Feisty Read Free Page A

her nephew. Jake was tossing a football back and forth with a man who had been introduced to her as Sam Doherty. She wasn’t sure what her eldest brother and his wife Sandy were complaining about. Jake had been a perfect angel since they’d arrived. Not the hellion Neal had said the boy had become.
    Hopefully, Neal’s business trip would wrap up in time for him to attend the wedding. Leo had been disappointed that his brother wouldn’t be standing up for him, but business was business. Neal was traveling offshore more than he was at home these days. Perhaps contributing to why Jake acted out.
    When she glanced back at Devon, she realized it had been too long since she had let down her hair and had some fun. Even longer since she had woken up in a man’s arms. Between public functions she was expected to attend with her family and her own job as a real estate developer, she was busier than a one-armed paperhanger.
    “Want a beer?”
    She nodded and Devon quickly left her side. Enjoying a thorough examination of his backside, she hummed, “Not bad—not bad at all.”
    Every man in her life up to now had been Ivy League, clean cut, with a future like her own—promising. Not to say Devon didn’t have a promising career. She breathed in the clean ocean air. Laughter surrounded her as more friends and family of Whispering Cove arrived. According to Leo, Reece and Devon were going places. Developers from all over the United States sought them out for their commercial building expertise, but instead of branching out into other areas of the country, Devon continued to only work for Reece. She glanced at Leo and Sky. Her quiet, reserved brother had his arms around his fiancée’s waist.
    Skylar Wellington was a councilman’s daughter who had run away from the demands of her father’s life. Sahara had met Councilman Wellington at several social functions. He was a formidable man, cold and driven, so unlike Sahara’s father. As a Supreme Court Justice he definitely had his ideas of right and wrong, but he was also loving and understanding. Still, it had taken both her mother and father a little time to accept Leo’s path in life, but they had.
    What was she talking about?
    One of the reasons she’d hightailed it to Whispering Cove early was to see for herself why Leo had chosen a simple existence over one filled with status and money, everything at their fingertips. Sahara was spoiled and she always got everything she wanted, which included men. She grinned as Devon approached, holding two beers.
    Something about this man did it for her. He was real—all man. Not like most men she knew who had never changed a flat tire, much less a light bulb.
    Without a word, Devon handed her a beer. The chill of the moist bottle rippled across her warm skin. She took a drink, trying not to cringe when the cold, bitter ale touched her taste buds. She would have preferred a wine cooler, maybe a mojito or a glass of champagne, but as they say, when in Rome…
    “Ready?” he asked.
    “Yes.” Sahara was more than ready, because at that moment she had made up her mind. Tonight Devon was hers.
    Side by side they both started to step on the court when Cord yelled, “Taylor. They could use you on the other side.” Devon didn’t hesitate. He chugged his beer, wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and tossed the can in a nearby trashcan before he joined the other team.
    Disappointment was Sahara’s first response. Yet when he turned around and faced her, she realized this was a great position to watch every one of his muscles in action. She took one more sip of her beer before setting it on the ground and taking her place.
    When the game began, she wasn’t surprised to see how athletic Devon was. He knew exactly what he was doing. His firm body stretched as he jumped up with a cut shot, spiking the ball at a sharp angle across the net. He even acted as a decoy, appearing as if he were about to spike the ball again, when another teammate