“Finn is an idiot and exactly who I was talking about,” Ivy spoke up. “He came here to screw around and sleep with as many girls as possible. Maim a few of them too, apparently. He should not have gotten an invitation.”
“He’s gone and good riddance.” Owen pulled me in for a side hug. “We’re ducking out to take our minds off it. Have fun like we’re supposed to be doing this summer.”
“That’s not what we’re supposed to be doing,” she said, “but it is part of it, so I’m down.”
Nathan and Preston were last to arrive. Preston flashed me a wink on his way to Delilah. I fell behind the pack, walking with Nathan as we set off.
“Did you get a phone?”
He shook a shiny new Samsung at me. “I’ll expect you to send me nudes to start refilling the bank.”
“You’ll be waiting a long time for those.”
“A long time for what?” Kelli drifted closer to us than she did the right direction. “What are you guys talking about?”
“For my number,” I said. “I told him he was lucky to get it the first time. That’ll teach him to go flinging his phone into the sea.”
Kelli playfully swatted my arm. “Wicked harsh, Belle.” She expertly slid between us and linked her arm through his. “You can have my number again. Why did you get rid of your phone?”
I sent a silent communication to him over her head and then jogged to catch up with the others. I hoped Nathan got the message and, most importantly, took the opportunity to tell Kelli about his tyrant grandfather and his plans to rescue his mother from his care. If Kelli wanted to pursue a marriage with Nathan, she had to know what that meant. And it had to be sooner rather than later.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“The beach goes on for another half a mile,” said Preston. “It’s all private. Once we’re out of sight of the villa, anything goes.”
“What kind of anything are we talking about?”
Mila flashed me a grin that did nothing to reassure me. “You’re partying with the Blackburn crew now. Buckle up.”
“It’s not too late to turn back, is it?”
“Way too late.”
Mila hooked my left arm while Nora got the right. Delilah shot me a poisonous look over Preston’s shoulder. It’s possible the two of us had a few things left to work out.
We tramped down the beach, laughing, goofing off, and trading stories of their time in the academy with my much tamer life at Bracknell High.
We reached the spot of the beach where it began to curve around the tip of the island. This was the cue. Mila and Nora dropped my hands.
The girls ran off, stripping their clothes as they went, and howling along with the hooting group. In minutes everyone was naked and racing toward the water. Except for me and Zion.
“Shall we?” Zion spread his towel further up the bank.
“Coming.”
In the moonlight, I searched for Carter’s clothes and then for Carter. He was diving into waves—his pale, shapely butt a buoy in the water. I gathered up his stuff, dropped them next to Zion, and laid my blanket on top of them.
“Do I want to know?” he asked.
“Nah.”
He patted the spot next to him. “Look up.”
I sank onto the soft, shifting earth, and the whole of the heavens overcame me. “Wow,” I breathed. “You search your whole life to see something this beautiful, and the entire time all you had to do is look up.”
“What are the stars like in Bracknell?”
“Not like this.”
“Did you study astronomy? My dad and I used to pore over star maps.”
“When I was a little girl, my dad would savor his nightly scotch on the patio. I’d sneak out of bed, climb on his lap, and he would point out the stars and tell me which was the bear and the lion. I said once that he was making it up and it was just a bunch of dots in the sky. He told me that you can’t look at things for what they are, but for what they can be.”
“Solid advice for a designer.”
“Belle.”
I raised my head and met with Poseidon, king of the sea. Strong, powerful, and bare before all. Ropey, corded muscles flexed as he moved, drawing my eyes down the length of his body. The dripping wet Olympian shook out his hair, showering me in droplets. I blinked and Carter Knight appeared in his place.
“Can’t find my clothes.” Pissed looked good on him too. “Assuming you have something to do with that?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. What would you say if I told you I’d give them back in exchange for calling off the engagement?”
Carter threw his head back laughing. “I’d say I’ve got plenty of clothes half a mile down the beach and a naked moonlit walk is good for the soul.”
“Didn’t think that would work.” I fished his clothes out from under me. “But you can’t blame a girl for trying.”
Carter grabbed his boxers and dropped the rest. His impressive length disappeared in the fabric—the first time I considered clothes the enemy.
“Switch?” he asked Zion.
“Okay.” My friend got up, shed his clothes, and raced into the water. Carter dropped in his place.
“So.” He propped himself on one arm and lay on his side. “Did my eyes deceive me or was the unflappable Belle Adler struck speechless?” His grin was wolfish. “I take that as the highest compliment.”
I dodged the question. “Unflappable? Good word.”
“You’re not an ordinary person. You don’t deserve an ordinary description.”
“I take that as the highest compliment.”
“Circling back to you ogling me.” My groan didn’t slow him down. “As you can see, I’ll keep you very happy in that department.”
Matching him smirk for smirk, I said, “Having the equipment doesn’t mean you know how to use it.”
“Want a test drive?” Carter trailed his nose along the shell of my ear, dripping water that raced down the valley of my breasts. “You can find out just how well I handle.”
Heat pooled in my lower belly, clenching my legs. I prayed he didn’t notice.
I fixed on the guys in the water and regretted it instantly. Nora hung off Asher like a real barnacle. Her legs wrapped his waist and her head flung back. I couldn’t hear them over the waves, but her open mouth and bouncing boobs as she rode him made it clear what they were up to.
“No, thanks,” I said evenly, returning to him. “I assume this is all a part of your plan to use sex, sweetness, and bribes to cover up your trapping me in a loveless marriage. Can I ask you something?”
“Go for it.”
“What happens if you get what you want? You turn around and say just kidding to our families? Admit to your father that you did all of that to get more money out of him?”
“You know what, I haven’t thought that far ahead.” He stood and held his hand out to me. “The water’s warm.”
I looked from him to the naked frolickers. “I’m supposed to take it easy.”
“We will.” Carter took my hands and helped me up. “I’ll hold you.”
That shouldn’t have swayed me, and yet my feet followed him. “Keeping the boxers on?”