All of Me

“What are you thinking about?”

He laughed softly. “I was trying to come up with an excuse to back out on my friends.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He rolled his head in her direction. “Tired of my company already?”

“Not at all. I was thinking you just got out of the doghouse for being a bad friend. It would be a shame for you to be back in so soon.”

Damian stared at her in disbelief, then laughed heartily. Soon they were both laughing hard. “Wow. I don’t know if I should be offended or not. I’ve never been with a woman who wanted me to go out with the guys.”

Still chuckling, she said, “Don’t be. I just happen to think good friends are hard to come by, and it’s important to spend time with them when you can.”

He quieted, thinking about her words. “Yeah. I agree. So do you plan to go ashore?”

“Yes. Janae and Terrence are making an appearance, and we’re all going to lunch. Beyond that, I have no idea what we’re doing.”

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I guess I should probably get moving.” He stood, retrieved his clothes and dressed quickly. He would shower once he got back to his room. But first he glanced back at Karen spread out on the bed looking sexy as hell—wild hair, kiss-swollen lips—with the sheet barely covering her body. She made an alluring picture. It was all he could do not to climb back into that bed.

She obviously interpreted his thoughts because she said, “Stop looking at me like that and go meet your friends.”

Busted, he dropped his head. He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll see you tonight, sweetheart.”

She gave him a tiny wave and smiled. “Bye. Have fun.”

He stood there a minute longer, willing his feet to move. Finally, he forced himself to leave. Giving her one last look, he reluctantly opened the door and left with every detail about her imprinted on his brain.

Damian strolled down the corridor toward the elevator. He smiled. Yeah, he would enjoy the day with his friends, but his night—that would belong to Karen.

Chapter 7

“I wasn’t sure you’d show up,” Troy said when Damian set his plate on the table and lowered himself into the chair across from Troy.

“Believe me, I thought about canceling,” Damian muttered, spreading strawberry jam on his biscuit. In his mind, he replayed last night and this morning. His groin throbbed in remembrance of Karen riding him. Kyle’s laughter broke into his thoughts.

“You’re daydreaming, bro. It must have been a helluva night.”

“It was.” They ate in silence for a few minutes.

“You’re really feeling Karen?” Troy asked, forking up some scrambled eggs on his plate.

“I like her.”

Troy raised an eyebrow. “You like her? That’s it? As much time as you’re spending with her, that’s all you’re gonna say?”

Damian shrugged. “It’s only been a couple of days, so yeah, that’s all I’m saying.” He wasn’t ready to share his feelings because he didn’t quite understand them himself. They stared at him. “What?”

Kyle drained his glass of orange juice and shook his head. “You must really like her if you were thinking about canceling.” He cocked his head to the side. “Out of curiosity, what made you decide not to cancel?”

“Karen. She said good friends are hard to come by and that I should take advantage of the time.”

“Sounds like a wise woman.” They finished breakfast, and Kyle checked his watch. “We should get going.”

They all rose from the table and grabbed their backpacks. “You’re still not telling me what we’re doing?” Damian asked.

“We’re gonna have some fun. That’s all you need to know.” Troy clapped him on the shoulder. “It’ll be like old times when we used to go hiking or motorcycle riding.”

Ten minutes later, the three men headed into town. They stopped to do a short tour of the Atlantis Resort and ended up engaging in a car race on the Raceway, which Kyle won and couldn’t stop bragging about.

“It was only one race, and you barely won,” Damian said.

“The fact remains, I won. I knew that tactical driving course would come in handy someday.” Kyle was a former police detective.

“That wasn’t tactical driving. That was cheating. If you hadn’t cut me off, I would’ve won.”