by Tamara Lush
Over the years she had become an expert on what was needed to make the perfect sand sculpture. The judging was two days away, and so she needed to actually start working on her final product. She needed to pack the sand firmly into place before etching the fine details into the palm trees.
All around, competitors contorted themselves while working the sand. One guy from the surf shop had inexplicably brought a ladder. Jessica stifled a grin when she got to her mound of sand and looked over at Leo’s station. He was there already, lying on his stomach on the ground. She loved seeing how the hard and tough Marine also had an artistic side. And his baking abilities had blown her away. Could he be any more of a perfect guy?
She fumbled and dropped her crate. It landed with a louder thud than she anticipated, the tools jangling and clinking noisily.
Leo scrambled to his feet and grinned when he saw her. He couldn’t stop smiling these days, it seemed. Was he as giddy as she? And why wasn’t he wearing a shirt? She felt a wave of heat travel through her body when she recalled how it felt to be next to that rock-hard chest, how he’d clasped her to him when they said goodbye the previous night. She recalled the awkward rhythm of how he’d made love to her that first time five years before, and how his rhythm improved every time they were together afterward. Thinking of how sensual he’d been while on top of her and the sofa in the reception area just made her want to pounce on him.
She greeted him with a lusty grin, and he walked over, a trowel in those big strong hands.
“So, what are you planning for your sculpture?” he asked. “The practice days are over and we need to begin carving for real. Are you finally going to tell me?”
“I guess,” she said with mock exasperation and then a laugh. They’d teased each other for days over who would win. “An oasis with palm trees. I might add a manatee. Tourists love manatees. You?”
Leo turned and leaned close, his back pressing into her shoulder so that they were both staring at his sand mountain. She could feel the heat of his body through her T-shirt and resisted the urge to throw her arms around him and never let go.
He used the trowel in one hand and his other fingers to gesture in wide, sweeping motions. “I’m imagining a shell printed into the sand. 3D. Like that painting, The Birth of Venus. With a mermaid nestled inside. I decided not to go with the starfish.”
She was sculpting palm trees, and he was planning a Renaissance replica? What kind of overachiever was he? Her head found his shoulder, and she gave in to the pleasure of being so near to his warm flesh. He wrapped an arm around her waist, and she shivered at his touch.
“What are you?” she said, “the Botticelli of sand sculptors? I never knew you had any artistic talent apart from the kitchen and bedroom.”
He laughed, and when a gust of wind blew a curly wisp of hair over her face, he reached out and tucked it behind her ear. Jessica remembered how he’d done that exact thing when they were teens.
“It has nothing to do with my talent,” he said, “I just have a really beautiful model.”
His eyes said it all, so she grinned and turned to hug him, pressing her face into the hollow of his neck. Then she bit him lightly, and he growled in response.
“It’s pretty warm,” he said. “Want to swim?”
She opened her mouth to say no, because that was her default answer when it came to displaying her body around others; she usually swam alone. But why did she need to be so insecure around him? He hadn’t hesitated to tell her how much he loved her curves. Why not allow herself a bit of fun?
She shrugged. She had worn her tankini over a jean skirt, and swim bottoms that were more like little shorts underneath.
“Sure. The water will feel good.” It might even actually cool her down from all the heat Leo was throwing her way.
“You’re going in fully clothed?” Leo asked, running his hand down her back and onto her butt, squeezing lightly.
“No, this is my swim top. And I’ve got swim shorts on underneath my skirt. I’m a Florida girl, remember?”
He released her from his embrace, and she noticed his eyes lingering on her chest. This navy blue tankini top tucked and squeezed just so, making her breasts look impressively large. It made her grin.
“Turn around,” she said, making a little rotating motion with her index finger. “I don’t want you seeing me undress.”
“But you’re in full view of everyone else and I’m going to see you in your suit in a few minutes. And I’ve seen you naked. What’s the difference?”
God, he was cute. “You’re killing me with logic, dude.”
He grinned.
Keeping her eyes locked on his, she slowly unzipped her skirt, making sure to turn around and wiggle a little when she slipped it over her butt to reveal the blue swim shorts beneath that hugged her hips. When she faced him, a delicious thrill went through her when she saw how his eyes had grown wide and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
Leaning close, she spoke in a low voice. “Race you.”
And she was off.
Laughing, she ran into the water and then screamed when she got knee-deep. “It’s cold! Cold!”
Leo caught up with her and kept going, then he dove in when the water reached his waist. But Jess wasn’t going to let him be the only brave one, so she followed. Soon she skimmed through the clear Gulf, shutting her eyes because of her contact lenses. Swimming furiously, she propelled herself forward with mighty strokes. She’d been on the swim team in high school, and she had even won medals and been called a powerhouse.
She undulated her body like a dolphin, swimming fast. Then her head hit something. Something both soft and hard.
Jessica promptly surfaced, slicking back her wet hair. Leo was in front of her and laughing as she opened her eyes. Her feet floated to the sandy bottom. They were in water up to her shoulders.
“Did I just swim into you? I’m sorry,” she laughed, gasping for breath.
“I think you were trying to drown me,” he said. “Your head’s pretty hard. I might not be able to have children if you had hit me any lower.”
She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Sorry.”
Both laughed hard and Jessica treaded water.
“Cold?” Leo asked.
“A little, I guess.” Her teeth were chattering some, but not really from the air or the water temperature. It was from the sight of Leo’s brown skin, his muscles around his shoulders, his perfectly shaped mouth.
Their eyes locked. She stopped moving and stood in front of him, her toes digging into the soft sand beneath her.
Her voice took on a mock seriousness. “There are predators in the water here. Sharks. Stingrays. Jellyfish.”
“I can think of an even bigger predator,” Leo said. Then he growled and moved playfully toward her.
Jess yelped, swimming away. This was what she wanted: Him chasing her, and him catching her. Him never letting go.
She giggled and yelped out loud as she swam away, but soon he caught up and pulled her body to his. Jess melted into him. His front pressed against her back, and he encircled her with his strong arms. She was tall and broad, but he was bigger, and the feeling of being buoyant in the water and small in his arms was so damn wonderful.
“Caught you,” he said softly in her ear.
They were in pretty deep water still, but he held her with ease. They bobbed for a while, legs entwined.
“It feels amazing to be with you again,” she said, turning her head.
He kissed her cheek. “Yeah. It does. Absolutely amazing. I’m kind of shocked we haven’t made it even better.”
She laughed. “You mean, you’re surprised we haven’t slept together?”
“Yep. I mean, before we were together…what, two weeks? It took us about eight days to work up the courage to get together, and then how many times did we…?”
“Have sex?” She loved how they were finishing each other’s sentences a lot lately. “I don’t even remember. We were so creative. You snuck i
nto my room, and we brought a sleeping bag to the beach…” She giggled at each memory. “We were crazy.”
“Oh yeah. I was crazy—for you. Remember how we went into an empty guest room that one afternoon?”
Jessica hummed in response. “When I was on top of you? That’s a good memory.”
“Mmmhmm. I’ve remembered it on many lonely nights.” He paused. “Do you ever think we should have waited?”
She looked at him and considered. “Maybe. We were young. I mean, plenty of my friends had already had sex by the time they were seventeen, and it seemed right at the time…. I don’t know.”
One of his arms encircled her torso under her breasts, while the other rested on her stomach under her tankini top. Normally she didn’t like anyone to touch her midsection because she felt too soft and jiggly there, but in the water she relaxed. He certainly seemed to like touching her. His fingers skimmed the top edge of her swim shorts, and she realized that just a few inches more and his hand would be between her legs.
The thought gave her a thrill.
And an idea.
A sexy, naughty idea. One that made her nervous. Curious, too.
She turned her head and kissed his cheek, her eyes darting around. There weren’t many people on the beach this morning, and they were the only ones in the water. His hands and nearly all of her body were invisible. They couldn’t have sex here, that was for certain, but she’d like to see just how her muscles down there reacted to his fingers.
“Touch me,” she whispered. She felt so relaxed in the warm ocean, in his strong embrace.
“Where?” he murmured into her ear.
“You know where.”
He sucked in a breath, and one of his hands cupped her breast. His possessive squeeze sent heat down her spine while his other hand inched downward, stealing her breath.
“Like that,” she whispered. “And lower. Please?”
He took his time.
Her heart beating like crazy, she felt his fingers slowly, too slowly, inch lower. Goose bumps flared up her legs. Leo’s hand slipped beneath her shorts, and the sensation of his finger parting her folds made her inhale. This was exactly where she wanted him to touch her.
And guess what? She didn’t tighten or feel any pain. The realization, and the feeling of his fingers, made her exhale and bite her lip in pleasure.
His finger slid inside of her. His voice was gravelly.
“Jess, you’re wetter than the ocean.”
“Please, Leo.” Her eyes fluttered, so that she could only see the sparkles of sunshine dancing atop the blue water. Part of her was shocked that she wanted this, shocked that her body was allowing it, and was begging him to slip another finger into her core right there in public. The rest of her wanted to simply let go and enjoy.
She would let go.
He found her sensitive nub and circled and massaged slowly. She gasped a little when he pressed his erection against her. Every nerve in her body felt tight, needy, except where Leo’s fingers were. She could easily orgasm right there in the water, that’s how talented he was with just his fingers.
He slowly moved his hand, dipping his middle finger into her center. Then back to her clit. Then inside her. It was driving her crazy. Yet she was reacting normally. Her body was allowing him inside it. That was the best part of all.
“That. I love that,” she groaned. “What you’re doing.”
“I think I love it more than you, babe,” he murmured against her ear. “I think I want to put something else inside you now. I’m so fucking hard.”
She whimpered. She couldn’t help herself. “Please, Leo. Please don’t stop.”
He stopped. Giving a sharp breath and a little shudder he said, “Jesus, Jess. We’ve got to stop. We can’t do this here.”
Her eyes snapped open. He was right. God! What had come over her? She’d been so eager to test her body’s reaction that she was willing to let him finger her in public. She pulled his hand out of her bikini, giggling out of sheer nervousness, and she twirled around, a little embarrassed.
With no small satisfaction she noticed he was breathing heavy. A rosy flush had spread on his sharp cheekbones as she buried her face into his neck and sighed loudly.
“This is driving me insane,” he said. “It’s what you do to me, Jessica. You make me want to do illegal things in public. But I can’t keep my hands off you.” He squeezed her ass, hard. “I lose control.”
“Tell me about it,” she whispered.
She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, her legs around his hips, and she kissed him madly. When were they going to try to have sex? Soon, she hoped. Would her body cooperate? She finally had reason to think it would.
In fact, there was no way she could wait. Didn’t want to, didn’t need to. It was time to let go of the guilt from before, the shame of disappointing her mother and having sex as a teenager, of nearly getting pregnant because they’d been stupid and not used a condom that one time.
And she was finally ready to let go of the idea that she was broken or frigid or undesirable.
“I want you,” she murmured.
He held her face in his hands, his gaze serious. Then he nodded, and she pressed her mouth to his, wondering why he didn’t seem happier about it all.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
God, he was edgy.
He’d been like this all day, ever since their erotic encounter at the beach. Never had he desired anything, or anyone, more than Jessica Clarke. He hadn’t thought he could be hornier than when he first met her, but he was wrong. It was like he was a walking erection now, and he was trying to will the condition away and get some work done.
But his mind kept turning. His needs were so complicated, that was the problem. The one thing he wanted—spending the night with her; Christ, spending a lifetime with her—was the one thing he absolutely, positively shouldn’t do. Not after that little episode in the truck the other night. Jessica had enough going on, what with her sister and the hotel and the grief about her mother. No way did she deserve his burdens added. And even though they’d revealed so much about their lives to each other over the past several days, he couldn’t tell her about the nightmares.
Or about New Orleans.
Or about how he’d soon have to turn himself in to the cops.
Those things would devastate her. They would already devastate her, and it would only be worse if he took things farther. And yet he melted every time she looked at him. That’s why he’d felt like running away when she told him she wanted him.
Again.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he sank into a booth at the bakery in front of his laptop. Upstairs, the contractors clomped around the attached apartment. He had mountains of work here, what with local food vendors and ordering, and anticipating the opening week rush. He needed to focus on those.
A male voice startled him, but the military had conditioned him not to outwardly flinch. Not ever.
It was the contractor, an older man with white hair.
“I’ve got some bad news.”
Leo glanced up from his laptop and arched an eyebrow. Bad news in his world meant death and bombs and war. Whatever this man had to say probably didn’t fall under that category.
“Asbestos. We found it when we were ripping out the old sheetrock and drywall upstairs. A lot of these old art deco buildings have it.”
“Okay.” Leo shrugged. “So, what does that mean? I’ll pay for extra safety equipment, hazmat suits, whatever you need.”
The worker nodded. “We’ve got all that, and we have an asbestos surcharge. But it’ll tack a week or two onto the job.”
“Fine. Do what you need to do.”
The man nodded and took a few steps away, then turned back. “Hey, I saw the futon. Is someone living up there? Because now that we’ve been poking around, we’ve kicked up a lot of dust. I don’t think anyone should be breathing that crap.”
Leo’s mouth dropped open. Damn. There was no way he could sleep
up there now. Not with those fine, lethal particles in the air. But where the hell was he going to go? He’d heard Jessica talking about how the island was busier than usual because of Winterfest.
He didn’t have time to scour the area for a place to stay. Where was he going to find an available room on short notice on an island filled with tourists? He didn’t think he’d be staying long enough to rent an actual apartment, so…
His first instinct was to call Jessica, to get her advice. But, no. First he’d try to find a place on his own. Or maybe sleep in his truck, handcuffed to the steering wheel so he wouldn’t be able to sleepwalk. And with his keys in his backpack stuffed in the trunk.
He tapped on his phone and made a few calls. As he’d feared, all of the nearby hotels were booked. Then he dialed The Beacon. It was probably a long shot, but even if they didn’t have something he could ask for advice. He didn’t want to spend any more time on this than possible.
Nicole answered.
“Of course we have a room for you,” she said when he explained his problem. “There’s a guest suite on the first floor. Right next to Jess’s apartment.”
The idea of being so close to Jessica filled him with fresh energy, even if he was worried about how he was going to control his nightmares and sleepwalking. And how he was going to stop himself from giving in to his desire to sleep with her.
He read his credit card number to Nicole.
* * *
“You rented a room to who?” Jessica’s voice bordered on shrill.
“I think the better question is, why didn’t you tell me that you’ve been spending so much time with him?” Nicole shot back.
Her sister’s familiar, mocking tone and smirk grated on Jessica, and she groaned in response. “I didn’t feel like getting into it. And how do you know we’ve been hanging out?”
“Catalina told me. I saw her yesterday at the school. She was there to pick up her mom. Did you know that Cat’s mom will probably be Grace’s second-grade teacher next year?”
Jess mumbled a yes.
“Cat said you’ve been ignoring her. But she laughed about it, and I invited her to dinner on Saturday. Also, Leo mentioned it when he called, said he’s seen you several times over the last few days. He was pretty open about your ‘relationship’”—she emphasized the word with perfectly manicured coral-pink nail air quotes—“after I asked him a million questions.”