On The Beach (Modern Vintage)

13. Other Bottoms

CHAPTER 13

other bottoms

MICK

I t was a perfect, lazy Reef Harbor morning. Belle was sprawled on my couch, her laptop propped against her knees, brow furrowed as she complained about the inexcusable Wi-Fi situation. I was leaning against the doorframe, just enjoying the sight of her, when I heard a too-familiar voice behind me.

"Mick, darling."

"Fuck," I muttered when I saw Poppy, in a slinky bikini and a Christian Dior tote bag, strolled onto the porch like she owned the place. Poppy was a runway model and walked everywhere like she was the boss.

She sauntered up the steps and into the hut, a dazzling smile lighting up her face as she leaned in to air-kiss my cheek. "So good to see you, too, darling."

We'd spent a week together, not in my hut, but in her five-star hotel on the other side, the posher side of the island. And, yeah, I'd taken her to La Mer Lunaire. She was the type. And even though I was fine with having conch shell whatever, once in a while, I didn't mind food that was Michelin-quality and plated by a snobbish chef who paired his dishes with an excellent wine from one of the finest vineyards in France.

Belle looked up from her computer. She was wearing a pair of denim cutoffs, a tank top, and flip-flops. Her hair was piled up. She looked adorable.

Poppy looked…well, like a runway model in her itty-bitty red bikini, a flowing red and yellow chiffon cover-up that left nothing to the imagination, and sandals that showed off her red-painted toenails. She raised her sunglasses and settled them on her head.

"Darling, can you ask your guest to leave?" She didn't bother with Belle and came up to me, slid her arms around me, and lifted her face up for a kiss.

I was all kinds of an asshole, but as a rule, I didn't fuck two women at the same time until they both were in bed with me. When you lived in Reef Harbor and indulged in alcohol, sometimes you ended up in a ménage à trois. No harm, no foul as long as everyone was game.

Belle raised her eyebrows. "Huh?"

I removed Poppy's hands from me and stepped away from her. "You back on the island, babe."

She licked her red lips. "You said I should look you up when I'm here. I came for a shoot."

Belle perked up. "How did you get here? Is there a boat?"

Poppy frowned. "I came by helicopter."

"Is it still here?"

"No." Poppy rolled her eyes. "I don't know who you are, but you should leave."

"I would if there was a freaking boat or even helicopter," Belle muttered and went back to her computer.

I liked that about her. Any other woman would make a scene. Hell, Poppy was making one.

Poppy had a flare for the dramatic, a taste for overstatement that was rivaled only by her love of expensive cocktails and endless monologues about her social media following.

"Babe, as you can see, I'm busy." I tilted my head toward Belle.

"Her?" Poppy sneered. "She looks like a… stray ."

Belle's gaze snapped up, mischief sparkling in her eyes. She didn't miss a beat, closing her laptop with an amused look that said this should be good.

"Poppy, meet Belle." I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorway.

Poppy turned to Belle, sizing her up with a smile that was two parts condescension, one part polite disinterest. "Belle, you should go. I'm here now. Darling, can we go to my hotel? I wish you had a phone. It would make it so much easier to get in touch with you."

Belle raised an eyebrow, unfazed. "Which is probably the reason he doesn't have one. I'm assuming you're one of his floozies."

I nearly choked. Poppy's face flickered with a frown, but she brushed it off with a little laugh, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Watch who you call floozy, bitch. Mick and I go way back. So many memories." She looked around the hut like we'd made some right here. We had fucked on my couch, but I don't believe it was memorable.

"Babe, you should head back," I said softly.

Poppy smiled triumphantly. "See."

"He doesn't call me babe." Belle winked at her. "He calls me Babycakes," she added proudly.

"What?" Poppy was not amused.

I felt Belle's shoulders shake with laughter as she tried to cover it by clearing her throat. I rubbed the back of my neck, shooting Belle a knowing look, and she responded with a sly grin that said she was loving every second of this .

"I call him Snuggle Bug." Belle sidled up to me and snuggled into me. I played along, my arms wrapped around her. I liked holding her. I liked her . "We've been making memories, too." She fluttered her eyelashes. "Winning lizard races, spending a night…now that was memorable, in a jail cell. It's been such an adventure. Hasn't it, Snuggle Bug?"

"Sure has been, Babycakes." Fuck, she was a good time, I thought cheerfully.

"I leave the day after," Belle continued. "Until then, he's all mine. Aren't you, Snuggle Bug?"

She was having a blast doing this.

"I am, Babycakes."

Poppy blinked, clearly not expecting Belle to behave the way she was or have me choose anyone over her.

"You can come back after I leave," Belle offered.

"Well, Mick, when you're ready to class up, you know where to find me." She shot Belle a snarky nod, then sauntered out, heels clicking all the way down the sandy path.

As soon as she was gone, Belle burst into laughter, covering her mouth as she stepped away from me. "Who the fuck wears heels on the beach?"

"Poppy does."

"That was wild. So, how long did you and her…you know, do the horizontal mambo?"

I rubbed my face, laughing despite myself. "Briefly. Very, very briefly."

"Oh, Snuggle Bug, she was priceless." Belle gave me a wicked grin.

I pulled her back into my arms. "Snuggle Bug?"

"It was inspired, wasn't it?"

I loved that she hadn't felt threatened or jealous—not in the way some women might have. Belle just took it in stride, cracked a joke, and left me feeling like the luckiest bastard on the island .

"You're one of a kind, Isabelle Volnay." I kissed her then, soft, sweet, long.

She looked up at me, a glimmer in her eye that made my heart jump, "I am?"

"Yes, you are." And you're leaving the day after tomorrow. This time, I'm going to have to let you go.

"This happen often?"

"Women I've been with coming over?"

"Yeah."

"Not much. I usually stick to tourists, and they don't tend to return regularly." Will you come back, Dr. Isabelle Volnay? Will you take a break from your busy life again, this time not to find Dr. Augustus but to be with me?

She leaned her head on my chest and we stood for a while, intimate, close.

Suddenly, she looked up at me, eyes bright with a kind of wild excitement. "You want to help me with an item on my bucket list?"

"Sure."

She leaned closer, her smile turning a little wicked. "Ever snuck into an old lighthouse after dark?"

I raised an eyebrow. "The Crane's Point Lighthouse? It's a rickety mess, Belle; nobody's supposed to go up there for safety reasons."

"Oh, come on, live a little," she mocked. "I've got two nights left on the island, and I don't plan on leaving Reef Harbor with any regrets. So, are you coming?"

"How the fuck is a lighthouse on your bucket list?"

She grinned, a glint of nostalgia in her eyes. "I've always had a thing for lighthouses, ever since I read The Light at Tern Rock as a kid," she confessed. "There was something about the isolation, the way a single light could guide ships in the dark…I don't know; it stuck with me. Made me think about lighthouses as these keepers of secrets, silent but always watching. "

I looked at her, surprised by her thoughtfulness. She gave me a blinding smile. I let out a low laugh, feeling her thrill run through me. "You know, I'm not usually one for trespassing, but you've convinced me."

"Yes!"

"I thought you'd want to go skinny dipping or something like that."

"We can do that after ," she suggested mischievously. "But first dinner and then the lighthouse. I love finding places like Crane's Point, you know, a little piece of magic on the edge of…reality."

I kissed her, feeling her excitement. "Yeah, first food, and then let's go find a piece of magic."

The thing was, Belle was magic all by herself. She wasn't clingy or demanding. She didn't need me to reassure her. She was just here, in the moment, looking at me like I was the only guy who mattered.

I leaned in, brushing a strand of hair from her face, my thumb lingering on her cheek. "God, I like you," I muttered, barely realizing I'd said it out loud.

Her smile softened, her eyes held mine, and I felt a pull of something deeper, something novel I'd never experienced before. I'd been dating women like Poppy, ones who never saw past my surface. But Belle? She saw me, and that was intoxicating.