“Sorry, we’ll catch up in just a bit,” I say smoothly, not slowing down.
The warm evening air hits us as we step onto the balcony, and I feel Leah’s entire body relax as she draws a deep breath. The noise from the party fades behind us, replaced by the gentle sound of waves lapping against the rocks below. The lighthouse stands out in the sky, its beam cutting through the starlit night.
“Better?”
She nods, moving to the railing and gripping it with both hands. “Much. I just…needed a moment to breathe.”
I stand beside her, close enough our shoulders brush. “Too much?”
“It’s a lot,” she admits quietly. “But I’m okay.”
Something fierce and protective surges through my chest. “You don’t have to do any of this, you know. We can leave right now—”
“No.” She lays a hand on my arm. “I want to be here. With you. I just…have never been the center of attention like this before.”
“You’ve handled everything perfectly.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You were brilliant in there. Charming, intelligent, completely yourself. I was so fucking proud watching you.”
Her breath catches, and suddenly, the space between us feels charged with electricity. The moon dips behind some clouds, casting shadows across her face.
“Hays…” she whispers.
I cup her face in my hands, thumbs stroking across her cheekbones. “You have no idea what you do to me, do you? How beautiful you are, how smart, how—“
Before she can respond, I’m kissing her, pressing her back against the railing as my mouth moves desperately against hers. She responds immediately, her hands grabbing my jacket as she kisses me back with equal hunger.
She tastes like she did that night. Like rum and possibility, and when her tongue slides against mine, I groan low in my throat, my hands sliding down to grip her hips and pull her closer.
The kiss deepens, becomes more urgent, more desperate. I want to devour her. My lips trail along her jaw to that sensitive spot below her ear, and when she gasps and arches against me, I nearly lose what’s left of my control.
“Leah,” I breathe against her neck, trying to dial it back, to remember where we are, but it’s difficult, if not impossible.
I pull back just enough to look at her, taking in her flushed cheeks and swollen lips. “I want you so fucking much,” I admit, my voice barely controlled. “I—”
“If you don’t take me back to your room tonight,” she interrupts, her tone full of conviction, “I’m definitely calling off the pact.”
My brain short-circuits. “What?”
She straightens my tie with shaking fingers. “You heard me, hotshot.”
Holy shit. I stare down at her, this brilliant, beautiful woman who’s just invited me to make her fantasy come true.
But then she pauses, uncertainty flickering across her features. “Unless…the first round is tomorrow. Will this distract you? Maybe, we should—”
“Leah.” I capture her face in my hands again, desperate for her to understand. “The only thing that will make me lose focus tomorrow is if I don’t get to hold you tonight.”
Chapter twenty
Leah
The door to the hotel suite clicks shut behind us. In an instant, Hays has me pinned against it. Though I know in vivid detail exactly what is about to happen, my breath still catches when his hands capture my wrists, stretching them high above my head, just like I wrote.
Countless romance novels describe moments just like this, but none of those descriptions come close to the reality of how my entire nervous system is short-circuiting from a single point of contact. A sole act of control.
His body presses against mine, the expensive navy suit doing little to hide the hard, muscular physique beneath it. The fabric rustles as he shifts closer, trapping me with his hips and chest. He’s made it impossible for me to move, but his delicious heat erases any coherent thought. His cologne, that same intoxicating scent from the boat, fills my senses.
“This is exactly how you wrote this, me pinning you against the door,” he murmurs against my ear, his voice a low growl that sends shivers down my spine. His thumb traces along my throat. “But you didn’t mention how your pulse would race right here.”
Heat spirals through me. He’s memorized every detail of my fantasy. His lips brush against my neck, featherlight kisses that tease their way to my mouth, which he claims in a fiery kiss so intense my heartrate explodes.
