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Her grin flashed, full of sass, and he barely resisted the urge to lean in and capture her lips with his own. As much as his libido was screaming at him to take and conquer, his Daddy instincts were telling him a kiss right now would just spook her. So, he kept his urges in check and they ate in a companionable silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. “Actually, I’m a dancer.”
“Now that doesn’t surprise me at all.”
“Oh?”
“It’s in the way you move. All, I don’t know, flowy,”
“Flowy?” Her grin was more of a smirk now, openly judging him. “I move flowy?”
“Graceful,” he corrected, giving her hair another tug. “But not the kind of graceful you see in uptight socialites. Yours is more natural, more… flowy.”
“That’s almost romantic, Monroe. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were hitting on me.”
“Would that be the worst thing in the world?” he asked, keeping his tone light and casual despite the sudden, frantic beating of his heart.
Lifting her coffee, she sipped silently before answering. “You don’t want me, Bryant.”
Irritation made his voice sharper than he’d intended. “I’ll be the judge of that, princess.”
“You want someone more like Liv. Someone who knows how to be a proper babygirl.”
“Who hurt you?” The question was out before he could think better of it, and he could have kicked himself when she visibly cringed.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to the beach.” She slipped off the stool and carried her half-finished breakfast to the trash can.
“Stay out of the water!” he called after her. His command was met with silence, and he sighed as he gathered their dishes. Hopefully she’d listen, for once. As much as he enjoyed a little playful bratting, he wouldn’t tolerate outright defiance, especially if it meant her putting her safety at risk. And he had a feeling the punishment he’d be forced to dole out would send her running straight back home.
Appetite gone, he scraped his own plate into the trash as well and cleaned up the mess he’d made while cooking before making his own way upstairs to change for a day at the beach.
CHAPTER6
With an eye roll at Bryant’s shouted warning, Shannon headed for her bedroom. She needed a moment away from him, a moment to breathe without him so close. Was that really asking for too much?
Even if it had been nice to wake up to someone else cooking breakfast, and even if the way he looked at her made her want to fuck him senseless right there on the kitchen floor, she just needed somespace.
After slipping into the barely-there, hot pink bikini she’d purchased specifically for this trip, she grabbed a towel and threw open the French doors. Ignoring the voice in the back of her head whispering how Bryant wouldn’t approve, she made her way down the steps to the beach.
Leaving her towel on the sand behind her, she ran to the edge of the water. The cool waves lapped at her feet, and it felt like the ocean pulled the stress from her body with each gentle, cool brush against her legs.
She wanted to go in. Wanted to dive under those waves, let them carry her out to where she couldn’t touch the sand with her toes. Wanted more than anything to just ignore Bryant’s orders and indulge herself in the sea.
But something held her back. A desire she hadn’t felt in years kept her standing just at the edge, trembling on the knife’s edge between obedience and defiance. She was still debating when she felt him behind her, felt his breath tickle her ear.
“Good girl.”
The murmured praise had her spine straightening, but she didn’t turn. “Whatever.”
“You can go in now, princess.”
As much as she wanted to, she didn’t run straight into the waves. That would give him too much satisfaction. Instead, she made sure he saw her exaggerated eye roll before she strolled into the surf.
As soon as she was deep enough, she dove beneath the waves, the stress of the morning instantly washing away as she sliced through the cool, salty water. When she surfaced again, Bryant was just a few feet from her, treading water and watching her with that crooked little half-smile she both loved and hated.
“You’re practically a mermaid,” he said, cocking his head to the side like she was a puzzle he meant to solve.
“I like the water. Especially the ocean. We used to come every year when I was little.”
The half-smile flashed into a devastating grin. “You’re still Little.”
