Page 77 of Places I've Never Been

She stopped writing and sat very still. The pen hovered over the paper, but she didn’t tell him to stop.

He worked his way around to the other side of her neck, while his hands wandered down her back, then around to her stomach and back up to her breasts.

Mattie dropped the pen. “Adam…”

“Yes?” he whispered. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

“You are…very…distracting.” Mattie groaned and half turned toward him. “We…”

Adam swallowed whatever she was about to say by covering her mouth with his own. They lingered in it for a long time before Mattie moved away.

She stood up, the notebook held in front of her like a shield, but it wasn’t big enough to cover anything. A slow smile lit her eyes with a mischievous glint. “You really don’t want to work on this song right now, do you.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I want to work on you.”

“Adam,” she said in the patient tone, “we only have two weeks left, and we have another song after this one.”

“They’ll get done. We only have one night on this beach, under these stars.”

He didn’t mention he would book exclusive access to this beach as soon as they got back. Now that Tina was gone, Coop would have no need to come here, and the rest of the guys could find their own hideaways. As far as he was concerned, this place belonged to Mattie.

She laughed and pointed the pen at him. “I see what you’re doing.”

“Oh really?” He grabbed the pen out of her hand.

“Hey, give me that.”

Adam threw it out of the cabana. It landed somewhere in the sand.

Mattie gaped at him. “I can’t believe you just did that. That’s littering.”

“We’ll find it in the morning.” He pulled her closer to him. She resisted at first, a pretend frown on her face, but then the frown melted in a rueful smile. “You know I have more pens, right?”

She climbed onto his lap, the notebook pressed between them. He tugged at it, but she tightened her grip.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You throw this notebook and you’ll never see me naked again.”

“Oh really?” He raised his eyes at her use of the word “again.” It implied she already saw a next time in their future. He smirked at her. “It’s a deal.”

She looked confused. “What’s a deal?”

“I get to see you naked again if I don’t throw the notebook. Seems fair. How about tomorrow night?”

“We’ll see.”

The way she sat on his lap, her legs spread wide to straddle him, left her open to all sorts of things his body was interested in pursuing. He squeezed her ass and grunted. “Damn you feel good.”

She kissed him, her soft lips barely brushing his, then leaned away. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“Oh yeah.” He nodded and moved in for another kiss.

Mattie put a finger on his lips to stop him. “Let’s eat first, okay? I’m starving.”

“Hmm.” He pretended to think about it, but his stomach chose that moment to growl.

They both laughed.

“Okay, yes, I need food.”

---