Page 20 of Spring Break with a Bodyguard
“You are worth something,” I say, my throat tightening. “More than you know.”
And then I’m closing the distance between us, my hand coming up to cup her cheek as my lips meet hers. The kiss begins softly, a gentle brush, holding back just enough to give her a chance to stop me, to preserve what’s left of our carefully constructed boundaries.
I half expect her to pull away, to laugh it off as another ill-timed joke. But then she makes a soft sound of approval, a signal, and leans into me, erasing the last trace of space between us.
Her response is all the encouragement I need, and all the restraint I’ve been clinging to evaporates in an instant.
The kiss deepens, gaining urgency and heat as I lose myself in the moment, in her. Her hands move up to my shoulders, drawing me even closer, as mine thread into her hair, tangling in soft strands.
She tastes of chocolate and salt and something else that is uniquely her—a taste that is somehow both unexpected and exactly what I’ve been craving without even knowing it.
It’s intoxicating, overwhelming, and all the tension that has been building and simmering between us over the last five days seems to surge through me, pouring into this moment, this connection.
Teddy’s fingers tighten on me as if she’s afraid I might disappear, and my own grip mirrors hers, determined and possessive, wanting to hold on to this—to her—for as long as I can.
When we finally break apart, both breathing harder, I rest my forehead against hers. “That was...”
“Worth way more than half a pint of Rocky Road,” she finishes, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
I chuckle, the tension broken. “Definitely.”
As she settles against me, I wrap an arm around her shoulders, marveling at how right this feels despite all the reasons it shouldn’t. The ice cream sits forgotten on the coffee table as we watch the sun setting over Love Beach through her panoramic windows, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink.
This complicates everything—my assignment, her experiment, our futures. There will be consequences to face, professional and personal.
But with Teddy warm against my side and the memory of her kiss still on my lips, I’ll deal with those consequences tomorrow.
Right now, there’s only this moment.
The rest can wait.
SEVEN
TEDDY
I waketo sunlight streaming through my floor-to-ceiling windows, momentarily disoriented by the lack of an alarm. Then I remember—it’s my day off.
Rolling over, I wince as my muscles protest the movement. Despite Javi’s magical hands last night, my body still feels like I’ve gone ten rounds with a heavyweight champion.
But the muscle pain isn’t what keeps replaying in my mind.
Instead, I find myself reliving those moments on my couch—the gentle pressure of Javi’s hands working the knots from my shoulders, the unexpected intimacy of his fingers against my skin, and most of all, that kiss. The kiss that changed everything between us.
I press my fingers to my lips, still feeling the ghost of his touch.What was I thinking?
And that right there is the problem—I wasn’t thinking at all.
One minute I was joking about payment for ice cream, and the next I was pouring everything I’d been feeling into a kiss that crossed every professional boundary we’d established. The way he’d held me afterward as we watched the sunset, neither of us speaking, just existing in a moment of unexpected connection—it had felt more real than anything I’d experienced in years.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand, and my heart jumps, wondering if it’s him. Instead, Preston’s name flashes on the screen. Guilt washes over me. My cousin has trusted me with this experiment, assigned his best security officer to protect me; and how have I repaid that trust? By seducing said security officer with ice cream and sob stories about my lonely life.
I answer the call, trying to sound normal. “Morning, Preston.”
“Good morning, Teddy,” he greets. “Weekly check-in. How’s The Sandpiper treating you?”
I sit up in bed, running a hand through my tangled hair. “It’s... educational. Spring break is exactly as chaotic as you warned.”
“And you’re still committed to seeing this through?” There’s a note of surprise in his voice. He really didn’t expect me to last this long.
