Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,318

feels like days, and it’s the best damn time I’ve ever had at the beach—anywhere for that matter.

Someone from the shoreline shouts, “Get a room,” and we part ways in haste like a couple of teenagers.

I glance back to the beach and spot an entire herd of families ready to enjoy a wholesome afternoon by the sea.

“Come on.” I tick my head toward the sandbar as I set her free in the water. “I’ll race you just the way we used to way back when. But I’m not letting you win this time. No mercy. Prison rules.”

“Ha!” She bobs up next to me, missing my face by an inch. “You don’t need to let me win this time, Collins. But your ego will wish I wasn’t cruel enough to beat you so bad.” She dives under and swims out with the speed and determination of a shark.

My ego’s not the only thing begging for mercy. I swim out after her, and Serena wins by a mile. She called it. My ego is bruised as predicted. But those gentle kisses she doles out once I arrive make it all better.

Serena and I spend the rest of the day catching some rays and catching up on each other. We watch the sun go down as the sky turns into a pink and orange marble, until we’re alone again on the white powdered sand with me holding her in my arms as if I were allowed to do this out in the free world.

“Hey”—she runs her fingers through my hair, those long, thick lashes moving up and down as she takes me in—“you said last one into the water gets punished. I was last, Professor Collins. I do believe you owe me a punishment.”

“You’re quite astute.” I tick my head back and consider the possibilities. “All right, you have two choices. A: I leave you here and let you walk home.”

She swats me on the arm with a mean look in her eyes. “Hollow Brook is an hour from here at an elevation of about a million miles. I’d never be able to walk up that mountain. I’ll probably get picked up by some randy trucker, and seeing that I’m in a like-minded state, I might just go with A”—her tongue does a quick revolution around her lips—“that is, of course, unless option B shows a heck of a lot more sexual promise.”

“Duly noted.” I moan at the thought of making her mine. Every last cell in my body screams do it now. “Option B: Wait another week and I’ll surprise you with your punishment.” The smile drips from my face as the moment grows serious.

Her mouth rounds out. Serena never takes those bright eyes off mine. “Why do we have to wait a week?”

“Because that gives me time to talk myself out of what I’m about to do to you.”

A low growl comes from her as it morphs into a dark laugh. “Oh, honey, the things you’re going to do to me will pale in comparison to the things I’m going to do to you.” Her cheeks burn bright as flames, but Serena’s gaze never backs down from mine. “It sounds as if I’d better clear my calendar next weekend. I work on Friday, but I’ll be off at six. Get ready for a three-day spectacular. If I were you, I’d spend the next five days doing nothing but cardio. Trust me, your heart will thank you for preparing it for what comes next.” Her eyes spring wide. “I might be a virgin, Shep. But I promise, I will pistol-whip you with my body. And I definitely promise you a weekend you will never forget.”

A crooked grin rides high on my cheek. “I’m already looking forward to it.”

Serena and I share another kiss, and I can taste her confidence, her cocksure determination to make those words she just spewed a reality. I’ve known Serena long enough to realize that once she puts her mind to something, it might as well be a reality at that point in time. Never has a person held more determination, never has a person held so much of me and, dare I say, my heart. Yes, Serena and I are about to set Hollow Brook on fire—all of North Carolina will feel the burn from the fire building inside us. The best part is that she’s not some random girl I picked up at a bar. Serena isn’t some nameless, faceless, one-night stand hanging around just long