As I close the distance I feel something shifting between us. It’s in the way she’s looking at me. Her alluring features come clearly into focus—the long strands of her red hair blowing in the wind, her full br**sts popping out from beneath her tiny top, the curvy shape of her hips, and f**k me, she has a belly button ring. I try to tame the thudding of my pulse, but it isn’t easy. It’s been hard enough keeping my hands off her, well, semi off her, with her clothes on—this is going to be hell.

Kicking the sand up beneath my feet, I lift my gaze upward, where I notice the sparkle in her emerald green eyes. A slight sense of pride overtakes me because her eyes are shimmering. I think they might even be dancing with anticipation. It thrills me that she’s here this early to surf and happy about it. Just a few short weeks ago I wasn’t sure what I saw when I looked into her eyes. At first I thought maybe hate, anger, disgust—or possibly a combination of just about every negative emotion. But it was fear and I’ve been taking the time to make it clear that she’s mine. I’ve been doing it subtly, but I will do it.

When a cool breeze presents itself on the shoreline, I stop on my heels and dig my board into the sand. I move a little closer but know I should keep a healthy distance between us. Although it doesn’t seem to matter how close or far away she is, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. She bends down to rub some sunscreen on. When she does her br**sts spill out farther from her top and I have to suppress a groan. I take a deep breath and sure enough, it’s there—that lemony citrus smell that’s everywhere when she’s around.

I lean down and reach for the bottle. “Here, let me help you.”

My guess is she’ll say no, so when she hands me the bottle I’m shocked.

She stands straight and turns around, lifting her hair as she does. “You can do my back.”

“I was thinking I’d start with the front,” I say, my voice going deep all on its own.

I notice her stiffen before she hands me the sunscreen over her shoulder. It’s cool in my hands and I rub my palms together to warm it. My fingers cover her shoulders and the back of her neck. I knead her skin ever so slightly and slide down under the strings in the front a little. She gasps and I’m pretty sure it’s not from the chill of the lotion. Her skin is soft and I notice a few faint freckles I never knew she had on her shoulders—they’re sexy as hell. Her head drops as I rub down her back. When I get midway I caress the skin spilling out from the sides of her tiny top, and again a slight shiver rocks her shoulders. I grin to myself like a Cheshire cat.

“You’re full of tension. You could use a massage,” I whisper in her ear, moving down her back a little more until my fingertips rest on the fabric of her bottoms. I let them slip inside teasingly and pull them back out.

She jumps and turns around. “I’m good. That’s enough,” she says, sounding a little flustered.

I grin and hand her back the bottle. “If you say so. I just didn’t want you to burn.”

“I won’t,” she says. “It’s not that hot today anyway.”

As the words leave her lips and I’m just about to tell her the temperature has nothing to do with the strength of the sun’s rays, I notice she’s wearing makeup and I have to try hard to suppress my laughter.

Squinting, she puts her hands on her hips. “What is so funny?”

I shake my head. “Nothing.”

She purses her lips and narrows her eyes.

I just smile at her and pull her sunglasses from atop her silky soft hair and place them on her face. I let my thumbs linger for a few short seconds and caress her cheek.

“There, now you don’t have to squint.”

She touches their sides. “Thank you,” she says, and I can see her ni**les protruding in hard nubs.

I’m not sure if it’s from the water I dripped on her or my touch, but I’m going with the latter. I’ve behaved myself for much longer than I ever thought I could. But I know she wants me and if she won’t admit it, I’m going to have to push her along a little. The old me would already have done that. Hell, the old me would never have allowed a girl to call the shots.

But I’ve made too many wrong decisions in my life and have too many atonements to make. And she deserves one of them. The fact that she’s even talking to me is enough reason to stick around.

She smooths one last squirt of sunscreen over her chest and my eyes drop again to her hard ni**les beading through the fabric of her bikini top. Fuck, now I’m sure I’m popping out too.

Averting my eyes in a useless attempt to tame my dick, I have this sudden realization. “Red?” I ask.

She looks up at me.

“Have you ever surfed before?”

She scrunches her brow. “No. But how hard can it be?”

I try not to choke on my laughter. “Maybe just a little harder than you think.”

“That’s why I’m here. So you can teach me.”

“Right,” I say, scratching my head because it’s just that easy.

She smiles.

I take a deep breath and rub my hands together. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“Yeah.” She beams at me and does a slight jump into the air. Her earrings bob and her necklaces jangle as she heads toward the water.

I love how excited she gets and really hate to disappoint her, but I grab her hand and pull her back. “Whoa, where are you going?”