss.”
I touched my lips to his, intending for it to be brief, but Brenner held me, and as always, the wildness took over and I lost all sense of time and propriety. The sound of cameras clicking and excited voices filled the air, but I didn’t pay attention. All that mattered was his sinful tongue sweeping through my mouth, teasing and playing with mine.
Brenner whispered in my ear, “You realize the press is taking this all in? I thought you wanted to keep this discreet?”
“Discreet?” I grinned and winked. “You should know me better than that by now. You’ve got the wrong man, ’cause I am not that guy.”
Epilogue
One year later
Brenner
I stood on the shoreline with Bill, watching Weston and Emily frolic in the waves. Her shrieks of delight rose in the air when he scooped her up and spun her.
“Mommy. Look at me.”
Shading her eyes, Paige sat under an umbrella and waved to them. With Weston’s father back in the Senate after losing the election, Paige had created a firestorm of her own by filing for divorce and moving out. She and Emily were spending time with her family in Florida, which happened to be only twenty miles away from Bill’s retirement community.
“Things working out with Weston seein’ his sister?” Bill adjusted the ball cap to keep the sun off his nose. “They look like they’re gettin’ along good.”
“They are. Weston calls them once a week, and when Paige’s family had a birthday party for her, he flew in for the day to be there.”
Bill frowned. “And nothing from his father?”
“No. Paige has custody, and the senator sees her on the agreed-on holidays and part of the summer.” Election night, Weston and I had been at home with a bunch of friends,watching the results, and though we were all thrilled his father lost, it had taken a toll on Weston. There had been no contact since that night he’d come to the apartment. “He says it doesn’t bother him, but I try not to bring it up.”
“That’s good.”
A wet and giggling Emily darted past us, and Weston strolled up, grinning behind his sunglasses and baseball cap. I couldn’t help but admire him at his approach. Water dripped down his broad chest, setting off his tanned, glowing skin. Sun-kissed ringlets of hair lay plastered to his face, and a lazy smile curved his lips. Thick, powerful thighs filled out his colorful board shorts.
“My two favorite guys.” He slipped an arm around my waist. The past year had given us time to grow more comfortable with public displays of affection. “Paige and Emily are meeting her family a little later on for a barbecue, but what do you say the three of us go to lunch now?”
A certain sparkle in his eyes told me something was up, but I didn’t have a clue. I peered over my sunglasses. “You don’t want to eat on the beach?”
“Nah. I know a better place.” He took my hand. “Come on. Bill, you ready?”
“Yep. I’m starvin’ like Marvin.” He walked ahead and began to pack up.
I held West’s elbow. “What’s going on? Why do I feel like you’re keeping something from me?” One annoying thing about my boyfriend was if he didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t. Maybe if I got him naked, but that wasn’t about to happen on a public beach.
“Who me?” That guileless grin of his didn’t fool me, and though I narrowed my eyes at him, he merely patted my cheek and kissed me. “Don’t be so suspicious.”
We put our things in the trunk, and West drove north on A1A. We passed by countless restaurants, but he didn’t stop. After twenty minutes, he pulled into the circular driveway of a luxurious high-rise on the water. Palm trees soared to the sky, and I spied the glitter of a huge pool on the side of the expansive grounds, while the ocean beckoned from behind the tall tower.
Bill’s bushy brows drew together. “I don’t think there’s a restaurant here.”
“Nope.” Weston left the car with the valet. “Come and see anyway.”
He greeted the concierge as if they were old friends, and we zoomed to the top. Weston knocked on the only door on the floor, and it opened to a smiling woman in a sleek tan dress.
“Good afternoon. Welcome to Versailles on the Water.”
My eyes bugged out at the sight before me. Floor-to-ceiling windows faced only turquoise ocean and an endless cerulean sky. The floors were pale-blond wood, and the furniture was done in neutral tones of beige, blue, and sea green. The room had to be at least forty feet long, with twelve-foot ceilings. A chef’s kitchen was dominated by an immense nine-foot island of gleaming white.
Bill whistled. “Man…this is…I ain’t never seen anything like this except in the movies. Who lives here?” He ran a hand over the spotless quartz.
