paused, his brows drawn together, before directing an odd, amused glance her way. “Sure. I can scrawl my contact information for you too, if you have an extra pen.”
He let her hand go, and she dug into the depths of her purse and emerged with the supplies they needed. A block of sticky notes for him, another for her, and two pens. They both used the dock’s rail as a writing surface.
She bit her lip and looked up. “I gave you my cell number and my e-mail address.”
“I did the same.” He carefully peeled the note from her pad and passed her the one he’d written. “There you go.”
After dropping her pens and sticky-note blocks back into the middle compartment of her purse, she tucked his information within the same zippered side pocket where she stored all essentials. Tampons. Her lip balm. Her lucky piece of jade. And now him.
He folded her sticky note into a small, neat square and deposited it deep within the pocket of his athletic shorts, then looked at her.
He was still smiling. “You realize we could have just used our cell phones for all that.”
“Oh.” Damn, she was old. “Yeah, but electronics malfunction or go missing. I don’t want to risk losing your information.”
That teasing smile died, his eyes turning soft and warm as he gazed at her. “Same here. But let me text you my information, just in case.”
They exchanged information the modern way too, and once he was safely stored in her contacts list and he’d saved her data in his own cell, he took her hand again.
“So…” His fingers, warm and strong, played with hers as she watched. “Are you free tonight?”
She’d known. She’d known. Only a fool would consider his actions that morning—the near-constant physical contact, his company on the dock, his flirting, his request for her contact information—the polite gestures of a man ready to scrape off an unwanted one-night stand. But the confirmation of his continued interest steadied her anyway.
In the distance, a horn tooted. The small ferry boat, nearing the dock.
“Belle and I will be gone most of the day, and we have dinner reservations, but after that…” She lifted a shoulder. Smiled at him. “I’m available.”
The furrows in his forehead eased. “Good.”
The dock manager was exchanging shouted greetings with the captain of the ferry, and Belle had risen to her feet and stepped closer to the boarding area of the dock. The ferry hadn’t officially arrived yet, though, so Tess didn’t move.
“Do you want me to text you when I get back to the hotel tonight?” she asked.
He inclined his head. “Yeah. And if you want to spend the night, pack a bag.”
“Is that what you want?”
It was a challenge, a request for him to declare himself. Also a sign of her lingering worries, whether he knew it or not.
He didn’t hesitate before bending forward, his bristly cheek a tantalizing scrape against her skin. “I want back inside you,” he whispered into her ear. “I want your taste on my tongue. I want to watch you come so hard around my cock you can’t breathe, and I want to do that as often as possible.”
Fuck, she couldn’t breathe now. “None of that requires spending the night.”
His head raised an inch, and his eyes closed for a moment. When he reopened them, they were soft. Vulnerable enough to disorient her. “I want to reach out and touch your hair on my pillow, Tess. I want to see you as soon as I open my eyes in the morning.”
Yes, she could definitely fall in love with him way too easily.
“Okay.” She could barely hear her own words over the sound of her tripping heart. “I’ll spend the night.”
The dock shuddered as the ferry bumped against the tire-protected pilings, and she rose up on tiptoe. He met her halfway, his mouth hard and insistent against hers. No teasing. No finesse. Just desperation and need.
Dimly, she could hear conversation and laughter as several employees debarked from the ferry and began the short trek to the resort. But her sole focus was on the man clutching her tight and claiming her tongue like a battle prize.
Another blast of the horn, this one a warning.
“Time to board!” the dock manager called.
Belle had already climbed onto the ferry’s deck, and there was no one else traveling to the mainland on this particular trip.
The dock manager was speaking to Tess.
It was time to leave.
With one last rub of her lips against his, Tess ended the