Favorite Coffee, Favorite Sin (The Marshall Family Saga Book 3)

by Victoria Pinder

  Eventually she made it to the honeymoon suite and fished out her room key from her dress. At least her bag wasn’t completely unpacked. The faster she got out of here and away from Chris and her almost-mistake, the better. Tonight she escaped with the baddest boy she ever knew, who had filled her fantasy world for years now, and who might just be exactly what she needed. It was time.

  Chapter 2

  Calliope's face began to regain color as she packed her belongings from the honeymoon suite. Michael leaned against the wall near the door because she waved him off every time he came too close. So he watched for the moment when he might help her again. Last year he hadn't made himself one hundred percent clear that he was interested in her, and in his hesitation Chris had found them near the bar while they waited for their table and begged Calliope for another shot.

  In that moment, he had regretted not telling her that he was interested and he still remembered the smirk on Chris's face as they had left together.

  This time, he had his life more together, had started his own company, and now he'd ensure Calliope knew he wanted her too. Voices echoed in the hallway. He stood taller and saw how she zipped the bag with aggression as he said, "Are you ready?"

  "Almost. I want to change." She straightened her spine and turned toward the bathroom.

  He stepped closer, and the smell of peonies wafted to him from the decorations in this room. "I hear people nearby. Can you change when we get to the hotel?"

  She wrinkled her nose as she picked up the fabric of her form-fitting gown, but then she shrugged and followed him to the door. He picked up her bag and led her to the elevator. As he pushed the button, she asked, "What hotel are we going to?"

  The doors closed and they were alone. Good. He pressed the L for Lobby. "I booked us at the Hotel Esencia, in Playa Del Carmen."

  Her eyes widened as they descended. "Us? I thought you had a room at the hotel already."

  The elevator dinged and the doors opened. He placed his hand on her spine and felt a flood of warmth. He'd keep her safe, just as he promised her brother. He craned his neck to scan the main room that buzzed with activity, but he didn't see any wedding guests. He took her hand, and a pulse raced through him that was hard to ignore. He guided her toward the glass doors, while holding her bag in his other. "I came to your wedding on a cruise ship, actually."

  When the doors opened, she stopped and her lips parted. He motioned for the bellhop to get them a cab with a wave of his hand. The man nodded while she said, "Why did you come to this mess? I know I invited you, but the last time we saw each other, you helped Chris find me."

  His lips curled as the valet waved them toward a cab. "I never helped Chris."

  "He said you did." Michael took her hand again, and that spark he felt hit him hard. Calliope was the closest thing to 'the one that got away' in his life, and he'd not let that happen again. Somehow, he’d allied himself with her brother to protect her today and he'd succeed. She even looked gorgeous wearing the dress she’d planned to marry someone else in. He led her into the cab, pushed some of the white fabric off the seat and joined her.

  He told the cab driver the port and then answered Calliope. "I made the mistake of telling him we had a date."

  Again her eyes widened as the cab weaved through traffic. "So it was a date to you. I wasn't sure."

  "It most definitely was." She fell into him from a sharp turn the driver made. The sunset made the streets almost glow in a red and yellow color as the blue water next to the road gave him a clear view of the cruise ship that had brought him here. Tonight his sister and her friends would continued home while he stayed behind to torture himself or to get Calliope out of his head.

  “You wish I had known how your felt.” She swallowed. "I'm surprised you came then."

  “I needed to see this.” He wouldn’t be anywhere else. If she married Chris Sommers, he needed to see it firsthand. Last year he’d realized how much he despised the guy when he’d come back for Calliope hours after he had just left another's woman's bed. He had bragged about his adventure at the gym, which was why Michael had quit that gym. Calliope had always struck him as sweet, like a candy cane that only came out once a year.

  The cab driver pulled into the port and jerked the car to a stop. He glanced over his shoulder with a sheepish grin and said, “I thought you might want to be alone as quickly as possible, and look hard at her gown.”

  She opened her mouth to say something but stopped. She had no idea what to say.

  Michael paid the driver and helped her out.

  People stared at her white dress while they made her way out of the car. He picked up the bag from the trunk that the driver handed them and then wrapped his free hand around her. "I never gave you another option and stayed silent when I should have told you that I had wanted you as more than a friend."

  She stopped and let his hand drop as she said, "Ohh..."

  "Relax." Pressure wasn't good. He could wait for her as he’d waited over a year already. “It was six months ago.”

  “Right.” The airhorn of the ship echoed through the crowded dock. Passengers flocked to gain entrance to the ferry, and showed their passport before they gained access and stepped onto the dock. It was time to go if they were make it to the mainland in time. He held out his palm. "I promised your brother I'd keep you safe and out of sight. The ship's waiting for everyone to board."

  She took his hand again and they both walked swiftly to the ship. "Wait. What?"

  As he handed his credit card to a ticket seller, he told Calliope his plan. "Tomorrow, your brother will come and check on you."

  "No." She stepped into the wall of the shack that sold cheap souvenirs to foreigners and stepped forward again. He signed the slip the cashier pushed at him and then took the two tickets.

  "What's wrong?" He readjusted her bag and placed his free hand on her shoulder to lead her toward the ship.

  She fell into step as they cleared their way through a small maze to board. "I will see my brother when I'm ready. Tomorrow is too soon."

  He promised Brandon. Michael normally never promised anyone anything, but his had hands itched to be near Calliope again and he had shaken his hand. This time, he'd honor the promise. "He cares about you."

  "I get that. He's all I have, just like you and your sister now, I think." The second he handed the tickets to the person on the ship, they zigzagged their way through the crowd that already took their seats to find a corner of their own. A nice family moved closer together and gave them room to sit.

  Calliope sat down and ignored all the stares they received. He should have let her change, but every footstep outside the hotel lobby reminded him. "Yes, my sister is on the cruise. She just agreed to marry Wyatt Colburn."

  A huge grin grew on her face as she clearly remembered Belle and Wyatt. "Aww. They went to prom together. That's so exciting. I knew they liked each other."

  His gaze narrowed as the ship left the dock. At least Chris hadn't followed them. They were alone. He followed Calliope's clues about ignoring the crowd and relaxed his shoulders. "How? Weren't you the prom queen about to marry her king there?"

  She looked down and closed her eyes for a moment. "Don't remind me. Sometimes the past needs to stay there. I never should have said yes."

  He placed his hand on her knee and waited for her to look at him as the ocean between them and land grew wider apart. "Why did you?"

  She wrinkled her chin but she held a smile while she spoke the words as if it was fresh lemon juice she had in her mouth. "I want a home. Chris was all I knew and I was afraid of taking chances. Seriously, I knew we shouldn't have come here, but I kept talking myself out of listening to my heart."

  She was deeper than most women he ever met. Instinctually, his hand went to her face to find out if she was that soft, everywhere and to offer a hug. She leaned closer and pressed her cheek to his shoulder as he stroked her hair. "You have nothing to be afraid of."

  With the ocean in his view, and C
alliope in his arms, he had everything he ever wanted. Neither said anything else while they sat and no one spoke to them.

  The ship docked in the mainland and passengers passed them. At first neither moved, but as the crowd thinned out, he stood and offered his hand. She gripped it and stood as she picked up the edges of her white dress that showed black smudges. As they walked and de-boarded the ship, she pushed flyaway strands of her hair that used to be perfectly coifed off her face. While both of them let their feet press against the small gangway and touched ground, she turned and he had full view of her radiant face in the pale moonlight.

  Calliope said, "You don't have to stay with me. I know you have a life and I thought you were dating Eva Bishop now?"

  Eva and dating were never words he put together. Yes, he had slept with her, more than once, but it was like two ships that passed in the night. It hadn't been romantic and it was a while ago. Eva never once made his pulse react. "No. We're better off as friends. I have no strings."

  "Good." She nodded as they walked over to the rental car station.

  She stayed quiet after that while he handed over his card and stared at her. She swayed to the sound of mariachi band that played in the distance. Right now, if Roxanne hadn’t interrupted, she’d be dancing with her new husband, but thankfully she wasn’t. She was here, with him.

  A few minutes later Michael had the keys to a car and walked back to join her. While he placed her bag in the trunk, without a word Calliope reached in her bag and retrieved a pair of shorts and a sleeveless red shirt. She held them close as she turned around. "Please unzip me."

  Michael slammed the trunk door and reached for her. Her skin was like soft, whipped cream that was moisturized in places he never thought possible as he kept Calliope close to him so no one saw and unzipped the dainty zipper. Once done, he held it together as he helped her to the passenger seat. In silence, she followed and slipped into the car as he stood outside the window.

  A few minutes later, Calliope knocked on the door and Michael turned around. She was now in a red cotton blouse and khaki shorts and the dress was carelessly tossed in the back seat. He came around to the driver's side, hopped in, and started the car.

  Once they made it onto the highway that would bring them to the hotel, Calliope flipped on the radio but after a while, all they heard was white noise. He reached out, brushed his hand against hers as he turned it off and asked, "What did you mean when you said good to me not dating Eva?"

  Her face flushed and she lowered her lashes. She sucked in her lips and then released them. Finally she asked, "Why does that matter?"

  The hotel sign appeared on the highway. They were close. He gripped the wheel. "It mattered to me. I thought for sure how fast you both started meant that you never thought about that night Chris interrupted us."

  “As I said, Eva is a friend, but nothing more.”

  Next to a gas station, he had to do a U-turn to get onto the hotel property. As he turned the car on the empty road, she said, "After I left you on the date, I refused to sleep with Chris this entire year. Tonight we were..."

  He pressed on the gas and almost missed the next turn into the hotel. His heart rate increased, but then he interrupted and slowed the car. "It's okay, Calliope. You don't need to explain..."

  Finally he turned the car onto the driveway and they both stared at the Mediterranean-style hotel with white umbrellas littering the beach behind it.

  She said, "I'm not explaining. I am asking you. Will you have sex with me tonight?"

  "What?" No other word surfaced. Nothing else could be said. Calliope was the one who featured in his nightly 'what if' fantasy.

  He parked the car near the front as he shook his head.

  "We both know you have not wanted to settle on any woman, ever, and I want to forget today."

  He’d promised her brother. His own face felt hot. "I'm not a marrying man, Calliope."

  "I'm not asking for another wedding today. I want to forget all about the last one."

  "I don't think..."

  She shrugged as the valet approached the car. She held the door as she said, "Guess I'll have to find some nameless guy at the hotel then."

  Without another word, she practically jumped out of her seat and took a step toward the hotel. His heart beat fast again. This time he hopped out and grabbed her bag from the valet. Once he had everything, he met her at the door and said, "No. You are not shopping for a random guy tonight."

  She licked her lips as the air conditioner hit his skin. It should have cooled him down. Instead he stayed hotter than he imagined he would. "Michael, I know what I need and I want to feel you inside me, but since you said no..."

  "I didn't say no." This was his one chance. Brandon's grim face and the promise he’d made a few hours ago to watch out for Calliope and get her out of there had not meant sleep with her. Then again, it was what anyone should have expected from him until this past year and very much in character. As he stared into Calliope’s blue eyes, his body pulsed again. Tonight he could have her.

  As they neared the lobby for check-in, she asked, "So you will?"

  "Reservation for Marshall." He placed his hand on her spine and spoke to the hotel clerk. "We'll just need one room."

  A smile grew on her face as she stepped closer to him. She smelled so good, like those peonies she put everywhere. His lips ached to taste her. The clerk gave him both plastic room swipe keys.

  The pool villa. Good. He led her onto the outskirts of the hotel and walked toward the pool. Once they were alone behind palm trees that overlooked a private pool and beach, he turned and placed both hands on the walls around her as he lowered his lips to meet hers. "I will rock your world tonight. You'll never want to leave."

  Her lips curled into a smile. "Good. I've been boring and predictable till now. Now, I want you."

  Then his mouth met hers to taste the closest thing to heaven he ever experienced.

  Chapter 3

  Michael's kiss tasted like spice and headiness and life itself. Calliope clung to him and let herself not think about anything other than how she could have had these kind of kisses months ago. His lips felt like they branded her as his property and for tonight, right now, she wanted nothing else.

  "This way." He broke their kiss and then guided her to lead her into the pool villa.

  Breathless, Calliope followed him and let him take her hand. As he opened the brightly lit house that he rented for them, she realized just how extravagant this place was. The white cushioned sitting room had windows everywhere. She stuck her head into the bathroom and the pure white bathtub overlooked palm trees and a fountain. She could only imagine the bedrooms, but she spied private terraces on the other end of the house. Chris would never have bothered getting this for her and would have said 'run of the mill is fine' if asked if he wanted to upgrade. "Why did you get the villa?"

  "You should be in a place worthy of you." He dropped her bag into a bedroom.

  This was it. If she wanted Michael, then Calliope had to be bolder and she’d wondered for a year if she should have stayed at dinner and not gone back to Chris. Now she'd find out what she missed. Every night since that night, she had wondered. Years before that, she had held a slight torch for Michael, though he never blinked in her direction, romantically. Instead he slept with everyone older than her in school and his reputation had only grown since.

  She followed him into the bedroom where her gaze landed on the canopy bed with white see-through fabric that laced the bed. She'd never even touched a princess bed since she was six and her parents were still alive. None of that. She kicked off her shoes and stared hard at his muscular frame. Her fingers traced her neck and her breastbone as she asked, "What?"

  Michael leaned against the frame of the bed and unbuttoned his white shirt. She felt adrenaline grow inside her as she saw every muscle he revealed. His every move hypnotized her, and then he wiggled his finger at her. "Come here, I want to see all of you."

  Good. This w
as what they both wanted. She licked her lips as she went to stand in front of him. With wide eyes, she never blinked. "What should we do?"

  "Let's start with that shirt,” he said as his hands landed on her hips. Her heart pounded.

  Every inch of skin he revealed as he tugged her shirt over her head felt as if he claimed her, when he had hardly touched her yet. She lowered her lashes and her face felt flushed. Finally, she was his, just as she had dreamed. "Michael, I'm nervous."

  "We don't have to." He let her go and her eyes met his. "I'll let you take the master bedroom and lock me out."

  No. She wanted him. She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Wait. I didn't say no. I've never been with anyone but Chris."

  He straightened and used his nose to point to the door. Then he walked away and she stared hard as his perfect muscles and backside. "Get going and lock that door so I'm not tempted."

  "No." Tonight was happening. Instead of moving, she tugged off her shirt. This was her one chance to taste what she never dreamed she’d have… him. Her heart raced so fast she thought she'd lose the ability to speak.

  By the door, his eyes widened when he turned toward her again. "What?" He rubbed his jaw and stared at her bra as he said, "Calliope, you're killing me."

  This was the guy who wasn't supposed to care and knew how to please a woman. All her life she'd heard whispered that Michael was the bad boy to avoid, but he knew how to please. High school and college were long gone, but she'd been stupid about loyalty and faithfulness. Now it was time to know how living for herself felt. She unzipped her shorts and let them fall to the floor as she stood in her underwear and leaned on the bedpost because her knees wobbled. "Michael Marshall, you promised to rock my world. So where do you want me?"

  He practically flew to her side and tugged on the curve of her hips to let her feel his body on her. "Callie, you don't need to prove anything."

  "Michael, it's not a big deal. You push it into the hole and that's that." She tugged his shirt off. Tonight was the night. For years with Chris, she had closed her eyes and wished it was Michael. Now she’d know how she’d feel in his arms. She threw his shirt onto the floor and then reached for his pants.