Page 105 of Writing Mr. Wrong

She smiled. “I do. I have a thing for guys with hands like yours.” She met his gaze. “But I think that’s just because I knew a guy who had hands like that. A guy in high school, who picked me up with them and kissed me like I’d never been kissed.”

“Huh. I’m jealous.”

She laughed softly.

“Did he do this?” His hands cupped her breasts.

“Sadly, he did not.”

“This?” Those rough fingertips ran over her nipples, making her gasp, her back arching into his hands for more.

“He did not.”

“Probably just as well,” he mused. “As I may have mentioned, he was kinda shit at it back then.”

“Maybe, but he isoutrageouslygood now.”

His grin lit up his whole face. “Outrageously?”

“Outrageously.”

“Well, he did work on it.” His hands slid under her arms and boosted her a little as his tongue went to her breasts, and after a few seconds of that, she forgot all about the conversation, startling a little when he continued. “See, there was this girl in school that he really liked, and he didn’t want to disappoint her if he ever got another chance.”

He looked her in the eye. “I’m crazy about you, Gem. Always have been. I’d say more, but I don’t want to scare you off.”

She wanted to say he couldn’t scare her off, but her heartbeat picked up, just a touch of panic igniting.

He moved his lips to her ear. “I’ll take it slow. I promise. I know you’ve been hurt. I know I’ve hurt you.”

She bit back a denial. No more of that. No more pretending she was okay when she wasn’t, that she felt less than she did, that he hadn’t hurt her, couldn’t hurt her again.

“I won’t,” he whispered, as if reading her thoughts. “But I knowI’ve got a long way to go proving that. So I won’t tell you how I feel. But…”

He pulled back, looked her in the eye. “Last night was amazing, but it was also me showing off. Now that we know where we stand, can I do something different? Can I show you how I feel?”

Her cheeks heated, and she didn’t trust herself to speak, so she just nodded, and he pulled her into a kiss.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

GEMMA

They hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, which was fine, considering their very early wake-up. As they waited on the beach, Gemma snuck a look at her watch. Their pickup had been scheduled for 5:30 a.m. It was now 5:40. Mason was chill, plunked down on the sand, shoes off.

He patted the spot beside him. “Come watch the sunrise with me.”

“The boat is late.”

He shrugged. “We’re on island time.”

He was right—ten minutes wasn’t a big deal.

As Gemma walked toward Mason, she surreptitiously checked her cell. No signal, of course. No way to confirm that the boat was just delayed.

She should have told him about Denny. Then he could have decided whether he wanted to leave yesterday with the delivery drop-off.

She checked her watch again as she sat down beside him.

Mason put his arm around her. “Stop worrying.” He pulled her against his shoulder. “Hey, maybe we’ll get an extra day.”

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