Our Little Secret by Rachael Stewart (free ebook novel txt) 📕

But I love her. And she’s right to nag. I shouldn’t be wasting time standing in front of the mirror, fretting about the revealing swimsuit. This is all part of the new me and, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that being daring pays off big time. I recall Rafael between my legs, tonguing me deep, his eyes wild, my climax wilder still. Hell, yeah, I totally need to embrace the new me.

And if I can get more of that then, yes—yes, please.

Just keep it discreet, Faye.

The warning is very real. I don’t want to upset Dani and I certainly don’t want to steal her thunder this week of all weeks, but when am I going to have another opportunity like this, with a man such as Rafael?

As for the erection he’d been sporting, that very impressive erection he never got to satisfy, well, I owe him...and I can’t wait to pay up.

My thighs clench, my clit pulses and my nipples perk up, their pebble-shaped mounds obvious through the thin fabric of the bathing suit. Oh, God. I can hardly go to the Dive and Dine with a full-on booby boner! I go to rub them and stop; that isn’t going to help. I pull my top away and blow down at the blushing pink tips, as though that will somehow douse their heat. Nope. They are pert and alert. All ready for their next Rafael encounter...

I scan the room and spy my vibrant red kimono tossed over the back of a chair. I slip it on; it’s light and sheer but it’ll help detract from the twin peaks situation below. I grab my straw bag from the bed which contains my latest romance read, my phone and my oversized shades. I pull out the latter and slip them on; next comes my wide-brimmed hat and I’m ready for anything.

Even the hot and sizzling Rafael Perez.

My smile nudges my cheeks into the rim of my shades. I wonder how he’s feeling right now? I mean, I’m needy and my nipples are more than willing to demonstrate just how much. But Rafael... That erection...

My body gives an excited little shiver.

It’s Dante who Dani wants you to be all hot on, my conscience reminds me.

But it’s hardly my fault I saw Rafael first...

She’s not here yet. It’s the first thought to enter my head as I arrive at the pool and the pang of disappointment is as surprising as it is strong. I rake a hand through my hair and shake my head at my crazy behaviour.

‘Hey, don’t you be shaking your head at me, polpetto.’ Nonna wags a finger up at me from her temporary wheelchair as Dante pushes her towards me. They’ve just arrived too.

‘I wouldn’t dare.’ I grin down at her enough to make her blush. It’s good to know my smile hasn’t lost its charm after all these years. ‘It’s good to see you, Nonna.’

I lean down and press a kiss to her cheeks.

‘And you.’ She slaps the arms of her chair and gives it a good shake. ‘Maybe you can tell Dante I don’t need this blasted thing.’

‘If you’d listened to Dante in the first place, you wouldn’t be in it now.’

‘Don’t start that argument again, cousin.’ Dante gives me a neck-slicing gesture above her head. I’m guessing he’s had this the entire journey and is more than ready to call it quits.

‘I take it back.’ I give his back a welcome pounding. ‘It’s good to see you too. But, Nonna, you should be making the most of it. Your entire family at your beck and call for a week? What more could you want?’

‘More of a family, raggazzo mio.’ I walked right into that one. ‘It’s wrong that there are so few of us. Call us Italians.’ She shakes her head vigorously, tsking away. ‘Not a single great-grandchild between you...or a wife, for that matter. What’s wrong with the pair of you?’

I meet Dante’s eye and know he’s suppressing an eye-roll. It’s the same at every family gathering and it’s getting old. Dante is still enjoying his freedom too much and I never intend to go down that road. Ever.

‘In that case, this wedding must make you very happy indeed.’ I take the focus off us and put it squarely on Dani, who is currently making out with Tyler on the same cabana Faye used last night. Try as I might not to think of it, my brain projects the teasing image anyway and makes me glad of Nonna’s presence. There’s nothing like your grandmother to keep your hormones in check.

Dante grins wide, his eyes finding them too. ‘I have a feeling your dreams for more great-grandchildren will soon be satisfied.’

I send him a look.

But Nonna laughs, all wistful and happy. ‘Yes, they look happy. Very happy, just like me and Nonno once were...’ And then she frowns, her eyes sweeping the area. Tyler’s parents are sitting at the bar under the shade of a vine-covered pergola. Harry, the best man, is swimming laps, while a blonde who I assume is his date is stretched out on a sun lounger with a glass in one hand and a magazine in the other. Nonna’s eyes narrow as she looks back to my cousin. ‘Where’s your sister and her family?’

‘They’re arriving tomorrow. Less time for the kids to cause chaos, if I’m to interpret my sister’s reasoning correctly.’

‘Wise.’ She nods. ‘And Antonietta... Marianna...where are they? Surely they can be trusted to be here by now?’

I grimace. I’m not sure I trust them any more than the kids.

‘Mamma will be joining us for dinner this evening,’ Dante supplies, eyeing me warily. I know he’s thinking the same.

‘And Marianna is just getting changed. She’ll be down soon enough.’

I don’t need to look to know Nonna’s scowling. It’s not just Dante and me sensing the war about to rage. The last time they were both under the same roof, all hell broke loose.

But this will be different, I mentally reason. This