Uninhibited

But I can’t wait to find out.

I walk slowly back along the beach towards the house, savoring the gorgeous scenery. The sun is rising high, warm in the cloudless summer sky, and I can feel the promise of vacation spreading through my bones: that first day of summer feeling, with nothing but good times and possibility ahead. As I draw closer, I see Dex up on the balcony deck, leaning out with a mug of coffee to watch the view.

My stomach twists with memories of last night.

“Good morning,” he calls down to me as I climb the stairs.

“Morning,” I smile back, my heartbeat suddenly skittering faster in my chest. He looks gorgeous with his dark hair wet from the shower, dressed in a pair of faded, worn jeans and a black T-shirt that hugs the taut muscles of his chest. “You were right,” I tell him, reaching the top. “The view of sunrise is amazing. I couldn’t stay in bed.”

Dex grins. “Sleep well?”

“Oh yes, like a baby,” I lie, ignoring the hours I spent twisted up in the sheets, remembering his lips on mine. “You?”

Dex answers me with a low chuckle. “You could say I was kind of…wound tight.”

“Oh?” I blush, feeling a thrill of victory. At least I wasn’t the only one driven half-mad by that goodnight kiss.

“Don’t worry,” Dex adds casually, “I plan on returning the favor.”

Our eyes catch. His stare is teasing, but full of smoldering intent. My breath catches in my throat.

Oh my.

“Is that coffee?” I babble, breaking the stare.

“Yes, ma’am.” Dex smiles, leading me inside. “You’re a caffeine junkie? And you said you didn’t have any bad habits.”

“It’s my one vice,” I admit, following him to the kitchen, where—yes!—there’s a gleaming, professional-grade espresso machine perched and ready on the counter. Dex must have seen my face light up, because he laughs.

“Well, we’ll have to work on giving you a few more.” He sets a few buttons and levers, and a moment later, the machine starts to hum.

“Lily gives me grief all the time,” I continue, hopping up on the counter to wait. “She’s my assistant at work, and we’re good friends. She’s always teasing me about how many lattes I get through. I know it’s bad for me, but it’s the only way to get through the day sometimes. There’s so much to juggle.”

“Alicia Wright, corporate genius,” Dex drawls.

I look up, wondering if he’s making fun of me, but he quickly adds, “Hey, I’m impressed. It sounds like you really work hard.”

I nod. “I like it. Making things run smoothly, strategizing our business plans…I always had a head for facts and figures in school. I was never artistic like you.” I nod towards the instruments in the corner of the room.

Dex gives me a rueful look. “To tell the truth, I could have used more of your business smarts when we were starting out, we all could have. Some of the contracts I signed back then…” He grimaces.

“They were bad?” I ask.

“The worst. We didn’t realize it to start, we were just so happy to be finally living the dream. After being broke so long, signing with a label was like winning the lottery, you know? Suddenly, we could pay rent, and splurge on studio time, pick up a check for dinner without having a heart attack.” Dex pours my coffee into a mug and passes it to me, leaning back against the kitchen counter. “But we should have been more careful. The way it works, they pay you an advance, but that’s to cover recording the album. You’ve got to pay producers, studio techs, everything. Most of the time, you’re wiped out before you’re even done, and then you wind up owing them money.”

“That’s crazy,” I frown. “I never realized.”

“Neither did we, until the label sat us down and pointed out that they owned our asses.” A shadow passes over Dex’s face, remembering the past. “That’s why we toured like crazy starting out. Tickets and merch are the one way a band can make money. We pushed so hard because we had no choice, not until the record hit and the royalties started coming in. But by then…”

He stops himself and shakes his head. “Old war stories,” he shrugs dismissively, changing the subject. “We wised up quick after that, made sure nobody screwed us again.”

“And it looks like it paid off.” I look around at the granite countertops and designer appliances. He’s certainly not struggling to get by anymore, and it sounds like he earned every penny of his fortune. “Your folks must be proud of you.”

Dex pauses. “They passed before they got a chance to see it,” he says quietly.

I gasp, regret and sympathy crashing through me. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said—”

“You didn’t know,” Dex stops me with a sad smile. “It was a long time ago. Ten years.”

“What happened?” I ask gently. “I mean, if you don’t mind saying.”

“It was a car crash, some drunk driver.” He shrugs. “Ash had just turned eighteen, so we were all able to stay together.”

“You have other siblings, right?” I try to remember what he told me before, but he was vague about his family.

Dex nods. “A younger sister, and a baby brother, too. Although he’d hit me if he heard me saying that,” he adds with a grin. “We stuck together pretty tight. I guess something like that brings you closer together. We were all we had.”