He held her face, keeping his mouth pressed to hers in intermittent bursts of kissing and coming up for air. Despite the rain and sea, tears of relief built behind her eyes. A few moments later, her feet touched the bottom. Will’s arms tightened around her as they stood, the rough waves knocking against their bodies, unmovable together.
“Justine,” he said, breaking their kiss. “I’m sorry.”
“No.” She gasped for air. “I’m sorry.” She clutched his strong shoulders just like when he’d taken her out in the water the first time, clinging to him. “I sent the wrong story. I’d never hurt you or your mother. Please believe me.”
“I do,” he said, a laugh in his voice.
“Will.” She splashed him. “You idiot. What the hell were you doing out there? They said you’re having a press conference.”
He laughed again and pinched her chin. “I called your editor and told him that. Well, my mother did, pretending to be my publicist.”
“What?” This was getting more and more bizarre. “Your mother…” She wiped her face. “Is she okay?”
“She’s okay, Juss—a lot stronger than me, it turns out. I didn’t know how else to get a hold of you, but I needed to see you, to apologize for exploding like that.”
She couldn’t help laughing. “Will, I forgive you. Of course, I do. But I—”
“Listen.” He took her arms, their wet bodies sliding together. “I don’t give a damn about the interview. That was me being selfish and stubborn for the wrong reasons. My publicist says I should thank you. Chase Ryder is trending again.” He grinned and pulled her in, resting his mouth against her cheek. “I trust you, Justine.” His voice was low but solid. “With everything.”
She couldn’t help it—she jumped up and wrapped her legs around him. Will broke into laughter, but she cut it off. On his lips, she tasted him and salt and a sweet forgiveness that warmed her whole body.
The next thing she felt was her feet touching the sand. They were out of the water now, a few feet from shore. Will pulled away but kept one hand on the side of her neck. “I want to tell you something else,” he said, wiping his other hand over his face. “I need to be completely honest.”
Justine nodded and glanced past his shoulder, realizing Anton and the rest of the guys were gone. They were alone on the beach in the stormy twilight.
“What?” she asked.
“Last year, when all that shit went down, we’d only known each other a few weeks, but I missed you. I knew we had a connection and when it was over so fast, nothing made me happy. Not even the natural high from surfing. That’s when I stopped competing.”
Empathy and the last traces of regret from the past pressed against Justine’s heart. “I’m sorry you were sad, too. What made you want to come back this season?”
“Like you, I hated that I was running from a problem. You were afraid of the water, and I’d lost my love for it. Neither of us was in a healthy place. When I finally got back to L.A. and so much time had passed, I didn’t come find you. I was sure you were over me.”
“Over you,” she said, running her fingers across his cheek. “Will, were you over me?”
Chapter Thirteen
Will didn’t have to consider his answer for a second. Slowly but firmly, he shook his head.
“I was falling in love with you.” Once he admitted it, the rest of the words came surprisingly easily. “The truth is, I never stopped and yesterday was like falling for you all over again, but at warp speed.” He moved his hands to her shoulders. “Please tell me I’m not crazy.”
Justine didn’t speak for a long moment. At first she just gazed at him, then a full, beautiful smile curved her lips. Tiny teardrops mixed with rain and sea clung to the corners of her eyes.
“You’re not crazy,” she said.
As she took his face between her hands, a deluge of hope and desire flooded his heart, maybe too much for his entire body to hold.
“I thought I was the crazy one,” she continued. “I mean, who the hell falls in love in one day?”
“We the hell do.”
He was about to tell her how relieved and happy he was, how happy she made him. Before he could say one more word, Justine rose up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She hovered an inch from his mouth, driving him crazy. At last, she pressed her gorgeous lips to his.
His head swam as she tugged him close, locking their bodies into a perfect fit. He skimmed his hands around to her back, feeling her skin, silky smooth and warm. Together they tumbled to the sand. She released an exquisite sigh as his hands glided down her curves, searching to touch every inch.
“I can’t believe you stripped for me again,” he whispered. “And what the hell is this?” His finger slid under the tiny piece of fabric around her hips.
“It’s called a thong,” she said. “When I got dressed this morning, I didn’t plan on wearing it to jump into the ocean.”
“I’m very glad you did.” He ran a hand over her stomach, feeling her quiver, watching her bite her bottom lip. “You’re so amazing,” he said. “Beautiful.”
She pulled him down, meeting him in a kiss that made his whole body quake.
“Will. Another inch and we’ll get arrested.”
He froze, realizing he’d slid his fingers underneath the back hook of her bra. The straps were already halfway down her shoulders. Just a flick of his wrist and he’d be at the point of no return.
The tide came in, and water rushed over their bodies, cooling off Will in the nick of time. He pushed out an exhale—while forcing himself to remember the score of the eighty-five World Series—then replaced each strap, kissing her shoulders in the process.
Before he could get up, Justine hooked a leg over him and straddled his chest, pinning him to the sand. The first hint of the moon shown behind her, silvery and brilliant…but nothing compared to the brilliance of her face.
“Are you trying to stop me from undressing myself again?” she murmured, her lips hovering over his.
Will laughed. He had his wits about him enough now that he knew he couldn’t allow her to straddle him like that without doing something serious in return. So he gently secured her face between his hands and stared into her ocean-blue eyes.
“I was thinking, when I get back to L.A.” He stroked a thumb over her cheek. “Do you want to catch a movie or something?”
She smiled down at him, her soft, wet skin smelled salty and felt warm, filling his every sense. “I think that could be arranged.” As she lowered herself flat against him then ran her tongue along his bottom lip, Will knew he was on the verge.
“When will you be back?” she asked, pressing her mouth against his neck.
For a moment, Will wasn’t able to speak. “Not for a few months. April, maybe. Think we can handle that?”
“If the worst thing that happens is I have to travel to Hawaii and Australia a few times a year to write an article about international surfing, that’s certainly doable.” She grinned. “Speaking of doable…” She lifted her chin and eyed the big white hotel up the beach. “Do they have vacancies?”
“It’s possible.” He was about to ask if that was what she really wanted, when she pressed her palms against his chest, then moved her hands to the top of his trunks, hooking one finger inside the waistband.
That was the only answer required.
Without a word, he rose to his knees and swept her into his arms, sand and seawater flying through the air. Justine giggled and kissed him, her breath hot against his ear.
“Don’t we need to go to your car first?” Justine asked as they neared the hotel’s beach entrance. Between words, her mouth planted kisses down the side of his neck. He nearly tripped over a lounge chair. “We’ll need ID and money.”
“They know me.”
“You bring a lot of women here like this?” she asked, pulling back to look him in the eyes. “Straight from the beach? No luggage?”
“No.” He laughed. “My mother owns this hotel.”
&n
bsp; She blinked her big blue eyes as her beautiful face contorted in thought. “Your mother,” she repeated.
“You can meet her.” He cocked one eyebrow while tightening his grip, greedily. “Tomorrow.”
“Hmm.” She bit her sexy bottom lip. “So you have a room? Now?”
“With a private entrance. Punch-in code. Fully stocked.”
She sighed and tipped her chin, her body arching in his arms. “Thank goodness!”
Will kissed her neck, then moved to her gorgeous, grinning mouth, noting how her body reacted to every touch. Right outside the door of his suite, he kissed her again, slowly, exchanging breaths and wishes, whispering hints of the future.
There was no hurry now. A few more steps and his dreams would come true. Not willing to let her go for a second, he pressed her back against the hallway wall and with one hand, punched in the code, then nudged open the door.
Heaven waited inside.
“Hey, Mr. Ryder,” she whispered. “Will you explain again how surfing makes you feel?” She took his free hand and slid it to the back of her bra. “Or maybe…you could show me?”
Will grinned and locked eyes with her while winding a finger around the flimsy hook. “Yes.” He kissed her once. “And with the slowest, most descriptive details.”
* * *
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Acknowledgments
This was such a fun project, dreamed up on one exceptionally hot Texas summers day while remembering my recent trip to Oahu. As always, thank you to my editor, Stacy Abrams, for taking on my first crack at a novella when I clearly didn’t know how to write one. Mega-thanks to Alycia Tornetta for walking me through this. It was great fun to have you at the helm this time! Thanks to my critique partner, Emmy Curtis, who I obviously cannot write a book without and who saved me on too many plot points to count. Thank you, Ginger Upshaw for being so quick to do a read-through at the eleventh hour and always offering killer suggestions. “Thank-yer” to Nancy Carr for reading the very first chapters on that hot summers day and thinking they weren’t crap. This journey would not be as fun without the support and laughs I get from my cyber-sister-authors (Cindi, Rachel, Lisa, Robin, Leah, Sam, Wendy, Jen, Lindsay, Lexie…gah! Too many to name!), and all the fabulous chicks at #ChickLitChat, and of course, the amazzzzing readers and bloggers. Lastly, my whole-heart is ever grateful to the staff at Entangled Publishing for giving me such a happy home to write about kissing.
About the Author
Ophelia London was born and raised among the redwood trees in beautiful northern California. Once she was fully educated, she decided to settle in Florida, but her car broke down in Texas and she’s lived in Dallas ever since. A cupcake and treadmill aficionado (obviously those things are connected), she spends her time watching art-house movies and impossibly trashy TV, while living vicariously through the characters in the books she writes. Ophelia is the author of ABBY ROAD; the Perfect Kisses series including: PLAYING AT LOVE, SPEAKING OF LOVE, and FALLING FOR HER SOLDIER, and the new adult DEFINITELY, MAYBE IN LOVE. Visit her at http://ophelialondon.com. But don’t call when The Vampire Diaries is on.
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Making Waves: A Perfect Kisses Novella Page 9
