SEAL’s Love by Leslie North
7
“Have you played beach volleyball before?” Colin asked her, looking far more gorgeous than any man had a right to in his board shorts, flip-flops, and mirrored aviator shades covering his eyes. Nothing but tanned skin and sculpted muscle for miles and damn, it had been way too long since she’d had a man like that in her bed.
Well, technically she’d had a man exactly like that in her bed the previous night, but since all they did was sleep, that didn’t really count.
“No, never.” Truthfully, she’d rather not play now. Harper scowled and dug her toes into the warm sand beneath her feet. Apparently on today’s agenda for the family reunion was the annual team volleyball tournament. In reality, it was more a game of whose is bigger, mine or yours? Already some of Colin’s family members were sizing everyone up according to whether or not they thought the person could help them win. She’d played volleyball before, sure, in gym class in high school. But no one there took it this seriously. The whole idea just rubbed her wrong.
Especially right now, when all she wanted to do was storm Sebastian Bone’s compound and rescue Serenity. She’d said as much to Colin earlier as they’d gotten ready for breakfast, but he’d told her that it wasn’t safe yet, especially since they had no idea what kind of resources Bone might have on hand, or how much opposition they might face. For now, they needed more reconnaissance—and, if possible, to figure out a way to get Serenity to come to them. But until they worked that out, they had to keep playing the part of a couple with nothing to worry about but the family reunion.
Now, with the sun beating down hot on her skin and the first signs of a headache forming behind her temples, Harper was really not feeling the whole competitive atmosphere. Unfortunately, the teams had been decided while she’d been dicking around, and they were ready to play.
“Don’t worry,” Colin said, his teeth even and white as he grinned. “Just stay behind me and I’ll field the plays for you.”
She snorted and shook her head, tromping to the back left corner of their half of the makeshift court, wishing to hell she’d worn a cover up over the pink bikini top. She’d look like a tomato in about an hour out here.
“Serve,” Colin’s dad shouted before vaulting the ball over the net at blazing speed. It was headed straight for Harper, and her eyes widened as she struggled to remember the proper stance and technique from her high school sports days. Squat, use the flat part of your forearms, yell out possession. Before she could do anything, though, Colin dove in front of her and spiked the ball hard, nearly beaning his mom on the head on the opposite side of the net. Sand sprayed up in Harper’s face as Colin landed hard in front of her. Harper barely had time to spit it out before the ball came flying back to their side. This time, Jojo took control of it. Between her and Colin they looked like a professional team, fielding plays and passing the ball back and forth before slamming it over the net toward Colin’s dad.
For his part, Cole Parks took no crap from his family. Harper began to wonder why they’d even invited the rest of the family to play, since the three of them basically controlled every shot.
Hyper competitive much?
Harper snorted and moved to the front left corner as their team rotated, and Colin moved up to serve. She was directly across the net from Colin’s mom now, and the woman looked about as done with this shit as Harper felt.
In fact, as soon as Colin sent the ball over the net at his dad like a torpedo, Emily leaned into the net and whispered to Harper, “Want to take a break with me?”
“Hell yes!” Harper answered, ducking just in time to avoid getting smacked in the face with the volleyball. “Please.”
Once that play was finished, the two of them ducked out of the game and headed back up the path to the house, taking a seat at a table set up in the gardens to overlook the beach. It was quieter up here, and cooler too, with lots of palm trees for shade. Colin’s mom poured them each a glass of iced tea, then sat back in her chair and sighed. “I love these reunions but hate these games.”
“I can see why,” Harper said, reaching over to fix a plate of yummy barbeque pulled pork from the platter set at the center of the table. The stuff had been roasting since early that morning, and she’d been dying for some. “It’s like a war zone out there.”
“You have no idea.” Emily straightened and slid her oversized sunglasses up to the top of her head before dishing up some food for herself. “But I suppose the three of them going after each other out there on the court is healthier than doing it in real life, right?”
“Hmm.” Harper drizzled more sauce onto her meat before taking another bite. The tangy, sweet, spicy flavor was just right. She stared out at the game again, watching as Colin and Jojo went two on one against his dad. Colin moved with a grace that many men his size didn’t have, and he played like he did everything else—smart and steady and steadfast. She liked that about him, along with the fact that Colin didn’t give up.
Then, of course, was that sizzling hot kiss they’d shared too…
Harper had liked that way more than she should.
She took a deep breath and stared down at her plate, pushing a bite of pork around with her fork. Up until now, she’d never been able to picture forever with a guy. To be honest, she hadn’t really tried. Her mom was a free spirit and had raised Harper and Serenity to be the same way. Harper didn’t avoid relationships—far from it—but she never assumed they would last, either. She cherished the time she’d spent with every lover she’d had, but she’d never felt the need to try to make a relationship more than it was. Holding on to something too tightly ruined what made it special, and refusing to move on meant refusing to grow.Or so she’d thought, anyway. Colin was the first man she’d been with whom she doubted she’d ever grow tired of.
On the beach, Colin, his dad, and Jojo were now in a heated argument over something, all three standing at the net shouting and pointing fingers. Harper rolled her eyes. It was a silly beach game at a family reunion, not World War III for fuck’s sake.
Now that she could certainly do without. Could live without all his complicated family politics too.
But not him…
That last thought stopped her cold. Oh boy. Not good. Not good at all.
If she wasn’t careful, Harper could end up developing real feelings for her pretend boyfriend and then where would she be? Up shit’s creek without a paddle, that’s where, idiot.
“What do you think?” Colin’s mom asked, jarring Harper from her thoughts.
Harper blinked at her a second, having no idea what she’d been talking about. “I’m sorry?”
“I said maybe you and I could visit the Wellness Center for a spa day,” Emily said, smiling. “I noticed how interested you were in it yesterday and I’ve never been there, so I’m curious, too. My friend lives next door to it, and she’s always talking about all the people coming and going from the place at odd hours of the night. She said one time there was even a helicopter!” She sipped some tea, then leaned closer to Harper. “To be honest, it doesn’t sound very restful or healing to me, but what do I know? Anyway, if you’re interested, I’d love to check it out with you.”
“Oh.” Harper took that in. On the one hand, Colin would probably kill her if she accepted without talking to him first. But on the other hand, it did give her a perfect excuse to get inside the compound and check it out for herself. She grinned. “I’d love to.”
They continued drinking and snacking, watching the rest of the family playing volleyball. Harper liked Colin’s mom. She was nice, easy to talk to, and genuinely kind. It was clear she was excited that her son had a girlfriend, but she wasn’t pushy about it like that obnoxious couple from the previous night. She just focused on being warm and welcoming and making Harper feel like she belonged. When they’d first arrived, Harper had worried that she’d spend the whole time tiptoeing around the luxurious house that was multitudes fancier than any place she’d ever stayed, but thanks to Emily, she felt surprisingly at home.
“Home” was a pretty foreign concept to her as well. Her family was made up of wanderers—Harper had lived in Ohio, California, Georgia, New York, and Maryland and tended not to stay in one place for more than a handful of years. But the idea of home—this home, in particular—was surprisingly nice. She wondered what could have driven Colin to stay away for so long. Was it just because of the tension with his father? Yes, they were both very similar, personality-wise. Maybe too similar. But she suspected there was more to it.
As if on cue, Colin and his father got into another argument on the beach, pointing and yelling at each other, over what Harper could only guess. She leaned back in her chair and sipped her iced tea, her gaze locked on Colin. “Tell me, if it’s not too personal, why do they fight all the time?”
Emily sighed. “Well, besides the fact Colin has too much of his father in him, I suppose it started after Ellie passed away.”
“Ellie?” Harper frowned, glancing over at Colin’s mother. “Who was that?”
Emily’s expression turned sad. “She was Colin’s older sister. She died of leukemia before Colin was born.”
“Oh, gosh.” She reached over to take Emily’s hand atop the table. “I’m so very sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.” Emily blinked hard, her blue eyes so very like her son’s. “It was a long time ago. And we don’t really talk about her often.” A beat or two passed before Emily cleared her throat and continued, her attention focused on the game at the beach. “Anyway, it was very hard for me and Colin’s father. We had a good marriage, but we were so young…I guess we just didn’t really know how to be there for each other. We ended up grieving separately, and by the time we got closer again, it just became a subject we didn’t talk about. Not with each other, at least. But I always suspected that Cole was fearful of something similar happening to Colin. Not cancer, necessarily, but losing him before he was ready. Not that you’re ever ready, but you get what I mean.”
Harper did. Especially now with her sister missing. She took that in for a while, piecing together what she knew about Colin’s past. “Must’ve been hard for him, when Colin joined the military.”
“It was, though Cole would never admit it.” Emily shook her head. “I think that was the real breaking point for them. They fought something terrible after Colin told us about his decision. Colin wanted to carve out his own future, follow his own path. Back then he was eighteen, just out of school, fresh off a break up with his girlfriend. He was young and restless. Of course, Cole took it entirely the wrong way. He saw Colin’s choice as a rejection of everything Cole had worked so hard to give him—the Ivy League college, the family business—a safe, stable life where he would be safe and successful. They were both angry and upset and things escalated that night.” Emily frowned down into her lemonade. “They both ended up saying things they regretted, I think, but they’re both too proud to apologize. Didn’t help, of course, that Cole cut him off, financially. Not that that ended up mattering, since he got an inheritance from my parents not long after, but it still represented Cole’s firm rejection of Colin’s choice.”
Wow. Well, that explained a lot. Harper sat there, trying to take it all in and square it with the Colin she knew so far. “Thanks for sharing all that with me.”
“Of course, dear.” Emily smiled over at her. “You’re going to be family soon.”
Harper’s own smile faltered slightly as guilt clawed inside her. She hated deceiving this sweet woman. She’d come into this thinking it would be so easy to pretend, but now, she wasn’t so sure.
