To his left was a kitchen about half the size of the living room and filled with new, stainless steel appliances. Blue marble countertops ran beneath the numerous white cabinets, and an island was in the center of the kitchen. A breakfast bar with four stools lined up along its counter divided the two rooms.
He descended the two steps to the massive living room and placed his bag down on the floor. Isabelle's sandals tapped on the floor as she strode across the room and opened the French doors. Ethan walked over to join her and stared out at the clear, shimmering water of the pool. An outdoor kitchen and an elaborate bar made of gray stone sat at the far end of the patio. A table and a dozen lounge chairs were spread out around the rectangle-shaped pool.
Ethan crossed the patio to peer over the edge of the three-foot high rock wall surrounding the pool area. A hundred feet down the small hill beneath them was about thirty feet of sand. Beyond that, the ocean rolled in and out in a steady rhythm. At the bottom of the hill, a hundred-foot wooden dock stretched into the sea. A white Sea Ray Sundancer boat gleamed in the sun as it bobbed in the water at the end of the dock. He didn't know much about boats, but he did know that one looked like a good time.
"This is the life," he muttered.
"I could call it home," Isabelle agreed.
"Whose boat is that?"
"The owner of the house," Stefan answered as he stepped onto the patio and shaded his eyes against the sun. "We can take it out whenever we want though."
"Now?" Ethan asked.
Isabelle laughed as she looped her arm through his again. "It's getting a little late, but we'll take it out soon. We haven't tried it yet either. Come on, I'll show you to your room. We found this great little place on the beach where we can have a couple of drinks if you feel up to it later. You'll love it."
"I'm up for it," he assured her.
He grabbed his bag before she began to walk him down a hallway. "Bathroom," she said and pointed at one of the doors. "I figure these two bedrooms can go to Ian and Aiden." She nodded toward two more closed doors. "They're smaller, and they’re young, so they won't mind the lack of space."
He laughed at the mischievous gleam in her eyes. "I knew there was a reason why you're my favorite sibling."
"I won't tell the others if you won't."
"I won't," he assured her as she stopped before another room.
"And this is yours. Ours is at the end of the hall. I'll let you unpack now."
He gave her a brief nod before opening the door on a sun-drenched room. His gaze ran admiringly over the large room as he stepped into it. He placed his bag on the four-poster California King bed draped in translucent white fabric. The room was far larger than his room at home, but it didn't contain as much furniture.
A fifty-two-inch flat screen TV hung on the wall across from the bed; there was a dark mahogany dresser beneath it. The only other pieces of furniture were a baby blue upholstered chair in the corner on the opposite side of the room and two nightstands, one on each side of the bed. The floor beneath his feet was more of the white tiling he'd seen throughout the house. Even though the room was sparse, and the color austere, something was inviting about it.
His gaze drifted to the glass doors and balcony on the other side of the room. He left his bag on the bed as he was drawn toward the doors. Opening them, he stepped onto the balcony and inhaled the ocean-scented air as he savored the view and the sound of the water crashing onto the sand below. Yes, he could definitely get used to this.
Chapter Two
Emma leaned back in her chair to study the ocean rolling against the shore. Lifting her glass, she took a sip of her margarita and watched the die-hard sunbathers still trying to soak up the fading rays of the sun. Calypso music played in the background, and she found herself feeling almost drowsy as she began to lose herself in the music and tequila.
"Emma, woohoo, earth to Emma." She blinked as a hand waved in front of her face, drawing her attention to her friend, Jill. "There you are!" Jill declared with a smile. "What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing," Emma answered honestly. "And it was great."
Jill laughed as she pulled the yellow umbrella from her piña colada. The braids she had put into her mahogany brown hair today clicked together when she moved. Emma found she enjoyed the noise of the dozens of multicolored beads at the bottom of the braids; they sounded almost musical. The chunks of platinum blonde hair Jill recently streaked through her hair stood out amongst the braids. Her sable-colored eyes were warm as she leaned back in her chair and stretched her long, deeply tanned legs before her. A tan she’d earned while growing up in San Francisco and somehow managed to retain even through the endless, Pennsylvania winters at college.
At five-eleven, Jill was one of the tallest females Emma knew. Jill's height came in handy for the volleyball scholarship that had helped put her through college, as had her lean physique and amazing athletic ability. Jill hoped
