“You know it. Joe and Sam won, so whatever he’d like. It’s on me. Rest is for you, darlin’.”
She grins and tosses me a saucy wink. “You got it, boss.”
Amelia’s nibbling on her lower lip when my attention returns to her. Forget tasting those plump lips. Fuck, I want them wrapped around my cock. I want her wrapped around my cock.
As if she’s read my mind, she sets her drink down and arches an eyebrow at me. “Holly Goodhead?” she asks, her tone playful.
“Better than Pussy Galore, right?”
Her golden curls bounce as her shoulders shake with laughter. “I suppose you’re right. But rather than a Bond girl, couldn’t I be compared to Olivia Newton-John or Debbie Harry?”
“Can you sing?”
“Only in the shower or when drowned out by hundreds of other at a concert.”
An impulsive thought pops into my head. “Speaking of concerts, one of my dad’s golfing buddies gave him tickets for the Knoxville stop on Journey’s Departure Tour. It’s not until the end of August, so I don’t know where you’ll be by then, but if you want to go, one of the tickets has your name on it.”
Amelia’s eyes widen; then she blows out a breath. “As much as I love Steve Perry, I’m not sure I can accept. After all, you’re not looking for anything beyond a summer fling. The end of August might be pushing it.”
It’s a struggle to hold my groan back. “So you heard all that?”
She leans forward, bright-green eyes staring at me. “It’s not a big place, Knox. I could hear almost everything. Joe was right about one thing. I don’t usually flirt. Not my style. In summers past, you could usually find me with my nose stuck in a book or alongside Sunny, doing something scandalous. Her, of course. I just watched.”
My lips twitch and I think about how Clay reminded me that I’m out of practice. He wasn’t wrong. “Ah. Not usually a flirt. So is that what you’re doing with me?”
“Of course not. I’m just sucking on this straw because of my oral fixation.”
There goes my cock again. Without thinking, I take the straw from between her teeth and place it in my back pocket. “Sorry, babe, but you saying ‘oral fixation’ while this is between your lips is something I’m never going to forget.”
“So you need a memento?”
I lean forward, my lips nearly brushing her earlobe. “I need a lot more than that, but for now, I’ll settle for the straw and the vision of what you’ve been doing to it all night.”
Sunny interrupts the moment to drop the drinks off, and just as I’m about to pick them up for delivery, I have one last thought.
“Hey, speaking of Sandy, which one are you? The goody two-shoes who wears poodle skirts and cardigans, or the naughty one in leather pants, big hair, and high heels?”
She sucks down the rest of her drink just as Sunny declares it’s closing time. “Sorry, stud, but you’re going to have find that one out on your own.”
With a wink, she hops off her stool, hooks her purse over her shoulder, and heads behind the bar and through a back door, disappearing from sight.
A hand slaps me on the shoulder. I turn to see Joe grinning at me.
“Damn, dude. I’ve never seen her smile like that. Don’t worry. I’ll get her and Sunny home in one piece. See you ’round.”
I nod, because, yeah, if Sunny and Amelia are inseparable, he’ll definitely be seeing a lot of me.
As Clay and I walk back to the lake house, he’s serenading the night with his terrible rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Maria (You Were the Only One).”
“Clay, she’s not gone. She’s back at home waiting for you,” I remind him.
He stops and holds a hand on my shoulder. “She’s my sweet little sunflower. Without her…”
He hums the note, clearly trying to remember the rest of the lyrics.
“Without her, your life is through?”
He snaps his fingers. “Exactly! I miss her.”
“It’s been less than a day, Clay.”
He sighs. “Exactly,” he repeats. “You’ll understand one day, Knox. One day.”
I roll my eyes and let him continue until we’re back at the house and he plops down on the sofa. He’ll feel great in the morning. Leaving him be, I head down the hall to my room.
I place the napkin with her number and the straw on my nightstand. Joe wasn’t lying. I’ve already got plenty of ‘jackin’ material’ and I haven’t even seen the damn woman naked.
Yeah, this summer is definitely looking up.
I’M NOT SURE IF I’M buzzed from the several rum and Cokes I consumed or the magnetic attraction I have towards Knox. Either way, I’m practically floating as Joe walks Sunny and me back to my grandparents’ lake house. The two of them smooch on the porch for a couple of moments, and just as I’m about to head inside to give them some privacy, Joe calls out my name.
“Nice to see you smilin’ tonight,” he tells me, a crooked grin on his face. “And for what it’s worth, Knox seems like a good dude.”
I lean against the doorjamb and shrug, because even though I want to get to know the man better, I don’t want to appear too eager in front of my friends. “You could tell that from a first impression?”
“You know what they say. You can tell a lot about a person from first impressions. And it’s obvious the guy has the hots for you. I’m thinkin’ you’re into him as well.”
Sunny places a hand on top of his head and pretends to give him a noogie. “Okay, big guy. Leave Amelia alone. It’s her first night here, and if anyone is going to get the gossip, it’s gonna be me.” She gives him one last peck, and I give him a wave before promising to make him breakfast in the morning followed by a long day of lounging by the water.
A short while later, Sunny’s rolling my hair in curlers and my nails are a delicious siren red. Though I should be wiped out, I’m curiously energetic, a bundle of nerves swirling throughout my body. Guess a new crush will do that to you.
“So, what happened with Robert?” Sunny asks.
I look at her in the mirror. She’s paying attention to my hair, not me. “Oh. That. Oh, well, you know, sometimes things just don’t work out.”
“You guys were together for two years,” she reminds me.
I wave her off. “Something happened when he turned twenty-five. It’s like he went from wanting to just have fun to suddenly wanting a wife. A family.”
Sunny pauses, her fingers in mid-curl, and catches my eyes in the mirror. “And I’m guessing you weren’t ready for that?”
I shrug. “Not at all. Don’t get me wrong. I want a family of my own someday—just not any time soon. Plus, dating Robert was fun when it didn’t seem like it was anything serious. As soon as he started pressuring me for more of a commitment, I realized just how much I didn’t love him. I still want to travel the world, taking photos in all the places Mom dreamed about.”
She squeezes my shoulder. “And you will. Hopefully I can tag along with you to a few exotic locations.”
I laugh. “Sure, Sunny. If you can leave Joe long enough.”