“You okay, sweetness?” he asked. She nodded, without looking up at him. “You can tell me if you’re not. I got you either way.”
“No, I am. I’m just really tired and Uncle Vaughn being in that mood just pushed some buttons.”
“Tired, huh? Someone keep you up all night?” He tickled her lightly, making her squirm.
“Yeah, just some boy,” she said, emphasizing the phrase her uncle used earlier. She couldn’t believe that her uncle had had such a strong reaction to the two of them going sailing. She told herself that it was the wedding making him act this way—after all, he’d always seemed to like Kyle. All of her uncles liked him. He’d engrained himself not only in her heart, but in her family as well. “Maybe if we told them that you’re my...whatever, he’d stop flipping out.”
“Your whatever? By ‘whatever,’ do you mean boyfriend?” he asked.
“Um, yes?”
“You questioning that because you don’t know where we stand or because you don’t like the term boyfriend?”
“I guess that depends on you. Do you like the term boyfriend?”
“I told you this morning, sweetness,” he answered, kissing the top of her head again. “You’re mine, and I’m yours. If you want labels, great. If not, then we’ll just have to figure out how we’re referring to ourselves.”
“Okay then, boyfriend,” she said, smiling. She flipped herself over so she was fully on top of him now, her breasts pushing against his hard chest. “I don’t want to talk about my crazy family anymore.”
“Then what do you want, beautiful?”
She blushed slightly at him calling her that. She loved all the little things he’d started calling her since they kissed for the first time the other night. They made her feel so special, all warm and fuzzy inside.
“I want to just lie here with you, kissing and snuggling and listening to the ocean until I forget I have a crazy family.”
She wiggled her hips slightly against his, eliciting a dark, intense look in his eyes. His hands slid down her back, over her ass and thighs, finding the hem of her sundress. As he moved them back up her thighs, this time underneath her skirt, he leaned in, touching his lips to hers. When his hands found her bare ass cheeks, courtesy of the tiny thong she was wearing, he groaned into the kiss, slipping his tongue past her lips. He kissed her long and hard. With his mouth and hands on her like this she felt like she was flying and would do whatever it took to make sure it didn’t stop. Still kneading her ass, he pulled back slightly and looked deep into her eyes.
“As you wish, sweetness.”
Chapter Seventeen
Drea woke up to the sounds of someone rummaging through her kitchen. Not just someone. Kyle, she thought. They’d spent the rest of the evening wrapped up in each other in the hammock, cuddling and kissing, with little bouts of talking in between kisses. If she had ever imagined the perfect evening, that would have been right up there. Just the two of them, curled up together on the beach, doing nothing. Part of her had wondered briefly if one of her uncles or Simone would try to come find her after they all finished eating, and how exactly she would explain being caught mid-kiss, but he had done exactly what she had asked of him, and kissed her until she lost track of all thoughts.
She must have nodded off at some point while they were out there, since she didn’t remember making it to bed last night. Her heart swelled with the idea that Kyle had carried her to bed and tucked her in. She wondered if he had slept here last night and made another early morning exit, only to come back and rummage through her kitchen. She swung her legs out of bed, realizing that she only assumed it was Kyle in her kitchen and should probably make sure. For all she knew, Vaughn had let himself in and had decided to rearrange her whole cottage.
Padding slowly into the kitchen, she smiled when she found Kyle standing at the counter pouring coffee into two mugs. She looked over to find a duffle bag sitting by her front door, packed and ready to go.
“I’m very glad it’s you I’m finding in my kitchen this morning,” she said, walking up to him.
“Just who did you think would be in your kitchen at this hour?” he asked, turning to embrace her. He leaned down and kissed her good morning. She moaned softly in response.
“For all I knew it was one of my uncles.”
“I really hope you’re not greeting your uncles in just your thong like that,” he said, laughing.
She pulled away from him slightly and looked down. She was indeed in just the tiny scrap of lace she’d worn under her sundress last night. She giggled and looked back up at him with a wicked little smile on her face.
“I don’t know that any of them have put me to bed in just my underwear, at least not as an adult.”
“Touché,” he said, leaning in to kiss her again. “Well, I grabbed some coffee on my way back from grabbing a few things for this weekend. And for breakfast, we have these.”
He produced a plate with two large, gooey-looking brownies on them. Her eyes went wide, as she realized in that moment how hungry she was.
“How did you manage to find those in the kitchen at this time of day?”
“I didn’t. Miller sent me home with them last night. He said he knew you’d be sad you missed them.”
She grabbed one off the plate and took a bite, letting the flavors melt on her tongue. She closed her eyes and let out an over-exaggerated moan, licking her lips to make sure she got all the chocolate. Looking up at Kyle as she licked her lips, she watched him just shake his head laughing. He reached for a little brown bag that was sitting on the counter next to the bread basket the brownies must have been sent home in.
“This, was also on the door handle,” he said, holding up the bag by the little paper handles. She put the plate down and went to grab it, but he grinned and pulled it away too quickly. “Now, who exactly would be leaving little gifts on your door, huh?”
She stood on her tiptoes, jumping a little, and grabbed it out of his hands. He laughed as she took the bag and playfully glared at him. Peeking into the bag, Drea scowled a little, just before throwing her head back and laughing hysterically. She pulled out a little note and read it out loud.
“May the remake be a little more hands-on, winky face, D.” She laughed again, handing the note to Kyle. He looked down at it, perplexed, until she reached into the bag and pulled out a ruby-red string bikini and held it up for him to see.
“What the hell?” he spit out, laughing. “I have so many questions, but I’ll start with, how does Dalton know what size you wear?” he eyed her suspiciously.
“That is apparently one of the great mysteries of life,” she replied, giggling hysterically. She put the top back in the bag and grabbed her brownie, taking another bite. “I guess I should go throw some things in a bag so we can hit the water.” She turned away from him and started to head toward her bedroom.
“I’d like to request you pack only that,” he said, pointing to the bag.
She turned around, winking at him and blowing him a kiss before she headed back to her room.
If someone had asked Drea to describe her perfect day, one of the first things that would always come to mind was being out on the water with Kyle. She’d always loved being out on the boat, even as a little girl. The first time they had gone out as a family, Drea had been so excited to feel the wind on her face and smell the ocean that she ran around the catamaran from side to side so she could take everything in. All three of her uncles had about had a heart attack when she leaned over the side to try and touch the water as they skimmed along the top.