“But I was going to hit him.” Cole watched as he shifted to his knees and started to crawl away .
“I had it under control.” I glanced at Cole. “I already have one big brother.” I realized how bitter and nasty the words sounded .
“I can see that.” He rubbed the side of his jaw and shook his head .
I pursed my lips. “What are you doing here? I thought you said you hated this place .”
“Come on,” he directed me .
Cole pressed his palm into the small of my back and ushered me away from the wall. We walked out on the sound terrace where the rapper’s music wasn’t so loud .
“You shouldn’t be here alone. I never should have let you leave the Dunes .”
“You were worried about me ?”
“Something like that.” He avoided eye contact .
“Well, I can take care of myself. I’m not a damsel in distress type of girl .”
Cole laughed. “I guess I should have thought of that. I’ll give you the self-defense technique .”
“Thanks. I think.” We both stared out at the water .
“Kaitlyn, why in the hell are you here alone?” Cole turned to me .
“I had to get out of that room .”
“No. I mean Padre. Why did you come here by yourself?” he pressed .
It was the one question I really didn’t want to discuss with him or anyone. But somehow I felt as if he deserved the truth .
“The condensed version is that the person I planned the trip with had a last-minute change of plans. So I decided to do the whole thing solo .”
“Brave girl.” He whistled .
I wondered what he would think if I told him the entire story. Why did it matter if Cole knew I had just been dumped? I didn’t lie, but I left out a few key points I didn’t want to think about, at least not when he was around .
“I’m ready to get out of here. Walk me back ?”
“Sure. Yeah, of course, but I drove.” Cole turned toward the party that was raging in front of us. “I think we can leave through the side gate. No reason to go back in that shit .”
I followed him around the side of Bottoms Up and through the wooden gate that was marked as an emergency exit. I waited for a siren to go off as he pushed on the handle, but it was silent .
“They just mark the gates like that so people don’t sneak their friends in. That’s how my buddies and I used to get in here .”
I looked at him. “You used to sneak into Bottoms Up? Tell me it ain’t so .”
Cole laughed. “Yep. And I did a lot more than that.” His sexy smile made me melt. “Come on, let’s get you back .”
Cole walked over to a huge maroon truck parked in the club’s lot. He crossed in front of the vehicle and opened the passenger side for me. I had to hold the grab bar to hoist myself into the cab. This was definitely the highest truck I had ever ridden in, but that was supposed to be Texas. Big trucks, right ?
Cole pulled into the empty parking lot at the Dune Scape and cut the engine. I could hear the waves hitting the beach through the open windows of his truck .
“Would you want to have a drink?” Cole pulled the keys from the ignition .
“Should we ask Ryan ?”
He shot me a look .
“Kidding. Yes. A drink sounds good .”
“Ok, then. I’ll grab a few drinks from my room and meet you at the boardwalk .”
I climbed down from the cab and made my way to the wooden path that led to the beach. The breeze had picked up and I wished I had something to cover my arms .
After a few minutes, Cole emerged behind me holding two beers. “Sorry, I don’t have a huge selection. Beer ok ?”
I wasn’t about to admit that I didn’t drink much beer. “It’s perfect.” I took the cold bottle and sipped. A shiver ran down my back .
“You cold? Here.” Cole handed me his beer and unbuttoned the plaid shirt he was wearing. He pulled one sleeve and then the other before wrapping it around my shoulders. Underneath, he had on a T-shirt. I studied every move he made, as if he was unwrapping a present .
“Thanks. I guess you did get to be a knight in shining armor after all.” I laughed and was glad to be warm. The shirt was heated was from his body .
“Follow me.” He tilted his head in the direction of the water .
“Where are we going ?”
“My secret spot on the beach .”
“Sounds mysterious.” I trailed behind Cole as we walked down the boardwalk and north along the dunes, glad his playful side had emerged again. We felt normal again .
“Here it is.” He stepped into an alcove nestled by beach shrubs. “It’s a natural wind barrier. You won’t be as cold in here .”
I also noticed that we wouldn’t be spotted by a single soul on the beach. The cove was tucked away among higher sand dunes. Cole tossed one of the forbidden motel towels down on the sand .
“I heard you can’t use those except for showers. There’s a strict motel policy,” I taunted him .
“I’ve got connections.” If it hadn’t been so dark on the beach, I would have sworn he winked at me .
I hugged his shirt around me and sat on the towel next to Cole .
“Didn’t you say you had guests checking in later this week? When do they get here?” I sipped on the beer. I actually liked this one, it tasted like it was mixed with orange .
He leaned back, his palms pressed into the blanket. “I held off on taking any early reservations. Other than you, the first reservation of the summer season checks in on Friday .”
“And you have to do all of the work yourself? You can’t hire anyone?” I asked .
He exhaled. “No, I can’t. And to be honest, I don’t even know if I’ll have all the rooms ready by the weekend. Maybe they won’t notice the broken deck boards or the missing shower rods. What do you think? Too obvious ?”
I don’t know why it took so long to surface, but the idea seemed to be staring me in the face. “Why don’t you let me help you?” Last night, I couldn’t think straight when I offered to help, but now I had clear thoughts .
I felt Cole stiffen next to me. “No way. I don’t need charity .”
“It’s not charity. I want to help. I could do something useful, I’m sure. I’m a business major. Maybe I could get the accounting and the reservations squared away for you, and you could focus on the fix-it stuff. That way you’re not trying to do everything.” I remembered how stressed he looked sorting through the receipts .
“Business major ?”
“Mmm-hmm. I am. I know some numbers.” I mimicked his position on the blanket, smoothing the blanket over the sand as I leaned back .
“I can’t pay you. It wouldn’t be right.” Cole shook his head .
“You don’t have to pay me, and I can help straighten the rooms and deliver towels too. There’s no limit to my skills.” My need to do good deeds kept pouring out. “And aren’t you the one who said last night we’re basically family ?”
“You really want to help me out?” Cole sounded cautious .
“I do.” I wanted to help more than I could explain .
I shifted toward him. In the light cast by the half-moon, I could see his eyes were raking over my body. Then I felt it, the charging air between us. The force that stopped all my thinking and tempted my body to give in to the rush of feelings that surfaced when Cole looked at me that way. I wanted to ask him if he felt it too, but it was one of those things I couldn’t describe. Words might ruin it .
“Kaitlyn, I don’t know what to say. I’m doing this whole thing on my own. The Dunes is my burden—my problem. It doesn’t feel right accepting free help.” He had nestled his beer in the sand and his hand traced my jawline. “I’m doing it for Grayson .”
This is exactly what he did last night, and I loved every intense and hot second of it. My breath quickened, anticipating and wanting his next touch .
I leaned into him. “Just say, ‘Yes you can help me .’”
I barely uttered the words before he closed the space between us, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me toward him. I tasted the beer on his lips and his tongue. Within seconds, the shirt I had been borrowing shimmied down my arms, and Cole’s lips grazed my shoulder and the line of my dress. I wanted him to rip that dress off me. I wanted less between us. I tugged at the bottom of his T-shirt to pull it over his head. My mouth found his again in the dark, and I moaned as he kissed me deeper and harder .
“Cole—I …” My body was responding to every flick of his tongue and every time his lips moved against mine. He was the most incredible kisser. If he kept doing that thing with his tongue, he could convince me to do anything. I pulled myself into his lap, needing to be closer to him .
The roughness of his palm surprised me as it trailed over my leg, hiking the hem of my dress as he shoved the fabric out of his way. I moaned quietly as his thumb pressed deeply along my inner thigh. It was tender and possessive at the same time. The pressure in such a sensitive spot made my skin burn for more touching. I rocked my hips forward .
“We said we weren’t going to do this,” he growled .
His voice was breathy .
“I should at least thank you for saving me tonight,” I teased .
His mouth covered mine in a forceful kiss. Did he feel everything I did? Was he as addicted ?
“Just one more night,” he groaned .
I nodded. “One more .”
We rose from the blanket and walked back to the motel in silence .
Fifteen
Kaitlyn
A s soon as the door was open to his room, Cole shoved his jeans to the floor. I wrapped one leg around him and then the other. I groaned feeling him hard between my legs. The dress was hiked to my hips .
I’d never wanted to be fucked as desperately as I did when he was around. Ten years of fantasies had to be released over more than one night. It didn’t make any sense to think I could get my fix one time .
He spun, releasing me on the bed. I bounced softly and Cole pounced .
His lips were everywhere. His hands pried my legs apart and I gasped when he shoved my panties out of the way. I was sore from last night. But it was a good kind of sore. A delicious pain .
He ran his fingers along my clit, circling it .
“Please,” I whispered .
“Please what?” he taunted. “Say something dirty .”
My eyes widened. I bit my lip. “I-I don’t — ”
He pulled on the straps on my dress. “Since it’s our last night, say everything you want. Tell me how much you want to be fucked .”
He flicked the tiny buttons and the straps fell off my shoulders. He squeezed my breast .
I nodded. “I do .”
He gnashed his teeth. “That’s not what I told you to do .”
I swallowed hard. Just what he was doing to me, made me wetter. My core was already tingling .
“I want you to fuck me, Cole .”
He groaned. “Say it again .”
“Fuck me.” I stared in his eyes. I’d never meant anything like I meant those words. I wanted him inside me. I wanted to feel the thickness of his cock slide in and out of me .
“You should be fucked hard for wearing this dress to Bottoms Up.” He grinned devilishly. He yanked on my panties and threw them on the floor .
I nodded. “I should .”
“What if something had happened to you ?”
I shook my head. “But it didn’t. You were there.” I wrapped my hands around his neck .
His fingers rounded behind me and I froze. He pressed at my rosebud. His eyes grew hungry. “Shit, Kaitlyn. I want this too. You’re so tight .”
He pushed a finger inside me and I felt an entirely new sensation of fire that spilled through me. God, it felt good to have him play with that forbidden zone .
“I’ve never,” I whispered. I bucked into the motion .
“Never?” he groaned, probing further .
I whimpered. “No .”
“Do you think I can make you come just from doing this?” He withdrew his finger and began pumping it in and out of my ass .
I clenched. I clawed at the bed. I moaned, wanting it deeper. Wanting more. I wanted something in my pussy too .
I nodded, knowing I was going to come fast. There was too much want. I had too much need for this man .
“Please, Cole. Please,” I begged .
“What do you want, baby ?”
“Fuck me too.” My voice was raspy. I clung to the bed, lifting my hips in the air .
He reached over to the bedside table and grabbed a condom. It was the longest ten seconds of my life while I waited for him to roll that thing on his glorious cock .
He pressed the tip at my entrance as he sank his thumb at my ass and simultaneously slammed into me .
I groaned with the pleasure. There was a new fullness. A new awareness of my body I’d never had before .
“You shouldn’t have gone there tonight,” he grunted .
“I know. I know .”
He sank into me and I bowed off the bed .
“Tell me you won’t do it again.” He pushed his thumb all the way inside me and I tried to hold him steady. I was stretched and filled. I loved it. My nerves were sparking inside me .
“I won’t.” I shook .
His breath was ragged as he pumped in and out, fucking harder and fiercer. We were on a wild ride. One that was taking up a steep and rocky cliff .
My body started to shake. I was quivering and gasping .
“Cole,” I cried. “Oh God .”
“Never do it again, baby. You’re mine,” he growled, filling me with a forceful thrust. “Say it .”
“Yes. I’m yours .”
I fell off the cliff first. I exploded around him. I was his. I didn’t care if he thought this was just a one more night thing, it wasn’t. I knew it. And he knew it. He fucked me like this was what we both wanted tonight and the next .
“Fuck,” he groaned pumping faster .
The sweat dripped from his chest. He leaned forward and kissed me. I melted at the touch of his lips. His tongue was like a flame twisting with mine. His body tightened as he came in one violent shudder .
I wrapped my hands around his back and he collapsed on my chest .
I don’t know when, but Cole fell asleep, still buried inside me .
Sixteen
Kaitlyn
T he sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I was adding, subtracting, and multiplying. After my offer to help Cole with the business end of the Dune Scape, he had stuck me in the office with a box of receipts and a calculator .
I wanted to ask Cole about the phone call I overhead yesterday, but I didn’t want to embarrass him. Even though he had opened up a sliver of the bookkeeping to me, he was keeping the Dunes’s full financial situation guarded. I respected that. It couldn’t be easy to navigate this alone .
It didn’t take long for the tiny office to heat up. I walked over to the wall unit and cranked the air conditioner to the coldest setting. It was probably silly that I wanted to look cute for Cole this morning, but I had left my hair down .
He had seen me when I had braces. He had seen me when I scraped my knee playing soccer in high school. But I didn’t want those memories to stick. I wanted the grown-up version to be the Kaitlyn he remembered .
With the stickiness on my neck, I was regretting not pulling it up in a ponytail. Texas was hot. I searched the wooden desk for a rubber band. I gathered a handful of hair and twisted the rubber band around it. There .
It was almost lunchtime, and other than when he first set me up with the documents, I hadn’t seen Cole all morning. God, I hoped we didn’t have any more conversations about Ryan .
We had to keep this to ourselves. And we could. There was no reason for Ryan to know .
I turned back to the books. Cole’s grandfather hadn’t been much of a record-keeper. Now I knew why Cole always loo
ked so frustrated and stressed. If I woke up to this financial confusion every morning, I wouldn’t be a happy person either. Even though the motel had been closed for a year, there were still bills that had to be paid and expenses that were due .
I was hungry. Cole had to be too. I decided to walk over to Peabody’s and pick up some sandwiches. My eyes could use a break from the number crunching. I tucked my phone in my back pocket and jogged across the street .
“Look who’s here.” Hank smiled at me from the bar .
“Hi, Hank. How are you?” I pushed my bangs out of my eyes .
“Good. Can’t complain. What can I get you today?” He opened the screen on the bar’s computer .
“Two turkey clubs with fries, to go, please.” My hands started tapping to the beat of a drinking song blasting from the jukebox. I hadn’t noticed it on my first trip to Peabody’s. The cowboy singer had played the entire night .
Hank looked at me. “Did you say two ?”
“Yep. One for Cole and one for me.” I tried to sound matter of fact. It wasn’t my intention to garner questions, and I especially didn’t want to answer any .
The bartender chuckled as he typed the order into the computer. “You’re picking up lunch for Cole ?”
“I thought I’d get him something since he’s working so hard to get the Dunes ready for the weekend crowd.” Bartenders were good at reading people—that I knew. I hoped Hank couldn’t see that I had a Cole crush written all over this lunch order .
“That’s mighty nice of you. He’s turned down everyone else’s offer to help him.” He punched in the last button and printed out a ticket .
“Really?”
Hank nodded. “Oh yeah, we’ve all tried to put in some hours to help him get that place ready. We know how much he wants to prove it can be done, but he’s a stubborn son of a bitch sometimes .”
I giggled. That sounded exactly like him .
“So, is this lunch strictly platonic ?”
Hank was probably used to getting all of the good stories on the island, but I didn’t think he would be nosey. “Hank! You can’t ask me that. I’m helping him out a little at the office. That’s it.” I had probably just turned three shades of red .
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