We knew the truth underneath it all, though. We’d seen him close to breaking point when he couldn't keep things together. When he had those moments of fragility, we, his family, would always be there to pick him up and set him back on track.
A puff of breath escaped my mouth in a cloud of steam. “This is… this isthe best.Truly the best. I can hardly believe I’m here.”
“We can’t wait to show you more,” Harris said. “London’s one of my favorite places.”
“It’s been so long since I was last here.” Royce rested his hands against the railing. “I can’t exactly say I’ve missed it since there’s not a beach in sight, and the Brits barely know how to kneel on a surfboard.”
“Oi, neither do I.” I poked my tongue out at him
Royce smirked. “Jack and I could teach you if you let us.”
All my playfulness fell away. “One thing at a time.”
It was only a month or so ago that I’d stepped into the ocean for the first time in the three years since Alex passed. My fear of it stemmed from his drowning. Finally, my need to be closer to my two beach hunks and immerse myself in their world had grown stronger than my terror, if only slightly, and I had stood in the sea by Wayborough Beach completely naked. There was a considerable distance between that and getting on a surfboard, though.
“Right now, let’s get you back inside. I can hear your teeth chattering, Lou.” Tate kissed my hair, and we ambled back inside with his jacket still around me.
Byron went to start the fire as Eric closed the house up again.
“Go and pick a bed and get into it. Warm up.” Tate gestured to a second staircase.
It took me to a hallway with doors to five different bedrooms, each with king-size beds and ensuites. I chose one with a metallic yellow comforter and a dark brown accent wall.
Setting my purse on the bedside table, I turned my cell phone on. Then I shed my damp jeans and cream T-shirt, eager to take the chill off, and slid under the covers. The sheets were crisp and the blankets warm. And as I settled back, the pillow beneath my head was so soft, I felt as though I would fall asleep right away.
Eric shed his shirt and jeans, then slid into the bed beside me. “Stay awake, Lou. Jet lag’s a bitch, isn’t it?”
I inched over to him and buried my face into the crook of his neck. “Just a couple of minutes.”
“No,” he mumbled the word out, and when I lifted my gaze to look at him, he was closing his eyes.
“No sleeping, now,” I teased, digging my fingers into his ribs.
He jolted awake and wrapped his hand around my wrist. “There’ll be none of that, Lou-Lou.”
“This is an interesting development. My sexy fireman is ticklish.” I repeated the motion.
With a laugh, he tore my hand off him and pushed me onto my back, effectively pinning me beneath him. Then he was devouring my neck. Goosebumps rose across my skin as we laughed together.
A shaky breath tumbled out of me when his neck kisses became more precise. “God, you turn me on, Eric.”
“Hmm…” His lips covered mine, and he kissed me languidly. “You do the same to me, Louisa.”
He settled between my legs as I parted them, and I could feel his dick growing hard behind his boxer briefs and accepted his mouth again. Before I knew it, I was tugging his underwear off when my cell phone trilled.
“I’ll leave it,” I mumbled.
Eric looked at it. “I think it’s Sienna.”
I pulled my lips from him and crawled out from under him with an excited gasp.
“Oh, I see how it is,” Eric teased.
He wrapped both arms around me as I picked up the phone and leaned back against his hard body. “Sienna?”
“Lou! Are you here?”
“We are.”