He scoops me up honeymoon style as I kick and scream in his arms—even though Pierce James’ arms are not a bad place to be. Not. At. All. It’s more about where I’m going to be in about two seconds.
“Please don’t, please don’t, please don’t! I’m sorry!”
“Too late for sorry now.” He adjusts his hold, as if he’s preparing to throw me in.
He wouldn’t dare. I’m fully clothed, for fuck’s sake. But I should know better than to underestimate him. He launches me into the air effortlessly, and I hit the water screaming.
“Oh, you son of a bitch!” I yell back up at him as I fight my way through my hair that’s threatening to suffocate me. The water is nowhere near as cold as I thought it would be, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s at least one hundred ten degrees today. I dip down into the water to smooth my hair back and come up just in time to see Pierce jump in after me.
I shriek and race toward the cove, but it’s no use. He swims like a shark, and I guess that makes me the bait. My heart is pounding in my ears, and when I’m almost inside the cove, I turn around to gauge his distance. Except I don’t see him anywhere, which means…
“Ah!” I yelp, feeling a firm hand tug my ankle. I turn around to see him emerge through the water—flipping his dark hair out of his face—and kick off his abs, but he doesn’t so much as grunt.
“Don’t run from me, Miss Stringer. I’ll always catch you,” he says, cornering me inside the cove. He means it as a threat, but I wish it were a promise. “Now, apologize.” He’s so close now. His strong forearms are on either side of me. The water is shallower here, and he can reach, but I’m still too short.
“I’m not sorry,” I whisper, and in a bold move, I wrap both arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. His hands find my hips reflexively, and both of us are breathing hard. His expression is one that others would find intimidating, but I know this is the look he wears when he’s waging an internal battle. I feel his bulge between my legs, and I rock into it without even thinking. He drops his forehead to mine on a sigh.
“Remington,” he warns, but his hands sliding down to squeeze my ass say something entirely different. He opens his eyes, and then he zeroes in on my lips. He inches closer, ever so slightly, and I close my eyes. I feel his mouth ghost against mine, and I open for him. His hot breath mixes with my own, and his wet lips graze mine. And then Pierce James shows me just how much fun “just kissing” can be.
We eat seafood for lunch in a darkened corner of a diner that shouldn’t be serving more than a cheeseburger and talk about our lives. He grew up in Orange County, and I’ve never left Las Vegas.
“I don’t get why you’re here. The world is big, and you’re well-traveled. This place is a shithole.”
“I can’t bring myself to leave this shithole.” He’s wearing a fitted hat that’s the opposite of his usual attire, but equally hot, and a stern expression. His folded arms over his chest make his muscles pop out. I try to ignore it because we definitely can’t make out in public.
“Why?”
“I moved here after college. Blew off my career in law to become a teacher. My sister followed me here to escape my parents. She only lived here for a couple years, and I want to move back to California eventually, but I have some loose ends to tie up here first.”
He wants to move back? It doesn’t even make sense to feel disappointed, since I don’t plan on being here after graduation, but I feel it nonetheless.
“She moved away?” I munch on a French fry as I stab my fork at a poor, shrunk shrimp swimming in an unidentified
white sauce.
“She died,” he deadpans quietly. My eyes dart up in horror.
“Jesus. I’m so sorry.”
“So am I.” He looks relaxed, calculated, and dark. His usual self. You’d think he is telling me that he was slightly late filing his taxes.
“How did it happen?”
“I’d rather not talk about it right now.”
“Okay.” I feel extremely uncomfortable, and he can probably see it by the way I shift in my seat. He pops some fried calamari into his mouth and chews, taking a sip of his watered-down Coke.
“Do you think you’ll come back here after you finish college?” he asks. I need to shake my head from side to side just to make sure I hear him correctly. That was abrupt. Also, I’m not sure what my plans are. My immediate plans are to make out with him some more. Other than that, I’ll take pretty much whatever crumbs life throws my way as long as they lead somewhere else.
“Doubt it,” I say. “Maybe I’ll visit every once in a while to say hi to my dad and Ryan. But other than that…”
“Why Ryan?” He cuts into my sentence. “Hasn’t he done enough damage? Guys like him are poison to women.”
There’s something about his tone. Something edgy that makes me freeze in place and examine him for a second. What do I know about Pierce James, other than the dry facts? Suddenly, his presence here seems suspicious.
“Why are you still here, Pierce?” I call him by his first name, even though I’m not sure how he feels about it. I lean against the table, my fingers lacing together. “Tragically, your sister is no longer here. Then why are you here?”
“Remington.” He does this thing again where he warns me simply by saying my name. I don’t budge. He chuckles darkly.