by Ali Parker
Cooper slapped my ass. “On your feet, princess. We’re taking this party upstairs.”
A smile pulled at my lips as he grabbed my upper arm and hauled me off the couch.
CHAPTER 14
COOPER
I glanced at the time on my watch. Nearly eight o’clock.
Things would be well underway at the far end of the beach, about a mile walk across the sand. If we left now, we’d be there at the perfect time, but Piper was taking her sweet-ass time getting ready.
I marched up the stairs to her bedroom door and knocked. “Woman! It’s a beach party, not a cocktail party. What the hell is taking you so long in there?”
“Five more minutes!”
“Make it two.”
“Kiss my ass, Cooper. I said five.”
Unable to stop myself from smiling, I conceded. “I’ll meet you out by the pool. But hurry up. I’m starving.”
“You’re always starving.”
“Sue me,” I said, but there was no malice in my words, just humor.
Piper and I had spent the previous night well. And by well, I meant we spent it hot and sweaty and tangled up in each other, and I’d worked her over.
Hard.
I could still hear her soft moans, feel her nails pressing into my back, smell her shampoo and perfume and—
“Should I bring anything?” Piper called through the door.
I rolled my eyes. “Just your sexy ass and a pair of comfortable shoes. Pool. Two minutes.”
Lingering at the door only left room for her to delay further, so I left and hurried down the stairs to go outside and stand by the edge of the pool. Patience was not my strong suit. Never had been.
Growing up as a Rockefeller meant I got what I wanted, when I wanted it.
I smirked to myself. Being a Diaz wasn’t much different. I knew the body and the money were the catalysts of my indulgent lifestyle, and that was fine by me. It was still on my own terms.
But things were different with Piper. This was a strange place for me, spending the next day with the same woman I’d bedded the night before. I was used to having women dash off of their own volition or having to push them out the front door at the crack of dawn.
I wasn’t relationship material. I was the opposite. I was the guy fathers hated to think of their daughters falling for.
Which, of course, meant daughters fell for me all the time.
But Piper was different than the girls of my past, and that unsettled me. I wanted to spend time with her today, and I’d spent the entire day looking forward to the party this evening.
Having her on my arm when we arrived was going to turn some heads to be sure, but I never shied away from a little extra attention. I thrived on it. Piper wasn’t keen on being the girl at the party everyone wanted to talk to, but I was going to stick to my word and stay with her all night.
Unless I was getting us drinks. Or taking a piss. Other than that, I’d be on her like glue.
And then, I’d do the same when I got her back to my place and stripped her out of whatever outfit was taking her so fucking long to put together.
Five minutes passed, and I was considering marching back up the stairs to drag Piper out of her room and to the party in whatever state she was in. Then she came through the sliding glass door and stepped onto the patio.
She was well worth the wait.
She’d put on a little yellow sundress with lace around the hem. Her gold sandals were flat and sparkly and complemented the outfit nicely. Her hair was braided off her shoulder, but a few pieces hung around her face. My attention was instantly drawn to her full glossy lips.
“Sorry I took so long,” she said.
“Don’t be.”
Piper smiled and batted her long dark lashes at me. “Are we going, or what?”
We made our way down to the beach and walked on the hardpacked sand along the edge of the water. Piper carried her shoes in one hand so she could put her feet in the ocean, and she didn’t pull away when I took hold of her free hand. Instead, she offered me a warm smile.
I found myself smiling back. What the fuck was happening to me?
This wasn’t part of my MO. Not even close.
But damn it all to hell, for once in my life, I didn’t want to be the guy who gave the girl a hard time. I wanted to be the guy she smiled at the way Piper had just smiled at me.
“So, who’s all going to be at this thing?” Piper asked when we’d put about a quarter mile behind us.
“Mitch and Luke will be there.”
“No Davis?”
I shook my head. “Not that I’m aware of. Aside from that, it’ll mostly be locals. There are always tourists that show up on the arms of locals, of course. People staying at the resorts and what not who want a real taste of island life.”
“Of course,” Piper said, nodding. The right strap of her dress slid down her shoulder. I put it back into place for her. Her skin was hot from spending all day in the sun. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“So you know a lot of these locals who will be at the party?”
“Probably all of them.”
She blinked dubiously at me. “Oh. Well, that’s not intimidating at all.”
I chuckled. “Don’t be nervous. This is island life. Everyone here is pretty chill. And tonight is a really relaxed vibe. Everyone just wants to dance and have a couple drinks and eat good food.”
“That’s my definition of a perfect evening.”
“Mine too.”
She squeezed my hand before nodding down the beach. “Is that it there?”
I followed her gaze to the end of the beach, where the party had already begun. The only sources of light were that of the bonfire and the six or so food trucks scattered across the beach. Their open doors shone bright light onto the sand, where people lined up to order food while others clustered around coolers full of drinks.
Piper swallowed beside me. “There are a lot of people.”
“The turnout is usually two hundred or so.”
“Damn.”
“You’ll be fine. Trust me. Besides, you’re showing up with me. You’ll be a sensation within fifteen minutes.”
“That doesn’t make me feel better.”
I flashed her a devilish smile. “Good. That’s not what I was trying to do. Put your big girl panties on, babe. We’re going in.”
Piper didn’t let go of my hand as we finished our walk down the beach and left the hardpacked sand in favor of the soft stuff, where the party was underway. A group of people were clustered near the bonfire, strumming guitars and playing bongo drums. One guy was blowing into a harmonica, which was a new but pleasant addition to the music on the beach, and a young woman was singing upbeat melodies to accompany the tune.
Piper gazed around in awe of the place. “Okay. I didn’t expect it to be so cool.”
I clapped my hands together. “All right. It’s pretty chill. Anything in the coolers is up for grabs. There’s a pop-up bar over there. See the white truck?” I pointed to the truck I was talking about, and Piper nodded. “That’s where you can order cocktails. If you go up and order on your own, tell the guy you’re with me. He won’t charge you.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because I bought him that truck.”
“Oh,” Piper said. Then she smiled. “Okay. When do we get to swim?”
“Later. Far later. When the bonfire is almost out.”
“Why so late?”
I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Because nobody wears their clothes.”
Piper gasped. “Cooper! I’m not skinny dipping with a bunch of strangers!”
“Why not? That body of yours is banging. Why not show it off a little?”
She rolled her shoulders. “Absolutely not.”
“I think you need a drink. Or three.”
She shot me a look out of the corner of her eyes but followed me farther up the beach to the white truck I’d pointed out moments earlier. Th
e bartender and owner of the truck was named Gordon, but he only answered to Gordie, which suited him better anyway.
Gordie had moved to Nassau after suffering a mental breakdown from working in a corporate sales job for too many years and not taking enough vacation time. I’d stumbled upon him here on this beach three years ago, and the two of us had sat in the sand and watched the sun go down. He’d told me about how he’d bought a one-way ticket to the first tropical destination a flight was available for. When I asked how long he was staying, he’d very calmly said, “Forever.”
It made sense to me. Nassau was the most magnificent place on earth. I had no intention of ever leaving either.
But he needed help getting on his feet. He wanted something casual, and when he attended his first food truck party on the beach, he commented that all that was missing was a bar on wheels. So I bought him his wheels, funded his licensing, and made it happen.
Some people might say it was out of the goodness of my own heart, but in reality, I just really liked the idea of there being a bar at these monthly gatherings.
Gordie appeared at the window on the side of his truck, wearing a big smile and the same red bandana he always had tied around his forehead to keep the sweat out of his eyes. It got hot doing this gig.
He turned his smile from me to Piper and then licked his lips. “Good evening, Coop. Who’s this you have with you?”
“This is Piper,” I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Piper, this is Gordie. A local attraction.”
Gordie reached through the window to shake Piper’s hand. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, miss. Can I get you a drink? Anything you want. On me.”
Piper scanned the menu—correction, she scanned the list of available drinks Gordie had scrawled in a list on the side of his truck in black sharpie. He reapplied the list every few days as the sun faded the ink. She pursed her lips and then pointed at one near the bottom. “A Bahama Mama please.”
“You got it,” Gordie said. “And you, Coop?”
“The usual.”
Gordie set to work in his truck, and Piper and I put our backs to it to look out across the beach. Her eyes went to the water, and I was about to tease her some more about skinny dipping, but the words died on my lips.
Three men around my age were walking up the beach from the water. There were beer cans in their hands, and they walked with a slight swagger in their step.
I put an arm around Piper’s waist and leaned in close. “You see those three guys coming up the beach?”
“Uh huh.”
“Stay away from them.”
She looked at me. “Are you worried they might be competition for you?”
If she was talking about any other guys, I might have laughed at her jab. “No, but I’m serious, Piper. They’re bad guys. They have their hands in a lot of wealthy pockets, and they’re involved in the local drug ring. They’re not usually at these kinds of things. Just keep your distance. Please?”
Piper’s eyes wandered back to the three men, who were playfully shoving each other. The people around them gave the trio a wide berth.
“Okay,” she said softly. “I’ll stay away from them.”
CHAPTER 15
PIPER
“Drinks up,” Gordie called from over my shoulder.
Cooper and I turned to collect our drinks from the bartender. He waved us off and out of the way for the next customers, who stepped forward with eager smiles and bubbly laughs. Cooper took my hand and pulled me off to the right, toward the bonfire and away from the men coming up the beach he’d warned me to stay away from.
My eyes kept wandering over to the three men as Cooper led me to the fire.
From looking at them, you would never think they were trouble. In fact, they looked pretty harmless. They were laughing obnoxiously and stumbling around, but that was obviously due to one too many drinks, and they weren’t alone in that aspect. Tons of people had already consumed a lot of alcohol. Raised voices and wild laughter rang across the sand, signaling a night well underway.
Nothing about them looked intimidating. Each of them wore swim trunks and loose button-up shorts. They were barefoot, and so was almost everyone else on the beach. The beers in their hands were clenched like vise grips, and some of it sloshed over the sand whenever they stumbled.
I imagined if I was here with Janie and we were single, we wouldn’t have turned our backs if the three approached us.
They were handsome. All three of them.
Their smiles were broad and white, their skin tanned from life in Nassau, and their bodies? Well, let’s just say Cooper had a little bit of competition on this beach.
“Piper.” Cooper’s voice pulled my attention back to him.
His eyes practically bored holes into me, and I blinked innocently. “What?”
“I want you to meet some people.”
Relieved he wasn’t going to give me shit for staring at the guys, I smiled, and he stepped aside to gesture at a young woman and man sitting on a piece of driftwood near the fire. She smiled up at me and got to her feet to extend her hand. “Hi, Piper. My name is Max. This is my brother, Drew.”
“Hi,” I said, shaking her hand. She had a tight grip that matched her appearance.
Max was a stocky girl with broad shoulders and a boxy frame. She looked like she might have been a fighter or a swimmer, or maybe both. Her blonde hair was cut in a short pixie cut, shaved in the back and longer on top. It was messy from her constantly raking her fingers through it.
Drew, her male counterpart who looked almost identical to Max, except for the six inches of height he had on her, also stood to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you, Piper.”
“You too,” I said, feeling a little relieved to at least know the names of someone at this party other than Cooper.
Max dropped back into her seat and patted the wood beside her. “Care to sit?”
I sat beside her. Cooper swung around my other side and started chatting with Drew, who stayed on his feet.
Max nudged me with her shoulder like we were long-lost best friends. “So, how’s the month going?”
I shrugged. “It’s going.”
She cracked a wry grin. “I’ll be honest with you. I was pretty shocked when Coop told us what was going down this month. This isn’t exactly his speed, you know?”
“One woman?” I laughed. “Yeah, I picked up on that.”
“I’m sorry you’re stuck with him all month. He can be an absolute shithead sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
Max chuckled. “Yes, sometimes. The other times, he can be a very stand-up guy. Unfortunately, there just aren’t many opportunities for you to see that side of him when he’s constantly partying and, well, walking around with his chest puffed out.”
I looked up at Cooper and thought of our night together last night. My skin prickled with heat, and I cleared my throat before averting my gaze. “He’s like a peacock, isn’t he?”
“Very much so,” Max mused, bracing herself with her hands planted on the wood behind her. She tipped her head back to gaze up at the stars. “But he walked in here holding your hand. I’ve never seen that before.”
“Seen him holding someone’s hand?” I asked suspiciously.
“Yep.”
“How is that possible?”
“Beats me. Come on. Drink that drink. I’ll get Gordie to make you something better than that fruit punch.”
* * *
Cooper put a hand in the small of my back as Max and I danced near the fire. It was well into the evening, and the drinks she’d been having Gordie make for me made me feel amazing. They were just a little stronger—nothing risky about them according to Cooper—but she knew how to have a good time and spread them out over the evening for the best kind of buzz.
The sand between my toes had cooled over the course of the evening, and the stars twinkled overhead. I ached to go in the ocean. To put my feet in the water.
“How are you doing?” Co
oper asked.
I turned and smiled up at him. God, he was so sexy. That crooked yet concerned little smile of his made my heart flutter. I pressed my hands to his chest. “I’m doing great. Max is awesome. And these drinks are awesome. And this party is—”
“Let me guess. Awesome?”
I grinned. “Yeah.”
Cooper chuckled. “I’m glad you’re having fun. Maybe we should press pause on the drinks? I’m going to grab you a bottle of water.”
My mouth was suddenly parched at the mention of water. “Oh. Yes please!”
Max, who’d been dancing with her back to the fire, spun on the spot to face us. “I’m coming with, Coop. Don’t go too far, Piper. I’m not done with you yet.”
I flashed her a smile, and Cooper shook his head at Max as she hurried up the sand to Gordie’s truck.
“I like her,” I said.
Cooper laughed. “Of course you do. Everyone likes Max. And Max likes everyone. Especially you. You’re the apple of her eye tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s into you, Piper.”
“Oh,” I said, a little surprised.
“You weren’t picking up on what she was laying down?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I thought we were just dancing.”
“You were,” Cooper said simply. “She won’t act on anything. She knows you’re with me. But she can enjoy your company. And hey, if you decide you want to try something new tonight…”
“Very funny,” I said sharply. He rewarded me with a smile that made my knees feel rubbery. I looked over his shoulder at the ocean. It seemed to glitter under the stars as the gentle waves kissed the beach. I bit my bottom lip. “Meet me down at the water. I want to put my feet in.”
Cooper cast a glance over his shoulder to the shore. “All right. I’ll be right there. Don’t go in, okay?”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re drunk.”
