“No,” she groaned. “Not talking. Just… Oh, man, I want to fuck you.”
He jerked against her just as Chloe realized what she’d said. “Oh.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, God!”
“Chloe Turner,” he scolded, choking on laughter. “What did you say?”
“Nothing!” she squeaked. She would’ve wiggled away, but his arm was tighter than ever around her waist as his grin stretched impossibly wide.
“Are you trying to kill me, Chloe? You know I’ve been celibate. I don’t need that kind of dirty talk going on while I’m trying not to lose it.”
“Stop,” she begged, even while her eyelids fluttered at the way his erection pushed snugly against her.
“Stop what?” he murmured, rocking gently against her.
“Stop…nothing. Just… Just don’t…” He was pressed against the perfect place, his faint movements sending sparks flying through her belly. “Max,” she whispered, closing her eyes.
The wind swirled over her skin as his hand bunched her shirt up, exposing her back to the breeze. This was like a movie, the kind she never thought she’d star in. A sexy romance. A dream scene on a beach with a gorgeous man. And he wanted her. Badly. Her. Chloe, who’d lived her whole life beneath the radar. Chloe, who’d become an international joke.
Tonight, she was a romantic heroine.
Screw it. She took a deep breath and framed his face with her hands. “Max Sullivan, I want to have sex with you, and if that rocks your celibate world, so be it.”
“Jesus, now you’ve done it,” he growled. His hands scooped beneath her, cupping her ass as he stood. She screamed.
“Let’s get this done, Chloe Turner.”
“You’re going to drop me!” she shouted as he turned and stepped up to the porch.
“Not a chance. If I dropped you, that might postpone the sex for a few minutes.”
“I hope we’re not skipping the foreplay.” She squeezed her eyes shut as he eased her past the doorway.
“For you, no.”
“And for you?”
“Is your goal my complete and utter humiliation?”
“Maybe.”
“Then by all means, touch me anywhere you want.”
Laughing, Chloe forgot her fear of being dropped. And since that fear had overridden her nervousness about the sex…now she felt nothing but giddiness and the tight hold of his hands on her ass.
He walked her all the way to the doorway of one of the bedrooms, then let her slide down his body.
“God, you’re soft,” he murmured. “And…happy.”
That surprised a laugh out of her. “Well, I hope you’re happy right now, too.”
“You know what I mean.”
She did know what he meant. And in that moment she knew she should tell him the truth. That her peace was an illusion. A hastily donned disguise. That she wasn’t anything he thought she was.
Yes, she should tell him the truth, but she didn’t want to, so Chloe nodded and pulled him down for another kiss.
I am peaceful. I am beautiful. I’m calm and confident and definitely not a Bridezilla hated by the whole world. And I am having a vacation fling with an adorable treasure hunter with control issues.
She laughed, still kissing him, and his fingers tightened on her shoulders. When he slid one hand down to curve around her waist, his touch felt rough and desperate and his breath turned to a growl in his throat.