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“I’m looking forward to it.” She mopped her face on the hem of her shirt. “It’s hot out here.”
I grinned at her. “I thought you were a Cali girl. Not afraid of the heat.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s a different kind of heat. You can really feel that hole in the ozone layer.”
“True. Speaking of.” I dug into my back and handed her a bottle of sunscreen.
“Thanks.” She applied it to her face, then set it down while she worked on her arms. I squirted some onto my palm and did the same. She shed her tank top, revealing a black bikini with barely-there straps, and my jaw dropped. I couldn’t look away as she slathered sunscreen on her belly and the curves at the top of her chest. She turned and offered me her back. “Do you mind helping?”
I fumbled with the sunscreen, my hands clumsy as I rubbed the lotion into her skin.
Smooth, Liam. Super smooth.
Her back was unblemished and sexy as hell. Her skin was like silk beneath my fingers, and it was all I could do to make myself stop touching her.
“There. All sorted.”
“Thanks.” She smiled over her shoulder, then looked up, and her expression faltered. “Hi, Aiden.”
Damn.
When I turned, the persistent jerk I’d seen with her several times now was standing on the edge of our blanket with a beer in each hand.
“Hey, Kennedy.” His gaze lingered on her in a way that made my blood heat with anger. He spared a glance for me. “Sorry, I don’t remember your name.”
“Liam,” I growled.
But he’d already dismissed me. He offered Kennedy a beer. “Here. My friends got a prime spot by the edge of the water. You’re welcome to join us.” He flicked another look at me. “Your buddy can come too.”
Buddy. Yeah, he wishes that’s all I am.
“Thanks,” Kennedy said, and for a moment I thought she might accept the beer, but she didn’t move from her spot on my blanket. “That’s a nice offer, but I’m comfortable here.”
Aiden’s lip curled down in obvious disappointment. “Well, I’ll be there if you change your mind.”
She nodded, but it took a few seconds for him to actually leave. Perhaps he’d been waiting for her to leap up and chase after him.
“What was with that?” I asked when he was out of earshot.
She shrugged. “Not sure. I think he means well, but I kinda wonder if he’s one of those guys who wants to be able to say they’ve hooked up with a celebrity.”
The back of my neck prickled. “You don’t think he’s the person who’s been harassing you, do you?”
She caught her lower lip between her teeth. “It crossed my mind, but when I had a background check done on him, it came back clean. Besides, he’s here on business and was in the country before me, so he couldn’t have followed me over.”
“A clean background check doesn’t mean he’s never done anything wrong,” I reminded her. “Just that he’s never been caught. But yeah, I get your point with the other things.” It was certainly something to think about.
She shivered, and I regretted making her anxious during what should be a fun, relaxing event.
“Hey.” I grabbed her hand. “Let’s strip off. Only a couple more minutes until swim time.”
“Yeah, okay.” She stood up and shimmied out of her shorts. The bottom part of her bikini matched the top, and rode high over the curves of her ass. I gulped, suddenly wishing we were already in the water so it’d be less obvious if I sprang a boner. She gestured at me. “You too.”
I whipped my T-shirt over my head, satisfaction coursing through me as her gaze lingered on my chest and heated with desire. I had more tattoos than I’d had when we first got together, but she didn’t look as though she minded. To the contrary, the way she studied me made me think she wouldn’t mind dragging me somewhere private to trace them all with her tongue. I’d be totally fine with that, but I also didn’t want her to miss out on a big Destiny Falls tradition, so I guided her away from our blanket and toward the shore, where locals and tourists alike were crowding at the water’s edge.
“One minute,” a voice boomed over a loudspeaker.
Bodies pressed close around us. I caught Nate’s eye through the crowd from where he stood behind Tess and Skye. Beside him, Nikkita was stealing peeks at his torso in a less than subtle way. I grinned. She was happily married, but also the kind of woman who had no qualms ogling whomever she wanted to.
