Oliver’s gaze meshed with hers. ‘So’s mine.’
But it had nothing to do with being startled and everything to do with the woman under him, as their husky breathing fell into sync. She was as soft as he remembered and her cheeks were flushed and her hair fanned out around her like a corona and her hazel eyes were glowing and damn it all, he wasin lovewith her.
The kind of love he’d never felt before.
Deeper, inextricably linked to this woman, like a fingerprint on his heart and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to dip his head, to kiss her. So, he did, not bothering to check the impulse, groaning deep as her mouth parted without resistance.
Unfortunately, common sense kicked in quickly and realising he shouldn’t be taking advantage of their situation, Oliver reluctantly pulled away. ‘God… sorry,’ he muttered.
But she didn’t let him get too far. ‘No.’ She slid her arms around his neck. ‘Don’t stop.’ And she lifted her mouth to his.
Oliver’s pulse rat-a-tatted inside his head at her unexpected encouragement and he followed the urging of her lips, taking the kiss deeper, as she widened her legs to accommodate his hips. Everything faded to black – the water not far from their toes, the wet sand, the seagulls calling nearby – there was just Paige, soft and moaning, one leg wrapping around his waist.
A dog barking and a child laughing did however punctuate the sexual haze and they broke apart as two little kids ran to the water not far from where they were making out, a woman shooting them a cheeky thumbs up.
‘Do you want to take this inside?’ she asked, panting a little.
Surprised the interruption hadn’t made her withdraw from him again, he muttered, ‘Hell yeah,’ before quickly levering off her and pulling her to her feet.
Her mouth was cherry red and kiss-swollen and, when she was steady, he shoved his hands into her hair and kissed her again. Melting into him, she sighed against his mouth and the small noise of pleasure she made in the back of her throat was like a fist to his groin.
Pulling away long, drugging moments later, she gazed at him, her eyes satisfyingly glazed. ‘I think we should hurry.’
Oliver couldn’t agree more as he grabbed her hand and tugged her across the sand.
* * *
The shit hit the fan a week later.
Until that point, Paige had been back in the bubble. It had expanded way beyond his bedroom to includeallthe rooms. Hell, any surface in the house had been fair game. They’d even got amorous on the balcony one night, Oliver’s hand over her mouth muffling her cries as the moonlight had poured down on their heads like a bloody great spotlight.
Anyone on the beach could have seen them. But, at midnight, the beach was deserted and every resident in sleepy little off-season St Ives, was tucked up in their beds.
Including their neighbours either side – thankfully.
Paige had beenstuckfor a couple of days after the call with Bella who had essentially given her blessing to her and Oliver. Because, blessing or not, she hadn’t been able to see anything long term with him and, deep in her gut, Paige was a pragmatist. But then they’d landed in the sand together in a tangle of limbs and she’d stopped fighting it, stopped trying to be pragmatic and ceded todesire.
Fully this time. Really let go of everything and just indulged. It had been an age since she’d allowed herself to surrender to the sexual being she’d suppressed for so long that Paige had doubted she even existed any more. But shedid.Paige the hedonist had come out of hiding and revelled in Oliver’s attention.
She’d ignored the ticking clock and just lived in the moment, laid herself bare, opened herself up to him. She’d felt free for the first time in four years.
And then, a couple of hours before leaving to catch her flight to New York to meet up with the girls at the gallery pre-opening party, Doris texted her and everything came crashing down.
I always knew you and Olly were going to be a thing All of us at the WI are so thrilled for you both Just so you know, we cater weddings
Paige frowned at the text which had a link attached and wondered for a moment if Doris had been hacked but the message was too personal for that and shewasoverly fond of an emoji since her great-granddaughter had given her a tutorial on the subject.
So, steaming coffee in one hand, she clicked on the link. And her entire world came crashing down. There on the front page of the world’s most scurrilous gossip rag was a picture of her and Oliver, horizontal, kissing on the sand, her leg wrapped around the back of his thigh the headline leaping out like a striking rattlesnake.
Redondo’s Runaway Groom Gets Sandy with Buxom Beach Babe
Oh, dear lord.
Beneath that was a second picture of their passionate cinch as they’d both stood and a third of them holding hands, her laughing as Oliver practically dragged her back to the house. Considering they had to have been taken from a distance, they were good, clear pictures, her face easily discernible.
Shit.
Trying not to slide into a black hole of flashbacks from four years ago, Paige placed her mug on the table, scrolling to read the copy, her hands shaking, her gut roiling.
