to be as spontaneous as the idea had been.
From what she knew and had learnt about Julian, he wouldn’t be so bad to be stuck with. He was kind and funny. He had a big heart. He seemed like the kind of guy she could never get bored of. From the basics, she loved him. The more detailed part, she was afraid to love. It was all crazy, at the moment, stupid gestures. What they were high on was their summer romance. But she knew that, if she felt more tonight, eloping wouldn’t be a terrible idea. Some of the world’s most spontaneous discoveries turned out to be the better achievements of mankind. There was a possibility that that could be them. She felt it in her bones. And knew it in the way her heart seemed to never function properly around him.
“You’ve barely spent time with your friends. Go have lunch with them. I’ll meet you on the beach at two,” she confirmed.
“Two sounds good to me, Blondie,” he agreed and bent down to kiss her.
His lips were soft caresses that tore through every wall and defense mechanism she had. A kiss that made eloping sound so easy. And a kiss that made everything make sense when it came to him.
There was no tongue or desperation to their kiss. They found something slow. Something passionate. Something they could call their own. For a moment, she believed that something was more.
“Mmm, your friends,” she reminded against his lips.
Julian pulled back. “God, I hate those assholes. Okay, I’ll go. I’ll meet you on the beach.”
Stevie stepped back and brushed her hair behind her ear. “Julian…”
His eyebrows rose. “Yeah?”
“Don’t go falling in love with some blonde on the beach, okay?” she half-joked and half-instructed.
Julian lightly laughed before he wrapped his muscular arms around her and held her tight against his chest. “Only if you’re on that beach… If you’re lucky.”
She playfully pushed at his chest and then crossed her arms over her breasts. “Whatever. Go to lunch, Julian.”
He took a step forward and pointed at his pec. “I’m yours for eternity, Blondie. Here’s the proof.”
Stevie bit the inside of her cheek to prevent the smug smile from plastering her face. “Very spontaneous proof,” she noted.
“As spontaneous as us,” Julian confirmed before he kissed the top of her head and smiled down at her.
She watched him walk back into the house before he left the villa. Taking a deep breath, she spun back around and made her way to the hammock. When she sat on it, she gazed out at the water and watched it shimmer.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if we were more after this holiday, right?” she asked herself.
She leant back and stared up at the blue sky. Clear and picturesque. No matter what happened in the end, she had had the most incredible summer holiday with him.
But that’s what we are.
A holiday.
An escape from reality.
The thoughts caused her chest to tighten. Her fingers went to the back of her neck and felt across her tattoo. The way Julian made her feel was extraordinary. No one had come close. The idea to elope had slipped. But it had become a want. A spontaneous way to keep him forever. The night she had asked him to forget their first heads or tails, she had asked him to trust her and be all in instead. What Julian hadn’t realised was that she had wagered sex and her virginity. She wanted to feel what he felt. Stevie wanted Julian to be her first.
If this is all we have and we have to leave it someday, I want him to have every single piece of me.
It was ten minutes to two when Julian walked onto Karon Beach to see Stephanie sitting where he had met her almost a week ago. Lunch with his university friends had been a form of torture he had never known. Things that should have made him laugh didn’t. Willa and Dean actually being a couple should have made him happy. Instead, he couldn’t get Stephanie out of his mind. He wondered about her every thought. Wanted to know them and share them. In all honesty, Julian wanted to be with her. And when his friends had finished lunch, he’d said his good-byes and ran for the beach.
Weaving through the tourists, Julian made his way to Stephanie. When he reached her, he sat on the sand behind her. Stephanie craned her neck and smiled the moment he kissed her cheek. Letting