Her eyes dart from where they were dancing across my pecs and land on my lips. “Wait, what? Why?”
“I want more time with you because, well . . . you’re the most entertaining girl I’ve met in a very long time.”
A small smile curves her lips. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I nod to all the boxes that litter the small space around us. “I know you’re moving, I know you have shit to do, but before you go, for however long you’ll be in San Diego, I want to spend that time with you.”
Long thick lashes flutter over gorgeous eyes and she nods. “I’d like that.”
“Come here.”
She doesn’t seem to even contemplate disobeying, and her feet bring her closer. Her fingers are no longer curled up tightly to the sheet and it falls a little to reveal the gentle swell of her breast. I hook her around the neck and pull her to me. Kissing her head and breathing in the gentle smell of the sea on her skin, I relax even more with her in my arms.
“Anyone ever tell you these freckles are really sexy?” I slide the tip of my finger along the dip of her collarbone.
“Never.”
Fighting off the annoyance that not a single man she’s been with has appreciated her incredibly beautiful skin, I drop a kiss to her shoulder. “I was dying to know how far down they go.”
She sighs as I dance my lips up her neck to her ear.
“Now I know, they go all the way down.” My hands grip her ass and I’m itching to drag her back to bed when she falls heavy against me.
“You hungry, freckles?”
“A little.” She pulls back and grins. “I should grab a quick shower, though. I have sand in places I shouldn’t.”
I lift a brow. “Ya know, I happen to have extensive training in sand removal. Army trained.”
“Is that right?”
“Mm-hm.” I bury my nose in her neck and take her scent deep into my lungs, allowing it to wash over me.
“I think I could use some help, but first . . .” She pulls back and flashes a teasing grin. “You’ll have to catch me.”
She takes off running and I catch her just as she reaches the bathroom door. Pulling the sheet from her body I press her back to the wall and drop to my knees at her feet. “You might want to hold on to something.”
It took everything I had to pull myself away, but I knew if I didn’t I’d end up in the shower with Celia and we’d both eventually starve to death.
She’s slumped on the floor of the bathroom, still against the wall, but now on her ass with a towel gathered to her torso.
“You good?”
Her lazy smile makes my chest swell with pride. “Oh yeah.”
“Come on.” I turn on the shower and hold out my hand. “We’ve both got things we have to get to today, but first, shower so I can feed you.”
She grabs my hand and I pull her to her feet. “You don’t have to do that, I have food—”
“Real food. Not fucking tofu eggs. And I thought you weren’t a vegetarian.”
“I’m not, I just don’t like eating something that comes out of a chicken’s butt.”
Damn she’s cute.
She pulls back to peer up at me. “Besides, they taste just like real eggs.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.” I drop a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll go to Cal’s and get cleaned up. Can you be ready in thirty?”
“Yeah.”
“Good.” I smack her ass and she melts deeper into me. It takes all my control not to bend her over the sink, and I pull away. “I’ll be back.”
“I’m a friend of Sarah Connor,” she says in her best Schwarzenegger voice.
I shake my head, grinning at this new nerdy side of Celia.
“You have a great smile.”
“Stop trying to seduce me.” I give her a quick kiss because judging by the way she’s looking at me like she’s hungry as hell and not for breakfast combined with my already hardening dick, I need to get the hell out of here. Plus, I like the idea of leaving her wanting more, so I snag my shirt from her room and slide on my shoes.
There’s a buzzing from a small desk in the corner of the room and when I look up I see it’s Celia’s phone. I pull it from the charger and take it out to her.
“Phone’s ringing.”
As I hand it to her I see the caller ID lit up with the word Dad.
“Thanks.” She checks it and sends it to voicemail.
“You could’ve answered it.” I have a sister and understand protective parents. Growing up in a strict military family, my dad hated it when my sister was old enough to date. If they spoke on the phone and he heard a man in the background, he’d send me to wherever she was to check it out. It’s no surprise the girl got married at nineteen. “I’d have kept quiet.”
She laughs, but it’s awkward. Uncomfortable. “Oh, no, it’s . . . not that, it’s, I don’t know—”
I press my thumb over her lips and dip down to replace it with my mouth. “Shh . . . it’s cool. I get it.” I drop a couple long, soft kisses to her lips until I know for a fact if I don’t leave we’ll end up back in bed. “Thirty minutes.”
I rush out before I change my mind, walking awkwardly back to Cal’s cottage with the mother of all hard-ons between my legs.
This woman . . . shit.
“Yo! Aden!” My jaw locks down at the sound of Brice calling after me, the slap of his flip-flops chasing me down. “Wait up!”
Thankfully the guy’s voice does wonders to deflate my dick, so with a quick adjustment, I turn around just as he makes it to me. His wet hair hangs over his forehead and a towel is slung over his shoulder like he just came in from surfing.
“What’s up?”
His eyes shift between me and Celia’s front door. “You and Celia hooking up?”
Bored, I stare at the guy. “You’re seriously asking me this shit?”
“No, I mean . . .” He shakes his head and chuckles. “It’s just, before she left we were hanging out and I guess, I figure ya know, now that she’s back . . .” He shrugs.
Celia and Brice? She mumbled something about him yesterday, something about not wanting to see him at Lenny’s.
“I don’t know what to say, man. She never mentioned that you two were together.” And why the fuck not?
He stares longingly at her door and I flex my hand to keep from slapping him to face me instead. “Huh . . .”
“All right, well . . . good talk.” I spin around. He snags me by my biceps from behind.
Red.
Sirens.
Panic.
I grip his wrist. Whirl around. Break his hold, and twist.
He cries out, his body turning to try to alleviate the pressure on his wrist.
“Do not fucking touch me or I will break your shit off, do you understand?”
“Yeah, man, fuck!”
My heart hammers behind my ribs as I tell myself this isn’t real. I glare at him, assessing. He’s not a threat. This isn’t war. These feelings aren’t real. I release him with a shove and a wave of shame and guilt washes over me.
“Shit, Brice. I’m sorry.”
“Dude, you almost broke my friggin’ arm!”