Page 59 of A Quick Stop in Paradise

Brooklyn put a hand to her forehead. “Lovely. Allison’s going to have an amazing time with this.”

“I feel like I should apologize. My family being here has made everything… exciting.”

She flicked a loaded gaze my way, a smirk tugging at her lips, and my stomach dropped when she put a hand on my thigh, snaking across the center console and laying possessively there. “I’m not at all sad you’re here,” she said, her voice low and heavy. “Allison’s loss, as it happens, is rather my gain.”

I laughed nervously, my mind not on much other than Brooklyn’s hand on me.Seriously?We’d had sex twice today. Was it really that easy for her to turn me onagain?“I’ll tell her you said so.”

“Oh, be my guest. She loves an excuse to be mad at me. Anyway… shall we get back for some proper showers before we get our clothes shopping in and not think about Allison or your sister for the rest of the night?”

“If you have your hand there while you’re inviting me to take a shower, I might… not… make it to clothes shopping tonight.”

She laughed, and—my heart shot off to the moon when she moved her hand away, only to bend over and press a kiss to my thigh right where she had it, sitting back upright in her seat. “Good point,” she said, buckling in and taking the wheel. “Let’s get to business.”

Great. Now I’d just bethinkingabout it the whole time.

God. Since when was I so horny?

Well—since Brooklyn, I guess. I couldn’t blame myself.

Chapter 16

Brooklyn

It was a bright and beautiful day the next day, and I’d much rather have spent it out around the island together with the girl who sat front and center in all my thoughts than stand here tending the bar on a slow, boring afternoon, but Greer was a hard taskmaster.

I wasn’t the only one bored out of her brains right now, either, judging by the way my coworker Laura was slumped over the bar, staring longingly at the pool.

“I would sell my soul to be in that water right now instead of over here,” Laura said, as overdramatic as ever. I wouldn’t recognize her if she spent one second of her life being normal.

“Nobody wants your soul, Laura.”

“Aren’t you bored to death? What do we have a two-floor right now for?”

I didn’t look away from where I was wiping down the racks behind the bar. “Because if we had a one-floor then suddenly everyone at the resort would decide to come here and order margaritas all at once.”

“That sounds more fun than this. And don’t pretend you don’t want to be somewhere else right now too!” She stood up, spinning around and leaning back against the bar. “I heard rumors you’re keeping busy with some cutie staying at the resort.”

“Technically, incorrect,” I said, setting the Hennessy back in its spot and turning to face her, leaning against the bar and wiping the sweat off my neck, the sun beating down hard. “She’s not staying at the resort anymore.”

Laura raised her eyebrows, hands going up. “Because she’s staying in your bed?”

“Because her family’s staying here, and they’re shitty.” I paused. “And because she’s staying in my bed. Lucky me.”

“See?” She clapped her hands together. “You don’t want to be here either, you want to be off fucking.”

“If you’re asking if I’d rather be working a slow day at the bar or having sex with a hot woman, then yeah, actually, you’re right, I would pick the second. Can you make yourself useful and clean the floors in the back?”

She made a face like I’d just asked her to jump off a cliff, pleading with her hands. “Ah, Brooklyn, no.”

“Go, go. If it’s still quiet when you’re done then I’ll pretend I don’t see it when you go spend fifteen dipping your feet in the pool with a drink.”

That did the trick. Laura took off so fast that I knew the floors would be half-assed, but whatever. Greer wasn’t in today, so the standards were officially lower. Of course, I traded one troublesome woman out for another, because I’d barely lost sight of Laura around the corner before Allison slid into a seat at the bar across from me, looking suspiciously cheerful.

“Hey, Brooklyn,” she said, her voice bright. “How’s stuff with you and Ryan?”

I was normally subtler than this, but I guess I was in a dangerous mood today, because I folded my arms on the bar, leaning towards her, and I said, “You’re in a good mood. Stella came around and you got to flirt with your hopeless straight crush?”

Allison’s soul visibly left her body, face going a deep kind of violet-tinged pink as she tensed up. “What—do you—huh? Who? Stella? What do you, uh… what?”

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