Coldhearted Boss(71)
He laughs and then his hand comes up to cup my cheek. Our eyes meet and there’s such tender affection in his gaze, it gives me hope.
“I’m not perfect, Ethan, but I’m not a bad person either. The truth is, I thought you were the most handsome man I’d ever seen before I thought of my harebrained idea. I wanted you, and not as some potential target. You have to know that. I don’t blame you if you never forgive me or if you never fully trust me, but at least now you’ve heard my side.”
“I forgive you,” he says, his brows furrowed angrily. “Taylor, of course I forgive you.”
“And you don’t think I took your money, right? You believe me about that as well?” I ask, knowing this is my chance to clear this up.
“The money was gone when I got my wallet back.”
I go rigid in his arms. “I didn’t take it! I swear to—”
He silences me with a kiss.
“I believe you. It was probably the bartender.”
“Of course!” I say, slapping his chest with the realization.
That jerk!
“Take me back to shore and give me your keys. I have a bone to pick with that guy.”
“It’s the middle of the night,” he says, wading back. “We’re going to sleep.”
My eyes go wide. “Together?”
“Together,” he confirms, carrying me up and out of the lake. “I have Isla’s tent. There’s even an air mattress.”
“Sounds like the Four Seasons. What the hell are we waiting for?”
Chapter 27
Ethan
Taylor and I race back to that tent with the blanket wrapped around us and her t-shirt and underwear clutched to her chest. We could have gotten dressed back at the lake, but I wouldn’t let us. I want her again, and as soon as that zipper hits the ground, I toss her back onto the air mattress and climb on top of her.
She laughs and then immediately covers her mouth, realizing we’re surrounded by my friends on all sides.
“Be as quiet as you can,” I taunt, yanking her t-shirt away and throwing it behind us. Her full breasts beg to be licked, so I lean down and take one in my mouth, stifling a groan.
Her hands wrap around my neck and this time, in the tent, it’s rough and fast and I come in my swim trunks because I still don’t have a condom, but that doesn’t stop us. We sneak off to the bathroom to clean up as best we can, but we weren’t fooling anyone. Our whispered laughter is not whispered at all.
“Will you two keep it down?! We’re trying to sleep!” Jace shouts sometime near dawn.
It’s no surprise that Taylor tries to slink out of the tent as soon as the sun starts to rise.
I catch her arm, my eyes still closed. “Where are you going?”
“To the cabin, so I can pretend I was there all night.”
“No.”
“But I should be there before Isla wakes up, that way—”
“No,” I say, dragging her back against me and snaking my hand up under her t-shirt. Fuck. She feels good. Her curves are ridiculous. Unending. Heavy in my palm. I’m hard again and it’s getting a little embarrassing at this point. I had more control as a horny fourteen-year-old than I do now around a bra-less Taylor.
“Ethan,” she groans, but it’s halfhearted and tinged with lust.
She’s putty in my hands, and it’s not shocking that we’re the last ones to breakfast in the mess hall.
When we walk in after showering back at the cabin, everyone stares at us expectantly.
“Where have y’all been!? We all went out on a hike this morning,” Isla says, frowning.
“Oh, uh…” Taylor’s voice dwindles as she realizes she has no good excuse.
“And Taylor,” Isla continues, sounding eerily similar to our mother, “I woke up in the middle of the night and you weren’t in the cabin—where’d you sleep?”
“With me,” I reply, knowing it’ll be easiest if we just get it all out in the open.
Taylor’s cheeks are bright red as she nudges her elbow into my side. Then she rushes to add, “It’s just that Ethan was scared of sleeping alone in his tent, so he wanted me to stay with him. Something about monsters.”
I shoot her a narrowed glare.
“Don’t let Isla fool you—that was just a ploy to get you both to confess. She wasn’t in the cabin last night either,” Camille reveals with a proud smirk.
Isla throws a half-peeled orange at her, but Camille ducks out of the way just in time.
Tanner’s face is bright red as he glances down at his bowl of cereal. “Oh…uhh…”
“Tanner was scared of monsters too,” Isla mutters, and now it seems everyone’s private business is out on the table.
Brody and Jace find it all hilarious, and I’m pretty happy myself.
“Want some eggs?” I ask, directing Taylor to the seat beside Isla.
“Oh, um, yes please. And some toast if you can manage!”
“You know what? I bet I can,” I say mockingly before I head for the kitchen.
Just before I turn, I see Isla and Taylor smile at one another. Apparently, the tension from the beginning of the weekend is long gone now.