Page 39 of Grand Escape

“You sure?”

“Of course. I don’t even know the guys who are throwing this party, or how to get there on my own, so I’m at your mercy. Plus, your taking a shower is a good sign you’re not going to make me run there.”

“Ha-ha,” she said over her shoulder as she headed toward the bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Expecting to be waiting a while, I pulled out my phone.

To pass the time, I dove into an email from Cal summarizing a case we had coming up, a typical Hamptons situation. The wife of a wealthy music executive moved out there for the summer and fell for the chef at the local restaurant. She wanted a divorce and the house in the Hamptons, plus half of everything else. He’d give it to her because of the kids ... and because he probably had his own version of the chef in the city.

When Rylan reappeared, I couldn’t have cared less about the details of the email. Standing there wearing a light pink sundress, her hair wet and falling down her back, and flip-flops on her feet, she looked good enough to eat.

“Ready?” she asked as if I’d been waiting days.

Speechless, I was unable to move as I stared at this wonderful woman.

“What? Do you want to stay here now?”

“No,” I said, jumping up. “I was taking in how beautiful you look.”

Without a warning or asking for permission, I pulled Rylan in for a kiss. She smelled like coconuts and tasted like mint. She didn’t worry about me messing up her makeup, probably because she wasn’t wearing any.

Her body melded into mine, her hand sliding to my ass and finding purchase. I could tell she’d pushed up on her tiptoes to get closer, and it made my ego soar.

I found myself walking her backward toward a wall, where we both sought friction, grinding our midsections and twisting tongues. Her dress rode up and my palm took advantage of the misbehaving garment, running a path up her smooth thigh.

She hitched her leg around my waist, and I pressed my length into her. The moan that came out of my mouth was unavoidable. I held her slight leg in place, feeling her muscles flex, and my mind wandered to how hot she’d look in a tennis skirt. Her other hand ran up my arm and to my neck, where her thumb stroked lightly over my pulse.

“Ry,” I whispered. “I don’t want to stop, but we have to go.”

She didn’t say anything at first, but her head fell to the side, and she slid her foot back to the floor.

“Can we put a pin in it until later this evening?” I asked. “I think I recall hearing you’re off tomorrow.”

She nodded.

“This time it’s happening,” I said, pinching her cheek and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. “For sure.”

“Let’s get you to West Bay and back here, okay?” She ran her palm down her dress, smoothing any wrinkles, and slipped her foot back into the flip-flop that had fallen off.

“West Bay or bust,” I said, joking when I really wanted bust.

“You have the address?” she asked as we walked out of her villa.

“I do. Can I text it to you?”

I took her hand in mine and we walked side by side, my earlier depressing thoughts gone.

“Is that your way of asking for my number?” she asked.

“I guess so.”

“We have to work on your moves, Ad.”

Hearing a shortened version of my name roll off her tongue hit me in the gut. I was about to profess some major feelings for the bartender with no big life aspirations—her sentiment, not mine—when Tony drove up. Hopping out, he tossed a set of keys our way.

Rylan caught them and gave me a smug grin. “I get to borrow the Jeep.”

“He likes you way better than me,” I said before running around to open her door.

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