She doesn’t smile or laugh, but inches closer to the door. “You’re going to take me to a beach late at night and you bought black trash bags?”
It takes me a second to clue in to where she’s coming from, but when I do, I can’t stop laughing.
“Maks?”
Something about her shortening my name feels like a tug on my chest. “I thought we could pick up trash. You know, instead of adopt a road, adopt a beach. As much as we need to in order for this to be considered our fourth date.”
“Hmm. How about this… I’ve never had anyone feed me candy while I walked on the beach.”
I toss the trash bags in the back seat. “Much better idea.”
She places her hand on my thigh. “Not that I would mind picking up trash one day, but I’d like some gloves.”
Man, I feel like such an idiot for my suggestion, but I’m working on the fly here. Then again, her hand is on my thigh and she’s running it up and down, so it seems to have worked out. Score.
We arrive at the beach and bring our bags of candy with us. We stand side by side in the sand, staring at the dark water. The moon is full and reflects off the water, and in the sky are tall clouds miles and miles off into the Gulf. They light up with a flash of lightning inside them every once in a while. There’s not much of a breeze, so the waves gently lap at the shore.
“There’s something about the darkness of the Gulf at night,” she says. “It doesn’t make it as magical. It makes me think there’s some dark stuff going on in that water.”
“I’ve never really thought about it. The darkness is kind of eerie though. But don’t worry, I’m here to protect you.”
“Unless you plan on throwing me in the water, I think I’m safe.” She opens her bag of candy. “Gummy bear, please.”
I pick out a gummy bear and place it on her tongue. “The start of our fourth date.”
I hold out my bag and she picks a malted chocolate ball, putting it in my mouth. We walk for a while.
I wait for her to bring up whoever this guy is who’s causing me problems now, but she only makes small talk and asks me to feed her candy. Guess I’m going to have to push the issue. It’s now or never.
“Who’s the guy that I’m gonna prove is a dickhead?” I ask.
She blows out a breath and stops walking, looking out at the water. “No judging?”
“Never.” I sit down on the sand and wait for her to join me.
She does and takes a peanut butter cup and shoves it in my mouth. “My dad.”
My eyebrows raise.
“He left my mom when I was in middle school. Married another woman.”
“Oh.” Not at all what I expected.
“It’s complicated. The woman he left my mom for was the complete opposite of her. I’m just like my mom.”
“So your mom is gorgeous and intelligent?”
She smiles at me. “You are a sweet talker, Petrov, and yes, she is. But she’s also the girl next door. The organizer. The planner. The type A personality.”
“All admirable traits.” I’m not sure I understand what the problem is.
“She’s not the fun one, Maksim, and neither am I. I’m not the crazy ‘dance and drink all night’ woman. I’m not the kind of woman a man loses himself in. The woman who always keeps him on his toes. I’m a ‘make sure all the bills are paid’ girl, my calendar is fully color coded.”
“This is what you’re worried about? That I’ll think you’re boring?”
“Yes. Maybe not now, but eventually.”
“Open up.” I shove a handful of sour balls in her mouth. “My turn now.”
“Mmm…” she says, but I shake my head.
“Did you ever stop to think that maybe those are things I want in a partner? Or that your dad is just some asshole who didn’t know how lucky he was? I love the fact you wouldn’t let me out of the therapy. That you had to check that box in your head. The approved snack list you gave the Fury Juniors? Genius. And let’s remember you rode roller coasters with me, and I bet if I did want to go shark diving, you’d agree eventually. You might be terrified, but you’d trust me to keep you safe. And do you know how fucking sexy it is that you have no idea that ten different guys check you out every time you enter a room? You’re blind to how my entire world has been turned upside down since you stepped into it. I wish you could see yourself the way I do. You’re so much more than you give yourself credit for. Paisley, you’re everything and more to me, exactly how you are.”
She swallows and looks at me for a moment. Just when she looks as if she’s going to speak, she tackles me to the sand and kisses me as though I’m the last man on earth.
I guess I said the right thing.
I lose control of myself. Screw his rule of nine dates. This man has won me over with his words and the feeling behind them.
I straddle him on the sand, press my lips to his, and kiss him as though the world is about to end. His strong hands grab my hips and I grind along his increasingly hard length, needing to quench the flame that’s been burning on high between us for weeks. Screw the fact he’s technically my client—at least to all the world—and we shouldn’t be together.
I tear my lips off his and sprinkle his face with kisses. “You’re an amazing guy.”
He chuckles, and his fingertips move up over the waistband of my sweats and onto my bare midriff. “Hold on, we still have five more dates.”
I sit up and press my hands to his chest. He’s wearing a button-down shirt and slacks since he was at the bachelor party. I totally forgot to ask why he ditched that to be with me.
“I’m relinquishing that deal. You can still take me on the dates, but we’re done with the just kissing thing.”
I circle my hips over his middle and a pained expression crosses his face. “But I had plans,” he groans.
I unbutton the bottom button of his shirt, revealing his treasure trail. He doesn’t fight me, so I continue to undress him. “So do I.”
“I think I’m going to lose this battle.”
I nod. “I guarantee you’re about to lose it.”
Once his shirt is unbuttoned, I splay my hands on his hard chest and push the material aside, showcasing his amazing, toned stomach with ripped abs. “Jeez, do you ever work out?”
“Not impressed?” he asks with a cocky grin because he knows there’s no possible way I couldn’t be.
“Maybe a few more hours at the gym wouldn’t hurt.”
He grabs my hips, flips me onto my back in the sand, and uses his knees to open my legs for him to slide between. “Cardio might help. Want to be my partner?”
I wind my arms around his neck and my fingers play with the hair at the back of his head. “I’m nothing if not helpful.”
He laughs and his lips fall to mine, searing me with a kiss. Then before I can protest, he’s up, standing over me and holding out his hand for me to take. “Not here. We’ll have sex on the beach at some point, but not our first time.”
I take his hand and he pulls me up, kissing me once more like he can’t stop himself. No complaints here. He scoops me up, so I straddle him, his hands going to my ass.