Beautiful Dreams (The Beautiful Series) (26 page)

I bent forward and playfully smacked him with the scrap of white material in my hand. “Seriously? What about your car?”

He laughed in a low throaty tone. “You have a higher chance of some bystander in a passing car seeing you than someone out here.”

At my wide-eyed expression, he sat forward, tugged a towel out of the bag, and held it open.

“Here, if it makes you feel better, I’ll shield you”—he did a quick sweep of our surroundings—“from all the people.” He stifled his laughter.

I resisted the urge to smack him again, and then I rapidly started undressing. Kyle’s eyes burned into mine over the top of the towel that stopped level with the height of my shoulders.

I hastily maneuvered myself, slipping on my bikini bottoms and then my top in record speed. I sat back down. “Done.”

“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Kyle grinned while lowering the towel. He grabbed his trunks. Rising to his feet, he glanced around from side to side. Then, in one swift move, he dropped his drawers and stepped out of them.

My mouth gaped in shock. I was unable to respond with his near naked body in front of me.

He pulled on his shorts with a grin. “There,” he stated. He yanked off his shirt single-handedly and tossed it on top of the bag next to his jeans. Then, he bent forward, reaching for my hands. “Ready for a swim?” he asked.

“Yes,” I replied while letting him help me up.

I was still utterly dumbfounded by his indecent act in public. Apparently, the man was not shy. We ambled across the warm sand until we reached the water. As my toes touched the water, I yelped at the coldness while jumping back toward Kyle and the sand.

“It’s not that bad.” Kyle laughed.

“It is so!” I objected, stopping in place.

Kyle rotated to face me, and he tried to haul me forward. “You can either come in willingly, beautiful, or I’ll have to take you in by force,” he challenged.

My jaw dropped for the second time in less than a few minutes. “You wouldn’t,” I said in my most serious tone.
Shit, I always lose battles like these.

“Oh, beautiful girl,” he drawled in a threateningly low tone. “We both know I have, and I will. The choice is yours.”

Before I could respond with a good comeback, he swooped me into his arms. “Time’s up,” he chortled.

“Kyle!” I screeched helplessly, flailing in his strong hold.

His deep laugh sent a shiver down my spine. He ignored my plea and walked along the beach. I exhaled in relief until he veered in the direction of the dock, effectively making my heart plummet to my stomach.

“I think a proper introduction to Lake Tahoe is in order…” He let a slow wicked grin spread on his face. “Madison-style,” he said, referring to his last name.

Double shit!

As he walked on to the dock, my heart thumped louder with every step near the edge. He lowered his head, looking directly into my eyes, as he reached the end of the platform.

“Any last words?” he teased.

As a last effort to change his mind, I tightened my hands around his nape, and I kissed him, hard. He matched my fervor, stroke for stroke, and then he pulled back. I thought I’d won until I saw his eyes glowing with mischief.

“Nice try.” He winked and then jumped.

I closed my eyes, squealing, before we hit the cold surface. I came up, sputtering lake water out of my mouth. Kyle was already wrapping his arms around me again as he treaded the water effortlessly.

Feeling like retribution was in order, I spun around in his embrace to jump on his back, only to sink us both. We reemerged together, laughing, as Kyle gripped my hips and turned me around to face him. I wrapped my legs around his waist as he supported both our weights. The water no longer felt cold now that I was used to it. In all honesty, it was actually pretty warm.

Droplets streamed down his chocolate brown hair to land on his face. I lifted my hands to run my fingers through his hair, pulling it off his forehead.

“Thank you for bringing me here.” I smiled lovingly at him, and then I kissed him sweetly, tasting the water on his lips.

“You’re most welcome. I plan to bring you here as often as I can, especially since I know how much you love the beach,” he responded.

I smiled at him. My heart swelled at the thought of him doing all of this for me. He wanted me to be happy here, but what he didn’t realize was that I would be happy anywhere as long as I was with him.

“I do,” I breathed against his wet lips. “And I love you,” I stated simply.

“I love you, too, Lily—always,” he said in a quiet tone.

We enjoyed the lake for several hours—swimming, relaxing on the beach, and pushing each other off the dock. I adored this carefree playful side of Kyle. Here, we did not have to think about our to-do lists or work. It was just us and our never-ending affection for one another.

After drying off, we dressed back into our street clothes because the temperature was starting to drop, and we watched the sunset. It was one of my favorite things to do, especially near water because all the colors reflected off of it.

We packed up our belongings and made our way back to his car. The short trip back seemed like twice the distance than before. It was probably from playing in the water for so long. Swimming was one of those activities that I never seemed to realize how tired I was until the aftermath.

On our drive back to the house, I thanked Kyle once again for an exceptional evening. Seeing how naturally caring and thoughtful he was warmed every part of me.

Over the next two weeks, we fell into a very domestic pattern of living together. Kyle would leave before I was up for work. He’d write me cute notes here and there, or he’d text me when he knew I’d still be in bed, teasing me for sleeping until half past eight.

Then, I would make my way upstairs to the loft and begin my day’s work. By the time Kyle arrived home every night, I’d have dinner ready for him, and we would talk about our day. Afterward, we’d snuggle on the couch, and we’d watch an old rerun or a movie on Netflix until Kyle would start stealing bases, and he’d end up throwing me over his shoulder before making his way to the bedroom.

That was one thing I would never tire of. I loved the way he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of me, and I felt the same.

Our wedding plans filled the rest of our spare time since it was only two short weeks away. Kyle and I decided to rent a spot near Lake Tahoe, and we would exchange our vows overlooking the water. We planned to have a small reception at our house in the backyard. I quickly accepted his ideas of renting a tent and chairs and hiring a DJ, so we could entertain everyone outside. His eyes glowed with happiness every time I asked him a question in regard to our wedding.

The only thing I was missing was what to wear for my something blue. It was bugging me, but I settled on knowing I still had two weeks to figure it out.

Kyle had even opened up with tiny bits about himself here and there. It was mostly only about his childhood. I eagerly listened to all of his stories about Ryan and Abbey. It seemed like they had all been so close while growing up, and it was one of the things we had in common. No matter how much we’d fought with our siblings or how they had driven us crazy at times, both of our families meant the world to us.

I was anxious to know more about his adult years, but he had not said anything to me about it since opening up about Colton that day at the restaurant. I desperately wanted to ask, but I did not want to push Kyle.

I was slowly getting to know the area better, and I was quite proud that I had gotten lost only once while on my way home from doing some quick shopping at Target. Silly me had thought I could take a side road and come out knowing where I was, but it had turned out that I was way off. Kyle had laughed into the phone while trying to give me directions back to the house.

After talking with Kyle, I sent Brooke a round-trip plane ticket to fly out for a visit. She received her birthday gift in the mail a day earlier than expected.

I was eagerly awaiting her arrival tonight. I had promised her a night in with lots of wine while we hashed out the remaining wedding details. Then, tomorrow, we would be off to shop.

As I was barreling down to my last hour of work today, I was now seven chapters into my new novel. I was quite happy with my progress over the last two weeks.

I had finished my edits on my last novel that Brooke had sent back to me, and it had gone rather smoothly. Now, I had a two-month deadline for my current one. If I kept to my normal pace, I would have no trouble finishing in time.

At five o’clock sharp, I closed my laptop and made my way downstairs to get ready to pick up Brooke from the airport. Kyle had to work late, and he had left me precise directions on the countertop, so I wouldn’t get lost. Hopefully, I could make it there and back in one piece.

I changed into a pair of Victoria’s Secret black yoga pants that read
Broncos
across the back. It was from an NFL special line, and they were one of my favorite teams. I threw on a Pink long-sleeved tee, and then I put my hair into a ponytail.

Ready to go, I left the bedroom and strolled into the kitchen, so I could grab Kyle’s dummy-proof directions. Harley pouted at the door, knowing I was leaving.

“See you later, boy.” I smiled at him before grabbing my car keys off the wall rack.

Nearing the airport, I was feeling quite proud of myself because I had only made one wrong turn. Once into the airport though, I was quickly confused by all the signs. It took me a solid ten minutes to find the correct gate.

Brooke was leaning up against the side wall while texting on her phone. As if sensing me near, she tipped her head in my direction. “Lily!” She beamed as she headed my way. “I thought you forgot about me!” she added while hugging me tightly.

I’d missed her like crazy these last few weeks, and I embraced her back with equal force. “It’s so great to finally see you!” I cried.

“You, too!” She sniffed while pulling back. “We need to invent a teleport ASAP. This thousand-mile shit is ridiculous.”

I laughed. It was so good to hear the wild ideas rolling off her tongue.

“It is. Although, I think a teleport is a bit farfetched.” I grinned. “Maybe we should check into those frequent-flyer miles that everyone raves about.”

“Definitely,” she chortled.

I picked up one of her bags, and we sauntered off in the direction from where I’d come.

“So, do you have any idea how to get out of here? This place is a freaking zoo,” Brooke said.

I shook my head. “I have no idea because I took so many wrong turns on the way in, so we are going to just have to wing it.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” she joked.

Thirty minutes later, we found my car at last.

“My God, I didn’t think we were ever going to get out of there,” she huffed while tossing her bags into the backseat.

“Me either,” I snorted. “Next time, I’ll have to find you one of those airport chauffeurs to bring you to me,” I added teasingly.

“That might be a good idea.” She chuckled while we each put on our seat belts. “Just make sure he picks me up straight from the gate.”

Brooke leaned forward and turned on the music. She kept the volume low enough, so we could still make conversation on the ride home.