by LK Farlow
“We’ll see.” I wave my right hand in a dismissive gesture before resting it on the center console dangerously close to Ashley’s left.
We talk about everything and nothing, bickering and bantering until finally, sleep takes her, too, leaving me with only my thoughts for the rest of the drive.
28
Ashley
I blink awake right as we come to a stop outside of the cutest beach house to ever exist. The two-story home is painted a catching shade of jade, with thick white trim and a driftwood gray wraparound porch. An inviting two-seater swing hangs facing the beach, which is across the street. It’s the perfect spot to curl up with a book and an ice-cold drink.
I vow here and now to do just that at least once before we leave.
“Ashley.” Colton says my name softly. I roll my head across the seatback to face him. “Oh, you’re awake. Good. We’re here.”
“It’s a beautiful house.”
“It is. The whole area is great. I was hesitant to have my moms so far, but one visit and I knew it would be fine.”
I unbuckle and step out of the car, breathing in the salty air. Colton follows suit.
“My best friend actually lives not too far from here.”
“Oh, yeah? Where?”
“About an hour down the coast, in Bay Ridge.”
“Maybe we can meet up with”—he hesitates—“her?”
I can’t help my disbelieving laugh. “Why, Colton, are you fishing?”
Swear to glob, his cheeks turn pink. “Whatever. If you don’t want to make plans—”
“Slow your roll. I never said that. I’ll text her in a bit.”
He leans back into the car and kills the engine, and then pops the trunk. “You want to get Cruz, and I’ll get our stuff?”
“Sounds good.” I pull the lever to tilt my seat forward so I can reach Cruz. “Hey, bud, wake up. We’re here.”
He jerks up in the seat, his small fists scrubbing at his eyes. “The beach? We’re at the beach?”
“Yeah, it’s right across the street. You wanna see?”
Cruz nods and I lean to unbuckle him. I step back, giving him room to climb out before taking his hand and walking him to the end of the driveway. “See?”
The view is like a painting—too pretty to be real. The narrow street gives way to grassy sand dunes. Beneath the dunes is a vast expanse of beach, with sand as white as sugar. The sound of soft waves breaking at the shore’s edge mingles with the squawks of the seagulls and the laughs of mid-day beach goers. In short, it’s paradise.
“It’s so…big,” Cruz says in awe. “The water looks like it goes forever.”
Looking down at him, I nod. “It does look like that, huh?”
“You two coming? We can hit the beach first thing tomorrow. If I know my moms, they have plans for us today and are most likely taking turns watching us from the window.”
“You ready to meet your grandmothers?” I ask.
Cruz shrugs and looks down.
“Your daddy and I will be with you the whole time. You’ve talked to them on the phone and on video chat. Don’t be scared.”
“I’m not.” He puffs out his little chest. “I’m Agent 005, and I’m n-not scared of nothing.”
“Such a brave boy. Let’s go.”
We catch up to Colton on the porch, where he has our bags arranged neatly by size. “Knock, knock,” he says, opening the door without actually knocking.
“Colty!” a loud, boisterous voice calls out. My head whips toward the source, which, much to my surprise, is a little wisp of a woman. She has jet black hair that’s nearly as long as she is tall, striking emerald eyes, bow-shaped lips, and deeply bronzed skin. She’s breathtaking.
“Hey, Mama Mel,” Colton says, bending to kiss her cheek.
“Oh, and what am I, chopped liver?” comes a second voice.
This must be Mama K, and while equally beautiful, she is her wife’s polar opposite. She’s tall and sturdy, with skin the color of freshly fallen snow. Her platinum hair is cropped close in a trendy pixie cut, and she has thick, red-framed glasses perched on her nose.
Truly, the only thing they have in common, outwardly, is their matching technicolor maxi dresses.
“Never, Mama K.” He hugs her and kisses her cheek as well.
The only thing I can think upon seeing the bright, vibrant women who raised my soulmate is how in the hell did he get so uptight?
I stand back while Colton introduces Cruz to his grandmothers. He surprises us both when he takes to them instantly.
“And you must be Ashley,” the one he calls Mama Mel says. She rakes her gemstone gaze over every ounce of me—twice—before nodding. “Oh, yes, she’ll do just fine,” she says to her wife out of the side of her mouth. I’m fairly certain she didn’t mean for me to hear her, but I did, and now I have a million questions bombarding me. The main one being—I’ll do just fine for what?
“Nice to meet you.” I offer her my hand.
“Nonsense, girl.” She pulls me into a hug. Her head comes to my shoulder, but her grip rivals that of her son. I’m pretty sure she is the woman who inspired the phrase small but mighty. “And you can call me Mel—or Mama Mel, whichever. After all, we’re family.”
“Let the girl breathe,” the taller woman tuts, pulling her wife away from me. “The name’s Kim, dear, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Y’all as well. Your home is beautiful,” I say, meaning it. The inside is every bit as bright as its occupants’ personalities, and yet, it’s soothing at the same time.
“And a charmer, too,” Mel says, wagging her brows before turning to Cruz. “Would you like to see your room?”
His eyes widen in wonder. “I have my own room?”
“Well, of course you do!” She leans in conspiratorially and stage whispers, “And guess what?”
“What?”
“It has bunk beds!”
“For really real?”
She offers him her hand, which he eagerly takes, and together they set off to see his room. It’s amazing what eight weeks of love and security can do for a child. While he still has a ways to go, he’s really come into his own under Colton’s care.
“We put y’all in the blue room,” Kim says, as if it’s no big deal.
“Us?” Colton asks. “In one room? Together?”
“I’m afraid so. The green room is under construction at the moment and out of use.” She gives her son an indiscernible look. “Surely that’s not a problem. After all, the bed is plenty big.”
I swallow harshly at her words, coughing on air—which is nothing compared to Colton’s reaction. He looks positively ready to wring her neck.
“Bed. The. Bed. As in there’s only one?”
“Oh, Colton, hush. Surely you slept with a woman before.”
“I’m booking a hotel.”
He pulls his phone from his pocket, but Kim smacks it to the floor. I am riveted by the show in front of me—no one talks to Colton like this. I want popcorn.
“You will do no such thing. It’d break Mel’s heart. Cruz’s, too; did you see the way he lit up at the mention of bunkbeds?”
“Mama K—”
“It’s been months since you’ve visited and now you want to book a hotel.” She paces the length of the foyer and she rants, laying on the mom-guilt with the precision of a surgeon wielding a scalpel. “To think, you finally give us a grandchild to spoil, and you want to whisk him away to some big-chain-corporate hotel, when he could be here, bonding with his family.”
He says her name again, but it’s no use. He looks to me for help, which only serves to turn her attention my way as well.
“If I were young and single and someone told me I had to share a bed with a knockout like her…only a fool would say no.” She whirls to glare at her son. “And I know I didn’t raise no fool.”
“Sorry, Mama K. The blue room is fine.”
She flashes a blinding, victorious smile. “I knew you’d see it
my way.”
He huffs out a laugh. “Somehow, everyone always does.”
She pats his cheek affectionately. “Why don’t y’all go freshen up while I start dinner? We’ll eat at five.”
“Sounds great,” he tells her, the expression on his face conveying his ambivalence as he bends to collect our bags.
“It was, uh, nice to meet you,” I say, trying to remember my manners. Even though manners are the last thing on my mind after having the single-bed-bomb dropped on me. Suddenly, I’m super regretting the jammies I packed.
Various possibilities of how he’ll react to my little silky lace-trimmed shorts and matching bralette race through my mind. Will he like the way they look? Will they turn him on? Will he not react at all? I’m not sure which option is worse.
“You as well, dear. You as well.” She winks at me as if we’re in on some great joke together, before turning and heading, presumably, into the kitchen.
Colton shoulders open the blue room only to stop in the entryway, causing me to walk into him. “Ouch! What the hell?”
I rub my forehead where it smacked into his strong back. As pretty as his body is to ogle, it freaking hurts in a head-on collision.
“Oh, come on!” he growls, his voice a mixture of upset and despair.
“What? What is it?”
He turns to me with a grim look on his handsome face. “See for yourself.”
Colton steps into the room, allowing me entry. I immediately pinpoint the source of his frustration: the bed. The very small bed. I’m pretty sure Cruz’s bed is larger than this one. It wouldn’t surprise me if my feet dangle over the edge—it’s that small.
“Could be worse.”
He trains his glare on me now. “Could it, Ashley? How?”
I shrug. “Could be a futon.”
With a growl, he drops our bags to the floor, grumbling under his breath all the while.
“Look, if it’s that big of a deal, I’ll bunk with Cruz. Your mom said he had bunk beds.” Much to my annoyance, a hint of hurt seeps into my tone.
But his vehement displeasure over sharing a bed with me grates. It’s not like I’m going to throw myself at him—been there, got rejected, have no plans of trying again.
“No, Ash. I’m sorry. I’m being dramatic. It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Trust me when I say those bunk bed mattresses are the worst; I couldn’t subject you to them.”
I nibble my lower lip, weighing my options. “Are you super sure?”
Colton’s lips quirk into a half smile as he draws an X over his heart. “Cross my heart.”
“All right,” I say on a yawn. “How long until dinner?”
“It’s three-thirty now, so an hour and a half.”
“There’s something about car rides that just zaps my energy.”
He nods like he knows what I mean.
“Would you—and your moms—mind if I went out to the porch swing and read for a bit?”
“Not one bit. I’m gonna go check on Cruz.”
I grab my Kindle and we head back downstairs together, going our separate ways at the bottom. I venture into the kitchen in search of a drink before heading outside.
The fragrant aroma of garlic hits me before I reach the kitchen. And sure enough, Kim is standing with her back to me, busy at work in front of the stove. Without ever taking her eyes off of her pan, she somehow knows it’s me.
“There’s lavender lemonade in the fridge, Ashley. Beer, too. Glasses are in the china cabinet.”
“Um, thank you,” I say, hoping my confusion doesn’t come across as rudeness.
“You’re quite welcome.”
Lavender lemonade in one hand and my Kindle in the other, I make my way out to the porch swing.
I admire the sunset as I sip my drink before diving head first back into my latest read—a ridiculously hilarious romantic comedy about a divorced couple remarrying Vegas style after a night of drinking. I’m still at the start of the book, and the heroine, Nya, has just woken up the morning after, clad in tulle with a new shiny rock on her finger.
Her panic is almost palpable as she pieces it all together. And her banter with her hot-as-sin ex-husband has me grinning like a loon. Before I know it, the sun has dipped low enough to kiss the water and dinner is ready.
29
Colton
Dinner is both torture and rapture. Mama K went all out for dinner and made her famous sticky ribs with garlic mac-n-cheese and homemade fries.
But with every bite, Ashley makes these happy little moans. And don’t even get me started on the finger licking. Goddamn, the finger licking. If I have to watch her suck the barbecue sauce from her fingers one more time, I won’t be held responsible for my actions.
She’s a temptress of the highest order. Everything the woman does screams of sex. And she doesn’t even mean to do it. I feel like I’m on the verge of madness.
Which is why I’m pointedly ignoring her, giving all of my focus to Mama Mel and Cruz while Ashley chats up Mama K. Or trying to ignore her anyway.
“Will I see a shark?” Cruz asks excitedly, drawing my attention back to him.
“At the beach?” Mama Mel chortles. “I hope not.”
“Oh.” My son pouts down at his plate. “What about an octopus?”
“Probably not, bud.” He looks crushed, and I hate it.
“But I know where you can see them,” I rush to add.
“Where? Can we go?” His excitement pinches at my heart.
“The aquarium. I’m sure we can find one within driving distance.”
Mama K claps excitedly, getting everyone’s attention. “You’re in luck, boy. They just opened one up not too far from here, in Bay Ridge.”
Ashley’s eyes light up. “My best friend lives there. We planned on making a trip to see her.”
“There ya go,” Mama Mel says before turning back to Cruz. “How would you feel about building a pillow fort in your room after dinner?”
“I’ve never built a fort before.” He looks to me for my approval, and I nod. “Let’s do it!”
Once everyone is stuffed, Ashley offers to do the dishes, but Mama K politely tells her guests don’t do housework. Ashley tries to argue, but Mama K is a force to be reckoned with and shuts her down.
“Why don’t you kids take a walk or watch a movie—the night is young.”
I look to Ashley, silently asking her what she’d like to do.
“A walk sounds nice.”
“Perfect,” Mama K says, sounding far too excited. “Y’all take a little moonlight stroll, and we’ll see y’all in the morning. Breakfast is at eight. Be here or be hungry.”
I wait on the porch, enjoying the balmy night air, while Ashley runs upstairs for her sweater. I was a little anxious about bringing her here, about having her meet my mothers, but it was wasted worry.
I can’t deny the sense of rightness thrumming through me right now. Mama K and Mama Mel took an instant liking to her—just like Cruz did. It seems as though I’m the only one who wasn’t roped in at first sight.
But that’s not really true. As much as I denied it, I was completely enraptured by her smooth skin and green eyes. I fought my attraction to her pouty lips and sharp tongue, tooth and nail. I told her, myself, and anyone that would listen that she wasn’t my type. Which is true—I’ve always gone for docile and petite women—arm candy, if you will.
But Ashley…she has a fire to her, and as much I keep fighting it, I kind of like the burn.
“You ready?” Ashley asks from behind, causing me to snap to attention.
I tip my head toward the beach and start walking. We leave our shoes at the bottom of the dunes and head to the shoreline.
“How often do you visit?”
A sigh escapes my lips as I press them into a thin line. “Not often enough. Though, I suppose Cruz will change that.”
Ashley kicks at the water, sending droplets into the air. “That’s good. He nee
ds people who love him in his life.”
I grunt noncommittally, even though she’s right.
“You’re a good dad, you know that, right?”
“Am I? Some days I don’t know. This has been a lot of catch-up, all very fast.”
She grabs my hand and stops suddenly. “Look at me.” She pulls me toward her and I spin to face her, struck by how absolutely gorgeous she looks in the moonlight. “You are exactly what he needed. You stepped up to the plate when a lot of men wouldn’t have. You’re kind and caring and compassionate, and patient with him. You make him feel safe and show him every day how much you love him. Cut yourself some slack, Colton, because as far as I can see, you’re rocking the dad thing.”
“Thanks.” My voice is stiff even to my own ears. “I appreciate it.”
“You’re so uptight,” Ashley says with a shake of her head, her laughter cutting through the night air like music made only for me.
Even as she laughs at my expense, I find myself wanting nothing more than to kiss her.
“I’m not that uptight,” I defend, turning slightly away from her to look out at the calm water.
“Oh, yeah? Have you ever skinny dipped?”
I whip my head around to look at her, only to find her shirt discarded at her feet and her hands on the clasp of her bra. “What are you doing?” I hiss.
She lets her bra drop, revealing her perky B-cups to me. They’re high and firm on her chest, a perfect handful.
“Ashley!” Her name leaves my lips in an urgent plea. Though, I’m not sure if I’m trying to get her to stop taking her clothes off or if I’m begging her to remove them faster.
“Colton,” she says my name back with a teasing lilt as she shimmies out of her shorts and panties and takes off into the water. “Are you coming? The water feels great!”
I watch, with a small smile on my lips, as she splashes and frolics in the water without a care in the world. And then, against all better judgment, I strip down and run in after her.
