Chapter Ten

Blake

Two weeks later

“You sound relaxed,” Cole informed him, and Blake rolled his neck over his shoulders as the warmth of the hot tub in his suite moved over him.

“Two weeks of paradise turned out to be pretty good after all,” he admitted, listening to his brother talk about Dana’s pregnancy with one ear, while the rest of him was entirely focused on the reason the last weeks had gone so well.

Post crab-shack odyssey, during which he’d just managed to beat Kelly by one crab, which she was still annoyed at him for, Blake had found that his days quickly fell into a pleasant routine.

He’d given up and bought some new clothes, buying beachwear which allowed him to walk comfortably around the construction site each morning. Then he’d attend to other business as needed in his room, on the terrace, at his laptop, or on the phone. Then, in the early afternoon, or occasionally in the evening, he’d meet up with Kelly for a drink, a walk through the dunes, another hour of sand surfing … she planned all their outings, since she knew the place, and Blake was more than happy to let her lead.

And that was it, the very thing that sometimes left him lying awake in bed at night—the other thing, besides hot fantasies of Kelly that he’d given up on trying not to have. He was happy. Plain and simple, for the first time in years, Blake was relaxed, at peace enough that his thoughts weren’t whirling constantly at 700 miles per hour. Work was proceeding rapidly on the Magnolia, things were going well back home, according to Cole, and all in all, the pace of life was just about perfect.

“You met a girl.”

“Huh?” Blake tuned back into his brother.

“I said, you met a girl. You must’ve, the way you’re completely moony.”

“I am not moony!” Blake protested, hauling himself out of the hot tub to go get ready for a late afternoon walk with Kelly. She loved to watch the sun just start to set, and he loved watching her face in the soft rays as evening began, just before night took over completely. She was the most beautiful person he’d ever known, in more ways than one.

“You are completely moony,” Cole corrected. “Take it from a moony guy. I act that way around Dana. So why haven’t you said anything about her?”

“There’s no girl,” Blake insisted, not quite sure why he didn’t want his brothers to know anything yet. “I’m just more relaxed than you’ve probably ever known me.”

“Yeah. Because of a girl …”

“Fuck off,” Blake muttered. “I’ll call you back later. I have a meeting with Bubba.”

“Sure you do …”

He hung up and lobbed the phone at the bed, heading in for a fast shower. As always, thoughts of Kelly filled his mind and he didn’t hesitate to reach down and give himself a hand, rubbing one out hard and fast as he imagined holding her naked in his arms, her endless legs wrapped around his waist, his mouth fused to his and her breasts pressed to his chest as he took her hard right in the same shower where he was standing.

***

Even after he finished and rinsed off again, then got out to get dressed, Blake felt the stirrings of arousal all over again. Kelly had that effect on him, he’d come to accept. What he couldn’t get his head around was how she’d ever fit into his life after he had to leave paradise, and that was the one thing he refused to think about.

The guy who always faced responsibility square on absolutely would not confront the reality that first of all, what he and Kelly had was a friendship. He suspected she might feel more—he’d seen her stealing glances, seemingly hungrily—but didn’t dare assume anything again. And even if she did and they were somehow … more … how could that more last, when they were practically from different planets?

Thankfully, his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. Blake hurried over and opened it, and as he did, his fantasies rushed to the fore and all logical thoughts or worries fled.

Standing before him was a tropical goddess, dressed in a coral bikini top that she filled to damn near bursting, her cleavage so full that he almost salivated, and a skimpy sarong that gave him the barest hint of what might be an ultra-high-cut bottom half of a suit.

“One thing we haven’t done is swim,” Kelly said with a grin. “Interested?”

The little control Blake had remaining snapped clear in half and he reached out and snagged Kelly around the waist, hauling her into the hotel room. He kicked the door shut and then yanked her into his chest, his eyes feasting hungrily on her all over again, before he claimed her mouth for the first time.

To his abject relief, she wound her arms around his neck and pressed in even closer, her tongue meeting his in a hot, hungry dance, coupled with dark moans that drove him halfway insane. Somehow, he managed to wrench away just enough to warn her,

“If you don’t want this, say something right this second, Kelly. I’m fucking dying for you—”

“You just won this challenge,” Kelly murmured, eyes dancing with mischief, and Blake groaned a grateful oath and yanked her into him once more.