All she could do was nod, and before she knew it, his hands were under her shirt and slowly raising his as his palms smoothed over her skin. They rested briefly on her breasts before finishing the task, her shirt joining his on the bench.
Her shoes, jeans, and socks were next, and she’d never felt as exposed and vulnerable and turned on as she did when she stood in front of Connor. His gaze was intense and never left hers as he stripped down to his boxer briefs.
Stepping around her, he pulled the comforter down and tossed the decorative pillows aside. Then, sitting on the mattress, he tugged her in close and rested his head on her breasts. She could feel the slight tremble in his hands and the shaky breath he let out, and that told her he was just as affected by this moment as she was. After that, all her inhibitions were gone. This was Connor—the boy she once loved, and the man she was falling for all over again.
She savored the skin-to-skin contact, but it wasn’t enough. Now that they were there like this, she wanted more.
She wanted it all.
Whispering his name, she waited until he looked up. She smoothed his hair back before leaning in and kissing him. It was slow and sweet and a little tentative, although she didn’t know why. Then he moved back onto the bed, taking her with him. In the blink of an eye, they were stretched out, touching from head to toe, and when Connor rolled her under him, she knew they were finally getting to the good stuff.
When his hand smoothed down her side, hooking her panties, she stopped thinking and simply allowed herself to feel.
And he was true to his word. In a matter of minutes, she forgot about all the ghosts. There was only him. And her.
Them.
The way it was always supposed to be.
“Well, if I didn’t love chocolate mousse before, I certainly do now.”
Connor grinned as he licked the last little bit of mousse off her nipple. “See? Food can be fun.” He sat back and crashed against the pillows beside her. “But I have more that we can actually eat later on.”
Breathless, she laughed. “You really have thought of everything.” Turning her head, she couldn’t help but smile. The day wasn’t even half over, and he had already made it something she would never forget. “Thank you,” she said softly.
He arched one brow at her—which shouldn’t have been sexy, but it was.
“This has been an amazing day,” she admitted quietly. “I was nervous and insecure, and you just made all of those negative feelings go away.”
“I’d say you didn’t need to be nervous or insecure, but I was too.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Hell, yeah. I’ve been thinking about it ever since you showed up at the resort.” Then he shook his head. “Actually, that’s a lie.”
“Oh?”
“I’ve thought about it ever since that last summer we spent together. I always regretted the way things ended, and I had created so many scenarios in my head over the years about what would happen if I ever had the chance to be alone with you again.” He let out a long breath before continuing. “Every one of them started with me groveling and apologizing and essentially begging for your forgiveness.”
In her mind, she fully agreed that he’d have to do that because of the way he’d hurt her, but she kept that to herself.
“Then we’d talk and realize how we were always meant to be together, and we’d tell the rest of the world to just leave us the fuck alone and they would.” Turning his head, he gave her a sad smile. “Or maybe it’s just me telling my family that.” His expression saddened. “That’s what I should have done back then. I should have fought for us. By the time I manned up and stood up for myself, I knew it was too late.”
It wasn’t the first time he’d made that admission, but every time he elaborated a bit more.
“We’ve been over this, Connor,” she softly reminded him. “We can’t keep looking back because it won’t change anything. We’re here now and getting to know each other again.”
“I know and I’m so thankful for it, but I hate how much I cost us.”
She wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything. The truth was that she did blame him for a lot—well…all the things that had gone wrong in her life since they broke up. He was an easy target, and he couldn’t fight back or tell her she was wrong.
Something her ex did all the time.
According to Adam, she couldn’t do anything right. Ever. That was why her self-esteem was so low and she ended up in the situation she did.
Although…it kind of got her back here, and maybe this is exactly where she was supposed to be.
Or maybe I believe in fairy tales…
