Book Boyfriends Cafe Summer Lovin' Anthology 2015

by Melinda Curtis

  I laugh with her, knowing the feeling all too well. I remember being exactly like her and Will. Caroline and I unable to keep our hands off each other, our always-present smiles, much like Sloan and me this week. My feet stop moving as that thought crosses my mind. Sloan and me? Sure, there’s definitely something there that’s more than sex, but it’s not what Caroline and I ever had… is it?

  “I mean Will’s right there playing volleyball and I’m not even a football field away from him, but I want him closer. I want to see his face first thing in the morning, smell his stinky morning breath. I want to smile when he’s happy and I want to hold him when he’s sad.” Sissy breaks so she can let out a dreamy sigh. “Smitty, if you’ve never felt that way about someone, you’re missing out.”

  I look in the same direction she is and we both sit silently as we watch the objects of our affection. Sloan spikes the ball over the net, Will’s siblings not standing a chance of returning it. Sloan jumps up, excited for her point, but then reaches under the net to help her opponent up. I smile at the compassionate move on her part. Something deep insides me stirs and it’s not the desire to take her…again.

  “Tell me about your sister,” I say to Sissy, not taking my eyes off the volleyball court.

  Sissy pats my leg. “She really likes you.”

  Now, she’s got my attention. I turn to her with a lifted eyebrow. “And why do you say that?”

  Sissy giggles again. “Maybe because it’s the first time in five years that she’s brought a man around.”

  This is the second time this sort of comment has been made about Sloan surprising her family with her interest in me. I mean granted, we are on vacation and have only known each other four days. So sure, it probably is a bit of shock that the two of us have clicked so fast, but what has happened to this woman in the past five years?

  “So, there’s been other men in the last few years, she just hasn’t brought any around?” I ask. That makes more sense, I doubt Sloan’s ever been single a day in her life. And, while Elaina and Sissy are trying to make it out to be a big deal that she’s brought me around, it’s kind of hard for her not to when we’re all staying on the same resort.

  Sissy snorts as she laughs, shaking her head. “No! What kind of girl do you think she is?” As soon as she speaks the words, her face drops. “Oh my gosh! You think my sister is a slut since she jumped in bed with you!”

  “Whoa! No, no, no!” I object, shaking my hands. “No, that’s not what I’m implying at all. Sloan is…” I trail off, unable to put into words how extraordinary she is. Gorgeous doesn’t even begin to touch her looks. Understanding, merciful, kind—they don’t begin to explain the kind of woman she is. Honestly, I don’t even know where to start. Then, it hits me like a ton of bricks—I’m falling for her, hard and fast.

  Sissy clicks her tongue and when I look at her, she’s shaking her head. “You get it. You know what love is.”

  My jaw drops at her words, but I can’t object anymore. When Caroline left, I thought she’d taken everything of mine. My will, my dignity, my ability to love, and maybe she did take just a little bit of all of that, but Sloan Talbott walked into my life four days ago and gave it all back.

  Sloan

  Towel drying my hair, I walk into the chilly suite of Smitty’s room. Despite having stayed here, basically since day two of arriving, I still haven’t called it our, or even my room. I stop in my tracks when I see him leaning over the balcony as the sun sets. I smile to myself as I take in his perfect, muscular body under his khaki Chinos and baby blue Polo shirt. The man is perfection no matter what he’s wearing, or not wearing for that matter.

  Wrapped in just the small hotel towel, I slip my arms around Smitty’s neck and kiss his skin softly. “Why are you so dressed up? I thought we were staying in for the evening.”

  Tomorrow is girls’ day and I’ll be spending the morning in the salon while Smitty will be playing golf with the men. We’d agree to another night of staying in bed, soaking in as much time together as possible. And I mean that in a purely sexual way, at least that’s what I keep telling myself. Despite my best efforts to keep him at bay, every time I turn around, he makes it harder for me to convince myself of that.

  Like this morning when Sissy wanted to ride paddleboats and Smitty stepped away from our volleyball game to go with her. I hated losing such a stellar teammate, but after breakfast with my family and now this gesture, I saw he had a genuine interest, not only in me, but my family as well. But it’s only sex, Sloan. Don’t let your heart get hurt.

  Smitty slowly turns to me, letting out a low whistle and shaking his head. “Change in plans, I’m taking you to dinner.”

  I scrunch up my nose, despite my mother always warning me it will leave wrinkles. “Dinner?”

  Smitty laughs and lightly touches the end of my nose. “Yes, dinner at Otaheite. I want to take you on a date.”

  Otaheite is the five-star restaurant at the resort. My parents ate there a couple nights ago and have raved about the excellent cuisine, mentioning a chilled watermelon soup I want to try. The restaurant is set apart from the rest of the resort to give more of a secluded, romantic setting aimed at the newlyweds that make-up the majority of the guests.

  Smitty’s hands lightly rub my biceps and he kisses my nose. “I’ll meet you in the lobby so you can get ready without me interrupting you.” My wrinkled nose drops into a frown and Smitty laughs. “Hey now, don’t do that. I don’t want to see you frown.”

  I sigh and kiss him softly. “Maybe I like the interruption…”

  Smitty shakes his head, a smile still on his face. “Aren’t you the one that told me not to get attached? Ironic now that you’re the one that doesn’t want me to leave for you to get dressed.”

  Wow, is it that obvious? I take a step back, turning before he can see my face and walk toward the bathroom. “I’ll be ready in twenty minutes,” I call to him over my shoulder, quickly trying to escape.

  I spend the next twenty minutes trying to figure out what he meant by his comment. Was he making fun of me or does he feel the same way too? There’s no telling how he feels, we’re in paradise, there’s no escaping each other so, of course, everything is hunky dory. So stop looking for it to be something more, Sloan.

  I walk to the lobby in my mint striped maxi dress, the sides and back cut out, showing off the Jamaican sun that’s kissed my skin. I haven’t even spotted him yet when I hear his familiar whistle. I turn in his direction and a smile creeps over my face. When we reach each other, his hands are all over me, sliding over my bare back and I’m thinking we might skip dinner and go back to the room.

  “Damn, how did an ‘ole country boy like me score a hottie like you?” Smitty asks, kissing my cheek, taking me slightly by surprise that he didn’t kiss me on the lips.

  I take his arm that he offers and my nerves start to get the best of me as it really feels like a date. Flirting back and pushing my nerves aside, I answer, “Pure luck.”

  Smitty shakes his head, laughing and walking us toward the restaurant. The sun has set and the restaurant ambiance is every bit romantic, from the faint Jamaican love tunes playing to the dimly lit tables and seating only on one side of the table. The waiter seats us and takes our order right away. Smitty turns to me, holding my hand instead of my leg like he normally does. I mentally laugh, we already have a “normal” in just a few, short days.

  His thumb rubs over the back of my hand as he speaks. “I want to spend some time getting to know you. We’ve spent almost thirty-six straight hours in bed together and I love hearing you orgasm, but I want you to know that you’re more than just sex, Sloan. You deserve so much more than that.”

  My hands get clammy at his words and my stomach sinks. My feelings toward Smitty are scary enough alone. What is he trying to imply? The waiter brings us our appetizers of nut crusted crab and cherve cakes. Flipping my hand over, Smitty takes his finger and writes in my palm R-E-L-A-X.

  The waiter walks off and Sm
itty picks up the fork. Holding a bite of crab cake in front of me, he says, “For instance, I need to know if you have any allergies. I’d hate to feed this to you and then you swell up like a balloon.”

  He’s grinning and I raise my eyebrow, smirking as he mocks me and I let my muscles relax. I open my mouth and take the bite off his fork, shaking my head. Over the next five courses, we spend our time devouring our delectable meal and finally taking the time to get to know each other outside the sheets.

  The waiter clears away our dessert plates and Smitty moves his arm around the back of our booth, his fingers dragging lazily over my shoulders. I snuggle against his arm and nod. “Good idea tonight. I really enjoyed dinner and getting to know more about you, Mr. I Don’t Mix My Food Together,” I tease.

  “Alright, Miss Butterfly Tattoo—”

  “Hey, hey, hey!” I cut him off, laughing, before he reveals the secret location that he knew long before dinner tonight. “Don’t mention mine and I won’t mention yours.” His tattoo has much more meaning, although I haven’t figured out exactly what and he hasn’t given me any clues. I once thought that arm band tattoos were such a turn-on, showing off a man’s muscular bicep, but that was until I saw Smitty’s thigh band and if my panties weren’t already off the first time I saw it, they would’ve been after that sight.

  He laughs and nods. “Fair enough.” His finger rubs over the small flaw on my chin and I flinch ever so slightly. “Tell me about your scar.”

  My stomach drops. How could he even see it in the dark? It’s maybe an inch long. I underwent plastic surgery, more so to hide the memory, not the defect. My hand instinctively covers the blemish, pushing his hand away.

  Thinking quickly, I shrug. “Clumsy,” I answer, but it doesn’t look like he’s buying it. “What about yours?” I question, trying to deflect. I reach out and touch his cheek.

  His hand moves over mine, but he doesn’t push me away like I did him. Instead, he slightly turns his cheek and kisses my palm, melting away my nerves and making me want to crawl in his lap. Not for pleasure, but to be enveloped by the comfort he makes me feel.

  He smiles when he answers. “Jules’ brother, J.P., elbowed me during a Thanksgiving football game. We tend to get pretty intense, we call it a sibling rivalry since we’ve all basically been brothers and sister, for almost twenty years now.” When I mistaked Jules for his ex, he told me the whole story about how he and his friend, Doug, helped Jules’ brother to raise her when their parents died and she was only twelve at the time. I can’t imagine being in college and helping raise a teenager, it speaks for his character and it doesn’t surprise me. “When J.P. married Bri, she insisted on playing, unlike Doug’s wife so it threw off the teams. It’s nice now that Jules and Bentley are together so we can play three vs three with evenly matched teams.” He drops our hands to his lap, not letting go.

  “Sounds like a fun time.” I take a sip from my water glass.

  He grins. “It’s a blast and the guys will be fighting over you to be on their team. They’ll love your competitive streak.”

  I almost choke on my water and for a split second, I swear my heart stops beating and from the look on Smitty’s face, I’m betting his does, too. The entire restaurant goes eerily silent, but before he can take back his words or I can run out the door, Smitty leans forward, pushing his lips against mine and pulling me onto his lap. Too scared to think about his comment, I focus on the kiss, letting pure pleasure take over my body. I shiver when I feel his finger on my bare back. B-E-D-? his finger spells out.

  In turn, I jump up, pull him out the door and down the beach to an isolated area. The walk back to the room is too long, I’ll drive myself crazy pondering his intentions and I’ll never make it in the door. It’s probably the best thing to do, but I’m not ready to let him go, not yet. So instead, I push him down on the sand and crawl on top of him. Sex, Sloan, keep it to sex.

  Chapter 11

  Smitty

  Sloan’s slender body moves silently in the dark of the room, only lit by the small amount of light from the rising sun. I lay on my side, one arm tucked under my head as I watch her pull her hair into a bun and wrap a scarf around it. If I didn’t know she had plans with her mother and sister, I would have thought she was making a run for it after last night. Things were going perfect until I opened my big fat mouth and we ended up fucking on the beach.

  That’s just what it was, distant, mindless sex between strangers despite my best efforts to make it exactly the opposite. Sloan pulled me out of that restaurant the second I mentioned her meeting my friends. We were no more than fifty yards down the beach when she shoved me to the ground and proceeded to have sex with me, not even facing me. Sitting up, I drag my hands down my face and sigh.

  Despite the emptiness between us, it had still been amazing, just like it always is with her and it made me feel even worse that I enjoyed it. Her back to me, her hands on my thighs, and with every thrust down, she’d move my erection in a way I’d never felt before. I came long before she did. Well, actually she didn’t because she wouldn’t let me touch her after that. There was no kissing afterward, instead it was an awkward walk of shame back to our room where we took separate showers and fell asleep without talking or touching.

  Sloan reaches for her flip flops and I clear my throat. “Hey there, don’t I get a goodbye?”

  Her eyes drift toward the clock and she walks to the bed. Taking a seat beside me, her hand slides over the sheet, traveling south. “I have about ten minutes—”

  Leaning forward, I kiss her softly, my finger writing in her palm. “Relax, I’m not asking for sex, or a blowjob, or anything else along those lines.” I lean back so I can see her face. “I’m asking for a goodbye kiss, a have a good day, and maybe I can’t wait to see you after lunch.”

  Her long eyelashes flutter as she looks down. My fingers draw her chin up so I can see her beautiful eyes again. “Look, about last night, I’m sor—”

  Now it’s her turn to interrupt me when she puts both her hands on either side of my face and crushes my mouth with hers. When she pulls away, she’s grinning. “Have fun golfing with my family and I can’t wait to see you later.”

  She rises, heading toward the door and is gone as soon as it’s closed. When I hear the click, I cringe at the thought of when she does that for the last time. What the hell was I thinking when I made that comment last night? I get up and move to the bathroom to get ready.

  Splashing water on my face, I know exactly what I was thinking—exactly what I said. I have three days days left with Sloan and I don’t want it to end. I want to go home with her, be with her in the real world, have her meet my friends, meet hers, and see where things could go. Maybe I’m being naive but I think this could be so much more than the paradise fling we’re both so insistent on.

  I finish getting ready and head to the golf course. Nine holes later and the uneasiness of Sloan running away is gone. Luckily, I’m sharing a cart with Will who is getting updates from Sissy about their pedis and manis. At least I know Sloan is still here. After lunch I can try to mend the damage from last night, while trying to convince her to give us a real shot back in St. Louis.

  Will and I are waiting on Gavin and Roger to catch up with us at the tee box of the tenth hole. He laughs out loud and holds up his phone to show me a picture of Sissy and Sloan holding up their hands with fake nails as long as their fingers with Hello Kitty decorations. Both of the Talbott sisters are laughing with smiles that reach their eyes. I can imagine that Elaina has the same look on her face from the other side of the camera. I stare into Sloan’s eyes, something I don’t always have the luxury to do because she tends to pull away when I try.

  “What do you know about Sloan?” I doubt any of the rest of her family will give me any insight, but it’s at least worth a shot with Will.

  Still laughing, he turns off his phone and puts it back in his pocket. “What do you want to know? The family has no secrets with each other, they’re all in ever
yone’s business, which is both a blessing and a curse.”

  Bingo! “Why is everyone so shocked that she’s with me? I mean, aside from the fact that we barely know each other, I get that, but what else is there?”

  Will tips back his Red Stripe before he answers. “Because she hasn’t dated, or at least brought any guy around us, since her husband died.”

  Whoa! Not exactly what I was expecting. Trying not to hide my shock, I swallow the lump that quickly forms in my throat. “What happened to him?”

  Will looks around to see if anyone can hear us, satisfied that no one is within earshot, he asks in a low whisper, “Do you remember the engineer that got shot in the parking lot of Midwest Air Corps?”

  I nod. It was all over the news. The guy was leaving work when a masked man confronted him in the parking lot, demanded a disc with information on it and then shot him when he got it. The cops thought the robber had to have been from their competitor, but they never found who did it.

  “That was Cooper.” He looks around again then lowers his voice even more. “The cops never let it out, but Sloan was with him that night. The real story is when Coop refused to give him what he wanted, the guy held a gun to Sloan’s head and hit her. Cooper lost it, Sissy said there was no way anyone would ever hurt Sloan if Coop could help it. It happened about a year before I met Sis. Sissy tells me that Sloan fell into a deep depression for about a year before she got her shit together and started her own business. She’s never dated since that happened.”

  My whole body is numb. I know exactly how Sloan must have felt. Granted, our situations aren’t entirely the same, but they’re close enough. That was years ago and she can’t move on yet, what makes me think that I can just a year after Caroline leaving? But the overwhelming thing that’s bothering me is that Sloan was even in that situation. Some asshole put a gun to her head, scared her, hurt her, and then broke her heart. Feeling starts to return to my body and it’s anger that runs through my veins. Cooper may not be able to protect her any more, but I can pick up where he left off, if she’ll let me.