Gem was righteously furious with me when she realized we weren’t going to Nantucket.
“Where are we going, Chase?” she asked for what felt like the hundredth time.
“I told you it’s a surprise.”
“Fine. It’s a surprise but we’ve been on this plane for hours already. We’re not going to Nantucket; we’d be there by now. Is it Florida?”
“We’re not going to Florida,” I answered.
“Wherever we’re going, you could have warned me better than telling me to pack a swimsuit. I packed for winter weather. I packed for rain and being outside in the cold,” she ranted, pacing up and down the cabin of the private jet.
Amelia had fallen asleep in my arms, and I was tempted to tell the pilot to keep going as long as I held that little girl. I never knew that I could fall in love with a child. What I wouldn’t give for her to be my own.
“At this rate, we’re going to be in the Bahamas.”
“Not the Bahamas,” I said. “But close.”
I looked at her and shrugged.
“Damn it. We’re going to the Bahamas.”
“Not the Bahamas,” I said again.
“Okay, but somewhere in the Caribbean. I… You…I’m going to…” she sputtered with indignation. “Did you bring sunscreen for me? I didn’t pack sunscreen. I didn’t think I was going to need it.”
“You’ll have everything you need at the house.”
“Everything but a swimsuit?” She stopped pacing and stood with her hands on her hips.
“That’s all you’re going to need.”
“Chase.” She sat in defeat.
She wasn’t mad at me. I could tell, there was a happy lilt to her voice.
“How about a sunbonnet for Amelia? She’s gonna need something to protect her head. Her hair is so fine she’s practically bald.”
“Once we arrive, I’ll arrange for anything you need,” I said. “Summer bonnets, dresses, anything. She’s not going to need much.”
“I could have packed something,” Gem said.
I raised my eyebrows. “Really? You have a full summer wardrobe for her already?”
“No. Fine. Be that way.” She crossed her arms and swiveled her chair away from me. “Rich men all think they can get away with everything.”
“We can,” I laughed.
It was dark when the plane touched down. Waves made a soft sound in the distance. Gem still didn’t know where we were. I surrendered a sleeping Amelia to the safety of her car seat. Gem was half asleep by the time the car reached my house.
“Oh Chase,” Gem said with a stretch and a yawn. “Is this your house?”
The house wasn’t overly large in comparison to what Gem’s family probably had in the Hamptons. Its clean straight edges and modern style gave nothing away as to our location beyond we were in the islands, somewhere.
“It’s the only house I have. I have investment properties, but for me it’s this and the loft.”
“It’s lovely.”
We made a bed for Amelia by turning the loveseat in the main bedroom against the wall, creating an impromptu crib. Gem came to me, and I finally had her in my arms in my bed. We were both asleep as our heads hit the pillows.
I woke to an empty bed. Gem was already up and about with Amelia. The weather was warm, and the sun was bright.
I found my phone and texted Tanner before I was even out of bed. “Replace the mattress before I return. Get rid of any old sheets if you already haven’t.”
I found a pair of shorts and padded out to find my girls.
Outside of the kitchen was a walled-in patio. I found Gem, in a bikini top and sarong, playing with a barely dressed Amelia.
“Good morning my beauties,” I said.
I slid an arm around Gem’s waist and kissed her lips when she turned to smile at me.
“Hi,” she said.
Amelia held up her arms, and I obliged by picking her up. I kissed her soft cheek and she giggled.
I admired Gem’s cleavage and smirked. “I told you, all you would need was a bathing suit. That is a fetching one, I must say.”
“Are you going to tell me where we are now that we’re here?” Gem asked.
I set Amelia down and she tottered back over to where she had been playing. I wrapped myself around Gem again.
“Does it matter? I am providing you with a stunning ocean view, a roof over your head.” I made broad sweeping gestures to show off my offerings.
“Does all of this include meals?”
“We are on our own for breakfast. A cook will be in for our lunches and dinners.”
“Chase, you are too much.”
“I’m trying to be enough for you, Gem.”
“You are more than enough as long as you stick around.”
Her kiss at that moment cemented any crazy thoughts I had. I wasn’t going anywhere without her.
We had breakfast. We played with Amelia. I made certain that a selection of sunbonnets and dresses would arrive at the house before lunchtime. Gem wanted nothing for herself, as long as Amelia was taken care of.
“You’re good to her,” Gem cooed as she unwrapped the items once they were delivered.
“She’s easy to adore,” I said.
“Not all adults take to caring for children the way you have. You’re a natural.”
I smirked. “She brings out my maternal instincts.”
Gem wadded up some of the packing tissue and threw it at me.
“I never really thought being a family man was my thing,” I confessed. “I didn’t know I could like a small person as much as I like her.”
Later I leaned back in my beach chair, hands behind my head. This was perfect. I had my toes in the sand and where the waves crashed to shore, Gem and Amelia played in the surf. I felt warmth throughout my body that had nothing to do with the weather but had everything to do with how I felt about Gem and Amelia, and being a family. I knew one thing that would make it even more perfect. As if she could read my thoughts, Gem took Amelia’s hand and they walked back to me under the umbrella.
I sat up and grabbed the sunscreen.
“Time for another coating?” I said, lathering up my hands.
Gem handed Amelia over to me. “That couldn’t hurt.”
She held out her arms in front of herself and gazed at her skin. “I don’t think I’m going to get a tan this way, which is fine, as long as I don’t burn.”
“What about all those beach vacations in Greece?” I asked.
Gem sat in the chair next to me. “I was a teenager, and I had to get a raging burn before I would tan. I’m not willing to go through that agony again. And I don’t want Amelia to burn.”
“Agreed,” I said. I found Amelia’s ticklish spot on her ribs and made her giggle. “Mommy’s turn,” I announced.
Amelia sat by my feet playing in the sand with some of the beach toys I had delivered along with her new clothes.
I held my hand out to Gem. With a sigh, she took it and stood.
I positioned her in front of me and filled my hands with lotion. Sunscreen was the perfect excuse to touch her. I took my time running my lotioned fingers across her shoulders and down her arms. I lingered over her breasts, dipping my hands under the edge of her bathing suit.
“Chase,” Gem scolded.
“There’s no one here to see anything,” I said calmly, seeking out a nipple to tease.
Gem darted her eyes down to where Amelia was by our feet.
“I’m not doing anything more than putting sunscreen on your skin.” I dipped my hand fully into Gem’s top, cupping her breast.
She hissed in and clutched at my arms.
“See, nothing wrong here,” I purred as I kneaded her warm breast in my palm.
She gently tugged at my wrist. I obliged. As sad as it was to abandon her breast with their erect nipples, there was more of her to touch. I rubbed lotion into her midriff and ample hips. I sat down so that I could adequately reach her legs from her delicate ankles back up to her ass.
My hands slipped under the edge of her bikini bottoms. She backed toward me, clearly enjoying the extra lotion placement. When I skimmed my hands around the front and found that place between her thighs I loved to toy with, she jumped out of my reach.
She turned to face me and gave me a scolding look while nodding in Amelia’s direction.
I took the hint. No hanky-panky while the kid was nearby.
“My turn,” I announced.
I squirted a glob of lotion into Gem’s hand and turned around, giving her my back. I suppressed moans as she ran her hands over my back and around my sides. I turned so that she could touch my chest.
“You should get some tan, you don’t really need this, do you?” she asked.
“I need you,” I managed to say. It was hard to think while her hands caressed my skin.
I took her hand and ran it down my abs and past the waistband of my shorts.
“Oh,” she said, her mouth forming a perfect O.
I kissed those lips.
Her fingers tightened around my cock. I resisted the urge to thrust against her hand. I wanted to shove my shorts down and tell her to get on her knees.
She stroked me.
“Gem,” my voice was thick with want.
I brushed a stray hair back behind her ear and cupped her cheek. Her eyes were greener than I had ever seen. I wanted her in a way I had never wanted a woman. She was in my heart. If I started kissing her again, I wouldn’t be able to stop, or control myself.
She stopped stroking, but her fingers stayed.
“Damn it. Bedtime is a long time away, isn’t it?” she asked.
I had never felt so abandoned as when she released me and removed her hand from my shorts.
