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  “You do remember me, don’t you?” I ask and her teeth bite down on her plump lower lip.

  She nods, admitting the truth without words.

  “Do you want me to pull this string, Caterina?” My voice is low and seductive.

  She inhales sharply. “Yes,” she practically whispers.

  I tug on the string, and it loosens just a bit.

  “Please,” she begs.

  My fist tightens around my dick and I pump and pump, twisting my palm at the head the way I like it.

  “What do you want me to do to you, Caterina?” I ask.

  Her head falls back against the tree and her eyes drift closed. I slide my hand down past the curve of her waist until it lands on her hip. My thumb dips under the edge of her bikini bottom and she sucks in another breath, her stomach indenting. I want to know what she tastes like and have her begging for release under my tongue.

  My hand plants on the tile wall of my shower and my head hangs down as the water pelts my back and my fist pumps harder.

  “I want you, Marcus,” she practically moans and I lick up her neck as my finger tugs on the string again. A reward for her calling me by my name.

  The fabric falls away from her tits and she’s bared to me. My mouth waters at the thought of taking her nipples into my mouth and finding out what I need to do to make her breathless.

  “Let’s take this inside the cabin.”

  I reach down under her ass and pick her up. She wraps her legs around my torso and I swear I can feel the heat between her legs as her center presses against me. Once inside the cabin, I lay her down on the first table I see, pushing her legs apart.

  “I’m going to make you come with my tongue,” I say. She arches her back as though the idea alone makes her squirm. “And then I’m going to come when I taste your release.”

  Hooking my fingers on either side of her bottoms, I drag them down her legs and drop them to the floor. Her blue eyes lock with mine as I grab her by the hips and drag her ass to the edge of the table then drop to my knees.

  “Please…now.”

  My head nestles between her legs and I unbutton and unzip my pants, pulling out and fisting my cock as I enjoy my first taste of Caterina Santora. She’s unbelievably sweet. I could stay here for hours especially if she continues whimpering those fuck-me noises.

  I suck her clit into my mouth and fist my dick tighter and faster. Alternating between fucking her with my tongue and sucking on her clit it’s only minutes until she’s a panting, needy mess.

  She tries to press her thighs together and I know she’s close. Her responsiveness makes my rock-hard cock even stiffer to the point that it’s almost painful.

  I pin her with a stare and shake my head between her legs, my teeth lightly scraping her clit. She takes the order as it was intended and lets her legs drop back to the side.

  I’d remove my hand from my dick and force her to stay open to me, but the pressure in my dick is building to heights I’m not sure even I can hold off.

  Her fingers weave through my hair, and she pulls my head into her sweet pussy. Her taste and scent intoxicate me, and as her fingernails scrape through my hair and her hips rise off the table I know I could never get enough of this.

  “Marcus,” she sighs, “I’m going to come.”

  And it’s enough. A hot stream of cum shoots from my dick.

  Caterina’s pussy pulses against my mouth a few times before her hand disappears from my head and her hips fall to the table.

  The hot water chills to a lukewarm and I’m back in my shower. The realization that it was all a daydream leaving me feeling disappointed and slightly depraved.

  No, she’s not an eighteen-year-old girl anymore—she’s all woman. Still, Cat equals complications, and I’ve strived to give Lily a secure, stable, drama-free life because at some point when she finds out about her mother, she’s going to need that to be the foundation holding her up.

  Regardless, just the thought of Cat does something to me even if it shouldn’t. Even if I’m hell bent on stopping it, it’s starting to feel like I don’t have any say in the matter.

  8

  Marcus

  I walk into Breakers twenty-five minutes after exploding into my hand from visualizing a woman that is not the one I’m about to have dinner with. I haven’t come like that in months, maybe years.

  Damn it. Caterina Santora is the last person I should be thinking of sprawled on a craft table in my own daughter’s camp, spread-eagle waiting for my mouth. If her father, Bill, ever found out I had one sexual thought about his daughter, he’d do more than pull his business from me. He seems like the kind of man who has Italian connections he keeps only for the people that really screw him over. Fucking around with his youngest daughter for the summer would be at the top of the list of ways to piss him off. I’m sure of it.

  Breakers is on the water right next to the marina. It’s decorated like a typical seafood restaurant, with caught fish mounted on wooden planks hung from the ceiling in fisherman nets. It’s a popular place because of their sea to table fare. What’s caught that day is what they serve. There’s other fish they get from suppliers, but every day you can find at least one dish that is freshly caught and in limited supply.

  “Hey, Marcus,” the hostess, Tammi, greets me. She doesn’t bother grabbing the crayons and children’s menu, which means Dane beat me here.

  Of course, he beat me—I trolled the apartment complexes of Climax Cove looking for a red sports car. Why? I still don’t know. Not like I was about to go up and ring the doorbell of the devil in a blue bikini.

  Tammi smiles, sliding her red hair off her shoulder. She’s the owner’s daughter and she’s a nice woman, but her father threatens to castrate any male that tries anything with her with his meat cleaver. Don’t need that drama in my life, that’s for sure.

  She isn’t my type anyways. She’s attractive, yes, but she does this thing when she tells a story and constantly repeats the word ‘like’. We aren’t in Los Angeles nor are we in the nineteen eighties during the valley girl era.

  Yeah, my buddies at the Single Dads Club say I find asinine stuff wrong with women. So, what? I don’t need to settle for someone who is going to annoy me every day of my life and any decisions I make affect my daughter.

  “Dane here?” I ask.

  Her lips spread into a bigger smile and she nods. “He’s in the back room.” She points to the room that has fewer tables but windows on three sides so you can view the sunset. Dane’s laying it on thick tonight. He must really want in this girl’s pants.

  “Thanks, Tammi.”

  I wind my way through the tables, waving hello to the townies who have become mine and Lily’s family. My feet stop when I’m in the archway to the back room. Dane sits at the table beside a brunette while a woman with darker hair sits across from them. Each of them have their phones out and they’re showing each other their screens, laughing.

  Fucking great. The faster I sit down, the faster it’s over.

  Dane catches me approaching the table and stands up. He does the whole raising of eyebrows discreetly side-glancing to my date. My eyes veer to her overly toothy smile and back to him. Even if she were the latest Victoria Secret model, I wouldn’t be smiling like the goon he is. She doesn’t have shiny blonde hair, or eyes as blue as the ocean, or perfectly molded hips I know are made for my hands.

  Jesus. Get her out of your head.

  Dane stands alongside me and both women’s eyes are open wide, their over-whitened teeth gleaming. I wonder if they could be our flashlights if we lost power?

  He pats me on the back. “This is Marcus.” Dane slaps me again and I look at him from the corner of my eye. “This is Nina.” He points to his date who smiles, never holding her hand out to me. Then he puts both of his hands on my shoulders turning me to face my date, as though he has some sort of surprise waiting for me. “This is Polly.”

  She holds her hand out to me, but when I take it and start shaking, she
pulls my arm toward her and I stumble into the chair. Once I’m in the chair still trying to figure out what just happened, she kisses both my cheeks.

  “Sorry, I just came back from Paris. Have you ever been? Oh my gosh, I could go on and on about the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower. After Paris, we took the train down to Italy. Oh, don’t go getting all jealous, I went with a friend of mine from high school. Another woman, not a man.” Her brown eyes flare for a moment as she gives me the once over. “I took Italian in college, but I never really used it, so I was a little rusty, but I surprised the waiters and waitresses by doing my best with their language.”

  Good God, Dane has set me up on a date with himself.

  “Hey, are you on Snapchat? We should totally be friends on there.” She grabs her phone from the table and I glance at Dane, my one eyebrow cocked.

  He’s laughing to himself while he swings his arm around his date’s shoulders. His quiet date. I think there was a mix-up in the who-is-whose type department.

  “Pull out your phone, silly.” Polly sets her phone back on the table and proceeds to lean overtop of me, patting my pockets for it.

  I slide the chair back, part panic, part horror, at the same time as the waitress, Heather, comes over. She’s Tammi’s youngest sister and up until now, I didn’t realize she’d started working here.

  She takes in the scene in front of her. “Mr. Kent. Mr. Murray.” She greets both of us, and her presence at least slows Polly’s hands before she starts cupping my balls. I was not expecting a random prison pat down with dinner.

  “Hey, Heather.” I fidget to push my chair out and stand. Thankfully, Polly straightens up and sits back in her chair. “I’ll have a Rusty Nail.” I look to the table, where Dane’s choking back a laugh. I’m glad one of us finds this so fucking amusing. “I’ll be right back,” I say to Polly, who looks like she wants me to be on the menu after feeling me up.

  “Don’t be too long, we were just getting to know one another,” she responds in a syrupy sweet voice.

  I smile politely and then lean into Heather. “Make it a double.”

  She nods, biting her lip to keep from laughing. “Sure thing, Mr. Kent.”

  I leave the back room, figuring I’ll use my escape to call Ashley and make sure everything with Lily is good. Tonight, was a horrible idea. Why did I agree to this damn date? It’s a waste of time. Time that I should be spending with Lily.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket and catch a glimpse of Garrett sitting at the bar, drinking a beer. Maybe he can trade places with me. He could use some female companionship just as much as I could.

  I walk over to where he sits. “Trade places with me,” I beg, sitting down on a stool next to him.

  “Tonight’s the date thing?” he asks, sipping his beer.

  “Yeah, and she practically makes Dane look like a mute. Oh, and she felt my dick up looking for my phone so we could be Snapchat friends.”

  “Snapchat?” Garrett asks, his forehead creasing.

  “Yeah, you know that app?”

  “You really have that shit on your phone?” The judgment in his voice is clear. Garrett doesn’t have any use for frivolous things including the latest social media apps. If it weren’t for his business, I bet he wouldn’t even have a cell phone.

  “Hell no. Dane does though.”

  He chuckles. “Of course, he does.” He lets a deep sigh escape and his shoulders sag. “Sydney wants to get it on her phone, but I told her no until I screw around with it and see what it’s all about. Make sure it’s safe and all that shit, but I don’t even know where to start.” This might be the first time Garrett doesn’t seem completely sure of himself. Christ. Tween girl shit is real and I’m terrified for myself just seeing him navigate this foreign world that will be my life in a short number of years.

  “Yeah, I should probably check it out too, but who wants me to Snapchat how I design and build a fucking boat?”

  Tammi brings over his bag of food, placing it on the bar top and Garrett tosses back the last of his beer. “That’s nineteen, twenty-three,” she says and Garrett pulls money from his pocket.

  “That’s all for you?” I ask.

  He nods. “With Syd at camp, I’m not into the whole cooking for one thing. Not that I was some gourmet chef when she was home.” He takes the bag and tucks his wallet back in his pocket.

  “Seriously, man. I’ll buy your dinner, plus I’ll offer up my kidney should anything ever happen on those tall ladders you’re climbing all the time.”

  The thought of going back into that room is as terrifying as if I were in an episode of one of those paranormal haunted house shows I watch alone at night. The reminder of how I’m always alone at night surfing channels after Lily is asleep brings to the forefront why I agreed to go on this date tonight. Maybe I do need this date. Maybe Dane is right. The problem is Dane and right aren’t usually in a sentence together.

  “You know I don’t date.” He pats me on the shoulder and I think I glimpse a teasing smile underneath his beard. I’m sure he’s enjoying seeing me squirming.

  “Yeah, yeah. One day you will, but go have a lonely dinner by yourself. The least you could do is call me in ten minutes and pretend you’re the babysitter.” I take a step backward to head back to the table.

  “I’m sure there’s an app to do that, right?” He raises both his eyebrows in a smug way then he’s out the door and Tammi shifts her gaze to the back room before returning to me.

  I hold my hand up in the air. “I’m going, I’m going.”

  She laughs.

  Polly’s laugh is about as loud as her make-up and hair. I hear her cackle before I enter the room. There’s Dane, Nina and Polly all with their phones out again. Someone needs to mention that they’re not thirteen and should be capable of having a conversation that doesn’t have to be posted on social media.

  “Finally,” Dane whines and I want to take the napkin I’m placing over my lap and throw it at his face.

  He got me into this mess and he needs to get me out.

  “We missed you,” Polly coos next to me, swinging her arm through mine. If she ever asks me why she’s still single, I’m sure I can give her a few ideas.

  I give her a polite smile, biting back the harsh words that burn like venom on my lips.

  “Did you guys order?” I ask.

  “Just appetizers,” Nina comments. Her voice is soft and sweet, so unlike her obnoxious friend.

  “I saw on the board when I got here that oysters are the special tonight,” I say.

  My right hand goes to my drink, which means Polly’s arm falls off and lays limp on the arm of my chair. Bringing my drink to my mouth, the ice clinks to the glass and I swallow down a hefty amount.

  “Oysters,” Polly raises her eyebrows a few times.

  Dane points to her. “I know what you’re thinking.”

  Polly licks her lips and Dane laughs. Nina’s busy fiddling with her phone.

  “I love this unspoken connection between us,” Polly says to Dane. “It’s like we’re one and the same.” Her eyes light up with a flirtatious gleam and this time Nina rolls her eyes. I’m guessing this must happen a lot.

  Heather comes back over and places the appetizers down on the table and asks us if we’re ready to order. Each of us orders a meal and I’m the only one who gets the oysters. I contemplated not getting them because I don’t want to throw a wrong signal Polly’s way, but if I have to endure this horrific evening, I’m at least eating what I want.

  “So, you said your Snapchat username is Pollyanna?” Dane asks with his thumbs poised overtop of his phone.

  Nina busies herself eating a salad and Polly nods enthusiastically while chewing on a coconut shrimp.

  “Okay, I found you.” Dane clicks a few buttons and places his phone down, granting some attention to his lonesome date.

  “Do you have Snapchat?” Polly directs the question to me again and not for the first time I’m wondering why I’m even here.

 
“I don’t have much time, what with my five-year-old daughter.”

  Did Dane tell her about Lily or not?

  She leans back for a second and I get my answer. Dane told her nothing about Lily. If I’m lucky she’s one of those women who doesn’t want to deal with the drama of a baby daddy.

  “Oh, you’re a weekend dad?” she asks, picking up her fork.

  Sweet, for once the kid thing worked the way I wanted it to.

  “No, I’m a full-time dad.”

  My gaze catches Dane’s across the table and a sly smile crosses his lips, knowing why I just let the single dad tidbit out of the bag.

  At our single dads’ meetings, it’s a consensus never to tell a woman until you’re serious. A single dad gets one of two reactions to the news. There’s the gushing and asking for pictures because they think we’re looking for a mother for our child. Or there’s the reaction like Polly’s. She doesn’t really know what to do, how to react. I’ve thrown her off kilter, which means she’s not ready for a kid.

  “Can I see a picture?” She leans closer and it feels like a knife jabbing my stomach. I thought for sure I pegged her right.

  I glance across the table and there’s Dane’s sly grin spreading wider.

  Fuck him.

  “Heather,” I announce a little too eagerly and she eyes me while placing the tray of food next to the table.

  Thank God for the distraction.

  We each eat our meal, the conversation moving to Nina and Polly’s nearby town of Wet Rock and how most of the downtown is starting to close. The town’s been on a decline the last few years and they haven’t gotten a lot of younger people to take over the businesses. So, as the older generation retires, there’s no one to keep the businesses going. As much as Polly annoys the shit out of me, I can’t help feeling for them. It’s something that could’ve happened to Climax Cove if I hadn’t have taken over my dad’s company and if Dane didn’t take over Happy Daze.

  My stomach growls as I look down at the slippery oysters sitting on their shells. I plop some cocktail sauce and horseradish on top and my fingers are around the rough shell bringing it to my lips. At least I’ll enjoy this tonight.