Once we arrived on the third floor, I swung the door wide. This was now a suite, but long ago, there had been bird crap all over the floor, busted-out windows, and floors so rotted you had to be careful where you stepped. It was creepy, but this spot had once been my personal sanctuary.
I led Dane out to the private balcony, overlooking the entire beach and everything beyond. Dane relaxed back on a striped chaise lounge and stared up at me.
“Would it be presumptuous to ask you to sit with me?” he asked, vulnerability showing in his words. I took his hand and allowed him to guide me down next to him.
Dane squirmed to get comfortable. The way his groin rubbed against my backside awakened my long-neglected libido. He wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight to his body.
My head fell back against his shoulder. “What are we doing, Dane?”
“I could ask you the same question,” he whispered even though we were the only two here. “You’re the one who brought me up here. I’m just going with what feels right.”
And damn did it ever feel right. If I woke up and realized this had been nothing more than a vivid dream, I was going to be ticked. The tumblers of my life were slowly falling into place. Too bad the one labeled Dane would eventually get jammed and he’d head back to New York.
“What was that all about?” Dane asked, squeezing me tighter.
“What?”
“You tensed up. Why?” He released his hold and a chill raced through me. I braced myself, ready for him to push me away, but his arms rested against his thighs. “I didn’t mean to push you, I just… I thought….”
“You thought right,” I reassured him, sliding my hands down his forearms until our fingers laced together. “It’s me being stupid.”
Dane kissed the side of my head, so tenderly it turned my insides to liquid. I wanted him, all of him.
“Whatever you’re thinking, I guarantee it’s not stupid.”
“I’m waiting to wake up and have this be a dream,” I admitted after a long pause. Itwasstupid. Ridiculous, really.
“Does it make you feel better to know I feel the same way?” He put his arms back where they belonged, around my middle, and sighed heavily. The crash-and-burn was going to kill me, but getting to spend time with Dane was one hell of a way to go.
