Page 22 of As You Crave It

“I’m not implying anything.” Using his thumb and forefinger, he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jesus. Just... I’m just surprised is all. You’re the last person I expected to see here.”

“You never answered my question. Do you think I’m here because I’m sleeping with Jared?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think that. But it’s not for lack of trying on his part, right?”

“You’ve got that right,” she snapped, still irritated by his accusation, and then turned it on to him. “Now why did you come in here so angry?”

He sighed, and he looked away from her like he was embarrassed. “I’m not angry. I was just surprised. Maybe I’m just tired, too. It’s been a long day and you know we didn’t get much sleep,” he said, with a small, disarming smile. “I’m sorry I came in here with an attitude.”

“I might have been a little upset, too,” she admitted. Because of Jared, her guard had been raised, and she’d turned it on Quin. “It was just weird seeing you with Jared.”

“It’s probably best to call it a night, huh?”

“Yeah, perhaps. It’s been a big day.” He paused. “Are you okay? Has he hurt you or anything?”

“No. I’m fine. He’s in more danger of being physically hurt on this boat than I am,” she assured him.

“I can’t believe he invited you here for whatever he wants to do. How he could do that to an employee? Why did you say yes? Why did you come?”

Celia could tell by the way his fists clenched and his jaw tensed that Quin was angry, and she thought about telling him the truth about her plan to destroy Jared, she didn’t. But the fewer who knew about it, the better. And she still wasn’t quite sure how deeply entrenched he was with Jared or Seacoast Prestige. How far would he go to protect his business deal? Was there any loyalty in the friendship that they’d recently rekindled? So, she decided to omit the truth. “He’s my boss. He wanted me to come, so I did.”

Quin scowled. She realized then that he hadn’t manipulated her the night before. She believed that he was there for business, and not on the boat as Jared’s friend, or someone who shared his deplorable set of values.

“Hey!” she snapped. “I am perfectly fine looking after myself.” He scoffed. “I’m not the same meek girl I was in college. I’m strong, and I’m capable. I know how to protect myself and would have fared perfectly well...with or without you here.”

He looked her up and down, just as Jared had, but the way Quin looked at her didn’t leave her with the cold shiver that Jared’s gaze did. Everywhere Quin’s eyes went lit a flame that scorched every inch of her skin.

“But I’m glad you’re here,” she said.

He took a step closer to her. “Me, too.”

It was Celia’s turn to step toward him. In her small cabin, she could smell his cologne...and it was intoxicating. He reached out and stroked her arm.

“I thought you were tired,” she told him.

“I just found some energy. Are you still tired?”

“Not anymore.”

He kissed her lips. “I thought we were just friends,” he said.

“We are friends,” she assured him.

“With certain benefits?” he asked. Quin stepped closer so that they were chest-to-chest. “If you insist,” he said, before taking her lips again in a blistering kiss.

If there was anything that tasted as sweet as Celia’s lips, he had no idea what. But after having one taste, he didn’t know if he would ever get enough.

She pushed back. “But for real, though,” she said. “We’re just friends.”

“You got it,” he said, kissing her again. He would be her friend—he’d be more than that, less than that. Just as long as he could keep kissing her. “This is just an aberration because we’re on a yacht in the middle of the Caribbean,” he said between kisses on her sweet lips.

“And that’s all this is.”

“Absolutely.”

He walked her to the bed and followed her down as she leaned back on to the mattress. They’d had sex before, but it felt like a lifetime ago and he needed her again.

He pulled down her strapless sundress, revealing to him that she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her full breasts were on display. He hummed in appreciation and lowered his head to take one of her rosy nipples between his lips. She moaned and he flicked at the nub with his tongue. She pushed her hands through his hair.

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