He kissed her, a slow, sensual kiss that made her slide her toes into the sand and lean against him to hold on because she was getting dizzy. With Mick, she lost her senses, which was both a good and a bad thing.
She moved beside him again and they walked, not talking. She found she could be comfortable just being with him and not saying a word, though that tended to get her mind to working, and she thought about being here with him this weekend and what it all meant.
Total fantasy. Nothing real about it. Everything with Mick since the beginning had been built on fantasy. Dream dates and wishes and over-the-top fantasies come true. He was everything she’d ever dreamed of in a man, and everything she’d never dreamed was real. But what scared her about the two of them was the possibility that, like the fantasy of this weekend, there was no reality involved in it, nothing tangible to hold on to once the fantasy wore off.
Soon his football season would start, and he’d be so intensely involved in playing that he wouldn’t have time for her. And her business was taking off. She was getting more and more involved, her bookings were picking up, and she barely had time to see to Nathan’s needs. Once fall came he’d have games she’d need to attend, plus making sure he handled his schoolwork.
Where was there going to be time for a romantic relationship in both their schedules?
Maybe it was time to start seeing the reality of what she and Mick had together. It was a fun summer fling, and that’s all it was ever going to be. The sooner she came to grips with that, the better off she’d be. Before something stupid happened and she fell madly in love with him and started thinking they’d have a future together.
She’d had her heart broken once, and she wasn’t going to let it happen again.
Mick seemed to enjoy spending time with her, and okay, he seemed to like spending time with only her. But that didn’t mean anything. Men’s thought processes were utterly different from women’s. And men were inherently lazy, which meant that she was just easy to be with for the summer.
Wow, Tara, could you insult yourself any more with this thought process?
She hadn’t meant to, and she knew what she was thinking sounded bad, but it wasn’t what she meant. She and Mick got along great, they had fun together, their chemistry was smoking-hot, so why wouldn’t they be together? She wasn’t a demanding actress or model who needed to be seen and photographed and taken to events. She was fine doing whatever he wanted to do, and Nathan hero worshipped him, so there wasn’t even a problem with her kid.
Yeah, right. There’d been a huge problem when her kid had gotten drunk. And Mick had stepped in like a champion. How could a guy who wanted nothing more than sex from her have gotten so involved like he had with Nathan?
Maybe he was just a nice guy. No reason to read any more into it than what it was.
She was kind of the best summer fling he could have, right? And she’d made it pretty clear she wasn’t trying to put hooks into him, which would make leaving when his season started easy enough for him to do.
There was nothing holding him to her. Nothing holding her to him.
It was the perfect relationship.
So why didn’t it feel so perfect right now?
“You’ve been quiet.”
She lifted her gaze to his and offered up a smile. “Just enjoying the remarkable scenery.”
“You’re remarkable scenery. To hell with the ocean, the palm trees, and the sand.”
He drew them away from the water and dropped to the sand, pulling her down on top of him.
She laughed. “You’re pretty good for my ego.”
“Yeah, they’re paying me to boost you up a little.”
She arched a brow. “They? Who are they?”
He put his fingers to his lips. “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. But trust me, they have your best interests in mind by hiring me on to give you a little lift.”
She laughed and pushed on his chest, lifting herself up to a sitting position. She slid her fingers under his shirt, loving the warmth she found when her skin met his. “So how much will I have to torture you to get the truth out of you?”
He laced his fingers behind his head. “Give it your best shot.”
She unbuttoned his shirt, pulled it aside, and splayed her fingers out over his chest.
“Holding me down to get the truth out of me?” he asked.
She didn’t answer and instead let her fingers drift over his ribs, down his stomach and even lower, dipping into his shorts to search for his cock. He lifted when she tugged on his shorts and removed them, tossing them to the side.
“Now I’m at your mercy.”
“So you are,” she said, taking his cock between her hands. She stroked him from base to tip, a slow slide of her hands, enjoying the feel of his cock hardening as she touched him.
“That’s torture.”
She smiled down at him. “Ready to give up your secrets?”