Too real.
Too much like the kind of man I swore didn’t exist outside of the romance novels I’d brought here with me.
He holds onto me, and I hold onto him, more because I need to steady myself. I’m shaking. I don’t know what I’m doing. But I know I need a second to think. To feel something other than the gravity pulling me closer to this man I can’t seem to resist. The back of his hand grazes my cheek, and my heart hammers in my chest so fast and so loud that I wonder if he can hear it over the rush of these waves.
“I didn’t come here for this, Othello.” I stare down at the water dancing around our ankles. I’m too scared to meet his eyes.
“I didn’t come here for romance. Or feelings. Or you.”
“I know you didn’t,” he replies gently. “I didn’t come here for that either, but I’m feeling all that with you right now, and I don’t regret it. I started not to come to Hawaii, but if I hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t have met you again.”
As if my hands have a mind of their own, they slide up his chest and over his shoulders, clasping behind the back of his neck. His gaze is steady and intense, full of wonder. His handsrise and cup my face. My eyes fall shut, his touch so tender, so sweet.
“Permission to break rule number one?” he asks tenderly.
I smile at his corny request. “Permission granted.”
Othello pulls me closer, and I soften in his grip before his mouth captures mine in a slow, deep, and undeniably real kiss. My mind spins, caught off guard, and completely undone. He kisses me like he’s writing one of his poems with his mouth.
Heat blooms between my legs. It should be a crime how good he kisses and how badly I want him right now.
This is too good.
Too good to be true.
Too close to something I won’t be able to walk away from if we take this any further.
I break the kiss and take a step back. The game of pretend is over. We've leveled up, advanced too far to go back to start. The next level requires me to stop running from what I want. To take a chance.
It’s all too real, and I have the goosebumps on my skin to prove it.
“We should go back inside,” I suggest. I avoid his questioning stare.
“Marley,” Othello calls. But I’m already walking away, half walking, half-jogging back to where I left my heels.
My mind is spinning. And the nerves in my body are still humming from the way he kissed me.
29
sweet champagne
OTHELLO
My lipsstill tingle from the kiss when I walk back inside the mansion. I can taste the sweet champagne from her tongue, fresh from that drink she’d been drinking.
Damn, what a kiss.
But should I have kissed her? She trusted me to play by her rules, and once again, I’ve let her down by crossing the line. The worst part of it all is that I don’t even know if I feel sorry for it. I’ve told her how I felt.
That kiss was mind-blowing, and honestly, it was the firstrealthing I’ve felt in a long time. I wanted more of her. It’s insane how bad I want this woman and how much she stays on my mind.
The tranquil moments on the beach are long gone now, the bass of the music pulsing like a heartbeat.
I don’t see Marley, but I do spot Danielle and Jaylah.
“Hey,” I say, trying to sound casual. “Have you seen Marley?”
Danielle raises an eyebrow at me. “The last time I saw her, she was asking me where the bathrooms were. Are you supposed to be meeting her there or something?”
