But I wasn’t ready.
Not for this kind of intimacy.
And I certainly wasn't ready to let a stranger see me without my clothes on.
I wasn’t just bruised. I was broken in places I didn’t even know how to fix.
He was too sexy, too confident, too put-together—hell, too adult. He looked like he had stocks and property and a full set of matching luggage. Meanwhile, I had a carry-on full of emotional damage and a broken heart that still flinched whenever someone looked at me too closely.
I swallowed hard, setting my glass down gently on the bar.
“Thank you,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “For the drink. And for being… kind.”
His brow ticked up slightly. “Is that your way of saying goodnight?”
I bit my lip, pulse skittering. I couldn’t do this, something reckless and soul-deep. Something I couldn’t undo.
“I should go.”
I stood before I could change my mind.
I didn’t wait for him to respond. Just grabbed my bag and turned toward the beach, hoping the wind would cool my cheeks. The warm breeze licked up my bare legs, teasing me with the taste of what I was walking away from.
His gaze followed me. I felt it. Hot and lingering, like a promise. Or a dare.
But I kept walking.
I didn’t look back. I couldn’t.
If I had, I might’ve done something stupid—like stay.
Chapter 2
Dom
She didn’t look back.
Not once.
Not even one of those flirty, over-the-shoulder glances women throw when they want you to follow.
But not her.
Ella just picked up her bag and walked straight into the warm, moonlit breeze like she had something to prove. Like she hadn’t just lit me up with a smile, spilled bourbon down my front, and made me hard in under five minutes flat.
What the fuck just happened?
I sat there, still holding my drink, watching her bare legs disappear down the beach path like they hadn’t just wrapped themselves around every one of my thoughts.
She was curvy in the way men dream about—soft, round hips made to grip, full thighs that promised heaven, and a plush mouth that looked like sin incarnate.
Her sundress clung to her like it had been stitched in place, and when she moved, it swayed over her ass like a goddamn invitation. She walked like she didn’t know what she was carrying. Or maybe she knew exactly what she had and was trying not to be noticed.
Too late. I’d noticed.
But it wasn’t just her body that made me sit up straighter.
It was the energy.
