“Gorgeous, huh?” I asked, nudging her.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Not Josh gorgeous. Just objectively a handsome man. Come on. You’ve slept with a Kensington. You can appreciate them.”
“Oh, I can. They’re like perfect specimens. But I don’t really think of Penn as gorgeous anymore. He’s just…Penn.”
“Well, Court is just Court too.”
The doorbell rang, interrupting us. English straightened her perfect white suit and opened the door. The woman who ran the magazine that Court was going to be featured in gushed over English’s outfit, made introductions, and then immediately got to work, figuring out the game plan.
“Where is Court?” the woman, who had introduced herself as Evelyn, asked.
And then Court materialized. He was every inch the gorgeous specimen that we’d been describing before Evelyn’s team appeared. He was mouthwateringly hot. The hair and makeup team had only amplified his features. The hollowed cheekbones and chiseled jaw. The piercing blue eyes, cropped and styled dark hair, the full, perfect lips. English had dressed him to look preppy and effortless. Like a prep-school boy, all grown up.
“Hello,” Evelyn said after she stared at him in shock for a few seconds. “I’m Evelyn Rothschild. I’ll be working here with the team today. We’re going to start by having you walk us around the house on camera. Our readers are going to die to see this house on display. When we’re done, we’ll end with a photoshoot. Shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”
His eyes shot to English’s, as if to say, A few hours?
But to Evelyn, he just smiled that charming Kensington smile and said, “Let’s begin then.”
It took the better half of the day for Evelyn to get everything she wanted from Court. And though I couldn’t see what she was looking for, I didn’t doubt her talent. English had said she was a genius at what she did. And that she had the kind of reach they were looking for.
“Thank you so much, Evelyn,” English said. She removed what I could have sworn looked like a couple hundred-dollar bills and passed them to Evelyn as they shook hands once more. “I cannot wait to see you run the feature on my client.”
Evelyn smiled like a Cheshire cat. “Our readers will love him. I can just see this house tour going viral. Who knows? Maybe our readers will want to see a bit more of him next time.”
English just kept on smiling. “Maybe if they’re lucky.”
Then Evelyn laughed and left with her camera crew.
English shut the door with a snap and leaned against it.
“Did she just ask to see him without his clothes on?” I asked. “I wasn’t misreading that, right?”
“She definitely did,” Court said. He ran his hand back through his hair, perfectly mussing the do that had taken a stylist a half hour. And then he unbuttoned his sleeves and began to roll them up to his elbows. “God, does this look better?”
I laughed. “Much. Looks more like you.”
“Rumpled?” he asked.
“Just real instead of polished.”
English was still leaning her forehead against the door. She slowly straightened. “That went well. I thought she’d ask for him shirtless a lot sooner. A second feature with you shirtless is better after we see the audience reaction to this one.”
Court just shook his head. “Your job is strange.”
She quirked a smile at him. “Tell me about it.”
“But we’re done, right?” I asked. “No more photo ops for the weekend?”
“We’re done,” English confirmed.
Court sighed. “Good. We’re all getting fucking drunk tonight at my party.”
English smirked at him. “Why wait for the party?”
“Now, you’re speaking my language,” he said, following her into the kitchen.
“If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Which was how the rest of the group found the three of us already nice and drunk, lying out on the back deck in our bathing suits, not at all prepared for a party.
Sam just smirked down at me. “I hope you put sunscreen on.”
I turned my head to English. “Did I put sunscreen on?”
“Uh…hours ago. I think.”
“Fuck,” I muttered and then burst into laughter. “I’m going to be a lobster later.”
“Come on. Let’s get that pale skin out of the sun.” He took my hand and helped me up. “We should probably get ready for the party before anyone else shows up.”
English nudged Court. “Hey, party boy. Get your ass dressed.”
He snorted and then sent her the most charming, intoxicating Kensington smile. “You get my ass dressed.”
English rolled her eyes. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’d have to get someone into clothes when they couldn’t hold down their alcohol.”
I left them bickering and followed Sam back to the room we were staying in. It was a giant room with a canopied bed at the center and a beautiful bay window with a reading cushion. It was probably my favorite room in the house.
I flopped back onto the bed and giggled. “I feel so good.”
“Did the magazine thing go this poorly?” he asked, stripping out of the polo he’d worn to the golf course.
“Nope. It went great. English thinks it’s going to go viral. And Court miraculously behaved the entire time. He didn’t even fight English. I don’t know what got into him.”
“Huh. I guess that would be me. I talked to him about it last night.”
“Really?” I asked, propping myself up on my elbow. “You got Court Kensington to behave? Do you want to be his publicist?”
He laughed. “Negative. Just his friend.”
“You look good shirtless.”
“Thanks,” he said with a half-smile. “How burnt are you going to be?”
I stared down at my body and shrugged. “Mostly my legs, I think.”
“Let’s get you in a shower and then lather you in aloe before this party.”
I slid off of the bed and put my arms around him. “Thanks for taking care of me.”
“Always.”
I pressed my lips to his, and he deepened it. Then he slipped an arm under my legs and lifted me into his arms. I squeaked in surprise as he carried me into the giant walk-in shower attached to this room. He set me down onto my feet once we were inside and flipped the water on as hot as it would go.
He shucked his khakis and boxers onto the ground outside of the shower and then moved toward me. I bit my lip and stepped back until he pressed me into the stone wall.
His lips covered mine again, fiercely, possessively. His hand slipped behind my back and yanked on the strings of my favorite black bikini. The material hit the ground, leaving me in just my ruched cheeky bottoms. But he wasn’t satisfied with that. His thumbs hooked into the hem and slid them over my ass and onto the floor.
I had no words. I loved this unbridled, forceful Sam. The one who saw me in a bikini and carried me into the shower to get to me. I wanted this Sam so fucking bad. And his erection pressing into my stomach said how much he wanted me too.
He lifted one of my legs, hiking it up around his waist. I gasped as he pressed his dick against the space between my thighs. My eyes squeezed shut as warmth rolled through me. I dug my nails into his back, wanting more, needing more.