He chuckled, and crinkles appeared around his dark eyes. “Me and the crew couldn’t stop laughing. Ask your woman what happened.”
“I will, after I take my run.”
“I’ll start running with you again when we get to Miami. We need to be ready for anything. That G-force is even stronger in that F1 car.”
“Don’t I know it. I have to be mentally stronger too.” I finished my juice and rose. “Am I crazy to take such a risk on my body and mind?”
Malcolm grinned. “Yeah, but when has that ever stopped you before?”
I held my fist to his. “Never.”
“Exactly.” We bumped fists. On the same page as always. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“Want to eat with Kensie after I run. She’s still asleep.”
Malcolm shook his head with a raised brow. “Yep, you’re in love.”
Out of habit, I started to deny his assumption until I remembered that I was supposed to be in love. Instead of responding, I jogged past him with a wave on my way to the beach. I needed to clear my head before I got lost in manufactured emotions.
Chapter 9
Kensie
The relaxing sounds of the waves entered my consciousness, as did the delicious and familiar scent of fried fish, bacon, and pancakes. When I turned over and touched Canaan’s side, the coolness of the sheets suggested he’d been gone for a long time. I’d always been a night owl and a late sleeper, and whenever I had a break from school and my work, I happily slept. Smiling, I sat up and stretched my arms, loving the comforting beauty of the artfully decorated bedroom I could now see in the daylight. Bright, vibrant flowers adorned the walls and opened into a bathroom. A shirtless and sweaty Canaan walked in from the beach through the connecting patio.
“Good morning, Canaan.”
He smiled slightly. “Good afternoon. My chef has prepared a brunch that should be ready.”
“Were you just jogging?” I asked, unable to tear my eyes away from his glistening, caramel-sinewed chest.
He grinned and dipped his head so he could capture my gaze. “Yes. And my eyes are here.”
Nonplussed that he caught me ogling him, I quipped, “You know you’re fine as hell. I can look and not touch.”
“Or you can do both since you are inmybed,” Canaan smoothly replied.
I waved my hand. “You got me in a moment of weakness with you being so vulnerable last night. It won’t happen again.”
“Vulnerable?” He scoffed, though a hint of apprehension sprinkled his expression. “I was just being chill. Exhausted.”
I pulled my knees up and hugged them. “If that’s your chill, I’m down. Because the other you is irritating.”
“Funny because I thought the same thing about you.” He climbed onto the bed and hovered over me. I held my knees tighter, protecting my body from his. Even though he was sweaty, my body throbbed for his. “I woke up to a sleeping beauty. All I wanted to do was taste your lips, neck, and breasts again. Do you know how sexy your nipples are? The color of the ripest purple grapes that beg to be plucked from a vine. And the taste . . . well . . . The taste of you only leaves me wanting.”
My sex painfully pulsed at his hypnotic eyes and his sensual words. I shook my head slowly, warring with myself not to open my legs for him. “Canaan . . . I—”
He placed his index finger near my lips. “As I was saying . . . All I wanted to do this morning was to be inside you, to stroke you until you clawed my back like you did in Jamaica. Then you started snoring. Brought me back to reality in a hurry.” Smirking, he stood up again, and I threw a pillow hard at him.
I protested through my laughter. “I don’t snore.”
“One of these nights I’m going to record you.”
“And I’ll hurt you just like those women I threatened last night.”
“Threatened?” He folded his arms with a quizzical expression. “What did you do?”
My eyes widened. “You drankthatmuch alcohol, you don’t remember? I told the three women in your bed that you forgot you had a woman and that I would stab them if they didn’t leave. They ran scared. Still doesn’t ring a bell?”
