He rolls his eyes and walks out, and I shake my head, smiling a little to myself. Bizarre as that was, I wouldn’t even know how to have a conversation of any kind with my father.
I called to tell them they ruined my sex life, and my parents never called me back even for the sake of curiosity.
My father, however, did send me an itinerary full of very important social events I was supposed to add to my calendar. As a tiny act of rebellion, I haven’t added them. Yet. Yeah, I’m a total rebel.
Monica, Kasha’s mother, walks in, smiling brightly. I used to think her cold and indifferent like my mother. Now I realize she was just sad and missing her daughter.
“Morning, girls,” Monica says as she passes, moving lithely through the door like an elegant queen.
Roger and Heath stand when she walks out, and Heath pulls out her chair for her before kissing her cheek. She kisses him back and speaks to Kasha’s father across the table.
I see through the window when Bobby Jo eyes her.
“So, Bobby Jo is really cool?” Kasha asks me, drawing me away from my creepy people watching.
Moving to lean on the kitchen island across from her, I answer, “Yeah. She’s always been nice to me. But if your mom feels a prick in her vagina, let me know. I’ll see to it that you get that doll.”
At her blank stare, I realize how ridiculous I might sound.
My social skills suck even around Kasha. Sigh.
“Okay,” she finally says with a shrug, eyes still a little confused.
She walks out to join the others at the same time that I feel a finger trail down my back. Only the thin shirt I’m wearing serves as a buffer, but I still feel the heat licking my skin down my spine.
Warm breath fans my cheek as Anderson leans over me, and I suck in a shaky breath when he reaches past me to grab one of the coffee cups that’s laid out. I practically feel his smile when his lips brush my ear.
From my peripheral, I can see the table full of our friends just outside the massive bay windows, and I can’t help but wonder if they see him pressed so close to me.
I sort of haven’t spoken to him since Kasha blurted out that humiliating secret of mine. Hopefully, it was vague enough that he didn’t figure it out.
“You disappeared last night,” he murmurs, pressing even closer to me from behind.
Trying to act composed, I stare at the marble countertop.
“I was just trying to be a good friend to Lydia, since she was sort of feeling guilty for—”
I shut up, because talking about a broken dick just doesn’t seem like breakfast conversation.
He chuckles under his breath and remains far too close for me to think properly.
“Everyone is going out after we finish up some water fun. I was thinking we’d come back here and…” He lets the words trail off as he moves my hair back and presses a soft, barely-there kiss to my neck. Just enough to make me shiver.
“And?” I ask on a very embarrassing breathy whisper.
“And work,” he says while straightening.
His heat is suddenly gone from my back, eliciting an empty chill when he moves to the coffee maker to make himself a cup. A daring, mischievous grin sits on his lips while he devotes his attention to that damn thing.
This is Anderson Harper in his element. Tempting women to turn into stumbling, bumbling idiots, no matter if they’re smart or not under normal circumstances.
Now I’m glad he never tried to seduce me when we were younger. I’d have fallen down the same rabbit hole as everyone else, and ended up broken.
Has he really changed though?
“Work sounds great,” I deadpan, and he grins bigger, never looking at me while he finishes up with his coffee.
I half wonder if the secrecy and hints of the forbidden of our entire…whatever this is…is the reason he’s even chasing me. Considering his past and all.
When he goes out to join everyone else, I take another deep breath, and turn around to go back upstairs. If he’s going to play games, I need to up my game.
Dating rules are much like my women-in-corporate-America rules. And number four is to never give the men too much power, or they’ll always be the ones in charge of your interactions.
Now my one-piece under my t-shirt and jeans will definitely not do for the day, since Anderson is going to tease.
When I’m inside my room, I look at the sexiest bikini I brought. I’ve never even worn it. It was too pretty not to buy, but way too indecent for me to ever have the nerve to wear it.
But…game on.
After changing into the skimpy bikini and pulling on a simple yet somewhat sexy cover-up, I grab my phone, headphones, and lady balls, then head downstairs to finally join breakfast.