Page 63 of I'm Looking for a Man in Finance
“Oof—” Her hands splayed across my chest and without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her. Just to hold her in my arms, feel her heartbeat racing in time with mine. A hungry sound deep in my throat broke the moment.
Hallie stepped back out of my arms just as Sebastian and Roxie rounded the corner.
“Ready?” Roxie threw her arm around Hallie’s shoulderas Hallie struggled for a breath. “You have your swimsuit, right?”
“Yes! I’m already wearing it.” Hallie squared her shoulders, but she gave me one last parting look that lacked any hint of regret.
“Then let’s go!” Roxie exclaimed, trying to herd us all out the door. “I’m ready to get drunk enough to regret it on tomorrow’s drive home.”
On the drive to the beach, I spared a few glances in the rearview mirror at Hallie when I thought no one was looking. The curve of her jaw. The slope of her nose. The way the sun caught her cheekbones. She was gorgeous.
I thought it would be years before I looked at another woman like that again after Cassidy. I’d sworn off women to avoid the heartbreak. To avoid the inevitable disappointment that always came with relationships. Yet somehow, Hallie Woods made me forget all of that. She was worth it.
Having this woman smile at me as I helped her out of the car once we pulled up to the beach was almost too much.
The beach was teeming with people, their bodies warm from the setting sun, the sand hot beneath their feet. Mismatched wooden tables and chairs were strewn haphazardly; the scent of salt and wood smoke mingled in the air as a bonfire crackled and roared farther down the shore. The DJ’s music pulsed through the crowd, a rhythmic heartbeat against the backdrop of the ocean, while people danced on the soft sand. Waiters moved through the crowd of people with trays of various kinds of alcohol.
“How come rich people can’t do anything halfway?” Hallie asked as she accepted a cocktail from the waiter.
“Who cares if we get to benefit from it?” Roxie asked as she grabbed two drinks for herself. She downed one before turning to Sebastian. “You—dance with me?”
“I think you meant to say ‘please’.” Sebastian leveled her with a look that didn’t quite land convincingly. Because Roxie simply tilted her head with a smile on her face before turning on her foot and pushing through the throng of people. Sebastian hesitated for only a moment before he made up his mind and followed her.
“And then there were two,” I drew out.
We hadn’t been alone together for more than a minute or two since she’d thrown me out of her bedroom. If the obvious tension during the moments we had in the living room before we left was only a taste of what the rest of the night would be, I would lose my mind. Hallie had made it explicitly clear that we were to strictly follow our arrangement, despite the undeniable spark between us.
But if I thought Hallie was going to be reserved around me, I was sorely mistaken. “Do you want to dance?”
If, at the end of our five dates, I was going to have to walk away from Hallie, then fine. I’d walk away. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t be greedy for every single second that she would be willing to give me.
“I wouldn’t want to dance with anyone else.” I placed our drinks on a passing waiter’s tray before guiding Hallie to a spot in the sand where we wouldn’t be bothered by drunken people enjoying their last day of the holiday weekend.
An upbeat love song blared from the speakers. Iwatched Hallie, usually so controlled, let loose; her normally stiff posture relaxed, and a genuine smile spread across her face. With her eyes squeezed shut, she ran her hands through her tangled hair, the strands catching on her fingertips, then raised her arms, her body moving to the pulsing beat of the music.
A strange stillness came over me, and I stood transfixed, my eyes glued to her form. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat that I feared she could see through my shirt.
I almost forgot people surrounded us as I debated on picking Hallie up and throwing her over my shoulder to walk us both into the ocean. Clothes completely optional.
“I thought you said you’d dance with me, James. Or are you going to just stand there and stare at me the whole time?” Hallie extended a hand toward me. Red fingernail polish shining in the sun as it set out over the horizon.
“I said I’d dance with you, didn’t I?”Fuck it.
If Hallie wanted to dance, we were going to dance.
My hands gripped her hips, my fingers digging into her curves. Hallie’s eyes widened as I pulled her in close. Close enough to feel her breasts press up against me. Now it was her turn to stand frozen, looking up at me.
I leaned my head down, my lips brushed against her ear. “Let’s dance, Hal.”
Her hands moved up my chest, slowly, almost hesitantly, before they found their place in the hair at the nape of my neck. It was almost like last night, when she had backed away, but now she was with me—fully present, not resisting.
No. She was fucking clinging to me.
My hands settled lower, daring to skim the top of her ass, but she didn’t flinch. Instead, she moved closer, pressing herself against me, and for a moment, I lost myself in the feeling of her warmth, the electricity between us.
Her hips swayed with the beat of the music, and for once, neither of us needed to say a word. We were just two people, caught in the moment, moving together without hesitation. The world around us seemed to fall away, leaving just the two of us, feeling more connected than I had ever felt with anyone.
I could feel my heart pounding, but this time, it wasn’t from the excitement of being close to her. It was from the way she made me feel, as if she was pulling me in, and I didn’t want to fight it.
