Page 26 of Inevitable

When she made a close pass, he caught her hands, hauled her against his body, and held her tightly. She pushed her wet hair off her face, tilted her head, and he took the opportunity to kiss her squarely. She didn’t resist and pressed her mouth against his, so he relaxed. A girl didn’t kiss you like that if she wasn’t interested, and when her legs twined around his waist, he knew for sure.

Their bodies were lined up perfectly, which wasn’t something that happened unless she was in his arms. “Darlin’, we don’t have to do a thing but smooch if you’re having second thoughts.”

Her wet lashes brushed against her cheek as she blinked several times. Bingo, he thought. She wasn’t a hundred percent on board and the last thing he wanted was for her to feel pressured. “In fact, we can watch a movie if you want.”

Her gaze flew up, and the uncertainty he saw almost broke his heart. The shy woman in front of him was almost unrecognizable compared to the woman who had been giving him a hard time for the last couple of months and matched him toe-to-toe on almost anything.

“No,” she said firmly.

“What exactly are you saying no to?” he asked as he ran his finger over her soft, wet skin.

“I want to have sex, but I’m nervous because I don’t have a lot of experience.” She covered her face with her hand and then looked away.

He gently turned her face back and raised an eyebrow. “I feel like there’s more to the story. After all, we’ve got the right parts, and putting them together isn’t all that complicated. So, whatever has you spooked is a lot more than inserting tab A into slot B.”

She shivered, and he decided this was a discussion that didn’t need to happen in the water. He held her tightly as he walked across the pool and ascended the steps. He grabbed two large towels and then sat down on the double chaise lounge. He carefully wrapped a towel around her shoulders and then slid back into the chair. Leaning back, he pulled her close and had her surrounded. There wasn’t a part of her that wasn’t covered by a part of him.

He’d turned off the patio lights when they came out, so all that illuminated the area was the full moon. The sound of the June bugs and crickets filled the air, and he decided he was going to keep his mouth shut and let her be the one to speak.

When her hand covered his heart and her body relaxed against his, he decided he could wait for a hundred years if that’s what she needed.

“I’ve only slept with two people and it wasn’t great with either one.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sure that you have a ton of experience and probably have super-ninja sex skills, and I’m worried that you’re going to be really disappointed when you…as you say, insert tab A into slot B.”

“Darlin’, I’m pretty satisfied with having your almost naked body draped over mine, so I know anything past that is going to be freaking amazing.”

Claire pulled away from his arms and sat up. “That is such a lie.”

He took her hand, moved it to his swim trunks, and let it rest against his crotch. When she bit her bottom lip, he knew they were going to be just fine. “I got ten inches of hard steel telling you that I’m not a liar.”

“I didn’t even know they came in that size.”

He let out a bark of laughter. “I’m over six feet. I don’t have any small parts.” He fixed the towel that was draped over her shoulders and let his finger run over her arm. “Why do you think that you need a lot of experience for it to be good between us?”

“Because knowing what you’re doing always makes things better.”

Her hand moved slowly over the bulge in his shorts and she seemed fascinated to see it twitch under her attention. Following her example, he ran his hand up her leg and watched a trail of goose bumps appear.

“Why did you do the online dating thing?” It had never made sense to him. Her personality didn’t seem suited for it, and if she really didn’t have any experience, then meeting men online seemed to be about the worst option.

“Because I’m socially awkward. My parents died the summer before I started high school, which was awful. I was mourning while going through one of the most difficult developmental periods of an adolescent’s life. I was the sad girl who couldn’t get into the rhythm of my peers. All their laughing and stupid jokes and silly worries made no sense to me. So, I retreated and probably made it worse for myself.”

“I want to go back in time and take that girl’s hand and hold it until she feels okay in her heart, in her skin, and in the world,” Brady said with ferocity.

“That girl found a place where she felt comfortable.”

“Yeah?”

“I hung out with my grandmother and her friends and felt safe and comfortable. I was a teenager whose best friends were seventy years old.”

“That’s why you like flowered dresses so much.”

She shrugged. “Probably. Things got better junior year because Andi moved to town and we became best friends. I had worked through a lot of grief and was starting to feel like I could become a regular high school student.”

“But?”

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