“But you’ll leave, right? Once you’ve got Souvenir Planet up and running again?”
His face blanked. Answer enough.
Her stomach fell. Since Nathan’s departure, she’d been more than content with brief liaisons, a little meaningless fun to take the edge off. But the thought of Xander leaving Trappers Cove? It hurt.
He stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets and stared out to sea. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Which is weird for me. I’m usually the man with a plan, you know? This is my first time flying without a map.” He nudged a smooth, flat stone free with the toe of his leather sneaker, pulled it from the sand, and tossed it into the churning surf.
“Hey.” She rubbed gentle circles between his shoulder blades. “Forget I asked. You’re going through enough. You don’t need extra complications.”
Still gazing at the rosy horizon, he smiled wistfully. “The more time I spend with what Gus left behind, the more I realize there’s no getting around life’s complications. Maybe that’s why I’ve failed before now. I tried to keep everything too simple.”
Her heart brimming with sympathy, she leaned into his shoulder. “Insert wise quotation about how failure is an opportunity to learn.”
Laughter shook his ribs. In an excellent Yoda impression, he rasped, “The greatest teacher, failure is.” He held her softly against his chest, his cheek nestled into her hair. “You’re good for me, Hannah. I hope I get a chance to return the favor.”
Emotion washed over her, as overwhelming as a rogue wave. She should break away now, before she fell too far, but she couldn’t force herself to let go of his warmth. Inhaling deeply, she savored his scent—moss and leather and clean skin.
Later, when he’d gone, she’d remember every crystalline detail of this moment.
A rough finger tilted her face up. “Hannah, can I kiss you?”
Eyes still closed, she nodded.
Soft lips brushed hers and lingered, caressing, tasting, learning her mouth. She pressed her palms to his cheeks, relishing the scratchy-soft texture of his short scruff.
She whimpered in disappointment when his lips trailed away, but he wasn’t finished with her. He feathered kisses over her cheekbones, her temples, her closed lids, then sealed his mouth to hers again in a deep, fiery kiss.
Lust roared through her, hot enough to fuse the sand beneath their feet into glass. Their kiss burned on and on—until icy surf drenched them both.
Gasping, they broke apart and dashed toward dry land, hooting with laughter.
When they reached the dunes, Xander toed off his sodden, sand-caked shoes, then held Hannah steady while she did the same.
She straightened and draped her arms loosely over his shoulders. “That was amazing. Where do we go from here?”
Heat and hope glinted in his eyes. “My place? If nothing else, we can shower this sand off our feet.”
Anticipation sizzled over her skin. Showering with Xander, naked, hot, and slippery? Nothing had ever sounded more delicious. Well, one thing did, and she was running out of reasons to resist.
In fact, it was starting to feel inevitable.
Xander’s first thought on seeing this RV had beenHannah would like this.While waiting for her to answer his text about Gus’s journals, he’d speed-cleaned the interior, changed the sheets and towels, even lit one of those froufrou scented candles he’d picked up from the Sea Queen Spa during his market research, all in hopes of making the tiny space appealing to her.
And now, here they stood on the RV’s little deck, potentially on the cusp of a life-changing encounter—if he didn’t blow it by rushing her or saying the wrong thing.
He hadn’t been this helplessly horny since he was a teen. And while he craved her body with every cell of his, in this moment, earning her trust felt more important. Because he wanted so much more than a quick hook-up with Hannah. All he could do now was go slow, pay careful attention to her reactions—and pray.
While her back was turned, he quickly adjusted his erection, then toed off his sandy shoes and banged them together. Sand showered down with each loud clap.
Following suit, Hannah giggled.
“What’s funny?” he asked, unable to restrain his grin.
“Nothing.” She bit her lip and snickered again.
He nudged her. “Come on, share with the class.”
“It’s so juvenile.”
