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And when we do he laughs.
“What?” I ask, my brows knitting.
“I just…” He shakes his head. “Every time I think life is perfect, it just gets a little better.”
I roll my eyes at him. “It won’t be so perfect when we go back to the house and everybody knows what we’ve been doing.” And yeah, I’m starting to worry about that.
“Fuck them.”
“No thanks. There’s only one Salinger I want,” I say.
His smile widens. “That’s good. Because I don’t feel like beating anybody up today.”
“We should go back, shouldn’t we?” I ask reluctantly. Because let’s face it, I’d so much rather be in his arms.
“I guess…” He gently lifts me off him, securing the condom. Then he rolls over and puts his feet on the floor. “In ten minutes, maybe.”
“Twenty,” I tell him. I need to shower.
“Half an hour. And it’s not even party time yet,” he says. He gets up and disappears for a moment, presumably to clean himself up. But when he walks back in he’s carrying a glass of water and a pastry.
My stomach growls in anticipation. “Where did you get that?” I ask him.
He smiles and looks so pleased with himself that I want to hug him. “I bought some supplies on the way here yesterday.” He passes me the water and I gulp thirstily. “I just realized you hadn’t eaten since you arrived. I’m sorry, I should take care of you better. When we get up to the house I’ll make you a proper lunch.”
“It’s almost dinner time,” I point out. “And this will do fine.” I’m so eager I almost snatch the pastry from him. He watches, amused, as I devour it. When I’ve taken another mouthful of water I fall back on the bed, completely sated. Liam climbs onto the mattress next to me, his arms around me, and I breathe him in.
I could get used to this. In fact, I think I already am.
* * *
Nobody notices us when we sneak back into the house. Everybody is too busy. Wait staff fly around readying the kitchen and the ballroom, a band is setting up on a temporary stage, and all the doors have been flung open to the large patio beyond, the storm having passed.
By the time Liam’s made us a late lunch of soup and bread – having charmed the catering company to let him do his thing in the kitchen – we all head back to our cabins to get ready.
It’s fun being in there with Ariel. She has a dry sense of humor and clearly adores all the Salingers. She regales me with stories about their annual Olympics – where the brothers would compete for the prize of being top Salinger – and how they would get into physical fights over who was the best.
“Holden would fight?” I ask her. He seems the calmest of the six of them. Maybe it’s because he’s a doctor – his aim is to preserve life, not endanger it.
“Yep, even Holden,” Ariel says. “I like the way you’ve done your hair. How do you get it to twist like that?”
I demonstrate it for her and she claps her hands. “I’m going to try that next time I go out,” she says, and even if she’s just humoring me I feel gratified that the sophisticated Parisian likes how I look.
We disappear into our rooms to put on our dresses and she walks back out looking absolutely stunning. Her dress is a silver sheath that clings to her perfect curves and I still can’t believe she’s almost forty.
“You look fabulous,” I tell her.
“And so do you.”
We walk out of the cabin together as we see the Salinger men approaching. Ariel slides her arm through Eli’s and Liam walks over to me.
“Beautiful,” he murmurs, his face serious. “Shall we just go back to the cabin again?”
“No way,” Linc says, huffing behind us. “Try to keep it in your pants for at least the next few hours, bro.”
Liam rolls his eyes. “You have an exquisite turn of phrase, Lincoln.”
Myles and Ava join us a few moments later. They’ve dressed Charlie in the world’s smallest tuxedo and we all coo over how adorable he looks.
