by Kaci Rose
I know she's right. We read books and are both hopeless romantics, but at the same time, Brynn is a realist. She refuses to let anyone break her heart again, or mine.
"You're getting attached, aren't you?" she asks as she studies my face.
"The truth is, yeah, I am. I like having him around. I like working side by side with him. I love the sex. I’ll miss him when he's gone, but that's on me. I think even without the fake relationship, I'd miss him. I consider him a friend. He's fun to be around and nothing like we thought he would be." I admit and try to be honest.
Brynn sighs. "You tell yourself that. Just remember the day he leaves town, I will have whiskey and donuts in here with sappy movies, and we can spend a day getting drunk before the season starts, and you are overrun by people wanting the Kade Markson experience. Speaking of which." She forks more lasagna into her mouth and takes a minute to chew.
"We should make a list of all the places you two have gone. Fans will want to retrace his steps." She gets up and gets a pen and paper. "Okay, hit me with them."
"Okay, well, Arch rock. The locals-only cove, so don't put that on there. The beach here at Sunrise. The bakery for donuts, the pier at sunset, Jasper's restaurant, we walked Main Street, he went to the pharmacy with me, the grocery store, here at Sunset, and the newspaper." I list them off.
"Okay, we should get a picture of you two at the table in the dining room, and we can put the photo up and name it the Kade Markson table. I bet we have a massive reservation list for it." Brynn giggles.
"Great," I say and fight rolling my eyes.
"Now on to your, little miss ‘I'll hang out in the kitchen.' Spill it."
"I'm trying to figure out Jasper. His mom made him help out in the kitchen, I know it, but he could have said no. He could have sent one of the guys from his kitchen over, but he came himself. He's hot and flirting one minute, then cold and brooding the next. I feel like I need to watch him, but at the same time, I don't want to be around him."
"Sounds like you need the wine tonight as much as I do," I tell her. "Okay, before we get too drunk, let's go for a walk on the beach and watch the sunset. It will be one of the last chances to do it without tourists until fall."
"Okay," Brynn agrees.
We finish our lasagna, polish off our first glass of wine, and then head down to the beach. Arm in arm, we walk along the water's edge.
"I swear it’s like he has radar on you," Brynn mumbles.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"Kade. He's on his balcony watching you," she whispers as though he can hear us from up there.
I look, and sure enough, there he is. I wave, and he waves back.
"How do you know he's not out here watching the sunset like we are?" I ask her.
"Because his eyes are on you, not the sunset. What did he say when you told him you were spending the evening with me?"
I smile. "He practically kicked me out the door. He said it's rare to have people in your life you can trust like I trust you and to never take you for granted." I rest my head on her shoulder.
"Damn. He's perfect. Think we can handcuff him to the bed and keep him forever?" she jokes.
"I wish. I'd keep him for the sex alone. Holy hell, you don't realize how long it's been since you got some until you get some." I shake my head.
I stop to pick up a shark's tooth, then turn to Brynn. "Maybe hooking up with Jasper will solve both your problems. You need to get it out of your system. He's hurting; you need to get laid. You've slept together before, so why not?"
"Are you crazy?!" She shrieks so loud birds take off flying from the grass.
"Shh," I tell her as I burst into a fit of giggles.
"You have done lost your mind. I'm cutting you off. I don't even want to know what will spill from your mouth with another glass of wine." She shakes her head as we turn back toward her room.
"Think about it. You can have angry, I hate you sex. Isn't that as good, as against the wall sex?" I laugh.
She grunts and changes the subject, and I decide to let it go. "As soon as the bridge is fixed, the guy will be here to install the new sales system," she says.
"Any news on the bridge?"
"They have cleaned it up and basically torn it all down to start over. There is something about the piling in the water and attaching to them, and I have no idea. All the technical stuff makes me zone out, but they say it should be any day now."
I nod and hate the feeling in my gut. As soon as the bridge is ready, Kade will leave. That has always been the plan, and I don't think it will change just because we are having sex. I'm not naïve enough to think that. I do want our time to last a bit longer, so I can only hope for a few delays.
"Hey, him going will be a good thing, Lin. You can heal and get back on track before the season hits. This has always been the plan."
"I know. As I said, it would be hard to see him go, no matter what."
We head back to her room, but I check over my shoulder before stepping onto the porch, and Kade is still there on his balcony. From here, the light of the setting sun is just enough to see him nod. I smile and follow Brynn inside.
"Ugh, why do you let me drink like that?" I throw a pillow at Brynn when I wake up to the sun in my eyes. We polished off four large bottles of wine and a ton of sugar, and now I'm paying for it with a monster headache.
"Let you? I couldn't stop you if I tried." She throws the pillow back at me.
There is a knock on the door. "Go away. We're dying!" Brynn yells.
"Room service!" Kade's voice comes through the door.
We look at each other before I shove her off the bed to get the door since it's her room. When she opens the door, Kade is there with a tray of food and coffee.
"Figure you girls could use some food and coffee to ward off those headaches." He smiles his genuine smile, not the one that graces all the magazine covers. The one you only get to see if you get to know him.
"Lin, he brought tacos!" Brynn moans. "Can we keep him? Please? My handcuff offer is still on the table," she says as she takes her plate to the couch.
"Do I even want to know?" Kade asks as she brings me my plate and sits next to me on the bed.
"I'd watch her. She has a plan to handcuff you to the bed and use you as a sex slave," I warn him.
"So, you can use him a sex slave." Brynn's trying to correct me.
"Mmm, I remember it was you who wants to have him," I joke.
"You drank too much." She rolls her eyes and digs into her second taco.
"I like the second option," Kade whispers so only I can hear him, and he doesn't hide the fire in his eyes.
"I don't think I'd say no to it either," I joke.
When we are done eating, Kade takes me back to my room to get ready for the day.
"What's on the agenda today?" he asks.
"I need to sort through the applications to hire some more staff for the summer. There have been a lot more applications recently, though I can't imagine why." I roll my eyes.
Kade chuckles and shakes his head. "Think they’ll bail when they realize I'm not here?"
"Oh, I'm sure of it. People who have worked here in the past get first priority this summer. Hopefully, enough of them will come back that I will have very few to hire otherwise."
"Where do they stay while here for the summer?" he asks.
"John has a place he turned into a bunkhouse. Both Sunrise and Sunset summer employees stay there. If they sign on for the whole season, they get to stay rent-free. They work thirty hours a week to pay for the rent, then anything over that, they get paid per hour. Any tips they get are theirs. If they stay all summer, they get an end-of-summer bonus based on how many hours they work. If they don't sign on for the entire summer, then they pay for their bunk. Each week."
"It's kind of like a hostel?" he asks.
"Yeah, I guess. I've never been to one, but each room has six bunks. They share the living, kitchen, dining room, and three bathrooms, so yeah, I guess so."
"Is it cheaper the way you do it than to pay them per hour?"
“Yeah, we have a deal worked out with John. We pay a monthly fee, which is less than what they'd pay per week on their own. During the off-season, he rents the places out to groups who come on retreats to the island."
He helps me go through the applications, and it takes us until almost dinner with all the flirting and kissing.
I am definitely going to miss this. Working with Kade is just more fun.
Chapter 28
Kade
After spending the day helping Lin with the inn, I get to have dinner with her, then we come up to my room and cuddle. We will watch TV and just talk, and it's become my favorite part of the day. It almost always ends in sex and tires us both out.
Tonight is a night of talking. I'm lying on the bed, and she has her head on my shoulder and her body pressed to my side. I'm stroking her hair because she loves it, and in a weird way, it calms me.
"Tell me about your life in Hollywood. You always seem to avoid the topic," she says.
She's not wrong. I don't like talking about my life out there. Partly because it's so different and partly because I'm not happy with it, but also because I'm reminded I'll have to leave and go back eventually. Every day I want to go back less and less, and I struggle with that.
"Well, Hollywood is like nowhere else I've ever been. It's fast-paced and exciting. There is always something to do, something new to see, some new hot spot, some new hot club, or a new restaurant. Movie premiers and award shows happen almost nightly to some degree or another. It's easy to get lost in the crowd, which is nice sometimes."
I pause and focus on her hand rubbing my chest.
"Then there is the noise. No matter where you go in the city, you just can't get away from it. People talking, cars, horns, sirens, dogs barking, it's constant. Eventually, you get used to it. It takes you twice as long to get anywhere because there is always traffic and no way around it. I don't drive myself anymore. After my second big movie, I decided I had the money to hire a driver and relieve my stress. I guess it's why I was excited to have a rental car out here and be able to drive for fun. It also takes forever to get out of the city if you need a break."
"Sounds awful." She hums, and I nod my head, agreeing with her.
"Most of all, it's lonely. When you are no one, no one has the time of day for you, but honestly, I preferred it that way. I knew the people around me were there for me. Once you start making a name for yourself, you never know who is there for you or who is there for the ride to the top to make something of themselves. It's how I got the playboy title. I got tired of women using me for my money or to get their ride to fame, so I stopped doing relationships. I didn't sleep around near as much as the papers tried to make it sound like, but I didn't see a point in correcting them."
Until now. Until Linly. I want her to know that isn't me, to understand and believe me. I've never cared what people thought about me until her. She sees the best in me, and I don't want to lose that. I don't want her opinion of me to change or the way she looks at me. I don't think anyone has ever looked at me the way she does, like I'm just some normal guy off the street and can do anything.
"Now, I never know who I can trust. Even my so-called best friend. I love hanging out with him. Though he’s a cool guy, I don't think I can trust him either because he’s trying to break into the scene. He's always with me at the top events, always networking. I don't know anymore. Since the whole Gina thing, I wonder if my radar is all messed up."
"All that famous LA smog clouding it?" Lin giggles into my chest, making me smile.
"Something like that." I stare up at the ceiling.
"So, do something about it," she says, as if it's that simple.
"What can I do?"
She props herself up on her elbow and looks down at me with a huge smile on her face. "Set a trap."
"What?" I ask, confused as hell.
"So, this town is known for its gossip, right?"
I nod in agreement, and she continues, "Well, it's that way even in school. Brynn and I had each other’s back, but it was hard to know who else we could trust. So, when we'd start to make a new friend and later starting to date, we'd set a trap. We'd tell the person one thing that wasn't true but was juicy. Then we'd wait and see if it got around town. More often than not, it did. The only people who didn't run to the gossip mill?"
"Travis and Jasper?" I guess.
"Yep. Though a lot of good that did us. It's easier now. The long-term employees here are loyal to us and their paychecks. But as you see how few there are here with you, that's how few I trust not to spread rumors."
"So, I should tell him something that I tell no one else?" I say more to myself than to her, and I start to think, what could I tell him?
Then it hits me. Anything about Lin would be hot gossip right now. So, I grab my phone and shoot off a text saying how great Lin is and saying that I think I'm going to ask her to marry me and not to say anything to anyone just yet.
The Hollywood playboy at risk of settling down? That is just too big to pass up if he's looking for a quick payday. The fact that it's in the text is the proof he would need to sell the story.
"Done. If he's a friend, I will know by tomorrow. If not, it will be tomorrow's big news," I tell her.
"Well, now try to let it go. There isn't anything you can do about it until tomorrow," she says and kisses the center of my chest.
"Easier said than done." I sigh.
She giggles. "I can think of a way to distract you." She slings a leg over my hips as she sits up and rocks against my semi-hard cock, which in no time at all is now rock hard.
She has the cutest shy smile on her face as she bites her lips like she thinks I don't want her or that I'm going to push her away. This girl is going to be my undoing.
In a swift move, I grab her hips and flip her back over so I'm on top of her.
"I think this might be the best distraction," I say, and work on removing her clothes and mine.
"Mmm, I couldn't agree more." Her eyes sweep down my chest to my hard cock. Reaching out, she takes me in her hand and starts a slow rhythm that feels so damn good.
"Baby." I choke out as I reach for a condom from the nightstand. As much as I love her hands on me, I need to be inside her, so I push her hand away and roll on the condom before settling back over her.
I frame her face with my hand before leaning in and kissing her. As her hands tangle in my hair, she pulls me closer and deepens the kiss. A primal need to consume her takes over.
I pull back and line myself up at her entrance and thrust in, causing us both to gasp. Her pussy flutters around me with each thrust. This is so much more than just sex. Something shifts as I stare into her eyes. As she looks back at me, I know she feels it too, but neither of us voices it as we chase our release.
I want this moment to go on forever, but she starts clawing at my back, so I know she's close. I adjust the angle of my hips to hit her clit with each stroke, making her moan.
With just a few more strokes, she falls over the edge, screaming my name and taking me with her. I cum so hard I think I blackout for a moment before I am able to turn and collapse on my side.
