Page 8 of Heartbeats Amidst Chaos: Part 3
“You’re a morning person,” Rissa sighed. “It’s been obvious from the very beginning, but I’m just now realizing.”
Elio looked at her uncertainly. “Is that a problem?”
“It is for me,” Rissa laughed. “Because I most certainly am not.”
The events of the day before flooded her mind as she lay looking up at his crinkled brow and hopeful eyes. Lifting her hand, she gazed again at the gorgeous engagement ring on her fourth finger.
“Breakfast in bed is one thing,” she said. “But if you’re going to wake me at the crack of dawn to go swimming in a cold lake, I’m afraid I may have to call off our engagement.”
“In that case, hand over the ring,” Elio said, smirking. “I’m going to have to pawn it to pay legal fees when I go out there by myself and immediately get arrested.”
Rissa huffed out a laugh. The strange emotions of the day before had not gone away. She felt light and happy and nervous and scared, all at the same time. It was as if her brain couldn’t figureout if she was truly on a romantic getaway or a dangerous spy mission.
One thing was for sure. There would be no rolling over and going back to sleep.
“All right,” she said, sitting back up. “I’ll come swimming with you.”
Elio bounced off the bed and went to the bags they had dumped on a chair in the corner while preparing for bed the evening before, after ordering room service dinner and having sex again, before falling asleep in one another’s arms.
Rissa took a deep breath as she contemplated the fact that she had fallen asleep in Elio’s arms two nights in a row now. The first night, in the motel, he was moaning in some disturbing dream as she lay awake, worrying. He had reached for her in his sleep, growing calmer as his arms folded around her, pulling her close. And she let him do it, had even relaxed against him soon after, and fell asleep herself.
Last night, they had both been fully awake and panting from intercourse, their arms and legs and naked bodies still entangled. And she had snuggled into him, feeling momentarily free from any inhibitions.
Watching him now, recklessly tossing through their few shared belongings, Rissa found herself readily admitting that she wanted Elio in every way possible. She wanted to kiss him, to pleasure him, to be pleasured by him. But she also wanted tosleep next to him, ride shotgun in his car, laugh with him, swim with him . . .
I’m falling in love.
Acknowledging it was enough of a shock that Rissa almost immediately dismissed the thought. But the truth of it lingered. Why else would she be risking everything—her career, her friends, her life—to be with him?
Taking another shaky breath, Rissa pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as Elio found what he was looking for and turned around, holding it up gleefully—a barely-there red bikini. Rissa felt herself flush just looking at it. She had been feeling brave and playful when she’d ordered it the day before. She wasn’t sure she still felt the same way.
But she smiled as she stood reluctantly from the cozy bed, pulling the sheet with her to wrap around her naked body, and crossed the room to snatch it from his grasp.
“I seem to remember buying a beach dress to wear over this,” she muttered as she dug into the packages herself. Elio did not move out of her space. Instead, he slipped his arms around her from behind, bending his head to kiss the side of her neck. His hands cradled her breasts, slid down her sides, and caressed her sheet-covered butt before coming to rest on her hips.
Rissa sighed, leaning her head back and turning her face toward his. Their lips met, locking into the shape of each other like two halves of a broken heart charm. The tip of Elio’s tongue tracedlightly along the inside of first her bottom lip and then her top, and Rissa felt tingles expanding from her center to her fingertips and toes. She drew back slightly.
“Swimming,” she murmured, and Elio nodded, reluctantly letting his hands fall away.
“I’ll make coffee,” Elio said. “There’s a machine in the kitchen.”
Nodding, Rissa rummaged through the bags with hands that now shook slightly, finally finding the net beach dress she included in her order. Needing space to sort through her thoughts and quiet her body’s intensity, she headed for the bathroom to change. On her way, she grabbed her burner phone from the bedside table, checking the screen for messages.
The only person she had given the number to was Reagan, calling her during the drive to the resort with an abbreviated version of what had gone down and what her and Elio’s plan was. Obviously, Reagan had been none too happy with the idea, but Rissa managed to convince her to keep an ear to the ground and text with any inside developments by promising to keep her in the loop and text her multiple times a day.
She saw that Reagan had already texted her this morning. The message was cryptic.
I have info. If this is still Rissa, tell me what sport I excelled at in junior high.
Rissa smiled. It was a longstanding joke.
You were the thumb war champion. Why would I not still be Rissa?
Reagan’s reply came immediately.
If you had been murdered or kidnapped, I didn’t want to just hand free info to the bad guys.
Call me?
