My gaze wanders to her chestnut hair in a wild mess all over the pillow. I trace the frame of her face with my finger and I love how her breath hitches. I lean in to kiss her, but her hand immediately covers her mouth as she shakes her head.
“Brody. Stop. You can’t kiss me,” she mutters through her fingers.
“And why not?”
“Morning breath.”
I stifle a laugh and pull her hand down from her face. “Dorothy, I’m going to kiss you, morning breath and all. Taste your tongue and feel your lips on mine because I have been craving you since I woke up this morning. Then we’ll eat.”
“Eat?”
By the look on her face, the sexual innuendo I could egg on, but decide I will leave that for another day.
“I know a diner close by that serves some killer banana bread and hot cocoa.”
“Right.” She draws out the word. “Eat as in breakfast.”
“Where are we going?” Delilah asks, her eyes peering out the window as I drive down the coast of Huntington Beach.
“Sorry to drag you along, but I have to take care of something. It’ll take us about a couple of hours. If you need to be somewhere, you can drop me off then come back and pick me up.”
Her head jerks back. “You’d leave me with your truck?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Drake would never let me drive Sylvia.” She shifts in her seat and her hand is on my knee. “Thanks for trusting me with your baby,” she says with a tug at the corner of her lips.
I quickly glance down where her warm palm is near my scar she hasn’t seen yet. As she slides her thumb over my kneecap, it sends an electric charge straight to my dick and I am begging him to calm down.
Grateful we are at a stoplight, I look at her beautiful face. The intensity in those blue eyes shifts from sweet to wanting desire.
I pull her closer and kiss her senseless. The heat of her tongue taunts and teases mine. A groan vibrates in the back of my throat. The taste of the hot cocoa still lingers as I savor everything about her.
I don’t know how much longer I can take it. My balls are bluer than the ocean I have been driving toward.
A honk from the car behind us lets me know the light has turned green. And I am so tempted to head back to my place, but I can’t. I made a promise and I intend to keep it.
I shift in my seat and think of the place I need to drive to, calming my aching dick that is half-mast in my board shorts.
“If it’s okay, I’d like to hang out with you, wherever or whatever you need to do,” she says, breaking the silence.
I take her hand, squeeze it, then kiss the top of it. “I’d like that.”
She clears her throat as I turn off the truck’s engine. “We’re here.”
Delilah looks at the view in front of her with confusion in her eyes.
“We drove for the last half hour to go to the beach when my backyard is just that,” she says.
“Come on. Stop your fussing.”
I climb out of the car, walk around, open the passenger door for her and she slides out. Straight into my arms. And without thought, I plant a chaste kiss on her lips. Kyle is right, she’s roped my balls in her lasso and has taken my man card.
“So, what is so important that you need to drive all this way?” she asks as I lift the cover on the back of my cab.
“I made a promise to someone.” I pull out two boogie-boards and a duffle, then shut the lid.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Delilah
My heart swells at the sight before me. Brody drops the boogie boards, then opens his arms out as a young boy runs toward him, trampling him as they fall onto the sand. The boy reminds me of Daxton.
“Brody, you came back,” the boy says as his dark blue eyes sparkle under the sun. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too, buddy,” Brody says as he waves to a pretty woman in the distance wearing a purple baseball cap. “Have you and Miss Paula been here long?”
“Nope.” The boy looks up at me as he squints his eyes. “Who’s she?”
“Jerick, this is Delilah.”
I stretch my arm out to shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, Jerick.”
“Are you here to learn how to surf too?”
I look up at Brody and I can’t help the growing smile on my face. Another piece of him revealed to me and the last pieces of my wall tumble all around me.
A shy smile tugs at Brody’s mouth. “I’m part of the big brother program at Down Syndrome Surfers and I have known Jerick since he was five.”
“And now I’m twelve.” Jerick squeezes his eyes as he spits out the words.
“You’re practically a man,” I say with a smile.
“Just like Brody.” Jerick chuckles.
Brody scuffles his hair. “Well, speaking of being a man. Why don’t you pick up these boards and let’s get started on your lesson today?”
Jerick’s enthusiasm speaks volumes as he jumps with joy and grabs the fluorescent yellow boogie board and runs to Paula.
“You sure you’re okay to hang with us for a couple of hours?” Brody asks as he grabs the duffle and links his hand with mine.
“Why didn’t you just tell me this is what you were doing today?” I’m grateful my dark glasses cover my face. I can’t let him see how this gets to me. And right now, I really miss Daxton. “You keep surprising me, Reinhardt.”
“Some people don’t know how to act around kids like Jerick.” Brody looks over to the boy removing his shirt and tossing it on the sand. “I didn’t want to make you feel obligated to stay if you didn’t want to.”
I cup his face with my palm, take in his brandy-colored eyes and boyish smile, then press a soft kiss on his mouth. Although it was a quick kiss, my head feels light and my heart heavy. I want to get lost in this moment with him but know we can’t because there’s an audience watching us as we turn to face Jerick and Paula.
“We will continue this kiss later,” he says as he pulls me closer to him. “But first, a promise I made to that boy over there.”
“Brody, I have a confession to make . . . I don’t know how to swim.”
“Well, I guess I have two lessons to teach today.”
“Jerick’s lesson is first. Then we can work on my lesson…” My words trail off and I bite my bottom lip when Brody removes his shirt, revealing his perfect torso. His eight-pack abs of perfection and the defined V trailing down to his board shorts, sends a tingle straight to the apex of my thighs.
If anyone has been looking for Adonis’s body, I found it.
In the flesh.
Holy shit! I cover my mouth with my fingers as embarrassment flushes my face and every nerve is attuned to him.
“Like what you see, Dorothy?” He chuckles, his eyes travel from my head to my feet as if he’s undressing me.
The sun behind him glows around his broad shoulders. He’s masculine, fascinating, and breathtaking as he stands in front of me and I can’t help but stare for a moment before I speak.
“Is there any part of you that is imperfect?”