Wet (The Water's Edge #1) (4 page)

I tipped my head back, pushing my chest farther into his face, and moved my hips in a slow circle. He pulled at my nipples with his lips, sucking them into hard points. With his other hand, he kneaded my ass. I tugged at his shirt, and he broke away from me long enough to rip it over his head and throw it into the dark room behind us.

Wrapping my arms around his chest, I scraped my nails down his back, and he shuddered against me. His insistent tongue pushed back into my mouth, stroking mine. When he pulled back a little, I fought the urge to wipe the extra moisture from my face. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a condom. Holding it between his teeth, he dropped his pants and boxers in one quick movement. I couldn’t get a good look at him before he pressed his hardness up against my panties and ground against me. My skirt was still around my waist.

After sheathing himself, he pulled my underwear to one side and bluntly pressed at my entrance. I guess foreplay was over. I was only kind of wet, and he grunted as he tried to work himself inside me, while I bit my lip at the uncomfortable pinching sensation. It had been awhile for me, but he didn’t feel very big, and he pushed himself in without too much difficulty.

Burying his face in my neck, he grabbed my hips and rocked into me, pushing me harder into the door. After a half a dozen thrusts, he stiffened, jerking inside of me.

What the fuck? Already?

Sighing with satisfaction, he kissed my shoulder and leaned against me, pinning me with his weight. His chest rose and fell against mine as he took slow deep breaths. After pressing his lips to my neck one last time, he slipped out of me and took a step back.

“Sadie, Christ, that was great. Thanks.” His hand reached out to cup my cheek, his thumb stroking me. “I’m gonna jump in the shower real quick. You good?”

Was I good? Um, no, dickwad, I was not good.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I lied, fixing my underwear and smoothing my skirt back down. “I think I’m just gonna go.”

He tipped his head and drew his eyebrows together. “You sure? We could go for round two in a little bit.”

“I, uh, have an early morning. Spa appointment.” I reached down for my shirt, and pulled it back over my head. I just needed to get out of there.

Details. Details were important. Rue had tried to teach me, but again, I failed to learn the lesson. Lame line, uncreative in the bedroom. Fumbling the room key, lack of finesse. Not making sure I finished, total douche.

He nodded his understanding and leaned down to kiss me. I turned at the last second, and he got the corner of my mouth. We hadn’t even made it past the damn doorway. Hadn’t even taken my clothes off. What. The. Hell.

Grabbing my purse from where it had landed by my feet, I mumbled something as I opened the door and fled, my face burning with annoyance and frustration. I stalked back to the elevator, which was mercifully already on my floor, and leaned against the stainless steel interior, feeling its coolness seep into my back and upper arms, raising goose bumps on my heated skin. I ground my teeth together as I waited impatiently for the elevator to lower.

Three floors down, the car stopped, and a man stepped on. Glancing up at him, I froze.

It was the surfer from earlier today.

I wanted to laugh, only it wasn’t funny. He looked wonderfully disheveled. His hair was mussed, his lips swollen and red, his shirt not quite straight. Dipping his head, he zipped up his jeans, the movement unhurried, then ran a hand through his messy brown hair. My cheeks flamed. It was obvious what he was coming from.

He glanced over at me, and recognition lit his face. One side of his mouth lifted in greeting as his eyes raked over me. “I take it your evening went as well as mine?”

“Best sex ever. You?” I smiled at him sweetly and said the words slowly, as if I was savoring them.

“It was better the first time.” He shrugged. “And you’re lying.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Am not.”

“Then why are you already sneaking out and not spooning?”

I opened my mouth and then closed it. I didn’t really have a good answer to that. And truth be told, I loved to spoon.

He nudged my shoulder. “Don’t worry. You’ll have better luck next time.”

I snorted. Oh God, I snorted. What was wrong with me? And why was the elevator moving so damn slow? An eternity later, the elevator dinged, the door slid open, and I stepped out with as much dignity as I could muster, moving across the tiled lobby as fast as I could on my spiky heels. I called back over my shoulder to him, “Have a good night.”

“I already did. Twice. But thanks.” His answer floated to me as I walked away.

I scowled as I exited the resort and headed for the sidewalk that would take me back toward my cottage. Home was closer than my car, so I turned that way. I could get my car in the morning.

Two blocks from the hotel, a vehicle slowed down as it passed me. Alarm bells went off in my head as it rolled to a stop and parked just ahead of me, but on the opposite side of the street. I watched it nervously and came to a standstill, gripping my purse. It was late, and I was alone. The street lights kept it from being dark, and Reynolds Island was pretty safe, but my heart rate still picked up.

The truck door opened, and it was him again. Seriously? Three times in one day? He jogged over and stopped next to me.

He smelled like sex and sweat. I was still horny and pissed off from earlier, and his obvious satisfaction needled. “Now what?” I demanded.

“Look, it’s late, and my grandma would kill me if I just ignored you and let you walk home at night by yourself. Can I give you a ride?”

My mind flashed to an image of him on top of me, braced on his elbows, pumping into me with abandon, his hard flesh bared to my eyes. I bit my lip, my gaze falling to the front of his jeans. What was I thinking? I had just been naked —well, partially naked — with another man.

He cleared his throat and smirked. “That wasn’t what I was implying, but I can offer you that as well, if you’d like.”

I shook my head, embarrassed to be caught staring, and answered coolly. “Sloppy seconds isn’t really my style. And we don’t know each other. I don’t even know your name.”

“West Montgomery, at your service.” He grinned and formally offered his hand.

I shook his hand, feeling a spark straight down to my toes.
God, I’d like to have him at my service.
“Sadie Mullins,” I responded, the manners ingrained in me .

“Well, Sadie Mullins, if you’re done picturing me naked, we can go. Your place or mine, either works for me.”

I rolled my eyes at his audacity. I mean, yeah, I had been, but he couldn’t know that for sure. “Are you always this cocky?”

“Only around beautiful women who stare at my package. Or touch it. Or suck—”

“Okay, okay, I get the point.”

“Not yet, you don’t. But maybe one day. If you’re nice to me.”

I stared at him for a beat, crossing my arms in front of me. “Does all this bullshit actually work for you?”

“Usually.”

“It won’t work on me.”

“It will. Eventually. I tend to grow on a person.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“Are you capable of driving me home without molesting me?”

“Me? You’re the one with the history of launching yourself at me. You’ve already mentally screwed me too, I can tell. You have the look.”

“The look?”

He leaned closer and whispered in my ear. “I have this effect on women. Not my fault.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, letting his fingers drift down my neck as he straightened up.

“Maybe I’m immune to your charm.”

Taking my hand and pulling me toward his truck, he looked at me, his eyes burning into mine. “We’ll see.”

We reached the side of his truck, a surprisingly beat up old Ford pickup. After climbing into the seat, I turned to shut the door only to find him leaning into the cab across me, buckling my seat belt. He patted my thigh. “Safety first.”

“What happened to keeping your hands to yourself?” I shot back.

“You know you liked it.” He grinned as he closed my door and jogged around to the driver side. “But to apologize, I’ll let you pick the radio station.”

He cranked the truck, and I leaned over to change the dial, adjusting it to my favorite local rock station. I glanced up to see if it was okay with him and caught him sneaking a peek down my shirt. “Hey!” I smacked his arm.

“Now who can’t keep their hands to themselves?”

Ignoring his comment, I told him which street and cottage number to head to, eight blocks over, knowing he would think I was just a tourist by its location. He nodded. “One of the Hawthorne’s houses, huh? You have good taste. Of course, since you’re into me, we already knew that.”

I sighed. “You’re impossible.”

“Would you prefer it if I were a possibility?”

Maybe.
I didn’t answer, and we spent the rest of the ride in silence, me staring out the passenger window and him sending me questioning glances. I could feel the weight of them, but I stubbornly refused to turn and acknowledge him. When he pulled up outside my cottage, I started to reach for the door handle, but he grabbed my arm and stopped me.

“Wait.” He jumped out and ran around the truck again, opening my door for me. He just stood there and studied me, as if I were a puzzle he wanted to figure out. “You okay? The guy you were seeing earlier, he didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“No. He didn’t hurt me. I promise,” I assured him, when he continued to look at me with concern.
He also didn’t get me off, and now I’m still horny, and you’re standing here next to me looking completely edible but completely off limits.
I sighed and moved around him, heading up the steps to the front door. All the houses were built on stilts to keep the living premises higher above the water line. At the door, I paused and turned back. He was still standing by the truck, watching me, a look on his face I couldn’t decipher. “Thanks for the ride. That was sweet of you.”

He grunted. “Trust me, Sadie, I’m not sweet.” He climbed back into his truck and roared off down the street, the darkness taking him away from me.

I moved through the cottage, getting ready for bed on autopilot. Shoes kicked to the corner, clothes tossed over a chair, makeup removed. Sleep eluded me, and I lay in bed for a long time, tossing and turning. Unable to get the image of West out of my head when I closed my eyes. I pictured my hands running through his close-cropped brown hair, staring into his blue-gray eyes, his mouth descending to mine. I imagined the play of his muscles as he moved over me, settling between my thighs, his fingers tracing a path down my body to my core, wet and waiting for him. I fantasized about what happened next.

Groaning with frustration, I squeezed my eyes shut, banishing him from my mind. I knew what I needed before I would be able to sleep. Grabbing my phone, I queued up my S playlist. Ed Sheeran, Sia, Seal, Shaggy, Sean Paul. Then I lay back on my pillows and my hand drifted down under my panties. Sometimes, when you wanted something done right, you just had to do it yourself.

CHAPTER 3

I
signaled to Kendra, the other lifeguard at the Water’s Edge resort, that I was taking my ten-minute break and headed over to the tiki-hut poolside bar to grab a bottle of water. It was early yet on Wednesday morning, and only a handful of kids splashed about in the pool with their mothers hovering mere inches away, so Kendra and I were feeling pretty redundant. “Take twenty,” she called out, sounding bored.

I plopped down on a barstool, and Theo handed me a sweaty bottle. “Slow morning, huh?” he commiserated.

I had met Theo when I started earlier in the week, and we’d hit it off right away. Theo was adorable, with his big puppy dog eyes and a curly mop of black hair that desperately needed a trim. We’d bonded during break time, making fun of the girls who spent all week doing nothing but laying by the pool getting a tan, rotisserie chicken style, hoping to catch the eye of the cute guys wandering around, but too lazy to actually get up and flirt.

I nodded my agreement and sipped from the cold bottle, looking down the path to the beach. Not much going on down there either. Most of the younger crowd was either still asleep or hung over from the night before. Only the families with small children and the retirees were out this early.

Theo leaned his elbows on the bar. “Up to anything exciting this week?”

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Not really. I still don’t know many people around here other than Rue, and she travels for work a lot.” Rue helped companies manage their online presence, mostly through social media, but she sometimes helped design websites too. This week, she was in Chicago, consulting with a new gourmet popcorn company.

Really, it was sad. I’d been here for five-and-a-half months and barely knew anybody. Of course, I had spent the winter wallowing in self pity and doughnuts, until my dwindling savings account forced me to reevaluate my hermit-like tendencies and seek actual employment. True, I had been a wedding photographer in Nashville, but capturing a bunch of lovesick fools promising each other forever wasn’t real high on my to do list these days, and it took awhile to build up a client base with photography. With my lifeguarding background, and Rue’s connections to the manager at the Edge, she’d managed to hook me up with a job. It was enough to keep me busy and put some money back in my pocket while I figured out my next move.

“Want to hit the gym with me tomorrow morning?” Theo offered. “I had a client cancel his training session, so I have an opening. No charge, and it’ll get you out of the house for awhile.”

“You’re a trainer?” I was surprised. Theo’s logoed t-shirt was snug enough on his frame for me to recognize he worked out, but I didn’t realize he took it so seriously.

He looked wounded. “Yes. Is that so hard to believe?”

“No. Well, maybe.” I squinted at him. “You’re just so nice.”

“You can be nice and still get good results. But I can do mean too, if that’s how you like it.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.

“What time?” I asked, giggling at his face.