Page 44 of Unspoken Promises

“Good idea.”

When I come back from the bathroom all changed into my bikini top and loose shorts, I see Enzo’s face come alive. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to change before leaving.

It was agreatidea.

I know I shouldn’t want it. I know it puts my whole life’s plot line at risk to want that man’s lust focused on me. But the hunger in his eye when I walk into the room wearing the emerald-green bikini top, my God, does it make me feel invincible.

After our tourof the stables and seeing horses that live in better quarters than most of the country, we head over the beautifully manicured lawns from the stables and to what I can only call the recreation area of the ranch. From there, I can faintly see the pastures beyond that set into and take up the hills feeding the romantic Diablo Range.

It’s late in the day but the sun isn’t ready to set, and I’m so hot I hope there are people actually in the pool at this party. Not that I know how to even doggie paddle but I’m sure there’s a shallow end. If I could just dip half my body in water it would thank me.

But of course, we get to said party, and the only people in the water are four guys playing chicken, and they were ones from the stables who eyed me up like a piece of meat, so there’s no way I’m going near them again in this bikini. It didn’t feel good when they scanned me from top to bottom. It didn’t make me feel commanding the way Enzo’s attention did. No, quite the opposite, I knew they were trouble.

There are at least fifty people in the vast entertainingspace. The pool must be sixty, seventy feet long, and there’s a guest house and lounge chairs lining the two long sides. Framing the space is an outdoor kitchen with two giant gas grills, a sink, tables, and lots of lounge outdoor couches. It’s an epic space for a party, and something tells me it was Santi’s idea to have this on the ranch. He’s a real ball of energy.

From afar I spy my new bestie, Luis, cooking with his sons in the kitchen, which is also the only real shaded area available.

“I need to get out of this sun. I don’t even think that factor fifty works on me,” I tell Penelope and Callum.

“And I need to get where the food is,” Callum adds. “Smells incredible already, but then Santi knows how to do a mean steak and burger.”

As we get closer, Enzo and his impeccable body come into view. His round, strong shoulders lead into cut biceps. His chest is manly with pecs a woman could sink her claws into just before biting into his six-pack. I know he boxes for workouts, and it shows. Heisa show. All he has on is a pair of green swim trunks that I think might have palm trees on them but if I stare any longer to find out it will be obvious I want to know what exactly there is underneath.

“Like something you see?” Pen whispers in my ear.

Guess it already was.

Thankfully, Callum didn’t notice me ogling Enzo since he’s already walking over to where Santi has a pair of tongs lifted in his direction in way of greeting. At that, Enzo glances up briefly from his task of setting out packages of buns on a table and catches my eye. My shorts are stuffed in Penelope’s tote bag, and I have a lot less on than the last time he saw me.

I offer a gentle wave, and his response is him rolling hislips, giving me something of a welcoming smile and going back to the task of setting the table out.

He and his brothers are a threesome of tanned skin, toned abs, and tattoos working in the kitchen. Just then, Luis turns from his station at one of the grills and opens his arms, flipper poking out to the side and nearly clipping a guest in the shoulder.

“Ava! You made it!”

Callum has gone over to Santi to give him a fist bump and likely talk about the horses we just saw. It’s crowded in the kitchen area where the snacks are. The party only started forty minutes ago, but it seems like people have been drinking here for hours.

Wow. Am I really here now? Just a few months ago, I never thought something like this would happen. I never thought I’d be at a party with raucous laughter and loud conversation and sunshine and pop songs playing in the background. I never thought I’d smell a grill filling the air with the scent of charcoal and sweet barbeque. It’s a teenage dream come true to be here— right from my new friend lending me a bathing suit to the splash of a young man’s cannonball wetting the sides of my calves.

I’d pinch myself but I don’t ever want to wake up.

Maybe if I did, I’d wake up back in Oregon.

The thought jolts me. I’ve been getting so comfortable here I keep believing I really am Ava Scott. I’m not yet. And I’d be good to remember that. Not that I haven’t been working hard to trace these hackers at GhostEye. I’ve been staying up most nights just to figure it out. I need to find them.

Then I can ask Enzo to help me.

Then I’ll actually beScottie. Damn, I love it when he calls me that.

Pen and I have to negotiate through the throng of hungry stable hands, coming and going from the many coolers of beer and sodas, crowding the tables, vying for handfuls of salty snacks after a long day of working in the sun. I put my hands in the air to make myself thinner through a group lost in conversation, and just when I’m about to pass my boss, some guy accidentally backs into me while reaching out for some pretzels.

I stumble right into Enzo. He catches his arm around my back, but I fall into him anyway, and before I know it, our bare skin is pressed against each other. He’s hot and dewy, my boobs are crushed against his firm chest, and the skin-on-skin feeling of his stomach is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It sends my heart fluttering and my core heavy. I’m embarrassed and turned on at the same time. There’s nothing in between his palm and my heartbeat that pounds hard enough to be felt through my back. I’m sure he can feel how charged I am. My senses are heightened and buzzing, I feel it all as if we’re in slow motion. The way his stomach breathes against mine. The juicy, thick bulge pressing through what I now know are indeed palm trees, and right into the top of my thigh.

I should press myself off him, but as much as I want to, I’m afraid to put my hands on his naked skin. My response to this closeness is obvious. My nipples are rock-hard, and this thin, green fabric will do nothing to hide it.

Enzo slides his hands along my rib cage to my arms. It’s not meant to be sensual, I’m sure he would never do that, but his hands on my skin will be the first thing I think of later tonight when I slip my fingers under the covers. Fuck. I should not let myself be drawn in like this. I still need him to help me. I can’t get derailed because I’m sexually repressed.

Ugh. He’s so damn hot.

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