After getting in the truck, I grabbed Lex's hand. "You ready to have an amazing week?"
Lex smiled so sweetly that I almost had to catch my breath.
"Yes! I have a feeling this week is going to change a lot of things. It's going to be beyond amazing."
A few minutes later, we were pulling up to the beach house. The sea-blue color of the house always made me smile. Even as a kid, when we would come to the beach, I loved the color of the house. I stood there and stared at it until I felt someone slap me on the back.
"A lot of damn good memories in this house." Luke looked at the house.
"Sure is."
He turned and smiled. "Hell of a lot more will be made in the following week, no doubt."
I glanced at him and smiled before looking at Lex. She was talking to Grace about what to do first.
"Beach or pool?" Grace asked.
"Beach!" Lex said.
They both darted toward the front door.
I glanced back at Luke. "Do you think she knows? I mean, everyone else does, and I'm surprised Grace has kept it a secret."
Luke laughed.
Lauren walked up. "She's clueless. Grace has actually done a very good job at making it seem like nothing special is going on. I don't think Alex has any idea."
///
"Good." I kissed Lauren on the cheek. "Keep her distracted."
Lauren smiled. "Oh, I will. Now, my ass is going to get some sun on the beach."
Luke and I smiled as we watched Lauren skip away.
"Do you think she has any clue how damn adorable she is?" Luke asked.
"Nope," Colt and I both said at once.
Colt was walking by, carrying four pieces of luggage.
"Why the hell do these girls pack so much shit?" Colt said.
"Dude, that is one of many questions about women I'd like to have answered." Luke picked up three suitcases and followed Colt.
We walked into the beach house that my parents had bought when Libby and I were about four. Gunner and Ellie had built the house on our right, and Jeff and Ari had built the house on the other side.
I smiled as I looked around. My mother had the house decorated in what she called a beach-shabby chic style. It was mostly whites and blues. The walls were large pieces of plank wood that had been painted white. The floors were all stained, and the furniture was either mostly blues or leather. The two-story house had four bedrooms and four bathrooms along with a small poolside house that could sleep two people.
The girls had already decided who was bunking with whom. Lex and I would get one room. Grace and Libby were in another room. Lauren, Taylor, and Maegan were sharing a room. Luke and Colt had fought like hell on who was going to get the poolside house, and Luke had won out after three rounds of arm wrestling.
Maegan grabbed two suitcases and started toward the stairs. "I'm gonna unpack and head to the beach. My white skin needs some sun, and my eyes need to look at some di-"
"Stop!" Grace and Lex said at the same time.
Libby laughed as she went to grab her suitcase.
Luke took it for her and smiled. "I'll get it for you, Lib."
Libby smiled back and nodded her head. I was glad to see the two of them were slowly getting back to somewhat of a normal relationship. Now, if they would just talk to each other about their feelings, everything would be even better.
"Things are looking good," Lex whispered as she watched Luke follow Libby upstairs.
"Yeah, I think so. Do you mind if I meet y'all down at the beach? I'll just be a couple of minutes. I want to work on something your dad wanted me to do."
Lex looked at me funny. "What did he want you to do?"
"Expense spreadsheets. I think he's starting to test me."
Lex laughed as she reached up on her tiptoes and gave me a kiss on the lips. "Of course I don't mind. I'm gonna go change into my new bathing suit. I think you will be very happy with it."
I instantly felt my dick getting hard. "Really? Well, I can't wait to see this new bathing suit. The quicker, the better."
I grabbed our luggage as Lex grabbed her backpack. We headed to the only bedroom on the first floor.
When we walked into the master bedroom, I set everything down and looked around. "Oh God."
Lex turned and looked at me. "What? What's wrong, Will?"
Lex had already begun to strip out of her clothes. I looked at her and then looked at the king-sized bed.
I shook my head. "I can't. I mean … I don't think I can."
Lex narrowed her eyes at me as a confused expression crossed her face. "What are you talking about, Will?"
I looked back at the bed. "Sex. I don't think I can have sex in this bed or even in this room."
Lex started laughing as she jumped on the bed. "Why? 'Cause your mom and dad have?"
"Gross. Yuck. Oh my God, that turns my stomach just from thinking about it."
Lex reached behind her, unsnapped her bra, and dropped it to the bed.
I had to control myself. I wanted to take her in my arms and make love to her. "You're. Killing. Me."
She slowly started to unbutton her shorts, and then she shimmied them down. The moment I saw the bright yellow boy shorts, I knew I was done for.
"Will, I don't want to make love on this bed," she said in a seductive voice.
"You don't?" I asked.
She began slowly pushing her panties down, further and further. She bit down on her lower lip as she shook her head. "Nope. I want to fu-"
Lex and I both jumped when someone started banging on the bedroom door.
Grace called out from the other side of the door. "Come on, Alex! It doesn't take that long to change into a swimsuit … unless you're giving Will a-"
"Give me two minutes," Lex said with a laugh. She quickly jumped up and skipped to her suitcase.
"So wrong of you to do that right now," I said.
///
She looked back at me and shimmied her chest. My poor dick was already aching, and now, it was aching even more.
"You don't play fair, Lex."
She looked over her shoulder as she held up a teal bathing suit. "I didn't realize you wanted me to play fair, Mr. Hayes."
I laughed as I walked over to my bag. I took my laptop out and set it down on the desk. I pulled up a bunch of spreadsheets in an attempt to look like I was going to work.
Lex cleared her throat behind me.
When I turned to look at her, my mouth dropped open. "Holy shit, you look beautiful."
Lex blushed as she moved around like she was embarrassed. I looked her perfect body up and down. Lex had the most amazing body. I'd heard her and Grace talk about how they both had hourglass shapes. Neither one of them had ever really worried about their weight, and I loved that. Really, none of the girls were fixated on their bodies, unlike how some of the girls in high school had seemed to be.
I looked at Lex's breasts. She seemed to be showing much more cleavage than normal.
She must have noticed. "It's a push-up top."
"Well, it's pushing 'em up, that's for damn sure."
She giggled. She put her finger in her mouth and gently bit down on it. It was a nervous habit she would do, and I didn't think she realized that it was sexy as hell. I looked her body up and down again. I wanted her more than anything, but I needed to remember what I needed to take care of. I could have Lex all night long.
"Lex, you're so beautiful."
"Thank you," she whispered as she walked over to me. She pushed her hand through my hair and kissed me. "I think you're beautiful, too."
I laughed and shook my head. "Go, before Grace has a heart attack, and I die from blue balls."
She walked over to her suitcase and pulled out a sundress. She slipped it over her head and blew me a kiss before leaving. "Don't work too hard. Daddy needs to understand that we're on our vacation!"
"I won't. I promise."
The moment she shut the door, I walked over to the window overlooking the deck and pool. I watched as everyone started making their way down to the beach. Luke and Colt were both carrying towels and a cooler.
I pulled out my cell phone, looked up the number to Mr. Shelton, and hit the button to call him.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Shelton, this is Will Hayes. Gunner Mathews talked to you about us using your house on St. Joseph Island this week."
"Yes, Will. How are you?"
"I'm doing well. Thank you. How are you, sir?"
"I have no complaints at all. So, I hear you're going to ask Gunner's little girl to marry you?"
I smiled. "Yes, sir, I am."
"You couldn't have picked a better spot, son. I've already talked to my ranch hand, Kip. He knows what day to expect you, and he has taken care of the ride over to my place and the dinner."
"That's wonderful, sir. I can't even begin to thank you for letting me use your yacht and house for this."
"Well, when Gunner called me and told me what you had in mind, I couldn't help but feel déjà vu. I asked my wife to marry me in a similar manner."
"Really?"
He laughed. "Yes, I did. We've been happily married now for eighteen years with three kids."