Page 43 of Beach Vibes

She laughed. “You’re right, and that would have been a huge loss.”

“For both of us,” he murmured right before he kissed her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, enjoying the moment and the feel of his mouth on hers. This was right, she thought happily. He made her feel good and safe, and it had been a very long time since that had happened.

The kiss lingered, then deepened. She felt the beginning of those wonderful tingles that signaled she was all in for whatever he wanted. Not that they were going to do anything, but it was nice to feel desire and know she’d recovered from the trauma of her last relationship.

Rick closed the distance between them and pressed his body to hers. She felt the telltale ridge of his arousal against her belly and felt an answering spark inside. But before she could decide what she wanted to do, he broke the kiss and stepped back.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, turning away from her. “I didn’t mean for that to, ah…” He cleared his throat. “It’s just being with you makes it difficult to…” Another throat clear. “I’m sorry.”

He was apologizing for getting an erection from kissing her? She wanted to melt, and not just from the thought of them having sex.

“It’s okay,” she told him, smiling. “It’s kind of a compliment.”

He faced her, relief visible. “I appreciate that. Sexual arousal is often involuntary.” His eyes brightened with humor. “It’s the result of stimulus.”

“Any stimulus?” she asked, her voice teasing.

“The good kind. In this case, it’s being close to and kissing a very beautiful woman I happen to like a lot.”

“Then why would I be mad?” It wasn’t as if he expected anything.She knew he would never push her. “I might be feeling a little stimulus reaction myself.”

He gave her a slow, sexy smile. “That’s very convenient.”

“Isn’t it?”

She walked toward him and took his hands in hers, then placed them on her breasts.

“Did you want to touch these?” she asked softly as she stared into his eyes.

“Very much.”

“Me, too.”

He pulled her close and kissed her again. This time his hands roamed her back and slid down to her hips. She had a thought that they were about to cross the line of no return and wondered if she was ready. Then she decided it didn’t much matter because when it came to this man, she was all in.

* * *

The second the deed was done, Jana knew she’d made a huge mistake. Not that the sex hadn’t been great, but it was too soon. They needed to get to know each other better. Only before she could work up a real sense of dread, Rick sat up.

“We had sex!” he announced, beaming at her. “You had an orgasm.”

There was no arguing with that, she thought, still remembering how he’d gone down on her with a skill and enthusiasm that had left her unable to do anything but speed toward her very satisfying release. Did he have his ability in bed because he paid attention to details, or had those anatomy classes taught him something special?

“I had an excellent orgasm,” she told him, speaking the truth.

“Me, too.” He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Best date ever. Now I’m going to make you dinner.”

He dressed quickly and headed for the kitchen, leaving Jana alone in his large bed. Okay, so much for the postcoital cuddle, she thought humorously, but it was a small flaw to worry about.And in about thirty minutes, the man was going to feed her chicken piccata. Where was the bad?

Several hours later, she let herself into her house. Despite the late hour, she wasn’t sleepy at all. Dinner had been great, with Rick being his normal chatty self. They’d talked about how the Dodgers were off to a slow start and had compared fantasy travel destinations. He’d been attentive, kind and hadn’t tried to get her back into bed—something for which she was grateful. She needed time to think.

She walked into the living room and found Teddy waiting up for her. He glanced up from his e-reader.

“Have a good time?”

“I did, and this is ridiculous. I’m an adult. You can go to bed, you know. If something bad happens, I promise I’ll call and wake you up.”

---