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“Allergies.” She stared down at the grass. “Seems I’m allergic to something. I’m not sure if it’s the bushes or the flowers or maybe the pollen in the air.” She turned her head and sneezed again. Twice.
With no idea why, his smile grew. Sophie Birch confused him. Those mega-sneezes from such a small person, her struggle to look him in the eye. Her sweetness. She definitely wasn’t his usual type, but under a blue sky streaked with brushes of orange and yellow as the sun dipped behind the mountains, he was drawn to her.
“Bless you.”
“Thanks.” She looked up. “What are you doing way over here? Shouldn’t you be mingling?”
With a gravitational pull he couldn’t stop if he wanted to, he moved even closer. She smelled awesome, like no other woman he’d had the pleasure of being this close to. Not with coconut oil or perfume that madehimwant to sneeze, but like cinnamon sugar.
“I needed a break.” He put himself out there for reporters because he had to, but it was never easy. Never his first choice—the water was that.
She took a deep breath. His gaze dipped to her chest. The dress hid her slim body, but he remembered how she’d filled out her bathing suit yesterday. Her breasts, he imagined, would fit nicely in his palms.
Jesus, dude. Stop thinking about her body like that. He focused back on her pretty face.
Pretty? Shit.
“Yeah. Me, too. I’ve been moving nonstop and wanted a few minutes of peace and quiet.”
“Should I go?” The last thing he wanted to do was leave her side. His head quieted when he was around her—aside from the dumbass thoughts about her body—and he liked the feeling.
She bit her lip before turning her head back toward the sea. “You don’t have to.”
They stood in comfortable silence, sides almost touching, for a long while. Zane had the strangest desire for a pause button so he could stay in this untroubled moment for as long as he wanted.
“Do you ever go out there when it’s like this?” she said softly. “When it’s almost dark and there’s no one else in the water?”
“I do. It’s nice being alone out there.”
“It doesn’t make you feel lonely?”
“The ocean is a great companion.”
She took a quick glance at him. “I long for that solitude sometimes, but my family is pretty much always in my business, so…”
“You’ve got lots of brothers and sisters?”
“No, lots of extended family, which is worse because they feel like they need to look out for me constantly. I know it’s because they care about me, but it feelsreallygood to be here right now.”
Yeah, it did.
The sun hid; the breeze picked up. Sophie shivered, and he wished he had a coat to wrap her in. How would she feel about his arm around her shoulders?
Don’t do it.
He did it.
Her body tensed, went rigid beneath his hold, but then she relaxed and melted against him, and her surrender almost knocked him on his ass. This woman, nervous around him one minute, unbuttoned the next, threw his sensibilities into complete disorder.
He had women figured out. But not this time.
And this time, too much was on the line to cross it. He’d no doubt hurt her if he acted on impulse. His liaisons were for fun, nothing more. He didn’t put his heart into anything but surfing, and he sensed Sophie wasn’t the type of woman to do anything lightly.
He told himself he was just being nice, keeping her warm because it was the gentlemanly thing to do. But her soft body against his hard one, her even breathing, the fresh expression she wore like he didn’t impress her, he intrigued her, all made him wonder if maybe he was feeling something for her. He’d known her one day, but in that moment, he’d swear it was much longer.
She pulled away. Brushed a strand of hair off her face. “I should get back.”
“Wait.” He caught her arm as she twisted to one side. “You still good for being my date?” He glanced at his watch. “The screening starts in half an hour.”
