Sweet Alibi (4 page)

Silas was apparently affected too because his grin spread as he looped his arm around Tristan's elbow. “Let me show you your room.”

I shook my head as Drew hopped out of Gavin's arms, smiling. “Gavin, this is Georgia. Georgia, Gavin. And the guy manhandling your best friend is Silas.”

A chortle escaped Gavin's throat as he extended a hand to me. “Nice to meet you.” He wore cargo shorts like Tristan, sneakers, and a fitted blue shirt. The sculpted muscle of his biceps strained the tee, indicating he worked out.

“Do you want anything to drink? Beer, tea, water?” I offered.

“A beer would be fantastic. That drive was brutal, as was listening to Tristan moan about his latest love-gone-wrong after I picked him up at the marina.”

I handed him a beer as Tristan returned to the room.

“I had to listen to you talk about Drew, so don't play like I was the only one doing the moaning. ‘This summer's going to be great, man. I can’t wait to see Drew in a bikini. I'm going to fu
―
’” Tristan was mocking Gavin in a goofy voice before I cut him off.

“Okay…beer, Tristan?” I asked.

“Sure.” He crooked a grin at me and my heart thudded a few extra beats in my chest as I popped the cap and handed it to him. 

“Thanks, Georgia.” My name slid past his lips like warm honey. He smiled before sliding the pad of his thumb across my temple. My eyes widened, my feet rooted on the spot.

“Paint.” He pulled his hand away and showed me the gray paint on his thumb. With that one gesture I knew he was trouble wrapped up in a sexy, charming package.

“Oh.” The air escaped my lungs in a whoosh. “Thanks,” I whispered, turning away from him for the sake of thinking straight. “I'm going to clean up. Nice to meet you.” I hightailed it out of the kitchen with Silas and Drew in a fit of laughter behind me.

“I could use a shower too,” I heard Gavin say to Drew suggestively. A silly giggle escaped her throat as she and Gavin disappeared into her room behind me.

Five

Tristan

Gavin maneuvered the truck down the narrow drive and we turned a corner before the landscape opened up and a sprawling beach house came into view.
 

I whistled low under my breath.
 

“Yeah.” He paused as we took in the house. “Drew said it was something.”
 

“The quintessential beach house,” I mumbled before jumping out of the cab of the truck and stretching my arms above my head. The cool breeze ruffled my hair and tossed it into my eyes. Fucking hair. I needed a haircut. Another thing that should have been done before I made a snap decision to take off on my boat and sail up the coast, destination this little inlet of North Carolina.
 

Unfortunately, time hadn’t been on my side when I’d left. Sophie had morphed into a raging stalker and was knocking on my door all hours of the night, drunk and wanting to fuck, or cuddle, or anything I was willing to throw at her
,
which after a few nights together, I decided would be nothing because that girl was a clinger. I couldn’t take it another day. Apparently she didn't take well to a friends with benefits kind of arrangement.
 

Gavin tossed my heavy duffel bag and I caught it just before it slammed into my chest.
 

“Shithead,” I grumbled as he led the way up the stairs. He hustled, taking the steps two at a time. I knew he was anxious to see Drew. A few days was the longest they’d been apart in their short relationship and from the way he talked you’d think his dick was about to fall off from lack of use. I only hoped their room was out of earshot of mine.
 

Gavin knocked on the door and then stepped in. I heard footsteps pounding on wooden floors and then was blindsided when the petite form of Drew launched into Gavin. An
oomph
escaped his lungs before their lips connected and I heard wet tongues and small moans.
 

“Seriously?” I said with a roll of my eyes. Gavin’s hands were already firmly gripping her ass and Drew’s were tugging and twisting in his hair.
 

Please, dear God let their room be across the house from mine. If I had to listen to them all summer I would be spending a lot of time on my boat.
 

I watched them all but hump each other in front of me before I sensed someone else enter the room. My eyes dragged across the open kitchen to land on a pair of deep brown ones watching the couple in front of me. My mind registered someone standing next to her but I couldn’t be bothered to look. All I saw was long, brown hair thrown back in a messy ponytail, stray tendrils dusting her cheekbones and curling around her neck. Her full lips were curved in a frown as she watched the couple making out in the middle of the room.
 

I grinned because I knew already this summer was going to be interesting to say the least.
 

Not only would I have to contend with the Gavin/Drew fuck fest that was sure to commence as of today, but I’d be living under the same roof as this beautiful creature all summer. Somehow it had escaped me that the girl who owned the beach house was a knockout. No wonder Gavin had given me the rundown on steering clear of her before we arrived. No man in his fucking mind could stay away from this girl.
 

Fuck him.
 

Fuck me.
 

Why had he said she was hands off this summer? I'd only half been listening to his lecture...

I could see right now this girl was anything but average. I knew with one glance she wasn't the type that wore her dresses a few inches too short and fuck-me heels that begged to be wrapped around my neck.

There was something about her. Something that said she was...more. More everything. She had more depth. More sensuality. An unassuming beauty. She was stunning and she didn't even know it.
 

I couldn’t tear my eyes away, but I knew I’d look like a tool if I didn’t.
 

The guy next to her stepped up to me and thrust a hand out. He introduced himself as Silas before he asked, “Bring your girlfriend?”
 

I lifted an amused eyebrow before informing him that I was unattached. I liked him. I liked his forward demeanor and friendly smile. What I didn’t like was that he seemed close with the gorgeous girl at his side who still remained nameless. They exchanged a glance and her lips tugged up in a small grin.
 

Fuck me if she wasn’t even more breathtaking when she smiled.
 

I needed to find a way to get her to smile at me that way. I wanted to be the reason that smile tipped her lips, not this idiot. And then I instantly felt bad. This guy didn't look like an idiot at all. Although there was something between them, some connection I didn't understand. They had a way of communicating wordlessly, and I was dying to know what they were saying.
 

“I’m Georgia,” she introduced herself with a hand shake.
 

The grin grew wide on my face. I offered her my name and then addressed the couple dry humping beside me. We exchanged a few words and then she laughed, the tone low, an amused smile lifting her lips. The beautiful lips that I wanted to run the pad of my thumb along right before I pressed mine to hers. Fuck she was beautiful and I was getting hard just thinking of all the things we could do together without our clothes on.
 

My eyes flicked down her lean form. She wore an oversized t-shirt splattered with paint and a pair of shorts that ended high on her thighs. I took in the bronze skin and shapely curve of her legs. She wasn’t tall, but not short either, the perfect height to dip my head and take her lips with mine. My eyes landed back on hers and my smile widened as I thought of yanking the band out of her hair and watching it cascade around her shoulders. I wanted to fist the thick strands in my hands and hold her in place while she moaned my name in pleasure.
 

Fuck.
 

I couldn’t keep on this train of thought or I was going to have a very obvious problem below the belt to deal with.

“Let me show you your room.” Silas looped an arm in mine and led me out of the kitchen. I allowed myself to be ferried off by the guy who was putting off decidedly gay vibes. That was cool, maybe he wouldn't be competition like I'd originally thought. Or maybe he was bi and he was getting in her pants.
 

Why had Gavin said she was off limits again?
 

Silas guided me into a guest room. I tossed my bag on the floor and addressed him. “And Gavin’s room would be…?”
 

“Other hallway off the kitchen. Across the house,” he answered with a smile.
 

“Perfect.” I murmured before I heard my name mentioned in the kitchen. No way was I going to let the over-muscled fuck that was my best friend get a word in without me around to defend myself.
 

I walked into the kitchen with Gavin talking about all the issues I'd been having with Sophie. Jesus, five minutes in and he was already giving Georgia a bad impression of me.
 

"I had to listen to you talk about Drew so don't play like I was the only one doing the moaning. ‘This summer's going to be great man. I can’t wait to see Drew in a bikini
―
I'm going to fu
―
’” I mocked Gavin before Georgia’s cheeks grew pink and she cut me off to ask if I wanted a beer. Okay, so she embarrassed easily. I loved that. I made a note to do whatever it took to have that beautiful glow highlight her cheeks again.

She passed me a beer and I flashed her a
flirty, crooked smile that I reserved for women only. I knew the power my smile had and I'd used it often on the opposite sex. It had served me well, and just as I'd hoped, it worked on her too.
Her pupils dilated and she pressed her lips together.
 

“Thanks, Georgia.” Christ, that was a great name. It was perfect for her—all wild, unassuming beauty. Before I could even think my arm rose and I slid the pad of my thumb across the skin at her hairline. I did it just as much to lift the small drop of gray paint from her skin as I did to feel her soft flesh against mine. Her eyes widened as she took a deep breath.
 

Fuck.
 

She was just as affected as I was.
 

I could see it in her eyes.
 

In every move her body made.

Even if she didn't know it yet, she was responding to me in some primal way.
 

“Paint,” I whispered as I finally pulled my hand away.
 

“Oh,” she said all throaty and breathlessly. Her voice caused the blood to hum in my veins. The desire to hear that sound again while I was inside her had my dick hardening.
 

She turned and mumbled something about cleaning up and then darted out of the kitchen. Now all I could think about was her wet body all lush and soaped up in the shower. God damn Gavin for telling me this girl was off limits.
 

“I could use a shower too,” Gavin said suggestively before Drew giggled.
 

And so the fuck fest was about to begin. First stop: the shower.
 

Thank fuck their room was across the house from mine.
 

Six

Georgia

I scrubbed my skin raw in the shower trying to remove the paint, then slid a brush through my long, chestnut hair, dusted my cheeks with some blush, and accented my oversized, brown eyes with a hint of mascara. I threw on cut-offs and a tank top and made my way to the kitchen to find Silas and Tristan watching ESPN over beers. A moan came from the room down the hallway and I surmised that Gavin and Drew were still enjoying their reunion. I shuddered and grabbed a bottle of wine as I realized the soundtrack of my summer would include moans emanating from Drew’s bedroom.

“I thought I would make dinner tonight. Manicotti okay with you guys?” I tossed out to the living room as I dug for a corkscrew.

“Sounds great,” Tristan said next to my shoulder. “Let me get that for you.” He took the corkscrew from my hand and worked the cork.

“Thanks,” I said, pulling ricotta, eggs, and milk out of the refrigerator and oversized shells from the cupboard.

“Do you need help?” Tristan rested a hip against the counter. His casual stance and half smile sent tingles running across my skin.

“There's a jar of homemade marinara in the pantry if you want to get it.”

“Sure. I’ve never had homemade manicotti. Are you Italian?” he asked while digging through the pantry for the sauce.

“Uh, no. I just like to cook.” I dumped the ingredients for the cheesy filling into a bowl. “The marinara is my mom’s recipe.”

He nodded as he twisted the cap off the jar.

I stirred quietly and shot a look over my shoulder, praying that Silas would join us in the kitchen and break up the silence. He was engrossed in his phone though, so he probably wasn't even aware.

“You live in D.C., right?” Tristan set the tomato and thyme scented sauce next to me.

“Yep.”
Keep your answers short. Don't encourage him
. 

“What do you do there?” He opened the box of manicotti shells and set them on the counter.

“I managed a boutique hotel.”

“Managed? You’re not going back after the summer’s over?”

“No, I have some money saved to get me through until I can rent this out next year.” I dug through a cupboard for a pan. “You live in Jacksonville?” I poured some of the marinara sauce into the baking dish.

“Born and raised.” A small smile played across his lips as he watched me.