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“Maybe.”
“What’re you doing here?” she asked as she waded deeper into the water, eventually pushing off the ledge and swimming over to me.
“Owen invited me,” I said with a shrug. “Skye and I came up for the weekend.”
“Skye?” I didn’t miss the hint of jealousy in her tone, and I grinned knowingly at her.
“My dog, Princess.”
“Oh,” she said with a giggle. “So you and Owen are friends? I wasn’t aware the devil made friends.”
I rolled my eyes, ignoring her jab in favor of asking a question of my own.
“What areyoudoing here?”
“We own a house on the west side of the lake,” she said, waving a hand in what I assumed was its general direction. “I’m surprised you didn’t know that already.”
“Must be a personal asset.”
Amara laughed and nodded. “It was Dad’s twenty-fifth anniversary present to Mom.”
“What do you need a beach house for when you already live on the beach?”
“Trust me, we asked them the same question. But honestly, it’s nice to get off the vineyard and peninsula for a bit. And this is one of my favorite places in the world,” she said as she tipped back to float on the surface of the water, her hair fanning out around her.
God, she was beautiful, like a siren luring me into the rocky shore of her body. And I, a mere mortal, was helpless to resist the call.
“Hey!” someone above us yelled, and my head shot up to find Delia leaning over the railing. “Get your asses up here. Logan wants to do jello shots, but Cal, I have to warn you. He’s got a heavy hand with the vodka, so if they taste like paint thinner…just smile and say ‘yum.’”
I glanced at Amara. “That bad?”
“He’s the worst bartender I’ve ever met, and that’s saying something given how many I’ve actually met.”
Indeed.
I swam to the side of the pontoon and hefted myself on board, then turned to help Amara up, purposely stumbling a bit once she was on so I could pull her against me.
Just for a moment. I wouldn’t indulge in PDA in front of her family, but I wanted her to know how even those few moments in the water with her and the sight of her in that bikini affected me.
“I want to untie this thing with my teeth,” I said quietly, toying with the strings at her hips.
“Maybe later,” she replied, then spun out of my arms and headed for her brother-in-law, who held out tiny plastic cups filled with bright green jello.
We all congregated in a circle as best as we could, and Logan raised his shot into the air. “To family and new friends. I still can’t believe I’m standing on Owen Lawless’s boat right now.”
“Your brother-in-law is literally Brent Jean!” Chloe hissed, and the group devolved into laughter.
And wait…what? Logan was related to the Detroit Warriors’ phenom? That’s definitely a story I wanted to hear.
“To family and new friends!” Delia parroted, and we all squeezed the cold jello into our mouths.
I did my best not to gag as a small amount of liquid from the bottom trickled down my throat but damn. Delia hadn’t been joking about the paint thinner. He must’ve used an entire bottle of bottom shelf on these things. There was no flavor other than the strong astringent of alcohol burning my tongue and its way down my throat.
“Fucking hell,” Chloe growled. “I love you, baby, but that’s the last time I let you make the drinks.”
“What?” Logan said, looking genuinely confused. “I thought it was great!”
“Yeah, if you like drinking straight rubbing alcohol,” Ella grumbled.
