Page 46 of Her Athlete's Wedding Secret

Chapter 11

Benson had never experienced a kiss like that before. He felt himself being pulled in by this woman, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. He’d had a plan to protect himself, and he’d failed miserably. If he gave himself over to the strong feelings he was experiencing with this beautiful woman before him, he would enter a realm there was no coming back from.

But he knew, deep down, that it was already too late. He’d crossed that line, and now he had to have more. And he’d been foolish enough to express openly how much the kiss had affected him. Tessa probably thought he was off his rocker. He couldn’t even look at her. Shame passed over him. How could he be thinking about Megan when he was kissing Tessa? What must she think? He’d never told her about Megan.

Megan had infiltrated every relationship he’d had since she stood him up at their wedding. He knew he couldn’t give his heart away to another woman until he healed it fully from her. It wouldn’t be fair to future love interests to always be competing with a woman who hadn’t wanted him. He was broken, and there was no fixing this. Because repairing it meant facing it, and he wasn’t willing to do that. He hadn’t even cried properly since she’d left him. He’d just bottled it up, refusing to acknowledge the pain underneath the surface.

He was a giant tangled mess of emotions. There was no help for him. He’d acknowledged that long ago. But now he had to deal with these new feelings for Tessa, and he didn’t know how they fit into his life. He would just have to do his best to ignore them. Bury them deep, where he wouldn’t notice them again.

“We should probably go back to the room,” he said to Tessa.

“Whatwasthat?” Tessa asked.

“It was nothing. Forget it happened.”

“You can’t just kiss me like that and then tell me to forget it happened.”

“I just did.”

“Well, that doesn’t work for me. I thought you said we weren’t going to have romance in this relationship. That was what I was expecting going into this. That didn’t feel like no romance to me. Why would you kiss me on an abandoned beach? No one was around to take pictures of us.”

Benson growled. She wasn’t going to leave this alone, was she? “Can we just go back to the room?”

“No. I’m going to go swimming.” Tessa grabbed her dress and pulled it over her head.

He gasped. She had on a skimpy white bikini, and she looked fantastic in it, easily rivaling any of the girls he been with before. “What are you doing?”

“I told you. I’m going swimming. I just got to the beach, and I plan to enjoy it.”

This was the sickest game of torture he’d ever played. His knees went weak, and he couldn’t tear his eyes off her body. How could he be married to this beautiful woman and not have her?

Tessa ran into the waves, squealing with delight when one hit her. Benson gawked at her like a fool. She did look like she was having fun.

“Are you going to join me?” she asked.

He was such an idiot for falling for this. He peeled off his shirt, tossing it onto the sand, and ran toward the waves. The wind whipped across his body, and the ocean spray hit his face. He stood next to Tessa, allowing the waves to wash over his waist. She looked so beautiful standing there with her hair blowing in the wind.

Was this what the rest of his week would be like? Day after day of him seeing his beautiful wife, prancing around in a bikini? How was he supposed to resist her? He had a feeling he was in very big trouble.

“Isn’t this wonderful?” Tessa asked. “It’s the perfect ending to the perfect day.”

“We just got here. Tomorrow will be even better. Just wait until we get on that boat.”

“I’m looking forward to the horseback riding. Do you think they’ll let us ride the horses on the beach?”

“I believe part of the trail goes on the beach.”

Tessa’s eyes sparkled. “I can’t wait.” She looked so vibrant and full of energy.

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“I told you I’d make sure you got a decent honeymoon.” Benson didn’t think it would include any real kissing. If this was any indication of how the trip was going to go, he was off to a dangerous start. He was failing miserably at putting up his boundaries. It wasn’t helpful that Tessa was so good at tearing down his walls. He didn’t even know how she did it. It was like the sunlight would hit her just the right way, and he’d turn into a defenseless pile of goo. Or she would laugh, and it would sound so musical he couldn’t help but allow his heart to feel warm in his chest. There had been something so intimate about sharing their food. She seemed all too happy to get close to him.

He’d been surprised when he’d woken up with her head on his chest. Especially after she’d made such a big deal about him staying on his side of the bed. But he’d been pleased to wake up with her so close to him, smelling so sweet like roses.

They snapped a few pictures of them on the beach in their swimsuits before they headed back to the room. Benson posted them on his social media profiles. People had been going nuts over his posts, and they craved more. They loved the idea that he’d married a girl from his hometown. He’d already seen a few tabloids reposting some of his pictures with Tessa. It was only a matter of time before they started showing up to get their own shots of them. He had to be careful to watch himself with Tessa now. If his coach sensed that he wasn’t completely in love with her, he could still terminate Benson’s contract.

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