"Don't you want to shag me on the blanket?"
"I'd love to, but I was hoping we could do something less exciting right now."
"Like what?"
Her body, in that bikini and spread out on that blanket, looks so tantalizing. I want her, but after the many times I enjoyed her body last night, I shouldn't touch her. What if she's sore? She hasn't acted like she is, but it might take a while before the soreness sets in.
Scratching my jaw, I force myself to focus on her face. "I'd like us to talk. Get to know each other. Is that all right?"
"I thought you had to go home."
"Well, I told you I changed my mind about that." I kneel on the blanket beside her. "I had planned to stay here for two weeks, but after one week I was sick of it. Until I saw you on the beach. That blue bikini changed my mind."
"I'm glad you're here. Taking a solo vacation sounded like fun until I got here. Sitting on the beach drinking a mai tai by myself kind of sucks. Having a friend to talk to is nice."
"Are we friends? So far, all we've really done is shag."
"We're becoming friends." She sits up. "I'm still confused. You said you were leaving, so how did you keep your suite?"
"I had checked out, but halfway to the airport, I told the taxi driver to bring me back here. The suite was still available since I'd booked it for two weeks."
"Glad you came back." She stretches her lithe body and sighs. "I could get addicted to shagging you. And I think I'll keep using that word. It's cute."
"Do you think the word fuck is cute too?"
She rolls her eyes. "Fuck is hot, not cute. But the word shag is just adorable."
"When my mate Chance told me that American women think 'shag' is cute, I assumed he was misinformed. I think the only American women he ever dated were his ex-wife and his current wife."
"Nope, it's true. Just ask my sister."
"I'll take your word for it." I drag my satchel closer and bring out the box of cupcakes. "Now, let's have a snack."
She grins and rubs her hands together.
Maddie might think the word shag is adorable, but not even the cupcakes I'm holding could be sweeter or more enticing than the woman before me. I could get addicted too—to her body, her smile, the barmy things she says, and especially her uninhibited ways.
To hell with work. I'm officially on holiday.
Chapter Seven
Maddie
Richard and I enjoy the cupcakes for a while without talking, though we do feed each other. He holds one to my mouth, but when I open up to take a bite, he shoves the entire thing in there. Frosting gets smeared all over my mouth and on my cheeks too. I get my revenge by stuffing a cupcake into his mouth and purposely smearing it all over him. Then I lick the frosting and crumbs off his skin, taking my sweet time doing that because I love how turned on it gets him.
We both had said we wanted to get to know each other, but we're having too much fun with food to do much talking. We laugh a lot. And we do take a dip in the pool under the waterfall. I wore a bikini, so I'm pretty much ready to go. All I need to do is ditch my shorts and shirt, then jump in. Richard is still deciding whether to keep his khakis on while I practice my butterfly stroke. I've never been good at that, and I haven't gone swimming in a long time, so I give up and just paddle around.
Finally, Richard strips naked and joins me.
We do nothing more titillating than splashing each other, but we still have a blast.
By the time we walk back to the resort, it's lunchtime.
Rick and I change into swimsuits and get our meals to go, then find a secluded section of the beach where we can relax under an umbrella of palm trees while we eat and talk.
"Since you've seen my driving license," he says, "you know how old I am. I don't normally ask women their ages, but it seems only fair that I get to know yours."
"I agree. It's fair." I pop a grape into my mouth and chew it slowly before answering. "I'm thirty-two."