“Hm?”
He looked at me expectantly. “Is this a date? Like, are we on a date right now?”
The Sagitta from a week ago would’ve shot that down faster than he could’ve blinked.
Instead, I looked him in the eye and said, “Yes.”
Chase grinned like he was on his first date ever. I knew he’d been with other partners in the past, so to see him get so visibly flustered was a huge ego boost.
“Then, are we...” Chase trailed off. He stared down at the boardwalk, licked his lips. “Are we a thing?”
My heart swooped dangerously.
“I hope so,” I replied.
He let out a breathless laugh. “Shit, I hope so, too.”
We stood in an empty corner of the boardwalk. Nobody was around. And even if there were onlookers, I’d lost the will to give a shit. I pushed up on my toes and kissed Chase.
He made a small sound of pleasure as he kissed me back. He tasted like lemon and the usual sweetness of his tongue. The thrill went to my head. I didn’t care who saw. I just wanted Chase all to myself.
“Are we boyfriends?” he asked quietly, our mouths still centimetres apart.
As usual, he was giving me the choice.
“Yeah,” I decided. “We are.”
Chase grinned, and he didn’t stop grinning as I kissed him again. His joy was as radiant as the golden light bouncing off his head. He was like my own personal sun, warm and safe and full of light.
I indulged the urge to be playful, so my tongue slipped past his lips. Our cute kiss evolved into a heavy, languid make-out.As the minutes went on, I felt my pants tighten, and even then, I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to.
I want him. Forever.
My head was spinning when I pulled back for air with a gasp. Chase’s expression was dreamy and wistful as he caught his breath. If I hadn’t stopped, I knew he would’ve kept going. I got the sense that, if I asked him to, he’d go down on me right here in public. The idea was extremely hot, and absolutely not going to happen.
Thankfully, I was soon distracted by my dripping gelato. I cursed and went to clean it with a napkin, but Chase was faster. He grasped my wrist, holding it as delicately as an expensive prize, and licked the melted gelato off my fingers. He looked dazed with pleasure as he did it. He looked like he was worshipping me.
This is getting out of hand,I thought, doing nothing to stop him. How could I? His attention was addictive, and he was fucking hot. My willpower crumbled every second I spent with Chase. In that moment, I could’ve said “screw it” and thrown away everything in exchange for a life with him. I sincerely thought about it.
Chase drew away from my hand and licked the corners of his mouth before flashing a coltish grin at me.
“You know, there’s a secluded area down there,” he began, nodding to a set of steps that descended closer to the water. From above, it was mostly hidden by a row of dogwood shrubs. Nobody could see us unless they went out of their way.
My throat went dry with anticipation. “What are you insinuating?”
He shrugged, but there was a frisky gleam in his eyes. “I’m just saying. Boyfriends do risque stuff like that sometimes.”
A shiver rolled over me.
We were boyfriends now.
Forget having sex with my client. I was flat-out dating him now, and talking about opening a business together. We were fully enmeshed in each other. There was no going back to my old life.
And I was okay with that.
A natural by-product of my loosening willpower was that I was quickly becoming okay with the idea of doing sexual things in public, too.
Before I could change my mind, I grabbed Chase’s hand and pulled him down the stairs.
