Page 97 of Royal Flush

But it paid the bills and offered a huge client list.

Sadly, the reminiscing also allowed my thoughts to drift back to the dark side. If I knew anything about mafia organizations, Santini wouldn’t take the pushback without doing exactly the same.

Until the deed was done.

She was delightfully explaining aspects of her country, making me want to visit the continent, but only with her as a tour guide.

Maybe one day we’d take a vacation there. Who knows, a honeymoon. The thought brought another laugh.

I’d known her for what, a week? And I was thinking marriage. Something had been put in the water.

Or my beer.

Yet the thought was still delicious.

It took only a few minutes more before I eased down the mostly dirt road heading toward the private beach.

She was studying me, even daring to brush her hand up and down my thigh. The little woman had no idea what I had planned.

All throughout the day.

The Jeep had barely stopped before she jumped out, laughing the entire time. After grabbing the picnic basket, towels, and the blanket, she bounded toward the ocean water. The way she barely dropped the items on the sand before racing toward the water’s edge kept me captivated. For all the years I’d had access to tropical beaches, nothing and no one had fascinated me as much as her reaction.

It was funny when I thought about it, rich and often entitled people taking the finer things in life for granted. I was one of those people, never facing poverty or being sheltered away for any reason.

What Jasmine had endured, the strength she’d developed was heartwarming.

Even to an asshole like me.

I took my time heading down to the beach, enjoying the way she was frolicking in the water, kicking the small waves with her feet. She stopped a few seconds later, facing the depth of the ocean and throwing out her arms.

As soon as I came up behind her, she slowly tipped her head over her shoulder. “You act as if you’ve never been to a beach. I thought Australia had some of the best beaches in the world.”

“We have the most incredible sea life, but for the most part my father was too busy. Besides, there’s a huge difference in where I lived and finding a secluded beach in the middle of absolute paradise.” She took a deep breath, turning all the way around to face me. Just the way she lifted her sunglasses, eyeing me with the same critical look I’d seen so many times was about to drive me crazy.

“Well, I’m certainly glad you see something different here.”

She inched closer, the coy smile I’d grown to love on her face. When she reached down quickly, scooping as much water into her hands as possible and splashing me, the laugh I issued was completely devoid of angst.

As water soaked my face and shirt, I closed my eyes. “I’ll get you for this.”

“Only if you catch me first.” She took off sprinting, turning around to face me seconds later. The way she beckoned me with a single finger pushed my cock into full arousal.

The light breeze was blowing through her hair, the sun bright in the sky and at that moment, I’d never been happier.

But of course, I refused to allow her to win a single competition with me. I took off running, finding myself laughing in the process.

“I’m going to catch you and when I do…”

“Bring it, boy toy.”

I had to admit, the girl was fast. However, I’d run track in high school. I thought it would help until she was a couple hundred feet down the beach and I’d yet to catch up to her. I sucked in my breath and willed my adrenaline to kick into overdrive.

And I managed to wrap my arms around her only seconds later, swinging her in the air as I headed deeper into the water.

“Don’t you dare,” she yelped. “If you do, so help me God.”

“Oh, yeah? Challenge accepted.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had this kind of fun. When my brothers and I were kids, we did play football occasionally in the backyard, much to the chagrin of our landscaper. We’d felt free, acting like kids. Now I better understood that some of the simplest actions in life were the most joyful.

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