Sink or Swim (Beach Kingdom 3)

A surprised laugh puffed out of her. “And yet, you paid for my lessons. You braved expressway traffic to get me there on time. You smiled when it was over and told me I should keep going. You encouraged me to do something that scares you.”

“It would be criminal to hide you away, sweetheart.” He lessened the gap between them, burying his nose in the hair above her ear. “You’re the fucking sun.”

Jiya’s breath caught. “You’re the one who helps keep me in the sky.”

“Oh my God.” His mouth latched onto hers in a hard kiss, his senses exploding at the taste of her. “How am I not fucking you senseless right now?”

“I don’t know,” she laughed against his mouth. “It’s your rule not mine.”

Andrew’s frustrated groan came from deep down in his belly.

Appearing to have mercy on him, Jiya pushed away and skirted around the table, putting the piece of furniture between them. As if that made Andrew want to drag her down to the floor and shred her clothes off any less. “The pickup went well last night?”

Andrew opened his mouth to answer, but Marcus strode into the room and beat him to it. “Went amazing, thanks to these.” He flexed his biceps. “Still waiting on a thank you, A.”

“You made me drive an hour out of our way to find a twenty-four-hour GNC, asshole,” Andrew shot back. “And it wasn’t even open when we got there.”

Jamie entered the kitchen with a smile on his face. “Ah, the soothing sounds of the Prince family kitchen. Good morning, everyone.”

Marcus pulled out his husband’s chair and started massaging his shoulders once he was seated. “Jamie, your brother has no appreciation for the intimidating presence I provided last night.”

Jamie was already reading the newspaper. “Appreciate him, Andrew,” he drawled.

Andrew scoffed. “He slept through the whole transaction.”

“Exactly,” Marcus said, massaging Jamie’s ears now. “Even asleep, I’m intimidating.”

Andrew caught Jiya giggling into her hand and couldn’t stop his own smile. “What are you laughing at, huh?” He advanced around the table and caught her in a bear hug, digging his fingertips into her ribs until she squealed. “You think there’s something funny about him snoring so loud in the passenger seat I couldn’t hear the radio on the way there?”

“Yes,” she gasped.

“I don’t snore.” Marcus was the picture of outraged. “Do I snore, Jamie?”

“Like a bear with a fucking cold.” Without looking up, he patted Marcus’s hand which was now resting on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we still get to be married.”

Marcus visibly relaxed. “I wasn’t worried.”

The whole conversation was taking place behind Andrew, but he was barely paying attention because Jiya was still in his arms, but he’d stopped tickling her. Now she was pulled back against his chest and he was rocking them side to side, his nose and mouth moving in her hair. Her sexy backside was close to being tucked into his lap, hovering just an inch away, and it was the purest torture. Thankfully, Rory carried a sleepy-looking Olive into the kitchen over his shoulder a moment later and snapped the moment in half before Andrew could do something he’d promised not to do.

Jiya cleared her throat and wiggled away, ignoring Andrew’s growl. “Good morning.” She crossed to the coffee pot, the goosebumps on her neck telling Andrew she was well aware he prowled after her. “Want some coffee?”

“Yes, please,” Olive yawned.

Rory sat down and carefully arranged his bed-headed girlfriend in his lap, propping her against his shoulder and looking at her lovingly. “One cup would be great, Jiya. We’ll share.”

“I have spaghetti arms in the morning,” Olive said, rubbing her eyes. “Leads to a lot of spills and subsequent stains.”

Andrew poured and doctored his brother’s coffee before Jiya had the chance, leading to her hip bumping him at the counter. He winked back. And God, at this moment, he could taste happiness. It was right there in his grasp. There were no secrets left between him and Jiya. She loved him, despite them all. She was still there. Still in his kitchen, smiling at him. What the hell had he done to deserve even a single moment like this?

“So everything went okay last night?” Rory asked.

Andrew turned to find his youngest brother watching him anxiously. Rory was a born protector and he didn’t like being left out, whether it was necessary or not. “Yeah, there were only two guys there this time to hand over the keys.” Andrew nodded at Marcus. “I woke up Sleeping Beauty over here and he followed me back.”

“I spent some time on the internet last night, piecing together Handler’s past cases and starting a rough timeline,” Jamie said, pushing aside his newspaper. “I’m not sure if it’ll help, but it definitely can’t hurt. We should know who we’re up against.”

Olive sat up straighter. “Has he ever been under investigation by internal affairs?”