I keep hesitating.
God, I don’t know how to freaking think around her.
“You okay?” Stephanie asked, staring at him.
Julian quickly nodded, keeping his eyes on the dark ocean.
After grabbing dinner at one of the street stalls he loved, they had gone back and ended up kissing on the hammock before he had suggested a walk down the beach. Never in his life had he been more sexually frustrated, but it wasn’t about his needs. It was about hers. He didn’t want it to be something quick between them. He was starting to feel more for her than any other woman he had ever been interested in, and he had every intention of making it last. The only problem was convincing her to give him so much more than just a holiday.
“Do you know what any of these stars are called?”
“Sure I do,” he replied. He smiled then turned to face her.
Stephanie tilted her head and raised her brow, the light from the moon showcasing the skeptical expression on her face. “Then name them for me.”
“Okay,” he said before he pointed to an almost straight cluster of stars. “That’s the Milky Way.”
“That was too easy. Tell me more.”
Julian sighed and then gestured at random stars. “That’s Godzilla… Wilson… Harry…” Then he paused. “And that there is Pluto’s wang!”
Stephanie groaned and then shook her head. “Stargazing is wasted on you.”
He chuckled at the annoyed tone of her voice. “Fine. That star”—he signaled to a large, bright one to his left—“is a big one! But it’s way bigger than that small fry over there near the moon.” When he glanced over at her, she rolled her eyes at him.
“NASA, eat your heart out,” she deadpanned.
A light laugh escaped him before his hand settled on her thigh and squeezed. “Can we do something more accepted by the solar system?” he asked, just able to see the twinkles in her eyes.
“What is more accepted than staring at a billion stars in the sky?” she asked.
He was silent for a moment before he whispered, “Kissing you under a billion stars.”
Stephanie’s lips parted, and then, suddenly, she giggled. It wasn’t an annoying kind of giggle. He had always hated gigglers. But this was a sound his heart instantly loved.
“That was terrible!”
His shoulders sagged. If he weren’t so infatuated with her, he’d be offended. “Do-over?”
She brushed a lock of blonde hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. “I guess I can offer you a do-over. Now, impress me.”
It was so unexpected that his eyes widened. His heart had finally given way. It was only a matter of time.
Fuckin’ hell. I think I really will love this woman.
The sounds of the waves crashing caught his attention. His gaze shifted from the sky to the ocean. He knew nothing about stars, but he had always understood water. He had grown up around it. His mother’s love for rowing had rubbed off on his brother, Rob. For most of his life, Julian had grown up watching Rob race. Water was something soothing in his life. However beautiful it was, it was also dangerous. It could drown you. It could relieve you. He appreciated and respected it.
Julian glanced at the shore and smiled. “There, right there. Did you see it? Where the water reaches the farthest end? No one ever appreciates how hard the ocean tries to reach the ends of the Earth. It never gets past the shore without the help of the moon or another force of nature.”
Stephanie was quiet. His heart was anxious to hear her speak. Then he felt her hand slip into his. She had squeezed once before he looked at her.
“Are you trying to woo me with something philosophically deep and heartfelt?” she asked in a low voice—the kind that made him want to claim her as his for the rest of his life.
His lips curved upwards. “Am I wooing you?”
Please, God, say yes!
“Kiss me and we’ll see,” she instructed.
The beating of his heart increased so frantically that he was afraid it would burst out of his chest. Or it would stop just before he got to taste her lips. The only relief he knew was to kiss her. It had become a necessity, more so than air or water.
Once he cupped her face, he let his thumbs stroke her cheeks. “You can stop begging, Blondie. I guess I’ll kiss you.”
“You’re an idiot,” she breathed.
His mouth crashed onto hers to stop any other words from escaping. “You’re an idiot,” meant something. It felt like it