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“Nothing, really. There’s just that huge space upstairs. It seems like a perfect time to use it. There’s a grill right there.”
“Mmm,” he said softly. “You make an excellent point.”
“Of course,” she said, yawning.
When she woke later, they were under the covers and his body was tucked behind hers, pressed against her back. She wondered how he had gotten her under the covers without waking her.
She felt his lips graze her shoulder and smiled sleepily. “Hi,” she said softly.
His voice roughened by sleep, he said, “Hey.”
“What time is it?” she asked, unable to see the clock on the bedside table.
She felt him pull away and turn to look. “12:08,” he said, “And, I’m pretty awake now. Maybe a four hour nap wasn’t the best idea.”
“Probably not,” she agreed. “So what now?”
“Hmm,” he said, “As tempting as it would be to stay in bed, maybe we could actually leave the building.”
“That’s a novel idea,” she said slowly. “I’m not feeling very social right now, though”
He pressed a gentle kiss to her shoulder and said, “I’m not either. I kind of want to keep you to myself.”
“That’s not going to make me want to get out of bed,” she said, unable to stop the smile from creeping on to her face.
“No?” he asked casually. A moment later his hands crept up her ribs and started to tickle her without warning.
She tried to squirm away, laughing as she said, “No no no. No tickling!”
“Better think of somewhere, then,” he said, tickling her ribs with relentless precision.
“Stop, stop. I can’t think when you’re tickling,” she said, gasping the words out as she tried to wiggle free of his grasp.
His hand stilled and he said, “Very well. Where to?”
She sat up, scooting out of his reach and hugging her knees to her chest. Then she gave him a baleful look and said, “It’s late. I’ve got nothing. Leaving was your idea.”
He thought for a second and then said, “Get dressed. Bring a jacket.”
“Kay,” she said. “Can I have some sort of hint?”
“We’re going to the beach,” he said. “I haven’t seen the ocean since I’ve been back.”
Thirty minutes later they were in Evan’s SUV headed toward the beach. The music played low in the background, only occasionally interrupted by conversation. They slipped into a comfortable silence as Taryn started to go over the events of the past few days in her mind.
They had gone from avoiding each other to whatever this was that they were doing. She’d assumed that the previous night’s conversation was him trying to tell her he didn’t want a relationship. She hadn’t known what to think when he’d invited himself over.
The fact that he’d immediately zeroed in on her confusion had been a little unnerving. For someone who didn’t know her all that well, he was incredibly perceptive. In bed it was turning out to be pretty awesome. Out of bed, however, she wasn’t entirely sure whether she wanted anyone that close to her.
As if he somehow sensed her uncertainty, he reached over the center console to take her hand. She gave his a squeeze and looked up at him. Even in the dim light, he was absolutely gorgeous. His perpetual five o’clock shadow was a little more pronounced. The slight pout of his lower lip made her want to nibble on it.
He gave her a quick glance and said, “You getting sleepy on me?”
She shook her head and said, “No. Wide awake. Just trying to remember the last time I went to the beach. God, I think it must’ve been high school.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Really,” she said, smiling. “I was taking a full load of classes and then some the entire time I was in school. So there wasn’t a whole lot of down time.”
