by Lynne, Donya
Trina quietly joined her, stood beside her for a long moment, then said, “So is he.”
Emma shot her sister a surprised glance. “He is?” There was no reason for Theo to be embarrassed. This morning was all her fault, not his.
Trina sighed and held her gaze. “He doesn’t understand what he did wrong and wants to do whatever he can to fix this.” She took Emma’s hand. “He really likes you, Em. Give him a chance. Don’t punish him for what I did.”
She still didn’t know what Trina had said to him. “What did you tell him, anyway?”
Trina offered a chagrined half smile. “Just that I could tell that he was interested in you and that you were over Chad and he should make his move before someone else beat him to it.”
“No one was going to beat him to it.”
“He didn’t know that.”
Emma’s head tilted to one side. “Trina . . .”
She shrugged sheepishly. “Hey, all I did was put a little fire under his ass. Which worked, by the way, because he did make his move less than twelve hours later.”
“Which I totally ruined.” Emma slumped and shook her head.
Trina pulled her into an encouraging, one-armed hug. “You didn’t ruin anything.”
“But—”
Trina shushed her. “Trust me, Em. Theo is hotter for you now than ever.”
“No he’s not.”
“Yes he is.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
Blinking, Emma looked away, then down at the floor. “So, you never told him that I haven’t had an org—”
“No.”
“And you didn’t even hint that I liked him?”
“Nope.”
What a mess she’d made of things. She’d gotten everything all wrong. Trina had barely even brought her into the conversation with Theo.
Emma dropped onto the chaise next to the window. “Oh my God, I blew this so bad.”
Trina knelt in front of her. “You didn’t blow anything. It was a misunderstanding, that’s all. And you’re both adults. He’ll understand. But you have to talk to him.”
As much as she hated to admit it, Trina was right. She did need to talk to Theo. She needed to explain and tell him everything. Full disclosure was the only way to move forward if she had any hope of fixing this.
Standing, she smoothed her palms over the shorts she’d changed into after spending an hour camped out on her bathroom floor, avoiding everyone in the house. “Where is he?” She started for the door.
“He’s gone.”
“Gone?”
“He left with Kevin and Brandon to go hiking. Said it might help him clear his head and figure out how to fix this.”
Somehow, Emma didn’t think anything would clear Theo’s head until the two of them talked. And fixing this was her job, not his.
“So now what?” Emma asked, frustrated that she couldn’t put them both out of their misery now.
Trina picked up the muffin and held it out to her. “First, you need to eat. Then”—she glanced at her suitcases—“we are going to unpack your bags. And then you are going with Abby and me to the spa for a massage and a little pampering while we come up with a game plan.”
“I’ll come up with a plan on my own, Trina. No more meddling from you.”
Trina put her hands up like she was innocent. “Fine, you. You can fix this on your own. I’m sorry I ever interfered in the first place. It’s just that, well, even though you’re twenty-eight and all grown-up with a career and your own place, it’s hard for me to stop being your big sister.”
“And I appreciate how protective you’ve always been—at least when you weren’t pulling pranks on me—”
“Hey, but I never let anybody else mess with you, though,” Trina quickly pointed out.
“True, but maybe you should have.”
“Why?”
“Because then I could have learned to fend for myself.”
Trina lifted a stack of folded clothes from her suitcase and carried them to the dresser, wearing a motherly smile. “Well, you can fend for yourself now, and I promise not to butt in.”
Emma popped a bite of muffin into her mouth, then said around a mouthful of buttery sweetness, “Yeah, right.”
Emma had no idea how she would fix things with Theo, but she would figure it out. And, with any luck, she could salvage her Cabo vacation and make it one to remember.
Chapter Five
Emma and her sisters spent the day at the spa, as promised, then went shopping. By the time they returned to the beach house, the sun was setting and Emma had a much more positive outlook. She still wasn’t sure what she was going to say to Theo, but at least she wasn’t stressing about it anymore.
Trina’s phone pinged with a text as their car pulled into the driveway.
She took out her phone and opened the message. “Kevin says we were all invited to a party.” She looked up and down the street. “He said it’s a few houses down. He, Brandon, and Theo are already there.”
Abby pointed at a house about a quarter of a mile away with a shitload of cars parked out front. “I think that’s it.”
“Has to be.” Trina tucked her phone into her purse as the car came to a stop at the front doors. “Come on, let’s go get cleaned up.”
Emma still felt slightly oily from her massage, so she took a quick shower, dried and straightened her long sandy-blond hair, which she usually curled, and changed into another of her favorite boho sundresses. This one was a two-toned tan and peach that made her bronze skin glow like it had been kissed by the sun.
“Wow, look at you,” Abby said when Emma joined them downstairs a few minutes later wearing two of the long, dangling necklaces she’d bought this afternoon. The longer one had a crescent moon pendant, and the shorter one was adorned by a silver five-pointed star.
Trina’s head was tilted to one side as she adjusted her earrings, but the moment she got a look at Emma, her eyebrows rose, and she straightened her head. “Theo’s not going to know what hit him.”
“I didn’t wear this for Theo,” Emma lied.
Trina shook her head and laughed, not buying it. “Sure you didn’t.”
Less than ten minutes later, they were at the party, worming their way through a capacity crowd. Music blared through speakers set up throughout the house, and the smell of barbecue wafting in from a giant grill set up at the edge of the patio just barely overpowered the scent of pot coming from the haze hanging in the air.
“I need to find Theo!” Emma had to shout to be heard over the music.
Trina’s face was buried in her phone waiting for Kevin to message her about his and the others’ whereabouts. A moment later, she looked toward the back of the house. “They’re on the beach.”
Of course. They wouldn’t be in this crowded house unless they had to be.
She followed Trina and Abby as they parted the crowd and headed for the open patio doors.
The moment they stepped outside, Emma breathed a sigh of relief, taking in the fresh air.
“There they are.”
Emma followed Trina’s gaze to find Brandon, Kevin, and Theo farther out on the beach, playing cornhole. Who knew they’d heard of cornhole in Cabo?
Theo was dressed in khaki Bermuda shorts, Birkenstocks, and a loose-fitting, short-sleeved, button-up shirt. The pale-blue color complemented his tan skin and dark hair.
As if he could feel her watching him, he looked away from the game. The moment his gaze collided with hers, he smiled as if he were relieved to see her, as if he’d been worried she wouldn’t come. Then his eyes traveled over her dress before sliding back up to her face.
“You look nice,” he said when she and her sisters joined them.
“So do you.” She offered him a smile of apology for how she’d behaved this morning.
His crooked grin was reply enough that she was more than forgiven.
“Can we talk?” she said.
“I’d lik
e that.” He turned his attention toward Kevin and Brandon. “Hey, guys, I’m out.” He pointedly took her hand as if that was all they needed to see to understand why he was leaving.
They waved him off, then turned away, enlisting Trina to take his place.
“You want a beer?” he asked, leading her toward a pair of large coolers situated at the edge of the sand.
“Uh, sure.” A bit of alcohol might make this conversation easier.
He grabbed a pair of fresh beers and handed her one before threading his fingers around hers again.
“Let’s go down the beach where it’s quieter.” He led her away from the party.
The music gradually faded, but she could still hear it and smell the barbecue when he stopped and gestured to the sand. “This okay?”
She nodded and lowered herself, sitting on the cool sand beside him, facing the houses along the beach while he faced the ocean.
She searched for the bodyguards that were always present around him. She didn’t see any.
“Where’s your security?” she asked.
One side of his mouth kicked upward as he glanced down, then out toward the ocean before meeting her gaze again. “I told them that if you showed up to give us some space.”
“So where are they?”
He gestured in the direction of the party. “Probably eating barbecue and having a beer.”
“They’re allowed to leave you alone?” she asked, looking back at party central.
“No, but I told them that I wanted to be alone with you tonight. And since I pay their salaries now, they do what I say.” He nudged her leg. “We’ll be fine. Nothing’s going to happen to us here.”
She bit her lip and averted her eyes, watching her fingers disappear in the sand as she pushed them into it. “I see.”
“I like your hair like this,” he said a few seconds later, brushing it back with his fingers as the wind blew it over her face.
Her gaze dropped shyly. “I straightened it.”
“It’s pretty.”
“Thanks.”
Silence stretched between them for a long moment, but it was more of an encouraging, comforting silence than one filled with tension.
“I wanted to apologize about this morning,” she said, meeting his eyes again.
“You don’t need to apologize.”
“Yes, I do. I completely misunderstood the situation and ran off without giving you a chance to talk.”
He grinned with amusement.
“I’m glad you think this is funny,” she said, trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the pile of shit she’d created.
His grin grew wider. “I don’t think it’s funny.”
She coquettishly arched one brow as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Then why are you smiling?”
“Because I’m remembering how cute your ass looked as you stormed away from me.”
She gasped and shoved his arm, making him laugh. “You were not staring at my ass?”
“Oh, yes, I was.” He chuckled and leaned closer. “It’s quite a fine ass.”
She bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing but ended up giggling anyway. “I thought you would be mad at me.” This conversation was already going better than she thought it would. It was reassuring to know he didn’t think she was a complete psycho.
“Why would I be mad at you?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
Another stretch of silence passed between them as they sipped their beers.
“So,” he said a moment later, “do you want to tell me what happened this morning?”
She uncrossed her legs and dug her heels into the sand, casually clasping her arms around her knees. He had been bound to ask, and she couldn’t put off telling him the truth forever.
“I thought Trina had set you up to . . . you know . . . make a move on me.”
He swallowed a swig of beer, then lowered the bottle between his knees. “Well, she did suggest that you might be receptive if I did, but I made a move on you because I’ve wanted to make a move on you since the day we met.” He pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes on the ocean before looking down with an air of surprise. “Of course, I had no idea that things would heat up so quickly and that I would have to rein myself in during our first kiss.” He gave her a crooked smile and looked up at her without raising his head, as if secretly taking stock of her reaction. “But I guess losing control like that is what happens when I force myself to hold back for six months.”
She glanced down. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” Because she’d been right there with him this morning, her own passion being on the verge of getting out of hand.
“So, what did you think Trina told me that got you so upset?” he said.
Here we go.
Time for complete confession.
She guzzled down a heavy gulp of beer and took a deep breath. “It’s kind of embarrassing.”
“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have—”
“No, I need to get this out. I need to tell you, or it will just hang over me until I do.”
He quieted and focused all his intention on her. “Okay,” he said with an encouraging nod.
Taking another deep breath, she dove in. “The other day while you were playing volleyball, my sisters and I were talking.” Her gaze flicked to his, then back down. “We talked a little about you, but mostly it was just girl talk. Then I revealed something I’ve never told anyone, and the conversational got . . . well . . . it went in a whole different direction. If you’d heard what we talked about, what happened this morning would make a lot more sense.”
He crossed his ankles and scooted a bit closer, silently encouraging her to keep talking.
“My sisters found out that I’ve . . .” Oh God, was she really going to tell him the truth?
Her whole body trembled with nervous energy, and she quickly looked away so he wouldn’t see her teeth chatter.
“They found out you’ve . . .?” he prompted a moment later.
She closed her eyes and bowed her head. “They found out I’ve never, uh . . .” She took yet another deep breath, then spilled the rest as she exhaled. “I’ve never had an orgasm during sex.”
There. She’d blurted it out.
She waited for him to say something, but all that followed her confession was silence.
“I’ve never been able to have an orgasm with a man,” she repeated, making sure he hadn’t missed the point.
After several seconds passed with no response, she cautiously peered up at him to find him watching her like a panther in the shadows.
“Never?” he said.
She shook her head.
“Not even if he went down on you?”
Another shake of her head.
Theo’s expression took on a curious, pensive quality. “So how do I factor into all this?”
It was bad enough that she and her sisters had talked about his sexual prowess behind his back as if he were nothing more than a sex object, but telling him they had felt even worse. It was like admitting that she’d read his diary without his permission. Not that Theo kept a diary, but that was how it felt.
Her fingers dug deeper into the sand. “Trina . . . knows certain things about you.”
The corners of his mouth ticked upward as if he were trying not to smile. From all outward appearances, he knew exactly what Trina knew about him, as well as what she’d told Emma.
“Let me guess,” he said. “She suggested that I might be able to help you out with your little . . . problem.”
If anyone else had said that to her, she just would have felt worse. But the intrigued way Theo said it like he knew he was just what Emma needed made her pulse pick up tempo.
“Something like that,” she said a little breathlessly at the way he was looking at her with renewed interest. “She said you have . . . skills.”
His lopsided smile turned into a smoldering smirk. “Skills,” he said softly, nodding his
head like he enjoyed where this was going.
Whew, the temperature had grown a bit balmier in the past few seconds. “Yes. Skills. That’s how she put it.”
Heat radiated from his gaze as he held hers. “I, uh . . . I think I might have to agree with her on that.” The tip of his tongue peeked out, wetting his lips before he lightly pressed them together, studying her. “I find this all very . . .” His dusky eyes narrowed, studying her. “Exciting.”
“Exciting?”
A seductively lopsided grin tugged at the corners of his full lips. “Very.”
“Did you not hear what I said?”
“I heard you.”
Maybe she needed to spell it out for him. “I can’t come, Theo.”
His grin became downright wicked. “Oh, I think you can.”
She scoffed. “Well, I’ve got one very frustrated”—she couldn’t bring herself to say vagina to him, so she just gestured toward her lady parts—“that says you’re wrong.”
Was she intentionally challenging him, because even to her own ears, that’s what it sounded like?
He took her beer and set it on the sand, then pulled her toward his lap. She reluctantly gave in and straddled the tops of his thighs.
“Come here.” He released her hands and tugged on her hips.
Sighing, she scooted forward, sucking in her breath when the heart of her slid over his erection. She shouldn’t have been surprised to find him hard, but she was.
Once she settled against his legs, he pushed the long, flowing skirt out of the way to reveal her bare knees. “Do you want me to prove I’m right?” He eased his hand under her dress, letting it crawl up the inside of her thigh.
“What?” She jerked at his fiery, intimate caress, then looked up the beach to the party less than a hundred yards away. “Here?”
“Sure, why not?” The tips of his fingers reached the elastic band of her panties that circled the top of her thigh.
“We can’t have sex here.” But, damn, the idea turned her on.
“Who said anything about having sex? I just want to prove that you can have an orgasm with a man.” He pushed aside the fabric and rubbed his fingers through the slickness at her core. He chuckled darkly and pulled her forward for a quick but steaming kiss. “You seem awfully turned on for someone worried about having sex out here in the open.”