“You wanted something to take your mind off stripping me naked. You’re welcome.”
I glanced down at where my erection was well and truly deflated. “Yep. Talking about little beasts definitely did the trick.”
Solo chuckled and sat up on his elbows. “Well, that tells me where you stand on that subject. See? This is the getting-to-know-you shit we’re supposed to be doing.”
“Oh, is there a checklist?”
“How the fuck should I know? This is the first relationship I’ve ever been in.”
I lifted my sunglasses and squinted at him, making sure I had the right guy.Relationship? Kids?“Who are you and what have you done with the rebellious asshole I met a few weeks ago?”
“Guess I’m your asshole now.”
I laughed. “Which makes me either insane or a lucky bastard. I can’t decide which.”
“Well, if you ask anyone at NAFTA, you should get your brain checked.”
“It’s a good thing I don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone there thinks.”
Solo tore off his glasses to look at me. “Okay, now who areyouand what have you done with the by-the-books hotshotImet a few weeks ago?”
I turned onto my side, resting my head on my propped-up arm. “Maybe we both know better than to let a good thing pass us by when it lands in our laps.”
“Pretty sure I had to work to land in yours. You’re not an easy one to catch, you know that?”
I leaned in toward him. “Good thing you like a challenge.” I reached for his jaw and pulled him in close so that I could get a taste of him. I was finally able to do this out in the open where anyone could see, and I planned to take full advanta—
Something wet and sandy smacked us both in the head, and I jerked away to see the group of kids—little beasts, as Solo referred to them—laughing as the rubber ball they’d launched our way rolled off behind us.
Solo sat up and glared as he wiped the sand from his head. “I wonder if those little bastards have ever played dodgeball with a pro,” he said, but before I could answer, he was off. As he stared them down and aimed for one in the middle, I hoped the kids knew how to run like hell.
10Solo
TEN MINUTES LATER, I wiped my sandy hands off on my shorts and stood in front of Panther, blocking the sun from his sexy body. He’d been watching as I knocked out every one of those punks without breaking a sweat, and he had a crooked grin on his face.
“Have fun with the soccer team?”
“I wanted to aim for their heads, but their dad looks like he could bench-press my ass.” I held my hand out to Panther. “Care to help me get all this sand off? I’ll let you rub me down…”
Panther was off his towel in two seconds, grabbing my hand and taking off, running so fast that he practically jerked me down the beach until my legs caught up.
“Oh fuck me,” I yelled as my feet hit the water. “Why’s it so damn cold?”
Panther looked over his shoulder and smirked as he pulled me along behind him, heading deeper into the water. “Is it supposed to be hot?”
“It’s the middle of fucking summer, so it’s not supposed to be coming off a goddamn snowy mountain.”
“Don’t worry. In a minute you’ll be numb enough not to feel it.”
“I think this is far enough,” I said once the water reached the tops of our thighs. “I don’t need my dick freezing off.”
Panther turned around and walked back toward me, keeping our hands linked. “Oh yeah? So you’d like me to rub you off right here?” As a wave crashed into the back of him, his grip on my hand tightened, and then he pulled me down into the water with him.
Frozen needles pricked my entire body as the ocean engulfed me, and I immediately pushed up to the surface, sputtering and ready to murder my boyfriend.
“You think you’re really fucking funny, don’t you?”
Panther braced himself as another set of waves rolled in behind him, and when the water sprayed up around him, I swear on all that was holy that he looked like some kind of sea god.
