Page 16 of Beach Reads
I don’t want to talk about this anymore. We finish the rest of the clean up in silence, and when Franklin shoulders his backpack and wanders away, I breathe out a long sigh.
* * *
“Hey. I was wondering where you—”
I shove Jesse against the side of his trailer by the shoulders, the metal clanging loudly in the quiet parking lot. There are probably people nearby, people to witness my madness, but I don’t care.
I flatten my body against his.
I’m sweaty and red-faced and windswept from a long day at work. My polo shirt is covered in sand and smells kind of musty.
I don’t care.
“Damn.” Two strong hands grip my hips and squeeze. Jesse stares down at me and drags me closer, his gaze hungry. “Hey, Darla.”
“Hi.” A soft white t-shirt covers Jesse’s chest, and I grip two handfuls of the fabric, twisting it taut. I’d never admit it out loud, but I’m kind of relieved he’s fully dressed right now. It makes me slightly less flustered. “Are we still on for tonight?”
The star’s smile is sinful. “Definitely.” And when he ducks his head, tracing the tip of his nose up my neck, my breath chokes off in my throat. “I hope you’re hungry, Darla,” he says against my skin. “I’m gonna pull out all the stops.”
Thank god. There was a tiny, untrusting part of me that was braced for a passive-aggressive salad.
“Oh yeah?” I press even closer to Jesse, sealing our bodies so tight that I can feel his heart thump. Can smell the sweat and salt and suntan lotion on his skin. “Does that mean dessert?”
Teeth scrape at my neck. “Of course. Have a little faith in me, baby.”
Baby.I shiver, hissing through my teeth when Jesse bites down gently on the curve of my shoulder.
We’re shameless right now. Putting on a show. And I’m sure the gossip will spread like wildfire, it might even make it to the gossip rags, but I’m too hazy and flustered to care.
I’m not the only one, because Jesse shifts so that his thigh presses between mine, gathering me impossibly closer. I rock my hips against him and he growls. “What brought this on?”
Nothing really.
Just wanting him all day.
No: just wanting him for half mylife, and finally coming so close. Finally being able to touch him.
Then hearing those words from my uncle, and feeling something crack open in my chest, spilling all this warm tenderness through my insides for Jesse Hendry.
“I want a kiss.” I tilt my chin up, aiming for brazen, though the evening sun is in my eyes. I’m definitely squinting. “A real one. No thumbs this time.”
Said thumbs are drawing slow, teasing circles on my hips. And if any part of me still doubted that Jesse meant it when he said he wanted me the other day—well. New evidence has surfaced. Exhibit A is digging into my belly.
“People might see,” Jesse murmurs, and my heart sinks. I go to move away, but his grip on my hips tightens, holding me in place. He lowers his voice. “You sure you want to be seen kissing a guy like me?”
Gah!
My heart feels like it’s been chafed with sandpaper.
“Yes,” I tell him, hating every word that Franklin said back there. What does he know, anyway? “Yes.I’m super sure. I should be so lucky.”
The smile that Jesse gives me could light up the town’s switchboard, his dark hair tugged by the wind. When his lipspress to mine, they taste like salt, and they’re just as plush as they look on screen.
Somewhere across the parking lot, an empty drink can scrapes over the concrete, tumbled along by the sea air. A strand of my hair sticks to my lips, and I swipe it away, then go back in for more.
“Mmph,” I say. I’ve never felt so warm and gooey. I’m a human fondue.
Jesse tilts his head and kisses me harder, moving his hands to cradle my face. And it’s so similar to the screen kiss—the way he’s touching my cheeks, the way his eyelashes cast shadows on his face—but it couldn’t be more different, too. The brush of his beard makes my toes curl.
