Chapter 8

Joey

I watch my asshole brother stride away from Dani’s villa, my fingers digging into the rough bark of the palm tree, my loose slacks tugged by the breeze. He’s effectively given up on her, on the reason I even invited her here in the first place. And if he’s given up on her, why the hell would I worry about his opinion?

Dani stands there, staring after him, her mouth half open and her skin flushed.

Did they have sex?

Naturally, they must have, but I can’t bring myself to care.

Her eyes brim with tears, and my soul fills with anger. I don’t know this chick, apart from how she feels in my hands and on my dick, but I’m furious anyway. Maybe it’s because Holden has done this to her.

There can’t be another reason for it.

Dani steps back inside her villa and shuts the front door. Silence reigns, broken only by the gentle sweep of water on sand and distant laughter or something softer, more sexual.

Fuck it.

Dani deserves a good evening. Better than what my brother’s given her.

I wait another ten minutes, with my back to her door, staring out at the ocean, and the reflection of the moon on its waters.

Finally, I slip out from behind the palm tree and stride toward the front of her house, shaking my head. This is stupid, it’s dangerous, but I haven’t thought about anything other than her since this afternoon.

I was the one who invited her here. I was the one who claimed her first. Rightfully, I should have the chance to spend the weekend with her. And if he’s going to toss out his chance like this…

You can’t betray him like this. She can’t know, yet.

I halt in front of her door, clear my throat.

I’m not the guy who hesitates. I party. I fuck. I enjoy my life.

This is new fucking territory for me, and I don’t like it. I don’t like to share.

I look down at my jeans and loose cotton shirt—the shirt is different than my brother’s, but in the time since he left, it’s likely he might’ve changed.

Christ, this is sleazy. But I can’t tell her yet. Not yet. Soon, but not now, when she’s upset, and she needs someone to help her feel good.

What scares me is I’m not sure feeling good will entail sex. And I don’t even mind.

Dani’s elusive. Whatever she’s done to me is magic. The taste of her, the feel of her, is embedded in my mind.

She’s supposed to be my brother’s. That’s got to be the attraction. She’s supposed to be his, and I can’t stand that I don’t get her, instead.

I knock on the door, then tuck my hands behind my back and wait.

Footsteps, the rattle of a latch, and then the door swings inward.

Dani stands on the threshold, wearing a pair of loose cotton shorts and a camisole, her nipples pricking at the fabric. Hourglass figure, so sweet and tight, but none of that matters, now.

Her eyes are puffy and red. Her hair is damp from the shower.

“Holden,” she whispers.

“Mr. Long.” I can’t do this if she calls me by his name. I extend my hand to her. “I’m sorry.” Words I never fucking say. I’m never sorry for anything. Never doubt anything, but I’m apologizing on my brother’s behalf. As much as I love him, he can be a jackass sometimes. “I was… confused.”

She swallows but doesn’t take my hand. She folds her arms across her chest and squishes her breasts together, struggling to maintain eye contact. She’s so voluptuous, yet so tight at the same time.

The woman is my fucking Aphrodite.

“Confused,” she says.

“Yes, I hope you understand why.” I don’t even understand why. If this woman was my nanny, I’d have fucked her long ago. Shit, the thought of a live-in caretaker who looks like this… my dick twitches. “Things are complicated. Let’s go for a walk. We’ll talk it out.” I’m not asking because I’m not used to asking for anything.

I take what I want. Always.

“I—” She purses her lips, those kissable, fuckable lips, and inhales through her nose. “Mr. Long, maybe you were right. Maybe it’s better if—”

I raise my index finger and press it to her lips. “Don’t think this weekend. Let’s make a deal. We’ll forget everything else and focus on this, together, the sand, the beach, the moon. We’ll deal with all that other shit later on.” Her lips are hot against my skin. She breathes against me and I picture that on my neck, on my dick. “Let’s walk.”

I take her hand, and she shuts the door behind her. She’s barefoot, cute, and a little cold. She wraps her arm around her waist and holds it there.

“There were no coats in the closet,” she says and shakes her head. “Weird. There’s every type of lingerie, there are whips and even ball gags, but no coats. This is a strange place.”

“Here,” I say and stop short. I unbutton my shirt and strip it off, then hand it over to her.

She bows her head and shadows envelop half her face, the other half illuminated by the moon overhead. “Thanks,” she says and slips it on. She sniffs the collar, then frowns.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“Nothing, it’s just—nothing.”

We link hands again and walk across the sand together, a slow pace, drowning in the moonlight and the sounds of water lapping the beach. Crisp wind tugs at the shirt she clasps to her breasts and chills my skin.

We stop just beyond the line of water, still hand-in-hand.

She turns to me, traces my body with her gaze. “I love your tattoos. I’ve never seen them before. Around the house, I mean.”

“No talk about the house. Or tattoos,” I reply. Specifically, not the meaning of the twins on my chest, back to back. Warriors. Brothers. “Talk to me about you. About your future. About what you want.”

She chews her bottom lip and releases it, slowly. “I—well, you already know I want to be a pilot.”

“Yeah,” I say and nod, though I had no fucking clue. I don’t know her at all, and Holden does. Christ, that bites my balls.

A pilot. That’s something special. How did she end up as a nanny?

“I know,” I say, at last. “But we’ve never discussed it in detail.” Even now, standing side by side, we’re too far apart. I twirl her into my arms and hold her close.

She lets out an adorable yelp.

I take in the sight of her, the curve of her nose and arch of her strong cheekbones. Perfect American beauty. “Tell me more about it. Tell me more about what you want.”

“What I want,” she repeats, almost as if talking to me like this is a dream, like she’s drifting through it toward me. “I want to travel the world. I want to see things that I’ve never seen. Experience cities and countries. I want to fly.”

“You want to be free,” I say.

She wants to live like I do. She wants my life. So, she’s not made for Holden after all.

“Yes,” she replies.

“Usually, it’s the opposite.”

“What? That women want to settle down?” She raises an eyebrow at me, and I absorb that defiance.

“People do. Everyone wants a home and a family to go back to.” Except for me.

“And so do you,” she says. “I—I’m sorry things have been difficult for you, lately.”

“It’s fine.” I wave that away. “I try not to think about that stuff too much.” I release her, because holding her like this and talking about my brother’s home life makes me cringe hard, then take her hand again and walk her back down the beach. “So, you’re saving up to study.”

“Yes.” She nods, and once again, she’s lit up from the inside out. She stalls again, tugs on my fingers. “Holde—Mr. Long, did you invite me here? Was all of this planned?”

Fuck. If only I could tell you the truth. But I have to figure out what I want to do about this, other than fuck her senseless again. “No. It was a surprise to see you here,” I reply. And that’s true. The first time I laid eyes on her she knocked me over.

Tan and long-legged and tempting rolled into one.

Her brow wrinkles.

“Come on,” I say. “It’s getting late.” And if I stay out here a minute longer with her, I’ll take her in the sand. She doesn’t need that right now. It’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

I walk her back to her villa, and we say goodbye on the doorstep. She makes to take off the shirt, but I stop her with a kiss. “Keep it,” I say, then walk off, still bare-chested.

At least she’ll have something of mine with her.

A part of me hopes Holden will see it and flip the fuck out.