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He looked down at my body again. My skin prickled underneath his gaze. “Exactly.” His voice was rough and raspy. “If you want to dance, Mace, you fucking dance. Don’t let anyone, especially some guy, convince you that you can’t.” His eyes snapped to meet mine again, and he looked at me with an intensity I felt all the way down to the depths of my body. As if he wanted me to absorb every word he said next. “If you want to sparkle, you fucking sparkle.”
The tone in his voice and the look in his eyes made me feel like the room was closing in on me. My body felt on fire beneath his touch. My skin was far too flushed. I needed air and space and a void to scream in, maybe. “I think I want to go to the beach.”
He only smiled. “Then let’s go to the fucking beach.”
Chapter 12
Themomentmytoessank into the sand, I took off in a sprint down the beach. A sudden urge to sink my entire body into the waves took over, and I suddenly craved nothing else.
“Macie!” My name flew from a whimsical voice behind me, but I only laughed, savoring the wind breezing through my hair. His laugh matched mine, and I heard the padding of heavy feet behind me.
I only made it calf deep in the water before a pressure came behind my waist and I was being swept and swung into two strong arms. He twirled me around, kicking water up onto both of our legs. My sweats and his jeans both became soaked. He faced me away from the ocean and planted my feet on the ground, but as soon as he let go of me, I ran back toward the waves, barreling into his chest.
He chuckled as his hands landed on my hips and he lifted me again, walking back to the sand. “I may have gotten caught up in the moment when I said let’s go to the beach. You’re still concussed, baby girl, you gotta take it easy.”
I couldn’t think of much else beside the warmth of his hands, and the way his fingers felt gripping into the flesh of my waist. I locked my legs around his hips, and my hands around his neck, no longer fighting him as he carried me away from the water.
His eyes glowed in the moonlight, and I could’ve sworn they darkened as he watched me study his face. And study it, I did. I felt my arm moving on its own from his neck to the base of his jaw. Tracing a line over the stubble there, my eyes watching the breath escape his full lips. I could just see a faint sprinkling of freckles, slightly darker than his skin tone, that dotted the bridge of his nose and the tops of his cheeks.
He stopped walking, and I felt the grip he had on my waist loosen, but I didn’t remove my legs from his hips. My head was hovering just above his. His face dropped, looking at the place where our bodies pressed together. His arms slowly moved up from my hips and behind my back, lifting my shirt with them. His touch against my bare skin was both blazing and chilling. I grasped his chin and tilted it so that he was looking at me.
I read the desire in his face, and I knew he could see my own too. I wanted to touch his lips, I wanted to kiss those freckles. I dipped my head until our mouths were close enough to share breath, parting my lips with invitation. There was desperation in his dark eyes as they darted back and forth between my lips and my gaze. I felt his fingers curl into my skin, squeezing lightly. His eyes fell shut as he buried his head in my neck, inhaling deeply, as if he was savoring the moment before his jaw tensed and he let out what seemed like a frustrated sigh.
Well, that was sobering.
I let my legs untangle from his hips as his grip on me loosened again. My feet hit the ground and I stepped away from him, but one of his hands remained on the small of my back, running along my ribs until it met my wrist.
He tugged on my arm as he sat down in the sand, pulling me down with him. I stumbled– feeling a bit dizzy and breathless, landing between his legs. Knowing I shouldn’t, but not finding the will to care, I snuggled into him. He tensed briefly before relaxing himself. He propped his knees up and leaned back on his hands, allowing me to recline. The night was silent save for the waves lapping against the shore– and the noises of the city in the distance behind us, though I chose to ignore that. The moon was full, illuminating the beach in a soft light that made the entire world feel blue. The sand was still slightly warm from the day’s sunshine, and the breeze was just cool enough to calm the flush that the running and his touch had sent to my cheeks.
I knew it wasn’t the weather that was making me feel so hot, but in an attempt to end the silence between us, I spoke. “The weather here kind of takes away from the warm and fuzzy feeling that the holidays are supposed to provide.”
His laugh rumbled against my back. “That’s just because it’s not what you’re used to. It’s summer in Australia right now. All their Santa Claus figurines probably wear swim shorts.”
“I guess,” I said. “Even without snow most years, it was always cold enough in Portland that we could bundle up and light a fire. Or at the very least, drive up into the mountains and play in the snow there.”
“Your parents took you skiing as a kid, right? That was your tradition?” He dipped his head as he spoke to me, and his breath teased the skin on my neck, sending chills up my spine.
I nodded.
“Y’know, there is a mountain only a couple of hours from here. Close enough for a day trip if we left early in the morning. Do you want to go skiing this week?”
I turned my head to look at his face. “You ski?”
“Snowboard.” He gave me a crooked smile. “I’m like you, Mace.” He shifted his weight onto one arm and ran his hand across my shoulder. “I like anything that gives me an adrenaline rush.”
His tone was dripping with seduction. Something about it made me question if he was referring to skiing alone, or if he was referring to me. If I was an adrenaline rush to him. A chase. A challenge. Something to be conquered and won.
“Are you doing this—taking care of me—just because you want to sleep with me?” The words left my mouth before I could think them through, and yet, once they floated in the air around us, I didn’t regret saying them.
His fingers continued to tickle the skin above the collar of my sweatshirt. “No, I already told you I like your company.” His lips couldn’t be more than centimeters from my skin, and I immediately grew cold as I felt him pull away. “Macie, do you really believe a man wouldn't want to spend time with you without an ulterior motive?”
I only shrugged in response.
“What about Carter?” he asked.
“He’s friends with me because of Penelope. And I don’t know if it’s obvious to you, but Penny is kind of my only friend.” I leaned forward and turned around to face him, tucking my legs underneath his knees. “People tend to grow tired of me. I’ve never had a problem making friends, but I’ve also never been good at keeping them. Penelope is the only person I have ever met that doesn't seem to get tired of me.” I blinked away the emotion that suddenly gathered behind my eyes. Swallowed the tension I discovered in my throat. “She understands me. So, she and I are a package deal, and Carter understands that.”
Dom frowned. “Carter loves you, Macie. And that has nothing to do with Penelope.” I couldn’t stand the look on his face, so I dropped my head. “Have you ever considered that maybe your friendships don’t last because you push people away? You’re afraid they’ll leave you, so you do it first?”
