"I think they’ll like that idea. They want you to be happy, but they'd also like for you to be close,” I said, feeling some relief that he was staying here. Not that I wouldn’t go with him, but I knew that despite his desire to be independent, his family was important to him.
"There's one other idea that I had." He stopped and pulled me until we were facing each other. "I’ll need someone who is smart and organized, and assertive to work with me."
For a moment, I just stared at him as I wasn’t sure what he meant. “Do you think it’s a good idea for me to work for you?” I loved the idea of working with him and at the same time, knowing how volatile we could be, I wasn’t sure it was wise.
"I don't want you as an assistant. I want you to be my partner. I know that will clash sometimes, but I know that together you and I are greater than the sum of our parts, at least when it comes to business."
“Partner? As in part owner?” I couldn’t hardly breathe, shocked that he’d want to share his dream with me.
He nodded, his expression uncertain as I felt. “Yes. But, of course, if your answer is no, I'm okay with that too. It won’t change what we have now. At least I hope it won’t."
“I’m just surprised.”
“Well, if you find that surprising, I'm not quite sure what you think of my next idea." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring that glittered under the light of the moon. "I don't want you just as a partner in business Andi. I want you to be my partner in life too."
I gasped as I looked at the ring, and then into Noah’s handsome face. “Noah."
"Maybe it's too soon and you'll need more time to decide, which I'm okay with. I just wanted you to know that you’re the one—"
"Yes."
He looked at me like he wasn’t sure he heard me. "Yes?"
I nodded and then threw my arms around him. "Yes, I'll be your partner in life and in business. "
I'd been very happy since the moment Noah and I had worked things out and made the decision to see where this relationship would go. But in this moment, the happiness that filled me was beyond anything I could ever remember feeling.
He slid the ring on my finger and pulled me to him, giving me a thorough kiss.
When he pulled back, he looked into my eyes. "It took us a little while, but we finally got here."
I cocked my head trying to understand what he meant.
"That day when I rode up on my bike and we went for a ride, this was where I wanted to take us. At least it was one of the places. This is one of my favorite beaches and over there,” He pointed towards the little beach bungalow. "I own that place. I've always wanted to bring you here."
My heart was so full I couldn’t imagine how it was still in my chest. "I guess it did take us a little while to get her, but I'm so happy that we finally arrived."
He scooped me up and started carrying me toward the little house. “How about we go consummate this engagement."
"You always were so smart,” I said to him laughing.
He laughed too.
For three years I’d loved and loathed this man. Now I understood him and was ready to share my life with him. I wondered if Margaret had known this could happen, maybe even wanted it to happen, when she insisted that I go with him to Hong Kong? However, it came to pass, I was so happy to be here.
He carried me into the bungalow and to the bedroom with a window overlooking the ocean. “We could live here, if you wanted. I know it’s small but—”
“I want to live wherever you are,” I said, pulling him down until his hard, strong body was pressing me into the mattress. “From now on, Noah, consider me on the back of your bike, holding on to you as we ride off into the adventure of life.”
His smile was radiant. “I love you, Andi. I fucking always have.”
I ran my fingers over his handsome face. “Prove it.”
With a wicked gleam in his eyes, he used his hands and mouth to prove his love for me and I did the same to him.
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Description
Most girls would kill to carry his baby.
Charles Hampton… the billionaire heartthrob that I had to dump seven years ago.
My plan, right before I ran away from him, was pretty simple.
Get over the rich dude and his snooty family that would never accept me.
Care for my mother who was diagnosed with terminal illness.
Forget that anything had changed.
But no, life threw a curveball and the only way around it was to be a surrogate for Charles.
The man that I’d fallen for seven years ago.
The man that I’d tried to forget ever since.
He offered me a million bucks to carry his baby.
The same money that I’d use for my mother’s treatment.
I didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter.
His only catch?
I’d have to live with him until the baby is born.
My only wish?
We couldn’t fall in love again.
But what if we’d never fallen out of love in the first place?
Prologue
Brenna: Seven Years Ago
I squinted looking out at the beach. Red shorts, white t-shirt; where was he?
He was pretty hard to miss, to be honest, but maybe I just always knew where he was because I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
There he was. Lifeguard tower. Red shorts and white t-shirt. Tall and athletic, muscular. Blue eyes that put the water in the bay to shame. Perfect tan that set off that blond hair which had lightened up over the weeks that we’d been here together. Okay, so together was kind of an overstatement. We just happened to be here at the same time. We weren’t together together. Not like that.
The beach was packed. Summer was coming to a close and people were soaking up the last of their vacation. I came out to the front of the shack to restock the ice cream cooler. They went the fastest and today was a scorcher. I felt the sweat start to bead around my hairline and the back of my neck. Inside the shack, at least I was in the shade but it was hot as balls in there. I had a little portable fan that I rigged up to blow cool air in my face. Wages at the Dana Point Beach Snack Shack were nothing to write home about but it was an honest pay and I needed the money. I had worked throughout high school anyway, a job over my last summer before college didn’t scare me. There were worse places I could be and really, stuck here at Dana Point Beach with the world’s most desirable lifeguard had been kind of fun.
“Are you gonna save me one of those?” I heard someone say behind me. Butterflies, instantly. I felt myself smile. That voice was unmistakable. He had an accent. Like East Coast but mixed with British or something. So hot. I asked him one time and he kind of shrugged it off, saying his mother was British and he had spent time both here and there while growing up.
“That depends, are you gonna pay for it?” I asked, turning around.
“Don’t I get a discount for being a fellow beach w
orker?”
I laughed, going back into the shack. He leaned on the counter. “It’s gotta be hot in there.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” I said, plucking my hair off the back of my neck so the air of the fan could hit it.
“When are you going to take a break and have a dip?”
“I’m not a good swimmer,” I said.
“That’s what I’m here for,” he said, grinning. “I can teach you.” Charlie Hampton, shirtless, glistening in the water was something I would never say no to seeing. Too bad I actually had to work today.
“You’ve never seen me in the water. You’d have your work cut out for you,” I said.
He laughed at my lame joke. “Are you going to be at the bonfire tonight?”
I was looking down, messing with the display so I didn’t have to look at him. I wanted to squeal. I had wanted to go to the bonfire but nobody had asked me and I felt awkward about going alone. The crowd here was older than I was by a couple of years, some in college already. It had been a little difficult to make friends, on top of the fact that I was working most of the time anyway. I tried not to look or sound too excited.
“I was thinking about it.” I added a shrug to look like it didn’t really matter to me whether I went or not.
“You should. I hope I see you there. The summer’s basically over. It would be nice to have fun with everyone before we all go our separate ways,” he said. He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t know but it still hurt a little. We had been flirting the whole time that we were here, with the knowledge that it wouldn’t be anything but a summer fling but it still stung a little that it was going to be over soon. Might as well make the most of it.
“I guess I will then,” I said. He grinned at me and it was exactly what I needed. He was the cutest guy here and he wanted to talk to me. He wanted to spend time with me. He wanted to be at the bonfire with me. We chatted a little more before he had to go back to the beach.
That night, I took my time getting ready. I took a shower and dried my hair so it wouldn’t frizz out. My motivation from that afternoon had already subsided. I knew that Charlie wanted me there but that meant actually going. What if he wasn’t there yet? I hadn’t managed to get close to anyone else. Maybe I’d just go for a little bit and leave; just see whether he was there or not and if he wasn’t then I’d leave.
It wasn’t cold that night. I had on some shorts and a thin, kind of worn hoodie. I walked down to the beach, scanning the crowd of people that was already gathered around it. Some people were close to the fire, roasting marshmallows. One guy had a guitar out and was plucking a few notes. The buzz of conversation hung in the air. Most everyone was holding a sweating beer can or bottle. Perfect. I didn’t drink.
I couldn’t see Charlie. I was just about to turn around and leave when he appeared, walking right for me. I stopped and smiled.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi.”
“I was starting to think you decided to ditch me,” he said. He handed me something, a can wrapped in a beer koozie. I raised my eyebrows.
“Thanks but you know I don’t drink,” I said.
“I know.” He popped the tab and handed it to me. I took a sip. It was Coke. He remembered. At least I wouldn’t stand out drinking a soda while everyone else had alcohol. We sat down and watched the fire for a while, chatting. It was nice. I was glad that I came. He asked after about twenty minutes whether I wanted to take a walk.
We took off together down the beach. I don’t know whether he slowed down to match my pace or if I changed mine to match his but we were walking in perfect sync, shoulders bumping once every couple steps, arms brushing once in a while. Hold my hand, I thought. I blushed, thankful that it was dark enough that he couldn’t see it. I was giddy. Walking down the beach with this guy, I couldn’t stop thinking about how close we were. How alone we were.
“You okay?” I heard him ask.
“Huh? Yeah. I’m okay.”
“Cold?”
“No, no,” I said. There was a breeze coming off the ocean but it wasn’t cold. It was him. He made me nervous. We walked a little more in silence.
“Can I tell you something?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
He dug his hands into his pockets. “I like you a lot, Brenna. These weeks we’ve been here together.” he paused and laughed a little.
“What about the weeks that we’ve been here together?” my voice was so quiet, I barely heard myself.
“I’ve been thinking about getting closer to you this entire time. Since we met if I’m being honest.”
My heart started slamming against my ribcage. Yes, be honest. Honest Charlie was my favorite one at this point.
“I” I had to pause to clear my throat. “I feel the same way,” I said.
“Do you?”
“Let’s just say I like the way you look in your swim shorts,” I said. I cringed but he laughed. It didn’t sound quite so pervy in my mind but he didn’t seem to take it the wrong way. I felt his hand on my arm, stopping me. I turned, looking up at his face in the dark. He faced the direction of the bonfire so some of the light was illuminating his face in this ghostly, almost angelic way. The hand that was on my arm came up to my jaw and his other one joined it on the other side of my face.
Our lips met. It was soft and gentle but it was him. Charlie was kissing me. I was stuck for a few seconds; I couldn’t believe what was happening. I felt him pull away. He looked at me, his blue eyes wide and worried like he had done something wrong. I pulled him back in and we kissed again. I felt some of the tension leave his body. The kiss got deeper. One of his hands went to the back of my neck and the other one grabbed my waist, not so gentle anymore.
Thank god we were alone.
He pulled away again. My lips tingled. “What?” I asked him.
“No, nothing,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “I just… you wanna get out of here? Go back to my place?”
“Yes.” He grinned which made me grin too. I wasn’t drunk. This was what I wanted. We were alone but there was only so much that could happen on the beach.
“Come on.” He took my hand and we went up the beach further in the direction that we had been walking. I saw some lights ahead on the back of a house that had steps from a patio down to the beach.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Just up there,” he said, pointing at the house that I was looking at. Woah. Was that where he was staying? I let him lead me up the stairs to the patio and unlock the door.
“Oh my god,” I said when he turned the light on. We were standing in a huge open plan living, kitchen and dining room. There were floor to ceiling windows so you could see right out to the beach when you were inside. The couches and furnishings were classic white and tan with nautical kitsch here and there for décor. The television on the wall had to be at least sixty inches. “This is nice,” I said.
“Thanks. It’s a relative’s place, I’ve been staying with them this summer. You want something? Water? Soda?” he asked. I flopped down onto one of the couches.
“Nope.”
He sat down next to me. “No?”
I shook my head and turned to face him, sitting on the couch. He cupped my face and leaned in to kiss me again. I leaned into him, pressing my chest into his. He groaned. I let my hands run down his body and pulled his shirt up. We parted and he took it off. He grabbed my waist but then he froze.
“What?” I asked.
“We should stop,” he said.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. I want to. I really want to but I don’t want to pressure you.”
“You’re not,” I insisted. I saw him swallow and look down at me. He didn’t believe me. I had to do something. “Do you have condoms?”
“Upstairs.”
“Let’s go upstairs then,” I said. This was it, the moment when we either went upstairs or he turned me down. Him saying no to me would feel like a punch in th
e gut but even if he did, nobody could say I didn’t put myself out there. I felt my heart pick up again, waiting for his response.
“Come on,” he said. He got up and offered me a hand. I took it. He picked his shirt up off the ground and we went up the stairs. We walked into a high-ceilinged bedroom with similar décor to the living room, only with a massive bed in the middle of it. Charlie told me to wait there while he walked through a door that I assumed was the bathroom. I sat on the bed. On the wall above it was a huge, mounted marlin. I wondered if it was real. I was about to ask him whether it was when he walked out of the bathroom with a small box in his hands. He was unwrapping it which meant he hadn’t used any while he was here… or he had gone through countless boxes already and this was a new one. He took a condom out and put it on the bedside table before joining me on the bed. We stretched out, him on top of me.
He started pulling my hoodie off. I arched my back then raised my shoulders off the bed so he could get it off of me. It was a warm night so all I had on underneath was my bra. He stopped, looking down at my chest. I felt a little proud that I had that effect on him. I had never been naked with a guy before. I started wiggling out of my shorts and he helped me, pulling them off. He brought his hands to the waistband of my underwear, then stopped and looked up at me. I nodded. He pulled them off. I leaned on my elbows so I could unhook my bra and took it off.
“Jesus Christ, Brenna,” he said. I felt hot all over. I loved that he liked the way I looked. I was curvy, had been since puberty. It wasn’t every guy who was into that. He was kneeling between my spread legs. He stood briefly and pulled his shirt and underwear off. I swallowed looking at him. He was perfect. Every inch of him was solid muscle. Between his legs, his cock was already stiffening. I had never seen one in real life. Not on a guy that I was about to have sex with.
Hate to Love You Strong Brothers #4) Page 21
