“I can’t stay, Daisy.”
“I know.”
“And I can’t kiss you. You understand why, right?”
I understood nothing at the moment because he’d pushed his pelvis against me. I felt his erection nudging between my thighs and there was no moving away. I felt suspended in bliss, lulled by the erotic sensations coursing through my body, thrumming my clit.
Max’s eyes fell to my lips.
I could feel him growing harder.
When he dragged his teeth across his bottom lip it was dangerously inviting…and proof that he was fighting an urge to do more.
“I need to make sure you’re safe.” A flash of desire sparked in his eyes.
I stared at his beautiful mouth.
“I’ve never felt safer,” I said softly.
He was speaking now, saying something in Portuguese, his words hypnotic.
Max leaned in to kiss me and then stopped himself.
I pulled back to see his look of confusion.
He peered into my eyes as though searching for the words to appease me.
“Can I kiss you goodbye, Daisy?” he whispered.
I let out a wistful sigh, which he knew meant yes. His mouth captured mine greedily, persuading me to relent. Our tongues lashed passionately, our moans of desire colliding as the world fell away.
We could have been anywhere.
I’d never been kissed like this…not by any man. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced, this fierce heat that shook me to my core, promising eternal happiness, a life lived in the sun—the kind of affection that could erase a past filled with sadness, replacing it with hope.
He pulled away and studied my face, nearly gasping. “God, your kiss intoxicates me!”
I’d never felt more alive.
Max’s warm breath touched my face. “To taste you…”
The thought of him going down on me caused me to shiver. I wouldn’t say no to anything he asked of me. My heart had been shocked back to life…it was beating again, feeling again. I’d planned on being alone tonight—I’d been trying to think of anything except Max. Now, thoughts of him consumed me, stealing my very breath.
He rested his forehead against mine. “This place is not right for…a first time.”
To think he’d even gone there in his mind, just like I had. Imagining what it would be like to make love.
Max eased away from the wall and let me stand, but I felt the strength of his arms around me, pulling me toward him. My face nuzzled against his chest and I inhaled the scent of the man who always seemed out of reach. Even now, I was trying to fathom how we’d come to this moment. All those times I’d sensed our chemistry.
I hadn’t imagined it. There had been something between us from that first moment when we’d crashed into each other outside that bar.
Being with Max was the healing I needed—a knight in shining armor delivering me to a place where I could start again, I could build trust again.
“I’m a better person for knowing you,” I whispered.
“I wish I could be more to you, Daisy.”
Max was trying to let me down gently—a kind gesture for a girl who’d already had her heart torn in two. I stood on my toes and kissed his cheek to show my gratitude.
“Let me drive you home,” he said.
“If I leave, I’ll break my dare.”
He looked conflicted.
“I’m going to see this through, Max. I have to stay until morning. I’ve already pushed myself beyond what I thought possible and I won’t stop until I can see myself in a new light.”
My gaze held his defiantly for a long moment.
Then he sighed and brought my wrist to his mouth, kissing it, his eyes closing as his lips brushed my skin.
“That rat is probably still in the building,” he said.
“Pretty sure I can run faster than a rat—even a big one.”
Smiling, he led me out of the room and down the hall, back to the place where I’d set myself up for the evening.
Max sat down on the blanket and leaned against the wall. I curled up beside him and rested my head on his lap. His fingers trailed through my hair, sending shivers of delight through my body.
I would let him do me this one last favor, guarding me. And I wouldn’t fall asleep. I didn’t want to waste one second of my last few hours with him.
I opened my eyes and looked out the car window. We’d arrived at my aunt’s home.
Max turned off the engine and unclipped his seatbelt before turning to face me.
I gave him a sleepy smile. “Thank you.”
“Hopefully, I made your night bearable.”
It was the best night of my life, Max.
Despite my best efforts, I had fallen asleep. But he’d been with me, in the solitude of that old house, and I’d known what it was like to feel safe.
Instead of saying this I went with, “It was totally different to how it could have gone.”
“It’s fun being your dare buddy.”
“Three down,” I said. “Three to go.”
“What’s your next dare?”
“They don’t tell us until a few hours before.”
“I wouldn’t like that.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t give me as much time to worry or back out.”
“Are you working today?”
“No, would you like to come in?” The words were out before I could stop them. Realizing how forward that sounded, I added, “I can make pancakes. My aunt’s out of town visiting my cousin—and she took Wilma.”
He grinned at that bit of news, reaching over to play with a strand of my hair, his fingers trailing through one of my brunette locks. It was easy to become lulled by the way he touched me, easy to yearn for his affection.
I saw that familiar look flit across his face—his confliction lingered.
This was goodbye.
“Last night…” he said softly.
I nodded, knowing what he meant to say. “It was lovely. The best goodbye a girl could ask for.”
Well, not the best goodbye, since nothing happened besides that kiss—but it was as dreamy as I’d imagined it would be. I could close my eyes and relive the feeling, the scrape of his five o’clock shadow marking my face, his lips hungrily devouring mine…
He let out a sigh. “Being more to each other would be complicated, Daisy.”
I just had to let that sink in and become my reality. A part of me was sensing a connection to Max that had my entire body aching for him, my soul longing for more.
Even though he’d stayed up for most of the night he still looked perfect, his hair ruffled, that stubble adding ruggedness to his chiseled jaw.
“I’ll see you inside.” He reached into the back of the car for my dry cleaning and shoes.
I took them from him, but I didn’t want to look at the outfit covered in plastic. I’d worn it and bared my soul to a man I no longer loved.
Then again, I’d been wearing it when Max had carried me away from the pool in his arms. What I felt for Max was very different. It was like my soul was linked to him in some inconceivable way.
These futile thoughts carried no resolution.
We made it to the doorstep and I eased the key in the lock, psyching myself up to look at him one last time. If I was going to tell Max that I’d developed feelings for him, now was the time. Though when I went to speak my throat tightened with uneasiness. I didn’t want my last interaction with him to be me embarrassing myself one more time.