Hell, sex and love had been going hand and hand for him since the first time they slept together. Love made it damn near mind-blowing. She had to feel that as well.
When they were together, she trusted him... let herself be vulnerable and verbal as to what she liked and what she wanted—something he found damn sexy. Okay, so he found everything about Apple sexy, but what they’d shared so far... that had to count as something more in her head.
It simply had to, or he didn’t know what would happen when they got back to Jessamine. Actually, he did know what would happen. She would push him away the first time someone acted like a jerk to one of them.
He couldn’t allow that to happen, but she had to want to be with him, too. A one-sided relationship of convenience wasn’t what he wanted.
“Round four of the breakfast buffet. I think they might ban me from the restaurant if I get another plate, but I’ve really worked up an appetite down here,” she said as she walked up to their table. They were in the main restaurant of the resort, partaking of the elaborate breakfast buffet. Birds hopped from table to table looking for scraps, while cats slunk around the perimeter looking for lizards to eat.
“You’re welcome.”
She stuck out her tongue at him and sat down. “Men and their egos.”
“It wasn’t my ego that made you scream my name.”
Blushing a little, her lips curved into a smile. “I’m not going to disagree with that.”
What else could he get her to not disagree on?
Nothing that would make you happy.
I have to keep trying.
Until when?
Until she realizes that we’re right together.
Good luck with that.
“Glad to hear it. So... I got this text...” He passed his phone to Apple. “Read this.”
She swallowed down a gulp of orange juice and took it from him, her eyes widening. “Do you want to do it?” After wiping her mouth, she set the cloth napkin on the table.
Nope. “I think it’s only fair.” He’d look like a chump if he didn’t.
“Which means you don’t want to do it.” She handed over his phone. “I won’t hold you to it, and I won’t think any worse of you than I already do if you decide not to conquer your fear of heights.”
“Thanks, I appreci—hold up. You won’t think any worse of me than you already do?”
Apple’s eyes danced, even while her face remained serious. “I’m only being honest.”
“We’re going on that damn tour.” He texted the operator back and confirmed the time. “Done.”
“Don’t worry, Preston, a parachute will be there to catch you if you fall.”
He made a face. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“The parachute?”
“Nope. Falling.”
*
She held his hand the entire way up while he kept his eyes shut, prayed, and breathed through his nose so he wouldn’t puke. His stomach flipped and his sense of balance was all off. He felt disoriented, lightheaded, and—
She squeezed his hand again. “Take a look around, Preston.”
Opening one eye, he spied mountains off in the distance. That wasn’t so bad. He opened both eyes, then made the mistake of looking down. The boat was tiny and they were so far up that if they fell, he’d—
“I had a crush on you in high school.”
He jerked his gaze to her. “You’re joking.”
She shook her head, her blue eyes serious. “Nope. I thought you were so handsome, but I was so shy that I couldn’t speak when you were around.”
“I think we talked a couple of times in the hallway.”
“Yeah, you were always asking to borrow a pencil.” She twisted her lips a little. “You never gave any of them back.”
“I’ll buy you an entire pack when we get home,” he promised. “Unless we die a horrible death, first.”
“How can you fly on a plane?”
He shrugged. “Seatbelt and something under my feet and over my head? I don’t know.”
She laughed. “That’s okay. You don’t have to explain it.”
“Good, because I can’t.” He wrapped his free hand tighter around the strap on the left side. “Anyway, back to your crush of me. I thought you only had eyes for Caleb Lawson.”
“That’s because I couldn’t catch your eye... so when he asked me out, I did the teenage-girl thing and fell for him because he was older, mysterious, and Iris never shut up about him. I’ve never told anyone that before, so you cannot share.”
“I might have had a crush on you, and the only way I could get up the nerve to talk to you was to ask for a pencil... instead of date. You were intimidating, even back then.” He managed a grin. “But look at us now.”
“Yup.” She grew silent for a moment, then started to swing her legs back and forth. It was all he could do not to shout at her to stop. “I... I didn’t know that Iris and Caleb were in love when we went out, or when we went to the prom. I guess the chaste kiss on the cheek should have been a clue, but I was over the moon that he wasn’t trying to treat me like a McCoy. You know?”
“Others did?”
“All the time.” She shook her head. “Cherry loved the attention. I hated it. Lemon... well, everyone simply loves her and wouldn’t dream of treating her like anything less than a lady.”
“Y’all weren’t the only McCoys.”
“I know, but sometimes, it felt like it.”
“Why?”
“It’s hard to explain, but I guess it’s kinda like you and your brothers in Texas. You love them, spend some time with them, but you’re really not that close. And for McCoys, once we grow up, we’re in competition with one another. That’s the other reason why I went into business for myself. I wanted to be out of the competition, you know? I wanted to be known for other things, but I let my anger get in the way.”
“You were angry with Caleb?”
“And Iris. I ended up hating them. I thought they’d deceived me, thought they’d played a trick on me, and because Iris was adopted, which in my mind meant she wasn’t really a McCoy, I thought she was jealous and wanted to get back at me for being a real McCoy by taking Caleb away from me.”
She shook her head and muttered, “Wow, I sound delusional and petty.”
“I don’t know. I think we all do stupid things when we’re young. Remember me and the ladies?”
She gave him a sidelong look. “I guess so, but when Iris died, I refused to go to her funeral, even though she’d been one of my best friends growing up. I had so much hate for her happiness that I eventually became someone I hated.”
“Until you decided to be that girl in high school again.”
“I don’t know... I let her out every now and then... let her do nice things for people and bring couples together. But I don’t know if that will ever make up for all the bad things I did.”
“Sounds to me like the only bad things you ever really did to people, you ended up making it right with them.”
“Except for Iris.” She looked thoughtful. “Can’t really make it right with her.”
The wind blew, rocking them, and Preston swore loudly. “Son of a bitch.”
“I’m starting to feel like I’ll need to make things up to you, too.”
He glanced at her, keeping his focus only on her. “Don’t worry. I have big plans for you tonight that will make me forget all about this nightmare.”
“You’re not over your fear?”
“No. I didn’t think I would be.” His heart sped up as the line attached to them started shortening and bringing them down. The boat zipped across the harbor, swinging them around.
“But you did it anyway.”
“I had you at my side, sweetheart. Made it a heck of a lot easier.”
*
That night, Apple pounced on him as soon as he got out of the shower. He didn’t mind one bit.
“Can I finish drying off?”
“I like you drip
ping wet,” she said, licking at the drops of water on his chest. She shrugged out of the robe she wore, leaving her standing there with nothing on but a seductive smile. Her pale hair was up in a messy bun and her lips had the sexiest shade of red coating them. “Think you can get me just as wet?”
“I know I can.” He put his hands on her hips, intent on propelling her to the bed, but she had other plans, becoming almost frantic as she pushed him against the door and kissed him.
He responded enthusiastically at first, cupping her breasts in his hands, teasing her nipples, and finding all those erotically sensitive spots on her neck. But then she wiggled free and got down on her knees, putting her mouth on him.
“Do you like that? Do you want me to take you deeper? You can come wherever you want,” she said.
It felt... wrong. Like she was putting on a show for him.
Gritting his teeth, he gently pushed her away. Her eyes flew up to his, her slick red mouth pouting. “This isn’t you.”
“Yes it is.” She leaned in again, the tip of her tongue darting out to taste him.
“No, it’s not, and I’m not interested in anything but the real you.” He stepped back, then got down on his knees in front of her. “I don’t know what’s in your head right now, baby, but I do know it’s not good.”
To his shock, tears pooled in her eyes. “I don’t know what to do. Tomorrow morning, everything goes back to normal. We’ll go back to normal and—”
“We already are normal.” He motioned between them. “We are a couple, Apple. I love you. One day, you’ll love me so much that you won’t be able to deny it.”
Her eyes closed, tears falling from her lashes. “I already love you, Preston.”
He crushed her to him. “Let me take you to bed, baby. Make love to you. I’ll even let you put your mouth where ever you want.”
She laughed a little. “I’d like that.”
Helping her to a standing position, he then led her to the bedroom where they crawled in bed together. Hands touching. Exploring. Lips tasting and worshipping. He couldn’t stop touching her, stop kissing her, or stop drinking in the taste that made her uniquely his woman.
When he finally rolled on a condom and slowly sank inside her, it was like coming home and leaving earth all at once. He took his time with her, drawing out the pleasure, making her wait until her body shook.
And when she finally came apart in his arms, he let go of the thread of control that had kept him from orgasming the second he slid inside of her warmth and came so hard that he saw black spots, then all he could see was her.
She was all he ever wanted to see.
“You take my breath away,” she said a beat later.
“You stole my heart,” he replied.
Her face softened. “Have I ever told you that I’m a sucker for romantic lines?”
“Guess I’ll need to brush up on them. But I don’t think any exist that could sum up my love for you.”
She sighed. “That was pretty good.”
“I do impress myself sometimes.”
She burst out laughing, making him chuckle, too.
“Promise me things won’t change when we get back.”
“The only thing I can promise is that I won’t change. My feelings remain the same, no matter where we are,” he said.
“I love you. If I never get the chance to say it again, I want you remember that.”
His jaw worked, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment, didn’t want to argue or fight or tell her how disappointed he was in her low opinion of herself.
No, he wouldn’t do any of that on their last night of paradise because he knew he might not ever get another chance like this.
And it fucking broke his heart to admit it to himself.
Chapter Twelve
The plane ride home had been lonely. Neither she nor Preston had been able to get their flights switched so they could fly back together. The only one that would work was a flight leaving in two days.
While he wasn’t in a hurry, she had to get back to work and give Anita a break. Although her right-hand woman was entirely competent, Apple had promised to be back on a certain date and she couldn’t break that promise.
Plus, she had the stupid McCoy monthly meeting to attend and she was sure they’d all have something to say about her week with Preston Lawson.
Her lips flattened as she washed her face and moisturized before bed. At least she had a routine that would get her mind off things and stop her from worrying about Preston.
She glanced at the clock, taking note of the time.
He wasn’t getting in until tomorrow evening due to an unexpected layover in Miami that required him to spend the night there, but he had promised to catch up with her on Sunday—the day after the stupid luncheon.
For once, she was actually dreading going... and not only because Jellie had been elected the new president of their Ladies Who Lunch club either. Oh no, she was dreading the portion where they’d make a list of the couples that were priorities and each McCoy would volunteer to be the one to push the two people together.
Since Apple had done so with Lucas and Bailey, Lemon with Skylar and Tristan, and then Cherry with Sydney and Brody, they were top candidates to help due to their successes.
What would Apple do if Jellie decided Apple would be the perfect McCoy to help some nameless girl and Preston get together? Would she say he was taken? Admit that she’d broken the cardinal, unwritten rule that...
“I’m not going to worry about it.” Instead, she walked to her bedroom and grabbed her phone from the dresser. When she clicked on it, a picture of her and Preston appeared as her locked screensaver. They were on the beach, facing away from the water, and wearing almost matching white linen shirts, except Preston had a pair of khaki shorts under his. The expressions on their faces as they looked at one another took her breath away.
She’d never seen a woman more obviously in love... and Preston... he wore his heart on his sleeve. It was right there for her to take, even if he’d accused her of stealing it.
On impulse, she texted him.
Apple: I miss and love you.
His reply was immediate.
Preston: Miss and love you, too.
Her heart fluttered and nerves started to calm. She kissed the image of him, then set her phone down and crawled into bed.
Maybe tomorrow wouldn’t be that bad. Wasn’t there some saying or data about how most the bad things people thought were going to happen actually didn’t? She was sure she’d heard that from several very smart people.
With a sigh, she turned off the bedside lamp and snuggled into the covers.
***
Apparently, the ones who insisted that most bad things people thought would happen didn’t actually happen were idiots.
Apple sat at a beautiful table, decorated with lovely china and pretty flowers, while gorgeous women dressed in exquisite clothes talked quietly amongst themselves. Lemon and Cherry hadn’t arrived yet, which meant Apple was forced to make small talk with Jellie and her three sisters, who were determined to win the who-could-be-the-biggest-passive-aggressive-bitch contest.
A title Apple used to proudly wear everywhere she went.
“Jellie, you didn’t tell me we were supposed to wear last year’s off-the-rack Easter frock today,” Persimmon said with a little sniff, as if she were too offended to actually breathe.
Sage nodded. “Throwback Thursday should never be applied in real life.”
“It’s Saturday,” Apple pointed out. She didn’t care what they thought about her clothes, mostly because it wasn’t true and they knew it.
“Maybe times are hard,” Honey said. “Apple, sugar, I heard you had to sell the paper, bless your heart.”
Apple smiled wanly. She didn’t have to do anything, and it was none of their business what she did do. “I got tired of feeling like the Monopoly guy, owning everything worth anything in this town.”
“Bless your heart, sugar. It must b
e such a struggle to be so wealthy. Anywho, it’s time for me to call this meeting to order.” Jellie stood, her bright red hair perfect swept up and her multiple strands of pearls in perfect rows against her neck. She wore blue, a color that gave her the appearance of softness.
Jellie walked to the podium, smiling and waving along the way like a true politician. As she got closer to the lectern, she motioned for someone in the crowd to come up.
Apple’s stomach plummeted to her toes as Molly Walker emerged from the middle of the room, wearing last year’s Easter frock with a pair of heels more suited for clubbing than a luncheon.
“Not your place to judge,” Apple muttered to herself.
“Don’t tell me you have nothing to say about that,” Honey said pointedly.
“Not a word.”
Sage rolled her eyes. “I knew we should have invited Ruby to sit with us.”
Jellie lifted a crystal glass and tapped it lightly with a spoon, garnering everyone’s attention. “Good afternoon, ladies. I’m thrilled to be your new president. I think you’re going to like the changes I’ve put in place to bring the McCoys into the 21st Century.”
“First, I’ve asked interested ladies to join us at our monthly luncheons who are not McCoys, but who are in the market for a husband, or even something as simple as a prom date. We’re going to start offering those services publicly—for a small fee, of course—to the citizens of Jessamine and Holland Springs.”
“What?” Nearly the entire crowd said the word as one.
Apple couldn’t believe what she was hearing. A McCoy never received compensation for her services. They were given voluntarily or not at all.
“Molly Walker is the first lady in Jessamine to take us up on our offer.”
There were a few scattered claps, but the majority remained silent.
Molly turned pale, shifting from side to side. Apple’s heart went out to her. Molly had no idea that the animosity filling the room had nothing to do with her.
“Jellie, sugar, maybe you should ask Molly to come sit with me before sharing such progressive changes. The poor dear probably thinks our amazement is directed at her.”
Molly gave Apple a surprised but grateful smile.
Love So Right (The Lawson Brothers #7) Page 9