Page 58 of Guarded from Sabotage

“Alright.” Casting another look around the table, I continue. “We can wrap this meeting up, unless anyone else has something to add?”

A chorus ofnosandI’m goodsfollows. Niall says, “Get out of here, Dante. Enjoy a well-deserved weekend with Sarah.”

Xavier flashes me a quick grin. “Hope you guys have a great time. I’ve been thinking of taking Lucy on a trip soon. Let me know if it’s a good place.”

“Will do.” Emotion swells in my chest, and my throat gets thick for a second. “Thanks, guys. For helping Sarah… it means a lot.”

“Of course.” Matt flicks his pen at me, and I snatch it from the air inches from my face. “Now, go. Have fun. Actually relax, for a change.”

An entire weekend with Sarah to relax, with no obligations or looming threats? Just days of uninterrupted bliss with the woman I’m falling in love with?

Soundsperfect.

As I leave the conference room, Rhiannon is ribbing Xavier about his new girlfriend, Lucy, laughing as she says, “I thought you didn’tdorelationships, Xav. What’s this about taking her on a trip?”

And then Xavier, defensively, “Well. I didn’t. But I hadn’t met Lucy yet. Now, I do.”

I know exactly what he means. Before Sarah, the idea of love and a committed relationship and marriage sounded nice, but I wasn’t sure it was in my future.

But now? The way I feel about Sarah? I can seeeverythingwith her.

“Thisis where we’re staying?”

Sarah turns to me, the breeze off the water ruffling her hair, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Her smile is the biggest I’ve seen in days. “When you said a surprise, I couldn’t have imaginedthis.”

I loop my arm around her waist, tucking her into my side. “So it’s a good surprise?”

Her gaze sweeps along the stretch of beach and to the expanse of shimmering blue beyond it. White-tipped waves lick the shore, the soft crash of them a soothing sound in the background. A seagull makes a graceful swoop to the surface of the water and back into the sky, letting out its signature laughing call as it moves.

“It’s an amazing surprise,” she answers, beaming up at me. “You know how much I love being near the water. It’s so peaceful.”

“I thought about going to one of those fancy hotels,” I reply, “but then I saw this place, and it just seemed like a better fit. More private.”

It was a lucky find after hours of scouring rental websites. The newly-constructed rental house is located in a small development near Matagorda Beach, surrounded by over an acre of dunes and sand, with the closest neighbor still a good distance away. We can come out to the large deck and relax—watch the sunset, drink wine, cuddle together—without worrying about anyone seeing us.

“I can’t wait to sit out here and watch the sun go down,” Sarah says, echoing my own thoughts. “And if it’s chilly, we can get a blanket and snuggle on the couch, maybe turn on the little fire pit…”

“And after, we can go downstairs to use the hot tub,” I suggest, waggling my eyebrows at her. “Naked, hopefully.”

“Oh,definitelynaked.” Her gaze heats. “I didn’t miss that giant hot tub. Or the sauna. I think we should check both of those out.” Turning, she glances through the glass doors to the large bedroom behind them. “And the enormous bed. Is it bigger than a king? It looks like a giant could sleep there.”

Thinking back to the listing, I say, “I think it’s something called an Alaskan King? It is big, isn’t it?” My mind fills with all the ways I can pleasure Sarah on it, and my voice goes rough. “There’s plenty of room to do sexy things.”

“Mmm. I like the sound of that.” Sarah puts her hands on my shoulders, using them for leverage as she stretches up to kiss me. Her lips are soft and still taste faintly of the chocolate she ate in the car, after insisting that all road trips must have plenty of candy and snacks.

I cup her nape with one hand, tunneling my fingers through her hair. With the other, I pull her against me, feeling her nipples go taut and her breath quicken. She makes a humming sound in the back of her throat as I tease her lips open and plunge inside, my tongue moving in a sensual rhythm with hers.

When we finally pull apart, I gaze down at her, feeling a wave of emotion so intense it steals my breath.

She’s so beautiful.

Sarah’s lips are rosy and kiss-swollen, and a flush of pink touches her cheeks. Her hair is molten bronze and gold and copper as the sun hits it, the most stunning color I’ve ever seen. In this light, her eyes are more gold than green, like liquid honey with flecks of sapphire in it.

But it’s not just her beauty that’s captured me. It’severythingabout her.

I love everything about Sarah.

Forget falling. I’m way beyond that.

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