“I’m not sure yet.” He gave me a long look. “I got thrown a huge curveball tonight, so it depends.”
“Depends on what?” I tilted my head.
His lips flattened. “Can we not talk about plans and serious stuff?”
“What do you want to talk about instead?” I asked, trying to keep the hurt out of my tone that he’d shut me down.
“I don’t know.” His gaze moved to the ocean, and he took another swig of his beer. Then he set the empty aluminum can on the sand and smashed it with his booted foot. “I don’t usually do a lot of talking with chicks.”
“Right.”
Temporary. No attachments. No sharing. In a roundabout way, he was letting me know what this was.
Finished with my sandwich, I crumpled the plastic wrapping it into a ball and tossed it into the ice chest. In a more straightforward fashion, I decided to let him know about me.
“I don’t usually kiss a guy I just met.”
His gaze snapped to me.
“I get what you’re trying to tell me,” I said. “But I thought I’d just go ahead and let you know straight up about me.”
“Something that hasn’t changed,” he said softly.
“I don’t understand.” My brows pinched together.
“I don’t know how you can be so sure you know my thoughts when I’m not certain of them myself.”
“But you just said—”
“I was sharing about my life because you asked me a bunch of questions. That’s all. I didn’t have an ulterior motive.” His eyes narrowed. “If you’d rather not talk, we can do other stuff. My cock’s certainly rock-hard after that kiss.”
He reached for a blanket, shook it out, and stared at me, giving me that intense look that electrified my skin.
I scooted closer to him when maybe I should have been offended. But I wasn’t. There was something about him that intrigued me, even his abruptness.
Journey drew me closer, throwing the scratchy wool blanket around us, then enveloped me in his strong arms. Framing my face, he swept his thumbs over my cheeks as he stared at me.
The fire beside us was burning down, but not so much that I couldn’t see the glistening intensity in his eyes. There was need there. A craving. One I shared. One I wanted to fill desperately. Sadly, I knew sometimes you only got one chance with someone.
“Lotus,” he said softly.
I shivered, then melted when his lips touched mine.
This kiss was different from the one before. The first one had shattered my expectations and established new loftier ones. But this kiss was a siege. His tongue drove straight into my mouth. His hands dove into my hair, his fingers on a mission. He dislodged my elastic and grabbed fistfuls of my loose hair.
My hands were busy too. I spread them wide over the chiseled surface of his hard chest, surrendering with a moan as his passion crashed over me. Flames licked my skin as he claimed me.
Every dark corner of my mouth was explored, and my nipples hardened. My blood burned. Between my legs, my pulse throbbed. A hunger built, a demanding ache low in my belly.
My tongue tangling with his, I lashed his mouth with desire of my own. Need, craving, it rose like a wave rushing toward the shore. I got my hands under his shirt, and he groaned when my fingers skimmed his skin.
“Lotus.” Suddenly, he ripped his mouth from mine. “Stop.” He gripped my shoulders firmly, his face taut with desire.
“Why?” I panted, my gaze searching his.
“I want you. I want you naked. I want inside you.”
“Oh.” My eyes widened. “I want that too.”
“But not here. Not furtive and grasping. I need room and privacy to explore. I want you in my bed at my place. I want to see you. Take my time with you.”
“Yes.” I licked my lips. “I’d like that. I’ll go with you.”
A need like this had to be fulfilled.
Lotus
“Hey,” I told Sophia. “I’m leaving with Journey.”
I gestured to where he stood, waiting for me just a couple of feet away. He had the blankets we’d used tucked under his arm. The ice chest was already in the bed of his truck. He’d carried it on his shoulders and set it down next to his surfboard. I didn’t ask where his guitar was. I figured it was in the trailer with the other instruments.
“Where are you going?” She looked up at me with a dazed expression, her lips swollen from Reese’s kisses.
“His place.”
“Lotus—”
“I’m not debating,” I said quickly. “I’m going. But if you want us to drop you at the hotel first, Journey says we can do that.”
“I’ll take her,” Reese said, his piercing blue eyes meeting mine.
“You don’t have a car.”
“Gonna walk up the beach in a bit. Get a drink at one of the bars.”
“I’ll get a shared ride back to the hotel afterward.” Sophia tilted her head. “If you’re sure about this.”
“I am.” I looked down at my phone and pressed send. “I texted you his address. I’ll call you in little while and check in.”
“Okay.” No longer looking dazed, Sophia now seemed troubled, but I wasn’t.
I couldn’t explain it, the sense of calm. But it was there, as immutable as the desire.
When I rejoined Journey, he threw his arm around my shoulders. The tiny trickle of trepidation that had surfaced when I was talking to Sophia disappeared. Something as undeniable as this deserved exploring.
“You okay?” he asked as we retraced our steps in the sand. “You can change your mind.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Maybe not now. But if you say stop at any time, we’ll stop, and I’ll take you back to the hotel.”
“Do you want to change your mind?” I glanced at him through my lashes.
“Hell no.” The wind whipped several wavy locks into his gaze, shadowing it. “I just want you to know that you’re not a foregone conclusion. I plan to earn my way step by step to your final yes.”
“I like that.” I gulped, imagining what those steps might involve. “I like you.”
“I like you too, Lotus. More than I ever could have imagined.”
That was a funny way to say I was unexpected.
I tilted my head, watching him as he opened the passenger door for me. When I climbed in, he closed the door, and I continued watching him as he rounded the hood. Something about his profile and stride seemed vaguely familiar.
“Have you ever visited Ocean Beach before?” I asked as he dropped the blankets in the back and reached for his seat belt.
He froze in midmotion. “Yeah, I have.” He clicked his belt and put his key in the ignition.
“Ah, maybe I saw you. Did you play one of the clubs with a band?”
“No.” He threw his arm over the back of my seat and turned his head to back out.
“Oh. Did you go to the Deck Bar for drinks or food, maybe?”
“No.” Turning the steering wheel, he shifted and steered the car out of the parking lot. “Is that one of the places where you work?”
“Yes,” I said, noting his motions were stiffer than before. But I couldn’t see his features clearly. The parking lot had some lighting, but it was mostly dark, and his loose hair shadowed his eyes. “You just seem somewhat familiar to me.”