Page 4 of Opening Hearts

Chapter Two

Hannah walked a few steps behind Matt, Elena and Tomás behind her, trying to keep up with his long strides in the sand. She’d worn cute strappy sandals, and regretted the choice now that sand kept getting under her feet. At the first chance, she’d take them off. And then get her sweatshirt from Elena’s bag. It was colder than she’d expected down here by the water. The condos where they were staying formed a U around the parking lot, shielding it from the wind blowing off the water, so it hadn’t felt that cool when they’d gotten in the car to drive into town, and it’d been a warm day.

Matt stopped by the coolers and glanced at her over his shoulder. The way his eyes raked over her body, bolder and more appreciative than anyone ever before, had goosebumps rippling up her arms and over her chest. She shivered.

He turned to face her. “Cold? It gets chilly here at night. Here, let’s get you closer to the fire so you can get warm.” He pressed his hand to her lower back, guiding her toward the fire, and then wrapped an arm around her, bringing her into his side, rubbing his hand up and down her arm. Leaning down, he pitched his voice so just she could hear. “I’ll keep you warm.”

Oh. Maybe she’d let Elena hang onto her sweatshirt after all. Matt keeping her warm? Yes, please. She sent a wide-eyed look at Elena, who smirked and gave her a little wave of her fingers before fishing drinks out of the cooler for her and her brother.

Hannah held herself stiffly, unused to people she barely knew wrapping themselves around her, even for the ostensible purpose of keeping her warm, but as his heat enveloped her, she couldn’t help but relax against him, enjoying the feel of his firm torso against her side, and the way his muscles moved as he continued to rub her arm. The fire cast its warmth on her front, and she was going to blame that for the rush of heat that spread from her chest to her face. She wasn’t blushing again, dammit.

“Better?”

She turned her face up to see him smiling down at her. She nodded. “Much.” And she tried to keep herself from blushing again while she searched for something else to talk about. Matt didn’t seem too worried about their silence, his hand slowing, but still stroking up and down her bare arm, his caress turning more sensual and less the business-like movement intended to warm her up. She couldn’t suppress another shiver and the goosebumps that popped out on her arm and chest, even though she felt hot all over.

“I thought you said you were better?” He chuckled and moved until he was fully behind her. “Here. Maybe this’ll help.” He pressed his chest against her back and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him. Now she was positively hot, but no way was she going to move away, even if nerves fluttered in her belly, and another wave of heat washed over her front, which was definitely not from the fire.

After a moment she felt his chin come to rest on top of her head. “This okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“You know,” his voice rumbled in his chest, and she could feel it where she pressed against him. “We’re not going to be able to dance or anything if we have to stay here like this in front of the fire all night.”

“Oh.” Should she tell him that she had a sweatshirt? This was so great, but dancing with him sounded like fun, too. Screw it. Hopefully he wouldn’t immediately let her go when she told him she did have a sweatshirt after all. “Well, Elena—my friend—she has sweatshirts for all of us in her bag. I can get it whenever.”

“Okay. Good.” She could hear the smile in his voice, but he made no move to release her. She smiled and snuggled further into his arms, and he tightened them around her. “So you said you were here for the summer. When do you go back home?”

“Early August. We got here about a week ago.” Elena’s mom was a teacher, and her dad ran some kind of online company. Hannah wasn’t clear on the details but it meant that they could go away for like two months every summer. This year, Hannah got invited along, and her parents had said yes.

“Wow. That’s some vacation.”

“I know. My parents could never do that, but Elena’s dad can work from anywhere, and her mom has the summers off from school, so they always pick somewhere different and get a vacation rental for a couple months.”

“You must be good friends with Elena, huh?”

She smiled again. “Yeah. We’ve been friends since elementary school. She knows all my deep, dark secrets.”

He laughed—a full, throaty laugh—his chin lifting off her head for a moment. The sound warmed her as much as the fire and his body. She liked hearing him laugh.

“All your deep, dark secrets, huh? I’m not sure I believe you have many of those. You seem far too sweet and innocent for that.”

His words had her twisting her head around to look at him. “You think so, huh?” He was right, but she’d never admit it to him. She was tired of being the sweet, innocent good girl, always doing what she was told, never having any fun. That was part of why Elena had egged her on today when Hannah was drooling over Matt at the beach, and why Elena had agreed to basically babysit her younger brother at a party full of strangers. Hannah loved her parents, but they were ridiculously overprotective, not letting her date until last summer, and even then mostly with groups. Elena’s parents were more relaxed, and this summer was her chance to do things her restrictive parents would never allow. Like go to a party to meet a guy she barely knew and snuggle in his arms to stay warm. Who knew what else could happen?

A bemused smile met the challenge in her words, but he just shrugged. “Babe, I’ve seen you blush more times than I can count today. Yeah, you’re definitely a sweet and innocent little thing.”

Another blush flamed over her face at his words. Shit, she wished she could get that under control. But she couldn’t, and she had no comeback to his statement, so she turned back around, staring into the fire again.

His mouth came down near her ear, his breath fanning over her skin, raising more goosebumps down her neck. “You wanna know one of my secrets?” He paused, waited for her to nod, and then went on. “I like your blushes. And the goosebumps that you get when I touch you or whisper in your ear. I like that you’re all sweet and innocent.” She shivered in his arms. “And I like that you shiver against me like that, especially since I know you can’t be cold now.”

Mortification that she was so transparent washed through her, followed by pleasure at his words. He liked her reactions. He liked her.

He nuzzled her ear for a second, sending another wave of goosebumps and heat washing down her neck, then rested his chin on top of her head again.

“What about you?”

“Hmm?” Matt had no idea what the girl in his arms was asking about, distracted by the feel of her body against his, the fruity smell of her shampoo and the lingering scent of sunscreen from her day at the beach.

She turned her head to look back at him over her shoulder again. Maybe he should let her get her sweatshirt so they could sit and face each other while they talked. But he was enjoying holding her too much to let go just yet. And he hoped he’d get to hold her some more later. She really was so innocent with her blushes that stained her skin the prettiest pink. Would she know how to dance? How to kiss? More? She wasn’t that young, probably only a year or so younger than him, so he doubted she’d never been kissed. But had she gone any further? He made sure to keep space between his hips and her ass, no matter how much he wanted to grind himself against it. She blushed when he whispered in her ear. She’d freak if he let her feel his hard-on right now.

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