Page 52 of Highest Bid

The whole pub cheered, most of the locals recognizing Layla and clearly happy for her, and probably just as happy for their free drink.

The next hour was spent chatting to Sienna, while Galan seemed more than content to simply wrap his arm around Layla and keep her close. At one point, the bartender came over and asked if they’d like more drinks, before he looked at Layla and said, “I’m guessing now you won’t be accepting the offer to stay and work here?”

Layla sent him a smile. “As much as I appreciate the offer, I’m going to have to decline.” She sent Galan a full wattage smile. “We’ve got a wedding to plan.”

Galan’s eyes warmed, his arm tightening around her fractionally. “We sure do,” he said huskily.

Sienna put a hand under her chin and said dreamily, “A pity there wasn’t still a camping ground and caravan park here. I remember one time a wedding was held on the beach, and all the guests stayed overnight in caravans.”

Galan stiffened, all his attention on his sister. “You’ve been here before?”

Sienna blinked. “Several times. Mom and dad brought me here.”

Galan’s voice hardened. “That explains the mystery coaching sessions Dad participated in for years after his career was over.”

Sienna slurped up the last of her drink. “Did you think my mom was only good enough for your dad between the sheets?” Her eyes flashed. “He genuinely loved my mom. He even talked about—”

“Yes?” Galan prompted.

Sienna looked at Layla, but Layla had nothing to offer besides an encouraging nod. Sienna sighed and added, “He even talked about leaving your mom and living full-time with us.” Her voice wobbled a little when she added, “The night our dad and your mom died, was the night he was going to spill the beans.”

Galan’s arm dropped away from Layla’s shoulders. His chair scraped back and he said hoarsely, “I need some air.”

Sienna stood, too. “Galan, I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you earlier, but—”

“But we were burdened with enough secrets already. I get it, I really do,” he bit out. Scraping a hand over his face, he rasped, “Give me a few minutes, okay?”

Layla’s heart tumbled with sorrow. “We’ll be here,” she said gently.

He nodded, his face tight, yet devoid of emotion. “I’m counting on it.”

Chapter Nineteen

Galan stood knee-deep in the frothy sea, his arms crossed and his throat raw as he stared unseeingly past the horizon of blue.

All the rumors and innuendos about his parents...likely they hadn’t been rumors and innuendos at all. Not if his dad had told his mom the truth that night, told her that he wanted to leave her and his sons to live with another woman and his daughter.

Anger rose like bile, and for a moment he hated Sienna and her mother, hated that his own father had chosen them over the wife he’d married and the sons he’d professed to love.

“Galan.”

Layla’s voice washed over him, soothing and gentle. His anger ebbed slightly as he turned to her, but it was soon replaced by stark, rising need. “Layla,” he rasped.

She hitched up the tie-dyed, burnt orange and red sundress to march forward half-a-dozen steps before standing in front of him. The style suited her, but it was so not her. Anger thrummed with his need. His secret had pushed her away, forced her to become someone she wasn’t.

But as the ocean gently lapped all the way up to her thighs, reminding him how small and innately feminine she was compared to him, another bout of need gripped him, hot and hard. “What are you doing here?”

She blinked, clearly reading his savage intensity. “You’ve been gone for nearly an hour. I told Sienna I’d come and see if you were okay.”

Sudden, blinding hot tears blurred his vision. He’d always been the one who’d looked out for other people, the older brother with secrets and responsibilities. Only sex had eased that tension, made him forget for a few blissful hours the burden on his shoulders.

“Let me help you,” she said quietly.

His eyes cleared, and his cock thickened at her words. When she stared at him like he was some notorious pirate who’d just walked out of the ocean, his smile turned hard and unforgiving. His sexual exploits were his one claim to notoriety, and Layla was the only woman who could tame the savage beast within.

Her eyes darkened, assessing him. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m thinking about carrying you over to those rocks behind you, where I can fuck you in private,” he growled. “And where I can take you so hard and so fast, nothing can touch me but your gorgeous body.”

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