Page 17 of Finding Forever

“My concession comes with conditions,” I told her and watched her face transform with curiosity.

It was starting to become my favorite expression of hers.

The way her shoulders straightened, her brows rose, and the small smirk played at the corner of her mouth as she waited for more details. It was adorable.

We were sitting across from each other, but Gina inched closer as she whispered conspiratorially. “What’s the condition?”

There was a gleam in her eye as she waited for me to speak. Too bad I got distracted by the whipped cream resting on the corner of her mouth. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it, even as I opened my mouth to say, “You have to make some marshmallows for me.” I paused with my eyes still trained on her mouth. “So that I can test out Mycah’s claims.”

Without warning, I lifted my hand and let my thumb catch the cream that had been a lingering distraction.

Gina gasped when I used the pad of my thumb to coax her bottom lip open and push inside. Every muscle in my body vibrated at the warmth of her tongue cleaning my finger.

Before I went completely insane, I forced my hand away from her mouth and exhaled roughly.

What was I doing? And why did it feel so good?

Suddenly, I wished I had been tastingherinstead of the other way around.

Meeting Gina’s eyes, I could see her darkened irises and wondered if it meant she was thinking the same thing as me.

Something came over me as I grabbed her face and leaned in to taste the full lips I’d been dreaming about since I met her. To my surprise, Gina leaned towards me, closing the distance between us until our lips were a whisper away from touching.

We were so close, I could almost taste her. I was finally going to find out if she tasted as good as she smelled.

I closed my eyes as I took the plunge that would seal the deal—

“Mommy, I have to use the potty.”

My eyes snapped open and like a kid who had been caught with their hands in the candy jar, I let go of my hold on Gina’s face and looked over at Mycah, who was stretching with his eyes still closed on the couch.

He wasn’t fully awake yet, but his words had been enough to break the lust-filled haze surrounding me and his mother.

Gina’s gaze darted in the direction of the living room as she hurriedly backed away from me.

“I… um… I-uh,” she stammered, seeming at a loss for words.

“I’ll help him,” I nodded in the general direction of the couch.

Thankfully, Penny was still fast asleep.

“Thank you! I’ll clear the table,” she responded softly.

The boat staff was around to do that, but I understood her need for any distraction from the kiss that hadn’t happened.

Gina

Fourteen days. Two full weeks since we arrived at this beach cottage for a family vacation that never quite panned out.

It turned out that didn’t matter as much when you had someone like Maverick, who was just as determined to make the best of a crappy situation by your side.

A vacation I had been dreading actually turned blissful. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun—married or otherwise.

After those first trying days, Mycah had adjusted to Chris’ absence. But it wasn’t an easy transition. Especially when Victoria and Chris had packed up their belongings after the first week and hightailed it to another resort further down the island.

They’d claimed it was for “work reasons” and I was still lost on who they thought they were fooling by providing that flimsy excuse.

Once they’d been gone for a few days, I found myself not caring. With Chris consistently gone, it eliminated the roller coaster ride Mycah had been on when it came to the expectations he held for his father.

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