Page 65 of Emerald

Oh. Yeah. Of course. That.

“I’m going to go for a run and clear my head for tonight.”

“Want company?” he asks.

“You want to come for a run?” He shrugs. “You’re not one of those clingy men who, after having great sex, don’t take the hint?”

“Great sex?” he questions me. “Geez, guess I’d better up my skills if I’m only performing greatly.” He smirks. I glare at him. “If you want to run alone, that’s fine.”

My eyes narrow on him, noticing the tonal difference. “Is this you being protective?” He shrugs. “If you say it’s because I’m awoman and I shouldn’t run alone, I just found the fifty-first way to kill you,” I warn.

“No. That’s not at all what I was thinking. You’re a beautiful woman, and sometimes beautiful women go missing in Mexico, and it would suck if you were one of them.”

Aw, that’s so cute, he’s worried about me. I don’t think I’ve ever had a man worry about my safety before, it’s nice.

“That is valid, and I appreciate the concern. I can look after myself, but I am not familiar with the area, so I don’t need to stumble into trouble when I don’t need to. So, yes, if you would like to join me, that would be fine. I’m used to doing things by myself. Might be nice to have company for once.”

“So am I.” He grins as he throws the covers off and stands up naked as the day he was born. Damn, he’s hot. I take him fully in, my eyes traveling down the deep V of his hips, past the suntan line from his board shorts, down between his thick thighs to his semi-hard cock that hangs nicely. It really is pretty. Are dicks pretty? I’m not sure. Maybe I should ask Mackenzie, she’s the doctor.

“If you keep looking at my dick like that, I’m going to have to fucking use it, again.” Nash smirks.

“Fine, let me clean up and meet you out the front in ten?” I tell him as I slide out of his bed. His eyes land on my naked body as I confidently walk out of his room and toward mine. I jump into the shower and clean myself off before grabbing a pair of leggings, my sports bra, and trainers. I slide my phone into my pocket, then tie my hair up into a ponytail, and head out to the front, where I start stretching. Moments later, Nash is out with just a pair of board shorts on and no shoes.

“Where are your shoes?” I ask him.

“We’re running on the sand, you won’t need them.” He motions toward my trainers. He’s right, I take a seat to take them off, and stand again. “Ready?” He grins.

“You’re no competition for me, old man,” I tease.

“I’m not that fucking old. Jesus.”

“Thirteen years is a bit.” I smirk as we take off and head toward the beach.

“Fuck, you’re only twenty-four. Shit, yeah, I am old.” He groans as he runs beside me.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you.”

“You’re too skinny to last long,” he bites back.

“Watch me.” I smirk, I’m used to running three miles most days. We make it to the beach and instantly sink into the sand as we run, ew, this is going to need more endurance today as we slowly make it through the soft stuff till we get to the firmer sand that is closer to the water. “It’s beautiful here.” I stare out across the aqua water, the bright white sand and the pink streaks of light of the sunrise give everything a warm glow.

“There are worse places,” Nash states.

He’s not wrong. “Have you always wanted to own a beach bar in Mexico?” I ask him.

He chuckles beside me. “No, but after spending a decade in the Middle East, I was sick of the fucking desert. A friend suggested some security work here and that’s how I ended up in Mexico. Unfortunately, an incident dancing on a bar top blew my knee out ending my security career. So, I thought I’d open a bar instead.”

“Um, I feel like that’s a story you need to elaborate on more.” I giggle.

He lets out a gruff sigh. “There’s no story. I lost at a game of poker. Loser had to perform a Magic Mike routine on the bar. And if I was going to get up there and make a fool of myself, I was going to give the crowd the best show ever. And I did. I may have got into it a little too much, and the next thing I know, I’m falling off the bar because my knee decides that’s the moment toshit itself.” I can’t contain my laughter. “It’s not fucking funny,” he grumbles as he continues to jog beside me.

“It’s not.” I try to keep my laughter to the bare minimum, but I’m failing. “Now I want to see this routine.” He turns and glares at me. “Do you do private shows?” I tease. He flips me off. “I bet you have the moves.” He shakes his head as he continues to run, ignoring my teasing.

“Not like you can dance judging by your moves on the bar last night,” he teases.

I’m quiet for a moment. I hate thinking about what I lost all those years ago. “I was training to become a ballerina before all this.”

“A ballerina?” he questions.

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