My thoughts start to blur, and the sound of our friends’ chatter ebbs away. It’s as if someone’s lowering the volume on everything that’s not the sensation of Hunter’s body against mine. And he’s getting louder and louder and louder.
Wow. This guy takes his kissing seriously.
A squeal from behind Hunter interrupts us, and we jump apart.
Hunter spins around, and Katherine comes into view, grinning like she’s the happiest bride ever to go on a bachelorette.
“Sorry to interrupt,” she says, before pulling Ed back around the corner to the others.
We both watch them leave, and I go to speak, but before I can get my words out, Hunter steps his leg between mine and cups my face. Like the first kiss wasn’t enough—like he needs more.
The stubble on his face grazes against my skin, and it’s like I’m a match rubbing against the lighting strip on a box. I’m going to combust if he keeps going.
My nipples pinch against the lace of my bra, our breaths mingle, and his mouth is on mine again. He groans, and the sound skirts over my body, calling every hair to stand to attention. His hands shift, sliding down my body, mapping the edge of my breast, the curve of my waist. I want our clothes to dissolve, everyone to disappear, and to be left with his heat, this kiss, and the sound of the waves.
Eventually he pulls back and rests his forehead against mine.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all day.” He sighs. “Well, since last night, actually.”
I bite back a smile. “Well, now you’ve kissed me,” I say.
“And now you’ve kissed me back.”
I laugh at our push and pull, fiddling with the neck of his T-shirt.
“You know what I wish?” he asks.
“I couldn’t fathom. You’ve already surprised me today.”
He pulls back a bit, resting his arm on the porch post behind me so he’s still leaning into me. “Really? You weren’t thinking that—”
“Get back to the bit where you were wishing for something,” I say to him.
He chuckles. “I wish it was just you and me here. Just for the night. We could hang out on the porch. Watch the waves roll in. You could give me hell for being ... I don’t know—me. I could take no notice. And then I’d pull you onto my lap and kiss you into next week.”
I have to look away and over to the ocean. The picture he’s painting is far too vivid. Far too tempting for me to look at him as he describes it.
I snake my hand under his shirt and hook my fingers into his waistband. “Huh,” I say, mulling over the idea. It’s not like I haven’t thought about Hunter in this way. In fact, I’ve thought about him in exactly this way a lot in the past twenty-four hours. I just didn’t expectthis. So soon. So public. And although it feels good to be ... connected, I’m scared. “Sounds ... good.”
He smiles and takes a step back. “Right. Bachelor and bachelorette duties must take precedence.”
I really want Katherine to have the best weekend of her life. But right at this moment, I wish we could press pause onThe Katherine and Ed Showand maybe disappear, just the two of us, to see if we could act out the exact evening Hunter just described.
Chapter Seventeen
Hunter
I grab a tray of drinks from the bar since they were taking way too long to arrive at our table and head back to our party.
“Here’s Hunter ‘the Tongue’ Bain.” Ed thinks he’s made up the most hilarious nickname, and who am I to spoil his fun? Kissing Lucy Jones was ... Well, I haven’t been able to keep the grin off my face since.
Everyone grabs a tequila from the tray, and Ed holds his bottle up to the guys’Cheers. “You know you have to marry her now.”
My jaw tightens just a fraction. I know he’s joking, but still, it’s a lot. I don’t want to think about anything but right now.
“There’s no way you can ever break up,” he continues.
“Why would you?” Fisher says, like it’s already been decided by committee that I’m marrying Lucy Jones. “She’s hot and looks like she keeps you on your toes.”
