Explore You: Book 1 of Explore Men of the Hamptons Limited Edition Paperback

KEVIN

Show some respect. I'm no longer that skinny kid playing on the beaches of Sag Harbor. I'm one of America’s youngest tech moguls. And one of its most loathed. With my company, MoneyCruncher, on the rise, my enemies are aiming for my throat. Hell, I've always loved a good fight. Only this time, my darkest secret still hides in my closet. And my biggest threat is Cher.

CHER

The water was once my home, and Olympic gold my dream. Those days are long gone, and now I’m faced with a new reality—the courtroom. In carving out my new career as a lawyer, what is my first major assignment? Take down our childhood enemy. Kevin F. Middleton was the bane of our early lives. Crass, conceited, spoiled, greedy…. and extraordinary.

In this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers, beach romance, dive into the heart of one of Sag Harbor's most powerful families, the Middleton dynasty. Old betrayals pick open unhealed wounds in the Explore Men of the Hamptons.

Page Count: 331

Tropes: Age 30+, singles romance, enemies-to-lovers, alphaholes (both MC’s), family secrets, slow burn, beach romance

Heat Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

Somewhere, a door closes. There is no one left in the entertainment room. But us.

“Chenera, put your clothes back on,” Kevin tells me. He’s backed away and stands a few feet from me now. He licks his lips—not in a sexy way, but impatient—like he’s dealing with a child. Leaning down his long, lanky body, he picks up my shirt and shorts, and tosses them on the bar.

I don’t know what it is about this Negro that makes me want to defy him—probably my knowing he’s an asshole is what triggers my inner asshole.

“Are you fronting like you care about somebody besides yourself?” I taunt him.

I remember when Maddy would get all flustered. She was into this dude so hard.

“Not fronting. Unfortunately, I care.” He peeks at his phone and waits, as if I’m another one of his minions who’ll automatically jump at his command.

“I don’t think I will.” In another attempt, I hop up, my clothes still on the bar.

Before I can get away, his arm shoots out again, and crosses over me, steering me backward. “You know damn well I’m not letting you leave here drunk senseless. Put your clothes back on, just so no cameras catch you looking like this. And so security’s not uncomfortable escorting you back to your cabin.”

“So you are cock-blocking,” I mutter to him. I might be slurring now.

He smells like fresh linen and ocean water. Under the track lights, he hovers over me while I lean on the bar. In his hunter-green eyes are flecks the color of tree bark, like a deep forest I’m wading into. The most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen, not because of their color, but their intensity. Serious and penetrating, they sink into me as if they know things about me that I don’t.

With the alcohol now fully in control of my reflexes, I reach up and touch one of his storied natural curls Illy and my other girlfriends used to gush about. It is indeed thick and wavy. He doesn’t say a word. He must be used to it.

And I may as well be honest. I now wonder if other parts of him are everything we fantasized about as prepubescent girls.

In a sudden gush, a large flood of liquid pummels my face!
Splashes my eyes!

Sprays into my mouth and forces my hands up and over my head while I scream and twitch. Finally, it stops. I lower my hands to peek. This fool sprayed me with a soda dispenser hose!

“Clothes, Cher.”

The nerve of this *sshole!
“You are not my damn daddy!” F*ck him! I try to kick him.
Kevin slaps my leg away and closes in. He’s back to spraying me again. Now I’m flailing and swinging but I can’t see. He only stops spraying once I calm down.

“And trust, you are none of my kid, or I would have whooped your ass already.”

Now we’re face to face. So I’ll go ahead and take advantage of an opportunity I may never get again.

I palm him. He is erect. I’m curious. And I won’t lie. His girth leaves me intrigued. “Well, well. Little Lion’s not so little after all.”