Page 10 of Blocking Her Love

I suspect what’s going on and it frightens me. I don’t have time for a relationship right now. Don’t have the energy to give to something personal while I’m focusing two hundred percent on my game. Trying to ignore how the fluttering is moving through my body, I return to the sport. “I hope Olivia gets the opportunity to hit a few balls. Getting kids started early is good for the sport.”

“It is. I’ll try and keep an eye out for her. If you and Maya aren’t in warm-up or pre-match mode, maybe you can come help out with the kids.”

“Help out? Are you going to be there?”

“Yeah, I said I’d help. I enjoy my time at the summer camps and this is a good way to continue to give back and grow interest in volleyball. Both beach and indoor.”

He surprises me. I’ve never given much thought to what he does when not coaching our team. Never realized how much he enjoys the summer coaching. Now that we’re headed into the season, there’s not much free time, so I suppose it makes sense he’d use any opportunity to interact with the players of the future.

A shiver travels through me and Sean inches closer. “Cold? There is a brisk breeze off the ocean tonight.”

Saying that’s the reason would be safe. But a lie. Sean doesn’t deserve lies. I shake my head.

Turning to look at me, Sean studies my face and his lips twitch. “You have chocolate on your face.”

“Oh my god. How long has that been there?” Imagining what I must look like, I lift my hand to wipe away the mess.

Sean catches my hand. “Not long. Not when we were talking to Olivia and her mom anyway.”

That’s a relief. Once again I lift my hand and Sean stops the action. “Let me,” he says.

He holds my gaze and touches his thumb to one corner of my lips. After a gentle swipe, he pauses then draws the pad of his thumb over my lower lip. Without thinking about what I’m doing, I chase the slight stickiness with my tongue. Sean’s groan settles low in my belly and those damn butterflies go wild.

Before I rethink what I’m doing, I lift my arms and encircle Sean’s neck. He doesn’t need any encouragement to lower his lips to mine with the softest, teasing touch. He continues the slight pressure until I whisper “more” against his mouth. He’s holding back. Other than his fingertips on my cheek, he’s not touching me.

I want him to. Need him to.

Blindly reaching for and finding his free hand, I place it at my waist. He takes my not so subtle hint and inches closer, his palm resting now between my shoulder blades. Not sure what it means, I want him to surround me. I slide my fingers into his hair and he matches my movement.

Finally, our kiss deepens. His tongue searches for mine, twines and strokes until I can barely breathe. I’ve never been kissed like this before. Never imagined how glorious a moment like this might be. Sure the hell is better than what the romance novels say.

Before I’m ready, he eases back. He kisses the tip of my nose. “We’re attracting an audience,”

“What? Audience?” I don’t understand anything except the need to kiss him again. I tighten my fingers against his skull and try to pull him closer.

“Ellie, as much as I want to explore the delight of your kisses, we don’t need to do it here. On the pier. In public.” His ragged chuckle starts to clear my fuzzy brain. “Publicity is great but not this kind of headline. Let’s go home.”

There’s a promise in his words, a hitch when he says home, that clears my head. I close my eyes, untangle my fingers and take a quick step back. My face burns. “Oh god. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Obviously I wasn’t either.”

We turn toward the boardwalk but before we make our escape an elderly couple stops us. The woman grins. “Was that your first kiss?”

The heat in my face blazes and I duck my head leaving Sean to answer. “Yes. Why do you ask?”

She elbows the man. “I told my husband it was but he didn’t believe me. There was just something about the two of you. How you hesitated then fit so well together. I just knew you shared a first kiss.”

I don’t know what to say. And with Sean’s unusual silence, neither does he.

“Tell ‘em why you asked,” the man says with a fond, indulgent smile for his wife.

“I’m getting there, I’m getting there. You’re not from Love Beach, are you?”

“No,” Sean replies. “We’re here for the volleyball tournament.”

“Then you don’t know the legend. It’s said that when a couple shares their first kiss at the end of the pier, they’ll be lucky in love for the rest of their lives.”

seven

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