Page 11 of Give & Take

“Because she caught me checking out her ass,” a male voice says.

I whip around. Raphael’s standing a few feet away. In earshot, but out of our direct line of sight. How long has he been standing there? And where are my?—

I jump to my feet, looking frantically down the beach. “Where—” I begin.

Then I see them, clinging to Chris, who made it down here after all. She gives us a wave, but the girls tug on her hands, wanting her to see their castle.

Deanie’s jaw hangs open. “Jesus, Raph, seriously?” She throws her arms up in the air.

“I’m going to go say hi,” Shelby says. When she struggles to get up, Raphael gives her a hand, easing her off herchair without a second thought in a way that makes my insides tighten, and not just because of the way his whole body flexed and he didn’t even crack a sweat.

“I’ll join you,” I say, my voice slightly parched.

“Wait,” Raphael says to me.

I’ve turned to walk away, but Raphael reaches his hand out to halt my movement.

It’s a light touch—just the soft graze of fingers on the underside of my forearm, which is extended back toward him. But I freeze as his touch glides down my still-moving arm toward my wrist. His skin is warm, but nothing compared to the heat that radiates through me where his fingertips meet mine. It’s like being touched by a live wire. I drag in a breath as a shock of exquisite awareness travels across my skin, making each of my thousands of nerve endings come to attention. The sensation schisms through me, raising my skin up in delicious and alarming gooseflesh.

I’m so stunned by this all I can do is stare at where his fingers curve gently against my wrist. When I snap my gaze up to his, his eyes are there too, like he’s as shocked as I am. He drops his hand.

“Sorry,” he says, his eyes wide, his expression alarmed. It’s the first time I’ve seen him look not quite so self-assured. Did he feel it too?

Even though he’s not touching me anymore, I jerk my arm away like I’ve been burned. Honestly, it feels exactly like I have.

Shelby didn’t hear me. She’s already halfway down to Chris and the girls. Deanie, meanwhile, stands up, doing just fine on her own. “It’s like you want to sabotageyourself,” she says to her brother. “Mom raised you better than that.”

“It’s fine,” I say. I step sideways to go, desperate to leave these two, but most especially Raphael, whose presence is searing raw heat into my side.

But of course, he’s moved, and somehow this only takes me right up into Raphael’s space.

This is a mistake. He’s very close. I can feel the heat from his skin close. He’s so tall I’m eye level with the leaf pendant that hangs at his chest. It’s gold and beautifully rendered with several lobes like an oak leaf, only each grows smaller toward the tip.

And my brain—my idiotic, perverted, sex-starved (apparently) brain wonders what that leaf would look like swinging over me as he?—

I blink, taking a deep breath, which of course is only of his scent: salt water and a trace of something woodsy. Soap or cologne—whatever it is it makes me dizzy. He makes me dizzy. And insane.

“I’m over it,” I croak, my dignity feeling like a sapling in a strong wind.

“I’m not,” Raphael says. “Even though you probably never want to see me again, I’m Raphael. We never properly met. And I am sorry. But Lana…”

How does he know my name?The kids, probably. Chris. Who knows. Who cares.

“Yes?” I say stiffly.

I force myself to look up. This close, his eyes are stunning. Amber irises with a dark brown rim. Fuck. I should look down. I want to, so badly, but the way he’s looking atme—a heat I’ve either forgotten about or never known at all coils in my belly, radiating out in bad, dangerous ways.

Raphael looks over at his sister, then tucks his chin and bends down. He leans into my ear, not touching me, but so close I feel like melting candle wax where our bodies align.

“I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

His face is just close enough to my ear that he barely has to whisper, even over the din of the beach. “But I won’t apologize for thinking you’re beautiful. Because you’re beautiful, Lana.”

Chapter 4

Raphael

Iwake up the next day to the sound of my heart shattering.

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