Peachy Keen (25 page)

“In love,” I finished his sentence.

“We are,” Georgia agreed.

Evan smacked his hands together loudly and tackled me with a hug. He let me go only to grab Georgia briefly before topping off everyone’s glass. Danielle beamed and Georgia glowed and Evan…well, Evan was damn near glittering. He raised his glass and we followed suit, giggles falling from Georgia’s lips.

“Cheers to…” He paused, searching for a thought.

“Desire Resort and Spa?” Dani offered.

I cinched Georgia to my side with a hand on her waist and kissed the top of her head, the sight of which made Danielle stifle a giddy squeal.

“Hell no,” Evan said shaking his head. “Cheers to…”

“Best friends,” Georgia declared.

I sighed as her words entered my ears. I’d never forget the girl I desperately tried to form a friendship with under the Baja sun during what I’d look back at as the most pivotal week of my entire life. I would’ve settled for friendship had that been all she’d ever granted me, but knowing I’d have her for years to come as so much more flooded my heart to the point of detonating. I loved her fearless and wild just as much as I loved her cautious and quiet. She was my most precious friend and the woman I ached to be beside.

Evan held his glass high and his celebrity smirk softened. “To best friends turned family.”

I looked over at her and felt my listless heartbeat react to her very essence the way it always would. The way it had when she was still the nameless beauty I threw caution to the wind for. Best decision ever.

Epilogue

Private Dancer

Harrison

“I’m not fucking around, Evan,” I said through gritted teeth. His charming smile gleamed as he gaped at me mockingly. How had this happened again? When the hell was I going to learn that listening to Evan Weston only got me into trouble?

“I’ve already paid the lady, so you’re just going to have to take one for the bachelor party team.”

“Why can’t
you
take one for the bachelor party team?” I growled.

Evan smoothed his hands down his expensive black suit then clamped his hands on my shoulders. “Because it’s not my bachelor party. It’s yours.”

Evan couldn’t schedule his own tee times yet this bachelor party had been planned in great detail without my knowledge or help. The small group of my soon-to-be groomsmen stood around, averting their eyes from me and rocking on their heels. No one was going to let me get out of this.

My voice lowered and I tried to appeal to his faithful side—the part of him I knew had better judgement. “Look, dude, Georgia might know some of these girls from the studio. She’ll find out about this. I don’t want to upset her.”

His thumb and forefinger gripped his chin as he examined my expression for authenticity. I wasn’t making shit up. Shortly after we bought our house in New Jersey, Georgia opened a fitness studio and the response had been insane. Her pole dancing, strip aerobics, and sensual yoga classes were booked out for six weeks. Write-ups about the studio had been in a few papers and she was the happiest I’d ever seen her. She and her partner had done a few private workshops for some clubs dancers and I was positive the place Evan had brought me to against my will was one of them.

Georgia trusted me. She probably wouldn’t care if I got a lap dance—hell, she might’ve high-fived me and slapped me on the ass with an
atta-boy
—but I wasn’t interested. Back when Evan used the city like his personal playground, he’d drag me to the strip clubs and I’d stay with him solely to humor him and make sure he got home safely. If I’d known this was on the schedule for my bachelor party I would’ve put my foot down in the early planning stages.

“I cleared it with her,” Evan said. “Obviously. Quit being such a nerd and just get your ass in there. When it’s time for my bachelor party you can make me go to a library or something, okay?”

I shut my eyes, feeling my ridged jaw begin to ache, and nodded. He grinned, slapped me on the back, and pushed me toward the frosted glass door. The room glowed pink and violet and the white leather half-moon bench seat was the only furniture. A small stage was at the other end of the small room and a silver beaded curtain hung to obscure the entrance where the dancer would surely emerge. I look a seat and quickly reached for the bottle of ridiculously expensive scotch, pouring myself a glass with a trembling hand. Fuck. Maybe I could hand her a few twenties from my pocket just to get her to sit and talk rather than grind against me.

There had been one time and one time only that I enjoyed a lap dance and that had been at Desire Resort and Spa with my bride-to-be.

The overhead lights dimmed and a spotlight hit the silver beaded curtain as I heard music pump from the speakers in the corner of the stage as well as the radio-esque voice of an announcer. “Tonight, in a special performance for the bachelor, please welcome…Dakota May.”

One bare leg capped off with sky-high heels crept out from behind the curtain like the start of some old-fashioned burlesque show and I took another shot of scotch. My eyes trailed up the leg as her hips swiveled past the shimmering curtain. I hated how I stared at her white lace panties when they came into view. Then my mouth kicked up on one side the moment I saw a glimpse of another shimmer. Right at her navel. I’d recognize it anywhere. Maybe listening to Evan wasn’t always such a bad idea.

Fingers wrapped around the hanging beads and drew them back to reveal the most stunning sight of my life. Georgia grinned and strutted out on to the stage dressed in a white bra and panties with a short veil perched at the crown of her head, her golden waves spilling over her shoulders. Her body swayed to the music and her hands roamed over her breasts and abdomen slowly.

She took her time on the stage, dancing for me, keeping her sultry stare pinned on me. I shifted on the leather sofa, having grown hard the moment I saw her. That fucking veil really did me in. God, I couldn’t wait for our wedding night. In three days, we’d be on our way to Vegas with our friends and family for the kind of wedding I would’ve never had were it not for Georgia.

With careful feet, Georgia descended the two steps off the front of the stage and stood right in front of me, biting her bottom lip.

“Hey there, bachelor,” she purred.

“Dakota May, huh?”

Her hands slinked down her toned stomach to her white panties trimmed in rhinestones. “
South
Dakota, of course.” She winked and turned around showing me her flawless ass. “I thought it sounded better than Michigan July.”

Staring at her ass as her hips gyrated to the song playing overhead, I breathed in deeply. “I prefer Georgia June, but I know you’ve got a problem with names.”

Her breathy laugh rippled electricity through my chest and I melted when she faced me once more. I could look at that face all damn day. My brows rose as I watched her slip the straps of her bra over each shoulder with a little flourish before unhooking the back and tossing it aside. Her hands covered her breasts, teasing the sight of them from me. A few quick moves and she straddled me, causing a groan to leave my lips as I slid my hands up her sides to her back. Georgia swatted my hands away.

“If you wanna touch, it’ll cost you more.”

Her hips ground into me and I saw her devilish grin grow when she felt my hard cock through my pants, grinding harder against me.

“God,” I breathed, my eyes fluttering shut for a split second.

Pushing her tits against my chest, her lips found and captured my earlobe before she breathed hotly, “That’s not my name.”

I laughed and gripped her waist, pulling her as close to me as possible. Her arms linked around my neck and I found her mouth quickly, ravaging her with a forceful kiss.

***

Georgia

Tasting him as he devoured me with a kiss, I moaned and bucked against him a little faster. Since opening the studio, I’d become quite the dancing queen. Jolene at the resort would be so proud. But I’d also been busy running the business, which left me little time to practice my moves on the man I’d call husband by Monday. When Evan told me he was considering bringing Harrison to a strip club for his bachelor party, I wasn’t upset in the least…I was a little jealous. And then the idea struck me.

A little trip down memory lane before we said “I do” felt like fun. And if there was one thing Harrison and I did well, it was fun.

I rolled my body, rocking against his hard cock tenting his pants, breaking the kiss I could’ve melted into for hours. With a little swivel of my hips, I slowly leaned back until I bent all the way, my hair and veil brushing the floor while I skimmed my hands over my torso, still grinding against him. His sighs made me grin. It had only been a little over a year since I slapped my keycard down on the table between us, asking him to take me to bed before we ever knew just how connected we were. Knowing that I still got his blood pumping gave me a thrill.

If someone would’ve asked me if I ever thought I’d get married, I would’ve said no. If someone would’ve asked me if I thought I’d get married before Danielle…hell no. But in a few days’ time, I’d be holding this man’s hand, professing my love for him in front of our collection of supporters.

“You’re going to have to stop so I can throw you over my shoulder and take you home,
Dakota
,” Harrison rasped.

I pulled myself up and rested my forearms on the back of the sofa, looking at his handsome face. I remembered the first time I laid eyes on him. My libido ruled me that night as I scoured the resort for the perfect one. Little did I know he’d actually turn out to be
the one
. My one and only. I never imagined a shameless, nameless hookup would bring me to my knees the way he had, wrecking me in love, coloring my world with devotion I’d always dismissed.

Our story was just as crazy as our friends’ was, but it was ours. Ignited by sex, sparked by budding friendship, fueled by passion, and engulfed once and for all by longing and need.

Harrison brushed his knuckles across my cheeks with a tender smile on his lips as he gazed at me. I’d stopped dancing, succumbing to my daydreams of our meeting. I matched his look and felt myself blush.

“Will you marry me?” he asked.

I chuckled and shot him a skeptical glare from his lap. “You already asked me that, remember?”

Dragging a fingertip down my nose, he shrugged. “I still like hearing your answer.”

“Yes, I’ll marry you, Harry.”

A grin curled his lips and I cupped his bearded jaw, pulling him in for a sweet kiss.

“Will you wear this to the wedding?”

I threw my head back with a laugh and looked down at the panties I donned. “Um…sure. Under my dress,” I replied. My fingers fluffed the veil I wore around my shoulders and I leaned in a little closer to him. “This is my actual veil though. I figured it wasn’t bad luck. It’s not the whole ensemble.”

Harrison’s head rolled back and he groaned. “Fuck. That’s so hot. Okay, we gotta go. The white lingerie, that fucking navel ring.” He pointed at my belly button in mock-anger. “And the veil?! I’m ditching the rest of this bachelor party to fuck you wearing all of that,” he said, gesturing to my whole body with a very serious look on his face.

I giggled and grabbed my bra off the floor, slipping it back on. “You’ve got a limo, right? We could make a little detour so you don’t have to blow the party off completely…”

His brows dipped low in the center and his mouth formed a little O, blowing out a breath. “Will you marry me?”

A laugh cracked from my lungs and I nodded emphatically as Harrison stood, pulling me to him.

“I assume you like that idea, then,” I teased.

His head dropped to breathe against my throat, kissing it once before I felt the scratch of his beard shift into what was clearly a grin. “Mmm. Sounds fucking peachy, baby.”

Chapter One of the holiday novella,
Many Times, Many Ways

(book 2.5 of the Desire Resort series, formerly included in
Mistletoe & Hollywood
)

1.

Miss You Most At Christmas Time

Danielle

It had been two weeks since I’d seen Evan’s face in person and to say I was just about dying without him near me was an understatement. Seeing those hazel eyes on a video chat on my tablet didn’t do him justice. Seeing his face on the cover of a tabloid whenever I bought groceries made me wrinkle my nose in annoyance. What a tease. I missed the smell of his skin, the heat of his breath against my mouth.

We hadn’t been apart this long in months and it was killing me. I knew the long-distance thing would be hard, but I didn’t expect the random bouts of tears that overcame me at the most inconvenient times. Sometimes it would just hit me and I’d lose it. He’s this huge part of me and the days that I went without him made me feel empty. Georgia would just roll her eyes and hand me a glass of wine, a box of tissues, and turn on
Dirty Dancing
.

I missed Evan terribly and the fact that Christmas was right around the corner only made matters worse. I’d always thought Christmas was the most romantic time of year. It always made me all starry-eyed and hopeful, even though the extent of my holiday dating was when my ex, Kyle, took me to a hockey game. In my opinion, it was an epic failure of a holiday date—definitely not what I had in mind when I slyly mentioned something romantic at the ice rink. But nothing, no blunder or lack of love in my life, had ever changed my mind about the season. Hot cocoa, twinkling lights, and silver bells made my heart swell. And now that I had Evan Weston in my life, I couldn’t wait to see what Christmas with him would do to my heart.

My phone buzzed on the comforter near my knees and I leapt for it, splaying out on my stomach on the bed as I answered. “Hello?”