“Exactly. So he’ll know how to hide the evidence. In case my emotional baggage wasn’t enough of a disincentive,” Blake explained, “Ryker spent a decade making it crystal clear that if I ever touched you, he’d remove parts of my anatomy I’m rather attached to.”
I laughed. “High school Ryker was trying to be badass with his backward baseball caps.”
“It wasn’t just high school. Three years ago, at that Fourth of July barbecue? When you wore that red bikini? He caught me looking and threatened to feed my eyeballs to the neighbor’s Chihuahua.”
My cheeks warmed at the memory, and how Blake couldn’t take his eyes off me. “He was drunk on Mom’s sangria.”
“The Christmas before that, completely sober, he reminded me he knows how to make bodies disappear. While decorating cookies. With tiny candy canes.” Blake shook his head. “When he finds out about us, it’ll make the Red Wedding look like a tea party.”
“Well then, we’d better think of a way to tell him. Sooner rather than later. Somewhere public. With witnesses and security cameras.”
Blake groaned. “You want to tell him soon? I was thinking more along the lines of waiting until we’re eighty. Or dead.”
“We need a plan,” I said, fighting a smile. “He’s called several times when I couldn’t pick up. When I call back, he might question why I suddenly sound so happy.”
“I have a plan. It’s called moving to Argentina. How do you feel about mastering Spanish?”
“Be serious.”
“I am, mi amor.” He pressed a kiss to my palm. “Though if we’re going to die, we might as well face it head-on. But if Ryker asks, you seduced me. With that lip-biting thing, I was helpless.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I promised, tracing his jaw. “Together.”
I’d enjoy this night a little longer, but my hormones were already revving up for round two. Turns out, when you’ve had fantasies about a guy for years, it takes a lot to satisfy those desires …
52
TESSA
“Teenage me would be squealing right now,” I admitted, letting out a soft laugh. “Remember how you used to come to our house from your workouts, looking like you’d stepped off of a magazine cover?”
The distant city sparkled, while a quiet hum of traffic drifted all the way up here, to the terrace. Strands of soft bulbs crisscrossed overhead, casting a warm amber glow across the plush patio furniture, while ivy climbed the weathered brick walls like nature’s own decoration. The night breeze carried the last warmth of the day, playing through my hair, while Blake tucked me tighter against his side, the soft cashmere blanket caressing my skin.
I could hear a flicker of joy in Blake’s voice. “You used to watch me?”
“Like a live-in stalker.”
He chuckled.
“I used to have this fantasy that, one day, you’d spend the night with Ryker, and you would wait for him to fall asleep and sneak into my room.”
“Your brother would have castrated me.”
I shook my head, smirking. “We would’ve been quiet.”
Blake’s eyebrow arched playfully. “And what did you fantasize about doing with me?”
“Everything.”
When Blake shifted, I could tell that my words were already reactivating the launch sequence.
Same, Blake. Same.
My body apparently had plans to make up for lost time after all those years of stolen glances and careful distance. Now that I knew how his hands felt on my skin, how his breath caught when I kissed him, would I ever be able to look at him again without wanting more?
“At first, my fantasies were pretty vanilla. You know, missionary, that sort of thing, but the older I got, the more …” I wobbled my head. “Sophisticated my fantasies became.”
“I’m going to buy you an entire library of romance novels.”
