“Did Amanda put you up to this?”
He shakes his head like she might be crazy. “Of course she did,” he says and the two burst out laughing. He shrugs. “Big sisters.”
Gemma huffs out an exasperated breath. “You don’t always have to do what she says, you know.”
He blinks once, twice, his mouth agape. “Ah, did you just meet her? Are you new here?”
“Okay, okay,” Gemma says and as they laugh again, my heart pinches. My daughter has a lot of people in her life, but there is no doubt she’d love it here. Gemma grabs a bottle of wine and a glass. “Let’s go have some fun playing Cards Against Humanity.”
We head back outside, and I sit down next to Adam, who is Nicole’s husband. He’s the strong, silent type, but I like him. In fact, I like all these people.
“Is everything ready for the race tomorrow?” Nicole asks. She glances at the sky. “I think we’re going to get some sprinkles.”
“Rain or shine, you know how it goes,” Janice says. “I finished making the cards this evening after dinner.”
“What kind of race?” I ask as Gemma shuffles the cards.
“Ooh, we have a rookie,” Amanda says loudly. She rubs her hands together and glances at David. “No way can a rookie beat five-time champions.”
“Sounds like a challenge,” I say. “I’m always up for a challenge.”
Amanda grins at me. “It’s on Callan.”
Gemma nudges me. “Mom and Dad put together a list of challenges, like the show Amazing Race, and we all compete. It’s super fun, but I think Amanda and David cheat.” She snarls at her sister and brother in law. “They win every year.”
“We do not cheat,” Amanda says, all indignant, and everyone laughs and rolls their eyes.
“You might think Callan here is a rookie, but you’re forgetting what he does for a living,” Gemma says, coming to my defense. “The man runs into burning buildings. I’m sure he can find a seashell on the sand.”
“Okay, want to make a side bet?” Amanda says.
I lean toward her. “Go ahead.”
She taps her chin. “If we win, you take us to dinner back in the city. If you win, we take you.”
Gemma gives me a nervous glance. When this weekend is over, so is the pretend relationship, but I like her family, and a double date would be fun. Also, I need to keep her close, just to make sure her ex keeps his distance. I’m not sure how I’ll go about that, but I’ll have to figure out a way for her to agree.
“It’s on,” I say. “I can’t remember the last time someone took me out for surf and turf,” I tease, and Gemma laughs. She deals the cards and for the next hour over drinks and laughs, we play. We all have tears in our eyes by the time we finish.
“That game never gets old,” Jim says and stretches his arms out. “I think it’s my bedtime.”
“Same for us,” Amanda says. “We need our rest, so we can celebrate hard after we win tomorrow.”
David just smirks at me, and everyone gives hugs to each other before heading inside. Gemma gathers up the cards and games and I sit back to take a breath. I love everything about this. Hard.
“You good?” Gemma asks when we’re alone.
“I am. I was just thinking, maybe we could take that swim.”
“I’d like that,” she says. I help her carry the games inside, and snatch my bags from the counter. We pad quietly up the stairs and into her bedroom. She opens her bag and tugs out her bathing suit and I simply sit on the bed and watch her, the vision before me a thing of beauty.
“I’ll be right back,” she says, and I capture her arm, not wanting her out of my sight for even a second.
“Where are you going?”
She points to the ensuite bathroom. “To get changed.”
I chuckle. “Babe, I’ve been inside you. You don’t need to run away to get changed.”
Pink invades her cheek. “I know.” Her hands fall. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I do.”
I pull her to me, and she stands in between my spread legs. My mouth is right there, inches from her sweet nipples.
“You do?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“What was I thinking, then?” she asks, not even bothering to hide the arousal in her voice or her body.
“You were thinking you gave me the best head in the car today, and that maybe it was my turn to put my tongue and mouth all over your beautiful body.” She quakes and I hold her tight to absorb the tremors. I tear my gaze away from her hard nipples poking through her T-shirt and her eyes are dark, half mast, when she dips her head to see me. Her hair tumbles over her shoulders, and I push it back to expose the long column of her neck.
Her long lashes fall slowly and rise again. “Yeah, I might have been thinking that.”
“Might have? No vagueness with me, Gemma. You need to straight up tell me the truth.”
“You want the truth, Callan?”
I hear a sexy little hitch in her voice, and her chest rises and falls as she grows breathless.
“Yes.”
She rakes her hands through my hair. “Okay. Last night. Sex with you. I’ve never experienced that kind of pleasure before. My body hasn’t stopped humming all day. I’m trying hard to focus on other things, trying hard to make conversation with family, but it’s near impossible, I crave to be touched by you again. I want your mouth on me, your fingers and cock inside me. I want it all, with you. Sex with Brad was rough, almost violent. I was terrified, to tell you the truth. I never wanted to have sex, but somehow always found myself beneath him. He never worried about my pleasures, or my body. I never knew sex could be…nice.”
“I won’t hurt you, Gemma.”
“I know. The way you made me feel last night, important and beautiful. It was so nice.” Her hand cups my face. “I appreciate all you’re doing for me.”
“You are all those things, Gemma. No one should ever have taken them away from you. Plus, I’m kinda sorta doing it for me too,” I admit. “It’s not like I’m not getting something out of this,” I say, and she chuckles.
My heart pounds, loving the way she’s open with me, but my insides are in turmoil, wanting to hunt down her ex and beat the motherfucker. She’s clearly kept so many secrets, hid so much pain. I want to be the guy to bring out her confidence, watch her blossom under my touch, and show her that sex between two people who care about one another should be a beautiful thing, not something to fear.
“There’s one more thing I’m wondering about,” she says, and purses her lips.
I grip her waist, and span my fingers. “What’s that?”
“I’m wondering if maybe you want to skip the swim.”
“Swimming is so overrated,” I tell her and her warm chuckles tug on my balls. I stand, and my body brushes hers the whole way up. I grip her T-shirt and peel it over her head. Today she’s wearing a lacy black bra, and I can’t help but think this is for me.
I bend and bury my face between her breasts, breathing in the scent of her skin. I rub my thumbs over her lace. “Mmm, I like,” I say and slide my hand around her back. “But this, I like even more,” I add when her bra slides from her body. I stand back, take in her gorgeous breasts. I must take too long staring. She shifts and her hands go to cover herself up.