Page 142 of Bridesmaid for Hire
Hattie:Good. I have customers, I have to go. Talk to you later.
I set my phone down and slide down on my lounger, so I’m practically lying down more. Brody stays situated on top of me and as he dozes, his large body half on me, he lays on his stomach. I can’t help but feel completely and utterly satisfied.
Brody stirs and I feel his lips press against my neck.
A genuine smile passes over my lips as I sigh, loving how easy and effortless this intimacy feels.
I run my fingers down his back. “Get a good nap?”
“Yeah, I could spend my whole day here.” He lifts up so I can get a good look at those sleepy eyes.
“Then why are you getting up?” I ask as I bring my finger to his lip. I tug and he nips at my fingertip, making me giggle.
“I need to stretch out, don’t want to cramp up.”
“Is this what happens when you get older, you can’t go all night and not cramp up?”
His brow lifts. “I have no problem going all night, all morning, and right now. This body is finely tuned and ready for anything you try to throw at it, but just like any other elite machine, you have to keep it oiled and running. I’m not going to neglect my needs when I know you’re going to require more of this…lovemaking.” He gestures down his body and I push him away with a laugh.
“Oh my God, you’re obnoxious.”
“And you like it,” he says as he gathers me to his chest and kisses my cheek before releasing me. He stands and stretches his hands above his head. I take that moment to let my eyes hungrily roam over the “elite machine” that he is.
Broad shoulders, tapered waist, contoured and carved in all the right places. His body is incredible, like he’s been molding it for years and has finely perfected it, something I never knew about Brody. I never saw him as the gym rat he looks like, but then again, I never really focused on those attributes before.
He was handsome.
He had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen.
His chin dimple captivated me.
But it was his voice, his easygoing attitude, the way he so playfully joked around that really got into my head. I’d spend evenings thinking about what it would be like to be part of the inside jokes he shared with Gary. How it would feel to be able to laugh, tease, just feel so freely the way he seemed to, not struggling under the pressure of graduating or starting a business. What would it be like living in the moment with him and that smile?
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asks, pulling me out of my reverie.
When our eyes meet, I say, “Just thinking about you.”
“Good things?”
“Great things.”
He grins and holds out his hand. “Go on a walk with me?”
“So you can stretch out your old-man bones?”
“I’m in my thirties, not a geriatric on his last leg.”
“Says the man who cracks when he walks.” I stand as well and adjust my sarong over my hips.
“That’s just unfortunate genetics.” He takes my hand in his, and we head out on the beach, the sand shifting around our feet, sinking us into the earth.
It’s a beautiful day. The sky is a bright blue, mirroring that color of the lagoon spread out before us. The sun is dotted with a few clouds offering sunshine, but not causing a blistering day. And with the light breeze sweeping off the water and the soft sounds of the lapping waves, I don’t think I could ask for a more perfect setup.
“It’s beautiful here,” I say.
“It is.” I feel him look down at me. “I feel like it’s the first time I get to just breathe it in and enjoy it. This week has been wild.”
I chuckle. “Jam-packed some might say.”
