Chapter 14
Fourteen
Nash
I watch her eyes while she agrees to give me a chance, while she agrees to give us a chance. The minute she says the words, I swear I about jump off my feet and pump my fist in the air, but instead, I kiss her softly, not the way I want to kiss her. “Go put your phone away, and then we’ll talk in the water.”
“Okay.” She turns and not even going far just dumps it on the first table she sees. The section of the beach is closed off for the family, so it’s safe. “I’m ready.” Then she walks to me, pinning her hair up on top of her head before sliding her hand in mine as we walk into the warm water.
I stop when I’m at my waist and duck down the rest of the way before I pull her to me. “Let’s talk.” I grab her hips, pulling her to me, and she wraps her legs around mine. “I’ll go first.” Her hands are outstretched by her sides as she moves them around in the water. “My father is not happy with me, and my mother is even more annoyed with me.” I see the worry in her eyes, and it washes over her face. “They think it was irresponsible and stupid, to say the very least, and disrespectful to you.”
“To me?” she says, shocked.
“Yes.” I nod. “I married you like you were some dirty little secret instead of showing the world how proud I was that you were my wife.” I see her swallow down the lump she had forming in her throat as her lower lip trembles. “And if I have to admit it, they are a little bit—but not a lot—right.”
“Nash.” Her voice breaks as she puts her hands on my arms, the warm water moving us up and down.
“No, Zoey, they are right because you aren’t some dirty little secret.” The words make my blood boil. “So I have to agree with them on that. They were right. And I voiced that, maybe not politically correct, but I said what I said, and we’ll deal with that when we deal with it.”
“When we get back, we’ll invite your parents over and have dinner with them, and I’ll let them know you didn’t get married by yourself. I sort of helped.” I can’t help but laugh. “Even though I thought it was fake.”
I kiss her neck, tasting the salt. “Thank you, baby,” I say softly. “Now who were you on the phone with?” I already know in my gut that I’m not going to like the answer. She avoids even looking at me when she starts talking, and all I can do is bask in the fact she’s here in my arms, at least for now anyway.
“I called Josh,” she admits, and even though it feels like she just kicked me in the balls, I have to not make her regret she told me.
“I see.” I try not to make my voice go so tight.
“He saw my Instagram post, and he’s been calling and texting me.” I nod instead of saying anything. “I owed him a phone call.”
My eyebrows rise. “You owed him a phone call?”
“We were together for two years,” she says and finally looks at me. “Two weeks ago, we were still dating.”
“And where does that leave you now?” My anger creeps up as I extend my hands to the sides as I move us in the water, closer to the shore.
“It leaves me in the water with my husband, telling him I’m going to give us a chance.”
“And you told him this?” I ask, and she nods.
“I mean, he did hang up on me.”
“What a dick. I mean, if I ever meet him, I’m going to shake his hand for sure.” My admission shocks even myself.
“What?” she asks, shocked. “Why would you do that?”
“If he hadn’t fucked up and pushed you away, I would have never gotten my chance to be with you.” I smile at her. Finally, the heaviness of the last five minutes leaves me. “So I owe him at least a beer.”
“Good to know I’m worth a beer at least,” she deadpans, and I wrap my arms around her waist even tighter, pulling her closer to me and kissing her neck again.
“You’re worth a bit more than a beer,” I joke with her, “but if he doesn’t know that by now, I’m not going to tell him.”
“So you are going to safeguard me?” She now leans in, wrapping her arms around my neck, laughing.
“I’m going to do whatever I have to do to make sure you stay mine.” She stares at me. “And word to the wise, baby, I won’t play fair. I’m going to play dirty, but you’ll like it.” I kiss her with a huge smack. “Most of the time anyway.”
“Are you guys having your honeymoon in the water?” I look over and see Caine walking toward us. “’Cause if you are, that’s fucking nasty. You guys have your own private beach in front of your cabana. Why are you out here with kids and shit?”
“We are not doing anything but having a conversation,” Zoey quickly points out and unwraps her legs from me. “Now I’m going to go out and have a drink with my brother and kick him in the balls for not defending my honor.”
She turns, giving me a kiss before walking out of the water, and I watch her strut her stuff. “I’m right here,” my brother says, making me laugh, “and you get to go home with her.”
“Yeah, I do,” I declare proudly, then I stand. “You speak to Dad?”
“Oh, yeah,” he says, “called you a fucking idiot.”
“Meh,” I reply, “he’s called me worse.”
“Oh, I know.” He laughs. “Trust me, I know.”
“Mom got in on the action this time also,” I say, and he gasps. “Yeah, she’s not happy either. Called me a dickhead since that’s what I lead with all the time.”
“Dude.” He laughs. “Seriously, though, what the hell is going on?”
“Nothing, we are two people who?—”
“You haven’t even dated her. Did you even sleep with her before you married her?”
“We saved it all for the wedding night,” I admit proudly. “We shared our first kiss after we got engaged, so all this me leading with my dick is not even accurate.”
“You kissed her after you got engaged?” He’s shocked at this piece of information. “You have done lost your damn mind.”
“No, I haven’t.” I shake my head. “I’ve never been clearer. We are two people who like each other enough to get married.”
“Like each other enough to get married,” he repeats my words, hoping it makes sense, and I know it doesn’t. “Should you, I don’t know, date and get engaged and then married?”
“Now you sound like Mom and Dad.”
“I mean, I hate to agree with them in general, but they might be right about this.”
“Listen, I know it’s unconventional,” I admit, “but she just agreed to give us a chance.”
“What the fuck does that even mean?”
“I asked her to give me ninety days to fall in love with me, and she agreed,” I say proudly.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” He shakes his head.
“It’s not.” I stand by my words. “All I need is time to show her how good it can be.”
“So you’re going to woo your wife?” He can’t help but laugh.
“Obviously, I’m not going to woo my ex-wife.” I shake my head with a grimace on my face. “That’s just fucking weird.”
“You can’t fuck this up.” His voice goes low, and I know he’s not joking now.
“I’m not going to fuck this up,” I assure him.
He groans, rubbing his hands over his face. “Have you met you? Your longest relationship was four months and that was because she was gone for three.”
I hold up a finger. “First of all, she was gone for two months, and she wasn’t Zoey,” I explain as we make our way out of the water. “She’s like no one I’ve ever met before.”
“You’ve known her a week.”
“How long before you knew you were all-in with Grace?” I ask him and see his jaw get tight. “Was it before or after you hired her to be your assistant, and she started driving you crazy?” I hold up my hand. “The minute I met her on the beach that first time, I knew I was going to marry her.” He gawks at me. “I know it’s crazy to say, but I just knew if I would ever marry someone, it would be her. Then spending this week with her, I knew I was right. She’s everything I’ve looked for in a woman and more. She’s smart, she’s kind, she’s fucking hot, and the sex is out of this world.” I turn to him. “I’m already half in love with her.”
“Thank heavens for that. I would hate for you to be married and not already be half in love with the woman.”
“Exactly,” I say, slapping his shoulder. “Can you imagine that? It would not even be worth it.”
“Mom dropped you.” He points at me. “Must have dropped you on your head when you were a kid. Had to.”
I laugh and look over to find Zoey with Stone. “Got to go make sure my wife is okay.”
I don’t even wait for him to answer as I walk toward them, getting there just as he grabs her around her neck and gives her a hug. “Hey,” I call, looking around to see if I am going to be somehow attacked.
“Hey,” Zoey says, and I look over, seeing Ryleigh coming our way, “I was having a chat with my brother.” She lets him go and comes over to me, standing beside me. “Giving him shit for not even fighting for me.”
“I wasn’t going to hit him,” Stone counters. “I was just going to rough him up, but then who was going to contain my wife?”
“Contain your wife?” Ryleigh surprises him from behind. “Contain me?” She folds her arms over her chest. “If you had hit him, I would have gladly helped him press charges on you. And actually, represented him.”
“Gorgeous,” Stone sighs. “I think that’s like illegal or something.” He wraps his arms around her waist and brings her to him.
“Now, have you stopped being mad at her?” she asks him, putting a hand on his chest while he side-glares her. “Don’t give me that look, Stone Richards. She’s a grown woman.”
“She is,” Zoey cuts in, “and as much as I’m lucky to have a younger brother and then sad because you didn’t even take a swing at him, thank you for being in my corner.”
“See,” Ryleigh says, “now I’m going to go and take a nice bath and get ready for dinner. Are you joining me?”
“Eww,” Zoey says, “did you just ask him to go and do nasty things with you?”
Ryleigh looks at her. “You’re staying in the honeymoon suite. You don’t think that you’ll be having sex every single day, three times a day?”
Zoey gasps at the same time Stone groans, “I’m not.” He shakes his head.
I look down at Zoey. “We should also go and get ready for dinner.” I slide my hand in hers. “We’re full of salt and stuff.”
“Are my ears bleeding?” Stone asks Ryleigh as he turns and just leaves us on the beach, dragging Ryleigh with him.
“Are you okay?” I ask her, and she looks up at me, and I can see she is. There’s not an inch of sadness on her face.
“I am.” She smiles, her beautiful face just lighting up.
“Then my job is done.” I crinkle my nose. “At least for the next hour.”