Four Day Fling

I shook my head. “No. I’m telling you that if you try it, I’m going to hit you in the face again.”

“Don’t shatter my dreams, Red.”

I sighed. “Not because you didn’t listen, idiot. But because I can slip on carpet. Do you understand that?”

“I understand.” He grabbed my shoulders and slowly spun us around so his back was under the water. “Sorry. I’m cold. You can slip on carpet?”

“Now I’m cold!” I pushed open the door and snatched a towel off the heated rail. “Yes. I wasn’t even wearing rollerblades. Wow, that makes me sound like a useless adult.”

He laughed, rinsing all the soap from his body before turning off the shower. He stepped out onto the floor with me and looked down. “Should you be standing on a tiled floor there? I mean, I know first aid, but in the interest of your safety…”

I tugged off a second towel to wrap my hair in. “If I go down, I’m taking you with me.”

“There’s no way you could drag me down to the floor with you.”

“I didn’t say I’d take your entire body.” I looked pointedly at his cock. Then, I turned and flipped my hair over so I could wrap it up.

“Well, in that case, let me get a towel and I’ll carry you into the bedroom. I’d prefer if you didn’t put my cock out of commission.”

“Why?” I straightened and paused. “Actually, I mean, I know why. I don’t know why I asked that. I need coffee.”

Adam laughed and tucked his towel around his waist. He stepped behind me and touched his hands to my waist. “Come on, Red. Let’s get you from here to the carpet in the bedroom without you taking out my penis.”

“I’m perfectly capable of wa-ahh!” My foot went out from under me. My heart jumped into my throat. My entire life flashed before my eyes in a haze of cheesecakes and inappropriate shirts.

And my ass never hit the floor.

I clamped my hands over my eyes. The hard body I was pressed against shook, and laughter rumbled against my ear.

“Perfectly capable of it, huh?” Adam murmured, lips brushing my ear. His arm was locked around my waist tightly, and he showed no sign of letting go.

“I would have been if you hadn’t mentioned about looking after your cock. It’s all your fault.”

“Sure, blame the thing that had you screaming into a pillow last night.”

“It’d have me screaming bloody murder if my ass had hit that tiled floor.” I stepped onto the plush carpet and looked at him. “I’d thank you for saving my life if you hadn’t been the cause of my almost-death.”

“I see the dramatics run in your family.”

“I’m merely preparing you for today. The entire day will be spent with my family. Are you excited?”

Adam finally let me go fully and walked over to the closet doors. He peered at me sideways. “Oh, yeah. I can’t wait. Isn’t your grandpa coming today?”

I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Just after lunch. Thank God my orders are to test all the cocktails.”

“All the cocktails? How many are there?”

“Six. I have to narrow to three.”

“Sounds fun. Need a hand?”

“Wanna have lunch with my mother?” I asked wryly. “Do you think she honestly trusts me to leave me alone to do such an important job?”

He gripped the knot that kept his towel in place and pulled open the closet door, looking over at me. “Seriously? She can’t even let you do cocktails?”

I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at him. “Here’s how today is gonna go. My mom is gonna freak out like a fly around shit until my grandpa arrives here safely. When he gets here, he’s going to tell everyone he meets about some eccentrically wild story from his crazy life. That, in turn, will drive my sister to insanity, because while Mark’s parents are used to him, everybody else is not. Something will inevitably go wrong, because that’s how it works in this family. Rosie will go Bridezilla—she’s already on the verge—and then, Mom will freak out because she’s freaking out. My dad will keep a small flask of whiskey tucked somewhere on his person, and I will sneak to a small secluded corner of the hotel and steal that flask from him.”

Adam blinked at me. “Can I have a family emergency? I know I said I could handle it, but after meeting your mother… In the nicest possible way, she can be worse?”

“Oh, hockey boy. You have no idea.”

CHAPTER SEVEN – POPPY

Life’s a Beach… Then You Meet One

“All right,” Adam said, holding up a piece of melon. “What happens between now and the cocktail extravaganza at lunch?”

“Well,” I started. “For one, we need to get you a disguise. I have no idea who that teenage girl was, but I’d like her to return my eardrum.”