Carefully, I removed my beach shoes as he kicked his shiny ones off. I turned away from him and twisted my arm to undo the zip at the back of my dress.
Why were dresses made like this? Not only were we denied pockets, but you had to be a freaking contortionist to get the damn things off.
You wouldn’t give a man a shirt with buttons on the back, would you?
No, you wouldn’t.
Equality my ass.
Adam chuckled, stepping behind me. “I got it.”
“Thanks.” I pulled down the thin straps and immediately used my arm to cover my boobs.
Adam snorted, but he didn’t say anything as he took my free hand and led us down to the water. It didn’t take us long to get down there, and I gasped as the water rolled over my feet. It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t anywhere near as warm as I was expecting it to be.
“It’s not cold,” Adam said, stepping in front of me and dragging me into the water.
“Slow! Slow! Oh my God.”
“It’s not cold.” He let go of me and walked farther back into the water. “It’s nice.”
Tentatively, I took a few steps forward.
“Stop being a wimp, or I’ll throw you in the water,” he threatened me.
“You wouldn’t!” I pointed at him, clutching tighter at my boobs.
He simply looked at me as if to say I should try him. Given earlier when he’d picked me up and spun me around, I should have known better than to stop dead in ankle-deep water in protest.
A wave helped propel him forward to me, and he snatched me against his body before I could do anything. My arm was squished between us, but he didn’t stop to let me move it as he walked backward in the water.
He dropped his lips to mine, stopping me from protesting as the water splashed higher and higher up over my thighs and, thanks to one adventurous wave, over my ass. I gasped into his mouth and felt his grin against me.
Right before he picked me up at the waist and tossed me into the water.
I was saved only by the fact the water wasn’t really that deep at all. I still went under to my chin, meaning half of my hair was now soaking. “Asshole!”
He laughed.
Halfway to standing, a wave crashed into me, and I went over again, this time getting fully covered by the water.
Oh. My. God.
I pushed the hair from my face and felt for the flower. It was still clipped in, thank God, but I couldn’t damn well see.
Carefully, mindful of my mascara, I wiped under my eyes and touched my eyelashes. “I’m going to kill you!”
He laughed harder, and I took my chance. I jumped at him and pushed him. He lost his balance on the sand, and a wave full of karma dealt him the same hand I’d just been given.
I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. Karma was a bitch, but man, she was a beautiful one. It was hard to stay on my feet thanks to the rolling of the water and my inability to, well, stop fucking laughing and stand upright.
Adam wiped water from his face and pointed at me. “You—”
“No! It’s fair! You pushed me first!”
“The water pushed you. I threw you.”
“Whatever. I’m not arguing semantics in shark-infested waters.”
He laughed. “I’m sure the nurse sharks would be delighted to eat you.”
I slapped him. “They’re nocturnal. Of course they’re around.”
“And they’re not at all interested in eating a spunky redhead with a great ass.”
“You think I have a great ass?”
“You got over the sharks pretty quickly.” He slid his hands around to my ass, pulling me against him.
“Yeah, well, like you said, they aren’t interested in eating me.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. My bare breasts were pressed against his chest, and my nipples hardened as they rubbed against the light smattering of dark hair on his skin. “Besides, I’m small and relatively scrappy. If anyone hungry comes along, there’s much more meat on you.”
He laughed, dipping his head. “Great. So I’m shark bait.”
“No. You’re dinner, just in case. That is the chivalrous thing to do. Sacrifice yourself to save me.”
“Poppy, you’re the last person on Earth who would need anyone to save them. You’d probably flip it around and end up saving your rescuer.”
“I think that’s a compliment,” I murmured.
“It was.” He laughed, brushing his lips over my cheek.
We both paused. I tilted my face, bringing my lips closer to his. My heart thumped in my chest. There was a lump in my throat that swallowing couldn’t kill—a dryness in my mouth that wouldn’t go away.
I wanted him to kiss me.
No.
I needed him to kiss me.
I needed one more moment to pretend this was real. That it was a real thing that wouldn’t end tomorrow.
I needed one more moment to allow myself to feel the things I felt for him. To feel how he gave me butterflies and made my heart beat faster; how he gave me goosebumps and made me want to wrap myself around him like a clingy koala bear.
I needed to feel him, and I knew this was my last chance.
We were running out of time, and if this was the only moment I had to admit to myself that I had very real feelings for my very fake boyfriend, then I’d take it.
With both hands.
So, I kissed him instead. Lightly. Just a plain ghost of my lips over his. A tease, a little question. Asking him to kiss me back and kiss me harder.
He obliged.
His lips were soft but firm as he took my mouth with his. My fingers curled in the hair at the base of his neck, and he dug his fingers into my ass. I’d never pressed myself against anyone as hard as I did him, and I didn’t hesitate to part my lips when he deepened the kiss.
His tongue stroked mine. Each time he kissed me, desire bolted through my veins. I kissed him harder and held him tighter, pressing my hips against him. His cock was getting harder and harder against me, and I was on the verge of telling him we needed to get back to our room when something touched my foot.
I squealed and jumped, using my arms around Adam’s neck as leverage to wrap my legs around his waist. He staggered back a couple of steps before he grabbed my ass once again.
“What the hell?” he asked, looking at me.
“Something touched my foot!”
“So you screamed?”
“What was I supposed to do? Stand there and let it eat me?”
His lips twitched as his hard cock pressed between my legs.
This wasn’t so smart…
“So you decided to jump and let me be eaten?”
“We already covered this! If there’s something hungry in here, it’s gonna eat you and not me. I’m too pretty to be eaten by a shark.”
He clicked his tongue. “What am I? Chopped liver?”
I touched his cheek. “Oh, no, you’re very pretty, but it’s every man for themselves out here.”
“You know it was probably seaweed that touched you, right? And all you’ve achieved is making my cock so hard I’m tempted to pull your underwear to the side and fuck you right here on the beach?”
No. No, I did not know that.
The seaweed or the fucking on the beach.
His cock…I figured.
“Um,” I said.
“Um. You kiss me like that then wrap your legs around my waist—where I know you can feel my cock—and you say ‘Um.’”
“Um. Yeah.”
He laughed and kissed me again. I hugged him hard as our lips moved together, and he slowly backed us into slightly deeper water. His teeth grazed my lower lip, and his fingers dug right into my ass cheeks again. My clit throbbed as his cock bounced against me, and— “Fuck!”
We were underwater before I knew what was happening, and I sputtered as I found my footing and stood upright. “What the hell?”
Adam broke the surface, laughing, and wiped his face. “The sand dipped. I fell.”
“Ass. That’s what you get for going deeper in the water!” I huffed out a large breath. The water was chest-high for me now, and not gonna lie, I was not happy about having my nipples out in the ocean.
One creature was all it took and then—bam. No nipples.
I covered them with my arm again, and Adam grabbed my hand.
“Don’t panic, but something just touched my foot,” he muttered.
“Seaweed?” I squeaked.
“Nope. It was a tail.”
I bit my cheek to stop screaming and grabbed it. I jumped onto his back, holding him tightly.