Free I Saw Her Standing There by Marie Force Page A

understood.
    “Cam, honey, let’s give Lucy a chance to get herself together, and then we’ll talk.” He took her by the arm as he gave Colton a scorching look. “We’ll have a good long talk.”
    Colton slammed the door shut behind them and turned to face Lucy, fearful of how she would react to what’d just happened. “I’m so sorry. I have no idea what they’re doing here.”
    “He . . . Your brother . . . He saw my . . .” She gestured to her chest.
    “You couldn’t see much of anything. Don’t worry.” He told himself the lie didn’t really count as a lie because he was trying to protect her.
    “Nice try, but I was out and proud, and he saw everything.”
    “Then he knows I’m a lucky man.” He crawled onto the bed and leaned in to kiss her.
    She turned her face away.
    Colton dropped his head to her shoulder. “Don’t.”
    “What?”
    “Don’t turn away from me, Lucy. We’re in this together. We decided together to keep our friendship private, so let’s face the music together, too.”
    “I don’t know what to say to her. Cameron was so shocked. And hurt.”
    “Tell her the truth.”
    “The whole truth?”
    He tried again and this time she let him kiss her. “And nothing but the truth.”
    Her hand curled around his neck as she leaned her forehead against his.
    “Shower?”
    “Yes, please.”
    He got up and reached out to her.
    She wrapped herself in the blanket and took his hand. “We’re not showering together when they’re out there waiting for us.”
    Colton led her into the spacious master bathroom and turned on the water. “It’ll be quicker that way. We can talk to them, get rid of them and get back to our weekend already in progress.”
    “It’s not going to be that simple.”
    “It
is
going to be that simple.” He tugged on the tight grip she had on the blanket. “We’re both adults—consenting adults. We chose to take some time to ourselves before we told the world we were seeing each other. We’ve done nothing wrong, so please, don’t ruin this for either of us by trying to convince yourself that we owe anyone explanations.”
    “You don’t understand,” she said softly.
    The shine of tears in her eyes infuriated him. She’d been so happy earlier and now it had all gone to shit. “Make me understand.”
    “Cameron and I . . . We rely on each other. We talk to each other about things. Important things.”
    “So you’re saying this is an
important
thing?” he asked with a cheeky grin.
    As he eased her under the warm water, Lucy rolled her eyes, which was a relief. That was better than tears. Anything was better than that. “She’s going to be mad at me for keeping this from her. Especially because of who you are. To Will.”
    “Will’s my brother, not my keeper. We’re family, and we’re close, but we’re not up each other’s asses.”
    Her button nose wrinkled adorably. “That’s a hideous visual.”
    “But you get my point. Despite all our ball busting, my business is my business. I leave him alone, for the most part, and I expect the same from him. From all of them.” As he worked shampoo into her hair, he planted strategic kisses on her neck, hoping to remind her of the connection they’d shared before they were so rudely interrupted.
    “Thank God they didn’t get here a little earlier.”
    “That’s the way. Let’s be thankful for small favors.”
    “That’s a very big favor.”
    He pushed his erection against her back. “Why thank you, darlin’. That’s really kind of you to say.”
    “Colton! Not with my best friend and your brother waiting for us. Knock it off!” She moved away from him to finish her shower. “Stay over there, and get rid of that thing.”
    Colton laughed at the disdainful gesture she directed at his poor, misunderstood penis. How was he supposed to control him when she was standing naked and soapy and close to him? He was only human, after all. Resigned to the condition remaining until she was