Hearts at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers #3)

He swept her hair from her face. “You’re so beautiful, Jenna. I haven’t been able to think of anything but you for days.”

She felt her cheeks flush as he lowered his lips to her neck and trailed kisses to the sensitive skin just beneath her ear. She closed her eyes and slid her hands beneath his shirt again. His kisses spread heat through her body like an inferno, and she went a little wild, plucking at the buttons on his shirt until it fell open, exposing hard planes of tanned flesh. She ran her hands up his ribs to his pecs. His mouth was working magic on the curve of her neck, sending goose bumps down her arms. She had to taste him. As if reading her mind, he pulled her against him. Her lips pressed against his chest, earning her a low groan from him. He kissed her again as he adeptly untied the top straps of her halter dress. Standing before him with her breasts exposed, while he was still dressed, shirt open, should have made her feel vulnerable and nervous. Instead she felt empowered, and the wanton look in his eyes bolstered her confidence.

“Jenna,” he said roughly. He touched his lips to the edge of her mouth. “I can’t believe I was so blind to us for so long.”

“Me either.” She giggled at her candor. “If I had known a little competition would get your attention, I’d have dated a construction worker years ago.”

He tightened his grip until she could barely breathe. “Let’s not talk about other guys.”

She laughed again, and he took her in a needful kiss.

In the next breath, she was in his arms, being carried down the hall and into his bedroom. Her lips were so close to him, and his scent was so intoxicating, she placed an openmouthed kiss on his neck, and it still wasn’t enough. She licked, then nipped and licked some more, until he tore his neck from her grasp with a loud exhalation.

“You’re driving me insane.” Heat flared in his dark eyes.

He lowered her to the bed and came down on top of her, kissing her deeply. She wanted him, needed him. All of him. She didn’t care that this was their first real date. She’d waited a very long time, and as he lavished her face with kisses, she was completely, utterly, his.

He touched his forehead to her shoulder and just breathed her in. Jenna stilled. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop. When he lifted his head and their eyes met, his desire was layered with hesitation.

“I’m sorry, Jenna. I got carried away. You’re so beautiful, and when we kissed…” He shook his head. “Do you want this with me? We can stop.”

There was no question in her mind what she wanted. She ran her fingers through his hair. Oh, she loved his hair. “I’ve wanted this with you forever.”

His eyes darkened and narrowed with an animalistic, possessive look. She touched her lips to his, urging him to continue the heavenly things he’d been doing before his beautiful conscience took over.





Chapter Eleven





PETE LOVED THE sound of Jenna’s hampered breathing as she tried to calm down from their lovemaking. He loved that he had that effect on her—they had that effect on each other. He came up on one elbow and she smiled up at him. He loved her mouth, her eyes, the softness of her skin. He loved that she was in his bed, finally, where he felt she belonged. Pete traced a line down the center of her body, took her hand in his and brought it to his lips.

“This doesn’t feel like a first date, Jenna. It feels like you’ve been with me all my life.”

“If I’d been with you all your life, your closet would be organized.”

He glanced into his closet, which was neat and orderly, but not color coordinated, and the thought that her mind had gone there so soon after making love made him laugh.

“You have a point.” He lowered his forehead to hers. “I’m serious, though. All these years we’ve known each other, and this. You being here with me. It feels so right.” He kissed her cheek and loved the way she closed her eyes the second his lips touched her skin, like she was savoring his touch.

“In my heart I was with you all these years; you just never noticed.”

“I noticed, but you confused the heck out of me.” He searched her eyes for a reaction, hoping he didn’t annoy her with his honesty, but it had been on his mind, and he wanted to get it out in the open, because so many other things needed to fill that space. Images of Jenna trying to catch his attention flashed into his mind, but he couldn’t hold on to them. They were overpowered by her other confusing reactions.

She laced their fingers together. “You made me nervous, but you don’t anymore.” She looked down at their bare bodies. “Obviously.” Her cheeks pinked up again.

“Why did I make you so nervous?”

“Because I was so attracted to you.” She shifted her eyes.

“Jenna, talk to me.”

She looked at him with a serious gaze. “You made me all flustered, and the harder I tried to get your attention, the less attention you paid to me, so I got nervous.”

“And then you gave up and went out with that guy.”

“Charlie.”

“That guy.”

The side of her lips cocked up. “You know, you come across as this quiet, well-mannered, slightly mysterious guy. But you’re much more aggressive and possessive.”

He pulled her closer, so her legs were pressed against his.

“That’s because I wasn’t dating you.”

“Which begs the question…Why weren’t you interested in me?” She blinked up at him expectantly.

“Because I was stupid.” He smiled and she rolled her eyes. Of course she wouldn’t buy his bull, and she deserved the truth. He lay back and arced an arm over his head, but he felt too far away from her, so he moved closer again.

“The truth is, when you’re with everyone else, you’re yourself, but with me, you were so nervous that I didn’t know what to make of it. I wasn’t sure we’d be compatible. You see how I am. The real me. I’m not someone who’s terribly gentle or coy. But when I saw you with that guy—” He shook his head. “I don’t know, Jenna. I saw you actually pick up a guy. In all these years, I’ve never seen you do that. And suddenly the threat of losing you was real. I realized how much I looked forward to seeing you every summer, and…” He flopped back on the bed again and threw his arm over his forehead and groaned.

“Go on. I’m liking this whole alpha Pete gets embarrassed thing you’ve got going on.”

He rose over her again and kissed her nose. “Be careful or I’ll show you just how alpha I can be. We’re friends, Jen. Pretty darn good friends, and I didn’t want to jeopardize that. I didn’t want a fling with you, but seeing you with him at the bar and then again on the boat…I lost sight of right and wrong, and all those years crashed together.” He looked deeply into her eyes, needing her to understand what it had taken him forever to grasp. “I realized how much you meant to me and how stupid I’d been. Then we kissed, and… Jenna. There was no turning back. At least not for me.”

She narrowed her eyes. “So, this is a fling?”

His chest tightened. Is that what she wanted? “No way. Not for me it’s not. Is it for you?”