Give Me More--A Sexy Billionaire Romance A.C. Arthur (the giving tree read aloud .TXT) 📖

hadn’t been a mistake. She’d needed to see RJ again, to touch him and hold him in her arms as a reminder that she had loved him and he had loved her. Where those past emotions were taking them now, she had no idea.

The way Grace was looking at him had RJ’s heart racing. She’d been on his mind all night, starting from the second he watched her walk into her building until just about an hour ago, when some of his family had barged into his villa demanding answers to their questions.

“Did you really think it was better to strike some sort of deal with her instead of coming to me and discussing this beforehand?” His father had spoken first, while Major, Maurice and Chaz had found seats in the living area.

RJ had just gotten out of bed and was on his way to take a shower when he’d heard them at the door. He’d pulled on a pair of shorts but was otherwise undressed for what turned out to be an intervention of sorts.

“You’re turning the company over to me in a few months. Don’t you think I’m capable of dealing with issues on my own?” He’d asked his father that question, even though he knew this situation was different from anything RGF was liable to face in the future. Still, he needed his father to understand his position.

“I don’t doubt your abilities, son. But I know you realize this is a sensitive subject,” Ron had replied.

“Which is exactly why I decided to handle it the way I did. Keep her close, keep my eye on what’s being discussed. Having control of the situation cuts down on the chances that it’ll cause more harm than good.” With all that said, the “keep her close” part was what resonated with him most this morning.

“Are you sure you’re the right one to try to control Grace, considering your history?” Major asked.

RJ had sent his brother a death glare for that remark. “Don’t go there.”

“We kinda have to go there, man. She’s writing a story about us. She knows us better than any other reporter out there. She broke your heart.” Leave it to Maurice to put that last nail in the coffin.

“All that might be true but our relationship is in the past. I can handle this.” He’d told them that a few more times during the exchange, but now seeing Grace at this moment on the beach, he wasn’t quite sure.

He stopped walking toward her and she closed the rest of the distance between them. “Hey.” She spoke with a light cheeriness to her tone.

“Hey.”

“You ready for part two of the butt-whoopin’ we served y’all last night?” Desta asked as she walked past them.

“Oh, she’s talking smack already,” Major said. “Mo, come get your lady!”

RJ couldn’t help it—he chuckled. His brothers were just as competitive as he was, but it was pretty comical to see them this way with the women they loved. It was fun watching them straddle the fence between being full-on obnoxious about winning and distractingly apologetic to their significant others at the same time.

“Guess we better get ready to play,” Grace said.

He shrugged. “I guess we better.” He watched her walk away, staring at her legs and remembering them being wrapped around him last night.

“You gonna be able to play without drooling?” Chaz asked him.

RJ frowned at his soon-to-be brother-in-law. “I’m not the one who just finished kissing and groping all over the competition.” He’d watched his sister greet Chaz as he’d been walking toward Grace. Months ago the site of his sister hugging and kissing any guy disturbed the hell out of him. Now that he’d gotten to know Chaz and trusted the guy wasn’t going to break Riley’s heart like the last asshole she’d been engaged to, he was sort of okay with them touching.

“Yeah, that’s because I’m marrying her next week and we’re getting in all the practice we can leading up to our honeymoon.”

RJ frowned. “TMI, man! TMI!”

The second game of volleyball between the guys and the girls went a lot better than last night’s water version. The guys claimed victory and boasted about it all the way through lunch. After that Chaz wanted the guys to join him for a few rounds of golf, and since RJ had already bailed on the fitting yesterday, he figured he should go, even though he really wanted to spend more time with Grace.

“I’m meeting with Tobias this afternoon,” she’d told him when he asked what she was doing for the duration of the day. “Then I’ll probably write for the rest of the evening. I have a lot I want to get done.”

“Cool, then I guess we’ll figure out another time to check in.” He hadn’t bothered to try to hide the disappointment in his tone.

Watching her run back and forth during the game, hearing her laughter, seeing the genuine fun she was having, had touched something in him. To be honest, it enhanced the same something he’d felt when he was inside her last night. The feeling of incompletion that he knew was only assuaged when they were together.

“Sure, ah, breakfast tomorrow?” she suggested.

Tomorrow seemed like a decade away, and he didn’t want to wait another decade to see her. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

He wasn’t desperate and he wasn’t going to allow her to think he was. They were on this island together for just under two weeks—certainly he’d see her again. In the meantime, he needed to get himself together. Acting like a lovesick puppy wasn’t his thing. It felt odd and demoralizing and he didn’t like it. Still, when Grace walked away, he stared at her until she was out of sight, missing her the second she was gone.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“OKAY, WE’VE GOTTA build a better sandcastle than them, or I’m never gonna live this down,” RJ said. Three days later, they were on their knees on the beach for another family activity.

They’d been divided up as couples this time,