Chapter 7
seven
. . .
BLAKE
“Don’t blow this, Blake, or Honor won’t blow you tonight.”
I tried not to flinch at Spencer’s words—resisting the urge to adjust my shorts at the mention of Honor’s mouth anywhere near my cock—as I stood in the back corner of the beach volleyball court waiting to serve.
If I thought I’d been attracted to Honor in the airport lounge, it was nothing compared to watching her laugh and joke with my family for the last few days. She’d fit in perfectly with them without even trying. And they weren’t just polite to her, they adored her. Especially Spencer and Hudson, who had never liked any of the women I brought around before.
Hud had cornered me at the omelet station at breakfast this morning to congratulate me on finally choosing a worthwhile woman, instead of “the boring bimbos you’ve been boning” since my split with Reyna. There was no way I was going to open up to him over fried eggs about how vacuous women who didn’t expect anything more from me than an expensive dinner and a satisfying lay had been all I was willing to commit to since Reyna tanked our engagement.
And Reyna. Jesus.
She looked good.
Better than good.
When she’d called last night, she’d sounded desperate and in need of a friend, so I’d caved and gone to meet her at the one resort bar that stayed open late.
When she’d draped her body over mine at the table while wearing the tight black dress that had always driven me wild, I’d almost tossed my glass of whiskey back and dragged her to my room right then and there. Despite what she’d done, it felt good to have her pressed against me again. Familiar. And a thousand dirty thoughts—most of them about the kinky shit she and I had done together—ran through my mind all at once.
Sex had never been an issue between us. It was her lack of commitment that had been the problem. That, and her proclivity for throwing herself at my brother.
But neither of those things would have stopped me from taking her back to my room. What stopped me? The thought of Honor asleep in my suite. The image of her had hit like an ice bath over my head.
As far as my family were concerned, Honor was my girlfriend. If I was caught sleeping with Reyna, my mother would never forgive me. Hudson and Spencer, even Kelly too.
But it was more than that.
As much as sleeping with Reyna would be easy, I didn’t want it. Not really.
Because of Honor.
It wasn’t just that she was a pro at her job and was so far knocking it out of the park with my family. Or that I owed it to her to respect the terms of our fake relationship.
It was the memory of her smile when we hung out on the floor the other night. The loyalty she’d shown me when I’d opened up to her about the ways Reyna had betrayed me. The support she’d given me at dinner that first night when she’d only just met everyone at that table.
It was clear to me what type of woman Honor was. The kind you married. The kind you worshiped if you were lucky enough to land her. I’d made the mistake once of thinking Reyna was that type, and it had come back to bite me in the ass harder than I’d ever seen coming.
It should be someone like Honor I wanted on my arm. Or draped all over me.
Reyna was nothing but a bad habit that was hard to kick.
If I insisted on thinking with my dick this entire trip, I’d never make it through the next few weeks. I had to pull my shit together and keep it that way. Which meant staying far away from my sex-on-legs ex, as well as the stunning blonde occupying my suite.
“Let’s be honest,” Honor said, pulling me from my head. She strutted past in her bright blue bikini that perfectly matched her eyes and barely covered her ass. “I’ll probably blow you either way.”
Spencer and Jeremy—my brother’s friend from college who’d arrived this morning—howled with appreciation.
Spencer slung an arm around my shoulders. “Seriously, bro. Where did you find her, and does she have a sister?”
An expression I couldn’t decipher flashed across Honor’s face at the mention of her family, but she recovered quickly, her bright smile returning.
“I don’t, actually. I have a cousin though,” Honor called from her spot alongside me in the back corner of the court. “But she’s married and heavily pregnant. Sorry, Spence.”
Spencer clutched his chest like she’d wounded him. “You’re killing me, H.”
Since when were the two of them on a nickname basis?
“Any chance we can do away with the boring attempts at flirting and play some beach volleyball?” Reyna called from across the net, bending down to stretch and blatantly showing off her ass in her miniscule G-string bikini.
Fuck, it was one perfect ass. There was no denying it.
Honor cleared her throat, and I glanced at her. “Eyes on the game, boyfriend .”
Her firm tone made my brow crease. Was she… jealous?
I shook off the thought. Was I so out of touch with reality that I thought my fake girlfriend wanted me now? Honor wasn’t stupid enough to let feelings get involved in our arrangement. She was a professional and she was here to get paid.
Tossing the ball in the air, I pumped it over the net. Jeremy got under it, knocking it to Kelly, who sent it soaring back.
“I’ve got it!” April, Kelly’s bridesmaid who’d arrived on the same flight with Jeremy, called on our side of the net, just as Spencer dove for it. The two of them collided, tumbling to the sand in a mess of limbs, the ball rolling off the court.
Hudson and his teammates cheered for their winning point.
“Nice technique, Spencer,” Honor said, offering a hand to April to help her up. “Next time offer to buy her a drink before trying to tumble with her on the beach.”
April laughed, brushing the sand from her legs.
“What can I say? I like to get creative with my come-ons.” Spencer wiggled his eyebrows suggestively as we rotated our way round the court. Honor and April were now under the net, me and Spence in the back corners.
Hudson readied his serve from the other side, then lowered the ball instead. “Seriously Kel, can you stop wiggling your ass like that? It’s really distracting.” He stared at his future bride’s backside like a slobbering dog.
Kelly just winked at him over her shoulder, ass still swaying.
Hudson served, the ball flying over the net to Spencer. He propped it up for April, who sent it flying above the net, but Reyna jumped and spiked it right back over.
“I’ve got it!” Honor called getting under it and returning it.
“No, I’ve got it,” Reyna said, spiking the ball straight back.
Spencer and I exchanged a look. It wasn’t just the men who were getting competitive. But if the girls wanted to have it out on a beach in tiny bathing suits, we weren’t about to stop them.
Reyna and Honor continued to whack the ball back and forth over the net, grunting with exertion. No one else could get near the ball.
Honor sidestepped through the sand, tracking the ball Reyna had just sent soaring over. She got a fist to it, and it sailed back over the net and right over Reyna’s head, earning us an epic point.
“Nice work, firecracker,” Spence said, shaking Honor’s shoulder.
I jogged over, offering her my hand to slap. She wouldn’t meet my eyes, slapping me a blind high-five that left me frowning in confusion. Was she mad at me? Was it because I was checking out Reyna?
Or was it something else?
She went to turn away from me and it lit some kind of fire in me. Before I could question it, I reached for her, sliding an arm around her shoulders and tugging her to my side in a hug. “Nice shot.”
She went rigid with surprise, then relaxed into me, a small smile spreading over her face. “Thanks.”
I stared down at her, forgetting about the beach and the game and my friends waiting on us, getting lost in the blue of her eyes. They were even more impressive than the waters of Antigua.
My gaze dropped to her lips, and she sucked the bottom one into her mouth, biting into it.
Fuck, I want to taste her. I shouldn’t want that .
I slid my hand against her throat, cupping her face, my fingers tangling in her hair.
She leaned into me, her body flush against my side, and I was wholly aware of how much bare skin was pressed against me.
“Hate to break up this romantic moment, but are we going to play?” Jeremy called from the other side of the net.
I blinked and Honor pulled away.
“Uh… yeah... My bad.” I took up my position by the net this time, trying to act like I wasn’t affected by having Honor’s half-naked body against mine.
When I glanced at Honor a few moments later, she was focused on the ball, waiting for Kelly to send it sailing over the net, a masterclass in the composure I was supposedly known for.