“Thanks,” he said, looking up and noticing one chair had been left behind. “I’ll, ah, just go and get that,” he said, pointing.
“Bring Vivi over too,” he heard as he headed off and waved in acknowledgement. He didn’t see any Vivi. He planned to grab the chair and then go for a run on the beach, letting the party get started without him. He wasn’t interested in answering a lot of those introductory questions. Then he’d hit the ocean and the kickass surf that seemed to be gathering momentum, eventually easing back into the group as unnoticed as possible.
Pretty girls, he thought. Seemed nice too. Friendly. He put his hand on the back of the last chair before he noticed the adorable little bare ass all dressed up in an aqua blue thong-styled bikini bottom with a big bow at the top. He smiled, considering this an early birthday present from the Universe.
Vivi?
Lane stole a quick glance over the rest of her, making sure she wasn’t actually witnessing him salivating over her perfectly round, slightly tanned derriere. ‘Cause it was pretty, and that bow made it downright cute-and man, now he was starting to feel it in his shorts.
She faced away from him, thank God, and from what he could tell, she was sound asleep. Probably had a big night last night. The skin of her back was left bare to his eyes too. For a second he thought she was topless, and his eyes bugged open. You could get arrested for a lot less on this public beach, he thought before he noticed that she wasn’t topless, just had untied her straps.
Interesting.
He looked over his shoulder back at the party going on just down the beach. Coolers were being opened and beers and whatnot were being dumped into Tervis tumblers. Yep, the party was starting all right. He looked back at Sleeping Beauty and decided she needed her rest. So he took off his sunglasses and shirt, laid them on the empty chair, and went for his run down the beach.
Too bad he didn’t take his brain with him.
His mind couldn’t shake thoughts of those perfect, plump, silky-smooth mounds of flesh, separated by a strip of blue. Frankly, it was the most ridiculous bathing suit he’d ever seen. A big ol’ bow right at the small of her back, like her sweet little ass was a gift waiting to be unwrapped. Damn he’d volunteer for that. He started looking around at what other girls were wearing. The beach was starting to fill with all sorts of college students ready to let off steam after final exams. Lots of tiny little bikinis, not so many thongs, and definitely none as pretty and fine as his Sleeping Beauty.
His.
That made him laugh and turn on the power boosters. He needed to get a grip.
About forty-five minutes later, he slowed to a jog, and then a walk, noticing his brother’s group way up the beach, but letting his eyes surf back across the sand for Beauty. He couldn’t find her at first, now that the sun was high and the beach was full. Maybe she’d woken up and joined the party. Nope. There she was, in the same position he’d left her. All curves, not a hard angle to be found. Her hair was dark, he noticed for the first time as he approached. And it was probably long, though it was hard to tell how long. It was all twirled up on the back of her head and held in place with a clip or something. He stopped in front of the beach chair where he’d left his shirt and sunglasses, toed off his running shoes, and pulled off his socks, all the while glancing over, and over, and over again at her perfect backside.
Man, I hope she put sunscreen on that thing, he thought as he turned and headed into the ocean. Otherwise she’s gonna have a hard time sitting, he laughed to himself.
His brother Tray joined him in the water, swimming over and dunking him, or at least trying to dunk him. Lane had a good three inches and fifty pounds of muscle over his big brother. Of course, he was slightly shorter than his brother in the smarts department, so there was that.
“Great waves,” Lane said.
“Yeah. Unusual.” Tray said. “You go for a run?”
“Gotta stay in shape.”
“That you do.”
“How’s it going with those pretty Demon Deacons?”
Tray laughed. “Fine. Good. They’re funny. Makes me miss Lindsey.”
Lane smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Yeah. I’m hooked. Been crazy about her since day one at Carolina. I’m not sure why we’re even doing this.”
“Because Uncle Chuck has a sweet condo on the beach and offered it up for your bachelor party. And what better way to celebrate my birthday?” Lane laughed as his brother tossed him a sneer. “Come on. We’ll have a good time, get our tans on, and before you know it, you’ll be stuck with Lindsey for-ev-a and only wishin’ for time with your old law school buddies. Enjoy this. It’s the only bachelor party you’re gonna get.”
“I am. I will,” Tray amended. “And I really appreciate you being here. And, you know…”
“Being the manservant to all you Doctors of Law?”
Tray laughed. “Yeah, and that.”
“I don’t mind, bro. Whatever you need. I really don’t mind. I’m here to serve.”
They bodysurfed for a while, and when a couple of Tray’s buddies hit the water further up the beach, Tray swam over to be with them. Lane told him he wanted to grab his shirt and shoes. He didn’t bother to mention that he wanted to get another look at Sleeping Beauty. He shook himself off like a dog as he walked up the beach, took his shirt and wiped it over his face and hair, using it as a towel. He was starting to wonder if Beauty was passed out, or even breathing. Shit. Maybe she’d OD’d on something horrible and had been left by him and her friends to die alone in the hot sun.
“Hey,” he said.
Nothing.
“Hey,” he said a little louder. He was actually starting to feel a little panicky. There was not a lot of evidence that she was alive. Maybe he was detecting a slight rise and fall in her back, but it was really hard to tell. He looked over his shoulder up the beach to where all her friends were now sitting. He wanted to call out, but they were quite a distance away with a good five groups of beachgoers set up between them and him now. And really, he didn’t want to look like a dick, raising an alarm when there wasn’t one. Still, he thought, looking back at Beauty, he needed to be sure.
Maybe if he just…
Chapter Three
Vivi could feel her consciousness being drawn from somewhere deep, back up to the surface. She became more and more aware of the surf, and mildly aware of some shuffling going on around her. Maybe somebody said something? She wasn’t sure. Felt too good lying there, resting in the sun to care. She kept her eyes closed but turned her head in the other direction, smiling.
Bump.
Hmm?
Bump, bump.
What the hell?
Bump-bump, rock, rock, rock.
Her eyes sprung open and she saw an ankle. An ankle attached to one well-sculpted, light-haired calf. An ankle attached to a masculine, sand-covered foot standing close to her. One foot. The other was out of her view. The other, she surmised, was bumping her ass.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked, holding a hand on her bikini top and looking back over her shoulder as best she could without getting up. The sun shone directly in her eyes, backlighting the culprit.
“Ah, sorry. I was…um, nudging you.”
“With your foot? On my rear end?”
“With a toe,” he corrected. “I, ah, was tempted to use my hand, but I thought you might have a problem with that.”
“But you didn’t think I’d have a problem with your toe? Poking my ass?”
She heard him laugh. A short, semi-embarrassed-but-not-really kind of a laugh. “I was worried you’d OD’d or something. You’ve been still the better part of an hour.”
“I was napping,” she said, exasperated, as she laid her head back down on the towel. “I was tired, and I was sleeping, and it was wonderful,” she whined, “and now you woke me up.” Her head sprung back up, and she looked in his direction. “Do I look like a drug addict to you?”
He snickered as he plopped do
wn into the beach chair next to her. Her beach chair. “Well, I’ve never actually seen a female drug addict lying nude on the beach before, so how was I to know?”
She watched as he put on his sunglasses, stretched his legs out, and laid his head back like he intended on sunbathing. In her chair. She tried not to notice his handsome profile.
“I’m not nude.”
“Closest thing I’ve seen to it on a public beach,” he commented with his eyes closed. Then he turned his head and lifted his sunglasses, giving her a look at his startling green eyes. “Might want to rub some suntan lotion on that ass of yours. It’s getting a little red.”
“Ah!” Vivi scrambled to hook her bikini top in the back and tie it up around her neck. “Why the hell are you looking at my ass?” she shouted.
“Why the hell are you leaving it on display?”
“Oh my God,” she grumbled, scrambling to stand up fast. “I’m wearing a bathing suit,” she said, letting her hand motion to her bikini top and her bikini bottom. She felt her hair start to fall down so reached up to grab the clip, and that’s when everything went a little wavy. No, no, that’s dark, that’s….
“Oh shit,” she heard him say. Maybe he sprang up out of the chair, but she couldn’t see anything except for black. She felt her brain go blurry, felt arms catch her as she stumbled to the side, and felt her whole body lean heavily against a cool wet surface-ah, that felt good-as she shifted all the way to the ground.
The next thing she knew, she was being pulled awake, as if snatched from a dream. She didn’t know where she was, but she felt comfortable as a cool hand stroked her brow.
“Beauty? Wake up, S.B. Come on. Wake up.” She heard the words from a distance as she felt a gentle tap on her cheek.
She moved her mouth toward the tap and bit the first thing she could reach.
“Ouch,” he shouted. Then he laughed. “Sleeping Beauty has a dark side,” he said as she opened her eyes.
She found herself with her head in his lap. Weak. “Sorry,” she mumbled, limply bringing up a hand to run it over her face. “Did I…”
“You fainted,” he said. He had a really nice voice. Just loud enough, with a seductive quality. It made her want to close her eyes and go back to where she’d just been. “Too much partying last night?”
She turned on her side and snuggled in closer, her hands coming up under her head.
“Oh…hey…ah,” he stuttered as he shifted her head around, disturbing her descent back into oblivion.
What the?
Her eyes popped open. She started to scramble again, to sit up and get her head out of this poor guy’s crotch, but he held her still, telling her to relax, that it was okay, and that she didn’t want to stand up too fast again or the same thing would happen. She felt his hand on the top of her head, stroking, soothing, and it felt nice, and safe, and…
Embarrassing.
“I am so sorry,” she muttered, starting to shift slowly and remove herself from his lap. His hands took hold of her shoulders and helped her sit. She leaned one hand on the towel and stopped moving, trying to get her bearings.
“You okay?” he asked while rubbing the center of her back. He sat taller than she did. She had only to look over her shoulder to scan the breadth of his chest situated directly in her line of vision. She barely glanced up at his face before she had to right herself.
“I feel weird.” She took a deep breath in and out. “I’ve gotten dizzy from standing up too fast before, but I’ve never fainted. Ever.”
“Probably the sun. And you jumped up pretty quick. You might be dehydrated if you had a lot to drink last night.”
She crossed her legs in front of her and put her elbows on her knees before laying her head in her hands. She didn’t feel good. Really wanted to lie back down. So she twisted and folded herself into the fetal position, laying her head at the opposite end of the towel.
“No-no,” she heard. “S.B. You’ve got to wake up, or I’m really going to start to worry.” She felt a hand skim over her hip, felt the sun being blocked, his body producing shade. “If we can get you down to the water, cool you off a little, I think that might help.”
Vivi opened her eyes and rolled onto her back, blinking up at the shaggy wet hair falling forward as the toe poker had her caged beneath him. His green eyes had a look of alarm. Her instinct was to soothe him. So she reached up and gently touched her open palm to his cheek.
“I’m okay, I think,” she said, trying to reassure him. “I just-Ouch!” she cried when he turned his head and bit her fingers.
“Tit for tat. Come on,” he said with a smile, pulling back and grabbing both her hands in his. He stood, trying to get her to stand with him.
“I don’t want toooooo,” she moaned. “I’m tired, and I’m sad, and my life hurts.”
He stopped tugging on her, but kept a good grasp on her wrists. “Your life hurts?”
“Yes, my life hurts,” she insisted. She looked at him then. Really looked at him, and his perfectly unkempt, wet, sandy-blond hair, his strong chin, and those smirking lips. He was handsome. Ruggedly handsome. Which had never been her thing. “Oh God,” she groaned out loud, reminding herself of how un-rugged Kevin was.
“Come on, Sleeping Beauty. You need to get in the ocean. Let it revive you. Then we’ll find you some water.
“I’ve got a bottle of water somewhere,” she said, wanting to burst into tears. She needed to get a grip. This poor stranger, this ruggedly handsome stranger, was having to deal with her in a state of complete physical and emotional lethargy. “You go,” she suggested. “I’ll be fine.”
“Ha,” he barked out. “Come on. You can barely stand. Seriously, how drunk did you get last night?” His tone sounded disgusted.
“I didn’t drink last night,” she claimed as vehemently as she had the strength to. “I packed. We got up real early this morning and drove five hours to the beach. I just haven’t slept well in a while. Exams. Gay men. That sort of thing.”
“Gay men?”
She waved the words away. “Never mind. Just…hand me my water bottle.”
Toe Poker looked around and came up empty-handed. “Come on. Let’s get you cooled down,” he said, gently taking her hand. When it was taking her too long to stand, he just grabbed her around her waist with one arm, swung her legs up into his other arm, and trotted them off toward the water.
“Wow,” she said. “That was…that was kinda cool.” She swung one arm around his neck to steady herself. “You’re…strong.”
“You’re light,” he countered, his eyes trained on the waves in front of them.
“I weigh well over a hundred pounds.”
“I bench press well over that.”
“So you’re not gonna drop me?”
“Not by accident,” he said, slanting a crooked smile at her. Their eyes met for the first time.
Wow. She felt herself blush. Felt her chest tighten and felt her inner self shrink down into shy mode. Shy? I’m not shy. I’m…I’m confident. What the hell? She found herself struggling to get out of his grasp. “Put me down.”
“No,” was all he said, as he kept walking.
Oh-okay, her shy self thought, with a timid little smile and the nagging desire to tighten her arms around his big, broad, shoulders.
Oh, please.
Confused and exhausted, Vivi didn’t trust herself to speak, and as Toe Poker had made it onto the wet sand, she figured he’d be putting her down soon enough. But he kept walking. When the water was up to his knees, she said, “Okay. This is good.”
But Toe Poker kept on wading into the surf, turning his back when they reached the breaking waves, letting them slam into him, protecting her as best he could. He turned back around and moved a little quicker, taking the two of them out deeper.
“Can you swim?” he asked.
She just nodded her head, thinking about how good the water felt, how it soothed her. Then she started to notice how lovely it was to be held in his arms
and how romantic this would be if she actually knew this guy. If they were actually a couple.
The water was covering most of her when he stopped. He carefully dipped to the side and placed her feet on the sand before pulling his arm out from under her legs. He kept a tight grip around her waist even as she pulled her arm from around his neck.
“How do you feel? Is this helping?”
She nodded her head, feeling better enough to be embarrassed but not good enough to stop leaning against him as she was buffeted by the incoming waves. “Thank you,” she managed. Then she bent her knees and let the water soothe her all the way to her neck. “This feels good. Definitely helping.”
“Maybe you had heat stroke,” he said, watching her with his hands on his hips.
She shook her head in the negative. “I haven’t had anything to eat in a while. I’m sure jumping up from a sound sleep in the hot sun did it. Like you said, I’m probably dehydrated. How come you know so much about all this? Are you a med student or something?”
Toe Poker snorted out a laugh as he looked down the beach. “Not nearly. I don’t have the head for Latin or the stomach for the blood.”
She smiled then. Right at him. Like she was flirting. “Then it’s a good thing I only fainted. You wouldn’t do me any good if I’d been attacked by a shark.”
His eyes scanned the horizon as if he were seriously looking for sea predators. Then his gaze landed on her with what felt like a thud. Hard. Pointed. Serious. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
That sort of took her breath away.
It definitely made her feel shy again. And made it hard for her to drag her gaze from his. She took another look at his broad shoulders, gorgeous chest, and what she could see further down whenever the water ebbed. He wasn’t like, muscle bound or anything. He was just in really good shape. Cute too, in a disheveled-didn’t shave yesterday or today-sort of way.
Passionate Kisses 2 Boxed Set: Love in Bloom Page 59
