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“Will you be back this week?” She asked hopefully, sneaking onto her tiptoes to steal another kiss as my blood thrummed for more. One night was not enough. I needed this woman like I’d needed the sea for the last eighteen years. Only, the idea of not coming home to her made me sick. What the hell was happening to me?
I forced my shoulder to shrug. “Could be three days, could be twelve. We don’t really know until we get out there.”
“Damn.”
“That sums it up.”
“You good sticking to the plan?” We’d talked through all our precautions. She had Charlie on speed dial, and Broderick, El, and Max were all planning to stay at the house again while I was gone. Hopefully, Charlie and Bells could run Eric out of town in the meantime. She sighed, jaw tight for a second before she nodded.
“Yeah. I’m just…I’m going to miss you, you big grouch.”
Chuckling, I rested my forehead against hers. “Thanks for running boring errands with me.”
“Thanks for warming me up.”
Grin broadening, I leaned forward to nip at her neck, loving the way she giggled and tried to flee until I snatched her up. Noel fit me perfectly. My palm easily encompassed her waist, the ivory globes of her breasts were just enough for a handful, and that ass. God, just the thought of it had me wanting to eat her out right there on the damn sidewalk. She was turning me into a psycho-exhibitionist. Because regular exhibitionists had rules and shit.
Kissing her deeply, I savored her scent, the give of her lips beneath my own. “You can expect a repeat as soon as I’m off the damn boat.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
Goodbyes were awful. There was nothinggoodabout them. Swallowing hard, I nodded, leaning down to give her one last long kiss before turning for my truck and pulling away from the curb. I tried not to look back at her as I flipped a U-turn back into town, but my eyes refused to cooperate. Chest constricting, I recoiled from the mirror because…she looked like she was crying. And the idea of that might very well kill me.
TWENTY-TWO
NOEL
“What in God’s name is in the water up there?” Brex said, eyes wide.
Giggling, I dabbed the blending sponge across my face, turning my attention back to the mirror as Vallie let out a low whistle on my phone screen. I’d just filled the girls in on the explosive, life-altering experience that was Jameson Rhodes’ definition of ‘camping’.
“What do you mean?” I asked, blending in the concealer beneath my eyes. The upside to a half-a-dozen orgasms with the hottest man on the island was the contented way my muscles were all relaxed. The downside—aside from the delicious ache in my core—was we’d gotten very little in the way of sleep last night. And it showed.
“I mean…” Her hesitation pulled my attention back to where I’d rigged a stand for my phone on top of a tampon box and the mirror. “Rhyett is an ass man, too. And thepraise?”
“Oh, sweet baby cheeses,” I said, melting. “He got all feral and possessive. I’ve never been someone’sgood girlbefore. I wasn’t mad about it.”
“Hell, the first time Rhyett said that, I thought I’d die.”
“What is it about these men?!”
Josie released a pained little whimper, collapsing into her hands to cover her face. “Ugh, you two, I’m going to die single, aren’t I?” The image of her late husband flashed in my eyes, but before the pain of Blaze’s absence could rock me too deeply, she mumbled,“Can you save me one of those brothers? I’m not picky.”
I cackled before snapping my mouth shut and clapping my hands over it. Val was still snickering as Brex waggled her brows and asked, “Just, you know,vaguely‘one of them’?”
“Oh, shut up,” Josie said, giggling as her cheeks pinked. Blaze might have started her football obsession, but it had grown to be its own monster. The irony of her tracking stats for none other than Paxton freaking Rhodes for years before Rhyett wandered into The Three Leaf would never get old.
“Josie and Paxton, sitting in a tree—” I teased, her eye roll transforming my childlike antics into another peal of laughter. My cheeks were aching, just getting to see them all again. There’d never been a time I was this grateful for technology.
“Please. I’m sure half of Chicago has flung themselves at his feet.”
“Nothing like experience to perfect a skill set,” I said, trying to swallow my giggles. Jos just wrinkled her nose, but her blush was totally worth it.
“I wonder if all the Rhodes brothers are about the peaches,” Vallie contemplated. She was only half watching us, the majority of her attention on her laptop as she typed away. She looked beautiful as always, her goddess braids half spun back into a messy bun, a crimson top popping against her warm sepia skin, and a black blazer adding just the perfect dash of professional. Personally, I’d probably liquify if I walked in and had to argue my case against a woman like that.
“Not exactly a tasteful way to ask that,” Josie said, choking on her laugh right as I snickered.
“Why yes, fake-boyfriend I actually kindareallylike. Do all your brothers indulge in ravenous, decadent sex?”
