Chapter Eleven
Maria
“We call the big room!” Allie shouted, her hand in the air as she pushed Bianca aside and ran toward the stairs.
Bianca shoved her. “That’s not fair,” she tried, getting ahead but not too far ahead before Allie shoved her back. “You can’t just call it. You have to get your luggage in there, that’s how you save it.”
I rubbed my temples as I stood behind Brady, who was holding a sleeping Gina against his chest, their luggage at his feet. “Every time we come here this happens,” I said, leaning over to him.
He shook his head. “Allegra is nothing if not passionate.”
“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Perla asked, coming to stand next to me.
“Allie, look, Gina needs you,” Bianca tried, making Allie’s head snap toward Gina so she could get a head start.
Allie pulled at Bianca’s braid, causing her to shriek. “So not fair playing the baby card. You knew I’d look.”
“Duh,” Bianca replied, holding up her middle finger. “You got the big room last time. Why can’t you play fair and let Knox and I have it this time?”
Brady came up behind Allie and started rubbing her back gently. “Come on, Allegra, let them have the room.”
“Why?” Allie asked, her eyes wide as she grew more enraged and fired up.
Then he whispered something in her ear that wasn’t audible. Whatever he’d said had Allie’s expression softening and her cheeks turning beet red. “You promise?” she asked, her face alit with something new.
He kissed the crease on her forehead. “Have I ever lied to you about that?”
She shook her head and licked her lips. “I guess not.” Then she turned to Bianca and stuck out her tongue. “Fine, you win. You can have the room.”
Frankie and Knox came in, sighing as they placed the luggage on the floor. “Why are we all congregating in the foyer? You girls pack more shit than I know what to do with, and it’s not light,” Frankie noted.
I shrugged. “At least you missed the room debate.”
“Who won?” Knox asked, his eyebrows creased like he was afraid to ask for fear the answer wouldn’t be Bianca. Probably for his own sake.
Perla chuckled, and I patted him on the back. “Bibi,” I answered, seemingly much to his delight because he grinned.
“Good,” Knox replied, clearing his throat. “Because my weekend would not have gone well if she wasn’t happy.”
“No one’s weekend would have,” Perla said, standing on the balls of her feet and placing a chaste kiss on Frankie’s cheek. “Want to claim our room?”
“And then christen it?” Frankie asked, waggling his brows.
Her eyes grew wide and she gasped. “Frankie!” she admonished.
“What?” he questioned, his eyes darting to Knox and then me. “They know we have sex.” Then he brought the conversation to the whole group, “Does anyone here think your sister and I don’t have sex?”
Allie snorted. “Please.”
“Well, you are married,” Bianca said, shrugging. “It slows down, right?”
Knox cocked a brow and nudged her. “It won’t for us.”
“Of course not, but this is Perla we’re talking about,” Bianca teased.
I rolled my eyes. “As much fun as this is, I think I’ll go help Dom get the rest of the stuff from the car.” And hopefully avoid the topic of sex coming around to me.
Knox angled his chin toward me. “Hey, Isabella’s still sleeping in the back seat.”
“I’m not surprised,” I responded, waving a hand in the air like it was no big deal.
Perla cleared her throat. “Oh, and Jade’s out there, too. There are still more suitcases, and she’s trying to sort them out.”
Right. Jade. I almost forgot about her. Sorry, okay? I wasn’t used to her being involved or coming on trips like this. This was the first time she was joining us in the Hamptons, after all. I couldn’t be faulted for forgetting, could I?
I walked outside and Dom immediately caught my eye, his body half in, half out of the back seat as he unbuckled the belt and picked Isabella up and out of the car. Every time we were single, it was like someone turned up the pressure cooker on my physical attraction to this man because he was all I could think about. Which was probably why I’d felt like I needed to ask for forgiveness more often than not, for I had sinned with my intense desire to rake my hands down his back. And now I especially wanted to do that while he made me orgasm again.
“Come on, Peanut. We’re here,” he told her as I came up next to him, his voice so soft and. . . nurturing, I felt butterflies fill my stomach. He was always so good with her.
Jade was hefting the last suitcase from the trunk. “Do you need any help?” I asked, tilting my head to look at her.
She shut the trunk and shook her head. “Nope. I’m all good. Thanks, though.”
I nodded.
“Big place,” she noted her observation of the house.
Dom whispered in my ear, “I’m going to put Isabella down, and then I’ll come back out here and help.”
“Don’t worry about it. I think we can take it from here,” I said, placing a hand on his back and staring down at Isabella still sound asleep in his arms. It was the car ride. It always had that effect on her.
As he walked into the house, I turned to help Jade, picking up a suitcase in each hand and taking them in. “Mom loved this place,” I explained, watching as she still looked in rapture at the property.
“I can see why,” Jade said. “She was very fortunate to have all of this. You guys must have loved spending summers here as you grew up. I assume you’ve all had it since you were kids.”
I swayed my head back and forth. “We got this place more recently, but yeah, she loved the Hamptons. And she worked hard for everything she had. Bellissima helped her get here, helped make her who she was, but she made Bellissima . We get our work ethic from her.”
Jade nodded. “Of course. Yeah. I didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just this is all so drastically different from how I was brought up.”
She put the suitcases she was carrying down first and then I followed suit, placing the ones I grabbed next to hers right outside the door. “I get it.” And I did. It was a lot to take in. We could be a lot to take in sometimes.
“My parents lived paycheck-by-paycheck, so there were times we ate canned soup multiple nights in a row. Going from that and then seeing all of this is—”
“A lot,” I supplied, smiling. I wanted her to know I wasn’t clueless—that we weren’t clueless.
“Something like that,” she replied, giving me a weak smile. “So, what happens on big trips like this?”
“Nothing in particular. We usually just all hang out. It’s our relaxation time.”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant with you and Dom.”
I gave her a perplexed look, my brows furrowing. “Nothing. Nothing happens.” I looked around to make sure no one was in earshot to hear her.
“You guys don’t try to sneak in a quickie or something?”
I cleared my throat. I made no promises for this time around, but more often than not, I was seeing someone when we’d come to the Hamptons, so we’d never engaged in the benefits part of our relationship. Thus, no sneaking around necessary.
Now, though. . . well, now I wasn’t too sure what was going to happen.
That really depended on Dom and how delicious he planned on looking this weekend. Who was I kidding? Dom always looked good. It was in his DNA.
Just as I was about to answer Jade’s question, Dom came over, the corner of his lips curled up into a smile. “Go ahead and unpack, Jade. I’ve got this with Maria,” he insisted, already practically pushing her inside the house.
“You’re sure?” she asked, raising a brow. “Ohhh.” She giggled and raked her teeth over her bottom lip. “Never mind. You two enjoy your time alone, but just remember you are outside and in broad daylight.”
I brought my hand to the back of my neck and looked everywhere but at my sister as my cheeks heated up faster than my curling iron.
“She’s gone,” Dom whispered in my ear, his breath hitting the shell of it.
“ Thank goodness. By the way, outside and in broad daylight , could that be any hotter?” There was something so hot about how risky it was. My body shivered as I turned and kicked the door closed with my foot. “You know how I feel about you wearing chinos,” I said, drawing my arms up and over his shoulders as I leaned into him, so close that our bodies practically melded together. One wrong move and our lips would touch.
He made the first move, bringing his lips to my neck and nuzzling. My hands immediately found his hair, and I dug my nails into his scalp.
“This weekend is going to be torture, isn’t it?” I asked, my breath coming out slightly hitched. I didn’t even need to ask that question because I already knew the answer. Yes. It was going to be the very definition of torture.
“Feeling frisky, are we?”
I nodded. It was the salt air.
“I heard tonight everyone made plans to go to a club while Perla and Frankie stays back with Isabella and Gina.”
I couldn’t help but laugh as realization dawned on me when it came to why my sister was suddenly being so magnanimous about staying behind. Not that she wouldn’t do anything for any of us, but miss a night out at the club in the Hamptons? It was too generous. “Ahh. . . Perla’s baby fever has really kicked into high gear. She told me she was going to work on convincing Frankie it was time for them to start trying.”
“Nice. I was thinking maybe we can make something happen at the club. Away from prying eyes,” Dom said, moving his lips from my neck to my chin and causing a rapid shiver to run down my spine, like I’d just gotten out of a hot shower, and the temperature in the room was freezing in comparison.
“I like the sound of that,” I replied as his lips finally found mine and—
“If I forgot my royal blue bathing suit, this trip is going to suck.” Bianca’s loud voice filled the air and alerted me that she was close by, so I moaned and placed a hand on Dom’s chest. He didn’t catch my signal, though, and, once his tongue drove into my mouth, I had zero willpower to pull back myself.
Until I heard the door open. Then I found it, pushing him off me with all my strength. “Yeah, so I think my lips are puffy,” I said, placing a hand on them. In case you couldn’t tell, I was crap in situations like this. Seriously, I wasn’t any good at sneaking around. I was certainly no sleuth.
“I can see that,” Dom said, playing it cool and nodding as he examined my lips.
Bianca furrowed her brows, narrowed her eyes, and gave us the dirtiest look I’d ever seen. “What the hell are you two doing?” So she hadn’t seen us kissing, thank goodness.
“I think I ate something that made my lips puffy.” That made sense, right? I sure hoped it did. In my head it did. If I were Bianca, though, I probably would’ve thought I was losing my mind.
Bianca looked to me, Dom, and then back again. “Okayyy,” she replied, looking like she wasn’t entirely convinced. “Usually, I would try to figure out what’s really going on here, but I think I lost my bathing suit. Maria, can you help me find it in all this crap?”
Dom placed his hands in his pockets and angled his head toward the inside of the house. “I think I’ll leave you two to it. Maria, I’ll see you inside. Bianca, I hope you find your bathing suit.”
“Thanks?” Bianca said, a questioning tone in her voice to match her quizzical expression. Her eyes followed him until he was out of sight. Then she turned to me and pointed inside. “Is it just me, or is he getting weird?”
I shrugged and let out a shaky laugh. “You know him.” Geez, that made no sense at all. What was the matter with me?
“Sure,” she said, letting it go. “Just help me find my suit, okay? It’s the one that gives me great boobs. It’s got to be in one of my suitcases.” She looked around at the luggage that was left out front.
“Oh, no,” I feigned exasperation, placing a hand on my chest and gasping for good measure. “Not the one that gives you great boobs.”
“I hate you,” she intoned, speaking with her hands. “Anyway, I could’ve sworn I packed it, but honestly I usually just dump all my bathing suits in my suitcase and don’t pay attention to which ones are going in.”
I pursed my lips. “Don’t hate me because you’re ridiculous. Hate me because you let me borrow it, and I never returned it. It’s still at my house.” I cringed, pressing a finger between my front teeth.
“Nooo,” she drew out, her mouth forming an O shape. “Now I really do hate you.”
“Sorry, sis,” I said and headed inside. “Do you mind bringing the rest of these suitcases in? I want to go check on Isabella.”
“Sure, but you’re horrible!” she shouted after me.
* * *
I bent down and squirted more sunscreen out of the bottle to put on Isabella’s body. “Mommy, I hate this stuff. It’s slimy,” she said, scrunching her nose and crossing her arms, giving me all the attitude she could muster. For your information, it was a lot. “I just want to go out with everyone else.”
“I know you do,” I said, not letting up on my mission to make sure she was wearing enough sunscreen. “And you’re almost done. I just want to get your nose.”
“But you already did my nose,” she whined, starting to get extra antsy now.
I picked up the bottle from the floor and went to squeeze more on my finger to put on her nose when Dom came in and leaned his tall stature against the frame. “What’s going on here?” he asked, nudging his head at us.
I showed him my hands covered in the white “slimy stuff” as Isabella referred to it. “I want to make sure she’s protected. The rays from the sun are strong.”
Isabella whined again. “Uncle Dom, I want to go outside.”
“I know, but hey, once she’s done, she’ll leave you alone.”
For sixty minutes, then we’d talk again. While Isabella was still facing his way, I mouthed a thank you to him for backing me on this one. “Okay,” Isabella replied sweetly, nodding at him. The way Isabella saw it, anything that came out of Dom’s mouth may as well have been scripture.
It was almost unbelievable the kind of hold he had on my daughter. And me, if we were being honest.
As promised, I finished with her nose and sent her on her way. “All right, get out of here,” I said, patting her back as she turned to leave.
“Thanks, Mommy!” she screamed as she ran out like the place was haunted and she was running from a ghost.
Dom helped me up, taking in the sight of me in a red two-piece bathing suit, the top strapless and the bottoms high-waisted. “You talked about my chinos, but do you know what seeing you in that does to me?”
I licked my lips and let my eyes wander to his cock in the trunks he was wearing. “Watch out, big boy, or you won’t be able to go outside. You might cause a scene.”
He grabbed the bottle of sunscreen and squirted some in the palm of his hand. “And we wouldn’t want that, would we?” he questioned, his voice low as he walked closer to me until finally closing the gap between us.
“Dom, the door is open.” My eyes scanned the doorframe but went back to the mirror where I watched him place his hands with the sunscreen on my back. I felt like I had just bought a subscription to the best program that had all my favorite shows and I didn’t give a shit the door was open because I had to immerse myself in it. “I can never reach back there to do it myself.”
He nodded, bending his head and placing a feather-light kiss on my back. “I know. So let me help you.”
“Okay,” I said, my breaths coming out heavy and short thanks to his touch. “I can do you next,” I offered, imagining running my hands down his shoulders and over his angel wings tattoo before tracing the hard lines of his back. Maybe swipe my tongue over them. Okay, I was quickly getting heated. I had to stop thinking about that particular fantasy pronto.
As if reading my mind, Dom spoke softly, reminding me, “I’m helping you right now.”
Let him help. My brain became mush, and I closed my eyes as he rubbed the sunscreen in, going methodically slow, causing every nerve ending in my body to relax. “You have magic in your fingers.”
“Do they deserve a medal like my”—he got real close to my ear as he finished his question in a whisper—“cock?”
Yep, I’d nominate both of them for an award. I turned in his arms and brought a hand to his hair, fussing with it. “What would you say if I told you we should skip going out there and stay in?” I spoke in a low voice, inching closer to him so our lips were a hair’s breadth away. “That way you can show me just how—”
“What are you two doing?” Jade asked, quirking a brow. “Are you two trying to get caught?”
I dropped my hand and stepped back, hitting the counter harder than I would’ve preferred because it hurt. Like a mother— “Oh, it’s only you.”
“Hey, Jade,” Dom said, raising a hand in greeting.
Jade shook her head and clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. “Don’t hey, Jade me. I could’ve been someone else. You two could’ve been caught.” She waved a hand between both of us. “You have to be more careful. What were you thinking getting it on in the bathroom with the door open? Wide frigging open, might I add.”
I rolled my lips and shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. No one caught us. And, just for the record, we were not getting it on.” I cleared my throat and acted nonchalant. I liked to think I was pretty good at that. “He was applying sunscreen to my back, that’s all.”
He nodded. “She’s right. The rays of the sun are strong,” he said, using practically the same line I just did on Isabella.
My mouth fell, and I swatted his bicep. “Not funny.”
He chuckled. “It’s a little funny.” He held two fingers up in measurement to show me just how funny he thought it was. “No harm, no foul, right?” He looked to Jade now. “You already know, so who cares?”
Jade rolled her eyes and signaled for us to scram. “Whatever. Do you mind if someone uses the bathroom for what it’s actually intended for?”
I broke out in laughter. “This is the second time we’ve been nearly caught in a bathroom,” I told Dom, the corners of my lips turning up.
He winked. “It’s one of the sexiest rooms in the house, if you think about it.”
I wasn’t sure how, but I wasn’t going to argue it. Meanwhile, Jade cringed, sticking her tongue out as she audibly gagged. “All right, that does it. Get out. I’m all for shamelessly talking about sex, but in a bathroom? Really?”
I laughed to myself because it was funny, but for the first time I wasn’t the prude in this situation. Well, I didn’t think I was a prude at all, but Bianca had insisted that I was, so if we were going with that, then this was definitely comedic.