Page 24 of Starting Back
“Where are we headed after this? Not trying to take the fun out of it, just curious.”
His mouth curved up, a plan to drag him into the back seat of his truck and devour his mouth right before I ran my tongue along the ink trailing his glorious arms blossoming in my brain.
“To see all of the Keys takes a few hours, but I thought I’d show you my favorite beach and we could stop at a good seafood place on the way back.” He stilled as he made his way to the back of the truck and swiveled his head toward me. “If you don’t like seafood, we can stop somewhere else.”
“I do, sounds like a good plan.” I bit back a smile. Leo was proverbial sex on a stick, but I’d caught a couple of cracks of vulnerability last night and today which made him even more irresistible.
The more time we spent together, the more the attraction grew, but I liked Leo. Granted, I hadn’t known him long enough to learn any of his habits, but it was easy to spot a nice guy. My father and my brother had set that standard for me early.
Colin was sweet when we first met, which seemed so long ago it didn’t even feel like part of this lifetime. I’d gotten too used to a man who grumbled more than smiled.
I guessed simple consideration was my new kink.
I let my gaze fall on Leo’s back as he rooted around for something in the trunk. His muscles worked under his T-shirt as he leaned forward, tempting my eyes lower. Every inch of him was toned and rippling, as if his body was photoshopped to be that perfect, but I’d touched and felt enough of him pressed against me to know he was all real.
If I weren’t preoccupied with keeping my tongue inside my mouth, I would have snapped another picture for Nicole and Peyton, but I liked keeping him to myself. For the little time I’d have Leo, I didn’t want to share him.
“Ah, here it is,” he said before straightening and turning back toward me. “This should have enough room for both of us.” He held up a beach towel that seemed huge even folded up. “Ready, or do you want to stare at my ass for a little longer before we head to the beach?”
I shrugged. “I was just appreciating all the beauty the Keys have to offer like you’re supposed to do when you’re on vacation.”
He burst out laughing before he slammed the trunk shut and came back over to me.
“Yes, very good.” He dragged the tip of his finger across my brow. “The line is starting to fade. You look more relaxed already.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead and picked up my hand like we’d done it a million times before. I followed him toward the beach, ogling him once more as he set the towel down near the shade of a palm tree.
“It’s nice not to have a schedule or anywhere to be.” I hugged my knees into my chest. “I’m in for a shock when I get home.” I chuckled, but he only nodded when I lifted my head.
“This day is all up to you. I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
I folded my arms and rested my head in the crook of my elbow.
“I’m happy where I am for now. I can see why you like living here.”
His features tensed for a moment. “It’s good. For the time being anyway.”
There was a noticeable pinch in his brow when his eyes came back to mine.
“I’m always fascinated by people who’ve lived in so many places. It makes me sad for myself, as I’ve never moved out of the town I grew up in.”
“How come?”
It was my turn to stare into space. Why did I never leave?
“I met Colin in college, and staying in town seemed natural. My family was there, all my friends. It never occurred to me to move. Sometimes…” I sighed, digging my heels into the sand. “Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to move somewhere new, where no one knows me or my family or what I looked like in high school. This is the closest I’ve come to doing that.”
I shifted toward Leo, careful not to bunch up the towel under me.
“So, in a way, I know a side of you others don’t.” My breath caught when he feathered the back of his hand down my cheek.
“What side is that?” I asked, not recognizing my own breathless whisper.
“Well, you’re right. I don’t know you as anyone’s mother, sister, or as a woman from town. I just know the beautiful woman who deserves so much more than she seems to let herself have, and ever since I met you, I have this strange urge to give you all I can for as long as I have you.”
He ran his lips over my jaw and down my neck. I’d become familiar with strange urges since we’d met too, the most overpowering one to take whatever Leo had to give. The guilt I had over taking a solo vacation was gone, evaporating into the salty sea air as Leo’s mouth covered mine. I whimpered into his mouth as he delved his tongue across the seam of my lips. I exhaled a happy sigh as I let him in, licking into his mouth with long strokes and savoring his taste to lock it into my memories forafter. When I was back to my old but still new life and didn’t know how to want things for myself.
We leaned back on the towel, my legs falling open as Leo settled between them. I dug my fingers into his hair as he moaned into my mouth, his erection hot and heavy against my core as he pressed us into the towel.
His groan reverberated against my chest before he buried his head into the crook of my neck.
