Keeping Mr. Right Now: A Kisses in the Sand Novel (Entangled Bliss) (17 page)

Take off all your clothes and get on the bed, Sophie. Spread your legs for me.

Apparently hot or cold, she still only had one thing on her mind. Zane had landed himself a permanent spot in the Sophie Chronicles. Even before he kissed her without any clothes on. She giggled.

“Keep your cool, Sophie.”

And now she was talking to herself.

Her cell phone rang and she glanced at the screen. Leave it to her mother to cool her off quicker than she could blink. Since the few seats next to her were empty, she stayed put and answered it with a low voice. “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, sweetie. You didn’t text me back, so I wanted to be sure everything was okay.”

“It’s been a really busy day.” Her mother texted her her horoscope every day, even though Sophie didn’t believe in horoscopes and had told her so numerous times.

“Did you see who posted on your Facebook page?”

Why she accepted her mother’s friend request she had no idea. Oh wait, yes she did. If she hadn’t, her mom would have been heartbroken, not understanding about her daughter wanting a little privacy. “No, I didn’t. I haven’t had time to be online this week.”

“Your cousin Amy. She’s moving back home and wants to get together. Why don’t you call your dad and ask him to take us all to dinner?”

This was another thing her mom did a lot. No doubt her dad was sitting right there next to her mom engrossed in
Hawaii Five-0
, since it was Friday night, but her mom believed he’d be more likely to say yes to a night out if Sophie asked instead.

“I’ll ask him when I get back.”

“I miss you,” her mom said, warmth in her voice. Despite her little annoyances, she did love Sophie, and if she stopped all her habits, no doubt Sophie would miss them.

“I’ll see you soon.”

“You haven’t fallen for any of those surfers, have you? Decided to become one of those groupies I see on TV? Did I tell you I ran into Brendan? He asked about you. Said if you ever wanted to come back to—”

“Mom.” Sophie squeezed the phone. Brendan was her old boss. “I’ve told you I have no plans to go back to doing research. I love my new job.”

Her mom’s belabored sigh stirred the usual ache in Sophie’s stomach. She knew her mom only wanted the best for her.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. And I’m sure you’ve done an outstanding job this week.”

“Hey,” said a deep, sexy voice in her ear.

Sophie startled and looked over her shoulder at Zane. “Mom, I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, honey. Be safe.”

“Uh-huh. Bye.” She was far from safe with Zane’s warm breath on her neck.

He scooted around her and took the seat to her right. “Thought I’d sneak back here for a few minutes. I’m much more a back row kind of guy.”

She’d just bet he was. Probably made out all the time in back rows with countless different women. The cautious voice in her head that always made an appearance after talking to her mom warned her to question Zane’s motives. She wanted to believe his intentions were pure, but as she’d looked around this evening at all the tan, curvy, gorgeous women in attendance, she couldn’t help but think he was much better suited for one of them.

“Something wrong?” he asked when she’d yet to say anything to him.

“No. Sorry. But you really should be with your crew, not slumming it back here.” She tried to sound carefree and relaxed but wasn’t sure she succeeded.

Especially when he looked at her quizzically.

She turned her attention to the screen. Zane was in the middle of a humongous wave, and as soon as he came out of it, he raised a fist in success.

“I remember that day vividly,” he half whispered, bending closer. “The wave was long, so as I transitioned out of the turn and onto the face, I needed to rely on a series of integrated movements melded together. I pumped to generate speed, bottom turned, drove through a cutback.”

“You make every ride look seamless,” Sophie said. “You’ve definitely got an unnameable thread in your DNA that sets you apart from everyone else. I bet you could do it with your eyes closed. Human physiology has wired you to perform that symphony of motion without thought. It’s called a discrete task. You’ve mastered a skill that contains a single unit of activity with a definite beginning and ending. Like a tennis serve or golf swing.”

“You’re right.” Awe sounded in his voice and Sophie inwardly smiled. “When I’m out there, I’m not thinking that hard.”

“It’s like Zane Hollander and the ocean just go together.” She wondered if anything else would ever mean as much to him as the sea.

“A good thing, since I suck at tennis and golf.”

She laughed and peeked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Instinct and technique come into play, too.”

He toyed with a piece of her hair. “Want to know what my instincts are telling me right now?”

Titanic vibrations sailed through her bloodstream. She did. She wanted to know everything he was thinking. She hadn’t known Zane very long, but the time they’d spent together had been intense from the second she’d laid eyes on him. She’d first been drawn to him by how incredibly gorgeous he was. How thoughts she’d never had about a man before swam through her mind in a rush. Those ice-blue eyes of his were so amazing, and when he looked at her and talked at the same time? Nothing compared.

She sighed. “Tell me later. Right now you should move back to the front.” She’d arranged this screening and reminded herself this was work, not playtime.

He gave her a wicked smile that made the juncture between her legs throb. “Okay.”

“Sophie?” She jumped at the hand on her shoulder. “Sorry, could I see you for a second?” one of the tech crew said. She stood and followed him while Zane returned to his seat. Thank goodness she’d stopped Zane from saying anything more. His very presence put her in a compromising position, and she needed to keep her wits about her.

Her stupid insula and striatum—the parts of the brain responsible for lust and love—were working overtime.

Wait.

Love?

The tech guy had some concerns about the generator running out of gas. She glanced at her watch. The film was almost over. Would they be okay for another fifteen minutes? A second guy nodded, and she held her tongue from asking why they’d shown up without enough fuel. She’d told them the film’s length.

She stayed where she was, willing the generator to keep going, and moved her attention back to the screen. The surfers in the film were good. Phenomenally good. But Zane had this invisible force of nature that put him in a class all by himself.

Applause and cheers rang out as the last image faded to black and the credits started to roll. She let out the breath she’d been holding and clapped along with the crowd.

People went this way and that, talking about the film with awe and excitement. More than once Sophie overheard someone say it was the best of the festival by far.

“There you are,” Honor said, gliding through the sand like the beach goddess she was in a flowy white dress and long lavender sweater open in the front. “I was looking for you at your seat.”

“Hi, sorry. Minor almost-glitch, so I came back here.”

“Do I need to kick someone’s ass?”

Sophie smiled. God, she was going to miss Honor. She didn’t have friends back home willing to kick ass on her behalf.

“No, but thanks for offering.”

Honor raised her hand, palm flat. “Dude, you rocked this.” They high-fived. “Thanks.”

“Now I need you to run interference for me.”

“What? Why?” Sophie smiled and waved at Jon Waldron as he walked by.

“Bryce wants to have a drink with me tonight.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” Sophie saw how they’d eyed each other at the concert the other night, and the attraction had been 3-D-glasses obvious.

“Yes. So I told him I was helping you with all the cleanup and was unavailable.” She flashed her perfect teeth. “You are doing the cleanup, right?”

“Umm…”

“Pretty please?” Honor clasped her hands in front of her chest. “I’ll buy you a hot chocolate when we’re through. Or better yet, I can crash at your hotel tonight and we can order room service. The inn has some of the best desserts ever.”

Say the word, Sophie.

She thought she might say it tonight, but no way could she leave Honor when clearly she needed a friend. Tomorrow night. She’d tell Zane tomorrow night.

“Of course. We’ve got to make sure everything gets taken down properly and”—she glanced over her shoulder—“the bonfire is completely out and the trash is all picked up. And the chairs all make it onto the rental truck and a whole bunch of other stuff. We’ll be working here for a while.”

Honor pressed her shoulders back. “Yep, that’s what I told him.”

Movement caught Sophie’s eye. Or to be more exact, broad shoulders, a blond head, and a swagger that was criminal. Their eyes met and she couldn’t look away.

“Hi…guys,” she said, hoping Honor got the gist about who had approached behind her.

Her friend pursed her lips and gave a quick little nod before she twisted and stood beside Sophie.

The smiles on Zane’s, Bryce’s, and Danny’s faces were very disconcerting. They could not be any more handsome. Behind them trailed a lot of the team who had worked on the film.

“Hi.” Zane took her hand and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. “Sophie, thanks again for a fantastic night. A bunch of us are headed out to celebrate, and we’d love you ladies to join us.”

“I wish we could, but we’ve got to stay and make sure everything gets cleaned up,” she said.

The sparkle in Zane’s eyes flickered a little less. He didn’t think he’d be turned down. “How about we stay and help? Then we can all go.”

She wanted to do a happy dance at his consideration. He wanted her with him tonight.

“Don’t be silly. This is your night. You need to whoop it up with your crew and friends starting right now.” She meant it. He should be out having a great time.

Some of the guys behind him got restless and called out “Let’s go,” and “Hurry up.” Danny bumped his shoulder. “The guy from the
L.A. Times
is waiting, too. Come on.”

“Go,” she said, slipping her hand back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked.

“For sure.” Sophie peered up at his face with what she hoped was a flirtatious look. She really wasn’t sure how to do one, but every inch of her pulsed. That had to give off some sort of vibe, right?

He backed away with the corners of his mouth lifted in that devastating style of his.

“Sophie?” one of the tech guys called.

It took a great deal of force, but she turned. “Yes?”

Somehow she managed to answer a couple of questions and not sound like a girl mooning over a boy. Thank goodness.

“I’ll go help with the chairs,” Honor said.

Which left Sophie with the bonfire. Tiny flames crackled in the large concrete pit and she put her hands over the dancing fire to warm them up for a minute.

“Incoming.”

Sophie spun around at the sound of Zane’s voice.

“Didn’t want to scare you,” he said, stalking toward her.

“What are you—”

His hands cupped her face and his mouth landed on hers and he kissed her until she had no idea what day of the week it was. Or what month.

“Is that your way of saying thank you?” she asked when he ended the kiss.

He trapped her in his arms, and she melted right into him. Hook. Line. Sinker. “Only where you’re concerned. But I’m not kissing you just to say thanks.”

“You’re not?”

“No. I’m kissing you because you’re something else, Sophie Birch, and every moment with you is perfect.”

Her heart fluttered.

“And I want to erase every other kiss from your mind so mine are the only ones you remember. So when you crawl into bed tonight, you’ll be thinking about me as much as I’ll be thinking about you.”

At a loss for words, she instinctively kissed him back. Put her arms around his neck and fused her mouth to his, cutting off any breathing space between them. Pleasure and happiness and…love echoed through her body.

She loved Zane.

She pulled back, breathing heavily. Zane was too.

“Wow,” he said, his voice ragged. He touched his forehead to hers. “You’re ruining me, you know that?”

“I could say the same to you.”

“Yeah, well, we both knew
that
would happen. You’re an angel to my devil and I should stay away from you, but I can’t.”

“I’m glad.”

He lifted away, cold air taking his place, and she almost grabbed his shirt and brought him back. “You really did an amazing job tonight,” he said. “You’ve done an awesome job all week. You’ve impressed everyone, and I say go for it.”

“Go for it?”

“The American Cancer Society. Whatever organization you want. You’re ready.” He flashed a smile. “Now I need to haul ass before Danny realizes I’ve run back here.”

“Have fun.”

“I’d have a lot more fun if you were there.”

“How about I show you some fun tomorrow night?” She put a hand on his chest. If he stood within touching distance, it was impossible to keep her hands to herself.

He arched an eyebrow. “Say the word.”

“I plan to.”

“Christ, you’re making it hard to walk away from you.”

She gave him a little push. “Go on.”

He stumbled back. “Good night, Sophie.”

“Good night, Zane.” She watched him leave and her stomach clenched. Because in three days, he’d leave her for good, and the thought of never seeing him again hurt. Hurt worse than anything. But she owed him a debt of gratitude, too. She’d come to White Strand with the goal of stepping out of her comfort zone with her first vacation and furthering her career, and Zane had helped her accomplish both.