For the Plot (All for Love #1)

Chapter 20

20

Cameron

I’m cursing those two malakas (a Greek expletive I learned from my boss) for interrupting Joey and me in my office yesterday. Everything went downhill after that. I finally had her alone, and I was convinced she was settling into our reunion. At least that’s what her body was telling me when she claimed my lips. And when she had her hand on my cock while she bent those knees like she was going to drop to the floor in front of me.

We’re here. Together. In some wild twist of fate. So I’ve pushed away the questions and chosen to accept it as the gift it is. Joey’s back, and I’m not willing to let her go. How can I go about my life not seeing her or speaking to her when I know she’s here on the island?

This morning, I’m keeping my movements slow and tempering my words. The woman is in flight mode, and the last thing I want to do is send her running. The metaphorical running shoes are already on her bare feet. She’s just one Lululemon outfit away from making her great escape.

I need to tread lightly, not come on too strong. But fuck if I don’t want to drag her back to my room and confess how I’ve been carrying a piece of her everywhere I go for the past year. For months, I beat myself up for how I left things between us, for the way I dismissed our hookup as a mistake. I was worrying out loud, processing my thoughts and emotions and speaking before I had them sorted. Never have I ever had sex like that until her. Like my life could be better than I’ve ever imagined.

“Millie?” Joey calls out, setting her phone and bag on the narrow table in the foyer.

“Holy shit!” she gasps as she rounds the corner. “What the fu—” She spins and collides with my chest. There’s no mistaking the owner of the bare ass on display over her shoulder. Ezra’s notorious Your Name tattoo is right there . The words—yes, Your Name —are printed in goddamn Comic Sans on one cheek. He got this particular tattoo one drunken night the summer after he graduated from high school. Why? According to him, so that he can tell women “I got your name tattooed on my ass.”

My best friend is face down on the mattress. Beside him is a second lump, this one fully covered in the white sheet.

Still pressed to my chest, Joey shakes so hard her movements vibrate through me.

“Are you—” I take a step back and examine her face. “Are you laughing?”

She slaps a hand over her mouth, in the process dropping her dress to the floor between us, the hanger clattering against the tile.

“What the hell is happening right now?” She snorts, her eyes filled with tears of laughter.

Unable to stop myself from laughing right along with her, I smother a fucking giggle as I collect her dress from the floor and lay it over the back of a chair.

When Ezra lets out a groan and rolls onto his back, I slide a hand over Joey’s eyes and shout, “Dude!”

I don’t need her seeing my friend’s massive dong .

He sits up in bed like he’s not conscious enough to process that he’s got an audience, but knowing him, it’s more likely that he just doesn’t care.

“Hey!” Joey bats at my hand and sucks in a sharp breath when she’s met with the sight of his?—

“Whoa, Millie!” She gallops to the other side of the bed and practically climbs onto her cousin’s lap.

Millie’s bare shoulders peep out from under the sheets as they bow their heads and whisper.

Trying like hell to avert my gaze from my stark-naked friend, I snatch a pillow from the floor and toss it at him. I have to take a quick step back to keep from stepping on a bright pink vibrator on the floor.

“Hey, man,” he says, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. “What’s up?” Thank fuck he’s casually got the pillow tucked under one forearm so it covers his junk.

“Anyone care to explain what’s going on?” Joey asks, wearing a wicked smile.

“Yeah.” I stand a little straighter and cross my arms over my chest. “Let’s address the elephant in the room.”

“Which one?” Joey sends herself into another fit of giggles.

I roll my eyes at her innuendo, and Ezra reaches across the bed to give her a high five.

“All right, out, boys!” Joey announces, bouncing a little on the bed next to Millie, whose fair hair is wild and tangled.

“What about coffee?” I pout, my heart sinking.

“Raincheck?” She gives me the world’s cutest puppy-dog eyes. “Millie and I have lots to catch up on.” She boops her cousin’s nose, her expression morphing to a mischievous one again.

“Sure,” I sigh, tamping down my disappointment. I don’t want to pressure her and scare her off, so we’ll play this her way. I pull out my phone and check my work schedule. I’m not on the clock until six tonight. “I’ll text you.”

She nods and shoots me a smile. “Sounds good. Sorry.”

“Dude, what the hell was that?”

When the server brings us two steaming cups of coffee, I can’t help but wonder how Joey takes hers—if she even drinks coffee.

Ezra brings his mug to his lips and takes a slow sip. “You saw. Not much to explain.” He shrugs. “Unless, of course, it’s been so long you need a lesson,” he teases.

He can be a real pain in my ass when he’s being elusive.

“What about you and Joey?” he asks, spinning the arrow to me.

My heart rate speeds up at that phrase. You and Joey . Like we’re a thing. “What about us?”

He cocks a brow that screams I’m not taking your shit .

“Fine.” I set my coffee down and take a deep breath. Talking this out might be exactly what I need, and who better to do that with than my closest friend?

“Nothing happened. She was drunk, so I brought her back to my room so I could make sure she was safe. That’s all.”

She would have been safe in her room, too, but when I offered to keep an eye on her, Millie winked and said that was an excellent idea. At the time I thought she was doing me a favor, but after what we walked in on this morning, I’m rethinking that assumption.

“She woke up disoriented but recovered quickly. She wanted to run back to her room to change. Then,” I stretch my arm to the side, “we find your ugly ass— literally —this morning. We were supposed to get coffee together and talk, but she bailed on me.”

“I can’t believe she’s here. That’s like some psycho-fate shit,” Ezra says, snagging a croissant off the plate our server set between us. He watches me, obviously waiting for me to spill more details.

“Tell me about it.” I take a sip of my Americano, relishing the way the warm liquid coats my throat. “I just feel this pull toward her, you know?” I flex my fingers around my mug.

Whether or not Ezra understands, he gives me a nod of encouragement.

“A year ago, I was planning a life with Hayden. Then, in an instant, that blew up in my face. But when the smoke cleared, this drop-dead-gorgeous girl was splayed out before me, and I haven’t been the same since.” Damn, it feels good to get that off my chest.

Joey burrowed her way under my skin, and I’m not ready to tweeze her out.

“What are you going to do?”

I pull the hat off my head and run my fingers through my hair. “Charm the fuck out of her.”

Ezra gives me a nod and digs into his breakfast. He refuses to kiss and tell about his night, so I let it go. He says he’s planning on a solo hike today. Whether it’s to clear his head or for my benefit, I don’t really know, but I’ll take the opportunity to try to connect with Joey regardless.

During a break in conversation, I pull out my phone and shoot her a text.

Me

Hey, it’s Cam. How are you feeling?

Her response is almost immediate.

Joey

The meds kicked in. Thank you smiling face

Me

My pleasure. Can I see you later?

I hold my breath when Joey is typing… appears at the top of our WhatsApp chat, trying to convince myself not to get my hopes up.

Joey

Want to go to the beach?

Thirty minutes later, we’re slipping into a taxi together. I can’t help the grin that splits my face at the memory of the first time I was in a taxi with this woman. Beside me, Joey’s biting back her own smile and her eyes are dancing. Yeah, I’m pretty sure she’s thinking about the minor car accident and the sex worker too.

“Which beach should we head to?” I ask.

While the hotel has a private strip of beach, Joey insisted we get off the resort and explore a different part of the coast. She turns to the driver. “What do you suggest?”

He names a beach, then winks in the rearview mirror.

Joey catches the exchange and leans in close. “What?”

“Nothing.” I try my best to hide my grin. “It’s a great beach.”

When the driver pulls off the road, I hand him a wad of cash, then snag her beach bag and help her out of the car. She doesn’t put up a fight, and when she’s standing beside me, she dips her head, but not before I catch the smile beneath the brim of her sun hat.

We make our way down a small hill, dodging short, spiky bushes that have probably been here since biblical times. Joey stumbles a bit and instinctively grabs my forearm, and she doesn’t let go again until we reach the stable bottom.

“There are so many rocks,” she observes. Rocks of different heights—from one foot to over six feet—hug the shore.

“It’s perfect for privacy,” I tell her. I haven’t been here before, but I’ve heard about it from some of my coworkers.

“Privacy? What do you—” We clear one of the larger boulders, and the beach area comes into view. “Oh.” She stops in her tracks when she spies a pair of nude beachgoers. “Is this a?—”

“Nude beach?” I finish. “Yeah.” I chuckle under my breath.

“You knew, didn’t you?” She swats at my chest and scans the shore, her eyes wide and her lips parted.

Damn, she’s cute. I can’t help but watch her take in her surroundings.

She throws her head back and laughs. Thank god she’s not pissed. “That’s what that silent conversation with the cab driver was about, huh?”

Going with his suggestion was a gamble, but so far, it’s a win.

I usher her to a small alcove. It’s still early, so only a handful of people have set up for the day. Joey drops her bag in the sand. I follow suit and lay out my towel as well, then remove my shirt. When she shimmies out of her blue-and-white striped cover-up and pulls at the strings of her black bikini, my lungs seize.

“When in Greece, yeah?”

Is she really going to ditch her clothes? And do I want her to? I mean, hell yeah, of course I do. But do I want her naked in front of strangers? A surge of possessiveness rises in me, making my blood heat in my veins. She’s mine . Only, she’s not. Not yet at least, but that’ll change soon if I have anything to say about it.

The Greek gods certainly gifted us the perfect beach day. Unlike the murky waters on the East Coast of the US, the sea is a brilliant blue so clear the bottom is visible even far from the shore. The horizon is dotted with white sails and kayaks and paddle boards.

It’s taking all my willpower not to ogle Joey, because in this moment, it occurs to me that I’ve never really seen her body. A year ago, even when she was naked and in my arms, the room was dark. And that next morning, she made quick work of getting dressed, so all I got was a peek at the smooth skin beneath her cover-up. But now, with the Mediterranean sun acting as her personal spotlight, I have a front-row seat to the most beautiful show in all the world.

And fuck if it’s not an entrancing show. She squirts a dollop of sunscreen into her palm, then rubs her hands together. Fuck. Me. Now. Because the next thing I know, she’s got her hands on her breasts and she’s massaging the milky lotion into them.

I cannot sport a hard-on at a nude beach. I’d be a total cliché. With a groan, I pull my hat over my face.

“What?” she giggles. “I can’t have burnt tits. That’s not a good look.”

Sliding my hat to one side, I peer around it but keep my attention trained on her face. “I love barbecue. I’ll gladly pour a little sauce over and devour them for dinner.”

“ Gross !” She snickers.

I can’t help but join her. Oh, how I love that sound.

Without overthinking it, I tug my swim trunks off.

“Are you going to do something about…” She motions to my lower half.

“If you’re suggesting I rub a white substance over my dick in public, you’re delusional.” I throw my hat at her and blast her with my best shit-eating grin before walking backward to the beach.

“Where are you going?” she asks, still rubbing lotion onto her golden skin.

I pause when my feet hit the water. “For a swim.” I can’t sit here and not touch her a minute longer. “You coming?” Without waiting for her response, I turn and wade into the sea.

Though she’s still behind me, I can feel the burn of her attention on my skin, and fuck if it doesn’t make me walk a little taller.

Like what you see?

Come and get me.

The water is still a little chilly from the snow melting off the mountains this spring, but I welcome the initial bite as I lunge forward. Lord knows I need to cool off.

A moment later, Joey is beside me in the water. She purses her lips, making me want to lick the saltiness off them, then tips back until she’s floating, perfectly peaked nipples bobbing above the water. I float next to her, and water laps at my face as I watch her search the sky.

She must feel me gazing because she lifts her head to look at me.

“Are we going to discuss what’s going on here?” I ask.

“What do you mean?” She doesn’t look my way.

I let out a huff in response. She’s going to make this difficult, I can tell.

Dropping my legs, I face her full-on, but with a grin, she spins and swims for the shore.

“Hey!” With a deep breath, I duck below the water and follow her.

Halfway back to the beach, she stands on the sandy bottom, her shoulders barely above the water, and spins back to me. “Listen…”

How I’m going to listen with her tits practically floating in my face, I don’t know. But I’ll try.

“Distraction is the last thing I need right now. I know you believe we’ve been put on this island for a second chance or whatever, but to me, it’s nothing but a massive coincidence, all right?” Her words are resolute, but the furrow between her brows contradicts the declaration.

I nod, placating her for now.

“Clearly, we have major chemistry, and I’m on vacation, so…” She sucks in air. “So, I think we should have sex.”

Damn. Normally women are not so forthcoming, but I can’t say I mind it. And neither does my dick.

“I’m here for five more days.” She shrugs. “If you’re down, I think we could have a lot of fun. But,” she adds, “we leave it all on the island.”

I choke on my saliva. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. What happens here stays here. We’re not bringing whatever this is,” she waggles a finger between us, “back to New York. I don’t want any strings. Are you in or not?”

Am I in? God, I want to be all the way in with this woman. But not just physically. She’s already in my soul. It’s wild, I know, and I can’t explain it. I want all the strings, but for now, I’ll take anything she’s willing to give me.

“Okay.” I keep my voice neutral, calm. “If we’re going to do this, is there anything else I should know?” I ask.

She licks her lips and surveys the horizon for a moment. When she looks at me again, her dark eyes are molten. “Yeah.” She squares her shoulders and lifts her chin. “I have a major praise kink. And I like to be thrown around, but I also like to be in charge. That cool with you?”

Fuck. Her words hit me like a punch to the gut.

Without waiting for my response, she turns and heads for the shore. When her body comes into view, her dark hair is plastered to her back and her bare hips sway.

Is this my dream woman?

Well, shit. There’s no way I can get out of the water now.