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Courtney’s breath caught in her lungs as Seth’s chest pressed against her back. His sun warmed skin radiated heat along her back, starting a similar warmth low in her belly. As he maneuvered her so her hand was poised to feed the stingray, the warmth in her belly slid between her thighs.
“Here it comes,” he whispered against her ear.
Those three words sent her imagination spinning wildly out of control as she imagined him whispering something similar into her ear as he thrust inside her. Thank God she was standing in the ocean. If not, her suit bottoms would no doubt sport a wet spot.
As the stingray approached, she tensed and tried to draw her hand away.
“No.” Seth grasped her hand tighter. “Stay still, let him take it.” His free hand landed on her hip, holding her in place as the stingray shifted, swimming over her hand. After a slight tug and the barest brush of the stingray against her hand, the shrimp was free.
As the stingray swam away, she stood, savoring Seth’s warmth at her back.
“Smile,” Ashley sang, holding up her phone in its waterproof pouch.
Courtney straightened and took a step back, bringing her back flush against Seth’s front. Something pressed against her backside, long and hard. Excitement pumped in her veins, sending her already racing heart into overdrive. She may not have felt proof of a man’s excitement in three years, but there was no mistaking that Seth was aroused and hard against her.
He shifted, dropping his hand from her waist, and mumbled, “Sorry.”
Should she pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about? Would he be more comfortable if she ignored his comment? She didn’t know how to handle situations like this.
She settled for taking his hand in hers and pulling it around so that his arm encircled her and she was nestled against his chest. “Smile,” she ordered.
His eyes narrowed, studying her. His mouth opened, but then quickly closed. He swallowed before a smile appeared on his plump lips. Courtney turned back to Ashley with her own smile in place.
When Ashley had snapped the picture, she turned the phone to show Courtney and Seth. Courtney’s breath caught. There they stood with the blue of the ocean as their background with his arms wrapped around her and twin smiles beaming from their tanned faces. They looked good together—better than she and Kyle ever had. Of course, yesterday’s pictures had already shown her that. But today, with their bodies so close together, and his arms possessively wrapped around her, she looked like she belonged to him. Like they belonged to each other.
Surprisingly, the thought didn’t scare her. After Kyle’s death she’d been sure she never wanted to belong to anyone again. Something about the easy way Seth moved around her, careful not to push her too far while obviously struggling to hold himself back, made her think he’d be a careful and considerate partner and lover. Someone she wouldn’t mind belonging to. Even if it was only for the rest of the cruise.
* * *
Seth and Courtney lay side by side on the beach, each of them stuffed with the Caribbean lunch they’d consumed. Ashley and Zack were in the water. At least Seth thought they were in the water, with the way the two of them had teased and flirted all morning, they could very well be off giving the jungle animals a show. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t imagining giving a similar show in his head. Ever since Courtney had slipped out of her sundress and revealed her lush body in that bikini, he hadn’t been able to think of anything except what she would look like without it. Not that there was much more of her to see. The triangles covered the necessities but not much else.
“Why haven’t you hooked up with anyone on this cruise?” Courtney hadn’t moved from her supine position next to him. When he glanced over, her eyes were still closed.
“I haven’t wanted to,” he answered as honestly as he could.
“Not at all?” Now she turned her head to the side, studying him.
“I wouldn’t say not at all, but it hasn’t been my top priority.” He’d wanted to hook up with her the moment he’d spotted her on the deck with Ashley, but he could read when he and a woman weren’t on the same page. Courtney might as well have had a neon sign over her head that saidnot here to have sex with youor anyone else for that matter.
“What has been your top priority? Babysitting me?” There was a pout in her voice.
He shifted, rolling to his side and propping himself on his elbow. “You have been a priority, but I would hardly call it babysitting.”
“You don’t have to entertain me while Zack and Ashley do their thing. I’ve been alone for a while. I’ve gotten used to entertaining myself.”
And his mind went straight to the gutter as he wondered just how Little Miss Courtney entertained herself. His gaze slid over her body, landing on the vee of her thighs. “You know there are people who would help you . . . entertain yourself.” He didn’t know what made him say the words aloud. The minute they left his mouth, he wanted to snatch them back.
But then she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, and he couldn’t think of anything except giving her mouth something more productive to do.
Sitting up, a move that highlighted her tight abs, she turned to him. “Earlier today . . . when you . . . when we were taking the picture,” she hedged.
Oh yes, when he’d had a raging boner with a mind of its own. “It was a good picture,” he replied, although something told him that wasn’t why she’d broached the topic.
His words must’ve surprised her because she clamped her mouth shut and crinkled her nose. “Um, yeah. It was. But I wasn’t talking about the picture.”
“Oh?” He knew exactly what she was talking about, but if she wanted to discuss it, she’d have to bring it up. He hoped she wasn’t looking for an apology. It wasn’t like he’d been able to help his body’s reaction to her. First, he’d turned and caught her staring at him with her tight little nipples almost cutting through her bikini top, and then all her warm flesh had been plastered against him. He was just thankful his body had stopped at a hard-on and not shot off like a rocket.
“I know you said we could hang out and just be friends and all that . . .” She paused.
