Page 54 of Strawberry Cake

His heart pounded in his chest, his body coming down from the high as he nuzzled into her neck. “You’re perfect.”

“I don’t want to move.”

“You don’t have to.” He reached for the tissues on the nightstand and used them to wipe her clean. “Do you want some panties?”

She nodded, so he scooted to the foot of the bed and pulled her suitcase closer, fumbling through until he found what he wanted. He helped her slip her feet in before cleaning himself and pulling her close. She was out cold before her head lay on his chest.

Hope

During breakfast, Hope had taken a risk and had asked to join the men on their golf adventure. They’d been ecstatic, even after she’d revealed how horrible she would be. With the sun beaming down on them, she watched Daniel closely. He was explaining how to stand and swing properly. Samual and Aron stood to either side of her with beers in their hands. Decan had stayed behind with the woman, supposedly making sure they didn’t get so drunk that they burned to a crisp.

“So, what do you think?” Samual asked, studying her with a curious expression. “Is Decan a keeper?”

His father shot him a stern glare. “Samual, knock it off.”

“I just want to know if she wants him or the luxury vacation.”

“Him,” she said firmly, but trying not to make it sound bitchy.

“And you don’t care he’s in a wheelchair?”

“Fuck, man,” Aron groaned, giving her an apologetic look. “She clearly doesn’t. Have you seen the way she looks at him?”

“He always gets excellent parking,” she quipped. “Oh and that bedroom? Super spacious.”

And with that, Samual fell quiet. She did awfully at golf, missing the ball more often than not. When she did hit it, it wasn’t anywhere near where it needed to be. She didn’t understand the point system either, but she had fun and that was all she cared about. The three men adopted her, helping her get the ball close enough for her to get at least one into the hole—or whatever one would call it. But she had to admit that the golf cart was the best part of it all. Daniel was sweet and thought it was funny that she’d been able to get Decan to adopt a cat without even trying. He’d only recently retired but was still dabbling in the trenches of stocks, having a good gut feeling about trades. Samual worked in finance, while Aron worked as night shift nurse in a small emergency room.

When they returned for an early dinner, she dropped herself onto Decan’s lap and laid her arms around him. Like a magnet, his lips found hers, pulling her into a deep embrace that left her dizzy and breathless.

“You’re in a good mood.”

“Only because the guys were more than patient with me,” she laughed, running her fingers through his hair. “Have you been at the pool all day?”

“Yes, with a book in one hand and one eye on my mom and sister.”

“I think she did great for her first time,” Daniel said.

“You’re too kind.” She gave him a nervous laugh. “I’m sorry about the club.”

“You have a wide swing; I should’ve learned the first time.”

They found a table at a different restaurant—apparently the resort thought it to be too boring to just have one—and started dinner with a bottle of wine being popped open. With her hand on Decan’s thigh, she let her thumb smooth the denim of his jeans.

He leaned in for another kiss to her cheek, his lips brushing over her ear. “I was hoping we could try out that tub on the balcony tonight.”

Lilly spoke up before Hope could answer. “Oh! Show Hope the videos Marco sent you of Mr. Grumps.”

Decan pulled out his phone and showed her a video of Marco unsuccessfully trying to goad Mr. Grumps into playtime “He stayed all day. He says Mr. Grumps felt lonely but I think he just wanted to play my video games.”

“Because your TV is bigger than his?” she asked.

He nodded, pausing the video and pointing at the Xbox in the background. “Pretty sure he’s going to hunker down and eat all my snacks.”

“Who needs enemies when they have a best friend like that?” Aron laughed.

Decan gave her the phone so she could scroll through the other pictures Marco had sent. “At least neither of them will be alone.” With the last scroll, a photo of herself popped up. One of her by the pool with her ass on display.

“That one is for my eyes only.” Decan chuckled with a kiss to her ear.