Page 78 of That Kind of Guy

Emmett

“I thoughtwe were going to the beach,” Avery asked as we drove down the highway.

I had been thinking about Avery all day. During my morning run along the beach, I thought about her pretty blue eyes. While I showered, I replayed her sitting on the kitchen counter, crying out my name with my fingers deep inside her. How sexy she had looked, stepping into the kitchen in only my t-shirt, and then pulling it off to expose her perfect tits. They fit perfectly into my hands, and the way her head fell back when I slid my tongue over her nipple—fucking hell.

Last night was the best sex I had ever had, and it wasn’t even sex. It was hand stuff. That was it. She got me off with her hand like I was a horny teenager.

I thought about what it would feel like to put my mouth on her, taste her, and how incredible I bet she tasted. I should have done that last night, but I was greedy and wanted to feel her clench around my fingers.

“We’re going to a different beach.” I shot her a sly look. “It’s a secret beach.”

I thought about her sleepy sigh of contentment in bed while I read Div’s email with poll results that showed me neck and neck with Isaac. I thought about the way her smile lit up the room when she made fun of me for being grossed out by turtles.

All day, I looked forward to coming home to Avery.

I never, ever thought I’d say this, but thank god for bedbugs.

I could do without washing machines, though. Washing machines had ruined my plan of having Avery either wearing only my t-shirts or nothing at all.

Her lips parted in surprise and her eyes lit up. “Oh, really?”

I nodded. “It’s a Rhodes family secret, though. You can’t tell a soul or you’ll be excommunicated.”

She laughed. “You’re telling me right now.”

Castle Beach was a secret, I wasn’t lying about that. It wasn’t on Google Maps or in any tourism brochures. Some locals knew about it, we’d seen them there, but the unspoken rule was that we didn’t post about it on social media and didn’t direct tourists here. There were no repercussions, though.

Bringing Avery here felt right. She was the closest to a wife I’d probably ever get. She knew my parents, she was close with my mom, and she should know about the beach. I wanted to share it with her.

I grinned at her. “We’re getting married so it’s fine.”

We shared a glance, thewe’ve got a secretlook. My heart squeezed.

When I turned off the highway onto a dirt road, she wrenched around in her seat to look behind us. “I didn’t even know this road was here. I’m not sure I can find it again on my own.”

“I’ll have to bring you back again.” I reached over and placed my hand on her thigh and she grinned out the window.

We bumped along the road until we parked in a small clearing. Takeout and beach blanket in hand, I led her down a trail to the beach, holding her hand at the steep parts, even though she was wearing sneakers and perfectly capable of climbing down herself. My body craved her touch. Any excuse to put my hands on her, and I did it without hesitation. Even better, her mouth twitched up every time we made contact, which warmed my chest.

The path ended and turned to sand, and we stepped out onto the beach.

“Oh, wow.” Avery paused where the sand started and looked out at the sparkling water.

Castle Beach was in a small, protected cove. Across the water, the forest rose out of the sea. We had the beach to ourselves. A light breeze carried off the ocean, and it smelled fresh and clean. This was so much better than the popular beach in Queen’s Cove, which would be packed tonight.

“The sky looks so beautiful.” She sighed and shook her head with a wistful expression on her face. “We live in the most beautiful place on the planet.”

The blue sky stretched out endlessly, the thick green forest was lush as ever, and the sea sparkled. “We sure do.”

I kicked my shoes off and led us to a log down the beach that we could sit against. She shook out the blanket and I unpacked the takeout as she took a seat and watched. I grinned at how her eyes lit up at the bottle of wine I pulled out.

“I grabbed it before we left,” I told her before pouring it into a couple travel mugs.

Her smile was shy. “Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Anytime. I like to run here in the mornings.”

She shook her head and gave me a teasing look. “Early bird.”

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