“Oh, wow. That’s kinda crazy,” she whispers while rubbing her throat.
I lean in closer. Not because I can’t hear her, but because I just want to be closer to her. “And why is that crazy, Nicolette?” I ask, my voice taking on a gravelly tone now that she’s close enough to touch.
She leans in an inch, holding my gaze. “Because I’m moving to New York City. Manhattan. Upper West Side. Intwodays.”
My muscles tense. My initial reaction is to call bullshit. No way can that be possible. But the flush in her cheeks, the stunned look in her eyes, and her slightly trembling hand tell me she’s not lying.
“Can it really be?” I ask, just to be safe.
She nods. “I just wrapped up grad school. Well, most of it. I have two online classes left and just need to complete my clinical hours. I’ll be doing that at a nonprofit in downtown Manhattan. I’m only staying in the Upper West Side because it’s where my roommate found us a decent apartment.” Her breathing has picked up, and she’s taking quick, short breaths. She’s just as affected as I am. Is she feeling what I’m feeling? Does she feel as crazy as I do in this moment?
This is pure insanity, but there’s no stopping me now.
I eat up the space between us and place my hand behind her neck. “This is the moment where you tell me to stop,” I whisper over her lips as they open slightly. “This is when you tell me to pump the brakes, and I will respectfully do so and go at whatever pace you’re comfortable with. So what do you say, Nicolette?”
Her eyes bounce from my lips to my eyes, and her smile broadens a fraction. “But it’s not midnight, and I was really hoping to get a New Year’s kiss, Tony,” she teases.
My restraint is a hair’s breadth away from snapping.
The hand on her neck holds steady as my thumb brushes along her cheek, and I give her my final warning. “You let me kiss you now, and I’ll be the only one claiming your kisses from now on. You won’t be getting rid of me at midnight. Do you understand what I’m saying here?”
She raises a brow as she bites her bottom lip. Her eyes gleam with mischief. “Do your worst.”
She’s barely gotten her last word out when I’m crashing my lips onto hers. With my free hand, I scoop her up, careful not to expose any part of her in her dress, and sit her sideways on my lap, never once breaking the kiss.
This goddamn kiss.
A life-changing kiss.
The kiss to seal the deal.
The kiss that confirms what I never, even in my wildest dreams, would have imagined.
That I’ve fallen in love at first sight.
Antonio
PRESENT
Samaná,Dominican Republic
I’m playing a dangerous game here.
One minute, I’m deliberately pushing Nikki away, and in the next, I’m crushing her against my chest. I can’t believe the thought of another man sending her a drink sent me into a douchebag tailspin. As if I haven’t seen her in multiple committed relationships throughout the years.It still stings though.
I don’t know how she does it. How she is the only person who can bypass all my lock codes and get me to open up. Just like on the night we first met.
God, this is turning into such a clusterfuck.
Luckily, after she detached herself from me, we’ve maintained some semblance of personal space while out for the day. While she sunbathed, I swam in the ocean. While she cooled off in the pool, I continued to eat my weight in ceviche.
While this place is amazing, I do wish that they would serve some actual Dominican food. I get the wholediscover the world at our resortvibe, but for fuck’s sake, what’s a guy gotta do to get some plátanos?
Just as I lie back to relax under the sun, Nikki starts climbing out of the pool like a goddamn Bond girl. I swear she’s moving in slow motion as water cascades off her blond hair, into her mouthwatering cleavage, then finally into the holy land of her bikini bottoms.
I almost lost my shit earlier when I saw her being covered by the equivalent of three tortilla chips. Her top especially. It was working overtime to contain her breasts. I won’t deny that I went a bit caveman when I threw a towel to cover her up. She probably thinks it’s because I didn’t want other men to see her, which is also true, but it was mostly for my sake and the semi I was rocking within thirty seconds of seeing her.
“The water feels amazing. You should go in,” she says as she wrings out her hair with a towel. Within seconds, a cabana boy is taking the towel from her and offering her two new ones.
