Summer with a Brother’s Best Friend (Love Beach Collection)

1. Reece

10 WEEKS BEFORE THE END OF SUMMER

1

“Oh my God, that feels so good,” I moan into the quiet space of the storeroom of Love Beach Brews. Boxes and supplies are stacked neatly on shelves against every one of the slate-gray walls, the dim lights giving off an almost romantic ambiance.

Almost.

“Shh, you’re going to get us caught.”

“We’re not going to get caught—just… just like that.” I moan again as I let my head fall forward.

“Your brother is going to kill me if he finds out I had my hands on you,” Isaac murmurs, his breath hot against the shell of my ear.

“So, it’s my fault my brother is your best friend?”

“No,” he breathes, “it’s your fault you’re so damn hot and drive me fucking wild.”

“Sounds like such a hardship.”

“It really is.”

“You could always walk away.” It’s an empty threat for both of us because I know without a doubt he won’t—he wants this as much as I do.

He snorts, his fingers exploring as he says, “I won’t do that, but you know as well as I do he’s going to lose his shit when he finds out.”

“Stop being so dramatic. He’s not going to know,” I hiss even though pleasure is coursing through my body at his touch.

“What if someone walks in?”

“No one is going to know. It’s just the two of us here…”

“How can you be so sure? It’s not like I locked the front door…” His words are a tease as he runs the palm of his hand up and down my spine, making me arch into his touch.

“I didn’t know you were into voyeurism, Boss Man. It’s kinda hot.” I smirk as Isaac growls, his fingers digging into my flesh as he presses impossibly closer to me. And because I can’t help myself, I add, “It’s never really been my thing, but I think I can make an exception for you.”

Turning my head to the side, I grin at him over my shoulder, his breath mingling with mine, his dark amber eyes absolutely blazing.

“You know I have no interest in sharing you.”

“Do I know that?”

“I swear I’ll walk away right now, Reece.”

“I will smother you in your sleep if you stop.” I wiggle back against him to spur him on. “I need you harder.”

“Not sure how much harder I can get, but I’m willing to?—”

“Knock knock,” a feminine voice says as she pushes open the door and pokes her head inside. “I’d say I’ll come back when you’re done, but I’ve had to deal with this jackass firefighter all morning. And now I have to wait until they clear me to get back into the bakery. Opening day is tomorrow.” The last word is practically a bark.

Smiling, I turn to face Marigold James, Love Beach’s newest transplant and, hopefully, the baker of my parents’ anniversary cake. Her bouncy brown hair gives her a girl-next-door look, but she’s more sassy than sweet—something the jackass firefighter probably learned today.

Isaac’s hands grip my waist and hold me in front of him, my back to his chest as his erection pokes me in the ass.

He wasn’t kidding about being hard.

“All that from giving me a massage?” I ask playfully as I look at him out of the corner of my eye.

“You know what you do to me,” he growls low in his throat as Marigold waves her hand at us.

“Still standing here,” she says, her tone somewhere between amused and annoyed.

“What did you say the jackass firefighter’s name was?”

“I didn’t even get his name,” she huffs as I sway my hips enough to have Isaac suppressing another groan.

My lips twitch both from the man behind me and the one that Marigold is undoubtedly talking about. “What does he look like?”

“Like a jerk,” she says with an eye roll. “Styled blond hair, bulging muscles, and blue almost gray eyes.” She scoffs. “And he called me ma’am! Ma’am. Do I look old enough to be a ma’am?”

Isaac stills behind me before he starts shaking with silent laughter. My smile widens as Marigold narrows her eyes at us.

“What’s so funny?”

“It sounds a lot like Mads,” Isaac says.

“Mads?”

“Maddox,” I say as I wait for recognition to cross her pretty face, but it doesn’t. “Maddox Baylor. He’s my brother and more accurately my twin.” I pause and then state, “Older by fifty-seven seconds if you ask him.”

“Oh, fuck a duck,” she says. “I promise you guys can continue whatever rubdown foreplay that was going on as soon as I get my cider. Hell, I can just grab it myself; forget I was here,” she grumbles with a flourish as she exits the way she came.

“I told you someone could walk in,” Isaac says with a lopsided grin.

Shrugging, I move out of his hold. “Could have warned me.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Ignoring him, I make my way out into the main room and call to Marigold as she paces around. “Hold on, I already poured it; it’s in the cooler.”

“Thanks,” she says as I hand her the cider with a smile, but she’s already out the door before I can call after her.

“Think she and Mads are gonna get into it?” Isaac says from behind me, his hand grazing over my lower back as he comes to stand next to me. My gaze drops to the front of his jeans, and I’m sorry to see that he’s gotten himself under control.

“I’d be surprised if they didn’t,” I say honestly with a shrug of my shoulder, my blonde ponytail swaying with the movement. Rolling my head from side to side, I marvel at how much better I feel after Isaac’s fingers worked their magic on my neck and shoulders. Apparently, I’m a little out of shape for bartending and the general hustle of a night in Love Beach.

“She’s not going to tell him, is she?” he asks casually, but I can hear the tremor of worry in his tone.

“Is there something to tell?” I tease Isaac as I turn and press my front to his side, his toned arm sandwiched between my breasts. He groans, and I can’t help the twist of my lips. “What can it hurt?” I say, walking my fingers up the front of his shirt, reveling at the way his muscles flex beneath my touch. Teasing Isaac has always been a favorite pastime, but the fact that he’s my boss is just an added bonus.

“We promised him, Reece,” Isaac says as he grabs my wrist and forces my palm flat to his chest. “We promised your brother we wouldn’t do this again.”

We had promised Maddox back in high school when we’d started dating that if things didn’t work out, we’d never be together again. He said he loved us both too much to go through it a second time.

At the time, it seemed like an easy promise to make. I’d had no intention of loving anyone else but Isaac for the rest of my life.

But with graduation came something I’d never accounted for, and our perfectly constructed plan exploded bigger than fireworks on the Fourth of July.

“He doesn’t have to know,” I tease, trying to keep the playful banter going even as his smile dims the slightest bit.

“You’re going to have to be a lot quieter if we’re going to pull this off,” he murmurs as his gaze drops to my lips.

“Well then, don’t leave the storeroom open next time.”

“Next time, huh?”

“Just for the summer.”

“Sounds like a terrible idea.”

“Or it could be a lot of fun…” I let my eyes slide down his body. “I mean, how often does a girl get to sleep with her boss and her brother’s best friend?”