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She swatted at me. “This isn’t funny, Cal! You’re causing a lot of problems for me. Problems, I’ll remind you, I wouldn’t have to deal with if I was a man.”
“I can’t do anything about that,” I said, taking a risk and reaching for her. Surprisingly, she came to me willingly, letting me tuck her against my side, my arm slung across her shoulders, fingers toying with the end of one of her braids. “I quite like you as a woman. In fact, it’s my favorite thing about you.”
“Don’t be cute right now.”
“You’re spiraling,” I said calmly. “Why?”
“I just told you!”
“There’s more to it than that, Mar. C’mon, Princess. Tell me what’s really going on.”
I reached out with my other hand, brushing my fingers lightly up and down the length of her smooth thigh. Goosebumps that I knew had nothing to do with the slight breeze blowing in off the lake broke out on her skin.
“Don’t you think this whole thing between us is just…too messy? Don’t you think we’re moving too fast?”
“No,” I said firmly, “This thing between us? It’s the best thing in my life right now. And so what if we’re moving a little quicker than normal couples would. I don’t know about you, but after five years of denying myself, I’m trying to make up for lost time with you.” I gripped her chin in my hand and angled her head toward me, staring straight into her eyes. “I’m falling for you, Amara. I have been for a while. I acted like a jackass because I didn’t know you like I do now, and I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.”
Her gaze shot to mine, golden eyes, barely glowing in the light of the dying day, darting across my face, searching for any insincerity.
I knew she wouldn’t find it.
“You mean that?”
I nodded. “The stuff about me being your boyfriend last weekend? I can admit now that was a power play. But I failed to consider just how bad it would make you look, and how deeply it would undermine your successes. And they areyoursuccesses, Mar. I may have signed off on the money, but you took what I gave you—”
“A fucking joke of a budget,” she cut in.
“—and ran with it, turning it into a product offering that I know is going to make waves when we take it national.”
“You mean it?” she asked again, her voice so small, so…unsure.
“Of course I do,” I said, then scooped her up and onto my lap so she straddled me. “You are impressive. More so than I ever imagined. In the bedroom, in the boardroom. Everywhere. So yeah, maybe the boyfriend shit was a joke—at first. But the more I think about it, the more I truly would love nothing more than to be just that.”
“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend officially?” she asked, a slow grin blooming on her face.
“Yes,” I said, catching her lips in a quick kiss. “Do we have a deal?”
She tapped her forefinger to her chin, as though deeply considering it. In response, I rose and flipped her until she was on her back, laughing as I hovered over her.
“You’ve got a deal, Ryder,” she said, then added, “For what it’s worth, I’m falling for you too.”
I grinned at the same moment the first of the fireworks exploded overhead, the multicolored sparkles reflected in her eyes.
“Tell me, Princess,” I said, bending closer until our lips were a breath apart. “Anyone ever kiss the shit out of you below a fireworks show?”
“Just this super hot male model in Ibiza,” she said with a shrug.
“What’d I tell you about bringing your fuck boys into our bed?”
“Technically, we’re not in bed.”
“Amara…” I warned.
With a giggle and a sigh, she lifted her hands to bracket my hips, pulling me closer. “No, Cal. No one I care about has ever kissed the shit out of me below a fireworks show.”
“You’re damn right,” I said, then finally slanted my mouth over hers.
Cal and I barelywatched the fireworks, too intent on exchanging long, teasing, all-consuming kisses to pay much attention to our surroundings. By the time we stumbled back down the beach, bid my sisters good night—to knowing smirks and murmured comments from each of them, particularly Delia—we raced back to my house.
