“She sounds like a great lady,” I said, steering the conversation about her parents.
“She’s amazing. She’s going to love you.” She took her shades off her eyes, letting them rest atop her head, her eyes glittering with mischief.
“Why is that?” She shifted in the lounger, her knees now between mine, her lips just a whisper away.
“You have a great ass,” she said unexpectedly, and I shook my head, coughing away a laugh.
“Is that a blush I see, Mr. Santino?” she teased.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I denied. “You’re pretty sassy on vacation, Cap.”
“You like my sass.” She winked and stood up, her almost naked body in front of me making my mouth water and wish we were completely alone. “Ready to cool off?” she asked and walked toward the pool without waiting for my response. The girl was playing with fire. I had a feeling this pull to her was far from cooling down.
Macie
“Maybe I overestimated my Latin roots a little too much,” I mumbled. The deepness of his soft chuckle made me shiver. His strong body was right behind me, its heat and the spicy notes of his after shave and body wash enveloping me.
“Don’t worry.” His voice felt like velvet. “This will help.” He nuzzled my neck, and my pussy clenched with need.
“Thank you.” I looked over my shoulder and into his bright blue eyes. “You have the most beautiful eyes.” The compliment slipped from my lips.
“Buttering me up?” I shrugged and turned, feeling slightly shy. I’d opened up, telling him things about myself, more than I’d shared with any other guy. But he didn’t do the same. Not really. Past his buddies in the Marines and the places he’d been during his enlisted time, Sam was pretty quiet about his life.
“Where in Arizona did you grow up?”
“Scottsdale area,” he muttered, and I moaned. Not because he was doing anything dirty but because he was smothering cool Aloe Vera gel over my shoulder.
“Did you like it?”
“Mace.” He gently sighed, his hands all over my back, cooling off my sunburned skin.
“I don’t talk about my mom. To anyone. But you, I’ve told you all sorts of things. About both my parents. Stuff I haven’t even told Nina. But you haven’t shared much and—"
“I’m an orphan,” he cut me off. Orphan. I closed my eyes and dipped my chin to my chest. “Or at least that’s what I think.”
“What do you mean?” I opened my eyes and looked at the room in front of us.
“I was abandoned at a church off Santino Court and Samson avenue after I was born,” he quickly said. I processed his words.
His name.
Sam Santino. The corner of where he had been abandoned an eternal reminder for him to carry.
“Oh Sam—" My voice cracked like a big cry baby’s, and he softly cupped my shoulder.
“Don’t, baby, it’s cool,” he said softly, “This is why I don’t talk about where I grew up. Not much to tell. I jumped from foster home to foster home, some good, some not that great. None of them terrible. No one wanted to adopt the kid they knew nothing about. Looking back, I know it made me flighty and an indifferent angry little asshole teen who thought he knew it all. I enlisted in the Marines the second I turned eighteen so I would have a roof over my head.”
“Sam.” I turned in his arms. His jaw clenched, muscles bunched up tight. He was going to try to push me away, but I cupped his face with my hands, standing on the tips of my toes, and his body substantially relaxed as he pulled me into him. “I’m sorry.”
“Life happens.”
“It sure does.” I moved my lips over his, and he kissed me back gently. “Thank you for sharing. I’m sorry I pushed.”
“You didn’t,” he bit, a storm brewing in his gaze. “You make me wanna share too. I’m not an easy man. But being with you… you make me want shit I never even let myself dream about.”
“Oh Sam,” I sighed, my fingers stroking his soft hair. This time I was the one who didn’t have words, so I kissed him.
What was supposed to be soft and sweet ignited, the flames of passion and desire burning bright. A flurry of hands fighting to rip the small amount of clothes we were wearing since we were still in our bathing suits from the pool. Nails scraped, hands roamed as the world around us stopped existing. In that moment, we lost our minds and hearts, forgetting about everything as we took our fill of one another.
After he took me over the highest peaks of pleasure, twice, he pulled out and came all over my stomach. His white release felt like a mark. Sam marking me only served to turn me on further, but I was exhausted. Quietly, he reached over for a tee on the floor and cleaned me up. He left one small drop and rubbed it into my skin. The gesture made the air between us thicker, warmer. I knew reading into it would be bad in the long run, but I couldn’t help it. I felt marked. Seared and branded.
Breathless and sated, I lay with his hard, strong chest under my ear. His heart beating was my favorite new song. A realization came at me so quickly, my breath hitched in my chest. It was crazy and fast, but I’d messed up.
Huge.
I had fallen completely and utterly in love with Sam Santino. Glancing up at him, I studied his handsome face relaxed with sleep, his hand cupping my ass, and I snuggled deeper into him, letting sleep lull me away slowly. My eyes grew heavy, and I sighed and kissed his chest. I fell asleep feeling safer and more cherished than I ever had. I was going to let the feelings ride. Love had always been a scary concept for me, but I was going to let myself live in the moment with him. Because minute after minute with him was worth Sam’s weight in gold.
I just prayed I wouldn’t regret it.
Chapter Seven
Sam
“CAN’T WE JUST stay here?” She asked the words I’d been thinking since I’d woken up with her in my arms.
The sun was just starting to rise outside the floor-to-ceiling window of our hotel room. It was our last day in Vegas. We would be hitting the road the next morning, only about four hours away from our final destination and real life.
“What do you want to do?”
“Stay here with you,” she immediately answered, and I peeked down to see her. God, she was fucking beautiful.
“Done. Order room service.” Her eyes went wide and she shook her head, the gratitude clear in her eyes.
“That’s sweet, but we can’t. We shouldn’t.” She sighed.
“Why not?”
“It’s expensive,” she huffed, and I kissed her. “Plus, Leti is in town.”
“Nina’s sister,” I clarified, and she nodded, tracing the bridge of my nose.
“They want to go shopping.”
“She brought a friend, right?” I asked, trying to find a way to suggest she let them go on their own so she could stay with me.
“Yeah.” She stilled but then relaxed, and I wondered what that was about.
“Anyhow, I should probably book a massage…” She kept talking, but an idea sparked. If we couldn’t have the whole day to ourselves hidden away in our little bubble, I would at least take two hours to show her how much I loved her.
Loved her? No. I couldn’t. I didn’t know what that was.
Cared for her, of course.
Appreciated her, sure, but loved?
Fuck.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, quickly picking up on my silence, and I shook my head trying to ignore the squeeze of something in the pit of my stomach.
“Nothing.” I tried to smile at her. “How about I rub you down?” I offered, never taking my eyes from her.
“Hmm, I don’t know.” She was so fucking cute. “Your sexy hands all over me might end up with us locked in and ordering room service.”
“I’m serious. I’ll behave.”
“What if I don’t want you to?”
“Captain,” I warned as I rolled out of bed, headed to my bag, and searched for what would help me talk her into my plan. “Here it is,” I said, sho
wing her the bottle behind me.
“Lotion?” she asked as I grabbed and put on a pair of basketball shorts. “Wait, why are you getting dressed?” she pouted as she sat up, her breasts on display. I licked my lips.
“You’re a fucking temptation.” She blushed. “Body oil,” I clarified.
“Body oil.” The amusement was clear in her voice, and I winked at her. “Marines use body oil?” she asked, lifting the sheet to cover herself up, and I missed the sight instantly.
“I do.”
“Very metro of you.”
“Ha-ha. Lie on your stomach,” I ordered. Her hand moved up, her fingers tapping her pretty lips.
“Hmm, that’s an offer I don’t think I can refuse.”
“Then get on it, Cap.” I pointed at the bed and got the most incredible view: her smile.
She tossed a pillow toward the end of the bed, and the sheet dropped. Her breasts, perky and supple, all too quickly disappeared as she moved to the center of the bed and did as I ordered. The view of her willowy back and plump ass all on display for me. Mine, a voice in my head growled, and I swallowed hard.
“You changing your mind?” she sassed over her shoulder, and I shook my head and got to work. The entire time I worked out every knot and kink in her back, I thought about what I needed to do so I could keep her. So I could claim her as mine. Was that even possible?
Before I knew it, the minutes melted into more than an hour. My hands tired, but her satisfied, boneless body in bed made the ache worthwhile.
“That okay?” I asked, and she purred, a soft smile on her face as I sat on the edge of the bed next to her, my hand on the back of her thigh.
“You have magic hands,” she sighed. “Thank you.”
“Thank you for letting me.” I squeezed her thigh, tempted like hell to touch and rub even further.
“Mmm… maybe next time you can work in some naughty hand time?” Fuck, it was like she could read my mind.
“Why wait?” I teased, my hand moving up slightly, and she laughed. She rolled over and sat up next to me, her head resting on my shoulder. I liked how she fit with me. Like she was made to be right where she was.
“I wish we had the time.” Her smile faltered, and it made it hard for me to swallow.
Time. It was quickly running out and too soon she’d be gone. Not forever, she’d be around, but if I didn’t do something quick, I would lose her.
“Right.”
“We go home tomorrow,” she said, faking the chipper tone in her voice.
“Home,” I repeated, my eyes on her lips. The concept was a fucking foreign word to me. A week ago, I would have told you there was no such thing, willing to go where the wind blew me. But now… Now it was different. How the hell she had changed the game in less than an entire week was beyond me. Home, the one thing I never let myself hope for, was quickly becoming something easier to imagine.
“You’re going to room with Brandon?” she asked. It was weird we were only now talking about this for the first time.
“Till the wedding.” I shrugged.
“And then? I mean after the wedding?” she fished, and I had no fucking clue what to tell her. My lifestyle to this point no longer made sense, and it was all her damn fault for making me want more.
“Macie.” I didn’t know what to tell her. I wanted to tell her I had a plan. A solid one. One she could count on, so she could rely on me as a partner.
Partner?
Rely on me?
I’d never had people who needed those things from me. Only my buds in the Marines, but that was different. Suddenly, the air felt too hot and the walls felt like they were closing in on me.
“Baby,” I started to say, but she quickly cut me off, a fake smile on her face that killed the panic and made me pause.
“It’s cool.” She shrugged, then she stood and grabbed my shirt from the night before and tossed it over her head. I loved how she looked wearing my clothes. But that was not for here or now. Not when she was avoiding my eyes. It wasn’t cool, not even close.
Fuck. Why couldn’t I have my shit together? Why couldn’t I have something more than a good time to offer her?
“I should get ready.” She picked up her phone and groaned, running her fingers through her wild strawberry hair. “They texted. They wanna leave in… crap, I have, like, ten minutes to get ready.” She started to rush around the room, and I felt like I was losing her. Get a grip, Santino.
“Macie.” I stood, tossing on my shorts, but I didn’t move any further.
“I’ll probably see you tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Lunch and shopping with Nina are one thing. But add in Leti and her friend, and it’s a whole other ball game,” she enlightened me.
“But we leave tomorrow,” I pointed out, wincing at the poutiness in my tone.
“I know, but…"
“But?” My heart fucking froze in my chest.
“Might be better this way.” The softness and vulnerability in her tone made it feel like an anchor landed in my stomach.
“Cap—“ My cell phone rang, killing my words in their wake.
“You should get that. I really need to get ready.” She grabbed clothes from her bag, and something inside me broke.
“Wait.” I rushed over and pulled her into me.
“Don’t do this,” she quickly said, her eyes cast down, hand on my chest.
“Baby, please—”
“I get it, okay? You…” She sighed and looked up at me, the light in her eyes slightly dimmed. “You don’t want anything more than now. It’s fine. You didn’t make any promises and—"
“I told you I wanted more, right?”
“And you got it,” she pointed out, her brows bunched together. “You got Vegas, and Vegas is almost done.”
“I don’t have a pot to piss in, Mace.” I groaned hating how pathetic I sounded.
“And you think I care about that?” she argued.
“Babe, I got eyes,” I clipped.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re pure class, Straight up, no bullshit—”
“Sam—”
“And I can’t give you that. We get back, I have a place to live for three months. I gotta find a job and shit. Three months. I have savings and shit, but—“
“Did I ask you to buy me a designer purse in my sleep or something?” she cut me off and crossed her arms over her chest, no longer touching me. Attitude dripping off her.
“Babe.”
“I didn’t. I don’t need stuff, Sam.” She shook her head, and her cheek muscles twitched. “My dad… Sam, he’s loaded, but I don’t take a fucking thing from him. Not one dime.”
“I’m just saying I—"
“Oh, I get what you’re saying.” She shook me off, taking another step away from me. “I just don’t think you get what I’m saying back.”
“Macie…” I sighed.
“I don’t care about those kinds of things. I like you,” she blurted out, obviously ticked off. “I like being with you, and I’m not talking about sex, though that’s nice too.”
“Just nice?” Fuck, I was lame.
“Don’t do that,” she said seriously. “Not when I’m being real with you.”
“But Macie…” My phone started ringing again, and then hers joined in, and I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated as hell.
“I gotta get that and get ready.” She added another two steps as she moved closer to the bathroom. “Worst case, we still have tonight. Right?” I didn’t say a thing as she disappeared into the bathroom. Not one damn word. I couldn’t.
It was do or die time. I had to shit or get off the pot.
I wasn’t the kind of man to live with regrets. I’d made it a point to live life to its fullest.
With the fucking childhood I’d had, no people of my own and the indifference of my existence to those who had to put up with me, I’d seen enough. I didn’t want to be that person who lived with regre
ts and what ifs. One of my foster moms had taught me that. She had quietly pined away for a man she could never have, the story between them probably more complicated than my nine-year-old self could possibly understand, but it had always made me sad for her.
The question now was, what the hell was I going to do?
Macie
“Men are pigs,” Leti toasted, and I giggled.
“Aye, aye!” Leti’s pretty friend agreed, and my buzz made me sigh.
“Not all men, but Jeffrey is a total pig.” Nina raised her glass, and I laughed, putting my hands up.
“Okay, I’m sorry, let me get this right.” I was more than a little tipsy from our martini lunch. It could have been because I’d had more martinis than actual lunch. “You’re telling me that you”—I pointed to Leti—“got home early to your apartment and found her”—I pointed to the brunette with us—“screwing the guy you were seeing?”
“Yup,” Let said with a pop.
“Pretty much,” the brunette nodded. It stumped me as I looked at both of them sitting together with us.
“And now you two, no offense, babe.” I looked at the brunette.
“None taken.” She grinned.
“And you two are buddies now?” I asked. Leti Montenegro was a badass and sweetheart all in one, but I didn’t know anyone who would end up being friends after all that.
“Pretty much,” the brunette said.
“Yup.” Only Leti could do something like that.
“So, are you going to tell us what has you drinking like a three-humped camel?” Leti bluntly asked, and I snorted, coughing up some of my cherry martini.
“Leti, it’s because men are…” I leaned forward, and the three women leaned in too. I looked over my shoulder and whispered, “Complicated.”
“Well, yeah.” “Duh.” “Mmmhmm.” One by one, all three agreed with me. Of course, they would! Girl power!
“She’s so drunk,” Nina giggled, and I frowned.
“I’m not dronk.” I caught the slur and covered my lips with my fingers as they giggled. “You know what I am?” I said and winced. Oops. That had been a little too loud. Oh well! It was Vegas, not Disneyland!
Minute by Minute (Timeless Series Book 2) Page 5