Clearly, I really didn’t think this through. Mom was eyeing the two of us suspiciously, and I was starting to worry that I’d already blown our cover.
“That’s actually my fault,” Briggs cut in, and I tried to hide my surprise as I looked at him.
I had no idea what he was going to say, and it didn’t take long for me to find out.
He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’m going through a messy legal battle with my ex as I try to get full custody of our son. I asked Sage to keep our relationship on the down low so that my ex wouldn’t try to use it against me in court somehow. She’s been known to play dirty, and will use literallyanythingto show that I’m unfit or unstable. I didn’t want Sage dragged into the craziness. At least, not until we were sure that this was going somewhere.”
I stared at Briggs, wondering if that story was true. Did he really have a son that he was trying to get custody of? The story felt way too personal and specific to be randomly made up.
“So, does that mean that your relationshipisgoing somewhere?” Mom asked, her shrewd gaze on Briggs now. “Are you serious about each other?”
Briggs turned to me, and my heart was in my throat as he locked those gorgeous blue eyes on me.
“Yes,” he said, and God, he sounded like he meant it. “It’s easy to fall for a woman like Sage.”
Our connection felt way too real all of a sudden, and I had to break eye contact. Swallowing hard, I looked back at my parents and gave them a smile that I hoped portrayed the image of a woman in love. They seemed to buy it, with my dad looking happy and my mom glancing over at Cole almost apologetically.
I followed her gaze to where he was standing behind his blissfully unaware parents, glaring at Briggs. He looked so angry, and I was worried for a moment that he’d make a scene, but he didn’t. He just gritted his teeth together and clenched his fists. God, he was such a dick.
I had a feeling it was going to take a little more than a simple introduction to Briggs to make Cole back off, but I wasn’t going to worry about it right now. It was time to snorkel.
CHAPTER6
Briggs
Ididn’t like the look on Cole’s face. There was anger and jealousy, but what really bothered me was the emotion I saw swirling in the depths of his eyes.
A steely determination.
He wasn’t going to back down just because he believed Sage was in a relationship, I was sure of that. He had his sights firmly set on my girl, and knew that he was going to give us hell before this week was over. And yes, I was already beginning to think of her asmy girl.
But he didn’t know who he was messing with. I had decided last night that I wanted Sage, and every moment spent with her today solidified that conviction. Cole would just have to get over his pissy little attitude.
Everyone was getting ready to snorkel, taking off their sandals and swimsuit covers. I pulled my shirt over my head and turned to ask Sage if I could stuff it into her beach bag, but my voice got caught in my throat at the sight of her. She’d taken off her cover-up, revealing smooth, pale skin. I’d never seen a woman with such an hourglass figure in real life before, and I longed to trace the curve of her side, from her large breasts to her waist to the flare of her hips.
My mouth went dry imagining what she’d look like completely naked.
The staring wasn’t just one-sided. Sage’s eyes ran over me greedily, and I’d never been so glad that I kept in shape after leaving the Army years ago. Based on our mutual ogling, it was probably obvious to anyone paying close attention that we’d never seen each other naked before, but luckily no one noticed. Even Cole had turned away as he took off his shirt.
We all headed into the tent, where a man that had to be barely older than twenty passed out the snorkeling masks, demonstrating the proper way to put them on. I took that opportunity to help Sage with hers. First, I brushed small wisps of hair that had come loose from her bun out of her eyes and cupped her face. She leaned into my touch, and it was like the world around us disappeared. I could only see her.
I noticed that there were small flecks of gold in her brown eyes and a few freckles on her nose. They were almost too light to be seen at all, but they were cute. I tilted her head up a little, dying to kiss those full lips of hers. She sucked in a sharp breath, but before I could lean in and press my mouth to hers, Cole’s irritated voice broke us out of our spell.
“Are you two going to come snorkeling, or just make out here in the tent?”
I whipped my head around to him, ready to say a few choice words to the jerk, only to see that everyone else had their masks on and were waiting for us.
Right. Snorkeling. This wasn’t the time to kiss her.
I finished helping Sage with her mask and pulled mine on without a word. Sage was quiet too, and I wasn’t sure it was because our near-kiss in front of everyone embarrassed her or because she was disappointed it didn’t happen.
The seven of us boarded an inflated banana boat that was pulled by a jet ski. We were taken out into the ocean, far enough to get away from the people on the beach but still close enough to see the shore. Putting the mouthpiece in, we all got into the water. Sage stayed by my side as we swam at the water’s surface, our faces submerged in the water while the breathing tube stuck out above us.
I had never done this before and had no idea what to expect, but the experience was amazing. The water was so clear, and we could see all kinds of colorful fish and plant life. We kept pointing them out to one another, and I couldn’t help thinking about how easy this was, pretending to be Sage’s boyfriend.
She indicated up ahead of us, and at first I thought she was showing me a school of yellow and blue fish, but then I realized that she was gesturing to the creature behind them. It was a sea turtle. It wasn’t the one we’d watched together this morning. That one had been larger with different markings, but it was still an amazing sight.
There was so much to see beneath the surface of the water, and we swam around for about an hour. A couple of times, Sage reached out and touched me to get my attention when she wanted to show me something, meaning that her small fingers brushed against my arm, my back, and my chest. Each time, I felt a hot blast of lust for her. It was exhilarating and frustrating at the same time.