The sun’s warmth was magnificent even through the responsibly wide brim of my hat. Gabe sat on the chair next to me, his fingers laced through mine. I could hear Hannah and Wes nearby, playing paddleball or something sporty as they splashed in the water.

Wes was there in the capacity of Hannah’s boyfriend and bodyguard. I’d tried to fire him, but both Gabe and Hannah had shut me up before I’d had a proper chance. Three days into our trip, I’d discovered that Wes was nice and obviously devoted to my sister. He and Gabe seemed to have hit it off as well, going to the gym together each morning and drinking bourbon each night.

Still, as promised, I’d given my sister an earful. It just hadn’t worked out the way I’d planned. “I don’t have time for a double-date vacation,” I hiss-whispered to her as we’d boarded the private plane. “I have a new product to manage. And I’m not wearing a bikini.”

Hannah arched an eyebrow at me. “I’m guessing that you’re wrong about that. Gabe seemed pretty excited.”

I looked at her, crestfallen. “About the bikini?”

“About the whole trip, Lauren.” She shook her head in exasperation. “You’ve been putting that guy through the wringer since you met him. Maybe you could relax and do what he wants for once. He did just save your company while you were off almost getting killed. Is it too much to ask that you go lie on a beach and drink fruity drinks? You act like we’re asking you to drink castor oil from a jail cell. Which reminds me—didn’t Gabe go to jail for you too?”

“Yes,” I admitted under my breath.

“Then wear the bikini and shut up for once,” Hannah snapped. “Sheesh.”

Fast-forward three days, and I was wearing one of the many bikinis my sister had packed for me. I had my mouth shut, and I was holding hands with my boyfriend.

My boyfriend. A little thrill went through me every time I thought of him that way. Actually, a little thrill went through me anytime I thought about Gabe in any way, or looked at him, or touched him, or caught him looking at me appreciatively.

It had been a thrilling couple of days. Even I had to admit it.

I hadn’t let myself think about what, if anything, my enemies had planned for us going forward. I’d only gotten one text from Li Na since the launch. Congratulations on your launch, it read. Don’t forget about me while you celebrate.

I shivered when I read it. As if I’d be so lucky as to forget her.

I hoped she was done with me, that she’d given up. For the first time in my life, I wanted a future. It wasn’t that I hadn’t wanted one before, but I’d never given it a lot of thought. It had always been the next thing—the next trial, the next idea, the next test. Now the desire for a future with Gabe was so powerful and clear that it was overwhelming.

I tried not to think about her, and to focus on our vacation, instead. The private island was beautiful. It had an enormous, luxurious house in which we were all staying, and a guesthouse for the security team Gabe had insisted on bringing. There were miles of white-sand beaches, and we were surrounded by turquoise water. The house had multiple decks that boasted hot tubs, infinity pools, and any luxury I could have ever imagined, had I been inclined to think about such things.

“We should come back here every year,” Gabe said.

I startled. I’d thought he was asleep. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

He opened one eye and looked at me. “I would do just about anything to keep you in a bikini,” he growled. He moved my hand over the top of his swim trunks, and I felt his growing erection.

I snatched my hand away. “Hannah and Wes are right over there,” I whispered, mortified, motioning toward the water.

He got up unselfconsciously and reached for my hand, pulling me with him. “Then let’s go for a walk.”

I threw my wide-brimmed hat on my chair and followed him down the beach.

We walked for a half-mile, our arms wrapped tightly around each other, until we reached a little cay. We were hidden from Hannah and Wes’s sight, and hopefully from the security guards. Gabe leaned me up against a tree and kissed me deeply, making my whole body burn. He teased the strap of my bikini top down and kissed my shoulder. “So beautiful,” he said. “I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

I looked up at him, my eyes swimming in his. “It wasn’t luck. You were persistent. Stubborn, even.” I grinned at him.

He grinned back. “You’re calling me stubborn?”

I pulled him to me. “Stop talking.”

He kissed me deeply. I lit up under his touch. He ran his hands reverently down my sides as I clung to him. Before I knew what was happening, he was out of his swim trunks, his erection against me. My gaze greedily raked over his glorious, naked body. His light tan accentuated every line of every muscle.

He took my bikini off and hung it on a low branch of a tree, then kissed me hotly. “Turn around and hold onto that.” He motioned to the tree. “Lean over.”

My breathing turned to panting. I immediately did what he said—not so much to be obedient, but in anticipation. I leaned over and spread my legs a little, my sex open and exposed before him.

He knelt down and licked me from behind, taking my already wet, throbbing nub in his mouth. His tongue plunged into my slit, making me cry out.

My hands gripped the tree. As my world began to spin, I noticed my knuckles were turning white.

I hoped we were far enough away from Hannah and Wes because I kept moaning in ecstasy as he lapped at me. I bucked against his mouth, but then he suddenly stopped, standing up behind me. “I need to be inside you.”

He grabbed my hips and then inched his cock inside me, filling me the way only he could.

I whimpered as he entered me, craving the fullness his body gave mine. He gathered my hair in one of his hands and wrapped it around his palm. Then he thrust into me, using my hair to pull me back against him.

“Oh fuck,” Gabe said. There was no other word for what we were doing. He was driving in deep, claiming my body.

Because he was mine, and I was his. And we belonged together. I’d been fighting it for so long, but my body had known from the beginning what my mind was running from. Gabe was my first, and as I’d promised him, he’d be my last.

I braced myself against the tree and felt him thrust all the way in me, loving me only the way he could. “I love you. So, so much.” I started to shatter around him, sooner than I wanted, but my orgasm wouldn’t wait.

He gripped my hips and pumped himself into me as my body clenched around his cock, greedily keeping him deep inside me. The edges of my vision blurred, and I held on to the tree for dear life as my orgasm hit me hard. “Lauren!” he cried out as his orgasm chased mine. He shuddered against me, his hips rocking. I felt so full of him, so satisfied, that I almost cried. After we’d both stilled, he turned me around, pulled me up against his chest and held me as I trembled in the aftermath.

“I love you,” I said again, clinging to his warm, powerful body.

“I love you too, babe. I couldn’t live without you.” Gabe pulled me closer. “And now that you’ve moved in with me, I don’t have to.”

“It…scares me.” I swallowed hard. “Before, my life was just work. I’ve never wanted something like this before. A life. A normal life. With you.” It was ridiculously difficult for me to admit the full breadth of my feelings to him even though he’d told me—and shown me—over and over again that he felt the same way.

“Me either.” Gabe kissed my nose. “It’s nice to know I’m finally not alone.”

I smiled up at him, safe in his arms. “Me too.”

“See? You should listen to me more often. I knew we were meant to be together. I’m always right.”

“You’re not always right,” I protested.

“Face it. I’m usually right. I knew you were going to like flaunting yourself in that bikini in front of me, I knew you were going to like my push-button fireplaces, and I knew you were going to like my cock. A lot.”

I felt my face redden. Of course, he’d been right about all of it.

“Let’s go swimming.” He picked me up caveman-style and threw me over his shoulder, wading into the turquoise water, not waiting for me to say no.

* * *

Later that night, we lay together in bed, the stars visible from our window.

“When we get back home, we have another trip to take,” Gabe said.

I looked at his face in the darkness. “Another one? I thought we were going to get back to work.”

“We are.” He kissed my cheek. “But we have a wedding.”

My breath caught in my throat. There was dead silence between us.

“A wedding?” I finally asked after a beat.

I could just make out the grin spreading over his face. “My mother’s. She’s marrying your old professor, remember? Alexander Viejo?”

“Of course.” I said it quickly, trying to mask the ridiculously crestfallen feeling I had in my chest.

“I figure it’s time I introduce you to my family. My mom, my two brothers.”

“I’d love that.”

“With all the excitement we’ve had going on, I haven’t been able to tell you that much about me. I think it will be good for you. To see where I come from.”

“Okay.”

The grin didn’t leave his face. “Besides, you have to make an informed decision.”

“About what?” I asked warily.

“Me. I asked you to move in with me. But that’s just the beginning.”

“The beginning of what?”

“Us, babe. The beginning of us,” Gabe said.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this book. I love Lauren and Gabe! If you do, too, continue the adventure by checking out the next book in the series!

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And here’s a sneak peek at Silicon Valley Billionaires: GABE, book 2 in the series, which continues Lauren and Gabe’s sexy romance. Enjoy!