Page 70 of Seeing You

Ash gave her hand another squeeze. “Absolutely! Tell me about what kind of cake I’m allowed to have today!”

For two days, she did her best to go on with life as usual. But when she got home late on Wednesday afternoon, there were several packages piled up on her doorstep.

“What the heck did I order?”

Looking at them, there were handwritten notes on them. The top one said, “Open first.”

Before she did, she unlocked the door and carried them all inside. “Okay, this is a little weird.” Although, her heart skipped a beat because she recognized Marcus’s handwriting.

The first box had instructions for aSpotifyplaylist. So, she pulled out her phone and entered the link and came to a tropical music playlist along with sounds of the ocean.

“Interesting…”

The second box contained a giant fruit basket containing coconuts, pineapple, papaya, and mangoes.”

“Ooh…yummy!”

Box number three was heavy and when she opened it, she found a five-pound bag of beach sand. She knew it wasn’t from Hawaii because that was illegal. Still, it went along with the theme.

Next was a box containing scented candles. “Tropical Sea Breeze Scented Candle,” she read.

Bless his heart, he was giving her a taste of Hawaii.

The last box contained a bikini, a pair of men’s swim trunks, and a couple of leis. She was admiring them when her doorbell rang. Smiling, she ran over to it, and almost squealed with delight when she found him standing there smiling with two tropical drinks in his hands.

“I thought I’d bring a little of your dream destination to you.”

Taking the drinks from his hands, she put them down on the nearest surface before jumping into his arms and kissing him. They both moaned with pleasure as he stepped inside, kicking the door shut behind him. It wasn’t until they collapsed onto the sofa that they broke apart.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, feeling like her heart was ready to burst.

“Dad has a couple of doctor appointments he can’t get to on his own and Max still isn’t available, so I made arrangements to come back for a few days.”

“A few days?”

“I need to be back Friday morning for an important client meeting, and I’ll probably end up working through the weekend to get caught back up. I know we said our goodbyes, but…”

“I’m really glad you’re here and I love all the gifts! Very creative.” She kissed him again until they were both panting. “I’m all for the music, the fruit, the bathing suits, drinks, and leis, but I’m not pouring out the sand anywhere,” she teased. “Way too messy.”

“I totally get it. There’s an insulated bag out on the front porch with our dinner. A little Hawaiian chicken. I couldn’t resist.”

“I love it!” Scrambling off his lap, she ran to the door and grabbed the bag. “I don’t know how you managed all of this in two days, but I’m seriously impressed.”

Together they moved to the kitchen. “Any chance I can convince you to put on the bikini now?” Standing behind her, his hands on her hips, he kissed her throat. “If you put on yours, I’ll put on mine. Maybe we can put a blanket down on the living room floor and picnic with the bag of sand beside us and pretend it’s the beach.”

It wasn’t practical, but it was so clever, how could she say no?

“Deal! The playlist is pulled up on my phone, we can use the blanket over there on the back of the sofa, I’m going to go and change, and then you can go do the same…”

“Or we can change together,” he smoothly suggested.

Laughing, Billie ran her hands over his chest. “Then we’ll never get to the beach.”

Hauling her up over his shoulder, he joined her with his own laughter. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take!”

As predicted, it took a lot longer to get changed, but she wasn’t sorry about it. Marcus had thoroughly—and quickly—seduced her. She felt utterly boneless as she lay on the bed, breathless and a little sweaty. “I wouldn’t mind a dip in the ocean right about now.”

“We could take a bath together, or maybe a quick shower?” Turning his head toward her, he was sprawled out just as naked and breathless as she was.

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