PRINCE CHARMING: A Stepbrother Secret Baby Romance(67)

This is crazy. No need to be so nervous, Amy. Just go and have fun.

I put on sunglasses, looking for any excuse not to make eye contact with Ashton. I was still really flustered from the night before. Luckily, he was already in the car. I would be sitting with my mom, which I was grateful for. She scooted next to me in the seat.

“Make sure to put your seatbelt on,” she said.

“Yeah, make sure. We wouldn’t want you to projectile out of the car,” Ashton joked.

“Thanks, Ashton,” I said, not sounding the least bit thankful.

“Please.” He turned around and grinned at me. “It’s Ash. And you’re about to experience Ash Sunday, as I call it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Ash Sunday. Nice,” I said flatly. Secretly, I did think it was funny. I wasn’t going to show him that, though. I pulled out my compact to apply some lip gloss; my face was red again. Damn him.

“There’s a great coffee place up ahead,” Gary commented. “I already had a cup. Do you want any, Emma?”

“No, I’m good. Do you guys?”

Ashton looked at my mom and smiled his brilliant white smile. “Hell yeah. It’s necessary. Need that buzz, know what I mean?”

“My Amy can’t function without coffee,” my mother joked.

We stopped at the shop, which was the coolest coffee place I’d ever seen. The front was painted black, and the entrance to the store was in the middle of a giant painted coffee cup. Inside, paintings and ads for local events and mic nights filled the walls. Not surprisingly, it was also crowded. Ash followed me inside.

“Let’s just go,” I said. “We can go somewhere else. It’s too crowded in here.”

“Nah. This place has the best coffee. Let me handle it. Hey, Kelsey!” he called.

One of the baristas looked over and smiled brightly. She was really attractive, with dark brown hair and pretty, tanned skin. I felt a tinge of jealousy. Who was she? Did he know her? Had they hooked up? I scolded myself for thinking these things.

“This girl needs a coffee,” he said, standing behind me and gripping my shoulders. I nearly fell over from the tingle of his touch.

“Gotcha. What does she want?” Kelsey asked with a friendly wink.

“What do you want?” he said in my ear, barely more than a whisper.

My heart raced even more than it would be after I had my caffeinated beverage. I gulped. “Iced coffee. Small. Cream and sugar. With vanilla.”

“Small iced coffee, cream and sugar, with vanilla,” he called out. “And I’ll have my usual espresso.”

The people standing in line in front of us looked very annoyed. I couldn’t believe he was able to get what he wanted like that! Still, I was a little intrigued. Kelsey bustled over to us and gave Ash and I the coffees. He shoved a twenty in her hand, which covered far more than the cost of the coffee.

“I don’t need change. We gotta bolt,” he said.

I followed him out the door, a bit taken aback. “I guess you come here a lot, then? Thanks,” I said, my voice quivering again.

“You know, it’s really cute when your voice does that shaky thing.”

“Right,” I said, trying not to sound as nervous and impressed as I was. I took a sip of my coffee and got in the car. Ash followed, and the rest of our journey was pleasant despite the longing that crept up between my legs.

We finally reached the Hamptons, and the beach house was beautiful, maybe even as pretty as one of my mom’s bed and breakfast places. It was a white condo, much like Gary’s other house upstate. The first floor had a glass dining room with a view of the ocean. On the inside, everything was sea-themed.

Ash and I, luckily, did not share a bathroom here. I carried my luggage upstairs and put my lacy pink bathing suit on under some black boy shorts and a pink tank top. My flip-flops made clacking noises on the stairs as I walked down. My mother and Gary were standing at the door.

“You guys get to know each other while we head into town,” my mom suggested.

Ash came out of the kitchen and smiled. He wore a tight muscle shirt that showed off his arms and some beach shorts. He looked so hot I couldn’t help but stare. His voice dropped seductively, and I wondered if I was the only one who noticed. “Sounds like a great idea to me.”

“We’ll be back around four with some food for dinner. Sandwiches,” Mom said.

“O-okay,” I stammered, “gotcha.”

I looked at my mom and Gary as they gazed lovingly at each other. They were too damn enamored with their own love to notice the sexual tension that practically rolled off of Ash and me in waves. They closed the door behind them, and Ash and I stood, alone, in an uncomfortable silence.

“I’ll show you the beach. I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. It’s the best,” he offered.

“Okay. I mean, that actually sounds good.” My heart hammered out of control as I followed him out the door. The warm breeze of the day smoothed my hair, and I could almost taste the saltiness of the ocean in the air.

“So you like the beach, huh?” Ash asked.

“Yeah. I do. It reminds me of being a kid—when my parents were still together.” I instantly regretted telling him that because I wasn’t ready to open up to anyone. Strangely, though, he had that effect on me; I could say whatever. Maybe it was because he was so uninhibited. Nothing I could say would be a shock to someone like him.