“Some little seafood place Marissa knows.” He tried to keep his tone even at saying her name. He
usually avoided any use of the curse word and it felt like broken glass in his mouth.
“I want to get my haircut while we’re here … Do you think there are any hairdressers on the mainland?”
Jake had the instant urge to tell her she didn’t need to change her hair, he liked it the way it was so he
looked away toward Leila in hopes of hiding the frown on his face. He didn’t like the thought of her
changing anything about how she was. You couldn’t improve on perfection.
“Leila will know … She comes here a lot.” Jake nodded toward his childhood friend, hoping to God
Leila wouldn’t push Emma into some radical hairdo; he knew her only too well. She was wandering
around wearing a top, and for the first time he noticed the other two were not. Completely topless and
he suddenly felt pissed. If topless men could make Emma uneasy, then that sure as hell would do it
too, he wanted to throw towels over both of them.
“You know Marissa well?” Her voice broke into his thoughts and he felt himself freeze. He had never
expected this question to come from her and the last thing he wanted her to know was anything about
his past with Marissa. How the hell she had even picked up on anything was beyond him, he sure as
hell wasn’t putting out any signals where that harpy was concerned.
“Once.” He felt his pulse quicken and his head going into evasive mode. He didn’t want to dredge up
the past and admit he had been too blind to realize his teen girlfriend and best mate had been fucking
behind his back and sent him into a few years of booze, drugs, idiotic behavior, and woman. He didn’t
want Emma knowing that part of him, or tying him to the bitch on deck. He wanted her to see him as he
was now, the person he was with her anyway, the better version of himself. He found himself scowling
Marissa’s way with his back to Emma, Marissa caught his eye and, licking her lips seductively, she
squirmed toward him. Even from here he could pick up her fuck me signals and he just scowled back.
Not a chance, princess.
“Want to come for a swim with me?” He threw back at Emma. He wanted to get as far away from the
slut eyeing him up and away from the topic about her. He needed time alone to help his girl relax. Away
from all this naked skin. He turned back to her open expression and had the instant urge to stroke her
hair back from her face. His sunglasses did look good on her, a little big but adorably cute.
“Now?” She sounded apprehensive.
“Why not?” Jake smiled, hoping to make her feel more at ease. He needed to get her to unwind a little
and he couldn’t do that here, tense with a pair of eyes on the back of his head trying to undress him
mentally. They needed to leave the past on the deck on her lounger and go find a secluded beach to
roam.
“Sure.” She smiled brightly, and he could hear Daniel kicking the tunes into a higher gear, looking back
to the deck he could see the tell-tale signs of cocaine coming out, and he growled internally. He had
fucking warned him against this shit while she was here. He didn’t do this crap anymore, and he wasn’t
going to subject her to it either. He was glad to see Leila wander off deck, knowing she too was out of
that whole scene. They had had their young, wild, and reckless days and left them far behind. Daniel
needed to catch up. He noted that the twins and their dates seemed into it and put an arm around
Emma’s shoulders. Guiding her to the side, he waited until she undid her sarong and hung it up before
diving in first to make sure he would be in the sea to help her if she needed him when she dove in.
* * *
Being away from them and in the water instantly lightened his mood, her being in here seemed to make
her forget about being self-conscious or his naked torso and that made him happier. She smiled and
relaxed as they swam and before long he started playfully splashing and pulling her with him. She tried
to dunk him under, but he was faster and got her first every time. She seemed to be a pretty competent
swimmer, so Jake decided to have a little fun with her before swimming ashore. He had pulled her
under with him a few times, enjoying the fact that in the water he could touch her freely without feeling
like he was doing something wrong.
“Stop … it.” She spluttered to the surface, pleading with him and pushing back her wet hair from her
eyes. She looked too cute like this to listen.
“Only if you ask me nicely, tiny tots.” He wiped the water from his face, pleased to feel his hair wax was
withstanding the sea test. The new lab improvements he had requested were obviously working and
Carrero hair wax was now waterproof. He swam to her to close the gap, aware just how naked she
really was when he was inches away from molding to her.
“Will you please stop trying to drown me, Mr. Carrero?” She begged, it only made him feel more playful.
That adorable little soft voice asking so delicately—she had no chance.
“Seeing as you ask so sweetly, Miss Anderson.” He pushed her under again, this time catching her
under the water and pulled her back up against him hard. Nose to nose and it didn’t seem so right
anymore. It was closer than he intended, her body skimming against him in ways that got an immediate
hard reaction and he released her quickly. He wasn’t sure which part of her body had just rubbed up his
groin, but it didn’t matter, he was definitely battling down an erection with the efforts of a sumo wrestler
right now. He hated that despite all his sexual prowess and years of being a man whore, he couldn’t
control this shit around her. It was fucking embarrassing.
He swam away from her in an effort to get this under control and put distance between them. He hoped
to God she could manage the half mile swim as holding onto her in any way right now would end in an
impalement he didn’t want to explain.
The beach wasn’t that far but it would be exhausting for someone as tiny as her. Jake slowed his pace
to make sure he stayed close in case she struggled. He would never let her drown even if he did have
to ram a hard-on against her back while rescuing her.
He was glad to find that by the time they hit the beach he had it back under control and mentally
chastised himself about getting that close to her again while she was wearing practically nothing. He
wandered ahead to let the water drip off and the sun warm and dry his skin in hopes her bikini wasn’t
showing more than he could handle right now.
God, he needed sex badly.
They wandered around on the beach for a while, the hot sand felt amazing and Jake couldn’t help but
watch her and those legs strolling around as she picked up shells. So lost in her own head about
something, and completely oblivious to him watching her intensely. She was breath-taking in every
way, now that her nervousness about being in that pretty mind-blowing bikini seemed to be calming
down, he just wanted to stand this way all day and see that little content look on her face. She made
him feel all kinds of things right at that moment. Protective, warm, and happy, maybe even a little tug in
his heart if he was being honest. He definitely felt horny but not in an overwhelming way like in the
water, a more laid-back, gentle attraction. He could handle it this way; if only it would stay this constant.
She stopped and glanced his way, he could feel her eyes before he really saw them as he had taken a
moment to wander the shore and breath in some of the surroundings to get his head straight. This was
one of his favorite places to kick back after all. Jake loved anything to do with the ocean and being in
the great outdoors.
He caught sight of her making her way toward him and turned to watch her walk, the way she moved
had always captivated him, graceful, even, and swan-like. At first, she had seemed more stiffly in
control over her motions, months ago, but over time she had relaxed. Especially with the ice queen
postures and now she was just elegant. Her little nervous habits bugged him though, he hated thinking
she ever felt that uneasy around him and whenever he saw her twirling her hair, he wanted to cut her
hands off. As soon as he saw those fidgeting fingers, he could never stop the impulsive need to still
them.
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