Page 13 of Sweet Temptation (Love & Legacy #1)

LUCKY

L och and I sit on our surfboards, alone , as the sun rises the next day.

Lexie never came out of her room, and I wasn’t about to go wake her up. Hell, even Linc didn’t feel like catching waves this morning, not that I can blame him. The skies look like they’re going to open up and soak the world at any minute, and the ocean is angry as hell this morning.

Perfect day for surfing.

“What’s going on, brother? You seem like you’ve got some shit you’re working through.” Lochlan cracks a smile. “Deep thoughts with Lucky Beneventi.”

“Asshole,” I grin. “It’s all good.”

“Bullshit,” the fucker calls me out. “We’ve been friends too long for you to lie, man.”

“Who says I’m lying?” But the truth is he’s right, and we both know it.

And the reason just walked onto the beach with her eyes closed and face turned toward the small glimpse of the sun as it pushes through the clouds.

She walks down to the edge of the soft sand and sits cross-legged on a towel.

Her blonde hair blows in the breeze, and a thin white sweater covers what’s probably another bikini that’s bound to get me shot by the fucker next to me.

“That look right there. That look says you’re lying.

” Lochlan lifts a brow, daring me to say he’s wrong.

“It’s the same one you had yesterday whenever you looked at my sister.

Fuck, man... It’s the same one you’ve had for years.

You might not actually be lying to me, but that’s because you’re definitely dumb enough to be lying to yourself. ”

There are only two guys in the world I respect as much as my brothers.

And Lochlan is one of them.

But if I were him, I’d want to kill me for the thoughts I have about that woman.

Spectacularly. Fucked.

We sit in silence for a few minutes, letting the waves pass us by.

Waiting them out for something better.

If Linc were here, he’d be filling the silence for us.

“You gonna finally ask her out?” he eventually asks. “I gotta figure you’ve been waiting long enough.”

I turn his way and grip my board, so I don’t fall the hell off as the next wave threatens to knock me over. “How pissed would you be if I did?”

His eyes narrow as he watches me, looking for something.

An answer to an unasked question.

If it were anyone else, the answer wouldn’t matter.

But it’s not just anyone. It’s Loch.

The answer matters, just not enough to stop me. Not anymore.

“You gonna do it anyway if I say I’d be pissed?”

Fuck you is on the tip of my tongue because I’m done asking for permission.

“She’s a grown woman. Pretty sure she’d be pissed as hell if anyone asked for her brothers’ approval before asking her out.” And damn if that thought doesn’t make me smile. Lexie’s always been cute when she gets fired up, and she gets fired up a lot.

The sun slips back behind the clouds, and the sky grows darker. “Good answer.”

This ass. “No shit it’s a good answer. It’s the only fucking answer.”

“You know you can’t just hook up with Lexie, right? She’s not a one-and-done. She needs someone who can take care of her,” he warns me, and I wish I was surprised he thought that, but that’s how he and Linc have always seen Lexie.

“Do you even know your sister at all? The last thing she wants is for a man to come in and treat her like she’s breakable. She doesn’t need anyone to take care of her. She can take care of herself.” I made that mistake before, and it cost me more than she knows.

Loch lies down on his board and grins like a motherfucker. “Yeah, man. I know. I’m just making sure you’ve been paying attention.” He looks behind him at the wave still coming in.

“Oh yeah, Yoda... and have I passed whatever test that was?” It shouldn’t matter what he says, but it fucking does.

“Yeah, asshole, you passed. Now go get my sister and treat her like the princess she deserves to be. I’ll see you guys back at the house later.”

That’s where he’s wrong. Lexie’s not a princess. She’s the fucking warrior.

I watch as he rides the next wave in and stops to talk with Lex before walking back to the house.

She doesn’t follow him.

She doesn’t even stand.

Just stays sitting in the sand.

Watching me.

Fuck this.

I catch the next wave in and shake my hair out as I walk her way, knowing this might just be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, and I’ve done some pretty dumb shit in my life.

“First rule of surfing...” Her eyes light up like I’m giving her the fucking world, and it might just be right now, right here, when I decide that’s exactly what I’m going to do. “You can’t surf in a sweater, Lex.”

Lexie stands with a pretty smile on her pursed lips. “Oh darn. I guess I woke up for nothing.” She pulls the sweater over her head and drops it to the towel, and I reconsider every decision I’ve ever made, including thinking this was a good idea. Because this... this is a very bad idea.

Tiny red cherries dot the white bikini that’s tied around her neck and at her hips with a little red bow.

“Sorry. I didn’t have a wet suit,” she murmurs. I guess I’ve been quiet for too long because all the blood has rushed from my brain straight to my dick. Pretty sure I’m that villain I always tease her about because I feel like the wolf about to attack the sheep.

Shit. “It’s all good. The ocean is way too rough for you to be out there this morning anyway.”

“Really . . . ?”

I reach down and grab her towel and sweater. “Yeah. It knocked us around a bit already. I think a storm is rolling in. But we could try a different day.”

She takes her sweater from me and beams. “I’d like that.”

“It’s a date.” Fuck. Could I sound more lame?

She tilts her head and stares at me for a minute. “Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden? Is something wrong? Are you sick?”

“Oh, you’ve got jokes now, huh?” I pick her up like a groom carrying a bride over the threshold and run into the ocean.

“Lucky,” she screams. “Put me down.”

I lean over until her toes touch the water, and she pulls them back up and screams again. “No. Don’t put me down. Lucky...”

Lexie clings to my neck, and I laugh harder than I have in years. “Admit that I’m always nice, and I’ll put you back down on dry land.”

“Lucky...” she laughs, and it’s a beautiful sound.

Almost as beautiful as her.

“Admit it, Lex,” I demand and walk further into the cold water.

“Oh my God, Lucky... Fine. You’re nice to me when you feel like it and an asshole the rest of the time. There. Is that good?”

She yanks on my hair and claws at my skin.

“Please, Lucky.”

“Oh baby, I like when you beg,” I groan, and Lexie laughs her ass off.

Then her nose scrunches up like she just smelled something bad. “How many women have you said that to?”

“Not as many as you think.” I act like I’m going to drop her again until she tightens her hold on me.

“Which makes it one too many, Lucky.” She pulls back and runs her thumb along my jaw.

One single touch, and it threatens to take me to my fucking knees.

“Ask me why, Lex.” My voice sounds pained and foreign to my own ears. “Ask me.”

Her face pales, and she pushes off my chest. “Lucky... I don’t feel so good.”

“What’s wrong?” I walk out of the ocean, ready to grab the keys and the car and take her to the hospital. “Lexie?—”

“Migraine.” She closes her eyes. “The new meds I’m on—they give me migraines.”

She rests her head on my shoulder.

I bypass my board and her towel and walk back to the still silent house. “You want me to take you to your room?”

“No,” she whimpers. “Aurora’s in there. No one’s in my mom’s room.”

I carry her up to the third floor where Cooper and Carys’s room takes up the entire space and lay her down on the bed. “You want me to get you medicine?”

“Yes, please. It’s in a bag on the nightstand.” She tucks herself into a ball, and I say a quick prayer my cousin doesn’t wake up, thinking I’m a deranged stalker, and scream or attack. I wouldn’t put either past her.

Luckily, Aurora doesn’t even hear me walk into the room, and I grab the entire bag of meds sitting on the nightstand next to the empty side of the bed. Then I grab a bottle of water from the kitchen and head back up to Lexie.

“Lex,” I whisper as I walk back in. I may be an asshole, but I’ve got a sister and a mother who both get migraines, and I know better than to be loud. “I’ve got your meds and some water.”

I look at the bag and realize I have no clue which of the dozen plus bottles she needs.

She opens her eyes and quickly looks through the bag, then takes two pills without bothering with the water and lies back down.

“Want me to shut the curtains?” I don’t bother waiting for her to answer before I start closing the heavy drapes.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “You might have a little hero in you after all.”

I pull the throw blanket off the foot of the bed and cover her with it, then push her hair off her forehead. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“Promise.”