Kensington sat and held her wineglass between her hands as she stared out at the ocean. Her button nose twitched as a long strand of dark hair curled across her face. She pushed it back behind her ear, and I stared at the side of her face, thinking she was perfect from every angle. I gazed at her, thinking just how fucking perfect she’d feel in my arms.

I sat next to her on the small wall lining the back of the house. She pressed her leg against mine as she scooted closer to me for warmth. I wrapped the blanket around our shoulders.

“Ooh, you’re like hot coals,” she said and pressed closer. “Hey, an unintended pun.”

“Yep, it’s part of my plan.”

“You planned body warmth? Then, well done. Just like the meal. Thank you for that. I really enjoyed it.”

“My pleasure.”

Her nearness was definitely having a profound effect on me. I was impressing the hell out of myself. Self-control around a beautiful girl had never been my strong suit.

She scooted her feet closer to the wall to keep her bare legs under the warmth of the blanket. “I know what I was going to ask you. On the way to the bathroom, I stopped to look at some of the pictures hanging in the hallway. There was one of you when you were young, maybe eight.” She paused and looked over at me. “You were such a cutie, by the way. Anyhow, you were out on the beach in front of this house with your dad and Jude and Finley. There was another little girl in your dad’s arms. She looked a lot like Finley.”

It always took me a few seconds to relieve the ache in my throat when I thought about Chloe. “That was our sister, Chloe. She died when we were kids. I can honestly say it was the darkest period in our lives, and with my dad’s fame, we’ve gone through some heavy rough patches. Including the few years when Finley had bound herself to the house, a prisoner of her own anxiety. Chloe’s death had something to do with Fin’s panic disorder. Fin had caught a flu at school and Chloe caught it from Finley.” I stared out at the water and thought about the summer when that picture was taken. Chloe would sit for hours building sandcastles for her dolls. “Chloe was always quiet. She was a thinker. You could always see the little gears churning behind her blue eyes. She was always pale and thin compared to Finley. She just couldn’t fight the flu.” I’d drifted off back to that time, but I could feel Kensington sitting next to me, listening to every word.

I sat quietly for a second trying to remember if I’d ever talked about Chloe’s death to anyone other than my dad. The waves rustled against the shoreline, and in the distance, someone was playing music. The briny breeze flowed steady over the sand. “I still remember my dad’s face when the paramedics took Chloe out to the ambulance. His skin was this awful gray color, and his eyes were sunken deep in his face. I was scared he was going to fade away and die too. Finley’s mom took off not long after that. Said she couldn’t bear being around the house where Chloe had gotten sick. Fin blamed herself for her mom leaving.”

A soft sniffle came from below the blanket. Kensington wiped discretely at her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Cole. That must have been so hard on you all. I’ve never experienced anything like that, so I can’t even pretend to imagine how heartbreaking it would be to lose a sister.”

“The worst part of having a famous dad was that we couldn’t just be left alone to get through it. We had the whole darn world watching to see how Nicky King was dealing with the loss of his daughter. Reporters will do anything to get a picture of a grieving rock star. They wouldn’t leave him alone.”

Kensington wrapped her arm around mine and rested her head against my shoulder. “I’m glad Finley has found her way out of the anxiety issues. I really like her. She mentioned that I should visit her rescue barn.” She peered up at me. “I think that should be another date. If you’re planning one, that is.” She looked shyly away. “Maybe I’m being a little too presumptuous.”

“I will definitely take you there. Presumptuous. Never knew big words could be so damn hot. Speaking of hot, are you warm enough?”

“I’m just fine thanks to you. But just to clear this up, I’m not a pampered, frail kitten. In fact, my dad, who was sure I was going to be a boy, had me playing every sport growing up, soccer, softball, even karate. Much to his dismay, the only sport that really made me happy was riding horses.”

“You are good. Not that I’ve been watching you like some kind of weirdo stalker or anything.”

“No? Because I’ve been keeping an eye on the hot guy next door jumping his motorcycle. You’re good too.”

“That’s probably Denver you’re seeing. He’s a pro. I’m only an amateur with just enough courage and just little enough common sense to pull off an occasional trick.”

“Oh. Then I guess I’m sitting here with the wrong man.”

“Probably, and in more ways than you realize. How long have you been riding horses?”

“Since I was seven. Although I took a break from riding during my sophomore and junior years in high school.” She took a deep breath. “I’d taken a really scary fall. The doctor said I was just an inch from being paralyzed. My parents begged me to give it up. I was freaked out enough to stay out of the saddle for a few years. I got on the varsity track team instead. And, if I do say so, I was fast. Could have given the Flash a run for his money.”

“Oh really? Huh? I was pretty good at track myself. And I do like a challenge.”

“You’re in luck, buster, because so do I.” She pushed bravely out of the blanket and stood up. She immediately wrapped her arms around herself. “Did not realize just how warm it was under there.” Her smile gleamed white in the light coming from the house. Then her attention dropped to her cowboy boots. “These will not do. If I’m going to throw sand in your face, like you moto boys like to say, then these have to come off.”

I watched with more than just casual interest as she stepped right in front of me and braced her hand on my shoulder to yank off each boot. As she lifted her leg to reach for her boot, the hem of her dress slipped back, exposing more of her smooth thigh.

“This is turning out to be an even more exciting challenge than I expected.” I could no longer contain myself. I leaned forward and pressed my mouth against her thigh. She took a quick breath at my unexpected move.

I peered up at her. “That’s the fee I charge for using my shoulder to take off boots.” I wasn’t completely sure if she was shocked or pissed or indifferent until she put the first bare foot on the ground and lifted her other foot, making sure that the dress slipped back farther.

“Then, since I’ve got two boots . . .” She pulled it off and dropped it to the ground but kept her bare thigh in front of me.

I took the invite without a moment of hesitation. I wrapped my hand around her calf and brought her leg closer. She kept her hand braced on my shoulder as I pressed my mouth against the inside of her thigh. A deep sigh floated down over my head. There wasn’t a damn thing about Kensington that didn’t have my head fucking spinning, and this quick erotic moment on the beach was only intensifying the effect. She wasn’t an uptight, prissy bore. On top of being sexy as hell, she was fun.

I lowered her foot to the ground. She gazed down at me with a heated look that went straight to my cock.

“Seems to me that you’re just trying to find an easy way out of that challenge because you know I’m going to beat you. And you don’t want to lose to a girl.”

“You’re wrong. I don’t mind losing to a girl. But I’m pretty fast.” I smiled. “Or I would be if—well—if kissing your thigh hadn’t caused an unexpected development.”

She laughed. “Good, then my plan worked. To the water.” With that she spun around and took off toward the ocean. I pushed off the wall and ran after her.