He cursed, and she turned again to find him kicking off his shoes and socks as he made his way to the rocks she sat on. “I’m not, damn it, and I don’t know why you keep saying that.”
“Why else would you kiss me like that?”
“Maybe because we have a mutual attraction to each other—and don’t even think about lying,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “I know you feel it, too, ever since you stepped foot in my kingdom. We can try and hide it all we want, but it’s there.”
Olivia’s shoulders sagged. She didn’t want to lie to him about how she felt, but it was still wrong, wasn’t it? “So what?” she said. “I’m not going to let you use me to get out of your predicament.”
“I don’t want to use you.” He licked his lips and shrugged. “I want you, Olivia.”
She stood, knowing she needed to put this to rest for good and force them both to get over it, but the rocks were slick from the water and she lost her footing. Her arms windmilled through the air as she yelled and tumbled into the water. It wasn’t deep, but the weight of the dress yanked her down.
“Olivia!” Quincy was there a second later, hoisting her up by her waist, and helped her back to the beach. “Are you alright? Did you hit your head?”
She wiped a hand over her face and shoved her messy hair out of the way to sputter, “No, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Fine. This dress is just ungodly heavy now, and I can’t walk.” She stared at the beautiful hand-made gown and suddenly everything was funny. The ruined gown and her hair, even her infatuation with Quincy. It was funny, and she laughed until her sides hurt. Quincy stared at her with narrowed eyes. “What? Don’t you ever just laugh at the world?”
“I do, but usually in better circumstances. Olivia, I don’t know what to tell you to make you believe me, but—”
“Kiss me.”
His mouth fell open and he licked his lips. “What?”
“I said, kiss me. You want to and I want you to, so to hell with it. We can kiss and get it out of our systems, right?”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” he said, but Olivia quickly lost patience.
She cupped her hands around his cheeks and stood on her toes in the sand to kiss him. His lips moved against hers, and his arms followed, wrapping around her waist and pulling her against him. Olivia’s hands moved from his face to his neck, and she pressed herself against him, driving them farther up the beach. He pulled the rest of her hair down from the pins and ran his hands through it, massaging her scalp as her hand sought his shirt.
“What are we doing?” he whispered against her lips.
“I don’t know. Do you want to stop?” She stared into his eyes, but the look in them said he wouldn’t walk away unless she told him to.
“Blanket, we need a blanket,” he muttered. He hurried to the bin she’d already pulled out of the sand. He glanced at her ballet flats with a smile, pulled the blanket out, and spread it over the sand.
Olivia had never allowed a man to go far with her, so she wasn’t sure what should happen next. Her dress weighed her down, and she was tired of feeling heavy. She reached a hand back, found the zipper, and pulled it down. As the humid air brushed against her bare back, her nerves flared up, but she saw Quincy working to get the blanket perfect and they calmed down. No matter what happened that night, she was safe with him. It might be the worst scandal in the history of the kingdom, but only if someone found out, and neither of them would say anything.
The weight of the wet fabric pulled the dress the rest of the way down to her hips, and she helped it off, stepping out of it and kicking it aside. The air felt good on her wet skin, sending goosebumps up and down her stomach and shoulders. Her fingers ran up her bare skin, and she closed her eyes, reveling in the feeling as they found her breasts.
Quincy cursed, and she opened her eyes. Her lips curled into a slow, seductive smile, and she watched his mouth work, trying to form words as his eyes moved from her head down to her toes buried in the sand.
“Problem?” she asked as her hands moved down to her hips and back up again. She tried to channel Helen while she stood there half-naked before Quincy, and she’d waited long enough for this moment. It was time for her to see what it was like to really live and explore what the world had to offer. Quincy was just the man to help her do it.
He didn’t answer her question, only stepped closer and reached for her hand. “You are a stunning woman,” he whispered. “How are you still single?”
“That’s what you want to say right now, really?”