Page 100 of Falling Overboard

Maybe I was growing as a person.

I hated that this was the reason, though.

“I’m not running,” I said. “But we can’t kiss again. We might not have cared in the moment about the potential consequences, but we have to care now.”

He was silent.

And I rushed to fill in the quiet, to explain so that he would understand where I was coming from. “Don’t get me wrong, I ...enjoyedseems like such a weak word for what it was, but I really enjoyed it.”

“So it’s just over before it even gets started? You can just turn it off like that?”

I hadn’t been able to turn it off since I’d first laid eyes on him. “We have to, don’t we? What if Captain Carl had walked into our cabin? He would have caught us.”

More silence.

“You said to me that Georgia was putting me in a dangerous position by not following the rules when she came up with that list. And that if she was a good friend to me, she wouldn’t do it. This is worse.” And if we were each other’s friends, which we were, we wouldn’t do it to each other.

“Message received. I’ll stay away from you.”

He started scooting forward and I darted out my hand, stopping him. “I don’t want you to stay away from me. But we can’t kiss. I’m sorry, I know I probably sound selfish, like I want to have my cake and eat it too, but I’m not trying to be unfair. I’m trying to do what’s best for both of us.”

“Us being kept apart is not what’s best for me,” he said, putting his hand on top of mine. “I don’t want to stay away from you, either. So the line is no kissing?”

I nodded.

He laced his fingers through mine. “Now that I’ve touched you ...”

My breath caught.

“I don’t want to go back to not being able to touch you. It was torture before, and it would be hell now.”

My heart flew up and permanently lodged itself in my throat. It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to me. I couldn’t imagine any of the men I’d dated before saying that not touching me would be hell.

“Touching is okay,” I said in a strangled voice.

“Good.” His hand tightened around mine. “And now that I know you won’t get scared, I want you to know that I care about you.”

His velvety tone made my skin heat while my pulse beat wildly out of control.

“I care about you, too,” I admitted, even if it wasn’t the smart choice. Even if I was laying my soul bare in front of him, practically begging for him to ruin my life like every other man before him had.

He grinned, the first one I’d seen since we’d been interrupted by the captain.

“What about holding?” he asked.

Like a hug? That seemed innocent enough. “Sure.”

“And sharing a bunk?”

I definitely did not want to give that up. “I think it’ll be fine as long as we remember to lock the door.”

“Good. Let’s go to bed,” he suggested, and my thighs almost burst into flames at the invitation.

We moved and situated ourselves, and as I was getting comfortable, his arms went around me, pulling me to him. I was a bit surprised at first until I realized that he had asked if this would be okay for him to do.

I nestled into the spot at the base of his shoulder and wrapped my arm across his chest. He had his left arm around my shoulders and put his right hand on mine. He rested his face against the top of my head.

And my body was just one giant tingle as so many were happening all at once, over and over again.

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