“Your ego is fine without me.”
Their hands brushed again, and this time before she could pull away, he slid his fingers through hers and pulled her to a stop.
He turned her to face him and touched her cheek with his free hand. “We’ve still got some time left for more lessons.”
Her pulse rocketed, and she swallowed hard. “I like the sound of that. There’s a few things on my list I want to try.”
“Yeah?” He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her mouth. “Can’t wait.”
She wanted to pull him down into the sand and go at it again. But the fact that it was a cold, public beach made it hard to transition that fantasy into a reality.
So, she’d have to distract them without something else for now. “Do you know how to skip rocks?”
He grimaced. “Do I lose my Pacific Northwest card to admit I’m a total lost cause in learning?”
“Seriously? Come on. I’ll show you.” She tugged him down to the water’s edge.
“Find a flat rock.” She grabbed one and proceeded to send it skipping out over the water in four jumps.
“Well, clearly you’re a rock-skipping goddess.”
“Did you find your rock?”
He held up an almost-flat one.
“Now hold it like this.” He didn’t protest while she placed his fingers around the rock. “It’s all in the wrist.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”
“Stop being dirty for a minute.”
He grunted and flicked his wrist, sending the rock straight beneath the waves to sink to its watery grave.
“Close. Try again.”
They practiced several times, and on the fifth try, his rock skimmed the surface once before sinking.
“I’m calling that a win.” She grabbed his shirt, tugged him forward, and planted a light kiss on his lips. “You’re an excellent student.”
His gaze darkened, and he made a murmur of approval. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
In bed.
Though neither said it aloud, she was pretty sure he tagged those two words on mentally as well. As one did. Like after you read your fortune in a fortune cookie.
“You ready to get out of here?” He turned to face her. “Grab some lunch. Head back to my place.”
“Yeah.” Her heart tripped. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
His lips curled into a smile before he lowered his head to brush his mouth over hers again. This time it lingered, and he darted his tongue past her lips to tease hers.
It was a kiss that turned her muscles to pudding and sent an ache of need through her that almost made her embarrassed for anyone who might’ve been watching.
When he lifted his head, she realized she was clutching his shirt.
“Let’s go.”
This time it was him holding her hand and tugging her after him. They hurried across the beach to the foot path bridge that led over the train tracks.