“Damn, Walker,” I panted with a big satisfied grin on my face as the boat rocked back and forth on the waves. “I’ve never had sex on a yacht before, or any other sea vessel for that matter, but you made it work”

My chest still heaved as I struggled to catch my breath and I was satisfied to see he had the same problem.

“I’m happy to oblige, babe.” One long finger gently and lazily traipsed up and down my thigh.

Babe. I shouldn’t have liked that as much as I did, but I did. His low, whiskey graveled voice slid over my skin like warm thick honey. “You did oblige. Spectacularly.”

He leaned over and groaned as he pressed a kiss to my neck. “I love it when you use those nerd girl words. Come on Lacey, talk nerdy to me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh and my head tilted back, giving his lips better access to my skin. “Did you just call me a nerd?”

“Of course. You know I’m only fucking you for your brains, right?” His own deep chuckle reverberated through my body. “Oh, and this delicious body.”

I closed my eyes as his lips left a trail of heat from that sensitive spot right behind my ear. “Keep doing that and you can call me a nerd anytime.” The more his mouth tortured me, the louder the clanging of those warning bells sounded in my ears. But I shut those fuckers up because being in Walker’s arms was just about the best thing in this moment. When he thrust into me, thick and long and deep, nothing else mattered but the way he made me feel. Sexy and wanted. Cherished. It was as intoxicating as it was addictive, and I threw myself into it with the wild, reckless abandon of a woman who didn’t know better. Who hadn’t learned a damn thing at the hands of previous relationships.

It was too much, and not enough, and my hands clawed at his back as my legs wrapped tight around his waist and he drove deeper and deeper, pushing so deep there was a chance we’d meld into one. Maybe that was wishful thinking, or maybe it was the orgasm that slammed into me, hard and fast and out of control. “Walker, yes!”

He smiled down at me, still pumping into me, his eyes dark and intense, focused on chasing pleasure. Both mine as well as his. “I love it when you say my name,” he said, voice filled with pride and arrogance as his strokes sped up and deepened.

The more he moved with such purpose, such intensity, the more his name was on my every breath. And when I broke the second time his name was perched on the edge of my lips. I came violently as he pounded into me, finally his body stilled and jerked as his own orgasm spilled from his body into mine.

“Fuck! Lacey!” His big heavy body collapsed onto mine, breaths coming out harsh against my neck.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that, bodies glued together, just trying to get our breathing back to normal. But eventually we separated long enough to take a quick shower and lie under the stars. “This is nice,” I told him sincerely. “Thank you.”

He chuckled. “I think maybe that’s my line.” And when he kissed me on my forehead, so sweetly and affectionately, it was hard to remember this was just sex.

“I’m serious. I can’t remember the last time I had such a good date.” I sighed and relaxed against his chest, ignoring how he temporarily stiffened at my words. “The sky is so clear tonight.”

“I would have never thought stargazing could be so interesting, so believe me Lacey, it was my pleasure.”

I smiled, happy he couldn’t see it because I didn’t want Walker to think I was getting the wrong idea about us. Maybe I liked him more now than I ever had before, but that didn’t mean I was delusional enough to think this was headed anywhere.

“Do you do this a lot? Big fancy dates?” Again he went still beneath my back and I scrambled to clarify. “I’m not fishing for information about your dating habits, or women, I’m just…curious because I’ve had a few boyfriends and more than a few dates and none of them have ever done all this.”

Which, I realized as I said it aloud, was pretty sad for me. I didn’t know if I should feel special to Walker, or just shortchanged by the men in my past. Probably the latter.

He sighed, like he was frustrated or put out by my questions. “I don’t usually have to go through so much effort for women, Lacey, because they want a dinner they won’t eat at some fancy restaurant where they can be seen by the rich and famous and maybe run into someone richer than me-,”

I gasped and looked over my shoulder at him. “There’s someone richer than you,” I asked, feigning shock.

“Very funny,” he said and rolled his eyes as I settled back on his chest. “After dinner they want to go to the hottest new club before going back to my place, but you’re rich and connected.” Walker sighed, struggling to make me understand.

“So, I don’t want those things?”

“You could have those things any night of the week, so I had to be creative and find something that would impress you.”

A silly grin spread across my face at his words. Walker Titus wanted to impress me! “You succeeded,” I replied truthfully.

“Plus,” he said as his arms tightened around my waist and he buried his face in the crook of my neck, “I couldn’t wait to get you out here, all alone.”

That was all I needed to hear to turn and straddle his hips so we were face to face. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pressed our foreheads together and asked, “Now that you have me here, what are you going to do with me?”

Walker stole a kiss and it was fiery and intense, but when he pulled back and flashed a sultry smile, I was lost. “The question sweetheart, is what won’t I do with you.” Then he spent the rest of the night showing me exactly what he meant.

Waking up on a yacht in Walker’s arms felt a hell of a lot better than it should have for a purely sexual relationship. But it was the lobster and shrimp and fresh fruit served for a lazy brunch that made this feel like a couple thing. Like the kinds of things I imagined Poppy and Blake were doing right now. A wistful sigh escaped me as we moved closer and closer to shore.

By the time we were back in the limo I felt trouble simmering deep in my gut. Every time I looked over at him with his hair mussed from my fingers, I felt energized and oddly affectionate, which spelled trouble with a capital T. I could not be falling for Walker. Absolutely not. I won’t allow it. I would cut out my own heart before I let that happen.

“Your place or mine?”

I wanted to tell him wherever he chose would be all right with me, but that was foolish, and I couldn’t be where Walker was concerned. “Since I don’t think you could fit into any of my clothes, your place?”

He frowned. “Does that mean we won’t be naked the entire time?”

I laughed and reached out to run my fingers through the hair at the base of his neck in an intimate act that caught me off guard. “We might be, but if you want to put something on it’ll have to be those pants. Again.”

“So?”

“So you might give the pizza guy a show?”

Walker leaned back and chuckled. “It’ll give him something to aspire to,” he said full of arrogance and then he winked at me!

“You’re impossible, you know that right?”

He shrugged and pulled me close until I was tucked under his arm. “Impossible to resist, you mean.”

As hard as it was to admit, he was so right. One smile, or one touch and I melted into a sticky puddle of desire. It was pathetic but true, and even as the thought gave me pause, his warm hand sliding up and down my back had my body tingling and ready for another round of pleasure.

“Is that why you use a limo, enough room for your ego?”

The car came to a stop in front of his building and a few moments later the door opened. Walker turned to me just before sliding out. “I think we both know my ego isn’t the only reason I need all this room.”

Cocky bastard. Why did it turn me on so much? Because clearly, I was a glutton for punishment. That was the only reasonable answer here, and I used the elevator ride to the penthouse to shake it off. I wanted Walker and I liked him. Big deal. It didn’t have to be anything more than that. He was my brother’s best friend, it made sense to like him. He was gorgeous and a fantastic lover, so sleeping with him made sense. I just had to remind myself that it was okay to like someone without wanting more.

That was harder to remember when we were in his room, changing into comfortable clothes, a t-shirt for me and flannel pants for him. It was so reminiscent of how couples behaved that I had to break the spell. “Tell me about your year or years traveling?”

“It was nearly a year and a half actually. I was going through some shit and had to get away from my life for a while.”

“Sounds nice,” I told him even though curiosity ate me alive in my desire to know what ‘some shit’ entailed. “Getting away I mean, not going through shit.”

He smiled and my eyes were glued to his chest like it was the first time seeing it. Maybe it was the casual green and blue pants that hung low on his lean hips, that mouthwatering ‘v’ that disappeared into his waistband, the miles of tanned skin on display and just the entirety of his well muscled chest and abs.

“I did what I had to do, and after I got my head on straight, I got down to business.” He waited expectantly and I didn’t know what he was waiting for but I knew it was something.

“And the story?”

He smiled and grabbed my hand, pulling me through the door and into the living room where he set me on the sofa and disappeared into the kitchen. “I was in Hungary trying to buy up a cable news station and the previous owner had this weird Hungarian-British accent that was impossible to fucking understand.” He tinkered in the kitchen and I heard the sound of ice as I listened to his story. “He kept it up for three damn days, meanwhile I’m paying the translator for nothing.”

I could hear the smile in his voice and it tugged at my own mouth. “But the deal was done?”

He reentered the living room with two glasses of amber liquid and handed me one. “I’m the proud owner of the number one news station in Hungary.”

I laughed at his proud expression more than at the story even though both were equally hilarious. “Cheers to the number one cable network in Hungary.” With an affectionate smile he clinked his glass against mine.

“Damn right.”

Walker dropped down beside me and wrapped his free arm around my shoulder. I cuddled into him and let his warm masculine scent relax me, the soft thud of his heart lulled me into a dreamlike state while we watched TV. It was so domestic that it was hard not to feel slightly scared as well.

Luckily the doorbell pulled me from that particular dream. “Expecting company?”

“The only person I’m expecting is already here,” he said and dropped a soft kiss on my mouth before he went to the elevator. “And since the doorman didn’t call first, I’m really curious.”

That piqued my curiosity and I turned to watch the copper doors slide open to reveal a stunning brunette wrapped in a coat much too heavy for early autumn in Portland. “Walker, darling. I heard you were back in town.”

Holy. Shit. Nola Paloma, lingerie and runway uber model strolled in and pressed her full body against Walker and kissed him. On the fucking mouth. He seemed as shocked as me but he recovered first. “Nola what the hell are you doing here?”

She laughed and removed her jacket to reveal a slinky gold dress. “That’s no way to greet an old friend, is it?”

Old friend? He was old friends with Nola Paloma? That was news to me. “We haven’t been friends for a long time, Nola. What are you doing here and how did you get up?”

Her laughter was like a melody. Perfect just like her. “I told him I was an old friend.”

“I’ll be sure to fire him as soon as you’re gone.” She laughed again but Walker’s expression was fierce. Serious. He said something, but I didn’t know what it was because I couldn’t stop staring.

Her attention turned to me and another melodious laugh emerged. The bitch. “I didn’t know you had a kid sister.”

I stood to make sure she could see me in his shirt. “He doesn’t. Some of us just age better than others.” I turned and went back to the bedroom to change, smiling because holy shit I just told off Nola Paloma. But that was for me, not Walker. I don’t care how beautiful she is, no one talks to me that way. When I came down they were still arguing, but in the kitchen. She wanted to know why she couldn’t stay and he wanted to know why she thought she could.

“I am Nola Paloma for fuck’s sake, of course you want to see me!”

I shook my head as I made my way to the elevator, suddenly grateful Nola’s screech covered the sound of the elevator doors opening and stepped inside with a smile. It ended far less dramatically than I thought it would, but my ego could handle being tossed over for a super model.

Mostly.

I would figure it out when I got home. Over a bottle of wine.