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“I’ve got you.” I murmured into the back of her neck, feeling her shudder against me as I leaned over. “We’re just going to paddle out a bit.”

“A bit?!”

“Relax.”

“You know not one single woman has ever relaxed when told to do so by a man,” she snapped.

“OK then, help me paddle.”

I leaned over, raking my hands through the water, and with some help she did too. It was a lot harder work than when I was solo and lying flat, but we got a way out. Away from the road, the traffic, and the families walking along the beach, the sounds all fell away, replaced by this. I saw now just how far I’d missed the mark on that first date, because as Jamie leaned back against me, the sunlight turning everything to red gold, I knew that this was how it had to be. Jamie didn’t need more drama in her life, she needed peace.

So I shouldn’t have placed a kiss against the back of her neck.

She stiffened, all the tension I’d worked hard to dispel returning, but only momentarily. Once she was able to assure herself she was safe, her body softened back against mine. I wanted the sun to stop in the sky, to stay exactly where it was, so this moment could stretch on forever.

“It’s so beautiful out here.” Jamie’s sigh was everything. “Like I didn’t expect…” She moved her legs experimentally through the water. “I didn’t think it would affect me so much, but… it’s like being in a whole other world.” She reached down, scooping up a handful of water, the light refracting off the drops as they slipped from her hands. “It’s quiet and still and peaceful.” She nodded at that before looking over her shoulder at me. “Thanks. As a do-over, this is pretty damn good.”

“Pretty damn good… I was hoping for mind blowing, but maybe that’s the next part of the night,” I said and she let out a little bark of laughter when she realised what I was insinuating. My hand slid over her thigh, the fabric of her shorts floating free, making it oh-so easy for me to slide under and cup her bare skin, but I didn’t. “Remember I still owe you, and I’d never want anyone to say that Hunter McDonald doesn’t pay his debts.”

“Are you offering to get me off because I’ve had a shitty day?” she asked, the smile evident in her voice.

“A bad day, a day that ends with a ‘Y.’” I bent over, pressing another kiss to her neck. “Whatever you need.” My hand slid higher. “Millie told us to look after you, and I take these things very seriously.” I edged my fingers under the leg opening of her shorts.

“Pretty sure she didn’t mean… Shit!” My finger grazed her clit softly, just enough for her to register. It would help me work out if she was receptive. Her hips bucked up into my palm. “Here? Now?”

“No, I think I need a bed for what I have planned for tonight,” I said, pulling my hands free before dragging them through the water, turning the board into the shore. A small wave rose behind us, giving us enough momentum to send us rushing towards the sand. “But I need to know if this is what you want.”

As we stepped out of the water, her clothes were plastered against her skin. I caught the sharp points of her nipples, the way her chest heaved and her eyes bore into me, but whatever her body was saying wasn’t consent.

“You managed to distract me from my mother’s bullshit for a while,” she replied with a grin. “But I’m not quite over it. Maybe you could come up with something else to get my mind off her?”

I scooped her up, Jamie’s giggles in my ears as I threw her over my shoulder, carrying my board back to the van under my other arm. My answer came in a kiss, my hands cradling her head as I pressed her against the panel of my car.

“You don’t even have to ask. I am ready, willing, and able to serve at any given moment.” I performed a salute. “Scout’s honour.”

“Willing to serve…” Her grin lit a fire inside me, one that warmed me all the way through. “Intriguing. Better show me what you’ve got.”

Chapter 45

Hayden

This was always bound to happen. Three brothers dating the same woman, and two of them living together, meant at some point our worlds would collide.

I just didn’t expect it to be right now.

The front door opened and as I looked up from the couch, I expected to see my brother walk in. I just hadn’t anticipated seeing Jamie pressed into his side. My eyes were everywhere at once, taking in the state of their wet clothes along with the brightly coloured beach towels wrapped about their waists, but that wasn’t what caught and kept my attention. It was Hunter’s arm slung around Jamie’s waist, the casual possessiveness forcing my teeth to clamp down.

I hadn’t felt this kind of rage since we were kids. Hunter taking one of my toys without asking, ransacking my room to get what he wanted. My hands became fists as they staggered in the door before Hunter pressed her into the wall of our hall. He murmured something in a low voice, in a tone I recognised. I’d used the exact same one with Jamie only days ago. He’d be telling her something sweet, something dirty, right before his mouth crashed down on hers.

In some ways, this would have been easier to bear if it was Brock doing the kissing, not Hunter. I wouldn’t have experienced that weird moment of dislocation. That lips that looked just like mine were claiming Jamie’s mouth, forcing it to part to let him in. I knew what it felt like, to claim that hot, wet territory, to feel her tongue tangle with yours, my own tensing in my mouth. His hands were my hands, sliding down her throat.

Except they weren’t.

I wasn’t touching the one woman I loved and I wasn’t going to, so as I breathed through the urge to tear Jamie away from Hunter, I got to my feet. Run towards them, my heart beat. Tear her away from him. She belongs to you, not Hunter! He’s had a million girls fall at his feet. He can claim one of them.

But I didn’t.

Jamie was here because she wanted to be, I could see that in the arch of her back, hear it in her sighs. My eyes slid upwards, watching her rake at his wet clothes and knew exactly what was happening. She wanted to get to the body underneath as quickly as she could, because she’d done the same when she was with me.