Page 96 of Privilege

“The beach is nicer when there’s less people around.”

He grinned. “I know. This is Diego’s favorite time to come and build sandcastles.”

There it was again.

That love.

His tone thickened with it.

Sweetened, even.

It never failed when it came to his brother.

“And I thought you would like it, too,” he said quieter, his gaze meeting hers again. “Or I hoped so, anyway.”

She heard it, then too.

Love sweetened his tone for her.

Renzo placed his arms behind his head, and stared up at the sky. “What time do you need to go back tonight?”

“I’m not going back tonight, Ren.”

His gaze dropped to her again. “No?”

“Nope.”

She was soaking up every moment she could with him. This was where she wanted to be. Only with him.

Renzo smiled in that lazy, sexy way of his that had her heartrate picking up all over again. “Good. I thought maybe you would stay with me, so just in case, I have one more surprise for today.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, baby.”

“You didn’t have to … do anything for me. Just show up.”

Prove you don’t care about what they say.

“You know, the car, whatever other surprises you have,” she said, pushing up to rest on her knees and leaning in close enough that their noses were touching. “None of it. I don’t need any of that from you.”

Something she couldn’t place flashed in his eyes as they dropped to her mouth. “Ever?”

“It’s not about things for me, Ren. It’s about us.”

She was the one to kiss him that time. Harder, and faster than he kissed her. She wanted another taste of him because she just couldn’t get enough.

“Still yours, right?” she whispered against his lips.

Renzo smiled. “Can’t be anyone else’s, can you?”

Not at all.

That was the thing …

The words slipped out easily, then.

Three little words she thought might not make a difference to what she already knew, but at the same time, would probably change everything.