Beauty from Pain (Beauty, #1)(68)
“I know.”
“You’ve stayed here before?”
“Many times.” I feel the question she doesn’t ask and I answer it. “But always alone. You’re the only one I’ve brought here.” I want her to know she’s the first and only.
She sits on the bed and falls back across the mattress. “Your boss has great taste.”
I look at the beautiful woman sprawled across my bed. “I agree.”
“What are we going to do first?”
Now is the only time I have to go into town for Laurelyn’s gift before tomorrow. “I have to go out to the vineyard for a quick visit. I should only be gone a couple of hours.” She frowns at my news. “This is still a business trip for me, but don’t worry. We’ll have plenty of time for fun.”
“I’m ready to hit the beach.”
“You can go while I’m gone, but I don’t want you to go into the water while you’re alone.”
She pokes her bottom lip out. “Boo.”
“I know you’re a big girl, but it’s still the ocean. Sometimes unexpected things happen and I’d feel better about you not going in by yourself.”
“I get it.”
She sits up and I kiss her. “I’ll be back before you know it. Don’t forget to wear sunscreen. I don’t need you burned for what we’re going to be doing while we’re here.”
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I don’t find Laurelyn’s gift right away, so I’m gone longer than I anticipate. When I return to the house, I leave her gift in the car’s glove box. I want her to think I’m clueless about her birthday since she hasn’t mentioned it.
I walk around to the beach and see Laurelyn’s towel on the lounger where she was lying, but no sign of her. I call her name several times without a response. Where is she?
Deciding she is probably inside, I open the front door and shout her name several times without a reply.
Would she have gone into the water after I asked her not to? I know the answer. Yes, she would. The moment I answer my own question, I dash toward the beach and shout her name. I hear panic in my voice and feel it in my chest as I search the water. I don’t see a sign of her anywhere.
I hear my name in the distance and I turn to see her walking along the beach’s edge. She’s wearing a bright red bikini. How did I miss that? I’m flooded with instant relief and that’s when I notice my hands trembling. She lifts her hand to wave and I lift my shaky one to return the greeting. I sit on the lounger to wait on her because my knees are threatening to buckle beneath me.
I’m calmed, or at least appear to be, by the time she reaches me. I hold my arms out for her to come sit across my lap. I pull her close and bury my face in her hair.
“Wow, someone really missed me while he was gone. Is everything okay?”
“It is now.” I forgo telling her about my near breakdown when I couldn’t find her.
“Good.” She reaches for the buttons on my shirt and begins unfastening them. “You, sir, are overdressed. Go change into your trunks and swim with me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
When I come out of the house, she’s already shoulder deep in the clear blue water so I don’t get to feast my eyes on her in the skimpy red bikini. “You just couldn’t wait, could you?”
“Nope. It’s been calling to me for hours and now I’m not alone, so I didn’t break your rule.”
I toss my towel next to hers and walk out to meet her in the ocean. She swims over and puts her arms around my shoulders. “I’ve never been anywhere so beautiful. Thank you for bringing me.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s going to bring you some.”
“Oh, is it?”
“The eight ball says chances are good.” She kisses my mouth and rests her forehead against mine. “Do you come here often?”
“I try to make rounds on Aurelia at least once a month during the summer.”
“Why do you always come alone?”
“I’ve never been with anyone I wanted to bring. Until you.”
“Oh.” That’s all she says and doesn’t press it further.
When we’re tired of swimming, we come out of the water to relax on the loungers. She’s stretched out with one of her long legs bent.
“I want to take you into town for dinner.”
“Okay.”
“Maybe dancing afterwards?”
“Sure, that sounds like fun.”
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After dinner at a romantic café, I take Laurelyn to a dance club I noticed when buying her birthday present. Lights flash around us in the dark and it’s packed shoulder to shoulder. It’s not really the relaxed dancing I had in mind, but she seems happy about being here.
She grabs my arms and we move toward the dance floor. The music is loud and there’s a fast song playing. Laurelyn moves to it like it’s something she’s done a million times.
“Go out dancing much?”
“Yeah. Addison and I hit the dance scene in Nashville a lot.”
She turns her back to me and grabs my hands. She places them on her hips and backs up until her whole body is rubbing against mine as she dances. She knows what she’s doing to me. She can feel the evidence grinding against her ass.