Wild Open Hearts (Bluewater Billionaires) - Kathryn Nolan Page 0,68

evening strolls. As Beck slowed to a gentle speed, I caught the eyes of Mr. and Mr. Jones, who were retired business executives, at least in theory, although Daisy, Cameron, Emily and I had spent a lot of nights over a lot of cocktails debating whether or not they were international spies. We swung past the lagoon where I could make out Steve’s tail—our resident alligator who’d lost his leg to a boat prop. Of everyone in the community, I was the most comfortable taking rotisserie chicken to feed our scaly friend, who seemed to have a soft spot for me. We circled the airfield, where I glimpsed Emily and Derek, dressed to the nines and boarding a helicopter. He was probably sweeping my best friend up and away to a fancy, romantic dinner.

Which meant, as we curved around our ovary-shaped block toward my house, that left only Cameron and Daisy as potential spies. While their houses were innocuously dark, they’d both invested in infrared glasses for gossip-mongering purposes.

I pressed my cheek harder to the space between Beck’s shoulder blades, desperate to breathe in his scent one last time. He idled us across my long driveway, beneath the palm trees, then behind ten-foot-tall hedges lit with tiny white fairy lights. My garage held no cars but was instead a converted open studio for yoga and meditation, lit with dangling teal and magenta lamps. The whole scene cast us in a muted, colorful glow as he pulled to a stop—moon overhead, waves nearby, the constant splash of the fountain.

“This is me, as you know,” I said. I was wrapped around Beck like a spider monkey but I couldn’t move. I was too busy jumping mental hula-hoops, trying to figure out if I should invite Beck Mason into my home. I wanted to, even if we didn’t do anything but drink cups of ginger tea and stare at each other by the pool. Even if he held my hand as I—

“I haven’t been on a date in a long time,” he said, voice husky, “but I think at some point one person has to let go.”

“Are you sure? I’ve heard one person carries the other person on their back for the rest of the night. So joke’s on you, Beck.”

He chuckled quietly. Wrapped his hands around mine and held on tight. I hadn’t realized how much I was craving this strangely intimate backward hug, but now that I was getting it I soaked it in.

“You don’t have to go anywhere, Luna,” he said.

“I do though,” I said, already envisioning an inbox that would basically scream at me until I tackled the mountains of messages. “As much as I’d love to keep doing whatever this is.”

I slid from the back. Removed my helmet and placed it on the ground. Shook out my hair way more dramatically than I needed to—but Beck seemed to like my hair and I liked teasing Beck.

“When was the last time you were on a first date?” I asked, shaking the wayward strands from my face.

“A very long time,” he said. “Not a lot of bar hook-ups end in first dates.”

“Ah,” I said. “I see.”

“When was the last time you saw Carrot?”

I tapped my lip, pretending to think. “I squeeze him in between Kale and Basil.” He was smiling, but I wanted to give him a serious answer too. “I go on dates, lots of dates. I hook up with guys but it doesn’t mean much to me. I love love in this world, cultivating it, giving it space to grow between people, between people and the environment. But…” I tilted my head in the moonlight. “It’s never been my personal priority. Wild Heart is number one.”

“Ah,” he repeated my own words. “I see.”

“Actually, let me clarify,” I said. “I’ve had many dates. But none like this one.”

“Okay,” he replied

“We should do it again sometime, is what I mean.”

Beck was straddling his bike and devouring me with a look so sexually hungry, I took a step back, dazed. His body vibrated with a restrained passion that I was desperate to see unleashed. But his whole vibe also screamed I’m a gentleman and so I doubted I’d get to see that side of him tonight.

“Okay,” he repeated.

“What did I tell you about fireworks, Beck?” I said. “You’ve got to show a girl that you—”

A thick arm banded around my waist and pulled me to his chest.

On the bike, he was closer to my height and my brain overloaded being face-to-face