“No.” I lean in, closing the distance between us, and she’s not stopping me. “I’m glad you’re here because I enjoyed talking to you on that flight and I felt like I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what you were like when you weren’t in crisis mode.”
Her hand reaches up and rakes through my hair. “I’m not sure this vacation is long enough for you to find out.”
“Challenge accepted,” I murmur, my lips just a breath away from hers.
“Sebastian?”
“Yes?”
“Kiss me.”
“That was the plan.” And then I touch my lips to hers and we both go still before Olivia moves closer. I think we’re doing this so we can be more natural in front of our friends, but I know that’s a lie. We’re doing this because that kiss down in the kitchen was freaking electric and we both want more.
And I’m more than happy to oblige.
There’s nothing rushed about this; it’s a subtle exploration. I reach up and caress her cheek, marveling at the softness of her skin. My hand moves down her bare arm before coming to a rest on her hip. Olivia is all soft curves and the one-piece bathing suit leaves little to the imagination. Her nipples are hard, and I have to fight the urge to smooth my hand up over them. Now’s not the time; now is about more of an easy exploration and getting comfortable with each other.
But it’s also damn hard not to peel that fabric down and explore even more of her.
I can feel her nails raking through my hair again as we slowly maneuver until she’s on her back and I anchor one leg over hers.
Even though what I want is to position myself over her and then settle between her thighs.
Patience.
I just need to have a little patience.
Her soft hum and the way she’s trying to wrap herself around me tells me I’m not the only one struggling. I break the kiss and stare down at her for just a second before I go back in and kiss her along her jaw and gently nuzzle right behind her ear. She shivers and I know I’ve hit the sweet spot.
“Sebastian,” she whispers, and I can’t tell if she has more to say or if she’s just saying my name in the heat of the moment. But when she says it again, her voice sounds a little less dreamy and I quickly look up.
“Are you okay? Did I do something you don’t like?”
Her eyes soften as she gently strokes my jaw. “Quite the opposite. You’re doing everything I like.”
“But…?”
“But…I don’t think we should do this right now. We came up here to talk and I have a feeling if we keep kissing, we’re not going to stop there.” Sighing, she puts some distance between us. “And it’s going to make things even more awkward if I sleep in here tonight.”
Honestly, I’m not seeing a problem with it, but that’s just lust fogging my brain, I’m sure.
So I put even more space between us. “Um…okay. Sure. Yeah. I get it,” I say, but I sound breathless and almost pained.
Beside me, Olivia sits up. “It’s not like I want to stop. I just think that the time isn’t right. It was one thing to just fake it for our friends; it’s another for us to act on this. Things can get super complicated, and I feel like…”
When she pauses and shakes her head, I’m suddenly beyond curious to know what she’s thinking.
“Liv, whatever you need to say, you can just say it. I can handle it.”
“Okay.” Another sigh. “I feel like I’m taking advantage of you, and that’s not okay.”
I’m pretty sure my jaw’s on the floor and that I can’t possibly be hearing her right.
“You think you’re taking advantage of me?”
There are tears in her eyes as she nods. “Don’t you see? There’s like some sort of black cloud over my head and you were just being nice and tried to help me out. Now you’re lying to your friends and are stuck with me. It’s one thing if I’m just like…you know…crashing in your room. It’s another if we make this physical. That has the potential for things to get super weird, and I’d hate that.”
The correct response would be to agree with her, but…I can’t.
