With lunch another excruciating twenty minutes away, Denton and I escaped to our guest bedroom on the second floor. I could still hear Annabelle’s grating voice floating through the tightly sealed sliding glass door. It amazed me that she and Denton had been friends for so long.

“I like your family.” I wiggled my freshly painted coral toes as I sat on the foot of the bed. “Especially your granddad. I can see why you’re going to such lengths to please him.”

“He’s been looking forward to this lunch.” Denton sat down beside me. “I just wish Annabelle wasn’t here. He always gets in a foul mood whenever she’s around.”

I don’t blame him.

Denton gave me a quick smile. “There’s really no choice but to share a bedroom while we’re at the Hamptons. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Are you going to sleep on the floor?”

He guffawed and stretched out on the cushy mattress. “Why do that when I’ve got this comfy bed right here? If you have a problem with that, you can sleep on the floor.”

“Fine,” I said, enjoying the surprised look on his face. He’d probably been expecting me to relent to joining him in bed after the way he’d joined me in my frustration pity party. “I’ll just pretend I’m having a slumber party and make a pillow fortress.”

He gave me a dubious glance. “Do women your age still have slumber parties?”

“Women will always have them. It’s a great way to unwind, watch a movie, get safely drunk with friends, and talk all night.”

We eventually went downstairs for lunch and seated ourselves at the sleek table in the dining room. I sat to Denton’s right, while Annabelle sat to his left. The fireball never shut up, which gave me a chance to talk to Ernest.

“I’m going to take a stab here,” I said, smiling. “You were a mountaineer and hiker in your youth.”

His green eyes gleamed. “Go on.”

“You loved and were also loved by many women. You traveled the world and lived like a nomad until you settled down in New York and began Northern Alpine Industries.”

He chuckled. “Got all of this off the Internet, did you?”

“Some of it.” I laughed along with him.

“And yet I know nothing about you. A bit unfair, I would say.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “So spill, young Tiffany. Why are you and my grandson pretending to be engaged?”

“What? How did you—” Shocked, I almost dropped my spoon. Was it that obvious? Or had Ernest North picked up some weird shamanistic techniques during his travels around the world? Abilities that gave him the power to read people’s minds?

With a smirk, he returned to his cream of mushroom soup.

While the others were preoccupied with Annabelle’s theatrics, I returned to Ernest. “Why on earth would you say such a thing? I’m in love with your grandson.”

“Are you?” He squinted at me. “As you said earlier, I have loved and also been loved by many women. Do you know what love is and what it looks like?”

For fuck’s sake, I was only twenty-three! That was a difficult question. The one thing I knew for sure was that love between an out of work barista and a too eligible billionaire didn’t happen every day.

“I only know what I feel,” I said carefully, doing my best to cover my lack of love with a dreamy expression. “When Denton looks at me, I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. When he touches me…” I had to pause to steady my breath. “It makes me feel like I could never be this happy without him.”

Ernest appeared satisfied with my answer, but now my fingers were trembling too much to get the soup to my mouth.

Over the next course, when Gloria asked if my risotto was okay, I smiled and raved about how delicious everything was. But I felt like a zombie whose tastebuds had deteriorated to ash.

After a while, Denton noticed how quiet I was. “Everything alright?” he asked softly, glancing at his granddad through narrowed eyes. “Did Gramps say something to you?”

Ernest looked wounded and huffed, “I’m behaving myself. Why would you think otherwise?”

“Because I know you.” Denton pointed his fork at him. “Only too well.”

“Gentlemen, please.” I raised my hands in a “time-out” gesture. “Can we enjoy the meal without throwing accusations at each other?”

Our little conversation attracted Annabelle’s attention. “What’s going on?” Her demanding tone grated on my nerves. “Are you talking about how Denton met his fiancée? If you are, don’t be rude. Share it with the rest of us.”

I closed my eyes briefly. How could this woman be a cherished part of Denton’s family?

Gloria clapped her hands with excitement. “Ooh, I’ve wanted to hear this story ever since Denton told us about the engagement. Tell us how it all happened.” Her expectant gaze fell on her son.

A tight smile settled over his mouth. “Well, I met Tiffany at a nightclub, and it was love at first sight…” He rattled off the story we’d agreed on, throwing in a few more details for added effect. When he mentioned the Empire State Building, Ernest rolled his eyes and snorted loudly.

“Women these days,” he complained. “It’s like they live in a different world from us, constantly wanting to reenact scenes from ludicrous movies.”

“Well, I think it’s romantic!” Gloria broke in, indignant. “It’s a great way to propose to the love of your life.” She turned to smile at me. “I’m so happy for you, Tiffany.”

I smiled, mostly because Annabelle was turning green with envy, frowning at her half eaten plate of risotto.

For the rest of the afternoon, Denton and I went swimming at the beach. He showed me his favorite spots he’d discovered as a kid, and when the sun grew too hot, we went back into the water, splashed around and had competitions to see who could stay underwater longer.

It amazed me when I realized I hadn’t had this much fun in ages.

“Hey, what do you say we head back to the house and shower?” Denton pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. “You can help me get the sand out of my hair, and I can get the sand that’s between your ass cheeks.”

Laughing, I splashed water at him. But the idea definitely had its appeal.

By the time we trudged back into our bedroom, covered in sand, we still had two hours left before dinner. I stepped into the shower with my bathing suit still on, washing the salt and sunscreen from the expensive suit. A few seconds later, Denton joined me, pressing his warmth against my back.

“Here, let me help with that,” he murmured, pushing the straps over my shoulders.

I stifled a moan, turning around to glance up at him. “No sex. That’s the rule.” But I could feel my walls starting to crumble.

“No sex,” he agreed, pushing my one-piece down to my waist. He took a moment to stare at my breasts, his breathing growing ragged. “My god, Tiffany. You’re such a beautiful woman.” Then he peeled the bathing suit down my legs, leaving me completely bare.

“Your turn,” I said hoarsely. I watched as he pulled down his shorts, revealing every delicious line and muscle. And his cock—the guy was fucking endowed like a stallion.

“Like what you see?” he teased, pressing his body against mine, his erection hot against my stomach.

I gulped audibly. “Very much. Could… could you get that sand out of my ass now?”

I’d only been joking, but he obliged by turning me to face the cold tiled wall. Then he got down on his knees and touched me from behind, running his hands between my ass cheeks, pausing to squeeze them. A delightful heat bloomed between my legs.

And then I felt it—his tongue running between my folds, his hair tickling my sensitive flesh.

Gasping in pleasure, I grabbed at the wall, pushing my ass into his face, my breasts flattening against the cool tile. Andy had never done this to me, and it hit me just how much our love life had been lacking.

This. Was. Fucking. Amazing.

My woman parts clenched, aching to be filled as his tongue flitted teasingly into my opening.

“I want you inside me,” I begged, unable to stop the words from coming out of my mouth. “Please, Denton. I can’t stand this?”

“Are you sure?” His grip tightened on my hips, which undulated, making demands of their own. “Are you absolutely sure about this?”

“Please, Denton. Forget the ‘no sex’ rule. As if we could have stuck to it for six whole months!”

Denton rose and pressed himself against me. “Are you on the pill?”

I nodded, angling so his thigh was between my legs, giving me some much needed pressure.

“I’m clean. Are you?”

I nodded again, unable to speak.

“God, Tiffany.” Before I could prepare myself, he slammed his cock inside me, causing me to let out a scream so loud I was afraid the entire floor might have heard it. His hand wrapped around my jaw, pulling my mouth to his, muffling the cries that I had no control over as he pumped his hips, his erection stretching me to my limits. His hand snaked forward to rub my clit, moving in slow circles that sped up to match the fury of his thrusts. Our skin slapped noisily as the warm water cascaded down on us. Denton thrust his tongue into my mouth, exploring, and I sucked on it as his hands pivoted my hips for a new angle. The tip of his dick hit that glory spot, and dark spots appeared before my eyes. My lungs clamped shut, and the air in the shower grew to about a thousand degrees.

“Come for me, baby,” he said, grunting in pleasure. “Fuck, you’re so tight. You feel incredible.”

His teeth grazed over my ear, down my neck, and sunk into the valley just above my collarbone. I felt him tense behind me, making a strangled noise.

“I’m going to come.” His fingers pressed harder on my clit, then pinched, bursting the bubble inside me, making a delicious warmth spread from my core to every cell in my body. He buried his face in my neck as he gave three more hard thrusts and filled me with his hot seed.

Gasping for air, we stayed that way for a while, leaning against the gloriously cold wall, Denton wrapped around me from behind, the shower water pelting us. Exhausted and completely satiated.

“Now that the ‘no sex’ rule is broken,” he said finally, “does that mean you’ll join me in bed tonight?”

I turned around and smiled up at him. “I think we need a new rule. Just fucking and no kissing. What else? No cuddling. And no sharing beds.”

Denton’s mouth tightened. “We broke the no kissing rule.”

“Oh, yeah.” We’d gotten a little carried away.

“Why do we even need all these rules?” Denton’s eyes had gone cool and assessing.

“The rules are there for our own protection.”

“From what? Are you afraid I’m going to fall for you?”

No, you dumbass. I’m afraid I will. I’m protecting my heart here.

I couldn’t let him know how much that scared me. “If you don’t like the new rules, I suppose we could just go back to the ‘no sex’ rule.”

“No.” Denton sighed, rubbing his face. “I’ll accept them.” Thank god. But his face was pale and pinched as he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his hips.

Now that the high from my climax was slowly fading, I felt like an uptight bitch. I didn’t want to fight over something so trivial. Maybe I could spend tonight in his bed. It wasn’t like it was such a big deal, anyway.

Just avoid the cuddling and kissing, and you’ll be fine.

Feeling a little better, I soaped up with the luxurious shower gel, but the echoes of his touch remained.