Chapter Thirty-One
Kayla sat in the back of the same shuttle bus that brought them to Rainbow Sands seven days before with an odd sense of déjà vu.
Just like seven days ago, Mack was sitting beside her.
Just like seven days before, the older couple on their anniversary trip sat in the row in front of them, shooting them occasional fond smiles.
Just like seven days before, an overly friendly staff was loading a mountain of suitcases into the cargo space behind them.
Everything else was completely different.
Rather than sitting on the edge of her seat, Kayla was splayed mostly in Mack’s lap.
Her head rested on Mack’s shoulder, and she was lazily tracing the lines of lightly defined muscles on Mack’s stomach.
Ever since she’d woken up, Mack’s naked body pressed against her back, and her hand gently cupping Kayla’s breast, she’d been unable to break contact between them for more than a few seconds.
It was a compulsion that neither she nor Mack seemed capable of fighting.
A switch had flipped in their relationship and now that Kayla could touch Mack, she didn’t want to waste a single opportunity.
Thinking back to their friendship, she wasn’t overly surprised.
She had always sought Mack’s touch. She was always finding reasons to take her hand or wrap an arm around her waist. Then there was the way she had craved her hugs.
The feel of Mack’s body had been calming and invigorating, but she hadn’t ever thought about what that meant or why she hadn’t had the same need to touch her other friends.
Well, she certainly understood now, and she reveled in the freedom to fully enjoy their contact.
The engine rumbled, and the staff started slamming the many doors and compartments to prepare the shuttle for departure.
An unexpected and powerful feeling of loss spread through Kayla.
This place with its sun, sand, and exotic scents, had been the birthplace of something so profound in her life that she wasn’t sure how to continue without it.
Would their love last without the charged, romantic atmosphere?
What would it be like to go home to their everyday lives so fundamentally changed?
Kayla had no idea, and for the first time in her life, she wasn’t scared of the unknown.
Let the world throw whatever it had at them.
She and Mack would only be stronger for it.
Kayla lifted her head just far enough to look into Mack’s eyes.
She wasn’t surprised to see them already fixed on her.
The glimmer in those emerald depths was tantalizing.
The only thing more compelling was her lips.
Fortunately, Mack seemed able to read her mind.
She leaned down and brought their mouths together.
The kiss was gentle and brief, but it made Kayla’s heart and stomach flutter with anticipation.
Mack whispered, “What is it?”
Kayla’s brain was groggy, and her eyes were slow to open. “Hmm?”
“You’re smiling. What are you thinking about?”
“You.” She looked into Mack’s eyes, her heart swelling to see the happiness in them after so much sadness. “I was just thinking about how I get to kiss you whenever I want now.”
Mack’s grin was so wide that Kayla couldn’t see all of it with their foreheads pressed together. “As long as I get to kiss you whenever I want, too.”
“Always.”
The bus jerked forward, nearly toppling Kayla out of the seat.
Mack held her in place with an arm around her legs.
She kept it there as the bus pulled out of the resort grounds, her thumb rubbing back and forth across the bare skin of Kayla’s thigh.
It slowly wandered higher, under the light cotton of her sundress, until she was nearly cupping Kayla’s butt.
Kayla leaned close and whispered, “Be careful. It’s a long flight home. You don’t want to start something you can finish for hours.”
Mack chuckled and whispered back, “Trust me. I’ll be ready to finish anything any time. I can’t stop thinking about last night. There are so many more things I want to do with you.”
Tendrils of desire snaked through Kayla’s body, making all of her nerve endings tingle with anticipation. Before she could suggest they join the Mile High Club together, a familiar voice cut into her thoughts.
“How was the wedding?”
Kayla tore her gaze away from Mack’s stunning eyes with difficulty.
Linda leaned over her armrest toward them, wearing the most adorable smile.
It took a moment to process the words, but it finally hit.
Linda had no idea how their week had gone.
She didn’t know everything Kayla had told her when they arrived was a lie that somehow became the truth.
She didn’t know Kayla had never intended to marry Mack.
That she’d never intended to fall in love with Mack. How could she explain everything?
Mack’s body tensed, but she managed a convincing smile. “We got distracted and, um, missed the ceremony.”
The confusion on Linda’s face was comical. She looked back and forth between them and then down to the way Kayla was sprawled in Mack’s lap. Clearly, they hadn’t broken up, but how did a couple miss their own wedding?
“You…didn’t get married?”
Mack’s body positively quivered with tension. It wasn’t just Kayla’s mom she hated to lie to. She wasn’t a big fan of lying to anyone. The reminder of this—of how amazing the favor she did for Kayla by faking their engagement—spurred her into action.
Kayla said, “It was my fault. I didn’t tell my mom before we came out here, and she’s really mad at me. Maybe not mad. Disappointed?”
Linda smiled knowingly. “Elopements sound romantic in the moment, but a mother does want to see her daughter walk down the aisle.”
Thank God Linda was inclined to go with whatever Kayla told her. “Exactly. I begged Mack to postpone, and she’s just so good to me.”
Mack’s smile was goofy, but her body relaxed a fraction. “I couldn’t disappoint Mom. She raised me after all.”
Confusion etched Linda’s tanned face. “She raised you, too? But that would make you…”
“We’re not sisters!”
Mack lurched forward in her eagerness to explain, tossing Kayla fully out of her lap. Caught by surprise, Kayla squawked and threw out her arms to catch herself. Mack made a grab for her, but Kayla’s flailing hand punched her hard in the right breast.
“Ow fuck,” Mack barked. As she hauled Kayla back onto the seat, she gave Linda an apologetic smile. “Sorry for my language.”
“It’s okay, dear. I’m not your mother.” As soon as she said the words, her forehead wrinkled in puzzlement. “Apparently, your wife’s mother is.”
Kayla was trying to settle back into her own seat, but Mack held her legs in her lap.
Based on the deep red of her cheeks, she might’ve just been using Kayla as a shield.
Pulling her dress back down to guard her dignity, Kayla said, “It’s a long story, but we sort of grew up together.
Anyway, that doesn’t matter. We’re going to get married. Just not yet.”
Mack went rigid again and whipped her face around to stare, her mouth partially open.
Kayla blinked a few times, then went back over what she’d said in her mind.
Oh. Oh. Well, what the hell. She meant it.
She fully intended to marry Mack, and she would make damn sure she didn’t screw it up the second time around.
Mack said, “Wh…when?”
Kayla reached out and stroked her fingertips over Mack’s wide jaw.
God, she was sexy. How had Kayla not seen it until now?
She could spend hours just tracing the lines of Mack’s gorgeous face.
She dropped a kiss on Mack’s lips—just a gentle brush of skin against skin—but she could tell by the way Mack’s eyes danced that it had been taken as she’d meant it. As a promise.
“We’ll talk about it when we get home.” Then, remembering her pledge not to control everything, Kayla asked, “Is that okay?”
The side of Mack’s lips quirked up, nearly meeting Kayla’s palm as it caressed her cheek. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s okay. More than okay.”
Kayla’s focus zeroed in on Mack’s lips. She could still remember how they tasted. How they had traveled over so much of her body when they both awoke in the middle of the night, hungrier than ever for each other. The memories made her squirm closer into Mack’s lap.
She probably would have done something deeply inappropriate if she hadn’t been startled out of her trance by their friend clearing her throat.
Ever sensitive to being caught by authority figures, Mack jumped back and blushed even harder.
If Kayla hadn’t known her so well, she might’ve toppled out of Mack’s lap again, but she’d anticipated the embarrassment and adjusted her grip.
Linda’s tone was still sweet but laced with obvious confusion when she spoke again. “Well, then, I’ll still say congratulations. Even if they’re a little early.”
Mack cleared her throat, too, and sat back in her seat in that adorable way that mascs do when they are trying to be gallant. “Thank you.”
Kayla was going to have so much fun pushing all those buttons to make Mack squirm.
She already had a lot of practice, but now they got to end with sex.
For the first time in her life, Kayla looked at the years ahead not with the thought of what she would accomplish, but what the living would feel like. She’d never been more excited to live.