He had large hands—he would have no problem cupping her and pulling her against him. And when he did, there was no telling what she might do. She might fuck him, right out here on the sand, not one hundred yards from the rest of his family. But just as they reached the curvature of her spine, Kevin’s hands halted their progress and he turned his head, breaking their kiss, and moving his hot mouth to her neck, just beneath her ear. If he thought that would cool things off, he was wrong, because that was her spot—the place where it drove her nuts to be kissed.
“Oh … oh god,” she breathed.
At that, Kevin lifted his head altogether.
Lia wanted to scream. She had made it little wet spot in her panties, and it was likely soaking its way through to her shorts. Every instinct she had as a red-blooded woman who hadn’t had any in about five months told her to grab his hand, and let him feel what he was doing to her, but she fought it.
“We better …”
He tried to say something but when he looked at her, seemed to forget what that was, and leaned in again.
Lia sighed in relief when his mouth met hers, and his tongue searched and found entrance. She lifted her arms up and put them about his neck, telling him with her actions that she didn’t want to stop, though she knew that was what he was about to suggest. It wasn’t dark enough on the beach for them to be doing this. Someone might see them, and if they did it would be disastrous. As far as anyone knew, she was Blake’s girlfriend, and it would take a lot of explaining to make anything about this situation—her lip-locked with Kevin—seem alright. If they were caught, she would have to leave; that much was certain. And she didn’t want to leave.
Letting her arms drop, Lia took a step back.
“Kevin,” she said.
He nodded. “I know,” he said. “Let me walk you back to your cabana.”
Shaking her head, Lia smiled. “No need.”
It was close by and she was perfectly safe, and they both knew that when parting at her door, the temptation to kiss again would be impossible to resist.
“So …”
“So, goodnight,” she said shrugging.
A million questions hung in the air between them.
“Goodnight,” Kevin returned. “And by the way, you are so unprofessional,” he teased.
“What about you? You’re a horrible brother. Stealing Blake’s girl.”
Even in the near-dark, Lia saw something flash across Kevin’s features. Like she’d hit a very tender nerve. But before she could ask whether she’d said something wrong, he was smiling again, and lifted a hand, brushing the pad of his thumb against her lower lip in a gesture that was so tender, it made Lia’s breath catch in her throat.
“Sleep tight,” he said. “See you in the morning.”
Then he inclined his head in the direction of her cabana, motioning for her to get going, and that he would not move until she had.
Lia was only able to manage a few paces before she had to look back. He was still there, standing at the edge of the water, watching her, when she finally opened the unlocked door to the cabana and went in to try to get some sleep.
Kingfisher Key, FL, Tuesday, 8:23 a.m.
Perched on the edge of her seat almost primly, Lia didn’t even know where to look when Kevin finally entered the dining room for breakfast, followed by Blake who was yawned loudly and stretching his arms above his head. Spotting her sitting next to his cousin, Kim, he wandered over and kissed on her the forehead, almost absentmindedly, the way a bonafide boyfriend would. Lia wondered at how much pretending he’d had to do with his family in the past. Because he was too good at this.
The sensation of Blake’s lips on her skin lingered there—strange and unwelcome—long after he had wandered off toward the breakfast buffet. Lia stared down at her plate of half-eaten eggs and her cup of lukewarm coffee, to avoid meeting Kevin’s gaze. Just knowing he was nearby had her fidgety and out-of-sorts. When she finally braved a look, he was looking at her too, with an expression that she couldn’t decipher. Then, just as she is about to give in to despair that he has dismissed the previous evening as a dreadful mistake, the corner of Kevin’s perfect mouth lifted in a wry smile, acknowledging the secret they shared.
~8~
Kingfisher Key, FL, Tuesday, 11:52 a.m.
Lia screamed as she leapt off the edge of the boat, her knees tucked in to her chest, her arms wrapped around them. On her face was an expression of childlike glee, just before she hit the water with a loud splash. Moments later, she surfaced, still smiling, bobbing up and down as she tread water.
“That was the worst cannonball I’ve ever seen!” Blake yelled at her from the boat. “And I mean the worst.” He dived in after her and swam a few strokes until he and Lia were face to face.
“Cannonballs are supposed to be … splashy,” Lia said, spluttering saltwater. “The splashier the better.”
“Yeah, but you uncurled on the descent,” Blake continued.
“I did not.” Lia talked over him, both of them arguing good-naturedly about whether her entry merited a score of ‘10’ as she claimed, or the ‘2’ Blake wanted to give her.
“You’d think she’d want to avoid getting her hair wet,” Tanya said under her breath to no one in particular. “It already looks like the hot-mess-express.”
Kevin turned to give his cousin an exasperated glance. She, and her sister Kim were sunning themselves nearby on the deck of the boat, stretched out on fluffy towels and posing as though they had an audience. Kevin could only imagine that Tanya and Kim didn’t know what to make of a woman like Lia, who for the most part seemed wholly unconcerned about her appearance. Nearby, Nicki was on her cellphone, speaking in a low, inaudible tone, but having an animated conversation with the person on the other end of the line.
And Kevin was left to watch Lia and Blake, frolicking in the water like baby seals. He was feeling—he had to admit—just the tiniest bit left out. Blake was always the happy-go-lucky one, the frivolous one. No one expected him to be otherwise, except for the unknowing public. Kevin, on the other hand, was the ‘sensible brother’ in the family, the one who, just after breakfast, had very responsibly suggested that instead of jet-skiing, they take one of the smaller boats out, and do some snorkeling.
But the snorkeling had lasted only so long before Blake challenged Lia to a diving contest, claiming that even if she picked the dives, he would best her. They started out seriously enough, until finally—inevitably—Blake made a joke out of the whole thing and suggested belly-flops, cannonballs, and a running double somersault, all of which Lia had attempted. Kevin watched from the sidelines, admiring not only Lia’s playfully competitive spirit, but also the way she was rockin’ that swimsuit with the high-cut sides and almost-thong bottoms.
“Are we almost ready to head back?”
Kevin looked up, shading his eyes against the sun to make out his sister’s features. But he didn’t need to see her face to know that something had changed her mood.
“We’ve only been out here an hour,” Kim pointed out. “And besides, Blake and his little girlfriend seem to be having a good time.”
In the water, Lia was squealing at something Blake had done. Nicki glanced in their direction and then looked down at Kevin. He couldn’t see her expression, but was sure he knew what it looked like—quizzical, curious, and probably wondering why he was sidelining himself again.
But what else was he supposed to do? Lia was here as Blake’s woman, and they were playing the hell out of that role right now. So much so, that the kisses he and Lia shared the night before were beginning to seem like a distant dream.
“Anyone want anything from the cooler?” Nicki asked.
“Water,” Kevin said.
“Live a little, bruh! Have a beer!” Blake called from the water.
“Water,” Kevin repeated.
Nicki ambled over to the cooler and returned moments later, two Coronas in hand. Kevin looked up at her.
“Water,” he said
for the third time.
Nicki looked down at the beer in her hand as though not sure how it had gotten there.
“Oh,” she said, absentmindedly, stretching out on deck next to Kevin.
“So … are you going to get me the water?” he asked slowly.
“No,” she snapped. “Get your own water. And Blake, you can have this since Kevin doesn’t want it.”
And as everyone looked on open-mouthed, Nicki tossed the beer can overboard and in Blake and Lia’s direction. It entered the water with a splash dangerously close to them.
“What the fuck!” Blake yelled. “You tryin’ to kill somebody out here?”
Gasping, Nicki shot up as though just realizing what she’d done. “Lia, are you okay?” she called.
“Fine,” Lia returned.
But as Kevin stood to check for himself, he saw that she looked a little wild-eyed, so he knew that the beer can had come a little too close for comfort. Turning, he gave Nicki a sharp look and her head dipped a little, her eyes dropping and her chin almost touching her chest.
“Sorry, guys,” she said quietly. “I wasn’t … I didn’t mean to …”
“Damn. Have you already been drinkin’?” Blake demanded.
“Blake, shut the hell up,” Kevin ordered, seeing the look of genuine distress on Nicki’s face.
“I’m jus’ sayin’, man …”
“Don’t say shit,” Kevin cut him off.
Then he grabbed Nicki by the arm and tugged her toward the starboard end of the boat where they would have a little privacy.
“I’m sorry,” she said again when they were alone. “I wasn’t …”
“What’s going on?” Kevin asked. “You could’ve really hurt someone, Nick!”
“I know. I wasn’t thinking.” She grabbed a handful of her dark curls, pulling them over her shoulder and twisting them around her fingers.
“What’s going on?” he asked again.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Nicki said shaking her head. “There’s enough going on without adding to it all with my little drama.”
“What are you talking about? There’s nothing going on. And what little drama?”
“Nothing going on?” Nicki looked at him incredulously. “We’re running a full-scale charade here with Lia and Blake, bamboozling our parents into thinking she’s his girlfriend while you’re sitting over here wishing she was your girlfriend, and …”
“I don’t wish she was …”
“Okay, so maybe that’s overstating it a little, but only a little, because you are so obviously into her.”
“Don’t try to turn things around, we’re talking about you right now. What little drama have you got going on? And who were you talking to on the phone?”
“I was talking to Gabriel.”
“Gabriel? Your security guy?”
“Yes. The one and the same,” Nicki said.
Kevin shrugged. “Why would talking to Gabriel get you …?” He broke off and narrowed his eyes. “Wait. Are you and Gabriel …?”
Nicki nodded slowly.
Pulling back a little, Kevin took this information in. “You’re sleeping with your security guy, Nick?”
“Shh!” she hissed. “Will you keep your big mouth …?”
“The old man would lose his shit if he found that out. Not to mention, fire the whole darn detail …”
“I know that. Don’t you think I know? That’s what I’ve been trying to tell Gabe, but he doesn’t care. He wants me to like, announce it or something.”
Kevin smiled. “So, it’s more than you two sleeping together, then. Is it serious?”
Nicki pulled in her lower lip and her eyes filled. “I think he’s going to dump me.”
“Why?”
“He doesn’t want to be a secret, doesn’t understand that I can’t just … come out with it. He thinks I just don’t take him seriously. That I’m just messing around with the help or something.”
“And you’re not.”
“No, Kevin. I’m not. I … care for him. A lot.”
“So, bite the bullet and tell the old man like Gabriel wants you to do.”
“Daddy’s going to think he took advantage of me or something. He’s not going to believe it’s for real.”
Kevin nodded sympathetically. The old man was much more protective of Nicki and always had been. Among the three of them, she was the only one who had a security detail. They weren’t like the Secret Service or anything, and didn’t trail her every move, but occasionally, there were events Nicki went to where she was accompanied by one or two guys who were nominally bodyguards, but whose duties so far had mainly consisted of making sure her picture didn’t get taken too often.
Keeping her out of the public eye, and making sure she didn’t become too recognizable made it possible for her to live a normal life, something that she should have been able to take for granted, but hadn’t. Because when she was just turning seventeen, Nicki had picked up a stalker. He was a local guy who had become enamored after seeing some of her modeling shots and took to camping outside her school and trying to talk to her after dance practice. At first, he seemed harmless, just a poor, besotted fool who was awkward and had no game. And then one Saturday afternoon, he had accosted Nicki as she and a group her friends left a movie, accusing her of flirting with other guys and spouting all kinds of deluded nonsense that made it clear he believed that he was Nicki’s boyfriend, and that she had been cheating on him.
The incident had so scared Nicki that the old man got her a security guard, a woman who unobtrusively trailed her when she was out in public. The stalker seemed to fade into the background, but had resurfaced when she was in college, and once again when she took her first job in a city away from home.
It was that unpredictability, and the episodic nature of the contact that made everyone nervous. Stalkers were typically relentless. This guy seemed to want to drop in and out of Nicki’s life, every once in a while, letting her know that he was keeping tabs, but mostly staying out of sight.
That, according to the experts the family had consulted, could make him that much more dangerous—because it made the temptation to let one’s guard down far greater. Hence, Nicki had a security detail, and there were no pictures, no social media profiles, and not even a professional headshot on her company’s website.
Gabriel Ross was Nicki’s personal security guy, a tall, dusky-skinned brother who used to be Special Forces. Kevin didn’t encounter Gabriel too often because when Nicki was with family, like now, he was rarely needed. How often she used him in her daily life, Kevin had no idea. But apparently, she had … used him enough to find herself in this predicament.
“Damn,” Kevin said. “This family has more secrets than the CIA.”
“You’re not going to say anything, right?” Nicki implored.
“Of course not.” Kevin rested a hand reassuringly on his sister’s shoulder. “But maybe you should. I mean, if I was in his position, it wouldn’t sit well with me either.”
“So, you think I should say something?”
“If you like the guy, yeah.”
“I more than like him.”
“Then definitely say something.”
Nicki’s gaze rose to meet his, and a tiny smile played about her lips. “If I’m going to go out on a limb, you’ll have to do it with me,” she said quietly.
“I’ve got no problem backing you up. Gabriel seems like a decent guy, so …”
“No.” Nicki shook her head. “I mean, if I stick my neck out and go for it with telling Daddy about Gabriel, I want you to take a chance too.”
“Like what?” Kevin pulled back, wary of what might come next.
“With …” Nicki inclined her head in the direction of the other end of the boat where Blake and Lia were finally climbing out of the water.
“What’re you talking about?”
“It’s been long enough, Kev. Christina never deserved you, and you’ve been a monk for …”
; “Oh, I definitely haven’t been a monk,” he laughed.
“Okay, but I’m not talking about hook-ups with skanky chicks you meet at a club. I’m talking about you opening yourself up a little. I can tell you like her. Like, really like her. As a person. When she speaks, you … lean in.”
Kevin laughed again. “It’s called active listening.”
Nicki folded her arms. “Yeah. Is that all it is, Kev? Be honest.”
Glancing over at where Lia was drying herself off, using the towel to make an even bigger mess of her mop of unruly hair, Kevin couldn’t help but smile. No, that wasn’t all it was. This girl … she did something to him. He didn’t even know how to define it, but he damn sure wanted to get to the bottom of it.
“I like her,” he acknowledged.
No point confessing that he’d already acted on that … liking. Some things you didn’t blurt out to your baby sister, no matter how close.
“So, go for it. She and Blake are of course a non-starter, so you may as well.”
“And for argument’s sake, how would you suggest I go about that, with the island crawling with family all week?”
“Just pull her behind a palm tree and kiss the hell out of her or something,” Nicki suggested. “I think she’d be into it.”
Kevin grinned, thinking about how ‘into it’ Lia had been when he kissed her the night before—the way her body molded into his, and the feeling of the soft peaks of her breasts pressed against his chest. She was a damn good kisser, too. The kind that could almost (but not quite) make a man forget that there were other, greater pleasures than just kissing and feeling a warm, soft, and willing woman’s body next to his. Lia would be a forty-minute foreplay type of woman—the kind you wanted to take your time with. Kevin could only imagine how she would taste, sound …
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