Dropping The Ball - A New Year’s Billionaire Romance - Weston Parker Page 0,55

this position, though. His bastard of a father had done it for him. I, on the other hand, was up shit’s creek due to no one’s fault but my own.

The girls kept the chatter going at the table, friendly and laughing while Bart and I took turns wallowing in our own personal misery. It was several hours later when they eventually left, and Rylee came up to me as soon as I’d locked the door behind them.

She pressed her soft body against mine and wound her arms around my neck, a gorgeous, relieved smile on her full lips. “I think that went well. You?”

“They definitely hit it off. You were right about that. I’m just not so sure Bart’s going to be able to get past his terror of children.”

“That’s up to them.” She kissed along my jaw. “There’s some stuff I wanted to talk to you about. Do you want to come get in the hot tub with me? I’d rather talk there.”

Trepidation spiraled through me, but my time was up. “Yeah. There’s some stuff I need to talk to you about too. We might as well do it out there.”

Chapter 20

RYLEE

Carter and I changed into our swimsuits and met out on the balcony. Steam rose from the surface of the hot tub, the bubbles already on. I froze my butt off running out, but my muscles relaxed as soon as I hit the hot water.

He carried two glasses of water with him, setting them down on the edge before sliding in beside me. It didn’t matter that I’d seen him naked before. My mouth still dried up at the sight of him in his swim trunks.

They hung off his hips in that delicious way that exposed his incredible fuck-me lines and stopped just above his pubic bone. The man was just plain big. Everything about him was huge—his muscles, his personality, his ego, and okay, yes, his cock too.

Every inch of him moved with a powerful, natural grace that took my breath away when I watched him as closely as I was now. Those muscles tensed and rippled when he put his hand on the edge next to the glasses, preparing to get in.

He smirked when he caught me watching. “Like what you see?”

“You know I do.” I held his gaze for a moment before I went back to ogling him.

Tattoos decorated his skin here and there. A dragon wrapped around his ribs, its tail reaching down so low that it almost dipped into his waistband. On the opposite side of it was an inscription in a language I didn’t recognize, and though I couldn’t see it now, I knew there was a Celtic symbol on his right shoulder blade.

“What does that mean?” I asked, pointing to the words that disappeared below the water when he sank in beside me.

“Aut viam inveniam aut faciam?” He leaned his head back against the plastic rest behind him and turned his face to me. “It means ‘I will either find a way or make one.’”

“Seems fitting for you.” I closed my eyes when I copied his position but found his hand under the water and took it in mine. “Do you really believe that? That if you want something bad enough, there will always be a way to it?”

“Yep. It might not always be easy, but if I have to make a way, I make a way.” I heard him taking a breath. “For example, I didn’t have the natural build for a bodyguard. I had the length eventually, but building the muscles took a ton of work, and it still does.”

Something whispered through my mind when he said it, but I was too focused on what I had to tell him to try figuring it out. “You’d have to be willing to put in the work though, right?”

“That’s part of making a way, yeah.” He tightened his grip on my hand before letting it go. Warm knuckles brushing against my cheekbone, I felt the water shift when he leaned closer to me. “What’s this about, Rylee?”

“It’s about, uh, us.” Open your eyes, Naples. This is the kind of conversation you need to have while looking at someone. “I know we haven’t really talked about the future or anything, but before this gets serious, there are some things you need to know.”

“Like what?” He tilted his head, his eyes gentle on mine and his expression open. “You can tell me anything, remember?”

“It’s stuff you already know about, but have you given