I come in from a run just as the sun has finished rising over the island. My heart’s pounding, and not just from the exercise. Fuck, I couldn’t sleep last night. Granted, I couldn’t sleep last night because of, well, fucking, but that’s not the point. I woke up after two short hours feeling refreshed and ready for action. Charlotte was still asleep, though, so I didn’t want to wake her. Even though part of me wanted to.

A very specific, ever growing part of me.

I sat there for a while, just watching her sleep. With her dark hair spilled across the pillow, and her tan, bare shoulders highlighted against the white hotel linen, she looked more beautiful than I’ve ever seen her. More beautiful than the first time we met, when I was so tongue-tied I couldn’t remember my own name. Charlotte and I haven’t had sex that frequently or that intimately since senior year. I peered across the dark room at our clothes littered all over the floor.

Also, I recalled the shower full of sand. Must not forget that. Sex on the beach is intense, but has its drawbacks.

I felt I had to get up and out, to move my body. So I kissed my sleeping wife’s shoulder, and went for a run. Now I’m walking back through the hotel’s front entrance, through the swinging gold doors and across the cavernous marble lobby. I’m up early, the squeak of my running shoes on the tile the only sound.

And then out of nowhere, like some kind of magic, that kid from the luau pops up again. He beams at me, all dressed and ready for the day in his white resort shirt.

“Sir, could you please come with me?” He gestures towards the receptionist desk, and an office doorway behind it. Fuck. Someone saw me in flagrante delicto with my wife and must’ve reported it to the resort. Well, if a man can’t make glorious love to his wife in an over the top way during a destination honeymoon, where can he do it?

Not outside. They’ll probably say anywhere but outside.

Ah, screw it. If they have a problem, I’ll deal with it. I think Fraser would be proud of my new no bullshit attitude.

“Sure.” I follow the kid, squaring my shoulders and turning off my iPod. Listening to the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 soundtrack is not going to enhance my competent badass cred in this meeting.

We enter the office area, which looks like any other corporate environment: white walls, plush gray carpeting, cubicle desks. The kid leads me back to a large wooden door with Henry Lee engraved on a gold plaque. Fancy. Knocking, the kid leads me in. A middle-aged, fit and well-dressed man is waiting behind a large, mahogany desk. He gets up, smiling, and extends his hand to me.

“You must be the lawyer who saved us a lawsuit. Thanks for meeting this early. I wasn’t sure when to call up to your room.”

I shake his hand and sit in an offered chair. Might as well get this over with fast. “I can explain about yesterday.”

“Yes, the snorkeling trip.” Mr. Lee steeples his fingers. “That was regrettable.”

Here we go. “I didn’t think anyone could see us.”

He blinks, then frowns. “Well, I am sorry you got separated from the group. That kind of thing happens occasionally.”

Wait, what are we talking about. “So…they only saw us after they found us on the beach? I mean, they didn’t see me or my wife beforehand?”

Mr. Lee blinks slowly. “Why? Did something happen?”

Yes, it did, but in a Not Safe For Work way, so I clear my throat. “Er. A sea turtle. Bit. My wife. Yes, it bit her.”

He cocks an eyebrow. Clearly he doesn’t believe me, but at least he’s humoring me. “I see. Well, I only wanted to extend the hotel’s apologies for the accident.”

I shrug. “It wasn’t the hotel’s fault. At least it wasn’t a rogue wave. My wife knew what that it wasn’t, of course. She was a marine science major back in college.” This whole proud husband moment just kind of rolls out of me. Like this man, who owns and manages a fancy ass resort, wants to know about my wife’s major back in the days before iPhones. I stand. “If there’s nothing else?” I’m hoping Charlotte is awake. I’m hoping she’s ready for another round.

Part of which has to include breakfast, because we barely ate that sea bass last night. We were too busy eating—

“One more thing.” Mr. Lee leans back in his sweet-looking leather chair. A smile quirks his mouth. “What is your current employment status?”

Is he looking for a new masseur? Thank God I don’t go blurting that out. I’m sure if Emma were here, she’d have made either a dick joke or throwaway line about some reality TV show by now. It’s good that wild card gene only went to one child in the family.

“I have my own firm.” Now I quirk an eyebrow back at him. “Why, may I ask, are you curious?”

Mr. Lee shrugs. “I’ve recently broken ties with my old representation. I’m looking for someone to be on retainer for the resort chain.” He folds his arms. “Our Hawaiian and Caribbean line of hotels is set up nicely so far, but we’re thinking of expanding into Asia soon. Such matters can be tricky. It would be nice to work with someone I can trust.” He smiles. “And you didn’t even think of suing the hotel for its negligence over yesterday’s mistake. That makes you either extremely ethical, or extremely naïve.”

“I like to think it’s the former.” The blood’s pumping in my ears. Don’t just be nice, Justin. Go all in. “Besides, there would have been loopholes in the complaint. As a lawyer, I wouldn’t have advised me to pursue legal action. It would’ve been futile.”

Mr. Lee taps his fingers on the desktop. “Well. How long are you staying?”

“A few more days. We fly home at the end of the week.”

Mr. Lee stands and shakes my hand again. “Let’s speak again before you go. If you think you’ll have the time.”

Holy shit. I manage to kind of give a nonchalant agreement—I don’t know, I can’t hear what I’m saying because there’s a tiny, extremely hyper voice that’s echoing in my brain, shouting some variation of FUCK YES. When the kid—Stephen, that’s his name—escorts me out, he grins cheerily.

“Anything I can do for you, sir?” he asks when we hit the lobby. He’s the reason any of this is potentially happening. I could kiss him, but I’d better save that for my wife.

“No. Well, actually.” I stop on my way to the elevator. “Do you think you could have a bottle of champagne delivered to my room in the next half hour? On ice?”

“Of course,” Stephen says.

“Great. In addition to that, know anywhere I can buy a bulk ton of roses?”

When I get back to the room, Charlotte’s gone. At the morning massage, like I just remembered. She booked it yesterday, which would normally make me sad and horny, but right now I’m delighted. That gives us time to get the place set up. Stephen arrives with the chilled champagne while the maids clean up the room. I draw the curtains after he leaves, dim the lights, and grab the bouquet of red roses they sent up. I’ve only seen this done in movies before, but screw it. The worst thing that happens is I leave a heap of mauled petals on the center of the bed, prick my thumb, nick an artery, and have to be escorted to the hospital while my wife enjoys her massage.

This is why I try never to play the worst case scenario game.

Half an hour after I’ve got the place ready, I hear Charlotte’s keycard in the door. When she enters, a loose, pink sundress barely clinging to her body, it’s everything I can do not to grab her, tear the dress off, and have sex on the wooden floor. Screw the bed. Who needs comfort?

Charlotte’s a bit dazed and happy looking from her massage, but when she spots what I’ve done with the place, she halts. Her mouth drops open. I’m going to believe this is her comprehending what a badass I am, not her wondering how to get rose petals out of pillowcases.

“You’ve been busy.” She eyes the champagne, and clamps a hand over her mouth. She giggles, actually giggles. Fuck, the sound of her laughter gets me harder than almost anything. That, and her still knockout pair of tits. “What’s all this for?”

“Does there have to be a reason?” I take her into my arms, and she’s warm and yielding. She kisses me fully, moaning a little as I slide my hand up to her breast, circling her nipple through the thin fabric. It’s peaked and ready for my attentions. Christ, how many times did we have sex last night? And we’re both still this ready to go?

Forget college. This is all so much better than college.

“There never has to be a reason for day drinking. Especially after Paolo put some hot rocks on my back and rubbed me down with eucalyptus butter.” She plucks the bottle out of the ice, and we pop the cork. Drinks in hand—we should probably eat at some point, but room service exists for a reason—we sit on the bed. I mean, we have to dust some of those rose petals out of the way, because apparently they should’ve been sprinkled but I sort of balled them up and threw. Look, I’m a man. There’s only so much I can do with flowers. “So. What are we celebrating?” Charlotte cocks an eyebrow and clinks glasses with me.

Part of me wants to tell her all about the potential deal with Lee and the hotel chain, but I want to save that. If for some reason I lost my mind and Lee was merely talking about, I don’t know, getting us a discount at the poolside bar, the last thing I want is to tattoo World’s Future Best Employee on my forehead and parade around downstairs. Besides, a surprise like that would make Charlotte weak at the knees.

Though not really. She’s always had a toned, strong build.

“Your legs are very solid,” I tell her. Wow. What a killer line. Justin, you dipshit.

“Yours are also…muscular?” She snorts into her champagne. Even that’s attractive. Everything about my wife is attractive, from her solid legs to her drunken snorts. Who knew this was what marriage would be? “That’s it, huh? We’re celebrating fifteen years of good legs?”

“Well, not just that.” As she finishes her glass, I take and put it back on the tray. “There are other parts of your body that are equally as—”

“Solid?” She makes that playful, teasing face I haven’t seen since, damn, I think before Sebastian was born.

“I was going to say ‘sensual’ but whatever feels most like a compliment.” Then I lay her back down on the bed. Granted, it doesn’t go as smoothly as that image probably conjures to mind. She tilts her head and gets a face full of rose petals. One sneeze later, and the area around her head is clear. “I’m starting to think the petals were a mistake.”

“No. They’re perfect.” She traces the tips of her fingers along my cheek. My stubble is getting to a critical point, but I wouldn’t dream of shaving yet. Last night, Charlotte moaned that it felt good on the most sensitive parts of her body. I’d like a repeat performance. “Kind of like this honeymoon, which thank freaking God we finally took.”

I’ve been toying with the strap of her dress, but that stops me. “Think we should’ve done this sooner?”

She sighs, and looks up at me. “We wouldn’t have had the money until well after Sawyer was born. We were twenty-two. We couldn’t even keep ourselves in ramen, let alone get a gorgeous place like this.” She grips the front of my shirt and tugs. I cover her with my body, kiss her. “I think we did the right thing, waiting.” She kisses me, wraps her legs around my waist, and gasps in surprise. “Babe. Are you popping Viagra smoothies, or is this all an effect of the Hawaiian atmosphere?” She definitely feels me pressed against her, hard and ready to go.

“It’s an effect of you.” I prop myself on my elbows, and look into her eyes. She bites her bottom lip, an easy tell that she’s nervous. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I haven’t made you feel the way you deserve.”

“And what way is that?” She sounds so shy and uncertain.

“Wanted. Needed.” I kiss her lips, and cup her breast in my hand. “Really, really hot.”

She giggles and kisses me back, her tongue stroking the inside of my mouth. We kiss deeper, and I slide the straps of her dress down. She’s half-naked once again, and I’m more than half ready to go. She sighs as I kiss down to her breasts, taking one in my mouth and then the other.

“I thought after all these years and kids, it wouldn’t be like this anymore.”

Fuck it. While we’re being honest, I look back up at her. “I thought you were putting up with me these past couple years. After all the hell I put you through, losing my job, shutting down, I didn’t want to expect anything more than that.”

Her eyes go wide, and she gasps. “You thought that? You should have told me.” She runs her fingers through my hair. “Everyone hits a crisis now and again. Look at everything you’ve done since, with your firm, with Fraser.”

With Lee, when this deal is done.

“So. We both made a bad judgment.” I grin, feeling wicked and wild at her revelation. She doesn’t care. She wants me as badly as I want her. “What say we make up for lost time?”

Charlotte groans, and sinks back further into the bed. “I thought you’d never ask.” Then she tugs at the bottom of my shirt, and a second later it’s discarded on the floor. As I unbutton my pants, my erection impatiently waiting to be set free, she wiggles out of her sundress and panties. Then she’s spread out underneath me, round hips, perfect waist, insanely perfect breasts. I’m so hard I’m an instant from coming, so I shed the rest of my clothes and lie down on top of her, feeling the warmth of her beneath me. She gasps as I part her thighs, reach down, and slide one finger inside of her. Fuck, she’s wet and ready for me. Charlotte moans against my mouth as I palm her clit, thrusting inside of her at a slow, perfect rhythm that quickly picks up speed.

“In me. Now. Right. Please. Right now,” she gasps, pulling me closer against her. Apparently I’m so good at this I caused her to short circuit. I am a fucking god.

“Hold on.” I kiss her, positioning myself and thrusting deep inside of her. She digs her nails into my back and sighs with perfect satisfaction as I move inside her with long, powerful strokes. I prop myself up above her and start to move faster. The springs creak beneath us. Charlotte throws her head back, luxuriating. Her tits bounce in time with my thrusts. Fuck, it’s everything I can do to keep from coming right now.

“Wait. Wait,” she gasps. I still as she leans up and kisses me. “Turn over.”

She doesn’t have to ask me twice. An instant later I’m on my back, and she positions me to sink inside of her. Fuck, it’s even deeper this way. Charlotte throws her hair over her shoulder as she starts to ride me, throwing her head back as I reach up to squeeze her breasts, circle her nipples with my thumbs. Biting her lip, she rocks her hips as hard as she can, taking me all the way to the hilt.

The world turns white around me, and I bare my teeth. I’m on the verge of climax.

“I want you to come calling my name,” I tell her, reaching down to touch her clit as she rides me. Her entire body shudders, and she shrieks in response.

“Justin. Jesus, Justin. Fuck,” she gasps, shutting her eyes tight and leaning over to kiss me. I grab her wrists, pinning them to either side of me as we each pick up the pace. An instant later and she comes undone, moaning her release into my mouth as she comes. The world vanishes as I come as well, barking her name as I finish pumping inside of her. Then, we fall back in a tangle of limbs. We’re both gasping for breath, our hearts beating erratically. A few minutes later, we disentangle and lie there.

“So. More champagne?” Charlotte giggles as I kiss her neck. “Or should we finally order some food?”

“Considering we’ve burned more calories last night than we did training for the LA marathon, I’d say eggs Benedict is a must.” I lean over to the phone, to call down for room service. Charlotte nestles against me, her body still flushed and heavy with exhaustion. It’s a feeling I’ll never tire of.

“Be sure to order some toast and pineapple coulis with it.” She sighs. “Something about Hawaii and great sex make pineapple irresistible.”