He smacked my ass, and I squealed in surprise. When my eyes met his, I wasn’t surprised to find them positively glowing.
“Turn over and let me get the rest of you.”
I giggled, turning over onto my back, and my eyes squinted as the bright sun shone directly into them.
Kline kneeled between my spread legs, hands sliding up my sides until his fingers stopped to play with the edge of my bikini top. “Damn, you’re fucking beautiful.” He rested his elbows beside my head and placed soft, sweet kisses against my lips. “I could spend the next fifty years just staring at my gorgeous wife and never have my fill.”
“Fifty years from now, I’ll be a lot less gorgeous and a lot more wrinkled and gray,” I said against his persistent mouth.
He leaned back just enough to meet my gaze. “In my eyes, you’ll always be the most stunning, tiny, perfect being.”
“Even when I’m old?”
“Especially when you’re old.” He placed a wet, deep kiss against my lips.
See what I mean? Swoony fucking bastard.
His lips rested against mine as he spoke again. “My standards will have lessened, and I’m pretty sure you’ll age well.”
Hmm…Okay, so maybe he’s just a bastard.
Chuckles bounced off my skin as he lost himself in his humor.
“Relax, baby. I’m kidding.”
“You better be kidding,” I mumbled, huffing and puffing on my chair as I pushed him away.
He resumed his sunscreen application, squirting more into his palm and kneading those strong fingers into my belly. “What do you want to do today?”
Hells bells, his hands were an aphrodisiac.
I thought it over, but I didn’t have to think hard. “Stay here and let my husband give me the five-star treatment.”
He chuckled, waggling his brows. “All of my massages end with happy endings.”
“I thought this was sunscreen application?”
“Okay. All activities that include my hands on you end happily.” He winked and moved those greedy hands farther up my stomach until they were resting just below the swell of my breasts.
Oh boy, this man was perfect. If he kept it up, I’d start purring like a fucking cat.
Purring like a cat? For some reason, I felt like I’d been down this line of thinking before.
Oh, shit! Cat! The cat!
I sat up abruptly, forcing Kline’s hands to fall from my skin.
“Hey, I wasn’t done,” he responded, hands moving toward me again. They found my ribs and started tickling me into giggling.
“Stop it!” I playfully slapped him away and grabbed my beach bag, rummaging through it in search of my phone.
“You bring some toys to the beach, Benny?”
“No, you kinky bastard,” I said through a laugh. I pulled my phone from the bag and held it up for him to see. “I forgot to call Cass and check on Walter.”
His expression changed from devilish smirk to something a lot less excited in the span of a heartbeat.
“What’s wrong?” I tilted my head to the side, taken aback by his sudden change in mood.
Silent and brooding, he stared into my eyes and searched for an answer to an unknown question.
“Kline?”
He grimaced before he spoke. “I need to tell you something.”
My nose crinkled involuntarily. “Is everything okay?”
“I talked to Thatch and—”
“Oh, my God!” My hand covered my mouth. “Did something happen? Did something happen to Cass?”
He shook his head. “No, baby. Cassie is fine.”
I put my hand to my chest, trying to slow my racing heart. “Don’t scare me like that. I thought something terrible happened.”
“Baby, Thatch called yesterday to tell me that…” He trailed off, watching me with concerned and cautious eyes. He took a deep breath and then finally added, “Walter got out of the apartment, and they’re having a hard time locating him.”
“What?” My eyes bugged out and I shot to my feet, pointing an accusatory finger in Kline’s face. “Walter is missing, and you didn’t fucking tell me?!”
His face was a mask of shame and Ah, shit, yes, and the combination of the two sent me running for our bungalow.
“Georgia!” I heard him call after me.
But I was at a damn near sprint, racing to get inside and pack my shit. Call me a lunatic, I didn’t care. My baby was missing, and I’d be damned if he spent another lonely night in some decrepit alley in New York.
Tears filled my eyes as I pictured him walking the streets, cold, wet, and with no goddamn food.
My husband found me in the bedroom, tossing my suitcase onto the mattress.
“Baby,” he said, voice hesitant. “What are you doing?”