Page 53 of Broken Heart

Next to simply having her here with me today and being able to spend more time with her, seeing Skye in her bathing suit was the thing I had been looking forward to the most.

Whether she knew just how badly the suspense of seeing her had grown for me or if she’d gotten over just enough of the nerves she might have been feeling about stepping out of the bedroom in her suit, I didn’t know. But Skye answered my silent prayer and opened the door, holding on to it with one hand and gripping the handle of her bag in the other.

I should have taken the bag from her—that’s what a gentleman would have done.

But I couldn’t.

I was far too distracted by the sight in front of me. Skye was utter perfection, donning a navy-blue bikini with a sheer piece of material wrapped around her waist that just barely covered the very top of her thighs.

Her very gorgeous thighs that led to those hips I wanted so badly to hold in my hands. Even though she hadn’t turned around yet, I had a feeling I was going to enjoy the view from the back just as much as the front.

My eyes trailed up her bare midriff, the skin looking as soft as I could recall thinking her hair had looked the first day I met her. And finally, I took the time to appreciate her breasts. Fuck, I really did feel like a kid all over again, because all I could think was Skye was the only present I wanted to unwrap.

“Damn, Skye. You’re absolutely stunning,” I said when I lifted my gaze to her pretty face.

“Is… is it okay?”

I lifted a curious brow. “No, it’s not okay. It’s perfect. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on.”

A flush crept over her skin as she dropped her focus from my face. She took a moment to pull herself together before she looked up and said, “You’re very nice to look at, too.”

I let out a laugh, loving that she wasn’t upset I’d very obviously checked her out when she first exited the room. “Feel free to look all you want.”

She sighed, but I could see the smile playing at her lips. “Since it’s your birthday, I guess you should be allowed to do the same.”

“I appreciate the permission,” I said, before taking the bag from her hand. “We can keep this in here, unless you need something from it.”

“Oh, um, well…” she trailed off.

“What?”

I was certain I saw something intensify in her stare. “My sunscreen.”

Jackpot.

“Did you need help applying it?” I asked, feeling more than prepared and willing to handle the task.

She offered a shy smile. “Well, I got my front when I changed, but I couldn’t reach my back. You don’t mind, do you?”

My lips twitched. I wondered if she knew what she was doing and being this playful as a result, or if she was genuinely still feeling some nerves. Either way, I was in my glory being on the receiving end of it. “That would be an impossibility.”

Skye stepped forward, dug into the bag, and pulled out the sunscreen. After I took it from her, she gathered her hair in her hands, fastened it with a hair tie at the top of her head, and gave me a new perspective. I hadn’t seen Skye with her hair up before, and I was surprised at what the sight of her bare neck made me feel. What I would have given for the chance to nip the skin on the front or side of her throat.

I set the bag down as Skye turned around, and for the first time since she’d opened the bedroom door, I got a glimpse of her ass. How I didn’t groan with the frustration I felt over not being in a position with her where I could simply grab a handful was a mystery.

Refusing to deny myself the opportunity to touch the parts of her I could for any longer, I squirted some of the sunscreen into my palm, warmed it between my hands, and brought them to her shoulders. And as I began to work the sunscreen into the skin along her shoulders and her upper back, I noticed the increased pace of her breathing.

At least she was giving me all the signals to suggest I had a fighting chance at getting what I’d asked her about last night. I wasn’t going to push for her to make up her mind immediately, especially because I believed we were headed in the right direction.

After getting the middle of her back and her sides, I took a chance and rested my hands lightly on her hips. When she didn’t pull away, I gave her a squeeze, stepped close, and brought my mouth to her ear. “Would you like me to get your legs, too?”

I glanced down to see that the tiny blonde hairs on her arm were standing up. Keeping her body where it was, she looked back and rasped, “I did them already.”

If there was any hope of us rejoining the party, it was probably for the better. But because I wanted to follow through on my promise to show her how interested I was in her, I gave her hips another squeeze and reasoned, “Next time I’ll do them for you.”

She licked her lips and swallowed hard.

Being that close to her, recognizing I was having an effect on her, I was convinced it took some kind of divine intervention not to spin her in my arms and kiss her. Instead, I took a step back and removed my hands from her body. “Ready?”

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