“Garrett, why don’t you test your new camera and take some pictures of the waves.” Brook pointed toward the dazzling view.
“Does the water always look like it’s glowing under a full moon?” I said staring at the beautiful sight.
“Other than tonight, the only other time I remember was when I must have been fourteen or fifteen.” Chad reached over and grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the lounger. “Sit with me.”
He spread his legs wide, guiding me to stretch out between his thighs. Laying against his chest, his arms circled around my middle. The air hushed and a sense of all pairs of eyes on us drew both mine and Chad’s focus toward them.
He let out a sigh. “You have to ignore them, sometimes. I do.”
“Shit! I’m sorry,” Brooke stammered.
“Way to go. Leah will never want to come back.” Chad rolled his eyes.
I shook my head. “That’s not true. I’m sure they aren’t used to seeing you on an intimate level with… a woman.”
“You hit the nail right on the head.” Avery pointed at me playfully.
“I think it’s time to change the subject.” Chad laughed, but it didn’t feel genuine. Every muscle in his body felt tense against my back.
“Garrett and I are going to Bora Bora next month to look at a resort. We should all go for the weekend.” Brooke broke the awkward moment.
“That sounds like a terrific idea.” Avery cleared her throat.
“We should probably think about calling it a night,” Chad whispered in my ear, but his voice was anything but soothing. Tension rolled off him, so thick it felt tangible and I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had happened.
I played it cool even though his actions sent an unsettling feeling over me. When I began to stand, he held me in place as if he felt my withdrawal and searched my face. His expression softened and I ended up on his lap with his hands holding my face as he tenderly kissed my lips, not giving a damn if we had an audience.
The world faded away, like it did every time at the mere sight of him. When we parted, he stared into my soul and my sex clenched.
“Damn, these are good.” Garrett held the camera, reviewing the display screen. “Want to see?”
“You were supposed to be taking pictures of the waves.” Stone arched his eyebrow and cocked his head over his shoulder at Garrett.
“Trust me, you’ll be glad I chose to photo shoot y’all instead.”
Garrett handed Stone the camera and as soon as I saw the first one, my jaw dropped. One after the other, all ten of the images spellbound me. “Holy hell. These are fantastic.”
“I’ll send them to Chad, and he can forward them to you Leah.”
“Oh my gosh. I would love that.”
“They’re pretty hot, like they could be on some romance book cover or some shit,” Garrett laughed softly.
“Don’t go there.” Chad’s tone was clipping, and he stared at his brother flatly.
“I’m going to help Brooke clean everything away.”
He lovingly squeezed my hand. His whiplash mood confused me, but there was obviously something playing out with Chad and Garrett.
Brooke and I cleared everything away and once inside she smiled and cocked up her eyebrows. “So, you’re the one.”
“What?”
“Honey, hundreds and hundreds of women have tried to land Chad. I wasn’t convinced he’d ever settle for one woman, but tonight convinced me otherwise.”
“Nooooo. We’re not…”
“You have it as bad for him, which is good since he’s totally off the market and belongs to you now.”
I scrunched up my face. “Are you always this blunt?”
“Pretty much, yes.” She laughed, opening the refrigerator and placed the salad dressing bottles in the door compartment. “The three of us will make a great team together. Avery and I have needed another Mitchell girl around to even out the odds. It’s been tough having two against the three of them.”
“We’re not really… official.”
“But you’re in love with him.”
Avery bounced down the stairs. “Did I hear you say what I think I heard you say?”
“Would you believe me if I told you I’m here for the sex?” I asked playfully.
The three of us burst into giggles and kept doing the dishes. Brooke called over her shoulder “I was Garrett’s secretary and we did the whole ‘I’m in it for sex too, while we were stranded together on an island. Believe you me, I know the look you and Chad are wearing because it’s the same one Garrett and I still wear. And Avery? She’s loved Stone since diapers, so they were born with the look.”
I froze trying to dry the freshly washed salad bowl.
“What?” Avery asked.
“He’s made it clear. That’s not what we are.”
“But you’re in love with him,” Brook pushed.
She was persistent but damn I liked her. She and Carli were sisters from another mother in the way neither of them cut any slack in how they felt about what they wanted to know.
“I… he doesn’t know.”
“He would have to be blind not to see it. But it seems the Mitchell men are blind at first when it comes to love,” Avery pointed out.
“I’m cupid, didn’t you know?” Brooke wriggled her eyebrows while opening another bottle of wine.
We all three giggled. “Yes, you were. But what I want to know is how did you know? I mean were you there that night?”
“Yes. As soon as I saw you walk across the stage, I knew it. I made the call and the bidding started.”
We sat on the white high back barstools while I spilled the entire story of us before the guys came inside.
“Are you about ready to go? Savannah is coming over in the morning for pancakes and to finish gluing the sunflowers onto the canvas.” Our eyes drifted to one another and locked.
“We better. It’s almost midnight.”
“Brooke, we should get going too. Sometime soon, we all need to get back together,” Garrett called out.
“I’ll make shrimp tacos with mango sauce,” Brooke promised.
The four of us made our way across the lawn in the night sea breeze and waved to Garrett and Brooke as they kept trekking toward the house on the other side of Chad’s.
“I love them. It’s wonderful you all vacation here together.”
“After Hurricane Ike all of this was bare. Gammy rebuilt and Stone ended up purchasing it from her. Garrett and I decided to purchase some lots and the rest is history.” He squeezed my hand as we climbed the stairs. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
“If Brooke is going to make shrimp tacos, maybe I’ll volunteer to make lasagna when it’s our turn to host a dinner. Carli once told me it was the bomb.”
I felt him tense up again before he let go of my hand at the top of the deck. Once inside, he clicked the lock on the door and walked over to the dining table. What was going on with him?
“I’ll be upstairs in a little while. I need to check on some things.” He sat down with his laptop in front of him.
I gave him a light smile and glanced over my shoulder before ascending the stairs. It took all of my willpower not to push him into talking to me. Instead, I let him focus on the screen in front of him and kept climbing the steps.
While showering, a flight of thoughts spun in my mind. What if something were going on with the team? What if he needed to be at Mitchell Oil? What if it were us? Holding my head up, I let the hot water sluice down my body.
I needed to know if it were us.
And if it was business, we had to leave.
Would that be the end of us?
I slipped one of his black T-shirts over my head and dried my hair. When I entered the bedroom, I found Chad lying on his back with both hands folded behind his head. No words were spoken but his gaze followed my every move as I slid under the covers. Like a magnet, I snuggled into the crook of
his arm and placed my hand over his chest.
The slow drum against my palm brought a smile to my face when I realized my own beat in sync with his.
“What’s bothering you?” I softly asked.
“Nothing. Why?”
“You seem distant? I felt you pull away when there was talk about all of going to Bora Bora, then again when Garret started talking about the pictures, he took of us. Then you did it again on the way home when I brought up hosting the next dinner with your family.
“You’re imagining things.”
“No. I know what I felt.”
“There’s a good chance I need to get back on Sunday. That gives us two more days.”
I leaned up on my elbow. “We can go anytime. I know you have important obligations to take care of.”
“We still have all day tomorrow. Hank will fly us back late Sunday afternoon.”
“Okay.”
Was it us? Because it sure sounded like we were the problem.
Chapter 33
“While you girls glue the shells, I’ll make us some pancakes.” A trace of a smile teased his lips as he shoved his tablet and a few folders inside his leather satchel. He wore coral colored swim trunks and left me as breathless as the day I’d met him.
“Mama said we have to leave in the morning,” Savannah pouted.
“Leah and I are leaving tomorrow too, kiddo. Kind of stinks, doesn’t it”
“Daddy said you might be coming back next weekend?”
I forced myself to keep my eyes on the shell I pressed into the hot glue onto the canvas, patiently waiting for his answer. We hadn’t discussed it any further and this morning when I woke, he was already downstairs making coffee with Savannah.
“I don’t know yet, but you’ll be the first to know.” He promised the beaming child.
I glued the pink shells in the middle in the form of a flower, hoping there was more to be said. That maybe he was coming back and hopeful I was coming with him.
He flipped a pancake and stole a quick glance toward me before turning his focus on the batter in the skillet.
What in the hell was wrong with him?
“You and my girl are making a beautiful piece of artwork.”
My girl.
My heart clenched hearing him call me his.
A rush of relief washed over me, and I suddenly felt like an idiot. There was something going on with his work. It wasn’t me. There was no way he would call me his girl if it were me.
Damn my insecurities to hell.
“I like the color of your swim trunks. I think I’ll order a matching bikini… you know the one that tie on the sides.”
His attention darted over his niece’s head to me and heat radiated all the way across the room from his eyes.
“One more piece and we’re finished!” she squealed.
“Well let me get the show on the road.”
“When it’s dry, we’re going to hang it over the fireplace.” Chad’s tone sounded a cross between a growl and a jovial matter-of-fact statement.
“But yours belongs there. Why don’t we hang it somewhere in the kitchen?”
“It’s time to do some redecorating.”
Thank God, we were going back to normal and whatever haunted him seemed to have crawled back in its hole of misery.
We ate the most delicious pancakes dripping with maple syrup until I was stuffed. “If I keep eating like this, I’m going to have to run twice daily, take Zumba, and eat lettuce without any yummy dressing. Has anyone ever told you that you are the best chef ever?”
“I don’t cook for anyone. Only my beautiful girls. Don’t you think she’s gorgeous Savannah?”
“Like my prettiest Barbie.”
An hour later the five of us were out on the beach enjoying the mid-morning sunny day when Garrett and Brooke joined us. I couldn’t describe the amount of contentment the salty air and my new friends provided. Chad had once told me this was the place for healing and I mostly agreed with him, except he was the one who was responsible for setting my soul free—not the sea.
Stretched out on my stomach in between Avery and Brooke, we soaked in some vitamin D while Savannah started scooping sand with a green plastic shovel.
“I wish you guys were staying a while longer. Garrett and I are going to hang out a few more days.”
“I wish we were too, but Stone has some important business going on.”
“What about you and Chad? Can’t you talk him into staying at least a few more days?”
“We’ve already been away for too long because of me. Between the team and the oil company, I imagine he’ll be working late hours for a while.”
“I doubt it. When he’s out, either Garrett or The Godfather stands in.”
“The Godfather?”
Brooke laughed. “That’s what she calls our father-in-law. He has a face that looks like one mean old bastard, but he’s the sweetest man in the world.”
“Oh. I wasn’t aware, but even so, the responsibilities with owning a major league baseball team in itself has to have him neck deep in decisions to be made.”
“He pays people to do the work and if they don’t, he fires them.”
“Maybe Bivens is giving him hell. Something’s up because he said we needed to get back.” I raised up on my elbows and glanced over my shoulders. The guys appeared to be in deep conversation and were getting closer to where the three of us sunbathed.
Mercy, the Mitchell DNA was a force of sin. But it was Chad who dominated my entire universe. Tingles prickled my spine and heat warmed my veins at the sexiness he emanated.
“It’s hard to keep your jaw from dropping to the ground with all of that standing in front of you.” Brooke declared, eyes on her man.
“Yes. It. Is.” My eyes dropped down his delicious abs.
I hated the thought of leaving this place. It had been pure paradise, a place where I wasn’t his dirty little secret. We were in public like a normal couple and I wasn’t sure how to go back to Dallas and have to hide being together.
“How come Chad doesn’t like to be seen in public with women?” I wasn’t sure if I asked or if my thoughts tumbled out of my mouth like word vomit.
“He likes to keep his private life just that—private.”
“Is he notorious for playing women and then dumping them?”
“I think you’re the game changer. You’re the one he’s finally serious with.”
“What makes you think he wants to get serious with me?”
“This place has been his refuge—his place of peace. He doesn’t bring anyone here—ever. He would have never brought you unless it’s serious. This is a sentimental place for all the Mitchells. His grandparents, John Frank and Dovie, met on this beach and fell hopelessly in love. John Frank purchased the land where our house is now and that’s where it all began.”
I let all of that soak in for a moment. “There are times he’s made me feel I’m the most important person in the world to him. Then last night and this morning something’s been off. He was distant and it felt like he was pulling away from me. I don’t.... know. This whole thing is so confusing. I mean we both wanted to stay out of the public eye, and I certainly wasn’t ready for my dad to know I was sleeping with his boss.”
“Maybe you should tell Chad how you feel. At first, he might struggle with the reality of coming to terms with his own feelings. He might run scared, but one thing is for sure, Chad is head over heels for you. I see it all over his face… so he’ll come running back to you.”
“What are y’all over there whispering about?” Stone stood straddling Avery laying on a bright pink striped towel.
“Nosy.”
He stooped over and playfully smacked her on the behind. “Come walk with me.”
“I want to walk.” Savannah let go of Chad’s hand and tossed her bucket to where all the other sand toys were scattered about.
Chad’s gaze burned i
nto me and it felt warmer than the brilliant rays of sunshine. I loved the charge in the air when he was near and how he made butterflies take flight.
Garrett wriggled his finger to Brooke, and she moved up on her hands and knees to a stand. It dawned on me, the same intense look both Garrett and Stone gave their wives, matched the way Chad often looked at me—and my toes curled.
My heart raced wildly in my chest and I wrestled with Avery’s advice for me to admit my feelings to him. Obviously now wasn’t the time, but maybe tonight when we were alone and if the time were right, I would.
After the others scurried off to do their own thing, Chad eased down on the aqua towel with me. He lay on his side and propped his head in his hand.
“These last few days have been amazing, Leah.”
“I feel the same way.”
Holy hell.
“I’m sorry about last night and this morning,” he said softly.
“It’s fine. Everyone has a different mood for a different day. It’s not like you don’t have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders.”
“You mean more.”
“What do you mean, Chad?”
I forgot to breathe waiting for him to either confess his feelings, get them out in the open, or dismiss them.
“I mean, I would rather be right here with you than anything in the world.”
“Me too.”
Come on. I need more.
“Did you know my grandparents met here?”
“Yes. Avery told me. It’s a pretty romantic place, huh?”
“For some.”
“For us?”
“I don’t do romance, Leah. Never will.”
I raised my head with a frown. “Could have fooled me.”
“Don’t ever let yourself believe that I can be a man who does flowers, chocolates, and love letters. I don’t.”
“That’s okay. I think a night on a boat under the stars, a teddy bear from an amusement park, and a dance in the dark on the pier with nothing but the moon to watch over us supersedes flowers, chocolates, and love letters. And let’s not forget the best orgasm in the world with the sweetest banana pudding.”
Keeping Wicked (The Mitchell Brothers Book 3) Page 23
