How had she not anticipated this happening when she invited him to join her on this cruise? She should have known that introducing him to her family, giving him just this tiny peek into her world outside of work, would change the dynamic of their arrangement.
She still wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She shouldn’t want this, but Indina couldn’t deny how good it felt to lay next to him in bed last night. To feel his warm skin against hers instead of her cold pillow.
But was she ready to face the anguish that would come when things inevitably started to go south? Because it always went south. Despite all the arguments her brain continued to make, her heart knew the truth. If she couldn’t make it work with Timothy—someone she’d given seven years of her life to, someone she thought she’d spend the rest of her life with—how could she ever think a relationship with Griffin would last?
She would enjoy her time with him on this cruise, but once they returned home, Indina knew she would have to draw the line.
Their volleyball game continued to be ultra-competitive, even though both teams insisted that it was all in good fun.
“Hell yeah! Good job,” Griffin yelled after Indina set the ball up for him to spike it one last time. The match ended with their team winning by a landslide, despite having to navigate around Kristy.
Griffin came up to her and settled his hands at her waist. “How are you at bowling? Sykes-Wilcox is part of a league. We can use you.”
“Bowling is boring,” Indina said.
“Boring? That’s only because you’ve never bowled with me.”
“And you know how to make bowling more enjoyable?”
He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I know how to make everything more enjoyable.”
He trailed his fingers across her ribcage, and it was as if her one-piece bathing suit wasn’t even there. Indina sucked in a swift breath as a million butterflies took flight in her belly.
The overwhelming urge to kiss that smile on his lips sent a jolt of alarm rocketing through her. She took a step back.
“I…uh…I need to…” She pointed toward the beach chairs. “I need to check on Sienna. Make sure she doesn’t need anything.”
She nearly tripped in the sand in her haste to leave the volleyball area.
What in the hell was happening here? Had she almost kissed him?
Girl, get a grip on yourself!
Indina had decided from the very beginning that kissing on the mouth crossed a boundary she was not willing to cross. She didn’t have a problem sharing her body from the neck down, but the neck up?
No. Hell no!
That required a level of intimacy she wasn’t ready to engage in. It mandated that she allow herself to be vulnerable, and she just wasn’t there yet.
Maybe one day she could open herself up to going through all the things that were required to make a real relationship work, but after investing so much of herself into two long relationships that had come up short, Indina wasn’t sure it was worth the hassle.
Why were all these damn feelings pushing their way into her head? Talk about ruining a good thing. She couldn’t just continue to enjoy the great sex. Her stupid ass emotions had to worm their way into the situation.
Indina was spared from further uncomfortable run-ins with Griffin after Toby and Reid convinced him to join them on the Jet Skis they’d rented. The trio didn’t get back until minutes before the shuttles returned to bring them all back to the ship.
Once back onboard, Indina joined the rest of the Holmes women in one of the hot tubs they’d commandeered. She’d taken the coward’s way out; sneaking out of their cabin while Griffin was in the shower. She didn’t care. There were too many mixed up emotions going through her head where he was concerned. She needed some time away from it all.
She couldn’t think of a better escape than soaking in a luxurious hot tub with a frothy beverage in her hand.
Indina took a sip of her piña colada before setting the plastic cup on the deck and resting her arms against the hot tub’s edge. She threw her head back and let the sun beat down upon her face. It felt glorious with the cool breeze coming off the water.
“I can’t believe I wasn’t going to come on this cruise,” she said. “It would have been my biggest regret of the year.”
“Even bigger than those lime green skinny jeans you wore to Alex and Renee’s Fourth of July picnic?” Sienna asked.
Indina stuck her tongue out at her.
“I don’t know why you ever considered not coming on this cruise,” Monica said. “I’ve been looking forward to this ever since Margo came up with the idea.”
“Did someone talk Gerald out of paying for the entire thing?” Sienna asked.
Indina sat up in the hot tub. “Wait, Gerald wanted to pay for everyone? All twenty-five of us?” She knew her aunt Margo’s husband was loaded, but that was just crazy.
“Alex refused to let him do it,” Renee said. “But Gerald can be just as stubborn as these Holmes men, so don’t be surprised if you have a reimbursement from the cruise company on your credit card statement.”
If he did, Indina would give the money right back to Gerald.
A thought occurred to her. Maybe she would get his permission to put it toward whatever she and her brothers finally decided to create to honor their mother’s memory. They were still debating whether they should institute a scholarship fund, or some other kind of education-centered program. All they knew was that Diane Holmes’s legacy needed to live on. They would need to settle on the details as soon as they returned home. Her mother’s birthday was in a couple of months and Indina wanted everything in place by then.
She looked over at Willow after it occurred to her that the last couple of emails she’d sent her regarding the memorial had gone unanswered. That should have been Indina’s first clue that something weird was going on with her sister-in-law.
“You sure you don’t want to get in, Willow?” Indina asked. She’d taken the deck chair next to Sienna, who couldn’t get in the hot tub because of her pregnancy. “It’s pretty nice in here.”
Willow gave her a small smile and shook her head. “This is just fine.”
The smile was encouraging, but Indina would have felt better if it had reached her sister-in-law’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what to make of Willow’s subdued demeanor. Not that she had ever been outspoken. Her brother’s petite wife had a calmness about her that Indina admired. But she could speak her mind when the situation warranted, which was one of the reasons she and Indina got along so well.
But something was off. The Willow she’d encountered on this cruise ship was not the woman she’d come to know over the past seventeen years.
“Oh, did I tell you all about my anniversary present from Alex?” Renee asked, grabbing everyone’s attention. She beamed with excitement as she described how Alex had presented her with a surprise trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, where the couple had been married four years ago. Indina had missed the wedding, yet another regret.
“He wanted to rent the cabin where we were married, but I told him that was way too big for just the two of us.”
“Hey, Eli and I would be happy to come along,” Monica said. “I would love to go back to that house.”
“I think we should all go back to the house where you and Eli got married in the Virgin Islands,” Sienna said. “Tell Alex to switch.”
“Thanks, but no.” Renee laughed. “This time it will be just me and my hubby. It’s been ages since we’ve had quiet time together.” She looked over at Sienna. “But we’re both afraid we’ll miss the new baby’s birth.”
Sienna waved off her concern. “It’s not as if this is the first one. Little Jonah will be waiting for y’all when y’all get back.”
“I thought you all weren’t finding out the baby’s sex!” Monica quickly pounced on her.
“We haven’t. I just have a feeling that it’s a boy,” Sienna said.
“You’ve decided on Jonah for a name? I like t
hat,” Indina said.
“Zenobia picked it. Her Grandma Margo has been reading her stories from the bible, and Jonah and the Whale is her favorite so far.”
Indina laughed as they all chimed in on potential names, just in case Sienna’s hunch was wrong and she had a girl. She relished having these women in her life. As much as she loved being spoiled as the only girl in the family, she’d been jealous of her friends who had sisters.
Indina could still remember when Harrison had met and married Willow back when they were in college. Her sister-in-law had filled the void of growing up surrounded by testosterone. As each of her three cousins’ wives were added to the family, the feeling just continued to grow. They were all the sisters she’d never had, and she couldn’t be more grateful for them.
The discussion moved from baby names to the chaos of family life, and what Sienna could expect with the addition of yet another little one pitter-pattering around the house. They all laughed when Sienna mentioned that she and Toby had flipped a coin over diaper duty, and he’d lost.
As they chatted about the roles their husbands had all played in helping with their newborns, Indina felt a twinge of something that was so foreign to her she hardly recognized it.
Was that…envy?
No. It couldn’t be. Why would she feel envious over something she was certain she didn’t want or need?
She’d decided back in her twenties that she just wasn’t the motherly type, and she was still one hundred percent okay with that. She excelled at being the world’s best aunt. She didn’t need anything more than that.
But the thought of having someone to come home to every day? Someone to sit with on a lazy Sunday afternoon and watch the world go by as they talked about the week ahead? Someone who joined her in the kitchen to cook the pre-portioned meals that were delivered every week, then sat with her at the bar in her kitchen to eat them?
Someone to wrap their arms around her as she drifted to sleep every night. Someone who would still be there in the morning with his arms around her.
Indina refused to allow her eyes to close, because she knew if she did she would envision Griffin in that role.
But why did that have to be a bad thing? No matter how much she tried to deny it, Indina knew something had shifted over these past twenty-four hours. She’d gotten only the tiniest peek into the man Griffin Sims was outside of the workplace and his bedroom, and already Indina found herself wanting to know more. She wanted to know so much more.
Could she finally start to peel back that armor she’d been encapsulated in since Timothy left? Had enough time passed?
The thought of making herself so vulnerable frightened Indina to no end, but listening to the women in her family describe the joy they felt on a daily basis had her ready to reconsider. The payoff just might be worth facing her fear.
Maybe she could finally be happy again, something she could admit she hadn’t been for a while now.
“Enough of all this chitchat,” Monica said. “Can we please talk about the elephant in the room?”
All the women focused on Indina.
“What?” Indina asked.
“Oh, don’t give me that. You show up here yesterday with this fine ass man that none of us knew about. Spill it,” Monica said.
Indina shouldn’t have been surprised. In fact, she was surprised she’d been able to go an entire twenty-four hours without the women in her family bombarding her with questions about her relationship with Griffin, especially Monica.
Her cousin’s wife had tried setting Indina up with several of the doctors who worked with her at Methodist Memorial Hospital, where Monica was the chief ER attending physician. The first black woman to ever hold that position, thank you very much.
But not one of Monica’s attempts at playing matchmaker had panned out. Actually, none of them had gone beyond the first date. When Indina backed out of a date with one of the top plastic surgeons in the city, who even she had to admit had been one of the most gorgeous men she’d ever encountered, Monica had thrown in the towel.
She stared at Indina now with marked curiosity.
Indina took another sip of her drink and let out a satisfied ahhh. “Okay,” she said, setting the drink down. “What do you want to know?”
“How long have you two been dating?” Renee asked.
“How old is he?” Monica asked.
“Who cares about any of that?” Sienna said. “I want to know if the sex is good.”
“Okay, yeah, that too,” Monica said.
Indina burst out laughing. “First, he’s thirty-eight, so not all that young. We met when I started working on a project for Sykes-Wilcox.”
“How long have you two been dating?” Monica asked.
Indina hesitated. “We haven’t really been dating.” She turned to Sienna. “And to answer your question, the sex is freaking fantastic.”
“Alright girl!” Sienna said. She held up her cup of fruit punch in salute.
Renee raised her hand. “Hold up. I’m confused. The two of you are not dating, but you’re having fantastic sex?”
“What’s confusing about that?” Sienna asked. “Every girl’s got an itch. Indina found herself a hottie to scratch hers.” She leaned over and held her hand up for a high-five. “More power to you.”
“Is that really all it is?” Monica asked with a frown.
Indina hunched her shoulders and nodded.
“Well, that sucks,” Monica said. “You two look so good together. I was hoping this was something real.”
“Didn’t you hear the woman?” Sienna asked. “It is real. It’s really good sex.” She pointed to Indina. “Give us some details.”
“Oh, please don’t,” Renee said. “If this is going to turn into a sex convo I’m tapping out right now. I’ve been so exhausted with my new job that I’m never in the mood lately.”
“Uh oh. Being a school principal is more work than you thought it would be, huh?” Indina asked.
“So much more,” Renee said. “By the time I get home, feed the kids, and help with homework, I just want to crawl into bed.”
“Poor Alex,” Monica said, not even trying to hide her laugh.
“Poor me,” Renee said. “I’d love to get into bed and do something other than sleep, but Alex is just as exhausted as I am, especially with Holmes Construction’s new expansion. We’re just two sexless adults waiting for the day we both have the time and energy to get back to doing it.”
“Toby and I will happily keep Sebastian in our cabin tonight if you two want to get your freak on,” Sienna offered. “We already have two little ones in the cabin with us. We can make room for a third.” She tapped Willow on the arm. “Athens can join us too.”
“That’s not necessary,” Willow said. “Besides, my husband hasn’t touched me in months.” With that, she slipped on her sunglasses and rose from her chair. “I’ll catch up with you all later.”
There was complete silence as they all stared at Willow’s retreating form.
“Okay, I wasn’t going to say anything, but there’s something going on with those two,” Monica said. “They’ve barely talked to each other on this cruise.”
Sienna leaned toward the hot tub. “I don’t know the full story, but according to what Jonathan told Toby, Harrison has been a pain in the ass at the office lately. Jonathan said just about anything sets him off.”
“Has she said anything to you, Indina?”
Indina shook her head, still looking toward the door where her sister-in-law had disappeared. “No, but there’s definitely something going on. I’m going to try to talk to Harrison.”
Monica, Renee and Sienna all snorted at the same time.
“Good luck with that,” Sienna said.
Indina recognized the exercise in futility that would be. But she had to do something. She couldn’t sit back and watch silently as her brother and sister-in-law just ignored each other’s existence. As a couple, they had been the very definition of relationship goals. If t
he romance had gone sour in Willow and Harrison’s once storybook marriage, Indina didn’t see the point in even trying to find real love again.
Griffin had just finished the cool down on the treadmill when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to find Toby.
“Hey, what’s up?” Griffin asked as he pulled out his ear buds.
“Getting in a workout even after all that hustle at beach volleyball today?” Toby asked.
He shrugged. “My body is used to ninety minutes of high intensity. If it doesn’t get that, I start to feel sluggish.”
“I know what you mean. I try to do at least an hour a day myself.” Toby climbed onto the treadmill next to his and started it at a slow jog. “I also want to take advantage of this sight while I can,” he said, gesturing to the floor-to-ceiling windows that afforded a panoramic view of the water.
“Yeah, this is a lot better than the view from the gym I currently use. It overlooks an alley.”
“Alex’s company just finished up an addition on the house. I convinced Sienna to let me change Zoey’s old room into a home gym now that she’ll be on the side with the new nursery.”
“Let me know if you plan to offer memberships,” Griffin said with a laugh.
“Family is always invited. You’re on this cruise, which means you’re practically family now.” A sly grin curved up the side of Toby’s mouth. “You know you kind of surprised us there. No one was expecting Indina to bring a…um, what do you two call each other?”
“We’re coworkers,” Griffin said.
His grin broadened. “Yeah, okay.”
“No, really,” Griffin said, though he felt like a fool trying to deny there was anything going on between Indina and himself. Her family wasn’t stupid. As each hour passed, Griffin found himself wanting more and more to be a part of this family. Hell, maybe he could enlist their help. If they approved of there being a real relationship between them, maybe Griffin could finally convince Indina to see it.
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