Besides the tightness of his jaw and the tic of his lip, he doesn’t let on to how he feels about his personal assistant tagging along.
“The whole day to bug the hell out of Gabby?” Chase bellows with a grin. “I’m definitely in.”
“Seriously? You brought Chase with you?” Gabby growls as I join her on the boat, her eyes watching as Chase and Harrison unload the cooler and bags of food from the back of his SUV.
“He was standing there when I asked Harrison. I couldn’t not invite him,” I argue. Though, I didn’t really invite him to begin with. He just sort of invited himself.
Gabby throws her hands in the air. “That’s great. He’s going to give Roman a hard time,” she grumbles, setting my beach bag on the floor.
“Who’s Roman?” I ask, placing my large hat on my head and digging for the sunscreen.
“He’s a guy I started seeing. He’s an investment banker,” Gabby says absently, her eyes glued to Chase as he carries the heavy cooler down the dock.
“And you invited him to go boating?” I ask, not missing a moment of how her eyes practically devour Chase’s body as he reaches the boat.
“Who’d you invite to go boating?” Chase asks, setting the cooler of drinks down on the deck.
“Roman, the guy I’m seeing. Muscular. Smart. Big dick,” Gabby states, crossing her arms over her chest.
Chase advances quickly, getting right in my sister’s personal space. My heart hammers in my chest as they stare each other down. He’s imposing with his big frame, but my sister doesn’t cower. In fact, she seems to spark to life, the challenge evident in her eyes. “Big dick, huh? That ain’t nothing if he doesn’t know how to use it, sweetheart. You ever want to know what that feels like, you let me know.”
And then he turns and stalks off, that ever-present cocky swagger trailing behind him as he goes. “He wishes,” Gabby mumbles, quiet enough that I almost don’t hear her.
Something tells me that Chase isn’t the only one who wishes.
Voices draw my attention to the docks, where I see Gina and Harrison heading our way. She’s wearing a swimsuit cover-up, but I can already tell the bikini underneath is skimpy. And red. She has the body for it, though. Can’t fault the woman for flaunting what she was given. I’m sure Chase will eat it up, considering that man bed-hops more than the Energizer Bunny does in those battery commercials.
“We all set?” Harrison asks, his body tense as he gets ready to untie the lines.
“No, we’re waiting on Roman!” Gabby hollers from behind the wheel.
“Roman?” Harrison asks.
“Muscular. Smart. Big dick,” Chase mimics, unable to keep his annoyance from his words.
Just then, a shorter guy with jet-black hair and a manscaped goatee approaches the dock. He’s wearing expensive boat shoes and pressed Dockers shorts with his short-sleeved button-down shirt. Chase snorts beside me as the man approaches the pontoon.
“Hey, Roman!” Gabby hollers, heading over to where we stand.
The moment he steps on the boat, he pulls my sister into his arms and kisses her lips. Honestly, it surprises me, considering he hasn’t even been officially introduced to any of us yet, and if the growl that slowly erupts from Chase’s throat is any indication, I’d say he’s not so happy about it either.
“Good morning, sweet Gabby,” Roman croons, taking her hand in his and bringing it to his mouth, as if he didn’t just have his tongue down her throat seconds before.
My sister just smiles, her big doe eyes eating up all the attention he’s throwing her way. “Everyone, this is Roman. Roman, my sister, Gwen, and her ex-husband, Harrison,” Gabby introduces.
Harrison steps forward, offering his hand to the shorter man. “Soon-to-not-be ex any longer,” he greets, pulling me into his side.
Roman just glances toward my sister, as if he’s missing a big piece of the story. “Long story. I’ll tell you later,” Gabby confirms. “This is my friend Gina,” she adds, pointing to Harrison’s assistant.
“Nice to meet you,” Gina greets, her large boobs pressing against Harrison’s arm as she slides forward to shake Roman’s hand. I can feel Harrison tense beside me and gently move us away from the boobs. In her defense, Gina’s boobs have their own zip code. She can’t exactly help that they get in the way all the time, right?
“Come on, Roman. We’ll get situated in the back,” Gabby says, tugging Roman’s arm.
Before either of them move, a throat clears just over my shoulder. “Don’t forget me, Gabby Goose. I’m sure you want to introduce Roman to me, right?” Chase asks, his voice sugary sweet as he steps into the group and offers his hand to the short man at my sister’s side.
“Chase Callahan. Friend,” he states, reaching his hand out for the other man. There’s tension in spades right now, and I’m not sure why. It’s like a pissing match is about to ensue. Yes, Chase and Gabby like to tease each other, but they’ve never crossed any lines from frenemies to… more.
Right?
Suddenly, I’m not so sure.
Roman takes Chase’s hand and gives it a squeeze in return. “Strong grip, Mr. Callahan. I like that,” Roman says to Chase with a grin that holds a hint of smugness. “Roman Tatro. Pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Chase replies before throwing his trademark cocky grin back in place. “We ready to hit the water?” he asks, clapping his hands together and defusing the weird tension that settled over everyone.
Harrison steps behind the wheel as Chase releases the ropes from the dock. Within a few minutes, we’re settled in seats and heading out of the small marina on the lake. I can already see tons of boats littering the large lake, ensuring the waters will be busy today. We’ll spend our day putting around, enjoying the sun, and swimming by a few of the sandbars around the waterway. Some of the bigger, faster boats will spend the day tubing, but that’s never really been my thing.
When we reach our first stop, everyone gets ready for a dip in the warm lake. Gina lost her cover-up pretty much the moment we left the dock and Chase seems to be enjoying the view. She’s eating up the attention he’s throwing her way, flirting and touching each other from the opposite side of the boat. Gabby and Roman remain in the back, and the few times I glanced her way, she seemed to be throwing eye-daggers at her friend and not paying Roman an ounce of attention, even though his hands are all over her.
Interesting…
As Harrison drops anchor, I quickly grab the sunscreen that I didn’t get to put on earlier. I lather up my legs and feet, knowing my pale skin will burn if I don’t, and add a little to my arms and face. I remove my blue cover-up, exposing the black and gold swimsuit underneath. A hiss pulls my attention to my right.
“Jesus, Winnie, how am I not supposed to have a fucking hard-on all day with you in that?” Harrison growls, taking the empty seat beside me. His hands instantly fall to my stomach as his lips softly caress mine. “Let me help with the sunblock.”
I turn to give him my back as he squirts a large blob into his hands and starts to rub it on my skin. My body starts to heat as desire races through my veins. There’s something almost magical about having his hands on
my body. Maybe it’s the fact that we’ve done nothing but cuddle over the last two weeks or perhaps the extra hormones in my body, but this dangerous and definite need I feel consumes me. Suddenly, it’s all I can think about. All I want.
And the cuddling? Well, we’ve both been so exhausted and by the time we snuggle on the couch, I’m falling asleep in his arms.
“Are you being naughty, Winnie?” he whispers in my ear, the warmth of his breath caressing my lobe. If he were to kiss me behind the ear right now, I’m sure to burst into flames.
His large hands continue to work their way down my back and eventually around my waist. He squats in front of me and grabs the bottle once more. With his eyes locked solely on mine, he applies sunscreen to my abdomen. His fingers tease the waistband of my bottoms and then dip under the cups of the tops. My entire body is an electric wire, alive and fully charged, and the worst part is, he knows it. His eyes burn with desire, much like mine, as he watches the way I respond to his touch.
Leaning forward, he whispers, “I’m going to let you rub down your chest, angel. If I touch you there, I’m going to end up taking you right here in the middle of the boat deck and I’m sure that’s not the memory you want to give our family and friends.” Harrison sweeps a gentle kiss across my lips, and then quickly backs away. Of course, there’s no mistaking the way he hides what’s happening in his pants from the rest of the boat.
“Hey, Harrison, need some ice, buddy?” Chase teases loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. He’s putting the stairs over the edge, wearing nothing but his trunks and a smile.
“Fuck off,” Harrison growls and continues to gaze out at the lake, willing his hard-on to subside.
Within the next few minutes, everyone is ready to jump in the water and enjoy the day of fun and relaxation. Though, I’m not sure how much relaxation will happen when you add in all the sexual tension that seems to be on the boat with us.
This trip just got very interesting.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Harrison bellows into the phone. He’s been pacing back and forth across the living room from the moment Gina called a few moments ago.