Page 44 of Come Fly with Me

I grab her hand and pull her down the path that leads down to the beach. “Always with the questions,” I say, letting go of her hand and sliding my arm around her shoulders. “How about you just trust me?” I add.

Taylor looks up at me, her eyes shining and a wide smile on her face. “Okay,” she says, surprising me a little as she slips her arm around my waist.

I chuckle. “Drunk looks good on you, Captain,” I tease.

She pinches my side but says nothing as we head down toward the water, turning away from the crowds and walking along the sand as the water washes over our feet.

Eventually, we stop, sitting down side by side on the warm sand to watch the sun go down. Her shoulder is pressed against mine, skin to skin, and it’s taking everything I have in me not to just push her down on the sand and kiss her.

“Why are you single?” she suddenly asks, eyes on the horizon.

“What?” I ask, laughing a little.

Taylor looks up at me, our eyes meeting. “Why are you single?” she repeats. “I mean you’re attractive, you’re funny and kind and quite honestly, sexy as hell.”

I burst out laughing, throwing my head back. “Who says I’m single?” I tease her, nudging her with my shoulder.

“What?” she replies, her body stiffening a little.

“Not like that, Taylor,” I say, slipping my arm back around her and pulling her closer. “More like I’m not technically dating anyone, but I’m also not looking to either. Not unless it’s one very specific person,” I say, pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Who?” she whispers, staring up at me.

I chuckle. “You, Captain. Who’d you think?”

“Me?” she says, and I swear she’s so adorable when she’s confused.

“Yes, Taylor,” I say, brushing my thumb against her cheekbone. “You.”

“Why?” she says, and I can’t help but laugh as I kiss her temple again.

“Um,” I say, finger against my lips as I pretend to think about how to answer her. “Maybe because you’re smart, funny, kind and quite honestly, sexy as hell,” I say, repeating her words back to her. “Not to mention, driven and beautiful and successful.”

Taylor’s eyes widen. “Not many people would say I’m kind,” she whispers.

“Not many people have seen the side of you that I have,” I whisper.

She swallows, her throat moving as she bites that bottom lip again. “So why haven’t you hit on me yet?” she asks. “Tried to get me into bed?”

I chuckle, loving how open she is to all of this now she has a few drinks in her. “Let me ask you something,” I whisper, running my thumb along her lip and pulling it from her teeth. “You think foreplay is important, right?”

I watch as her breath hitches, her pupils dilating as she stares up at me. “Very important,” she murmurs.

I smile. “Well, so do I,” I tell her. “And I also think anticipation, tension and wanting something so bad makes for explosive chemistry when something finally does happen.”

“Jake,” she groans, her body swaying toward me.

“Yes,” I whisper, my eyes on her mouth which is only inches from mine now.

“Kiss me,” she breathes out at the same time as I just say fuck it and lower my mouth to hers.

Our lips crash together with a hunger I’ve never experienced before, both of us falling backward onto the sand as I crawl over her and cover her body with mine. I feel her hands slide up my back before she drags her fingernails back down, marking my skin.

“Taylor,” I moan as her mouth opens, my tongue slipping inside and against hers.

She slides her leg between mine, her hands now pressed against my lower back, holding me to her, my hard-on pressed against her hip as I continue to kiss her, neither of us coming up for air.

I curl an arm around the top of her head, my other hand moving to her hip before it starts a slow path up her body, my fingers brushing over the side of her breast before they curl around her neck.

---