Fair Lakes Series Box Set

by Kaylee Ryan, Lacey Black

  The girls insist on the baby store first, so that’s what we do. Aisle after aisle, we scan so many items it’s hard for me to believe one tiny human needs so much. Then again, some of it I know is overkill. Like the jazzed-up swing I scanned. That thing has like fifteen functions, and the reviews online said it was the best. Yes, I checked. I’m that dad who stands in the middle of the aisle checking safety and parent-approval reviews online before scanning. It’s my job to keep Peanut safe, and I’m taking it seriously.

  Chapter 14

  Winnie

  “What time does the boat set sail?” I ask my sister as I slide out of my car and head toward the front entrance of All Fit.

  “Ten in the morning. Dad says it’s gassed up and ready to go,” Gabby confirms.

  Tomorrow is supposed to be an amazingly beautiful August Saturday, and my sister has been bugging me to take our parents’ pontoon boat out on the lake. Our town was built around Fair Lake, and during the summer months, everyone congregates to their boats and rafts for weekend fun. Harrison and I used to take the boat out often, after he’d get off work on Saturday afternoon, but when his dreams of expansion started to take off, our weekend getaways were put on hold, much like our relationship in general.

  “I’m just getting to the gym. I’ll talk to Harrison and see what he thinks,” I say as I pull open the glass door. The deep pulse of rock music sweeps through my veins as I use my keycard to open the second interior door.

  “I’ll text you a confirmation in just a bit,” I tell my sister, hoping that my husband—er, ex-husband—has a light enough day tomorrow that he can take a few hours off to enjoy the sun and the lake. We’ve only been out on the boat one other time this summer, and if we don’t seize the moment, summer will pass us by.

  “Don’t let him say no, Gwen. Use your womanly charms. And your vag. Use that if you have to,” Gabby encourages with a giggle.

  I roll my eyes at my phone, even though she can’t see me. “I’ll text you in a bit,” I repeat, waving at the front desk employee and heading back to the hallway where the offices are located.

  “You better text me a yes,” my sister grumbles.

  “Bye, Gabby,” I say as I enter the office area and hang up my phone.

  Gina is sitting behind an old worn desk and gives me a friendly smile when she sees me. “Hey, Gwen!” she greets, standing up and coming around the desk. She’s wearing a tight pencil skirt that hugs her curves like a second skin and a ruffly top that dips dangerously low, revealing plenty of cleavage. It’s one of the things I’ve noticed about Gina, her provocative attire that borders on inappropriate, but Harrison has never said anything.

  What guy would?

  “Hi, Gina,” I greet, pasting a bright smile on my own face and stepping into her arms. Gina’s a hugger and has been since day one. The first time I stopped by with lunch, she greeted me with a warm smile and open arms. She seems sweet, which is why I’m not sure why Harrison seems hard on her. “Is he busy?”

  “Just wrapping up a conference call with the event planning for next week’s grand opening. Chase had a few things he wanted to discuss with the organizers, a few suggestions to make it run smoother,” Gina says with a shrug. “You look fabulous, by the way,” she coos, just before putting her hand on my belly. Not that I have an issue with people touching my stomach, but I wasn’t prepared for the amount of people that would do it without asking first.

  “Thanks.” I smile, placing my hands on the bump. At twenty weeks, there’s no missing the small bump protruding from my abdomen. It’s like overnight I went from a small swell to a small ball that moves and kicks. “We find out next week what we’re having,” I add, barely able to contain my excitement. Harrison and I have had the conversation many times. Neither of us care what we’re having; we just pray for him or her to be healthy and have all their little fingers and toes.

  “So exciting! Are you leaning one way or the other?” she asks, leaning back and perching on the corner of her desk.

  “I’ve been on both sides of the fence, but Harrison says girl.”

  “Aww,” she coos. “He’s going to be such a great daddy!” Her excitement seems genuine. I know Harrison has had a little trouble with her, jobwise, but she always seems pretty friendly and happy when I’m around.

  “So, while I wait for his call to end, can I ask about his schedule tomorrow?” I take an empty seat across from her desk.

  “Sure, let me pull it up, but I’m pretty sure tomorrow is light,” she says, heading back around her desk and typing on her computer. “He has two training appointments early, one at seven and one at eight. I think he was hoping to get some last-minute stuff done before next week’s grand opening in Lakeview.”

  “But nothing definite on the schedule,” I say aloud, though mostly to myself. Harrison has been bringing work home with him when it doesn’t require him to remain in the office, especially on Saturdays.

  “Nothing definite. Why? Do you have plans?” she asks, her eyes sparkling.

  “Well, I’m hoping to enjoy the day on the boat,” I tell her, relaxing in the seat as Peanut kicks my bladder.

  “Oh, how fun! I haven’t been on a boat all summer.” She pouts a little face that probably makes most men fall at her feet. Gina is a beautiful girl, that’s for sure. Especially when she’s revealing all her God-given assets in a tight top and skirt.

  Before I can stop myself, I’m saying, “Well, if you don’t have any plans tomorrow, you’re welcome to come with us.”

  I feel bad not asking Harrison first, but she seems so eager to go and we have more than enough room on my parents’ boat. It seats fourteen comfortably, and since it’s just us and Gabby, we have the space. Plus, she’s a friend of Gabby’s (or was, at least), so I’m sure they’d enjoy catching up.

  “I’d love to! What time?”

  When I finish giving her the details of tomorrow’s excursion, the door to Harrison’s office opens. I glance that way as Chase strolls out. The moment he sees me, a large wolfish grin plays on his face. “Well, if it isn’t my best friend’s girl and the love child we made behind his back,” Chase croons, knowing full well the reaction his words will evoke.

  “I will kill you slowly and feed you to the damn fish,” Harrison growls. His words precede him as he steps through the doorway, just as Chase pulls me up and into a big hug.

  “You don’t scare me, Drake. Pregnancy has made you soft,” Chase teases, giving me a wink.

  “You’re playing with fire, buddy. Be careful before you get burned,” I remind him with a grin.

  He laughs, bending down and placing his hands on my hips. It’s not sexual in any way, but I can see the fire in Harrison’s eyes as he watches his best friend put his hands on me. “Hey, little one. It’s Uncle Chase. You remember who the cool one is, you hear me? Uncle Chase will buy you whatever you want. Aunt Gabby is boring. You remember that,” our friend says to my stomach, making me laugh. His words bring a smile to Harrison’s face, but it isn’t until he lets go of my hips that my ex-husband finally seems to relax.

  “This is a nice surprise,” Harrison states, coming over and pulling me into his arms, as if staking a claim.

  “I was on my way to get some groceries when Gabby called.”

  “Gabby? What did your sister want? Was she asking about me?” Chase teases, his eyes full of mischief and delight.

  “Nope, she didn’t ask about you once,” I tell our friend. “But she did ask us to join her on the boat tomorrow,” I add to the man who still has his arms around me.

  “Tomorrow?” he asks, almost absently, as if mentally running through his day.

  “I’ve already checked your schedule, and you have two sessions in the morning, but nothing else the rest of the day,” Gina confirms.

  “But with the Lakeview location grand opening Friday, I’m sure there are a lot of last-minute details to tie up,” Harrison states.

  “Most of them are confirmations that I can do Monday,” Gina adds.r />
  “Gabby’s gonna be on the boat? I’m in,” Chase boasts, clapping his hands together and giving me another wolfish grin. I can tell he’s already planning five ways to torture her by noon. He quickly turns to Harrison. “We’re on schedule, man. Everything is ready for next Friday. As Gina said, she’ll make the confirmation calls Monday and we’ll be all set. We’ll be there Monday through Wednesday anyway to make sure the staff are trained. Why not take a day and just relax and enjoy the sun?”

  Harrison seems to think it over. Part of me expects him to back out. As he gets close to the opening, I know his mind works overtime to make sure everything is right and ready to go. This opening is no different than the ones before. Knowing he could really use a few hours to decompress, I decide to take matters into my own hands. I step into his side, pressing my swollen belly into him, and wrap my arms around his body. “I think he’s right. We need a little fun in the sun,” I tell him. He turns his gaze my way, and that’s when I go for the kill. “And besides, I really want to wear the new bikini I just bought,” I whisper, so that no one else can hear me.

  His eyes darken with lust. There’s no missing it. Harrison turns me so we’re facing each other and bends down until our lips are a hairbreadth apart. “Okay, let’s go. I think a day on the lake is just what the doctor ordered.”

  “Yay! I can’t wait!” Gina cheers, clapping her hands and bouncing on her high heels.

  Harrison gives me a look. “I, uh, invited Gina to go with us,” I whisper.

  Besides the tightness of his jaw and the tic of his lip, he doesn’t let on to how he feels about his personal assistant tagging along.

  “The whole day to bug the hell out of Gabby?” Chase bellows with a grin. “I’m definitely in.”

  “Seriously? You brought Chase with you?” Gabby growls as I join her on the boat, her eyes watching as Chase and Harrison unload the cooler and bags of food from the back of his SUV.

  “He was standing there when I asked Harrison. I couldn’t not invite him,” I argue. Though, I didn’t really invite him to begin with. He just sort of invited himself.

  Gabby throws her hands in the air. “That’s great. He’s going to give Roman a hard time,” she grumbles, setting my beach bag on the floor.

  “Who’s Roman?” I ask, placing my large hat on my head and digging for the sunscreen.

  “He’s a guy I started seeing. He’s an investment banker,” Gabby says absently, her eyes glued to Chase as he carries the heavy cooler down the dock.

  “And you invited him to go boating?” I ask, not missing a moment of how her eyes practically devour Chase’s body as he reaches the boat.

  “Who’d you invite to go boating?” Chase asks, setting the cooler of drinks down on the deck.

  “Roman, the guy I’m seeing. Muscular. Smart. Big dick,” Gabby states, crossing her arms over her chest.

  Chase advances quickly, getting right in my sister’s personal space. My heart hammers in my chest as they stare each other down. He’s imposing with his big frame, but my sister doesn’t cower. In fact, she seems to spark to life, the challenge evident in her eyes. “Big dick, huh? That ain’t nothing if he doesn’t know how to use it, sweetheart. You ever want to know what that feels like, you let me know.”

  And then he turns and stalks off, that ever-present cocky swagger trailing behind him as he goes. “He wishes,” Gabby mumbles, quiet enough that I almost don’t hear her.

  Something tells me that Chase isn’t the only one who wishes.

  Voices draw my attention to the docks, where I see Gina and Harrison heading our way. She’s wearing a swimsuit cover-up, but I can already tell the bikini underneath is skimpy. And red. She has the body for it, though. Can’t fault the woman for flaunting what she was given. I’m sure Chase will eat it up, considering that man bed-hops more than the Energizer Bunny does in those battery commercials.

  “We all set?” Harrison asks, his body tense as he gets ready to untie the lines.

  “No, we’re waiting on Roman!” Gabby hollers from behind the wheel.

  “Roman?” Harrison asks.

  “Muscular. Smart. Big dick,” Chase mimics, unable to keep his annoyance from his words.

  Just then, a shorter guy with jet-black hair and a manscaped goatee approaches the dock. He’s wearing expensive boat shoes and pressed Dockers shorts with his short-sleeved button-down shirt. Chase snorts beside me as the man approaches the pontoon.

  “Hey, Roman!” Gabby hollers, heading over to where we stand.

  The moment he steps on the boat, he pulls my sister into his arms and kisses her lips. Honestly, it surprises me, considering he hasn’t even been officially introduced to any of us yet, and if the growl that slowly erupts from Chase’s throat is any indication, I’d say he’s not so happy about it either.

  “Good morning, sweet Gabby,” Roman croons, taking her hand in his and bringing it to his mouth, as if he didn’t just have his tongue down her throat seconds before.

  My sister just smiles, her big doe eyes eating up all the attention he’s throwing her way. “Everyone, this is Roman. Roman, my sister, Gwen, and her ex-husband, Harrison,” Gabby introduces.

  Harrison steps forward, offering his hand to the shorter man. “Soon-to-not-be ex any longer,” he greets, pulling me into his side.

  Roman just glances toward my sister, as if he’s missing a big piece of the story. “Long story. I’ll tell you later,” Gabby confirms. “This is my friend Gina,” she adds, pointing to Harrison’s assistant.

  “Nice to meet you,” Gina greets, her large boobs pressing against Harrison’s arm as she slides forward to shake Roman’s hand. I can feel Harrison tense beside me and gently move us away from the boobs. In her defense, Gina’s boobs have their own zip code. She can’t exactly help that they get in the way all the time, right?

  “Come on, Roman. We’ll get situated in the back,” Gabby says, tugging Roman’s arm.

  Before either of them move, a throat clears just over my shoulder. “Don’t forget me, Gabby Goose. I’m sure you want to introduce Roman to me, right?” Chase asks, his voice sugary sweet as he steps into the group and offers his hand to the short man at my sister’s side.

  “Chase Callahan. Friend,” he states, reaching his hand out for the other man. There’s tension in spades right now, and I’m not sure why. It’s like a pissing match is about to ensue. Yes, Chase and Gabby like to tease each other, but they’ve never crossed any lines from frenemies to… more.

  Right?

  Suddenly, I’m not so sure.

  Roman takes Chase’s hand and gives it a squeeze in return. “Strong grip, Mr. Callahan. I like that,” Roman says to Chase with a grin that holds a hint of smugness. “Roman Tatro. Pleasure to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Chase replies before throwing his trademark cocky grin back in place. “We ready to hit the water?” he asks, clapping his hands together and defusing the weird tension that settled over everyone.

  Harrison steps behind the wheel as Chase releases the ropes from the dock. Within a few minutes, we’re settled in seats and heading out of the small marina on the lake. I can already see tons of boats littering the large lake, ensuring the waters will be busy today. We’ll spend our day putting around, enjoying the sun, and swimming by a few of the sandbars around the waterway. Some of the bigger, faster boats will spend the day tubing, but that’s never really been my thing.

  When we reach our first stop, everyone gets ready for a dip in the warm lake. Gina lost her cover-up pretty much the moment we left the dock and Chase seems to be enjoying the view. She’s eating up the attention he’s throwing her way, flirting and touching each other from the opposite side of the boat. Gabby and Roman remain in the back, and the few times I glanced her way, she seemed to be throwing eye-daggers at her friend and not paying Roman an ounce of attention, even though his hands are all over her.

  Interesting…

  As Harrison drops anchor, I quickly grab the sunscreen that I didn’t get to
put on earlier. I lather up my legs and feet, knowing my pale skin will burn if I don’t, and add a little to my arms and face. I remove my blue cover-up, exposing the black and gold swimsuit underneath. A hiss pulls my attention to my right.

  “Jesus, Winnie, how am I not supposed to have a fucking hard-on all day with you in that?” Harrison growls, taking the empty seat beside me. His hands instantly fall to my stomach as his lips softly caress mine. “Let me help with the sunblock.”

  I turn to give him my back as he squirts a large blob into his hands and starts to rub it on my skin. My body starts to heat as desire races through my veins. There’s something almost magical about having his hands on my body. Maybe it’s the fact that we’ve done nothing but cuddle over the last two weeks or perhaps the extra hormones in my body, but this dangerous and definite need I feel consumes me. Suddenly, it’s all I can think about. All I want.

  And the cuddling? Well, we’ve both been so exhausted and by the time we snuggle on the couch, I’m falling asleep in his arms.

  “Are you being naughty, Winnie?” he whispers in my ear, the warmth of his breath caressing my lobe. If he were to kiss me behind the ear right now, I’m sure to burst into flames.

  His large hands continue to work their way down my back and eventually around my waist. He squats in front of me and grabs the bottle once more. With his eyes locked solely on mine, he applies sunscreen to my abdomen. His fingers tease the waistband of my bottoms and then dip under the cups of the tops. My entire body is an electric wire, alive and fully charged, and the worst part is, he knows it. His eyes burn with desire, much like mine, as he watches the way I respond to his touch.

  Leaning forward, he whispers, “I’m going to let you rub down your chest, angel. If I touch you there, I’m going to end up taking you right here in the middle of the boat deck and I’m sure that’s not the memory you want to give our family and friends.” Harrison sweeps a gentle kiss across my lips, and then quickly backs away. Of course, there’s no mistaking the way he hides what’s happening in his pants from the rest of the boat.