Toby’s phone buzzed.
“You’ve got service on this ship?” Griffin asked.
He nodded. “I’m paying an arm and a leg for the damn wifi, but I need to be connected at all times.”
Griffin had learned from Indina last night that Toby was the mastermind behind singing sensation, Aria Jordan. The R&B star had just finished up a nationwide tour that had made headlines because of the number of arenas she sold out.
“Shit, I didn’t realize it was this late,” Toby said. “Reid wanted to get in a game of basketball up on Deck 12. You up for it?”
“Hell yeah,” Griffin said. “This hour on the treadmill was just a warm-up.”
He followed Toby out of the gym and up one flight of stairs to the top deck. It held an array of recreational activities, including a half-size basketball court, a tennis court, miniature golf, and even a rock-climbing wall. They really did have everything on this ship.
Eli and Alex were already there, along with Jonathan Campbell. A minute later, Indina’s three brothers arrived.
“We had to drag this one from his computer,” Ezra said, tipping his head toward Harrison.
“Dude, why did you even bring a computer?” Eli asked.
“I told him not to,” Jonathan said. “We both agreed to leave everything at the office. I’m not thinking about any of my cases this weekend.”
“When would you have time? I’m surprised you were able to sneak away from Kristy long enough to play ball,” Reid said.
Toby let out a disgusted snort. The look Jonathan shot his way was pure murder.
Griffin felt as if he was missing something.
“Are we going to do this, or what?” Harrison asked. “If not I can go back to the brief I’ve been working on.”
Toby pointed to Indina’s brothers. “Griffin, why don’t you join them? It’ll be one set of Holmes brothers, along with their future brother-in-law, against the other set of Holmes brothers.”
Griffin held his hands up to correct him on that brother-in-law thing, but no one paid him any attention.
“If it’s brothers and brothers-in-law, what does that make me?” Jonathan asked.
Toby looked over at him. “A confused jackass?”
“What the hell is up with you?” Jonathan asked, stepping up to Toby.
“Just play ball,” Toby said.
“Please,” Alex added. “Renee and I have a couples massage scheduled at the spa. I don’t plan to be late.”
Griffin stood next to Reid. He said, “About that future brother-in-law thing.”
“Toby was just joking. We all know Indina’s not marrying you or anybody else,” Reid said. “You can guard Eli. But watch it. He uses his elbows a lot.”
For a moment, Griffin was rooted where he stood.
She isn’t marrying anybody?
It was way too early for marriage to even enter the equation for him. Hell, he just wanted to go out on an actual date with her. He thought all it would take was a bit more coaxing, especially after the fun they’d had dancing last night. Not to mention their conversation after they left the club.
But it seemed as if Indina’s aversion to relationships ran deeper than he first thought. Apparently, it was known and accepted among her family.
Was it even worth it to try to build their relationship into something more?
Griffin had tried to convince himself that he was satisfied with the status quo, but deep down he knew that wasn’t the case. Maybe if he was still in his twenties he would be okay with things remaining casual, but he’d outgrown that way of thinking a long time ago. He was ready for a relationship with substance.
He was suddenly faced with the question he’d been trying to avoid for months now. How much time was he willing to invest in something that may never become anything more than just a string of hookups? It didn’t matter that they were extremely gratifying hookups. There came a time when you had to move beyond the superficial.
Griffin’s gut tightened with unease as he realized that he’d finally reached that point. If Indina wasn’t willing to move forward, he would have to move on.
She’s willing.
Or at least she would be if he went about this the right way. He just had to convince her that they were worth taking a chance on.
The basketball game finally got underway, but it was quickly apparent that one set of Holmes brothers had an advantage over the other. Griffin looked on in amazement as Toby and Jonathan put on a basketball clinic, displaying NBA-worthy moves.
“Wait, wait, wait. Hold up,” Ezra said, waving his hands to stop the game. He looked over at Harrison and Reid. “How did we fall for this?”
“Because we’re suckers,” Reid said.
“What’s going on?” Griffin asked.
“Those two knuckleheads both played professional ball. We got suckered into this game.”
Toby put his hands up. “Hey, it was your idea to play,” he said to Reid.
“I say we take this to the miniature golf course,” Alex said.
“That’s not fair either. Doc here plays more golf than any of us.”
“Not anymore,” Eli said. “Between work and the kids, I don’t have time to even look at my clubs. I haven’t played a round of golf in over a month.” He clamped an arm around Harrison’s shoulder. “That said, I could still kick all your asses.”
Reid cupped his hand over his mouth and yelled, “Fightin’ words.”
Griffin chuckled as the trash talking moved from the basketball court to the miniature golf course. He’d been intimidated at the thought of hanging around the men in Indina’s family, especially now that the nature of their relationship was known to just about everyone. Instead of roughing up the guy who was sleeping with their sister, Indina’s brothers had embraced him. It had been so damn long since he’d felt the camaraderie and brotherhood he’d experienced today.
An ache grew in his chest as he thought about his own brother and how they used to engage in the same good-natured ribbing he’d witnessed today between Indina’s siblings and cousins. They’d had their share of skirmishes while growing up, but he and Garland had been thick as thieves. These days they barely said two words to each other.
Griffin’s throat tightened as the sad reality of what had become of his relationship with Garland settled into his bones. He missed his brother. And he knew no amount of time he spent encroaching on Indina’s family would make up for what he’d lost with his own flesh and blood.
At least he had these Holmes men for the weekend. He would shamelessly glom on to this feeling of brotherhood for as long as he could.
Their golf game ended with Indina’s cousins still beating the pants off of him and her brothers, but Griffin figured this butt whipping wasn’t nearly as bad as the one they would have gotten if they’d continued the basketball game.
“Remember, dinner is at seven-fifteen tonight,” Harrison said. He pointed to Jonathan. “Try to make this one.”
“Can’t make any promises,” he replied. “Kristy wants a candlelit dinner for two.”
“It’s probably better if you didn’t bring her to dinner anyway,” Toby said. “I don’t think Sienna is comfortable being around that Kristy chick.”
“Would you stop referring to her as that Kristy chick?” Jonathan said. “And maybe you should remind Sienna that I have a right to see whoever I want. Her sister is the one who left me, not the other way around.”
Griffin looked back and forth between the two men, trying to figure out just what in the hell was happening here.
“Don’t ask,” Ezra said as he came up to him and clamped an arm around Griffin’s shoulder. “Step over here with me. I want to talk to you for a minute.”
“Uh, sure,” Griffin said. He hooked a thumb toward Toby and Jonathan, who were still going at it.
“Didn’t I just say don’t ask?” Ezra said. He blew out a sigh. “Very, veeery long story short, Jonathan used to be engaged to Sienna’s sister, Ivana. She got cold feet a
nd left the country a few days before their wedding.”
“She left the country?”
Ezra nodded. “Pretty drastic, if you asked me. Jonathan didn’t take it well. He then proceeded to sleep with half the single women in New Orleans to prove to everybody that he’s over Ivana.” Ezra shook his head. “He’s not. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Indina.”
Griffin’s steps halted. “What about her?”
Ezra cocked his head toward the locker that stored the basketball and tennis gear. He sat and rested his elbows on his thighs.
“I don’t want to sound like the overprotective brother here,” he started.
Griffin folded his arms across his chest and rocked slightly on the balls of his feet. This was the conversation he’d been expecting from the get-go.
“But?” Griffin asked.
“Hear me out.” Ezra held up his hands. “I don’t want to get all up in your business or anything. I just want to know what your intentions are. It’s been a while since Deenie brought anyone to meet the family.”
Griffin stopped rocking. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask Ezra just how long it had been since she’d introduced a guy to the family. Instead, he asked, “So, what exactly do you want to know?”
“I just want to know if this is serious? And if it isn’t serious, does Indina know that?”
“I’m not playing your sister, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, I don’t think you’re playing her, but I had to ask. You get that, right? I don’t want her to get hurt,” Ezra said.
He pressed his lips together. Griffin knew someone had hurt her. No one adopted such a negative attitude toward relationships as the one Indina held without good reason.
“This is about that Timothy guy Reid mentioned at dinner last night, isn’t it?” Griffin asked.
“In a way,” Ezra said. “Timothy pulled a fast one on us. The entire family liked him, but he turned out to be the worst kind of asshole. She wasted seven years on that guy. I had to stop Reid from kicking his ass the last time we saw him.”
“Maybe you should have let him,” Griffin said.
Ezra huffed out a laugh. “The only reason I didn’t is because I knew Indina would have been upset about it. She doesn’t like anyone else fighting her battles. By the way,” Ezra continued. “Don’t mention this conversation to her. There would be hell to pay if she knew we’d talked about this.”
“Yet you still did, even though you know she wouldn’t want you telling me any of this.”
“I’d rather deal with the fallout than see Indina get hurt.” Ezra’s eyes turned earnest. “I worry about her. I’ve seen my sister with a broken heart, and I don’t like it.”
“I’m not going to break her heart,” Griffin assured him.
He’d have to own a piece of her heart in order to break it.
Ezra stood and held his hand out. Griffin clasped his palm and gave his hand a solid shake.
“I hope things work out between you two,” Ezra said. “Not that many boyfriends would agree to being stuck on a cruise ship with a bunch of people he just met. This took guts man.” Ezra pointed at him. “Oh, and don’t tell her that I called her Deenie either. She hates that.”
“That sounds like blackmail material,” Griffin said with a chuckle.
Ezra patted him on the back. “Oh, yeah. You fit right in with the Holmeses.”
Griffin stared in bewilderment as he watched Ezra walk away. How was it that he had more members of Indina’s family—people he’d met for the first time yesterday—welcoming him into their lives. Yet the woman he’d shared a bed with for the last eight months didn’t seem inclined to go any further with him? What did he have to do to make her see that he deserved to be more than just her occasional hookup?
Later that night, as he buried his face between Indina’s thighs, Griffin approached the task with single-minded determination, intent on making her screams reach new heights. Whenever they were together, his number one goal was always to make her come as many times as possible, but tonight it felt different, as if he had something to prove.
Maybe it was the irrational jealousy he’d been grappling with ever since he learned that her last relationship had lasted seven years. Seven years. Griffin felt compelled to prove that he was the best she’d ever had.
He worked her over frantically with his tongue and fingers, thinking that if he could bring her even more pleasure, maybe he could finally reach that place she kept just out of arms’ reach. It wasn’t hopeless. If this asshole Timothy had done it, Griffin figured he sure as hell should be able to convince Indina that she could trust him with her heart.
Her thighs clamped around his ears as he drilled his tongue inside her. She cupped the back of his head, tugging gently as she lifted her hips to meet his tongue’s every thrust. Griffin felt her orgasm building and rubbed his thumb over her clit, pressing down on it at the last minute.
Indina’s hoarse scream echoed off the walls. Her limbs continued to quiver as Griffin worked his way up her body. He peppered her skin with gentle kisses, relishing its smoothness, the slightly musky taste of her on his tongue. But, as usual, when he reached her face Indina didn’t give any indication that a kiss on the mouth would be welcomed.
It was like a knife to the gut.
After all the intimate moments they’d shared over the last eight months, why couldn’t she bring herself to do this one simple thing?
Indina collapsed onto her side of the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
“You know, if you charged women to do that, you could give up your engineering career entirely,” she said.
“Except that I really like being an engineer. And charging women to do that happens to be illegal.”
She lulled her head to the side and looked him up and down. “Oh, right. It is, isn’t it?” She let out a sigh. “I guess I’m really lucky that I get to experience it for free.”
Chuckling, Griffin rolled onto his side and traced the curve of her ear with his finger. Indina released another sigh and burrowed closer toward him. His breath hitched in his chest.
He thought about it for a moment before deciding to throw caution to the wind and just go for it. Reaching over, he pulled Indina to him and settled her back against his chest. He felt her stiffen before she released another of those languid sighs and relaxed against him.
Words could not adequately describe the elation and relief that rushed through him. Last night, he’d waited until she’d been sleeping for several hours before he’d pulled her against him. To hold her like this while she was awake? To be in this bed with her like they were a normal couple? Griffin couldn’t think of the words to express how this felt.
Amazing? Unbelievable? Euphoric?
No, none of those fit. There were no words for this.
He’d known for a while that he was no longer satisfied with these stolen moments together. He wanted more. He just didn’t realize how much he’d started to crave it.
But Griffin also knew that he was taking a chance if she pushed her. And that she could find someone else to satisfy her needs if he pushed too hard.
Another insane rush of jealousy flashed through him just at the thought of another man doing the things he did with her.
“What’s wrong?” Indina asked, glancing over her bare shoulder.
“What’s that?” Griffin asked.
“You just…growled,” she said.
Great. He was turning into a caveman. “It’s nothing,” he said. He tucked his chin against her shoulder and kissed behind her ear. “That was a pretty cool surprise at dinner tonight,” he said.
“Umm hmm,” she murmured. He could hear the smile in her voice.
During the dessert portion of the dinner, Indina’s cousins presented their stepfather with a family portrait that included him in the painting with the boys and their mother. Indina explained later that Alex, Eli and Toby had not been fully onboard when her Aunt Margo started dating Gerald Mitchell.
Based on what Griffin witnessed tonight, whatever negative feelings the men once held for their stepfather had dissipated.
“I like your cousins a lot,” Griffin said. “Your brothers too. Hanging out with them today was…it was nice,” he said. “It reminded me of what it used to feel like back when I was close to my own brother.”
Indina turned to face him. Her puckered brown nipple peeked just above the sheet she’d pulled over them, and Griffin’s first instinct was to dip his head and suck it into his mouth, but she stopped him with her next question.
“Are you and your brother no longer close?” she asked. She quickly followed her question with, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
His aversion to discussing his estrangement from Garland must have shown on his face. Or maybe she could read minds.
No. If she could read minds, then she would know exactly how he felt about her. More than likely, it was his sudden silence that had clued her in.
But after spending the day with her family and trying his best to tamp down the envy he’d felt at the genuine love and togetherness they exuded, Griffin couldn’t help but think about his own family. Maybe talking about it would help alleviate the ache that had been plaguing him for so long.
“My brother and I had a falling out a few years ago,” he said. His mouth twisted in a grim frown. “Actually, it’s been more like six years.”
“Six years?” Indina pushed herself up on her elbows. “Is he your only brother?”
He nodded. “My only sibling.”
“My brothers get on my last nerve, but I can’t imagine not talking to them for six years.”
“We’ve talked,” he said. “But only the barest minimum—as in we’ve said hello the couple of times we’ve seen each other. We’ve both conveniently missed the last few holidays at my parents’.”
Indina was quiet for a few moments. In a gentle voice, she asked, “What happened?”
The significance of her concern wasn’t lost on him. This was new territory for them. In all the months they’d been sleeping together, she’d never shown much regard for his life outside of work. Just this small indication that she cared enough to want to know more gave Griffin hope. He decided to put it all out there. Maybe if he opened up to her, she would reciprocate.
Chase Me Page 9
