“Maybe,” Dalton replied, making a clicking noise and winking.
“I take it back, Uncle Gray. I’ll work the next six weekends, no days off, if it means I don’t have to get on a boat with her for the third time this week,” Drea said, pleading with her uncle.
“She’s not that bad,” Dalton shrugged.
“Based on your reaction she must not have been that good, either,” Leona snarked under her breath.
Dalton just shrugged in response, refusing to confirm or deny Leona’s assessment. Leona simply shook her head—Kyle just wasn’t sure if it was in amazement or disbelief.
“It’ll be fine,” Kyle said, putting his arm around her, trying to make it look casual. “We got this, you and me versus the airheads and the meatheads.”
“My money's on you kids,” Miller interjected.
“Oh, are we taking bets, because I’m totally in if we are,” Leona piped up.
“We only bet on Tuesdays,” Vaughn said sternly.
“Spoilsport,” Simone said, taking another swig of coffee as she stood up. “But I’m late, so I will see you all tonight for Friday night dinner.”
“We’re having your favorite roast beef tonight, Kyle, so why don’t you join us?” Miller said.
Kyle looked at Drea, unsure of how to answer. Friday night dinner was a big deal with the Quinlans. While most of the other family meals were a come-and-go deal and really open to anyone who happened to be hanging around at the time, Friday night dinner was by invite only.
“He’s making your favorite, you can’t say no,” she said, looking Kyle in the eye, a little twinkle in them saying more than she could out loud.
“Say no more! It’s a date.”
Chapter Fifteen
Drea stood behind the bar singing out loud to her playlist, mixing up the rum punch, and debating whether or not she should make it strong enough to drown a rhino. She poured in a good portion of the handle of rum before stopping herself; she didn’t want to have to deal with a man overboard situation.
She didn’t particularly like booze cruises. Even with the smaller crowd she always felt overwhelmingly outnumbered. There was rarely any activity other than hanging out on the boat and drinking, so she was generally locked behind the bar furiously mixing up some kind of drink, which at least gave her a barrier from hands that she was sure would have liked to wander if given the chance.
The type of guests who usually signed up for them tended to be demanding and snobbish when sober, often turning downright mean when drunk. None of them generally stopped to learn that she was part of the family that was in charge of the “family-owned-and-operated” resort they were so fond of. Dalton was much better at managing the booze cruisers than she was. That damn smile of his could melt the panties off a corpse.
“Why are you so tense?” Kyle said, coming up behind her. His hands went to her shoulders and he started to massage her tense muscles.
“I’m not. I just hate booze cruises.”
“Well, all we have to do is get through a few hours today and then, the next two days is just us.”
She sighed, leaning back into him as he continued to knead her muscles. His hands felt so good on her body, it didn’t seem to matter where they were.
“Two whole days to do whatever we want on this boat,” he said quietly, leaning down so his head was right next to hers.
Drea exhaled loudly, feeling a chill run through her at his sexy words. Good Lord, that man knew what to say to her. “And just what kind of things are you imagining here, sir?”
“Sweetness, if you only knew the things I have thought about doing to you on the trampoline, up in the captain’s chair, and on this very bar.”
“Hey kids!” Vaughn’s voice called out before Drea even had time to fully react to all the things Kyle’s words were making her feel. She looked up to see him and Grayson jumping on the boat, feeling Kyle pull away quickly. She felt the loss of his presence way down deep, and she hated it.
“What’s up, guys?” Drea asked, returning to the drink mixers on the bar.
“Just out taking a walk, thought we’d say hi,” Vaughn answered.
“We just had breakfast together a couple of hours ago, but hi!” she responded, a little confused.
“You can’t lie worth shit, Vaughn, ‘fess up. We wanted to make sure you were really okay taking the booze cruise out. I know how much you hate them. I can go with Kyle if you prefer,” Grayson said, coming around to stand across the bar from her.
She froze. As much as she disliked this part of the job, she didn’t want to be away from Kyle. She wanted to hear the rest of what he was saying before her uncles showed up.
“No, it’s fine. It’s just one of those weeks where you’re really ready for the guests to change over. I know you both know how that goes.”
Her uncles laughed. They knew exactly how she was feeling in that sense. The beauty of the resort was that no two weeks were alike. Certainly there was the bonfire on Tuesday and nightclub night on Fridays, and certain meals that only showed up on certain evenings, but week in and week out the feel of the resort changed with the waves of guests who came and went. Some weeks you never wanted the guests to leave and others, you’d pack their bags for them if it meant they were gone faster.
“I know you’ll be glad when that meathead is gone,” Grayson said.
“Oh shit, he’s gonna be back on here again today,” Kyle grumbled.
“Yup, both Brig and Staci with an i,” Drea said, forcing an overly large fake smile and a thumbs-up.
“Don’t toss him overboard,” Grayson commented, pointing at Kyle with a sarcastic smirk.
“If he hits on Drea again, I make no promises, sir.”
“Hits on Drea again? How many times has he hit on you? Does he need to be uninvited?” Vaughn cut in.
“No, Uncle Vaughn, it’s fine. Besides, I’m pretty sure Uncle Gray put the fear of God in him the other day.”
“Good man,” Vaughn said, holding out a fist for Grayson. The brothers bumped knuckles and nodded at each other solemnly.
Her uncles stayed a few more minutes, chatting with Kyle about some logistical things concerning the boat and upcoming schedules. She loved watching him in his element, taking control and ownership of the vessel even though most of those concerns should fall to Grayson. He knew his stuff when it came to the boats and sailing, but it was the business side of things that always managed to surprise her. It shouldn’t—he’d been a business major in college and had always talked about one day being his own boss—but seeing that side come through still made her feel all warm and fuzzy.
When her uncles finally made their exit, Drea was more than relieved to see them go. It wouldn’t be long before everyone arrived for them to set sail and she wanted some time alone with Kyle.
“Hey,” he said, coming up and leaning against the bar next to her. She grabbed the rag that was sitting near the sink and started to wipe down the counters, trying to keep her hands busy.
“Hey back.”
“This family dinner invite, you think it’s really because he’s making roast beef?”
“Yes,” she answered, confused.
“Well, he brought it up after the whole ‘you’re going away together?’ thing and after yesterday morning, I just wanted to make sure.”
“What does yesterday morning have to do with anything?”
“Well, after my little…”
“Tantrum?”
“I was going to say freak-out, but okay, after my little tantrum, I ended up in the kitchen. And he was there and kinda went all Yoda on me asking if it was about a girl. And I didn’t get into specifics, but I told him yes, and so now I wonder if he’s on to us.”
“Would it be so bad if he was? I mean, I’m not trying to put the cart and horse in the wrong order here or anything and presume…” she started to ramble.
“Presume? I think we’re past presuming, sweetness,” he said, turning so his right hip rested against the bar, reach
ing out and pulling her close. He kissed her temple. “You’re mine, and I’m yours. If you want to label that, great, if not, that’s fine too. But after last night, we are most certainly a thing.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, feeling herself relax, not realizing she had tensed up so much. Hearing him say the words made her want to jump up and down then kiss him until neither one could breathe.
“Okay, then, since we’re ‘a thing’ as you put it, would it be so bad if Uncle Miller knew?”
“Yes!” he said emphatically, pulling away from her. “I enjoy being employed, Drea. And I need this job.”
“You’re not going to get fired over being in a relationship with me,” she countered.
“Wanna bet? Your uncles would not handle that well. You know how overprotective they are.”
Drea grumbled. He had a point. Her uncles hadn’t quite come to terms with the fact that she wasn’t a little girl anymore. She loved them more than anything, and loved that they had changed their entire lives after the accident that took the lives of her parents and aunt, but she sometimes wished they would back off now that she was older.
“I just think that Uncle Miller would be a safe choice, that’s all.”
“Maybe, but for now, will it be a deal breaker to just be our little secret?”
“Um, well, I might have already told Leona,” she said, nervously biting her bottom lip.
“I gathered by the look she gave me this morning,” he laughed. “I amend my statement to include the best friends then.”
“Perfect,” she said, grinning brightly at him.
“Yes, you are.”
The group tour started out a little rocky, but seemed to have calmed down. According to Brig, all eight of them had met for breakfast and started pre-gaming with mimosas and then moved to tequila sunrises shortly after. Each and every one of them was wasted by the time they got on the boat, and Kyle was sure he and Drea would be power washing puke off the deck later this evening. Thankfully, hitting a couple of large swells just outside the no wake zone scared a couple of them, and their stomachs, into slowing down their intake.
Despite their poor choice in morning activities, they had been a fairly low-key group. They had all taken up residence in the front of the boat, either on the trampolines or the front hulls, and were laughing away, soaking up the tropical sun. Each one of the girls wore an itty-bitty bikini, held together with just a series of strings, while each one of the guys was in short, tight swim trunks that rivaled Speedos with how much they showed off.
A couple of hours into the cruise, once they were well into their second pitcher of rum punch and were anchored out in open water, one of the guys tugged on the bikini strings of the drunkest blonde and her boobs fell free. Since the week had proven she had few inhibitions sober, they were certainly all gone based on how much booze was coursing through her veins, causing her to grab her top and fling it toward the edge of the boat. Luckily one of the other meatheads caught it midair so no one had to go on a search and rescue expedition.
The cacophony of giggles set off by this little stunt started a ringing in Kyle’s ears. How could one group of women be so loud, especially on open water? He would never, ever complain about Drea and Leona laughing too loudly on movie night again. He climbed down from his perch just in time to see all the other blondes following along and removing their tops as well. Oh boy, he thought.
“Nudity’s not a problem, right, Captain Kyle?” Staci called out.
“Not as long as you’re covered up by the time we head back to the resort,” he answered. “But if you ladies wanna show ‘em off, please, be our guest.”
Drea cut her eyes over and glared at him. He shrugged as if to say “what do you want me to say?” She shook her head, obviously not thrilled.
“I didn’t realize we suddenly worked at the Playboy Mansion,” she mumbled.
He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her up against him. “Is my girl jealous?”
“Yes, I’m jealous,” she sniped. “There are four beautiful blondes up there with perfect tits out on display. I can’t compete with that!”
“First off, you don’t have to compete with anyone, because not a single one of them has anything on you. Second,” he said, sliding his hands from her midsection until they rested on her breasts and leaning down to whisper in her ear, “these are the most stunning tits I have ever seen and I am counting down the hours until I can play with them again.”
Drea blushed a little at his words. He liked knowing that he had this kind of effect on her. Even better since every word he said was the truth. She turned around in his grasp so that now those beautiful tits were pressed against his chest. Just the feeling of them against him was starting to make him hard.
“You just want in my pants,” she whispered in response.
“I won’t lie about that.”
“Ahem,” a deep voice came from the other side of the bar. Kyle looked up as Drea turned around to find Brig standing there. He pulled his hands away from her body at the same time she quickly pulled away from him, trying to pretend they weren’t twelve seconds from a lip lock.
Oh shit, how much did he see? Kyle thought.
“So, we were just wondering if shots were a possibility?” Brig asked, trying not to be awkward about disrupting them.
“Um, yeah, sure,” Drea answered. “We have some mini plastic cups, right here.” She knelt down to grab something underneath the sink. She stood up with a sleeve of shot-sized red Solo cups in her hand.
“Thanks.”
“Do you all want one? I’m not supposed to let you serve yourselves.”
The awkwardness was still there, and seemed to be growing by the minute, as the three of them stood there. Brig had clearly gotten an eyeful of his embrace with Drea and didn’t know what to say.
“You know what, dude, just take the bottle,” Kyle said, picking up the handle and passing it to Brig. “It’s just us out here—we won’t tell. Just don’t let any of them do anything stupid.”
“Sure thing,” Brig said, nodding. He turned to walk away and then pivoted back again to face them. “You know, you two could have just said something the other day. I’d never try to cut in on another dude’s woman. I don’t play that game.”
“Oh, no, Brig, it’s not what—” Drea started, stopping when Kyle put his arm around her shoulder.
“It’s just that we’re not really public information yet, and with her uncle on the boat, it wasn’t really…” he trailed off, hoping to make his meaning clear.
“I feel ya, dude. Just wanted to make sure there are no hard feelings.” He turned away fully this time and walked back toward the rest of the group.
“They’re fake, by the way,” Kyle said quietly, so only Drea could hear.
“Huh?”
“Staci’s ‘perfect,’ as you called them, boobs. They’re fake.”
“And you know this how?” Drea asked, skeptically.
“Dalton.”
The rest of the day proceeded without incident and, very thankfully, without puke. Brig seemed to be more than happy to cut off his buddies and the ladies who he felt had partaken enough.
When everyone was finally off the boat, and they had bagged up all the trash and given the deck a basic rinse, Kyle went to join Drea who was sitting on one of the trampolines up front. The wind was calm and the sun not far off from setting, surrounding them with the perfect setting for a moment of quiet before Friday night dinner.
“I’m exhausted,” Drea commented.
“That makes two of us, sweetness.”
“You ready for your first Friday night dinner?”
“Anything I need to know going in?”
“Not really. It’s basically like Wednesday breakfast, except we don’t have bets to compare,” she shrugged. “Oh! I can promise you they will tell you all about why we have Friday night dinner, so prepare for an embarrassing story about me.”
Kyle popped up quic
kly, and reached his hand out to Drea to help her up. She grabbed it and stood, looking at him skeptically.
“Is the idea of me being embarrassed that exciting?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitation. “Although I’m certain it’s actually a super cute story. But if your uncles are going to be in storytelling mode, then this might actually be a good time.”
That, and he really, really wanted to see Drea embarrassed.
Chapter Sixteen
Kyle knocked on Drea’s door promptly at seven fifteen, dressed in khaki shorts and a short-sleeved button-down shirt. This was the most dressed up he’d been since the last time he visited his mom a couple of Christmases ago. He wished this was for a real date, just the two of them, without her entire family involved, but he wasn’t going to complain about being included in family stuff either. Being invited to this dinner meant that they trusted him on some level, and he hoped he could leverage that into support of him and Drea once he was out on his own.
She opened the door, dressed in a baby-blue, spaghetti-strapped sundress that he was pretty sure forced her to go braless. Stop thinking about her boobs—you’re about to have dinner with her uncles. You can’t sport a semi at this meal.
“Why’d you knock? Why didn’t you just come in?” she asked, looking confused but moving out of the way to let him in. He smiled at her and pulled a single lily from behind his back. “What’s this for?”
“Hasn’t a guy ever brought you flowers on a date?”
“Uncle Miller let me have some extra roses on Valentine’s Day when I was like twelve, does that count?”
“No, not even close. I’m happy to be the first, though.”
“You’ve racked up quite a few firsts of mine already,” she said coyly, standing up on her toes to kiss him softly.
Kyle groaned as she stepped away to put the flower in some water. He snuck a peek at her ass as she walked away. The top of her dress was fitted, but not overly tight, and the skirt was loose and flowy but only came to just above her knees. It moved easily with her hips as she walked and he couldn't help but wonder what she had on underneath.
Can't Fight This Feeling (Indigo Royal Resort Book 1) Page 12