Page 35 of And Then Came You

But there is something indelibly sexy about the way his tongue plays with his lip ring, not that I’ll admit it to him. At least, not now.

“I think piercings can look amazing, but I wonder if it would be weird.”

“If what would be weird?”

“Kissing and...sex.”

“It’s not weird.”

“But—”

“It’s not weird,” Sam snaps. There goes that muscle twitch again.

“Okay.” Conversation over, I guess.

“They’re actually great for increasing sensitivity and orgasms.”

“They likely are, but I have had no experience with them.”

“Maybe you should before you write off every man with piercings.”

When Sam shoves his sunglasses on his face, I realize that a few of my well-intentioned barbs have drawn blood. I’ve hurt his feelings, which is never my goal.

Caroline’s words about Sam’s soft underbelly screeches into the forefront of my mind. He’s far more sensitive than he lets on. Despite his devil may care attitude, hedoescare what people think. Certain people, anyway.

“While it would be nice to meet a man who checks all the boxes, I don’t hold high aspirations like you.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not Samuel Bernard—supermodel extraordinaire. I’m just a girl who loves happy endings, even if I only live them through my books.”

“I have to read one of your novels.”

“That would be nice. Not really your genre, though.”

“I like romance.”

I choke at his statement. “You like fucking beautiful women. That’s not romance. That’s sex. Likely amazing sex, but still, just sex.”

Sam glides his tongue ring across his teeth. Such an erotic gesture, despite me knowing it’s a nervous tic. “Not as amazing as you’d think. I can be romantic. With the right woman, I would be romantic.”

I send him a reassuring smile. “I think you’d be great at it and you have Almira waiting on the terrace. That seems a good place to start.”

Sam stares at Almira across the pool, who is chatting with a friend on her phone. With her lean blend of taut muscles and incredible profile, the woman is a goddess in the looks department. “I don’t think so.”

My heart jumps at his admission. Although I know he’s screwing Almira, he doesn’t seem into her. Not that he seemed into Sveta, either. He’s neutral. Take it or leave it.

I can’t read Sam today, and that’s a first for me. “When you meet the right woman, you’ll know. If sex is good when you barely know the woman, imagine how amazing it will be when you’re in love. Off the charts cocktacular.”

That did it. Sam sputters his drink, knocking the sunglasses from his face. “Cocktacular? Is that a Lexi McMillan term?”

“Owned and copyrighted,” I tease. “Hell, even the kissing will be incredible and good kissing is rare. Far rarer than good sex.”

“When was your last amazing kiss?”

I slide on my sunglasses, sipping from my drink and feeling the warm burn hit my stomach. “Last night.”

Sam frowns at my answer. “I thought you weren’t dating anyone. Who did you kiss last night?”

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