Oh, my God.
Did he just say that? Did he really just say that?
Oh, God.
He lifted a hand to run his thumb across my cheek. “Do you think I care what Anika thinks?” He laid his hands across my shoulders and pulled me in, kissing my stun-slacked lips with a smack. “She isn’t you.” He pecked my lips once more. “She will never be you.”
My heart beat fast and hard, pounding in my chest.
I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck. His arms came around me and he straightened, lifting me right off the ground. He held me like I weighed nothing at all.
“Who sleeps in my bed at night, mouse?”
I buried my nose in his neck and mumbled, “I do.”
“You do,” he confirmed. “And who makes me smile?”
I smiled against the stubble on his throat. “Me.”
“Exactly.” He turned to kiss my cheek. “No one else. It’s you, Mina. It’s always been you.” He spoke softly, “I just needed to find you. Now that I have you, I won’t be letting you go. Okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered, feeling my jealousy slip away.
He let me down, threw his robe on, and slipped on his leather flip-flops before sliding on his aviators. I quickly stopped to throw on a white sundress before slipping my feet into a cheap pair of light pink flip-flops. Then we made our way to Sasha’s.
By the time we walked around the house to the glass pool house, the others were already there in their swimwear, chatting, eating, and drinking cocktails. I stopped just inside the door, my wide eyes looking around, taking in the awesomeness.
This pool house was amazing.
It was built around the gigantic, circular pool. With stones paving around the outside of the pool and rainforest placed strategically around the perimeter, it looked as though we were outdoors. My heart almost burst with excitement when I saw the slide. You needed to walk a flight of stairs to get up there, but I needed to get up on that thing. I felt like a five-year-old at a waterpark.
A glance to my left saw a stern looking man in a black polo shirt, standing behind the bar, mixing drinks.
Okay, so maybe not a setting for a five-year-old, but still amazing.
This pool house was more of a pool mansion, with sofas, a dining setting, and the biggest TV I’d ever seen in my life on the wall, a fully functional bathroom, and an outdoor shower stall. I would’ve happily lived here forever.
“Whoa,” I muttered under my breath.
Nas was in the pool already, wearing a black bikini. Anika lay reclined on a deck chair in a 1950s-style leopard-print bikini with a high waisted bottom, her eyes closed in relaxation. Sasha and Vik stood by the bar, waiting for the bar man to finish mixing drinks. Both of them wore black board shorts that came above the knee.
I would dub this pool house The House of Sexy.
Nas spotted us first, smiling hard. “Wicked. You made it. I thought you’d never leave your bed.”
I choked out, “Nice, Nas. Real nice.”
She feigned complete innocence as I heard a mild, “Hey” from Anika.
I turned to smile at her, but lost my fake smile as her eyes landed on Lev just as he was removing his robe. I wanted to seem inconspicuous, so before his big reveal of Sir Frank and The Twin Beans, I stepped in front of him, standing right in her view. Then I lifted my head and smiled. “Hi, Anika. How are you?”
She watched Lev closely as she responded, “I’m doing well, thanks.”
“Come on in,” Nas called out. “I swear the water’s beautiful. Like a warm bath.”
I wanted to guard my man’s delicate sensibilities, but couldn’t resist the pool calling my name. With a grin, I threw my sundress off over my head, ran as fast as I could, and then jumped, landing in the warm water with a loud splash. Once I reached the surface, I lightly paddled next to Nas. “Oh, God, that’s amazing.”
Lev took the deck chair next to Anika, took off his sunglasses and lay back. She watched him with a keen eye, turning on her side to face him. She smiled and spoke quietly. He didn’t turn to her as he responded, placing his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. She spoke some more, and I couldn’t help but notice how she was holding herself. On her side as she was, her boob was dangerously close to falling out of her bikini.
I was about to open my mouth, when I heard Sasha say, “Ani. You’re tit’s about to say hi to me.” I spun to look at him. His eyes fierce, he handed her a cocktail and said, “You need something to cover up with?”
She blinked up at him, seeming confused. “No. I’m fine. Thanks.”