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“So what? Like we care what anyone else thinks. Come get drunk and have lots of sex with me all over the Hamptons.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Fine. You win. I’ll go with you. But if someone acts like a bitch, I’m probably going to get in a fight.”
“And I’ll be there to back up my feisty little pixie. But since we’re staying with the king and queen of the Upper East Side, no one will say anything … to your face at least.”
“Real reassuring, King.”
“You’ve already agreed. Pack a bag. We’re going.”
“Fine.”
He kissed me again, long and hard. “I like winning. It’s fun.”
“Get out of here before I change my mind.”
Still, he kissed me again. “I really did miss you.”
Then, he stepped back onto the sidewalk and headed to work. My stomach flipped traitorously.
What was Gavin King doing to me?
22
GAVIN
Opening the social season in the Hamptons was a pastime that I didn’t think could be improved. Then, I stashed Whitley Bowen in the passenger seat of my black Jaguar convertible with the top down and blasted music, and we sang at the tops of our lungs the entire way out of the city. Her sweet voice the tune for the drive. Her mermaid hair blew wild and free as we turned toward the Hamptons.
“You’ve really never been here for the start of the season?” I asked her as we crawled through the busy streets in Friday afternoon traffic.
“Never. I’ve been out here a few times over the summer, but I usually decide to work instead.”
“You’ll love it. Bringing Manhattan to the Hamptons is always a treat.”
“If it’s all the same people, I don’t get what the big deal is.”
“Mostly to escape the oppressive city heat and retreat away from the peons.”
She snorted. “You’re an elitist dick.”
“Joking,” I said with a wicked grin. “It’s just nice to go to the beach and party away from work.”
“Fair.” She stuck her hand out the side of the window and wove it through the air. “It is beautiful out today.”
My gaze swept over her. Shewasbeautiful. Over the last couple of weeks that I had gotten to spend alone with Whitley, my already-unprecedented need for her had only grown. The look on her face when I spent a few days out of town had proven to me that she felt the same. Even if she wasn’t ready to admit as such. She’d told me she missed me, and that had felt like a step in the right direction.
When we finally reached our turn, I pulled off the road, drove up to the gated house, and entered the code. The gates slowly withdrew to reveal the Percy property. I’d long since given up on being awed by the extravagance of the Upper East Side, but this house was giant, even for a Texas home. In the Hamptons, it had to be worth tens of millions.
I parked out front and popped the trunk. Whitley took her time, surveying the house as I dragged our two suitcases out of the back. I snapped the trunk shut, and she jolted back to reality.
“I can take mine.” She held her hand out.
“Don’t worry about it. Get the door.”
She jogged forward and pushed open the enormous door that led into a foyer. Katherine and Camden must not have been too far in front of us because there was still staff running around, preparing rooms and finishing their dusting. Katherine looked annoyed as she held her son, Beckett, in her arms. Their two-year-old daughter, Helena, was the spitting image of her mother. She held the hand of their nanny and turned with excited eyes as Whitley and I came inside.
“Aunt Whit!” Helena said, throwing herself into Whitley’s arms.
“Hey, punkin.” Whitley hoisted her up onto her hip and bounced her. “How are you getting this big? I can barely hold you.”
