“So,” she said after a long moment of silence. “Is this what being mates is all about? Because if so, I think I could probably go for seconds.” She paused, shifting a little, languor unrolling though her body. “But maybe in about half an hour.”
Rhys laughed again, low and soft. “Whatever you want, whenever you want.”
Maisie thought she liked the sound of that – but right now, all she really wanted to do was snuggle up close to Rhys’s side, drink in the warmth of his skin, listen to the sound of the waves lapping at the shore a few meters away, and simply enjoy her holiday.
Chapter 12
Maisie came back to consciousness slowly, lazily, like she had all the time in the world. It was a stark contrast to her usual routine of slapping blindly at the snooze button on her alarm clock and staying in bed as long as possible, before dragging herself reluctantly to her feet, muscles protesting.
This must be what waking up is actually supposed to feel like.
She supposed that being pressed up against the side of the hottest guy she’d ever met in her life didn’t exactly hurt, either. She listened to the slow, steady beat of his heart as his chest rose and fell, feeling his reassuring warmth through her cheek.
Maisie thought that lying here with Rhys may even possibly have been nicer than the sex… and the sex had beenphenomenal. But the feeling of complete safety and contentment was something she had never realized she was missing. She hadn’t known it was possible to feel this happy, simply lying here with Rhys in the dappled sunlight, the ocean lapping at the shore and the heady scent of lemon myrtle in the air.
Heaven. I’m in heaven.
She continued to simply lie there for some time, simply enjoying just existing, until eventually Rhys stirred. Everything he did was mesmerizing – she watched, entranced, as he blinked slowly, happy to just look at his eyelashes as they moved.
God, I’m being ridiculous. But I don’t care. If I want to stare at the hot guy’s eyelashes, then that’s what I’m going to do. I can do whatever I want, here.
It was like being outside of society itself, in their own little private world, just the two of them. Everything else just didn’t matter.
Eventually Rhys seemed to fully wake up, and he turned his head to face her… then he gave her the most gorgeous smile she’d ever seen, and her heart skipped a beat.
That’s for me. That smile’s for me. Maybe I’m still dreaming.
“Good afternoon, sleepyhead,” she said with a smile of her own. “Had a good snooze, did we?”
“Yeah, I did,” he laughed. “The best snooze I’ve ever had, I reckon.”
“Me too,” Maisie replied honestly as she sat up, stretching. She hadn’t even realized she was drifting off until she’d woken up. “Though as much as I could happily stay here forever, I’d still like to get that swim in. The ocean is calling me. Plus,” she added with a laugh, “I think I’d like to get clean again before round two.”
“Round two, eh?” Rhys said, looking intrigued. “Well, far be it from me to keep you from preparing forthat.”
“Indeed.” Maisie lingered for a moment longer before getting to her feet with some reluctance – she reallydidwant to go for a swim, but she also wanted to just curl up next to Rhys forever.
Still, he was following her down to the sand, so she supposed that maybe she could have the best of both worlds.
She plunged into the water, shivering a little. It was a little cool, given that she had only been able to afford to come in theoff season, but it was still perfectly pleasant, and she adjusted to the temperature quickly. In a way, she was grateful – if she’d been skinny dipping in Queensland at the height of summer, she would’ve come out of the water lobster-red from top to tail, and some unpleasant places in between!
As it was, she was able to have a quick swim, enough to feel clean and revitalized. The water caressed her skin as she dived beneath the surface, tiny shoals of silver fish darting out of her way.
She felt Rhys’s arms slide around her waist from behind, and she sighed in happiness, leaning back against his chest, feeling his warmth. He pressed light kisses against her temple, and her eyes closed in bliss as she simply let him hold her, feeling the gentle warmth of the sun on her eyelids and the swirl of the ocean all around her.
As much as she would’ve been happy to stay like this forever, she realized that she was practically ravenous… and she didn’t want to push her luck with the sun, either.
“What do you say we see what’s inside that hamper?” she murmured. “I could really go for some overpriced gourmet food right now.”
“Sounds good,” Rhys replied, and the two of them slogged their way out of the water and back up to their little patch of greenery, grabbing the food as they went.
Maisie tore at the hamper’s cellophane as Rhys tried to hang out their wet clothes from earlier. She watched, entranced, as he attempted multiple times to hang his shirt over a tree branch that had a few too many twigs sticking out of it to be practical, before he gave up and spread it over the ground.
It was probably a good idea. The breeze was raising goosebumps on her damp skin, even as the touch of the sun slowly brought her back to something resembling warmth… butstill, she didn’t really want to be flying around the stratosphere in wet clothes.
“Get over here,” she said, as she bit into a sweet, juicy strawberry. “I’m getting cold, and I need a big, burly man to warm me up.”
“I don’t know about burly,” Rhys said as he plopped down next to her, “but Iamwilling to have a go at warming you up. For purely selfless reasons, of course.”
