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I growled when it rang a couple minutes later. Yanking up the cell, intending to send it to voicemail, I saw it was Tarek.
“I hope it’s not too late,” he said when I answered.
“No.”
“I…hope it’s not too late for a visit. I’m outside your door.”
“What?” I exclaimed. Since I was still dressed, I jumped up and ran over. When I whipped open the door, I found him standing there with a tray holding paper cups and a brown paper bag.
He held it up. “I brought hot chocolate and cookies. I thought we could hang out for a little bit. It sounds like you’re going to be busy this week.”
“I will be, but I was planning to make time for this guy I met.” I leaned against the door grinning at him. “He’s this really cute lifeguard. I’m sure there are girls just waiting to snap him up.”
Tarek chuckled, his cheeks flushing. “I’m sure he’s not interested in them. He definitely doesn’t bring them snacks.” He lifted a brow. “Can I come in? Or if you’d rather, we could go down to the beach patio.”
I hesitated. The old proprieties hammered into me by the people who’d raised me said I should say no. But I wasn’t that Sariah anymore.
“Yes, come in,” I invited.
He paused as he passed me, brushing his lips over my forehead. “I missed you today.”
“You were working.”
“Didn’t make me miss you less.”
Warmth filled me. No one had evermissedme. Not romantically anyway.
“I thought about you a lot today. I wondered what you’d think about things. If you’d like someone or laugh at the same jokes. You know…random stuff like that,” I admitted. We both stilled at the end of the tiny passage that led into the room. “There isn’t much as far as seating.”
One chair. One bed with side tables. A dresser with a TV on it.
Tarek gave a single nod, then as if it were nothing, walked over to the bed and set the food on the side table. He plumped one pillow against the headboard and sat. His hand patted the space next to him.
“We’ll be just fine as long as you can control yourself,” he teased.
“But you’re a boy,” I breathed dramatically, my hand to my chest.
“Oh, see, that’s where you’re mistaken.”
“How so?” I asked, sinking into the spot he’d indicated. His arm wrapped around me and pulled me into his side. I leaned into his warmth and breathed in his spicy saltwater scent.
His lips pressed to the top of my head.
“I’m not a boy,” he whispered into my hair. “Not even close.”
I tilted back my head to look up at him. Twisting sideways, I flattened my palms over one of the hard pecs straining his shirt.
“No…you’re not. Definitely not a boy.”
His head dipped closer to mine while we whispered. Maybe, this sitting on the bed thing had been a terrible idea. Or a terribly good one.
“I’m glad you noticed.”
My hand lifted to his slightly stubbled cheek then slid back into his thick, near-black hair. I pulled him even closer. I might have little idea what I was doing, but I craved the taste of him. Thankfully, Tarek took over, pressing his lips to mine. With a skill I couldn’t quite comprehend, they coaxed mine apart so naturally. It was as if he controlled my mouth, too.
Thank God, he knew what he was doing. I wasn’t a virgin, but I wouldn’t call myself experienced. My college boyfriend had been a rebellion, not someone I’d choose now, and he’d had the finesse of a wrecking ball. To tell the truth, he’d always been more interested in what was in the encounters for him, not his partner. At the time, I’d called it a bad boy thing. More like he’d been an asshole who’d dated me for a month as a bet.
Tarek was nothing like him.
