Page 58 of After You Returned

Her eyes widen. “No pressure then.”

“Definitely no pressure about sex since we’re abstaining.”

Her eyebrows raise. “We’re abstaining? You made this decision for both of us?”

I blow out a breath as I tiptoe onto the tight walk set out before me. “I’m not trying to make a decision for you. I’m trying to show you how much you mean to me. How you aren’t some warm body for me to use.”

I palm her cheek. “You’re my Blaze. You’re special. And I want to show you how special you are.”

“You don’t realize how high the bar you’re setting is.”

“I don’t give a fuck. I’ll rent a plane to fly over the bar if I need to. I’m not giving up on you, Blaze. I will prove to you how wonderful we are together.”

“Let’s define this no sex rule.”

My cock twitches. It didn’t hear the word ‘no’. It heard sex and the object of its every desire is standing in front of it. It’s ready to lay her down and bury itself deep inside her.

“I don’t understand.” I can barely think with my cock pounding in my board shorts.

“Does no sex mean no kissing, no touching, no oral pleasure, no penetration, or all of the above?”

I inhale a deep breath and count backwards from twenty as I try to get myself under control. Judging by the twinkle in Hazel’s eyes, she knows exactly how she’s tempting me. My wicked temptress.

“Kissing and touching – yes. No oral pleasure and definitely no penetration.”

She splays her hands over my chest before drawing them down. “I can touch here?”

I stop her before she reaches my shorts. “No touching below the belt.”

She giggles. “Are we back in high school?”

“If we’re back in high school, then there’s only one thing to say.”

“Which is?”

I repeat the question I asked her when I was a pimple-faced teenager. “Hazel Harris, will you go out on a date with me?”

She bites her bottom lip. “I don’t know, Miles Raider. You have a reputation.”

“Come on. You can handle a boy with a reputation.”

Her eyes flash. “Of course, I can.”

“Good. Because we’re going out on a date tomorrow. Be ready by six. I’ll pick you up.”

I kiss her nose before walking away to my car. I’m not giving her a chance to change her mind. And if she’s not at home tomorrow, I’ll search the entire island until I find her.

This is my second chance and I’m not screwing it up.

Chapter 20

A loophole isn’t cheating.

Hazel

Ipace in front of the living room window as I wait for Miles to show up. Am I making a mistake?

I am. This is a bad idea. Miles isn’t trustworthy. He’s going to hurt me and then, when my heart is bleeding from being torn into shreds by him, he’s going to throw me in the ocean for the sharks to fight over.