Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74577 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 373(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“Of course, it’s presents,” I said, beaming at her as I lowered the box to the floor, then reached inside to set three tropical-themed gift bags on the top of the desk. “One for you. And one for each of your girls.”
It wasn’t actually one for any of them. Each bag was stuffed to the brim.
I learned a lot of things about myself on vacation with Atlas.
One, while I was a girl born in a landlocked state, I was a woman meant for the beach.
Two, I was a lot braver than I ever realized. Because in just short of three weeks, I’d crossed a lot of firsts off of my bucket list. Paddle boarding, parasailing, scuba diving, and several failed attempts at surfing.
And, three, I was like a kid in a candy store with a fist full of cash when you put me in a foreign country, then let me wander one of the local markets.
I sure hoped all the Rivers and Mallicks enjoyed gifts. Because I’d bought so much stuff that we’d needed to ship most of it home ahead of us.
“Awww,” Ella said, face lighting up at remembering her girls. As if they weren’t practically my nieces at this point. “They’re going to be so happy. The little one has had a rough go of it this week. She could use the pick-me-up. So, how was it? And by it, I mean the loads of beachy vacation sex.”
A laugh escaped me at that.
“It was… perfect,” I admitted. “You would think with all the classes Atlas wanted to take that we wouldn’t have time for anything else, but we squeezed so much into it. I mean, I don’t think I’ve slept more than four hours a night in three weeks, which I’m sure is going to catch up to me. But it was so worth it.”
“I love this for you,” she said, beaming at me. “You so deserve it.”
Several months back, when the girls had to go see their father for the weekend—because he had a new girlfriend he wanted to show off, which no one was excited about but him—I’d taken Ella out to distract her.
It ended up coming out.
All of it with her ex. And my own.
And while we’d always been good work-friends, from that night on, we’d become best friends.
“You guys should plan something. It’s not too late. Before school starts up again. Even just to take a trip down to Cape May or something for the weekend. I’m sure Tucker would be happy to drive the van down, so it’s extra fun.”
The two of them had started to spend more time together. I wouldn’t quite say they were an item yet, but they were getting closer every day.
I think Ella was cautious because of her ex. And the girls. Though, the girls adored Tuck, so I think that was just her overprotective mama instincts than anything.
And Tuck, well, he wanted to go at her pace.
But they were spending a lot of time together. Going to movies with the girls. Out to eat. Tuck took them all camping at the beginning of the summer.
It was sweet, watching their friendship slowly morph into something infinitely more.
I knew I was all wrapped up in my own haze of love, so I wanted everyone else to be in love too. But these guys were meant to be together, I swear.
“She was just wondering if you’d bring her something back,” Tuck said, coming in from the back room with a wet spot on his leg that was probably from slobber.
“Not just her and the girls. You too,” I said, reaching for his bag, and holding it out to him. “I tried to be conscious of your limited space,” I said. “And got you all sustainable stuff. I’m super excited to be back here tomorrow, so we can catch up, but I have about fifty gift bags to drop off still,” I told them, giving them a hug at the same time, then rushing back out of the building.
By the time I made it back home, it was nearly dark, and Samson was waiting at the door for me, all wiggles and big, sloppy kisses.
Then there was Atlas.
Perched on the couch, a laptop on his thighs, more still than I’d seen him in a month.
I had to say, I never could have anticipated just how sexy it would be to watch this man in action, in his element, but, yeah, Ella wasn’t wrong about all the vacation sex.
I barely let him finish his lessons before I was grabbing him and dragging him back to our rental to have sex until our bodies were too tired to move anymore.
I never understood the concept of a man built for action before. But Atlas was definitely that. It had been amazing to see the transformation of Atlas from being chair-bound for a while with his injuries, to seeing him pop himself up on a surfboard in one smooth, effortless motion, then ride a wave, his muscles flexing and his body moving with nature.