Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Owen glanced at Asher on approach. “You’re late. It’s already ten.”
Asher slipped onto the lounge chair by him at the infinity pool and stretched out. “Can’t a guy get a little shut-eye while on vacation?”
“Sure, like you did much sleeping with that brunette from last night.”
“Nah, man.” He shrugged. “Went to bed alone. She wasn’t my type.”
A lazy yawn left Owen’s mouth before he said, “Well, we missed the boat. No fishing, I guess.”
“Did we really come to Mexico to fish?” Asher rolled his head to the side and lifted his shades to catch Owen’s eyes.
“I don’t think so.” He rested his head back down.
“You need to get laid. It’s our second day here, and you haven’t hooked up with anyone.
Nothing like a good lay to take the edge off. ”
“Must be why you’re so damn edgy all the time since the only woman you want is Je—”
“Hell no. I’m just taking a brief vow of celibacy.”
Owen sat upright, doing his best not to laugh his ass off. “Right. You’re a monk now?”
Asher cursed under his breath. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, what’s it going to be? You want me to be your wingman and help you find a woman here, or what?”
“A woman isn’t going to fix my problems.” He’d hoped parasailing and bungee jumping yesterday would’ve taken off some of the edge, but nothing seemed to alleviate the hard throb in his chest.
Tonight, he’d try whiskey, he supposed. A lot of it.
“Well, women never actually fix problems. They only complicate shit. But sex, that’s a different story. I wasn’t talking about you falling in love.”
“Says the monk.” He chuckled lightly.
Asher’s legs fell to each side of the lounger. “But, uh, if you need to talk about your feelings or some shit like that . . .”
“Yeah, I’ll just pencil that talk in for February thirtieth.”
Asher whistled out a breath as he pressed a hand to his chest. “Whew, you had me scared for a second.”
“Yeah, and what would you have done if I had said yes?” Owen dropped his legs to the side of the lounger and patted his side pocket, realizing he’d forgotten his room key.
“Gone to the ocean to practice drown-proofing, like the good ol’ days at BUD/S.”
Owen thought back to BUD/S when he’d nearly missed the age cutoff. It’d been rough, but his anger over the loss of his brother had pushed him through. “I gotta grab a new key. I left mine upstairs. Stay out of trouble while I’m gone. I promised Jess I’d keep you out of jail.”
A massive grin stretched his face. “She just can’t help but worry about me.”
Monk my ass, he thought as he started for the hotel.
The smell of the ocean wafted to his nose as he walked the path to the side entrance. Jessica had done a decent job in her choice of vacation, but clearly, the resort had done nothing to minimize his pent-up anger.
Once inside the lobby, he tucked his shades in his pocket, but stopped short of the desk and closed his eyes for a brief moment, his hands bunching at his sides.
He needed a moment to calm down before he faced the concierge like a replica of the Hulk.
At the feel of something, or someone, bumping into him, he instinctively reached out. A soft gasp hit his ears, and he opened his eyes to find his hands still touching something . . . a woman’s ass. “Shit. Sorry.”
The woman spun to face him and lowered to her knees.
He crouched for an assist, to help pick up the strewn items from her purse, but instead, he found himself eying her as if in a trance.
Short black hair to her chin, long dark lashes, a straight nose, and high cheekbones. Her beautiful lips were pressed into a tight line.
“Sorry again,” he said under his breath.
“No, it was probably my fault.” She stood with her purse.
Once they were both upright, he noted the red rose tattooed to the inside of her wrist as she swept a lock of hair behind her ear.
Her light brown eyes found his, and he sucked in a sharp breath, catching a whiff of her perfume: lavender. Clean and uncomplicated. He liked it.
Her beautiful browns narrowed for a brief moment as her tongue teased her bottom lip.
A strange pull of familiarity grabbed hold of him, then his gaze flicked to the suitcase and computer bag at her side.
He caught sight of her first name on the airline tag still attached to the luggage handle.
“Are you here for work, Samantha?” Her mouth rounded in surprise. “Saw it on the bag.”
“Oh. Um, vacation.” A touch of pink that matched her lips swept up her cheeks. “And you can call me Sam.”
He checked her ring finger, and his lips crooked into a slight smile. “Well, perhaps I’ll see you around the resort.”
Her eyes remained on his as if she were waiting for him to say more, but then she said, “I’d like that.”
Her voice had the sexy, just-woke-up huskiness to it that had the immediate effect of making his cock get excited.
“Your name?”
Right. “Owen.”
Her fingers splayed across her collarbone, and her dark brows drew together. “Well, I hope to see you soon.”
He tipped his head goodbye and approached the concierge to grab his key. He stole a glimpse of her from over his shoulder as he drummed his fingers on the desk while waiting for his card.
He almost laughed as he watched her shake her head and mumble something to herself while lifting her bags.
He studied the pair of long, shapely legs she had on her.
And when she turned toward the elevators, he clamped his teeth down on his bottom lip, wishing he was sinking his teeth into the delicious curve of her ass.
Damn, those white shorts left just enough to the imagination to have a guy wondering.
His body tensed with the idea of having those legs wrapped around him later.
Asher was a damn genius—maybe he did need to get laid.
When he returned to the pool, he found Asher at the bar talking to a woman in a string bikini paired with ridiculously high heels. He wondered if her heels doubled as a weapon. He’d had to use one to stab a guy in the jugular before, so it wasn’t that crazy of an idea.
Asher popped to his feet when he caught Owen’s eye. “There he is. This is Liza.” He turned away from her and mouthed, “She’s a model.” He raised his brows a few times, his silent way of inviting Owen to make a move.
Owen feigned interest with a quick smile, but for some damn reason, he wasn’t the least bit interested. All he could think about was the woman from the lobby.
“If you boys wanna come to my photo shoot tomorrow, you’re more than welcome to join.”
“Maybe,” Owen said, even though he had no intention of showing up.
“Here’s my digits.” Liza scribbled her number on a bar napkin. “Later.”
“That was fast,” Owen said once the woman was out of sight. “How the hell did you manage that?”
“She thought I was some actor. Forgot who. And hell, I just went with it. I told her you’re like the real version of Tom Cruise from Top Gun.”
“You’re such an asshole.”
“Yeah, well, this asshole just got you a date with a model.”
“You can have her.” Owen started to hand him the napkin but then retracted his hand. “But no . . . you’re celibate right now. Forgot.” He chucked the napkin into the closest trash can before they started down the path for the beach.
“Anyway.” Asher slapped his palms together. “The bartender says there’s a poolside party tonight. DJ is supposed to be decent. We should go.”
“Sure.” Owen grabbed his sunglasses from his pocket and slipped them on. “Was it your idea or Jessica’s to distract me with mindless entertainment?”
“You’re the one who wanted to fish today. Isn’t that like the definition of ‘mindless entertainment’?” he asked while using air quotes.
“True.” To be honest, he didn’t even know how to fish. He loved being on a boat, though, so it seemed like a natural choice. “Fine. We’ll go to this party tonight.”
“Promise me you’ll have some fun.”
“I always have fun.” He stopped walking and crossed his arms, staring off at the Pacific, catching sight of two people parasailing off in the distance.
“Yeah, but not this time of year. This time of year, you’re a pain in the ass.” Asher raised his palms in the air.
“Do you blame me?” he asked, his voice dropping low.
Owen thought about reminding Asher how pissed off and moody he became whenever Marcus’s name was brought up, the teammate he’d replaced.
Asher swiped a hand over his brownish-black beard and tipped his head skyward, remaining quiet, and he had to assume his mind had swirled to darker thoughts as well.
“You’re right, though. Maybe I do need to loosen up.” He remembered the woman from the lobby whom he’d love to sink his teeth into. He hadn’t had such a below-the-belt reaction since his early teenage years when he hadn’t even known the meaning of rubbing one out.
Asher rested an elbow atop Owen’s shoulder and looked off at the ocean. “She’s a thing of beauty, ain’t she?”
The glittering water held his eye, and he sucked in a sharp breath at the memory that tugged at his mind.
I’m gonna join the SEALs, bro. You wait and see, his brother had said before tossing the football to Owen on the beach the summer before Jason had gone off to college. I heard they use live ammunition and train in what they call “kill houses.”
You crazy? Those guys are way too hardcore for you. Owen had caught the ball and flung it back at Jason. Don’t stress Mom and Pops out.
His brother had laughed. Right, you already do that enough for the both of us. But, seriously—I’m gonna make it happen.
“Too bad I never met Jason.” Asher’s words took him by surprise and pulled him back to the present.
“You would’ve driven my brother nuts.”
“Shit, that’s what I seem to do best.”
His throat grew thick, he dropped his eyes and listened to the sound of the water lapping the shore. And then the sound of laughter from children nearby stirred something deep inside.
Jason had wanted kids. A lot of them. Owen had never been interested.
Now, he wasn’t so sure.