“Or how about Tree?” I ask in jest. The little girl overflows with giggles, and soon, we order lunch before she falls asleep on the lounge chair next to me. I adjust the umbrella to make sure the little darling’s shaded, and then resume reading my book. Wow, just being in Bermuda is so different from life in New Jersey. Amelia and I have only been at the beach about an hour, and yet, it feels as if time has crawled to a halt. It’s as everything’s moving in slow-motion, as comfort and happiness unspool before us in a never-ending thread.
Contentment pulses lazily through my veins, and slowly, my eyes begin to droop. Before I know it, I’ve lost track of the Duke and his innocent virgin, and with the sound of waves lapping in my ears, the novel plops onto the sand next to my lounge chair. I’m not sure how long I cat nap, but then something nudges my knee and I stir.
“Tracy,” a deep voice says. “Wake up, sweetheart.”
I stir again, reluctant to leave my heavenly dream. In it, Rick Patton’s doing all sorts of naughty things to me, and I’m not quite ready to let go of that fantasy yet. But then the nudging on my knee becomes a slight push to my thigh.
“Tracy,” the man’s voice comes again. “Tell me you want this.”
I startle alert because holy shit, but that voice sounded like Mr. Patton! Is he here? But where’s Amelia?
Immediately, I bolt awake, turning to check the lounge chair next to me. But Amelia’s small body is no longer there, and I stare at Rick with terror in my eyes.
“Don’t worry,” he soothes, reading my mind. “I carried her into our bungalow and she’s sound asleep. We’re close enough so that if she wakes, we’ll hear.”
“Oh,” I pant with relief. “Thank goodness. I was so afraid that something had happened.”
The handsome man regards me, those blue eyes gleaming.
“Nothing happened, sweetheart,” he says in a low voice. “But it seems that you’ve lost your panties, Tracy,” he adds, looking down meaningfully.
I blink and then glance down at myself. What in the world? But it’s true. Somehow, during my fantasies, I wriggled out of my bikini bottoms, and the pink fabric now lies in a crumpled heap next to the lounge chair. Immediately, I slap one palm over my exposed pussy, blushing furiously.
“I don’t know how that happened!” I gasp. “It wasn’t intentional.”
Rick merely looks at me again, blue eyes amused.
“Are you sure it doesn’t have to do with your book?” he growls, one black brow arching as he nods at my romance novel. “The one calledThe Duke and His Deflowered Mistress?”
My cheeks go even hotter as I cup my mound, trying not to let this turn into a full body blush.
“Oh that,” I murmur. “Um, right.”
But Rick doesn’t look put off. If anything, the huge man takes a seat on the lounger next to me, and for the umpteenth time, I see how gorgeous he is. He’s got night-black hair and crystal-clear blue eyes that seem to see straight into my soul. Not only that, but the man has wide shoulders, a sculpted chest, and bronzed skin that seems to go on for miles. His thighs are as thick as tree trunks, and I can’t help but glance at the bulge at his crotch beneath his board shorts. OMG, he’s huge. In fact, he’s so enormous that if I’m not mistaken, that giant snake is winding around his waist right now.
“Oh,” I murmur in a faint voice. “Sorry this happened. I won’t read any more romance novels around Amelia if you don’t want.”
But Rick’s blue eyes merely flash as he takes in my nearly nude, very pregnant form.
“No, it’s fine,” he says in a low tone. “No harm, no foul. But you can make it up to me.”
“Of course,” I say in a breathless voice. “Whatever you like, Mr. Patton. Just let me get inside and put on some clothes,” I mutter, already beginning to reach for my pink bikini bottoms with one hand. But Rick’s fist catches mine in mid-air, preventing me from going any further as that big body looms next to mine, now not more than a few inches away.
“Oh, I don’t think you need to do that,” he intones in a deep voice. “In fact, I know how you can make it up to me, Tracy. I’d love to see your sweetness, if you don’t mind.”
I stare at him, the heat on my cheeks spreading down in a flush to my breasts.
“Excuse me?” I squeak. “Did you say … OMG, really?”
Rick isn’t even perturbed. Instead, the muscles on his chest tighten, and my mouth waters looking at the acres of bronzed, sculpted flesh before me.
“Yes, baby girl,” he rasps, blue eyes glinting. “I’d love to see all of you, sweetheart. Nude, right here, on the beach.”
At first, I think about saying no. I think about calling his bluff because what employer asks his pregnant babysitter to show herself off while in a public place?
But the alpha male reads my mind and shakes his head.
“This isn’t a public space, sweetheart. This beach belongs to the Rosewood, so it’s private. Not only that, but this particular little patch of sand is allocated to our bungalow, and no one else is here,” he says in a low tone thrumming with desire. “I promise it’s just us, honey, and I’ve been dying to see your wet pussy for a while now. Ever since you showed it to me last week in fact.”