The Right Guy

by Kate O'Keeffe

  I look down and can’t help a surprised giggle escape my lips.

  “What?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I’m seeing you in a new light right now.”

  He laughs softly along with me, and I feel myself begin to relax. “A new light, huh? I guess it’s a bit weird. We’ve known each other for so long. But, you’ve gotta know what you mean to me.”

  I swallow, fresh nerves jangling in my belly. “Not just your kid sister’s bestie anymore?”

  “Hell, no. Not just my kid sister’s bestie.” His hands, so large, so strong, rove over me, through my damp hair, down my back.

  As we kiss once more, I shiver with delight, my need for him growing stronger, more urgent with every touch.

  I run my hands up his back, feeling each firm muscle, each sinew of his strong, manly body.

  His hands find the back tie of my bikini top. “As much as like this top, I think it’s time to see how it looks on the floor, don’t you?”

  I nod.

  He tugs, and it loosens, falling to my sides. The task complete, he reaches up under my hair and undoes the top tie behind my neck. He pulls himself away from me, removing my top and letting it drop to the floor.

  I look down at it. “It looks good there.”

  He’s not looking at the floor. “My God, you’re beautiful.” He runs his fingers lightly across my breasts, and my heart hammers hard in my chest.

  This is really happening.

  He picks me up and carries me to his bed, gently laying me down. He tugs at the side ties of my bikini bottom and pulls it out from under me. “I’ve been imagining doing that since the moment I laid eyes on you wearing this on the beach yesterday.”

  I bite my lip as the memory of him coming out of the sea flashes before my eyes. Suddenly self-conscious, I breathe, “Your turn.” I nod at his trunks.

  “Whatever the lady desires.” He slips them down his legs and steps out of them.

  My mouth drops open as I take in his body in all its manly, muscular glory. And glorious it is. His broad shoulders and muscular arms, his defined chest, scattered with light brown hairs. And then, down further, to his, ah, interest in me. “Impressive” is an understatement. Sure, I’ve been with guys before, seen them naked, but just a handful of men, my list is short and sweet.

  But Jake? Let’s just say he leaves the others for D.E.A.D. dead.

  If I’d thought of turning back before, looking at him now, I know that’s not gonna happen. Time for my mind to switch off completely—and for my body to take over.

  And take over it does. As he leans over me and kisses me again, we rub our hands over one another’s bodies, and it feels so freaking good, like the culmination of days and days of me fighting my attraction to him have built up into this moment. It’s intense, perfect, and totally freaking incredible. It’s like an explosion of need, the likes of which I’ve not felt before, not for anyone.

  Just as things begin to build up and up between us to the point of no return, he pulls away from me. “We need a condom.”

  I nod. “Good point.”

  Before I can blink, he’s back on the bed with me, condom in place, nudging my legs open. And then he’s inside me and, oh, my, does he feel incredible. Any nerves, any fears, any doubts I had that this is the wrong thing to do have completely disappeared. Gone, vanished, like they never existed. I can barely remember why I’ve been fighting this, hell, I can barely remember my own name, he feels so goddam amazing.

  As we move together, our limbs entangle, our hands everywhere, it doesn’t take long until I’m on the precipice, on the point of no return. Before I barely know it’s happening, in one spectacular movement, I fall off that edge in the most exquisite way. There are stars and moans and body-shattering waves so strong I can’t imagine ever being able to move again. Ever wanting to move again.

  And Jake’s right there with me, calling out my name, his body tense, taut until we both collapse back onto the bed, breathing hard, drenched in sweat, deeply satisfied. We lie together as our breathing slows and our pulses return to normal. As I place my head on his chest, hear the rhythmic thud of his heart, I can’t remember the last time I felt this safe, this complete, this undeniably happy.

  And I know I never want this feeling to end.

  CHAPTER 17

  Jake

  There’s a knock at the door, pulling me from a deep, contented sleep. I ignore it and instead choose to pull Taylor in closer to me. I can barely believe we’re here, together, in my hotel room, lying like this. I want to pinch myself, it’s almost too good to be true. And I’ll tell you one: I’m not going to let some schmuck banging on my door ruin this moment with her, this moment I’ve been waiting for for years.

  There’s another knock, louder, more insistent this time.

  Who the hell can it be? “Go away!” I moan. I open my eyes and regard the woman in my arms. Taylor is even more incredible than I had imagined, and believe me, I’d imagined her to be pretty darn incredible over the years. She’s so open, so sensual, and our bodies just fit. Like we were made for each other.

  I know saying that is corny as hell, but that’s how it feels.

  And goddam, her body is perfect. She’s warm and soft and curvy, our bodies the perfect foil for one another.

  “Who is it?” she asks, her voice full of sleep.

  “I don’t know, but whoever they are, I wish they’d just go away and leave us alone.”

  “What the hell are you doing, man?” a male voice yells from the other side of the door. It’s joined by another voice, a female one. I can’t work out what she’s saying, but I realize it sounds a lot like my sister.

  “Dammit,” I mutter, just knowing it’s Ash and Tim—and wishing it wasn’t.

  Taylor springs away from me, startled. “That sounds like Ash and Tim.”

  “Yeah, I think it is. But it’s okay.”

  “If it is them, they can’t know I’m here. Especially Ash. Please.” She grabs the sheet and pulls it up over her body.

  I smile. “You might need a better disguise than that.”

  She ignores my comment. “What should we do?” There’s a distinct note of panic in her voice.

  Is getting caught with me really such a terrible thing?

  “I’ll deal with it.” I roll across the bed and hop up. I spot my trunks on the floor and decide to go for the towel instead. “Hang on, man,” I call out.

  “You,” I say, picking up her bikini bottoms from the floor and handing them to her, “get in the bathroom.”

  Taylor nods and does as I say, closing the bathroom door quietly behind herself.

  I do a quick scan of the room for Taylor’s bikini top. No luck. Oh, well. I figure if I can’t see it, Tim and Ashley won’t be able to, either.

  I hastily wrap the towel around my waist and open the door, placing my hand on the door’s edge and leaning my head on top of it, nice and casual. Nothing to see here, folks, nothing to see here.

  Tim and Ash look at the state of me and shoot me questioning looks.

  Tim’s face creases into a smile. “Whatcha been doing, Harrison?” He waggles his eyebrows at me.

  “Taking a nap.” I yawn to emphasize the lie. Not that it’s a total lie. I did nap, only it was after some rather fantastic sexual acrobatics with my sister’s B.F.F.

  “Sure you have.” Tim has a grin on his face.

  “No, really. Catching up on sleep after a big night out. You know how it is,” I reply.

  He tries to see past me, but I block his way. “Who is she?” he asks.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Really?”

  Why can’t he let this be?

  “You heard him, honey. It was just a nap.” Ash’s tone is brisk, efficient. I’m sure the last thing she wants to think about is her brother getting up to no good with a woman. “Now, we need to go. You.” She points at me. “Have a shower and do whatever you need to do. Just make sure you’re ready to meet
us in reception in forty-seven minutes. Got it?”

  “Forty-seven minutes is pretty damn precise.”

  “You know I like to be organized. We’re going to lunch. Most of the wedding party are flying out later today.”

  “Sure.” I start to close the door but am stopped by Ash placing her hand on it.

  “And, brother, check your phone every now and then, okay?”

  “Yeah, okay.” Checking my phone has been the last thing on my mind over the last hour or two. “See you down there.” I’m relieved her bossiness has effectively ended Tim’s line of questioning. I take the opportunity to close the door on them.

  I pad over the carpet to the bathroom door and knock lightly. “Coast is clear.”

  Taylor pulls the door open. She’s got a towel wrapped around herself. She lets out a relieved puff of air. “That was close.”

  “They didn’t suspect a thing.”

  “Tim did.”

  “Nah, he was just messing with me. He knew I didn’t have a woman in here with me.”

  She harrumphs.

  “What?”

  She crosses her arms across her chest. “You have a reputation as a player.”

  “That’s in the past. Tim knows I’m not that guy anymore.” She shoots me a look I can’t quite read, her brows knitted together. “And anyway, if they suspected I had someone in here, how could they have known it was you?”

  Her features soften. “I suppose you’re right. Unless they saw us kiss in the pool.”

  “No one would have seen us. They were all sitting on the other side.” I take a step closer to her and slide my hands around her waist. I’m ready and very willing in a flash. “How do you feel about me doing that thing to you once more.”

  She looks up at me, her lips parted, and I know I’ve got her, right where I want her.

  She hesitates. “Don’t we have to be at lunch soon?”

  I shoot her a smile. “We can be late.” I slide a hand up her back and cup her head. I lean down and kiss her full, sexy lips. “I have plans for you, Taylor Jennings.”

  She shoots me a saucy grin, her hand on the towel around my waist. “We should really be getting ready, Jake.” Her words definitely don’t match the look in her eyes—or what she’s doing with her hands.

  Forty-seven minutes isn’t nearly as long as I want to spend on this woman. I want her here with me, in my bed—and up against the wall, in the shower, pretty much anywhere—until we collapse, falling into another exhausted sleep.

  And then wake up and do it all over again.

  Once we’ve partaken in more mind-blowingly good X-rated activity some time later, we slump on the bed once more.

  “You’re pretty good at that, you know.” Her breathing is still rapid and shallow, her face flushed.

  I smile, warmth spreading through my belly. “Right back atcha.” I wrap my arms around her, holding her close. I bury my face in her hair and kiss her head. I could lie like this with her forever, holding her, knowing she’s mine.

  “What time is it?” she murmurs after a beat.

  I glance at the clock on the nightstand. “Eleven-forty.”

  She groans. “I guess we have to go.”

  I tighten my hold around her. “Not yet. This feels too darn good. We can get there a little late.”

  She places her hand on my chest and pushes herself up to look at me. “Jake, we can’t turn up late to this thing together.”

  I couldn’t give a flying crap who knows about us. Being with this woman is all I want. “And that would be bad how?”

  “Well, to start with: Ash.” Her face twists with worry.

  I toy with a strand of her long hair. “I don’t get it. Ash is a big girl.” There’s got to be more to this than upsetting her best friend.

  She casts her eyes down. “I know, it’s just . . .” She looks back up at me, and I’m shocked by the pain I see there.

  I pull her into me. “What is it? Tell me.” She takes a deep breath. Says nothing. I turn her so I can look into her eyes. I feel a stab of pain in my chest when I see her face is ashen. “Taylor, it’s me. I’ve known you forever.”

  She swallows. “That’s the problem. I have known you forever. What if this thing between us messes that up? Your family is—” Choked with emotion, she can’t go on.

  My belly twists. I can’t stand to see her like this, not after showing her how much she means to me in this very room. I want nothing more than to be with her, to protect her. I stroke her head, holding her close. “It won’t. You’ve gotta trust me.” I take her face in my hands and kiss her on the lips. “I’ve,” I pause, wondering how much I should say, “I’ve always cared for you. You mean a lot to me.”

  Tears well in her eyes and she tries to blink them away. “I know. Like a big brother, right?”

  I shake my head. The look on her face tells me she has no clue about the depth of my feelings. “This is not just some beach romance to me. I’ve wanted to be with you for a long time.” I hold my breath.

  “You have?” Her voice is breathless, shaky.

  I nod. “Ever since that kiss all those years ago.”

  Her eyes widen, her mouth slackening. “Since the kiss in the chair swing in your parents’ backyard?”

  I smile at the memory. We were so young, she only sixteen. “Taylor, it’s always been you.”

  She gazes at me, taking in my words. And then her lips curve into a smile. In one move, she throws her arms around me and kisses me. I kiss her back, holding her close to me, hoping, praying this means she feels the same way.

  I’ve wanted to be with this woman for too long to remember. And I know beyond a whisper of a doubt, she is totally worth the wait.

  CHAPTER 18

  Taylor

  Leaving Jake standing at his door, looking achingly handsome with nothing but a towel thrown around his waist, well, it’s the last thing I want to do. My legs are shaking, and I’m lightheaded, but I need to get back to my room, quickly shower and change, and get to that lunch. As amazing as this morning has been for Jake and me, I don’t want any difficult questions from Ash. Not now. Not until I know if what Jake said to me is real. Not until I know if I can allow myself to put my full trust in him and open myself fully.

  Lacey is applying her makeup in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror in our room when I walk through the door. She’s dressed in a cute pair of shorts and a tank top, wedge sandals adding length to her already enviously long legs. That natural, effortless va-va-voom simply oozes from her in a way I’ve always envied. She looks like me, only better.

  “Hi, Lace.” I scurry quickly past her. I’m pretty sure I must have “I just had hot sex with Jake” written right across my face, and the last thing I want is for her to see it.

  “Hey, girl. Where’ve you been?”

  I reach the bathroom and close the door until it’s sitting slightly ajar. “Swimming and stuff.”

  “Oh? What stuff?”

  I glance in the mirror at my guilt-stricken face. “You know, just this and that. Vacation things.”

  “Okaaay.”

  I let out a puff of air, hoping Lacey won’t take her line of questioning any further. I hang the bikini I’d carried back from Jake’s room up over the shower rail.

  Lacey appears at the door, making me jump. “Lace, what are you doing?” I put my hand over my chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

  She studies my reflection in the mirror, her arms crossed. “By the look of you, I’d say you’ve been having sex.”

  Okay, so I was a little hasty in my relief.

  My laugh is high-pitched and sudden. It takes us both by surprise. “Sex? Chance would be a fine thing.” I work hard to appear normal. I bet I look anything but.

  She narrows her eyes at me.

  I feel heat rise in my cheeks. “No. I was, ah, playing table tennis.”

  Table tennis? Well, there were balls involved.

  “That’s what I was doing: table tennis. It’s a great
game. Really fun. You should come play it later. You can actually work up quite a sweat playing it.”

  She raises her eyebrows at me. “Table tennis? I never knew table tennis could knot your hair up quite that much, or make you blush like a ripe tomato.”

  My hand raises instinctively to the back of my head. I bite my lip and glance at her reflected image. I know when I’ve been busted. I would only add insult to injury if I continued with the lie. Besides, Lacey and I have been close for years. Lying to her just feels wrong.

  I turn and face her, pressing the small of my back against the vanity. “Okay. But you have to promise not to tell anyone, got it?”

  “Oh, my God. You did, didn’t you? You had sex!”

  I press my lips together and nod. Memories of Jake and what we’d just done together—twice over—flood my mind. It’s hard not to let the grin teasing at the edges of my mouth spread across my face.

  Lacey doesn’t hold back. Her grin is wide, her eyes gleaming. “Really? Oh, my.”

  Oh, my is right.

  “And?” she leads.

  “And it was nice.”

  “Nice?”

  “Okay.” I put my hands in the air. “It was totally amazing, mind blowing. All that stuff.”

  “Oh, you’re so lucky. I am so jealous.” She lets out a sigh. “So, are you going to tell me who it was, this hot lover of yours?”

  I look down and begin to rummage through my toilet bag. I know I have a choice here. I can come clean and tell Lacey the full truth; I can tell her it’s Jake. That would be the right thing to do. ’Fess up to it, get it out in the open, done.

  Only, I know that would cause a crap-storm in my life. And no one wants a crap-storm in their life, do they?

  “Babe?”

  I glance back up at her, trying to decide what to do. “Oh, it was—”

  In the end, Lacey makes the decision for me. “Was it that guy you were dancing with last night. The cute one?”

  “Mmm-hmm.” I turn and pull my hairbrush from my toilet bag and begin to brush, hoping Lacey won’t see the blatant lie on my face.