“You’ve probably heard all sorts of things about me,” she says flatly.
“Uh.”
“Don’t worry. They’re all true.”
My eyes widen. “Okay.”
“Which is why I’m warning you away from Beau again, and not because I’m jealous. I’m not. You’re a sweet girl, Landry, and you don’t need your life screwed up by the two of us. He’s not the guy you think he is. He’s just as bad as I am, maybe even worse because he denies it.”
“Hmm,” I say noncommittally, but on the inside, I want to shout at her for trying to ruin my time in Monaco, and hang up the phone.
“Mommy loves you Mia,” Paisley chirps.
Mia grabs my phone, nearly taking it from me, and tries to cram the thing into her mouth. “I’ll work with her on blowing kisses. Might be less messy.”
Paisley laughs. “You do that. Thanks for sending me that picture.”
I end our call right as the pool guy brings the float to me, all blown up. “Do you need some help getting into the pool?”
I eye the stairs. There’s no way I can balance a baby, a float, and myself for the very first time without assistance. I smile gratefully. “Yes. That would be wonderful.”
A couple of minutes later, I’m standing waist deep in the pool and Mia is floating. I adjust the little canopy so that she’s shaded. “I don’t think all that pink skin has seen this much sun before.”
Swimming out into the deep end of the pool, I hold on to the float while I think about what Paisley said. If she’s not jealous, then why is she warning me away from him? She doesn’t seem the type to help another person out just because she doesn’t want their life screwed up by them.
“Too bad they’re already in it, huh, sweet pea?” I say to Mia.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Beau
By the time I get back from practice, Landry and Mia are passed out in bed together. Pillows surround Mia on all sides while Landry lies on her side, one leg hitched up on a pillow. They look so natural lying there together that I can’t take my eyes off them. Both have tan lines and red cheeks, but Mia’s aren’t as bright.
Though I’m sweaty and starving, that doesn’t stop me from staring at the two of them for a good ten minutes.
Landry stirs, her dress moving higher up her leg. Bare skin tempts me to touch, and I flex my fingers. I know how soft her skin feels and wonder if the rest of her would feel that way too. Of course she would. I let my head fall back.
You’re so fucked, Montgomery.
A little snore captures my attention, and I gaze at the girls in my bed, taking a deep breath. The entire room smells like sun block, baby shampoo, and Landry’s body wash. I laugh a little at the sight of towels and bathing suits, of toys scattered everywhere and suitcases open but not unpacked.
We’ve been here for less than two days, and it already looks like a bomb went off.
Landry still hasn’t moved her things to her room. A part of me wants to think it’s because she wants to be in my bed, that she wants to share my room... not because she’s too exhausted or doesn’t know to call the desk for help.
My stomach growls, and Landry’s eyes pop open.
“What time is it?”
“Six.”
She slaps a hand on her forehead. “Oh no,” she cries softly. “I wasn’t supposed to let Mia sleep this long. And the room is a disaster. I was going to clean our mess up before you got back.”
Landry looks so sad that I can’t help but want to comfort her. “It’s okay, really.” I sit on the side of the bed, one hand braced on the mattress. “How did my baby girl like being a mermaid today?”
“Oh gosh, Beau. She loved it. You got the picture I sent?”
“Yes. Thank you. I showed it off to my pit crew.” They had wanted to see Landry, but I didn’t have a picture of her. Even if I did, I don’t know if I’d want them to see her in a bathing suit. Hell, I hadn’t seen her in one.
Landry sits up, her hair curling wildly over her shoulders. “Her cheeks are a little red, but I swear I put sunscreen on before we went out, while we were out, and she had a hat on the entire time.”
“I trust you did what you were supposed to.”
Her smile grows bright. “Next time, you should come with us. Then I won’t have to get the pool guy to help me in and out of the pool.”
Jealousy sparks in my brain, lighting a fuse I recognize. “That so.”
Landry’s eyes search my face. “He was very nice, Beau, not at all like Henry.”
I exhale, releasing some of the tension in my body. “Good to know I won’t have to go all redneck on him.”
She giggles, shaking her head. “You’ve scarred Henry for life. I think he almost peed his pants when the elevator door opened, and he saw us.”
“He didn’t touch you, did he?”
“He wouldn’t look at me, beyond the first oh crap is that guy with them moment.” Landry traces a pattern near my hand. “I didn’t feel bad for him at all.”
“But you almost did, didn’t you?”
She peeks at me through lacy, black lashes. “No.” Her fingers draw a square even closer to my hand. “Are you going to that party tonight? I heard lots of famous people will be there.”
I edge my fingers closer to hers, until the tips of her nails touch my skin. “Do you want me to go?”
She shakes her head, sending her curls tumbling all over the place. “No. I want you to stay here with Mia and me.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do.”
Her head snaps up. “Really?”
I smile and it feels so good that my grin gets bigger. “Really.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?” She bites the side of her plump lip.
Taking a chance, I run my thumb over her lip, gently pulling it away from her white teeth. “It’s more than okay.”
“Beau,” she sighs. “I’m being really selfish by wanting you here with me.”
“Maybe I need someone to be selfish about me,” I murmur as my thumb makes another pass over her bottom lip.
“The girls you dated in the past weren’t?”
“No.” I hooked up with them to get Paisley out of my system. They knew what to expect.
“What about Paisley?”
My hand drops away, but Landry captures it. “Please talk to me. I hear all these things and what you say lines up with what she says, and you both want to keep me safe. I don’t know what to think.”
Paisley’s trying to keep her safe? “I think you should believe me when I say that there’s nothing I’d rather do than spend this evening with you and Mia.”
*** *** ***
Over the next several days, I spend all my extra time with Mia and Landry. In fact, I include Landry in everything I do that involves me, but only to cover up the fact that I want this woman with me all the time.
Yesterday, Yvette came through with a better living situation for us. “I have ze house for you,” she had said over the phone with her heavy Russian accent. “Iz better.” Who knew a better living situation meant a huge villa on the side of a mountain with a private dock?
So here I am, watching Landry and Mia play on a large quilt in the middle of the room.
“Who wants to play patty-cake with me?” Landry asks in a sing-songy voice.
Oh, I’d like to play something with her all right.
Mia lights up, clapping her little hands. “Pppppp.”
Landry beams, positively beams, as if Mia was her daughter. “Good job, sweet pea. You are so smart.” Landry glances my way and raises her brows. “Isn’t she smart, Daddy?”
“Course she is. She’s a Montgomery,” I say, just to get Landry riled up.
“Men,” she huffs. “She could be smart because of her mother. Right, Paisley?” Landry holds the tablet up so that Paisley and Mia can see each other. “Say hi to Mommy, Mia.”
With a grimace, I walk into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. This has to be the weirdest f
our-way conversation I’ve ever had, but Landry insists it’s the right thing to do. Thing is, I agree with her, but Paisley and I have been doing our own separate things for so long that it’s not in my nature to include her.
“You’re the one teaching her, Landry. Maybe she gets it from you,” Paisley says.
I turn around just as Landry freezes, the smile on her face becoming a pasted-on version. Her gaze goes to mine, helpless.
I join her in the living room, taking her hand in mine. Squeezing it gently, I say, “They teach this stuff in college, for people who want the degree you have.”
“Y-yes. We did a lot of practicums—internships in daycares and pre-kindergarten classroom,” Landry says.
“All this time I wondered what college would be like, and now I know the answer. It’s a good thing I’m rich and filthy,” Paisley laughs.
“Don’t you mean filthy rich?” Landry asks, her pretty eyes wide.
I squeeze her hand again.
“Nope. It’s been fun. I’m off to a party. Bye-bye, pretty baby.”
Landry starts to say something, but I shake my head at her.
I take the tablet from her and set it beside us. “Still think this is a good idea?”
She unclasps her hand from mine. “Yes.”
My phone beeps, reminding me of tonight’s event. “Gotta go get ready. I get to meet Prince Albert this evening, and all the other racers.” I kiss Mia’s head, then Landry’s. “Be good.”
Landry grabs my hand. “I’ll wait up for you, if you want.”
“Yeah, I want.” I want you naked and in my bed when I come home. I want you to tackle me as soon as I put one knee on the mattress. I want you to want me so hard that there’s no way anything will ever come between us.
But I say none of that, because I don’t want to screw things up between us.
***
Landry
I sing Mia to sleep, rocking in an antique chair said to have belonged to a princess in a foreign country. Right now, as I overlook the harbor coming to life with glowing lights from a house that costs more than I could make in a lifetime, I feel like a princess myself.
Mia pats my face, and I smile. “Don’t try to talk me into letting you stay up any later. Your daddy would be mad with me.”
“Your mommy, too,” I add. I don’t know what to do about Paisley. I try to include her, call, FaceTime, or Skype her at the same time every day. Sometimes, she answers. Most of the time she calls me back.
“Mamamama,” Mia babbles, and my heart turns over in my chest. I know she’s not calling me momma. Yesterday, she talked to her reflection in the mirror and called it momma. And her baby doll. And the lady who cleans our house once a day.
“I’m going to hate leaving you.” Eventually, my time with her will end. All good things do, and this entire trip, getting to know Beau is the best, most exciting thing to ever happen to me.
Mia’s eyes flutter close and after a minute more of rocking her, I stand and carefully place her in bed. Waiting for her to turn on her tummy, I unfold her blanket and get her doll ready.
A smile lifts the corners of my mouth when she turns, and I pat her diaper-covered bottom before I place the blanket over her.
“Night, sweet pea.” I leave the room, softly closing the door behind me, then head to the first floor.
I sit outside on the balcony, a little bemused by the fact that whatever floor I’m on, I can have front row seats to Monaco Bay.
Wrapping my hands around my legs, I bring my knee up and rest my chin on them. Beau and I have shared a lot over the past few days, more than I’ve ever shared with anyone besides Meagan.
I still remember the look on his face when I told him about my old boyfriend.
“He broke up with you?” Beau’s look of stunned confusion made me giggle. “Was he threatened by the mob? Had to go into protective custody and change his entire life?”
“No. He... we...” I duck my head, “It sounds so dumb now. He wanted us to experience college to the fullest.”
“And he couldn’t do it with you?”
I shrug. “Guess not.”
“And that’s it?”
I tilt my head to one side. “It happened four years ago. I’m over it now. Sure, it sucked, and there are times I wished it had gone differently, but he was my first boyfriend. And as far as that goes, he wasn’t bad.”
“Wasn’t bad.” Beau’s mouth twists a little. “Guess there’s a silver lining in there. Somewhere.”
“I think I got out easy. Some of my friends, not so much. But that’s my luck, I’m Landry Basnight—punctual, sweet, and boring.”
“Punctual. Sure. Sweet. Completely. Boring—not a chance.”
A warm feeling infuses my veins, and I smile. I don’t think he gave me a bunch of lines. He sounded too sincere.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Beau says as he joins me outside.
I start a little. “When did you get here?”
“About ten minutes ago. I checked on Mia, changed my clothes, and then came looking for you.” He smiles warmly at me. “What were you thinking so hard about?”
“Our conversation about my old boyfriend.” I lay my head on my knees.
“That guy was such a dumbass,” he mutters.
I fight back a smile. “How did meeting Prince Albert go?”
“Princely.”
I laugh. “A little more details, please. I‘d rather hear about it from you, then read about it on the internet tomorrow.”
Beau’s face tightens. “I wasn’t with any women while I was there. I came straight home to you.”
“And Mia,” he says a second later.
I sit up, laying a hand on his arm. It tenses under my palm and I stand, coming around to face him. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything. I just figured you would tell me exactly what happened instead of what the press chooses to write.”
“That’s why I left early... well, as soon as the prince left. Too many women, drinks... It was too much like how things were with Paisley and me. Too much of what we used to do. I couldn’t go two steps without... not that I would take any of them up on their offers. I wouldn’t. I didn’t.” His eyes are hard and sincere as the bore into mine. “Say you believe me.”
“We’re not a couple, Beau. You can do what you like.” But the thought of him with another woman almost brings me to my knees. I’ve never felt anything like it. It feels as though all the air inside my body has been sucked out of me and I can’t catch it, no matter how hard I try. My body squeezes in on itself, and I close my eyes.
“I know I can, but...” His hands come to rest on each side on my hips, pulling me to him. My eyes pop open. “Landry, I don’t want them.”
I lick my lips. “Who do you want?”
His thumb begins to make circles on my skin, just under my shirt. “Who I shouldn’t.”
Rising up on my toes, I wrap my arms around his neck. “Why shouldn’t you want her?”
“Because I don’t want to mess her up. She’s perfect without me.” He lowers his head to my shoulder, his nose dragging along my neck. “She’s so innocent and sweet and has no idea what she’s taking on.”
I gasp when his lips press against a sensitive spot behind my ear. “What if she’s okay with that? What if she wants to take him on?”
“Then she should know that I’m not in it for a hook up, that I want more than a one night stand. I want it all, Landry Basnight, and I want it with you,” Beau says, tipping my head up. His face is all hard planes in the waning light.
“Beau?”
“Yeah, baby doll?”
“I believe you.”
Then I cover his mouth with mine.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Landry
Beau’s hands are all over me, coming to settle at the top of my back and then slowly tracing the curves of my side. I giggle into his mouth, and then gasp when he cups my bottom with his big hands.
He grabs me, his mouth crushing mine as he whi
rls us around. My back hits the wall, and I gasp again. I grab his shoulders and hang on for dear life as we kiss and move, and touch one another. His hands are everywhere, on my face, my throat, my shoulders, and my breasts.
“Your nipples are hard,” he rasps against my cheek. “I want them in my mouth.”
“Help me with my shirt.”
Instead of pulling mine off first, he pulls his up and over his head from the back, like every guy has since shirts were invented. Then his mouth is back on mine, while his hands are at the hem of my shirt. Slowly, so maddeningly slowly, he edges it up.
Cool air hits my stomach, my belly button, and then my shoulders, as the material disappears. For a split second, it’s dark as it covers my face and I shiver. Then I feel light and air, and his warm mouth.
His fingers dance on my shoulders, teasing the straps of my bra, sliding them down and then back up again. When I make a sound of frustration, he laughs.
“I thought you wanted them in your mouth?”
“Foreplay is fun, too.”
“I don’t know what that is. I mean, I know what it is... I’ll shut up now”
“That’s okay.” He smiles tenderly. “We’ll go slowly.”
He pushes one bra strap down again and kisses my shoulder, then nips my skin.
I groan, digging my hands into his hair. “If you go any slower, I’ll be too frustrated to want to have sex.”
“No you won’t,” he says so confidently that I want to kiss and smack him. “You’ll burn for me. You’ll quiver and shake, and be so wet that I can slide inside... so easily. I promise to do that to you. I promise to make you so wet that it runs down your thighs, and I have to lick it up.”
My knees buckle, and he steadies me. “You’re going to be so wet and hot for me that by the time I’m done making you come with my mouth, you’ll beg me to fuck you.”
My eyes go wide at his words. I’ve never been so turned on in my life, and I have a feeling that with Beau, being with him will only get hotter. He won’t be satisfied with just good sex or great sex. Only mind-blowing, earth-shaking sex will.
“What if I’m really bad at sex?” I ask, giving voice to my fears.
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