He grinned and nodded to the mound of sand behind her. “Sit down.”
She complied and was unprepared when he kneeled in front of her and took one of her feet into his lap. “What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer but instead began to unlace her shoe. Once it was off, he tossed it next to his in the sand. He didn’t look at her as he found the garter at her calf. As he untied the lace and made contact with her leg, she sucked in a breath. He focused on the stocking and quickly rolled it down over her toes. She was afraid of her reaction should he touch her bare foot. Thankfully, he only placed her foot into the sand and began the work of unlacing her other shoe and removing the garter.
Even though his touch had been brief with each foot, the fire within her blood had come blazing back. When he finally glanced at her from where he knelt in front of her, she could see a fire smoldering in his eyes too.
What was happening between them? What had those innocent kisses ignited?
Certainly she’d never had any feelings close to this with Nathaniel or any of her other suitors. She’d never been kissed the way Tom had kissed her. He’d been right. His kiss hadn’t been nice. It had been powerful and beautiful and earth-shattering.
A shadow fell across his face. “Listen, Victoria—”
“Don’t apologize for kissing me,” she said almost vehemently. “I don’t want to hear it.”
He ducked his head, and she longed to dig her fingers into his hair. “But I shouldn’t have—”
“I don’t regret a single second of it.”
He kept his head bent. “I should regret it,” he whispered hoarsely. “But I don’t.”
She smiled at his confession. “Good.”
“But I can’t do it again.” Meeting her gaze, his expression was tortured and earnest all at once.
“Can’t kiss me again?”
“Not ever again.”
He was right, even if she was secretly disappointed at the thought of never having the chance to experience another one of his kisses.
“I promised your dad that he had nothing to worry about with our marriage arrangement, that you’d be safe with me.”
She nodded. Even without Tom’s promise to her dad, she’d made a promise to Nathaniel to think about their relationship. She certainly wasn’t respecting him if she was already kissing another man.
“So if we can’t ever kiss again, then can we at least be friends?” she asked.
“Perhaps if we’re friendlier toward each other around my parents, they won’t pressure us so much.”
“Oh, my.” She squirmed just thinking about all their comments and kissing. “I daresay, they are determined to make us a good married couple, aren’t they?”
“Very.”
“At least they care about us. If we were a real married couple, their advice and help would be a blessing.”
Tom shook his head. “I don’t know how Ruth and Greg handled their meddling.”
“I think their so-called meddling is cute.”
“It’s frustrating.” Tom glanced back to the house and tower not far down the beach from where he’d led her. Against the backdrop of sand and sea in the fading evening, the lighthouse was picturesque.
In hindsight, she could see the wisdom of hiding at Race Point. She’d never guessed that she could live without all the comforts of home. But she’d already survived one week, and she could admit she liked being at the lighthouse better than she’d imagined.
“Your dad’s very hard to resist.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“Now I know where you get your powers of persuasion.”
Tom smiled and stood, brushing the sand from his trousers. He reached for her hand and helped her to her feet. “Then let me persuade you to wade with me in the low tide.”
She took his hand and allowed him to assist her to her feet. As they started forward, the sand squished between her toes, still warm from baking in the sun all day. She expected him to release her and resume a respectable distance, but he kept hold of her. He even placed a kiss on her temple.
A tremor of delight coursed through her, and she brushed her arm against his. “I thought you weren’t going to kiss me ever again.”
“That wasn’t a kiss,” he said softly. “You should know that now.”
Her insides fluttered. Oh yes. She knew what a real kiss was like now.
“Besides, Mom and Dad are watching us from the window.”
“Oh, so you’re putting on a show for them?” She started to pull away, not sure why the playacting should bother her now after all the acting