“What did he have to say?” she asked, curious what his old teammate could want. When Cullen had turned down the offer in Atlanta, Gunnar Gracin had been the person he’d told them to call. Apparently, Britt “Cowboy” Callahan, while not thrilled Cullen had turned down the job, had been more than satisfied that the person Cullen had suggested was another former Reds teammate.
“Tell you all about it when I’m done with the ribbon,” he said, kissing her softly. “Be right back, Menina.”
The little speech Drea gave couldn’t have lasted but two to three minutes, but to Cullen it felt like forever. He knew the reporters were enamored with the cute little brunette, though, and he didn’t want to take away from the special day just because he had a surprise for his own girlfriend. Didn’t matter how great the surprise was, if he ruined the day for her best friend, Leona would string him up by his testicles.
Once they’d finished taking all the customary ceremonial pictures, and Cullen had finally cut the ribbon, he made his way back over to his favorite blonde. He could tell she was incredibly excited for her best friend but was also just as anxious for him to spit out whatever he was withholding.
He pulled her in close, wrapping both his arms around her and kissing her deeply. She stood on her tiptoes, trying to deepen the kiss, and it sent a thrill straight through him. There was nothing quite like kissing her, and he still didn’t know how he’d gone so long without her fully in his life.
When they finally let go of each other, she looked into his eyes and smiled a great big grin. Everything about her seemed to radiate joy, and he couldn’t help but return her smile.
“There are cameras here, you know,” Dalton scolded jokingly as he sauntered up to them. Leona had complained a fair amount when they first arrived that it seemed like they were everywhere, and Dalton had taken it upon himself to annoyingly point them out constantly.
“They’re focused on Drea, not us,” she snapped back.
“They won’t be for long if you two keep up like that,” he teased her. Turning to Cullen, his face became serious. “We haven’t had much of a chance to chat since you got back, but I heard you really stuck it to the old man up in Atlanta.”
Cullen laughed slightly. “I hope your father understands. Please tell him it was nothing personal when you talk to him next.”
“I haven’t had a conversation with the man in years,” Dalton said. “You’ll probably talk to him before I do.”
“Really? He said his son was going to run the team—I just assumed that was you.” Cullen shrugged. “I guess he must have meant your brother.”
“I don’t have a brother.”
Before Cullen could respond, Drea came bounding up to them, waving her cell phone in hand. She pushed her way into the group so she was standing right in front of Leona.
“Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!” Drea shrieked, as Dalton quietly slipped away from the group.
“What? What? What?” Leona asked, mirroring her best friend’s excitement.
“Zara, the Relaxation InSPAration blogger accepted my invite to come spend a week here and review the spa!!!” she squealed.
“Holy shit! That’s amazing! When is she coming?” Leona asked.
“Next month! Oh my God, I have to go tell Kyle!” she said, giving Leona a quick hug before bouncing off to find her boyfriend.
“Sorry, but that’s huge for Drea,” Leona said, turning back to Cullen. “Relaxation InSPAration is like the biggest spa blog on the Internet.”
“I didn’t realize such a thing even existed,” he commented.
“If it exists, there’s an Internet blog for it,” she answered. “So what did Gunnar have to say that was so important?”
“Wanted to know if I would come hang at their first training camp once they get their team together. Give an inspirational talk, maybe play around with the players a bit. Go be a role model or whatever.”
“Are you gonna do it?”
“I told him I’d do that for him if he did something for me,” he winked. “I knew if I said no he and Cowboy would just call later and harass me until I agreed. So I figured at least this way I could get something out of it.”
“What did you ask for in return?”
“A tryout,” he shrugged, like it was the most obvious answer ever.
“A tryout? For what? You're retired!”
“Not for me, for Josef,” he answered, pulling her back into him.
“What?”
“I told Gunnar I’d come talk to his new team if he got Josef a tryout with the academy team he’s leaving in Ireland.”
“Ireland?” she whisper shouted, not quite sure that she’d heard him correctly.
Cullen nodded, a sly, knowing smile appearing on his face. He’d been talking about it with Gunnar for weeks, since before everything went down with Atlanta.
“Explain yourself, sir,” Leona said, still unable to wrap her brain around what he was telling her. “I thought he wasn’t quite ready for an academy. That's what you told my parents the other night at dinner.”
“He isn’t. But it’s a good experience for him. He won’t make the team, and frankly even if he did I wouldn’t let him take the slot, not with Gunnar leaving. But this is going to give him the exposure he needs. Another year or so of us working together and then he’ll be ready. Maybe by then Gunnar and Cowboy will have a program set up where they are so he can be with guys I trust.”
She looked up at him, her eyes shiny with tears. She bit her bottom lip, and he could tell she was trying not to cry.
Leaning down and softly pressing a kiss to her forehead he said, “I hope those are happy tears, Menina.”
“Of course they are,” she answered, sniffling. Her hands found their way to his chest, her fingers drawing faint circles on his pecs. “I just can’t believe you did that for him.”
“Of course, Menina. I know what he means to you, and taking care of you also means taking care of him. Your family is now my family.” His words were earnest and heartfelt, and he hoped that she knew just how much he meant them.
“Has this teddy bear always been hidden deep down in you? What happened to that raging tiger who did nothing but growl at me?” she laughed.
“Tigers can be cuddly,” he said defensively, pulling her impossibly closer. “And don’t you worry, he’s still in there. In fact, he’s currently wondering if treatment room number three has a lock…”
She barked out a laugh, caught off guard by his suggestive comment. But it only took a minute for the humor in her eyes to be replaced with a look of pure desire. She licked her lips, teasing him, drawing out the moment. She slid her hands up his chest and wrapped them around his neck.
“It does, as a matter of fact,” she answered mischievously.
“Good, because this time, I’m not going to hold back,” he growled, moving his hands to her ass and squeezing.
“You held back last time?” she teased.
“Yes. I didn’t tell you how much I love you and how you own my soul. This time, I’m going to remind you every step of the way. Make sure you know just how caught up in you I am.”
She shivered at his words. Returning his passionate look, she simply said, “I love you, too, Cullen Cruz, and I never, ever plan on letting you forget that.”
Enjoy your stay at the Indigo Royal Resort? Make sure you also check out Can’t Fight This Feeling! Keep Reading for a preview…
Can’t Fight This Feeling
Chapter One
The dude-bro standing in front of her treadmill huffed and puffed as he lifted free weights in the resort fitness suite. For the life of her, Drea Miller could not understand why people went on vacation and still got up early to work out. Why would you fly thousands of miles to paradise only to still be a slave to your alarm?
Should I ever go on an actual real vacation, you won’t catch me in the gym, she thought as she continued to pound away on the moving belt, trying to keep her focus on her own breathing and heart rate ra
ther than the borderline-disturbing noises coming from the only other person in the room. Seriously, if she could hear him over her headphones, she could only imagine what it sounded like without.
To say she’d never taken a real vacation would be a lie. Her uncles had taken her to the mainland a number of times when she was growing up; they had wanted to make sure she saw things like the Statue of Liberty, the Grand Canyon, and the Alamo. But going on a long-haul field trip with your three bachelor uncles, disguised as an adventure, wasn’t exactly in the same category as the luxury all-inclusive experience that the Indigo Royal Resort was known for.
Dude-bro let out a loud grunt and dropped the weights in his hands, letting them hit the mats he was standing on just as Drea was starting to slow down to a speed-walk for her cooldown. He picked the weights up and walked them back over to the rack, looking in the mirror the whole time, and then winked at her. Well, there went her hope that he’d been eyeing himself in the mirror during the workout rather than her. She smiled back politely then quickly looked down at her phone, trying to push him out the door with her mind, hoping with all her being he wasn’t going to try to engage her in conversation. After a moment of scrolling through her workout playlist she looked up, hoping he had left. Apparently, she was not going to be that lucky.
“Hey,” he said, jutting his chin out with a grin, trying to be suave.
“Hi,” Drea replied, not bothering to stop what she was doing, hoping he’d take a hint.
“Glad to see I’m not the only fitness enthusiast here. The last couple of mornings I was starting to think maybe I’d have the place to myself the whole time.”
Drea had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at his lame attempt at a conversation starter. She had no idea how long he’d been at the resort, and didn’t really care. But she couldn’t exactly tell him that.
“I usually do my morning runs on the beach,” she responded. “But, I’ve got an early excursion, so...here I am.”
“Gotcha. Which one? My buddies wanna go on some boat tour thingy this morning, so we may hit that up,” he said, stepping around to the side of the treadmill so that he was now immediately to her left. She could smell the booze radiating from his breath and out of his pores as he did so, making her have to stop herself from visibly cringing.
“Oh, the Turtle Cove snorkel? That one is really fun! Totally worth the extra money, since it’s not technically included in the resort package.”
“You’ve already done it? Well damn, I was gonna see if you and your girlfriends wanted to join us.”
Drea stumbled over herself a little, but righted her step before he noticed. He thinks I’m a guest! Well, shit. Ok, just let him down easy…or…
“I could probably convince my friends to get on the boat,” she smirked. “I mean, the rum punch is to die for!”
“Well then, this sounds like a party! I’ll round up my dudes and we’ll catch you beauties in a few!” He snapped his fingers, pointed at her with “finger guns,” and winked as he walked backwards to the door leading to the lobby. Drea held up a thumbs-up as she watched him exit backwards, still looking at her.
Once the door was closed, she stopped the treadmill and just stood there, exhaling loudly, shaking her head. She should have let him down easy, should have told him the truth. But it was just too easy to play him. And maybe he and his buddies wouldn’t really get on the boat. If the smell of booze emitting from him was any indication of how much they had partied the night before, it might be another three days until the rest of that group woke up.
Hopping off the treadmill, she headed for the lobby, poking her head out to make sure the coast was clear. When she was sure her new BFF wasn’t hanging out, she dashed across the wide open-air space, dodging the massive round table that stood in the middle of the lobby, playing host to an exceptionally large fern as well as a number of different packets of information about the resort and the island. She had loved running circles around this table when she was little, trying to get one of her uncles to chase her. Her giggles would bounce off the walls and echo their way into the restaurant or out to the pool.
Making her way into the restaurant, she noticed there were already a few early risers already seated for breakfast. Based on the number of to-go carafes sitting on their tables, Drea guessed most had just returned from the beach, having taken advantage of the “Sip with the Sunrise” coffee service they offered their guests. It was something Drea’s mom and aunt used to love to do—go sit on the beach and sip coffee while watching the sun come up. Drea loved that her uncles had taken their little indulgence and made it an everyday ritual, even if the women who inspired said ritual were no longer able to enjoy. She smiled as she took in the scene, and walked along the edge of the room toward the kitchen door in the back. She slipped into the kitchen, narrowly avoiding a server with a full tray who was headed in the opposite direction.
“Morning, baby girl!” came a shout from the other side of the kitchen.
“Morning, Uncle Miller. Wasn’t expecting to see you up for breakfast this early. Didn’t you do dinner last night?” Drea said, crossing over to where her favorite uncle was pulling pans of muffins out of the massive industrial oven.
Although singling him out wasn’t fair, since she loved all three of the men who raised her more than anything, there was an extra special place in her heart for Uncle Miller. Maybe it was because he had been her dad’s best friend, or because he was the one who had apparently been insistent that he and his brothers still be the ones to raise her, or maybe it was just his signature “magic muffins,” the ones that always landed their resort on annual lists of best hotel restaurants. Uncle Vaughn, who was the general manager of the Indigo Royal, had always been the serious and strict one, pushing her to study and learn everything she could, instilling in her discipline and routine, but also always challenging her to try something new. Uncle Grayson, who she had always just called “Uncle Gray,” had taken on the role of fun uncle, from the funny voices he gave to her stuffed animals when she was little to teaching her how to sail, rock climb, and any number of other outdoor activities he was in charge of as activities director for the resort.
But it had been Uncle Miller who had been the biggest influence on her growing up. He’d handled the meals, bedtimes, and all the day-to-day school and extracurricular stuff. He’d been the one nursing her back to health when she was down with the flu (although Uncle Gray wasn’t ever going to let anyone forget the one time he’d been the puke receptacle when she brought home the stomach bug in the third grade). He’d been the one who very awkwardly tried to explain feminine products and “the change,” as he called it, to her after an embarrassing gym class incident, before running to Vaughn’s long-time girlfriend Simone and begging her to please take over before he scarred Drea for life. He’d been the one who had modeled love and loyalty and been her rock as she figured out the world. He also happened to be the most incredible chef, and made muffins that were simply to die for.
“I did. But Rafe’s kiddo isn’t feeling so hot so I told him to take the morning off. I remember the days of trying to wrestle a sick little one to sleep and then being up at the crack of dawn to scramble eggs,” he said with a laugh. His tall frame required that he squat down all the way to pull out another pan of muffins, and Drea noticed there was a little more gray starting to appear in his dark hair. “You just come from the beach?”
“Gym actually. We’re running a Turtle Cove trip this morning, so I wanted to make sure I was back and showered in plenty of time. There’s a lot to do on Turtle Cove mornings and while it’s not that I don’t trust Dalton…” she trailed off.
“Sometimes ‘living your best life’ doesn't always equate with being punctual.”
Drea just laughed. “That’s one way of putting it. Okay, I’m off. Love you!”
“Love you too, baby girl!”
Kyle Egan ran through the morning checklist as he got the boats ready for the day. He didn’t need to ready all thre
e of the catamarans, but he’d had to make the quick trip to get gas for the Runnin’ Down a Dream, so he figured he might as well gas up the Livin’ on a Prayer and the Don’t Stop Believin’ while he was at it. He laughed to himself as he poured the gas into the fifty-two-foot day-sail catamaran; the fleet of classic rock namesakes might not match the uber posh Indigo Royal Resort on paper, but once you were on site you understood exactly why the owner-slash-operator brother trio had turned to the classic rock gods for inspiration. Everything about this high-class establishment was about enjoying the moment and living life to the fullest. One didn’t get to be consistently voted one of the best resorts in the Virgin Islands by not having any fun.
Just as he was checking off the last of the items, his first mate, Dalton Sutherland, casually strolled down the pier carrying a handle of rum in each hand. Kyle looked down at his watch to see that Dalton was about fifteen minutes earlier than he had expected.
“You didn’t sleep in your own bed last night, did you?” Kyle asked, grinning at Dalton.
“Now, whatever would make you say that?” Dalton drawled, his southern accent coming off strong, as he smirked in response.
“Because you’re here on time. You know I think you’re the best first mate I could ask for, but you only show up on time when you need to make a quick exit in the morning.”
“Hey now, I resemble that comment!” Dalton said, owning up to the accusation as he handed Kyle one of the handles of rum and climbed up into the catamaran.
“You resemble what comment?” said a sweet voice that sent a flood of warmth down Kyle’s whole body. He looked up to see Drea walking toward them with the stack of paperwork in hand. Her chestnut-brown corkscrew curls were still slightly wet from her morning shower and her makeup-free face radiated with an energy that was so uniquely Drea. She looked so damn cute in her running shorts and tank top, and Kyle didn’t dare allow himself to linger on the thoughts of what could be if acknowledged all the things she made him feel.
Caught Up In You (Indigo Royal Resort Book 2) Page 30