Summer Fling

by Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward, LJ Shen, RS Grey, Willow Winters, Sarina Bowen, Helena Hunting

  I do. When he brushes my bikini bottoms aside and thrusts into me, I release a throaty moan. I’m immediately overpowered by him, by his size, by his thrusts, by his domineering presence at the edge of the table. He has the advantage and he uses it, gripping my thighs and parting them as he pumps into me. He’s thick and unrelenting. My mouth drops open, but no sound seeps out.

  What would I say?

  More?

  I can’t take more.

  Stop?

  Never.

  “Lindsey,” he moans, reaching out to cup one of my breasts, using it to stabilize himself as he presses into me.

  I cover his hand with mine and squeeze. I know I’m going to carry marks from this. Later, I’ll have evidence of our lovemaking written all over me.

  His other hand slips between my legs again, swirling and tempting me toward a second orgasm. I’m staving it off, trying hard to stay with him, but then I have no choice. His fingers work their magic and I’m coming again, squeezing around him, listening as he breaks apart with me, pumping everything he has inside me.

  It feels like the most wonderfully passionate moment I’ve ever shared with another person, like my nerves are all exposed for him on that table. He could touch any part of me he wanted right now. I’m not a person; I’m a puddle.

  He leans over and kisses my neck, my cheek, my hair.

  He whispers French words into my ear while he gathers me up in his arms and carries me to his bathroom. I don’t understand a word he says, but maybe I’m not meant to. He’s saying too much, too fast.

  We shower together, taking our time as we soap off the massage oil. I touch him in ways I’ve always imagined I would. He’s still hard, but he winces when I wrap my hand around his length. I know he’s overly sensitive, but then so was I. He didn’t go easy on me, so I don’t go easy on him. I drop down to my knees on the cold tile floor as he blocks the stream from pouring down onto me. I wrap my mouth around him and suck until he’s first begging me to stop, and then he’s begging me not to stop.

  We’re lost to each other again in that bathroom, and then in his bed.

  We don’t make it out of his bedroom the rest of the night.

  On the door of the villa hangs a sign: Do not disturb.

  And no one does.

  I WAKE THE next morning with an ache between my legs.

  That’s never happened to me before. I’ve never had sex so many times I’m physically exhausted from it.

  I smile and roll over, peeling my eyes open.

  Noah sits in a chair by the terrace window, sipping coffee.

  He has his laptop open, and he’s scrolling down, reading something.

  I think I’m being sneaky, watching him like this, but apparently not.

  “Good morning,” he says, glancing playfully at me.

  I smile and burrow deeper beneath the covers. “Morning.”

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Starved.”

  “If you can manage to get out of bed, we can walk down to the restaurant. I forgot to leave our breakfast order on the door last night, and I’m too hungry to wait for room service to arrive.”

  Reluctantly, I sit up, realizing a moment too late that I’m completely naked. I yank the sheet up to cover myself, but not before Noah gets an eyeful.

  He cocks a brow and shakes his head, not saying a word.

  I laugh and do the classic—and frankly, ingenious—move of wrapping the sheet around myself like a toga so I can hobble out of his bedroom and dash across the villa to my own room. I shower and dress quickly, tossing my hair into a braid underneath a white sun hat.

  Noah waits for me out in the living room, looking altogether too handsome with his freshly showered hair and slightly unbuttoned shirt.

  I’m uneasy as I approach him, wondering if the magic from last night has worn off now that we’ve had an hour apart. He senses my reluctance, sighs, and reaches out for me, gathering me against him so he can drop a kiss to my lips.

  “Together, Lindsey. We’re together.”

  “Are we?”

  “Here and back home,” he assures me, lacing his fingers through mine as we leave the villa and head toward the restaurant.

  “What will your sister say?”

  “I don’t know. Let’s call her at breakfast.”

  My jaw drops. “Are you serious!? She’ll be able to tell something is up immediately. I don’t think I’ve stopped blushing for twenty-four hours.”

  He laughs. “That’s sort of the point. I want them to know about us.”

  I pick up the pace, my brain starting to work itself into a tizzy. “Okay, right. Yes. We’ll tell her and Connor today—get ahead of the story. We don’t want them to think we’re sneaking around behind their backs.”

  I don’t hear what he says because I’m too busy planning what I’ll say to Natalie on the phone.

  Once we take our seats at our table and order breakfast—and by order, I mean point to something random on the menu without even looking—I pull out my phone and FaceTime Natalie.

  It rings a few times before it finally connects. Connor and Natalie are squashed together on their end of the call, smiling. They’re perfectly adorable and overly eager to hear from us.

  It only occurs to me after we’ve all said hello that they shouldn’t be at home right now. It’s a work day.

  “What are you guys both doing at home?”

  “What? Oh!” Natalie looks at Connor and they immediately speak over one another.

  “Connor’s work thing got canceled.”

  “I’m doing my work thing online!”

  Noah laughs and shakes his head in disbelief.

  “What’s really going on?” I ask skeptically.

  Natalie blanches. “All right…so, Connor didn’t really have a work thing, but in our defense, Noelle really was sick.”

  “With ear infections?”

  “Well…she had a runny nose. We weren’t sure if it would develop into ear infections!”

  “You guys are SUCH LIARS!” I say, unable to stem my laughter. “If Connor didn’t have to work and Noelle wasn’t sick, why’d you both bail on our trip!?”

  Natalie squirms and looks to Connor for backup, but he holds up his hands as if not wanting anything to do with this situation.

  “You tell her,” he says. “It was your idea in the first place!”

  Natalie groans. “Okay, hear me out. You’re finally single, and so is Noah. I’ve seen the way you two have danced around each other for years—”

  “We have not!” I protest, though I know we absolutely have.

  “Anyway, I just thought if there was ever a time for you two to really get to know each other better, it’d be on this trip.” She beams. “So, is it working?”

  I look up at Noah, almost annoyed by the truth.

  We can’t tell them we’re dating now. They’ll never stop gloating. Natalie will call herself a matchmaker for the rest of her life! They’ll think this was all because of them!

  “We…” I start, unsure of where I’m trying to go with the sentence.

  Noah clears his throat, trying not to laugh.

  “Why does Noah look so damn pleased with himself?” Connor asks suspiciously.

  “Oh, nothing. He’s just…sunburned.” I try and fail to kick Noah under the table before continuing, “Yes, sure, we are enjoying ourselves.”

  “Have you been swimming a lot?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Going out to the ruins?”

  I blush thinking about the way we made out like teenagers until we got in trouble. “Yes. They were very…old.”

  Natalie’s eyes narrow. “Something’s up.”

  I shake my head vehemently.

  “You’re blushing!”

  I fan my face. “It’s hot down here! We’re like three feet from the equator!”

  “OH MY GOD!” Natalie screams, dropping the phone. “ARE YOU GUYS HOOKING UP?! WAIT—don’t answer that! I don’t want any details! Ew e
w ew.” Then something dawns on her and she shifts gears. She picks up the phone again and says, “Wait…it’s only been like two days since you arrived! I figured it’d take the whole week before one of you finally made a move!”

  Noah takes the phone out of my hand and aims a good-natured smile at his sister.

  “Natalie, the truth is, I’ve had a crush on Lindsey for a few years now.”

  “I KNEW IT!” Natalie shouts.

  “So we’re dating.”

  Connor laughs. “’Bout damn time, man.”

  “We’d appreciate both of your support.”

  Natalie laughs. “Obviously! Lindsey’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted you to date. BUT don’t get it twisted.” Her tone turns menacing. “If you harm a single hair on her body, if you break her heart or string her along, so help me GOD, NOAH MARTIN, I WILL CUT OFF YOUR B—”

  “All right, I think he gets the picture,” Connor interjects. Then he laughs. “I guess I should issue the same warning to Lindsey, right? You’re pretty obsessed with her. I don’t want her breaking your heart either.”

  Noah’s gaze meets mine, and I shake my head like that’s completely impossible.

  I’ve wanted him for too long to ruin it now.

  His free hand reaches out for mine across the table and he brushes his thumb across my knuckles.

  “I think we’ll manage just fine on our own, guys,” he says, smiling at me.

  I hear sniffling through the phone, and when Noah hands it back over to me, Natalie’s on the screen, wiping tears from her eyes.

  “Oh my god, you’re crying.”

  “I’m sorry!” she says weepily. “I’m just really happy!”

  “It’s new. C’mon, don’t make it more serious than it is.”

  “It’s serious,” Noah amends for me.

  I laugh, though inside, the confession fills me with butterflies.

  “So do you forgive us for canceling last minute?” Connor asks.

  Noah and I lock eyes, neither of us missing a beat.

  “All’s forgiven,” I say.

  “We’ll call you guys later,” Noah says before we say goodbye and hang up. I highly doubt we’ll call them again, though. We have no plans for the rest of the day, but I have a feeling we’ll be extremely busy.

  “Are we totally insane for jumping into something so soon?”

  His brows shoot up. “Soon? Lindsey, it’s been years in the making.”

  I laugh, realizing he’s right.

  “True. I feel like I know so much about you…but I’m still learning a lot too,” I say, blushing deeper, obviously referring to the more intimate aspects of our relationship.

  “I’m learning things too,” he says, sounding devious. “I’ve learned you love when I kiss you between your thighs. I’ve learned what you sound like when you’re getting close, what it feels like when you wrap your legs around my hips.”

  Our waiter is approaching with our breakfast and I hiss for him to stop, not quite wanting him to. I love the way he talks to me, love the way he handles me in bed. He’s as confident as I thought he’d be, as intense and wonderful as I’d hoped.

  “Is it insane if I say I feel like I’m already falling for you?” I ask, just before our waiter reaches our table.

  We’re forced to stay quiet as we wait for him to arrange the plates and then ask us if everything looks good.

  “Great,” I tell him with a big smile.

  I look back at Noah to find him studying me intensely.

  As the waiter walks away, he leans in.

  “You aren’t alone,” he admits. “I’m right there with you.”

  “Scary, isn’t it?” I ask with a lopsided grin, trying to ease the tension.

  He nods solemnly.

  “Terrifying.”

  “This isn’t just paradise, right? We aren’t just caught up in the moment?”

  “This isn’t a paradise sort of love, Lindsey. It’s the real thing.” He grabs my hand across the table. “I’ll prove it.”

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  “GOD, I’M SORRY, Bessie,” my brother says. Then he sighs into the phone, which sounds like a hurricane. “I’ll make it up to you after training camp. I promise.”

  “It’s really okay. My birthday isn’t that big a deal.” I trap the phone against my shoulder so I can take a bite of my sandwich. I’m eating lunch at my desk in Manhattan, while he’s out on Long Island with his team.

  “Yeah, it is. I thought that when you moved to New York, we would see each other more.”

  “We do,” I remind him. “We had lunch together last weekend.”

  “Still. I didn’t know about this golf tournament. Hey—what if you could take the day off? You could come out here and—”

  “No way.” I laugh. “Not happening.” I’ve only had my job at Kassman & Associates for a month. I’m still a little stunned to be working for a legendary sports agency. There’s no way I’d ask for a day off. “I can have a birthday without my big brother. I’ve done it before.”

  “I know.” He sighs. “But still. After three years apart, I thought I’d get to take you someplace nice.”

  He’s been playing for the Long Island team while I finished up my degree in Michigan. But now we’re only thirty miles apart. “You will see me. But not next week. Now go work on your slap shot and let me finish my lunch.” Someone chuckles in the doorway, and I look up, startled, to find my boss there. “Gotta jump. Later, big brother.” I hang up on Dave and meet my boss’s gaze. “Sorry.”

  He shrugs. “You’re allowed to talk to your brother, Bess. But I didn’t know you were having a birthday.”

  “Yup,” I say quickly. “I do that every year.”

  He chuckles again. “Twenty-one, huh? How is that possible? When I look at you, I’m already thinking—adults are getting younger and younger these days. But you’re not even twenty-one?”

  “I skipped eighth grade,” I explain. “So I graduated a year earlier than everyone else.” He doesn’t need to know the details, but skipping a year was simply a matter of survival. Dave and I were living with my grandparents, who didn’t really want us around. So I did what I could to shorten my stay, especially once I realized that Dave would go off to college and leave me there.

  “Ah, that explains it, smarty-pants.” He hands me a sticky note. “After you finish your lunch, could you pull the most recent contracts for these four athletes?”

  “No problem.” I place the note on my desk. “I’ll have them on your desk by the time you get back from your one o’clock meeting.”

  “Amazing. Which day is it, anyway?”

  “Today?” I blink. “Friday.”

  “No—I mean your birthday. When is that?”

  “Oh. Next Wednesday.”

  “That’s the night I’m taking the rookies out to Sparks for dinner, right?”

  “Yessir.” I’d added the dinner to his calendar this morning.

  “Then you’ll join us,” he says. “Unless you make other plans.”

  “Oh! You don’t need to buy me a steak for my birthday, Mr. Kassman.” Lord, I don’t want him to think of me as a mooch. “That’s really nice of you, though.”

  “Listen, rookie, I’ve told you to call me Henry. When you say ‘Mr. Kassman,’ I just feel old. And after twenty years at this job, I don’t really need another steak dinner at Sparks. I’d rather go home and read a Patterson thriller until the book hits me in the face when I nod off. But this is the business. I gotta welcome some young punks to the city and show ’em a good time. If you come out to dinner, you’ll be doing me a favor.”

  “Oh,” I say slowly, trying to decide whether or not to believe him.

  “Do
you like creamed spinach?”

  “I really don’t know.” My idea of a fine meal is chicken fried rice from the Chinese place around the corner from my tiny apartment. (It’s really good rice, though.)

  “The creamed spinach at Sparks is amazing. And the steak is to die for. Come out. Enjoy a glass of expensive birthday wine on me. Chat up some rookies. It’ll be great.”

  “Sure. I’d love to. Thank you for inviting me.”

  He beams. “Excellent! This meeting I’m off to might take awhile.”

  “I’ll grab those contracts while you’re gone.”

  “You’re a peach, Bessie. If I don’t see you later, have a great weekend.”

  My weekend is quiet, because I don’t have any friends in Manhattan yet. But it’s August, and the weather is fine, and the city beckons. I wander through Central Park alone, getting my first glimpse of the zoo, and splurging on a hot pretzel.

  Sunday night, I read three files that I brought home for the weekend—one each for the players we’ll be entertaining on Wednesday night.

  Henry Kassman didn’t ask me to do this. But I can’t show up to a dinner party without knowing something about the players in attendance. What if they want to discuss business?

  I’ll be meeting an American, a Czech player, and also a young Russian. They’re all attending the New York training camp, and hoping to make the team. If they do, they’ll be my brother’s rivals. So that’s fun.

  If they don’t, they’ll be sent to the minors in Syracuse for a year or two, to see how they develop.

  The American player seems to have the best chance at success. He won the Hobey Baker award in college, and his stats are incredible. Mark Tankiewicz. I turn the name over in my mind. Twenty bucks says his nickname is Tank.

  He went to college in North Dakota, but he’s originally from Washington State. I don’t recognize the name of the town, so I Google it. Carter, WA has a population of just 1,200 people, and it’s surrounded by ranches.