Only One Regret (Only One 5)

I hold Emma’s hand as I walk over to the waiting SUV. "Auntie Erika," she says. "I’m hungry."

"I know, baby girl, I’m going to make you something to eat when we get to the beach," I confirm and look over at Cooper. "Can we stop and get the girls something to eat?" I ask as he buckles Mia into the other side.

"Anything for my girls," he says and winks at me, and although I roll my eyes, my stomach flips from him calling me one of his girls, which is the most ridiculous thing. I close the door and walk around the SUV, and he meets me there. "Hi," he greets, wrapping his arms around my waist and bringing me to him.

I put my hands on his arms, sliding my fingers up the sleeves of his shirt. "Hi," I return. It’s been two days since we’ve been naked with each other, and I’m already itching to feel his body on mine. He bends his head and kisses me softly. "Let’s get on the road and get the kids to the beach."

I walk away from him, and he slaps my ass, and I stop to look over at him. "Friends definitely don’t slap each other on the ass." I point at him.

"Oh, how wrong you are," he jests, smirking at me as he walks to the driver’s seat.

I get in and look over at the girls. "Ready?’ I say, and he puts his hand on my leg as we drive. My fingers link with his. We stop and get the girls some food, and when I lean in the back seat, he runs his hand up my leg, brushing against my panties. "Cooper Grant," I scold him, and he bites my ass. I huff, sitting back down while the girls eat in their chairs, and we make our way to the beach. When the GPS tells him to turn left, the girls see the beach and shout. "I can’t believe your family found eleven houses side by side," I say, and then he looks over at me. "Okay, fine, I can believe it."

When we pull up to the house that will be ours, I look over and see that no other cars are there. "When are they getting here?" I ask him when I get out, and you can hear the sound of the waves crashing against the sand from here.

"They said sometime around dinner, depending on everyone else. Worst case is tomorrow morning," Cooper shares, and the girls get out of the SUV.

"I’m going to take the girls to see the water on the beach." I smile at the girls. "Can you get the bags by yourself?"

"I think I can do that," he says and then looks at Emma. "Give me a kiss." She kisses him on the lips, and he goes to Mia and asks her the same thing. I’m smiling when he comes to me and asks me for a kiss. I shake my head, kissing his lips and then walking away.

"You’re a sly one," I toss over my shoulder. The girls hold my hands as we follow the walkway on the side of the house. "Look at how pretty the house is," I say, looking up at the house that will be ours for two weeks.

The sound of the waves gets louder and louder as we walk past the pool and toward the wooden deck. The wind blows the sand, and when we get to the end of the deck, we see the stairs that lead down to the beach. "Let’s take off our shoes," I suggest, kicking off my white sneakers and then helping Mia take off her shoes and socks. Emma is done when I finish with Mia. "Okay, let’s go get our toes wet," I say, and we walk down the steps, Mia on my hip and Emma holding my hand.

When I get down to the bottom, I put Mia down. "Okay, we are just getting our feet wet," I tell them, and Emma smiles at me as we walk very fast down to the water. The sand is warm on my toes until we get closer to the water, and the wet sand sticks to my feet. The waves crash onto the shore, rolling up onto our feet, and the sound of the girls’ laughter fills the air.

"That’s cold," Mia says, running after the water going back and then running back to me when she sees another wave hit. I run to her to make sure she doesn’t fall, and all she does is laugh. I don’t even know how long we are out here chasing the waves when I see Cooper walking down the steps to join us.

"Be careful," I tell the girls as they run together. I put my hand up to block the sun as I watch the girls. He puts his arms around my waist. "Hey," I say, looking over my shoulder. "How’s the house?"