Chapter 5
“H OORAH!” JACOB SHOUTED the next afternoon, leaping off the edge of the dock and into the Atlantic Ocean. He disappeared underwater for a moment, sunlight glistening off the blue water, and Mason smirked as the women around them gasped.
“Is he going to be okay?” a brunette with freckles asked, looking worried. “The water is so deep way out here!”
Noah adjusted his aviators and grinned, his gaze raking over her slender body, clad in a bright yellow bikini. “Angel, we’re in the Navy. It’s pretty much a requirement we know how to swim.”
“Will you rescue me if I fall in?” she asked, taking a step closer toward him. She trailed her bright red fingernails up his forearm, and Mason could swear she was batting her eyelashes beneath those oversized sunglasses she wore.
He resisted the urge to groan.
“Are you guys based out of Little Creek?” the blonde asked Mason, unabashedly adjusting her skimpy string bikini top. Her breasts were barely contained by the small scraps of fabric, but they looked fake from a mile away. Jacob hadn’t seemed to mind though.
“Guilty as charged,” Mason said, his gaze shifting back to the water.
Jacob emerged a moment later, grinning as the women watched him. He gripped the edge of the wooden dock with two hands and effortlessly hefted himself out of the water, his dripping wet body standing before them.
“Yay!” the blonde clapped, rushing over to give him a hug.
“Now that’s the kind of greeting I like,” Jacob said. “It’s not the same swimming with my Navy buddies.”
Mason turned away as the two women fawned over his friends. He’d met up with Jacob and Noah intending to spend some time on the beach tossing a football around and admiring the bikini-clad locals.
The guys seemed more interested in the college students who’d come over and started flirting with them though.
Their football and towels lay abandoned back on the beach.
Mason’s gaze drifted over the people milling about on the sand.
A couple walked by, hand-in-hand, young families chased after their kids.
A group of young military guys lay stretched out on towels close to the water.
His mind drifted back to Taylor and last night. To holding her against him as they’d briefly gazed out at the moonlit water. Her body had melded perfectly to his like she’d belonged there.
Hell.
When had he gotten so damn sappy?
He was attracted to her. So what of it? She was a beautiful woman.
He’d resisted the urge to text her this morning, knowing she was at her friend’s place. Now that several hours had gone by and he hadn’t heard from her though, he couldn’t stop himself from making sure she was okay.
He figured her ex would leave when he realized she wasn’t there, but what did he know? It couldn’t hurt to make sure the asshole was long gone.
He grabbed his phone from the pocket of his swim trunks and thumbed a quick text.
Did you make it home okay?
Shrieks of laughter erupted behind him, and he saw Noah swinging the brunette in his arms, pretending he was going to toss her into the ocean.
His phone buzzed with a text, and he saw Taylor’s immediate response.
Yes, Bailey drove me back. My ex was gone. Thank God!
He frowned. She shouldn’t need to worry about going back to her own apartment. She’d assured him she wouldn’t be alone since her best friend was giving her a lift, but a part of him had wanted to see her safely home.
To check out for himself that the man who’d barged in to her place was long gone.
Hell.
She wasn’t his. They hadn’t even been out on an actual date. Her smile, coconut scent, and tempting curves were damn near impossible to get out of his head though.
I’m at the beach with the guys. I much preferred your company last night though.
He imagined Taylor blushing as she read his text. She embarrassed easily, no matter how innocent his flirtations were.
She had such a smooth, porcelain complexion. He wondered if that flush across her cheeks would spread over the rest of her fair skin. He was dying to see what it would look like when she came, her body flushed and sated, her breasts swollen, her sex slickened with arousal.
Her curves up against his muscular frame would be fucking spectacular.
And hell if he wouldn’t love to explore every one of them.
He would love to run his hands and lips all over her delectable body.
To kiss her and tease her for hours—and then finally claim her as his.
His phone buzzed, drawing him out of his daydream. I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.
He quickly thumbed a response.
Me too, sweetheart. Stay safe until then.
Worry niggled at the back of his mind. As far as he knew, she still didn’t have her car. He couldn’t keep chauffeuring her around. It’s not like she was his girlfriend or something. And damn. When was the last time he’d even had a serious relationship?
Dating a woman for a few weeks and then moving on had served him well in the past. What was so different about this woman that had his head spinning in circles, his cock hardening every time she was near, and his protective instincts soaring?
He frowned as he heard a shriek and a splash, and saw that Noah had actually jumped in the water with the woman.
She clung to him as they emerged from the ocean a moment later, and Jacob bent down from the deck to help haul her up.
Mason raised his eyebrows as Noah climbed back onto the deck again. He shrugged easily, grabbing his aviators from where he’d set them down. “She dared me to do it,” he said with a chuckle.
“Oh, you are in so much trouble,” she said, playfully pouting at him.
“We’re going to go grab drinks and apps at one of the bars,” Jacob said, nodding toward the string of oceanfront hotels and restaurants along the boardwalk. “Want to come with?”
“Nah, another time,” Mason said. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
He turned, walking alone down the dock back toward the sand. Normally he’d be all about having beers with his buddies and a couple of women, but those two college-aged girls were just that—girls. Silly. Predictable. A sure thing.
He had Taylor had been dancing around their flirtation for months.
And something about the slow burn between them would make the victory all that much sweeter.