“You always were my favorite niece,” he said, pushing up from the bar and kissing her forehead. He grabbed the shirt and made his way off the boat.
“Never mind I’m your only niece!” she called out. She turned to look at Kyle, smiling really big. “We should head that way. And, I’m totally down for an escape on Sunday if you are.”
“Oh, absolutely,” he responded without hesitation. “There is no place I would rather be than on this boat with just you.” It was the truest statement he’d made all day. There was still a pit in his stomach over everything else, but things had to be turning around if she was suggesting a date. Well, not a date, but an escape as she put it, just them. He saw the light return to her for a moment and he had to stop himself before he ended up with another hard-on.
“Perfect.” She grabbed her and Dalton’s phones, turning to go. “Let’s go, Dalton, family meeting.”
“What family? I’m not family.”
“You are per Vaughn’s group text just now. And I’m not gonna be the one to tell the big bossman that you’re opting out,” Kyle responded.
“Then funny cousin Dalton at your service! So can I call him Uncle Vaughn now too?”
Drea laughed out loud at the two of them as they helped her onto the pier. Kyle didn’t let go of her hand as they all headed toward the resort. She didn’t pull her hand away and Kyle smiled to himself at the simple gesture. Dalton could have the harem of blondes—she was the only girl he wanted hanging off him. He wondered if this small act of bodily contact meant as much to her as it did him, if she thought about holding other parts of him in her hands, about their bodies coming together in dirtier, more intimate ways.
She hadn’t put her tank back on over her bikini top when she got back on the boat after swimming with the guests. Her beautiful, perfect breasts were still on display, their slight movement as they walked holding his attention out of the corner of his eye. Gah, the things he wanted to do to her. He tried to sneak a full-on look without her noticing—he didn’t want to have to lie if she asked what he was doing. I’m thinking about how badly I want to hold those bad boys in my hands, and suck on your nipples and make you scream with desire.
Well, so much for holding back on that hard-on.
Drea was soaking up every moment of Kyle’s hand in hers on their way to Big House Beach. It’d been an emotionally exhausting day of did they/didn’t they in her head about Kyle and Staci, keeping Brig at arm’s length, and being “on” for a full boat of guests for today’s outing. The quiet comfort of his hand holding hers was everything to her, and still somehow, not enough. She cherished the relationship they had built over these last five years, and if being his best friend was all she ever got, then she’d find a way to deal with that. But she wanted what she’d witnessed with Staci last night, she wanted to be able to hang on in a way that declared that they belonged to each other, she wanted to be able to dirty dance with him and kiss him. She wanted to press herself into his hard body, feel him move above her, under her, inside her. Board shorts only hid so much when you spent every day with a person, and he’d held her enough to know that she was not going to be disappointed with whatever she found in there. Not that she could ever be disappointed in Kyle for anything.
As they slipped through the little alley between her cottage and the big house, he squeezed her hand and smiled at her. Both houses sat right on the beach, with back porches that looked out over the crystal clear ocean water. It was just one more part of her unconventional upbringing, but she really couldn’t imagine not having a beach as a backyard. Birthdays, family bonfires, and many a lazy day had found the five of them out here, soaking up the sun or playing in the waves. She and Leona had spent “girl time” lying on the beach reading books and magazines, talking about boys, and making “plans” for the future. It’d been where she sat with Simone when she needed to talk to a grown-up that didn’t have a penis and therefore understood that her teenage self wasn’t “just being overdramatic.”
Walking out onto the beach, they found Vaughn standing in the middle of a grouping of paper lanterns that seemed to form a heart. Leona, Grayson, and Miller were already there, so the three of them walked over to where they were standing. Drea looked around for Simone, realizing she was the only one missing.
“What’s this all about, Uncle Miller?” Drea whispered, leaning closer to him.
“No clue, baby girl, but Vaughn is most certainly up to something.”
Just then, Simone came bursting through the trees, moving at a pretty impressive pace considering her four-inch heels.
“What is it? What’s the emergency?” she panted. “Sorry I’m late. I hauled myself over here from the tourism office as fast as I could.”
“You’re not late, love,” Vaughn said, stepping out of the lanterns. “Come with me.” He grabbed her hands and led her to the middle of the lanterns. He turned and faced the rest of the group.
“I don’t know how many of you know this, but exactly twenty-one years ago today the most stunning creature I have ever seen walked into my life, showing up completely unannounced. I was one hundred percent ready to go tell her to take a hike when Juan came into my office to tell me someone from the Board of Tourism wanted to exploit us for their advertising campaign—my words, not his. But then I walked into the lobby and saw this angel.” He turned back to Simone. “I’m pretty sure you only agreed to have dinner with me to convince me to allow you to use the resort, but what I’m not sure you know is that even if you’d said no, I would have let you do the photoshoot, just so you’d have to come back.”
Drea could see Simone starting to tear up as she gazed in Vaughn’s eyes. She sighed, soaking in seeing her grumpy uncle being all mushy and romantic. Kyle slipped to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, holding her against his chest. She nestled herself in against him and rested her head back against his shoulder.
“Every time you agreed to keep seeing me seemed like a miracle. And then, somehow I convinced you to move in here with us, my weird little family. You never once balked at the idea of living in a conjoined bachelor pad slash frat house with three crazy bachelors and the little girl that we were attempting to not screw up. You’ve understood that the Indigo Royal is my first love and my baby all at the same time. I know you make the joke that I’m really married to the resort and that you’re just the mistress, but I think maybe it’s time that I make an honest woman out of you.”
Simone gasped as Vaughn dropped to one knee, pulling a little velvet box out of his pocket. She raised her hands to her face and cupped them over her mouth as the tears that had simply been welling in her eyes started to stream down her cheeks. She let out a small giggle from behind her hands.
“Simone, will you marry me?”
Drea sighed and relaxed into Kyle more as she watched Simone nod furiously and attempt to choke out an answer. Raising her hands to hold on to his arms as he squeezed her a little tighter to him, she caught herself starting to tear up.
“Yes, oh my God, yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” Simone squeaked out, letting Vaughn take her shaking hand and slip the ring on it. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, hard, as he lifted her by her waist and spun her around.
“About fucking time!” Grayson shouted.
“Says the only one of us to have never actually committed to a woman,” snarked Miller.
“Shut it!” Vaughn barked, putting Simone back on the ground. Still looking her in the eyes, he said, “Bet you thought I’d never ask.”
“I would have been okay with you never asking. I know who your heart belongs to,” she sniffed. “But I’m so fucking glad you did!”
Turning to Drea, she held up her left hand to show off the ring and let out a little squeal. Prying herself out of Kyle’s arms, Drea rushed to her soon-to-be-official-aunt, and grabbed her hand to look at the ring. The stunning marquise cut was easily close to two carats and sparkled stunningly against Simone’s tan skin.
“Damn, Uncl
e Vaughn, you went all out!”
“She deserves nothing less,” he answered and he hugged his brothers and shook the hands of Kyle and Dalton.
“Now we just have to plan a wedding,” Leona said, also staring down at Simone’s left hand.
“Nope, already taken care of that. You’ve always said that if we ever did this you wanted to keep it small and simple. So, I’ve got it all set to be right here, on Big House Beach, a week from Saturday. All you need to do is find a dress.”
“Oh my God,” Simone said. “Drea, you have to be my maid of honor!”
“Really? Yes, of course!” She hugged Simone again.
“For my next surprise,” Vaughn started. Everyone stopped suddenly and just stared at him. “Kidding, kidding! It’s just dinner! I got Rafe to make Simone’s favorite chicken. So, if you all will just give me and my beautiful fiancée a moment to ourselves, we’ll meet you all at the kitchen table.”
Chapter Ten
Family dinners had never really been quiet, low-key affairs with the Quinlans. Miller was the only one of the brothers who could be considered “quiet” or “mild-mannered,” but when left with his brothers, even he was known to raise a little hell. Add in Simone, who was outgoing, bubbly, and never shied away from busting a few balls, and it was always an event. Given the excuse of a special occasion, and the addition of Leona, Kyle, and Dalton, tonight’s dinner had turned into an all-out party. After four courses of Simone’s favorite foods, six and a half bottles of wine, and a surprise cake that Rafe had made for the occasion, everyone was stuffed beyond compare.
When the happy, newly engaged couple excused themselves first, it was met with a litany of comments from Grayson and Dalton about how Vaughn was “so getting laid tonight.” Vaughn just shook his head and escorted his bride-to-be out of the kitchen, but not without Simone turning around and remarking “you fucking know it!” in response.
Shortly after their exit, Dalton made a vague comment about Paradise Point and swiftly exited as well. Leona simply said goodnight and left on Dalton's heels.
Kyle had always enjoyed hanging out with Drea’s family and loved that they considered him part of the group. He knew it meant something that they had included him in tonight’s events and it wasn’t something he took lightly. But if the two men sitting at the table with him now, much less the one that just left, knew what was going through his head while holding Drea during the proposal, they would have him drawn and quartered. She was their little girl, and even though she was an adult and moved out, he knew nothing would ever change the way they looked at her and that no one would ever be good enough. Just one more reason all those fantasies about her would remain just that.
“I really never thought he would do it, much less make a production of it,” Miller said, pouring more wine into his glass. He held up the bottle to see if anyone wanted the last little bit left. Kyle shook his head no—he was already feeling the effects of the other two and a half glasses he’d had and he didn’t need to risk a wine hangover in the morning. Grayson held out his glass and Miller poured the tail end of the bottle into it.
“Says the man who proposed going ‘So, we’re getting married, right?’” Grayson shot back.
“Excuse you, that was Dave to Sofia,” Miller corrected him. “Mine was something more like ‘Us too?’” Everyone burst into laughter.
“She said yes to your stupid ass, so you must have done something right.”
“Marta was truly something else. Your mother was wonderful too, Drea, and she loved your father like nothing else. But your Aunt Marta, she was just perfection.”
Kyle looked at Drea as Miller talked about the sisters he and his best friend had loved. He knew Drea loved hearing stories about them and her father, and that she greatly missed them, even though she’d been an infant when they died. She was smiling at her uncle—her real true smile—and her eyes were sparkling, radiating all her emotions. Kyle could look at her all day, no matter her expression, but this was one of his favorites.
“Not a day goes by I don’t miss her. She and your mother, man, were they something. Someday, if I actually make it to heaven, I’m sure they will be waiting for me there to slap me silly over some of the choices I made with you, but I like to think you turned out okay.”
“I think so,” she beamed.
“Alright, I think I need to get you to bed before you wax poetic all night long,” Grayson chimed in. “Kyle, you gonna walk Drea home?”
“Of course,” Kyle answered, a little confused why she wouldn’t just walk with them. But he wasn’t going to argue with his boss or turn down the chance to be alone with her.
“Great, then you two can head, and I’ll help Miller with cleanup.”
When they were outside of the kitchen and headed back across the resort to the trail that led to her cottage, Kyle grabbed Drea’s hand and pulled her to a stop.
“Did you get the feeling like we were being dismissed?”
“I think this evening was a little emotional for Uncle Miller. I mean, it’s been twenty-five years since my parents and Aunt Marta passed, but there are days he still talks about her like she’s only been gone a week. He still loves her so much. I mean, if he’s even gone on a date since her death, I don’t know about it.”
“Can you imagine loving someone that much?”
“Yeah, I can,” she said softly. He pulled her in close and held her tightly against his body. She wrapped her arms around his waist in response and sighed heavily. He rested his chin on the top of her head and closed his eyes for a moment, drinking in her scent. She hadn’t had time for a shower since they got back from the excursion, so she still smelled of salt water and ocean air, with the slightest hint of her citrus shampoo.
“I’m sorry you didn’t get the chance to know them.”
“Thanks,” she said, keeping her forehead resting against his chest. He held her there for another moment before she slowly pulled away. She slipped her hand into his as they started to walk again.
His head was all over the place and solely focused on Drea all at the same time. She must not still be too upset if she’s holding his hand, right? And why was she upset? What happened with Dalton? With Brig? Dalton and Staci seemed to have found each other, so maybe it was Brig after all? Had they hooked up? If they had, had it ended poorly?
He knew Drea wasn’t a virgin—they had swapped virginity stories years ago hanging out on her back porch sipping rum and Coke. He had told her about how his experience had been pretty stereotypical. He had lost it the night of his senior prom to his high school girlfriend, who he already knew he was going to break up with before they left for different colleges, both of them of going through with it because they thought they were supposed to. Or maybe it had been the fear of going off to college still hanging on to their v-cards that had served as their motivation. Drea had told him not to feel too bad about a dud of a first time, since hers had been a pretty big letdown as well. She’d given in to some kid she’d been dating off and on when she was nineteen, simply because she was curious what all the fuss was about. Apparently it had been over so fast she had still been left wondering what the fuss was about, or if anything had even happened.
“Wait, so he didn’t take the time to…?” he had questioned her, trailing off at the end of his question, trying not to be too crass in the moment.
Drea had just laughed. “There was zero warm-up. As soon as I said ‘sure’ he whipped our clothes off so fast, I barely had time to blink. Next blink he was in me, third blink he was done.”
“That's...horrible,” Kyle had said, holding back laughter.
“Yeah. Didn’t really see him much after that. I held out hope that it would get better with the next guy, but eh. Been to a few rodeos now and I still don’t quite understand all the rage.”
“Wait, are you really telling me you’ve never had an orgasm?” he spat out, all attempt at being a gentleman gone. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
‘No, I’ve
had one,” she’d said, muffled by the fact that she was looking at her lap, not meeting his curious gaze. “They’ve just all been of my own making.”
It had taken everything he’d had to not take her right there and rectify the situation. He couldn’t believe that no one had taken the time to treat her like the queen she was. He wanted to be the one to fix that, but he didn’t want to seem like he was only after one thing. Not to mention, staying employed was a priority and ravishing the bosses’ niece was not a good idea.
Suddenly they were at her front door and he was brought back to the present. He was still holding her hand, still not fully sure of where they stood and how to proceed. She turned so they were face to face, standing so close they were all but touching, looking at him through her eyelashes.
“Come in?” she whispered.
“Of course,” he whispered back.
She stood there for a moment, reminding herself to breathe. She didn’t know why she was so nervous. It was Kyle, her favorite person. He had his own keycode to her house, for crying out loud. Why had she invited him in? He likely would have just followed her in anyway. But she had wanted to make sure. She wanted to know that he was there with her and not running off to join Dalton at Paradise Point.
Kyle leaned over her and punched his code into the keypad and opened the door. Reluctantly turning around, she walked into her little cottage, throwing her phone on a side table that was only a few feet from the door. She felt so awkward in her own home, not sure if she should just sit or go change or what.
“You want another drink?” she asked, walking toward the little open kitchen adjacent to the living room. Her cottage wasn’t huge, just over nine hundred square feet all told, but it suited her perfectly. A bedroom big enough to fit a queen-size bed, with a step-in closet (calling it a walk-in would have been way too generous), an en suite bathroom that also opened to the kitchen, and an open concept great room that housed her little kitchen and living room. A set of French doors led to the back porch that looked out over Big House Beach.
Can't Fight This Feeling (Indigo Royal Resort Book 1) Page 7