I smile and make the mistake of looking at him with a sheet barely covering his waist. “Tempting. But we’ve now both crossed vacation fling off the reckless list.” We got lucky, my cousins were too tired to meet up after their boat trip, and Hale’s cousins were late back, so he blew them off. Fate let us have all night, talking while naked.
“I have to leave this room eventually, and we’ll head back to our lives away from here. I don’t do one-night stands.” I think about it for a sec. “Or flings.” Never. “So I’m just going to assume this is protocol when you have sex with a stranger.” He is a man married to his career, it’s obvious he would want nothing more. Nor am I someone capable of long-distance.
“For us, it seems to be,” he jokes. His tongue is skilled,and his cock hit the right spots. I assume he has experience. I’m not a virgin, but this guy’s quality is unmatched in my life.
I want to stay, but that would make it worse. This is all it is.
I lean down to kiss him quickly on his lips that are firm yet have the ability to kiss softly.“I’m happy you missed the turtle dive.”
“I’m happy you didn’t throw the pineapple at me.”
Gosh, that smirk. I’ll miss it.
“Uh… I wouldn’t know anyhow, but everything we’ve said to one another about our life minus the name part… it’s true, isn’t it?” I have to wonder.
He nods gingerly. “It is. Sure you don’t want to burst the vacation fling bubble and tell me your real name?”
Thinking about it, I debate whether being wild and mysterious is really me. Once in a lifetime try, right? Besides… “Probably better if we don’t. Even though we all might have that what-if person, I’ll be more occupied with you in my head if I know who you really are.”
He tilts his head, accepting my logic. “I agree.” His knuckles slide down my cheek, a caress. It’s a minute, maybe more, that our eyes lock, and we say nothing until he rasps, “If we ever meet again, then that’ll be a sign to share our real names."
I grin at him. “Perhaps.”
Our bodies remain in a standoff of recognition. Both of our lives just changed today.
“This all must sound messy,but I swear it wasn’t my intention to keep this from you. I don’t expect anything from yo?—”
He steps back, and I feel a loss of connection, which is wild, as it was only magnetism in the air between us. “My mind is already made up. We’ll be talking about this. I’m notwaiting, either. Are you heading back to the city later today? I assume you live there if you work for me.”
“I don’t exactly work for you. More like the company.” He isn’t impressed. “Semantics,” I rasp to myself and divert my gaze, my hands finding my back pockets. “We live there. I’m just staying here for the weekend to see my parents.”
He chuckles to himself, bitterly amused, it seems. “Of course, you are from the same small town as my best friend’s fiancée. Any other coincidences that we need to lay on the table?”
“No. I mean, if you really want to get into the details?—”
He cuts me off. “Oh, I do,” he says, adamant.
I met Hayes drinking from a damn pineapple. “Lola is allergic to pineapple, actually.”
“Fitting,” he responds flippantly.
This is one fucked-up circle of a conversation, and I’m getting exhausted. The sound of the door sliding open, though only partway, draws my attention to Savannah, who must have given Lola to Julian or one of the neighbors at the party. She is hesitantly perplexed and looking delicately at us. Searching for a clue about what the mood is in the room.
“Sorry to interrupt, but…” She swings her gaze between Hayes and me. “Uh, Lola seems to be a bit tired.”
I check my watch. “Yeah, it’s nap time. I’ll… No, I’m going to go. I’ll bring her to my parents’.”
“No. I want to see her,” Hayes grits out.
Savannah appears awkward and wants to escape but doesn’t move an inch.
Momma bear instincts are in full force, and I step in front of him, my fingers pressing against his chest. This time, there is no spark, just pure protectiveness. “Not a chance. She has no clue who you are, and she’s tired, and we need to talk. You know I’m right, too.”
His nostrils flare slightly, but the way he darts his gaze deep into me feels tide-changing. “Fine. But I’m not leaving this damn town until we talk.”
I nod in agreement. “Main Street, across from the coffeehouse, Foxy Rox, in an hour. Get my number from Julian.”
Hurrying off, I trail behind Savannah to Julian, who is giving Lola a piece of watermelon.
