Page 68 of Enemies to Lovers

I snuggle into him, looping my body around his. The waves crashing against the shore lull me into closing my eyes, so when Jamie says, ‘I’ll tell Laurie as soon as we get home. I don’t want to spoil the holiday,’ I don’t hear him, because the edges of sleep have already pulled me in.

16

It feels illicit to wake up in the same room as Jamie this morning, knowing what we did last night. We snuck back in as the sun was coming up, giggling like teenagers.

He must feel my gaze on him, because he opens one eye halfway and mumbles, ‘Morning.’

‘Morning,’ I whisper, with a smile. It was a bold move to share a bed, but we did it last night and things were fine. I really don’t think anybody is going to come up here. The crucial point is that we cannot havesexin the bed: the thin walls and wooden floors wouldn’t allow for that. But who cares if we spoon as everyone else sleeps? We’ve got mere days until this holiday is over, and nobody has come up here first thing in the morning, ever.

I daren’t risk lying here whispering sweet nothings, though.

‘I’m going to get up,’ I say, ‘whilst I have the will power.’

Jamie smiles, and I scramble out of bed to start the day. As I climb over him, though, he grabs my arm and grins. When he plants a kiss on my hand, my heart doesa double-beat leap in my chest, before plummeting to my stomach and back up again. I roll my eyes at him playfully and head to the bathroom. I’ve finally had the kind of sex I’ve only ever seen onscreen. I didn’t know real people could have it. I ache between my thighs, but it’s a nice ache, like a reminder he was there.

There’s a light knock on the bathroom door as I brush my teeth, and Jamie stands there in his boxers, all dishevelled and more handsome than ever.

‘Room for a little one?’

I smile, careful not to let toothpaste spill onto my chin, and watch in the mirror as he wets his brush, pops on some toothpaste, wets it again and then puts the brush in his mouth. I wonder how many women have seen this side of him. The off-guard, first-thing-in-the-morning side. Jamie looks up and we hold eye-contact through our reflections, brushing our teeth like the domesticity of it is the most normal thing in the world. I feel something inside my chest swell, but I spit into the sink instead of acknowledging it, rinsing my mouth and then washing my face. I have four more days to enjoy this, and I’m not going to start self-monitoring about what every little butterfly means, so that I’m back in my head and end up diminishing the passion. I’m getting him out of my system, giving in to the physical, so that it no longer has to be this weird ‘almost’ thing between us.

‘Whatcha thinking?’ Jamie asks, rinsing off his toothbrush and wiping his face clean.

I get in an eyeful of his body, openly appraising him, because I can.

‘Wondering how we might get a moment alone today,’ I say, lips pursed in playfulness.

‘Are you now?’ he asks, and we’re both whispering, knowing we can’t get caught.

‘Damned right I am,’ I say, slapping his butt.

Downstairs there’s a note on the table:Gone to the ruins.Fair play – it’s mid-morning already. Our late night meant we both slept in, so no wonder nobody hung around. I wonder if Alex got up with them, despite his own adventures last night. He’s never been able to sleep in, even as a teenager. They will have gone quite early, I reckon, to beat the heat, and Mum likes it when I get my rest. She will have told everyone to let me sleep. I stick my head out of the kitchen door, to look around the pool. Nobody is there.

‘Where is everyone?’ asks Jamie, pulling on his shirt as he rounds the corner to where I’m standing. When he sees me admiring him, he pauses and then doesn’t do up the rest of the buttons. I wink. My way of saying:You understand. Good. Let me see.

‘They’ve left for the day,’ I tell him, and my cheeks could fall off from smiling so wide.

Jamie arches an eyebrow. ‘Interesting,’ he ponders.

‘That’s what I thought,’ I reply.

He sidles over to me and says, voice low, ‘Is it safe for me to give you a morning kiss, then?’

I push my face closer to his.

‘It might well be …’ I say. And then I think,Wait. I really should check for Alex.

Jamie puts his face between my hands and holds it there for a beat, like he can’t believe our luck. We’re nose-to-nose and then he gently puts his mouth on mine, and it is delicate, like this second alone is a treat to be savoured – which it is. He’s absolutely right.

‘Hold that thought,’ I whisper, slipping from his grasp and doing a quick sweep of the rooms downstairs and then upstairs. Nobody is here. I hot-foot it back to him.

‘Coast is clear,’ I say. ‘Now. Where were we?’

We kiss, and it’s cute. But I can feel myself getting heated, so as hard as it is, I pull away. We stand there, not knowing what to do next, my pelvis aching. I look down. Jamie clearly has a boner. The thin fabric of his swim shorts is held up like a tent.

‘Can’t help it,’ he says, holding up his hands in surrender. ‘I honestly could take you here and now.Thatis what you do to me.’

I feel that way too. It’s like our bodies are designed to slot together seamlessly. Having sex with Jamie feels like the reason Ihavea body. Most of the time I’m just a brain in a meat suit, but when his hands were on me last night, when he was pressed up against me and then inside me … nothing else mattered.

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