“You put money into restoration of this area.”

“Not by myself. Me and a group of investors.”

She reached for his hands. “Maybe you and your father share more common interests than you’re aware of.”

He looked out over the water.

“Several years ago, I came out here to do some snorkeling. It had been a while since I’d been here, and I hated what I saw when I went down.”

She squeezed his hand. “Bleaching of the coral?”

“Yeah. This was a heavy fishing area, and over-recreated. They were destroying the coral and the aquatic life that depended on it. I vowed then to do something to change it. So along with several friends with big bank accounts, we arranged for transplantation of healthy coral, and lobbied and won the rights to secure this area from fishing and recreation.”

“You did a good thing.”

He smiled. “I feel like I own a part of this area now.” He turned to her. “Not as my personal playground, but because I had the right to give it back to the sea life and to the coral. That’s who it really belongs to.”

She climbed onto his lap and framed his face with her hands. “You continually surprise me, Gray Preston.”

He clutched her hips. “Yeah? In what way?”

“As soon as I think I know who you are, you surprise the living daylights out of me. Here I think you’re some rich guy whose job it is to burn thousands of gallons of fossil fuels a year, and it turns out you’re a closet environmentalist.”

“Hey, I’m just a guy who happens to have a lot of money, so I can toss it at causes like this.”

“Oh, don’t go trying to downplay this. Lots of people have a lot of money. This was personal to you and you did something about it.”

He smiled. “I got to spend some time watching them transplant the coral. It was amazing. Kind of like watching babies grow. Stupid, I know.”

“Not stupid at all. I would have given anything to see it. Your father would be so proud of you to know you’re a part of something like this.” At his blank stare, she added, “Thank you for bringing me here today and letting me see it. It’s such an important cause for me. And for your father.”

Yeah. His father. Still hard to believe he and his dad saw eye to eye on anything, especially an environmental issue. Evelyn kept telling him that his father had changed.

He still found that hard to believe.

But maybe . . .

He didn’t want to think about his father. Not when a wet, barely clad Evelyn sat on his lap and stroked his shoulders. “Let’s get back to the boat and rinse off some of this sand.”

He stood with her in his arms and they went back to the boat. They rinsed off in the shower and Gray pulled out some drinks and sandwiches he’d had delivered to the boat before they arrived.

“What? No champagne and lobster?”

He frowned, until she laughed.

“I’m kidding. Considering you have this ridiculous yacht, I thought I’d nudge you.”

“Oh.”

She rolled her eyes. “Really, Gray. You need to lighten up and get my sense of humor.”

“I guess so. Sorry.”

“Iced tea and turkey sandwiches is perfect. I’m starving.”

They sat on the back of the boat and ate, and he explained in greater detail about the coral project that he’d spearheaded. He could tell by the way she nodded that she was making mental notes.

“You’re going to do some social media connection thing between this and me and my father, aren’t you?”

She lifted her gaze to his. “I’d love to. With your prior approval, of course. It is an amazing cause, showcases you in a good light, and brings the plight of the sea and the coral to a greater audience. That can’t be a bad thing.”

“I guess not.” He polished off his second sandwich, then bagged up their trash and pulled out another iced tea for both of them. When he saw her nose getting red, he brought out the sunscreen and spread some across her nose and cheeks.

“Thanks,” she said, rubbing it in. “Darn freckles.”

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Those freckles are sexy.”

She stretched out in the shade. “They weren’t when I was gangly and flat chested at fourteen. My hair was a darker red then. I looked like Little Orphan Annie.”

“I would have thought you were hot.”

She laughed. “No, you would not have. You would have pointed and laughed like the other boys did.”

“Hey, Little Orphan Annie totally trips all my hot buttons.”

She snorted, then flipped over onto her belly. Her bikini bottoms were doing him in today. They covered her ass, but gave him tempting glimpses of the underside of her cheeks. And those legs of hers made him hard.

Too bad they didn’t have enough privacy here. He could take her below, but he had other plans for Evelyn today.

Then again, he could give her a little tease.

He went over with the sunscreen in his hand. “Your back is getting red.”

She lifted. “Is it? I can’t get any sunscreen on there.”

“I’ll take care of it.” He put some of the cream in his hand and rubbed it over her shoulders and back, loving the feel of her smooth skin under his hands. Her eyes were closed, her head resting on her arms as he massaged her.

And when she moaned, his c**k hardened. It would be so easy to spread her legs and spear her with his cock, to ride her hard and fast until they both got off.

Instead, he rubbed more lotion over her legs, inching his way up to her thighs. He listened to the sound of her breathing, then parted her legs to slip between them, teasing her inner thighs with his fingers.

Her breath caught, but she was languid, not tense.

She trusted him.

There were no other boats around since this was a restricted area and he’d gotten permission to be here today, so he didn’t expect company. As long as no planes flew over, they’d have some privacy.

He wouldn’t need long; he was already learning her body.

He untied the side of her bikini.

“Gray.”

Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to make you come. Relax and let me.”

No objection, just a slight lift of her butt as he slipped his hand underneath her.

She was already wet, hot, and pulsing as he slid his finger inside her.

“Oh,” she said, her pu**y gripping his finger. He slipped another finger inside her.

He sat next to her and used his other hand to find her clit, petting her, circling the nub until she arched against him, her pu**y tightening around his fingers. He pulled out, then began to f**k her faster as he circled her clit.

“I want to f**k you like this. With me behind you, pumping inside you hard and fast until we both come.”

“Yes,” she said, arching her h*ps and slamming them down, meeting every thrust of his fingers with cries of abandon. Whatever reservations or hang-ups she’d had before she’d met him had been obliterated, because when she came, she dug her nails into the cushion and let him know in a very loud voice that made his dick twitch.

“Oh, God, yes, I’m coming.”

“That’s it. Let me have it all, babe.”

She cried out and undulated against his fingers until she was out of breath, her h*ps collapsing against the cushions. He stroked her pussy, taking her up again, and this time, he grabbed a condom, climbed behind her, and dropped his trunks, sliding effortlessly into her.

“Oh, please, f**k me, Gray,” she said, her pu**y a tight sheath as he filled her.

He’d wanted to wait, but he couldn’t. He needed to be inside her, needed to feel her gripping him, tightening around him as he gripped her h*ps and slammed his c**k home.

“Fuck. Yeah,” he said as he powered in deep, then retreated, only to thrust harder, go faster, reaching underneath to stroke her cl*tand bring her right to the brink again.

And when she let go, he went with her, releasing that desire he’d held in check all day, erupting inside her with a loud groan while she cried out and reached for him, bucking back toward him.

He rolled to the side and dragged Evelyn against him, their bodies slick with sweat.

“I think I’m stuck to you,” she finally said.

He smiled. “Sunscreen and sweat.”

“Nice combo.”

“How about another shower, this time without the swimsuits on?”

She turned over to face him. “You mean . . . na**d? Out here on the ocean?”

“Yup.”

“That could lead to sex, you know.”

He arched a brow.

“Can we both fit?”

“Or die trying.”

She laughed. They dashed into the shower, where they realized in a hurry that Gray was way too big and it wasn’t going to be possible for both of them to fit in that tiny shower. He waited while Evelyn rinsed off, then he hopped in. By the time he got out, she’d put on her clothes and was standing at the mirror in the small sleeping area combing the tangles out of her hair.

Their gazes met in the mirror and she smiled at him, a knowing, I-just-had-sex-with-you-and-it-was-great kind of smile.

He liked this woman. Too much, probably, all things considered.

Deciding he didn’t want to ponder the ramifications of that, he headed upstairs to pull anchor and head back to shore.

FIFTEEN

SEX AND A DAY OF RELAXATION WAS A GREAT WAY TO unwind from all the tension that had been hovering around her for far too long. Evelyn decided she should maybe ponder taking a day off now and then. And maybe start ha**g s*x more often.

She hadn’t been this relaxed in a very long time. She had Gray to thank for that.

After they docked the boat—yacht, no matter how much he wanted to argue that it was just a “boat”—they headed back to Gray’s most awesome GTO, and took the beach road toward Daytona.

She expected him to take her back to her hotel, so she was surprised when he turned off the highway and into a driveway right off the beach.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“My place.”

His place. When they reached the end of the driveway and she saw the ocean, she sighed. He had a beautiful, huge home that sat right on the beach.

“This is your place.”

“Yeah.”

He pulled into the garage—which was also incredible, since it looked like six garages all lumped into one. One of the doors opened and he drove the GTO in and parked it.

The other part of the garage was dark, so when he got out of the car and he hit the light switch, she couldn’t help the look of awe that crossed her face.

There were five other cars sitting there, all covered up with tarps. It was like anticipating Christmas.

She lingered after he picked up their bags, staring at the covered cars.

He grinned and grabbed her hand. “I’ll show them to you. Some other time.”

“You’re really going to make me wait?”

“Yup. The beach is there for us to explore. I thought you might want to take a walk.”

She did. But she really did want to see those other cars.

Reluctantly, she let him lead her inside the house, which was magnificent, with views of the beach and ocean from nearly every room. There was an enormous kitchen with amazing appliances, a center island for cooking, and the most beautiful dark marble countertops she’d ever seen. She ran her fingertips over the smooth surface as they made their way past the dining room and a gorgeous black table that could easily seat a dozen people.

The living room was sunken and filled with leather and chrome furniture. It was all homey feeling though, and not cold and masculine. The white floors certainly helped brighten everything up, as did the myriad of floor-to-ceiling windows that showcased the incredible views.

She turned to him. “This is amazing. I don’t know how you ever leave this place.”

He smiled. “It’s hard sometimes, but I love my job, so that makes it easier.”

“I imagine so.” Her gaze flitted to the winding staircase. “Bedrooms upstairs?”

“Yeah.” His lips lifted in a smile. “We’ll get to those later. How about a walk?”

“Definitely.”

They headed out back onto the deck and down the stairs toward the beach. It was secluded, the nearest house rather far away.

“You must own a lot of land,” she said as they made their way south along the shore.

“A bit. I like my privacy.”

“For all those wild parties you throw when you’re here?”

“I’ve been known to have a few during the off-season. But I wouldn’t say they’re wild. I just don’t want my nearest neighbor to be able to peek into my bedroom.”

She held her hand up to shield her face from the sun, trying to guess how far away the nearest house was. “I don’t think your nearest neighbor could see into your bedroom with a high-powered telescope.”

He laughed. “Just the way I like it.”

The waves churned to shore, casting frothy water over her feet and ankles. The cool water felt good as they walked their way down the beach.

Evelyn wondered what it would be like to have a house like Gray had, to be able to sit on his deck and watch the waves roll in and out.

Not that she’d want to make this her permanent home. But a vacation home? A place to bring the kids? And the dog—she’d definitely want a dog or two. Maybe a Labrador, who’d want to take a leap into the ocean to fetch a ball or a Frisbee.

She laughed. It was always fun to plan out her imaginary family. The one she’d likely never have.