I shot him a cocky smile. “You remembered my mission statement.”
He didn’t smile back, and I was glad he didn’t know where Maddie had spent the night last night. Not that we’d done anything, but still, taken out of context, it wouldn’t look very good for any of us. “Just lay off her,” Doug said.
I nodded, indicating that I’d lay off her even though I sincerely wished I could lay on her. Or under her. Or next to her. No wait, I actually had done that last one this morning. Too bad I’d been asleep for most of it.
Doug let the subject drop, as well as the volleyball when Brock returned his serve with a powerful spike. He didn’t bring it up for the rest of the game, but his words bounced around my head. Were we on the verge of corrupting Maddie?
She was nice and possibly a tad on the naïve side, but she also had a core of strength. She’d caught me off guard a couple of times with it. Like this morning, when she’d made us turn around so she could take off her shirt. At the time, I felt like shit, sure that we’d pushed her too far. But then I’d been impressed once we found out it was all a setup so that she could nail us with her wet t-shirt. Plus she’d rescued Jessie from the Annas.
She had spirit. And a brain. Combine both those things with that body, and there was no way I could stay away.
I had a feeling I knew two other people who felt the same way.
10
Maddie
“This is heaven,” Gina said with a sigh.
“The drinks?” I asked. A few minutes ago, a server from the resort had delivered cocktails with fresh fruit in them. We hadn’t even ordered them, but they were amazing.
“Yes,” Gina said with a contented sigh. “And the water.”
“And the temperature.” The day was warm, but there was a cool ocean breeze that tickled my skin.
“Then there’s the entertainment,” Gina said with a giggle.
“It sure beats the hell out of watching TV,” I agreed as Brock ran forward, dove to the ground, his arms outstretched, the muscles of his bare back rippling. A fraction of a second before the ball would’ve hit the sand, he got his hands underneath it and sent it back up in the air. Then Doug, who had returned to his best man’s team, hit the ball lightly up in the air. Brock was somehow on his feet again, and he spiked it hard onto the other side. Both Jessie and Kincade ran for it, nearly colliding into each other, but they couldn’t get it before it touched the ground just inside the line. “Was that the match point?”
Gina shrugged. “Who knows? All I know is that they look good. Really good.”
“Hell yeah they do,” I said, an involuntary moan slipping into my voice. Then I laughed.
“What?” Gina peered at me from over her sunglasses.
“I was just thinking about Aunt Tara.”
“It’s a shame she couldn’t come.” She was the one recovering from shoulder surgery.
“Yeah, but don’t you remember what her favorite movie is—and why?”
Gina began to giggle too. “Oh my god, you’re right. Top Gun. She used to watch the volleyball scene over and over and over.”
“I’m beginning to understand why she liked it so much.” To my mind, the guys in front of us were way more attractive than any movie star. “When did she first show it to you?”
Gina thought about it. “A few years after I hit puberty.”
“Me too,” I giggled. “And then every time we slept over.”
“Who knew that all that time, she was preparing us to appreciate this moment?”
I grinned as I resumed watching the game. There was a hell of a lot to appreciate. All four of the men were bare-chested and ripped as hell. Watching them made my skin overheat. Hell, it threatened to make my whole body overheat. Good thing I had the nice cool cocktail to calm me down.
Gina cheered as Doug scored a point. “Good one, honey.” She turned to me. “For a guy who never plays sports anymore, he’s pretty athletic.”
That reminded me of something. “Didn’t you tell me before that Doug was on the swim team in high school?”
“Yeah. They won the state championship—the only private school to do so.”
They. “So Brock and Kincade and Doug were on the team as well?”
“Yes.”
That explained a lot. I still couldn’t stop thinking about the way they’d tricked me this morning. Jessie and Kincade had swum so badly I was half afraid I’d have to rescue them. And all that time, they were champion swimmers. I still couldn’t believe I fell for it. Probably I should’ve been mad at them for conning me out of my shirt, but part of me had been kind of… turned on. I couldn’t explain it, really, but they’d worked as a team and they’d gotten what they wanted. And what they’d wanted was to see me without my shirt.