Harmless Revenge: A Harmless World Novel (Harmless #11)

Sean stood there, irritated, confused, and with a fucking hard-on the size of Texas. It definitely hadn’t been his year.

Fifteen

Sean decided he needed something to keep his mind occupied. But, what? He tried calling the Big Island, but, again, no answer. Dammit, the people he cared about in his life were all driving him insane. How was he supposed to get any kind of work done as he sat around waiting for this to end? Add in Randy and Jaime arriving after his drunken night, and he really thought he deserved a gold medal for not shooting someone.

What the fuck was he going to do to get them the hell out of there? He couldn’t even pretend to be doing illegal jobs. The two of them would just work harder to find out what was going on so they could save him from himself. His whole adult life felt like that. People who loved him tried to tell him how to live his life. None of them knew just what went on in his head. Worse, some of his tendencies for secrecy and rudeness came about because of those relationships. His father abandoning him, his stepfather disowning him because of his bisexuality, Jaime…then Randy to an extent.

Okay, Randy was partly his fault. After Jaime had walked away from him, Sean had gotten secretive—even for another person in the security business. He couldn’t allow himself to be hurt again, so he had done everything in his power to drive Randy away. Then, when Sean had asked for more, Randy hadn’t been able to give it to him.

He shook his head and went into his bathroom. He needed something to cool himself off. A dip in the pool would normally do it, but Sean wanted to avoid both of them. It’s was cowardly, but it was all in the name of self-preservation. He needed to get his head screwed back on straight, and then he could face them again.

Randy led them to what he assumed was a guest room. It’s where he had dropped their bags earlier. He’d decided that asking would be a mistake. When Sean dug in his heels, he would disagree just to disagree. So, to save them all the trouble of another fight, he decided to just grab one of the rooms. He figured at some point, they would sort it out from there.

“You want something to drink?” Jaime asked.

He shook his head.

“I’m going to grab some tea and be right back up. You stay away from him and we’ll sort it out.”

“I’m wondering if we can actually do that.”

He walked over to the balcony and looked out at the ocean. The scene below was a balm to his irritated senses. Randy hated that he’d lost his temper. It was one thing he had learned to control, but Sean always seemed to push his buttons—in more ways than one. As he studied the grounds surrounding the house, he started to wonder just how the hell Sean could afford the house, but he knew better than to ask. Part of him didn’t want to know. He didn’t even want to think of what his friend did for the money. Sean had always had standards, but when you are cut off from your only way of making money, sometimes a person did things they normally would not have.

“You might need to tone it down, Randy,” Jaime said, breaking into his thoughts.

He glanced over his shoulder at her. “That’s a turn of events.”

“What?” she asked.

“You telling me to tone it down. It’s usually the other way around.”

She hesitated, then said, “I don’t always like when you two butt heads. I’m used to Sean being loud, but you’re usually so laid back.”

Randy shrugged. “Being nice isn’t working with him.”

It never did when he was like this. Although, Randy couldn’t remember when Sean had been quite this bad.

“You shouldn’t have pushed him.”

Randy knew she was right, and it just made him madder. Pushing Sean could always end badly for everyone involved. Granted, it didn’t help that he was horny as fucking hell. Teasing Sean had left him in the same state of arousal. That just added another edge to his temper. He hated that things were like this now, but he couldn’t fix what had gone wrong before. What he could do was fight for Sean.

“He needed it.”

She sighed. “One of the things I have loved the most about you was that you were always so calm. But every now and then, you get all hot under the collar and I have to tell you, it makes me hot.”

He slanted her a look. “Why is everything sexual to you?”

She shrugged and offered him that sexy little smile that always got to him. “Around you that is just the way it is.”

He slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer. She pressed up tight against him, and sighed. Her breath feathered over his skin just beneath his earlobe. It was definitely a trigger point for him and she knew it. The breath was followed by her tongue.

Her scent surrounded her. Jaime wasn’t a woman who wore a lot of perfume, but there was the scent of her rose soap, and then the woman beneath that. Sultry and sweet.

He turned his head to capture her mouth. It was at that moment he realized he needed this…needed to be with her. Turning, he pulled her against him, and she responded immediately. It was always like this.

He backed her off the lanai, onto the room and then onto the bed. She fell back easily. Placing his hands on either side of her head, he lowered himself on top of her. He kissed her nose, then started working his way down her body. She was wearing a t-shirt, so it was easy to yank free. Of course, she wasn’t wearing a bra. She rarely did whenever they were in a tropical climate on vacation. He tossed the garment on the floor and she giggled. The sound captured him as it always did. She did not get the chance to be girly enough but when she was, it made his heart sing.

He dipped his head and teased her breasts, first licking then grazing his teeth over the tips. He then kissed down her stomach, enjoying the way her muscles quivered beneath his mouth. He untied her lava wrap, and smiled when it revealed she wasn’t wearing any panties.