Page 16 of Strings Attached

I lose myself in the sensation of his lips on mine, the taste of him, the feel of his body against mine. For a moment, nothing else exists—not the beach, not the kite flying forgotten above us, not the crowd of people around us. It's just Evander and me, finally giving in to what we've both wanted for so long.

But then, as suddenly as it began, it's over. Evander pulls away, his eyes wide with a mixture of desire and panic. "Mireille," he says, his voice rough. "We can't... this isn't..."

Reality comes crashing back. I scramble off him, my face burning with embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry," I stammer, not meeting his eyes. "I don't know what came over me. It won't happen again, I promise."

Evander stands, brushing sand from his clothes. His face is flushed, his hair disheveled, and I have to force myself not to think about how attractive he looks like this.

"It's... it's fine," he says, but his tone suggests it's anything but. "We should probably..."

"Yeah," I agree quickly, desperate for an escape. "We should get back to the kite."

But as we turn to look for our wayward kite, we realize it's long gone, probably carried off by the wind during our... distraction.

"Oh no," I groan. "Lil's going to kill us. That was a rental kite."

Evander runs a hand through his hair, a gesture I've come to recognize as a sign of stress. "I'll pay for it. It's the least I can do, considering..."

He trails off, leaving the sentence hanging between us. Considering what? Considering he's my boss and we just crossed a major line? Considering he told me explicitly that nothing could happen between us?

An awkward silence falls as we make our way back to the registration table. Lilian takes one look at us—sand-covered, flushed, and kite-less—and raises an eyebrow.

"Do I want to know what happened to your kite?" she asks, a knowing smirk on her face.

"We lost it," I mumble, not meeting her eyes. "The wind... it was too strong."

Lilian looks like she doesn't believe a word, but thankfully doesn't push it. "Well, these things happen. Don't worry about it."

Evander insists on paying for the lost kite, despite Lilian's protests. As he handles the transaction, I find myself wonderinghow we're going to move past this. How can we go back to being just boss and employee after what just happened?

"Well," Evander says as we walk away from the registration table. "I suppose that's the end of our kite flying adventure."

I nod, not trusting myself to speak. The memory of his lips on mine is still too fresh, too vivid.

"Mireille," he begins, his voice low. "About what happened..."

"It's okay," I interrupt quickly. "You don't have to say anything. It was a mistake, and it won't happen again."

Evander looks at me, his blue eyes intense. "Mireille, I-"

But before he can finish, we're interrupted by Lilian's voice over the loudspeaker. "Attention everyone! The couples' kite flying competition will begin in five minutes. All participants please make your way to the starting line!"

I feel my face flush hot. The competition. I'd completely forgotten about it in the aftermath of... everything.

"We don't have to do this," Evander says softly. "We can leave if you want."

Part of me wants to take him up on that offer, to run away from this awkward situation. But another part, the stubborn part that got me into this mess in the first place, refuses to back down.

"No," I say, squaring my shoulders. "We came here to participate in this event, and that's what we're going to do. We're adults. We can handle this."

Evander studies me for a moment before nodding. "Alright. If you're sure."

We make our way to the starting line, where Lilian is handing out new kites to the participants. She raises an eyebrow as we approach.

"Back for round two?" she asks with a smirk.

I force a smile. "We're nothing if not persistent."

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