Page 12 of Starting Back
I turned my head to the sexy smile playing on his lips. Why did a man’s hand on the small of your back always seem so intimate? Every time we touched, there was an actual spark, a jolt when our skin made contact that caused both of us to leap back on instinct. But this time, I let myself enjoy the rush, while still fighting the urge to lean back against his palm.
“No, I’m good.” I took a quick look down, relieved that my white dress wasn’t stained. “A taco bar on a beach is pure genius, with or without the movie.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Maybe even had a little…fun?”
I laughed at the quirk in his brow.
“Fine. I admit it. I had fun. And it wasn’t too painful.”
A wide grin split his mouth. Itwasfun and invigorating to worry only about myself and enjoy the moment. I hadn’t felt that relaxed—at least as relaxed as I could be this close to Leo—in years.
I’d sat with my legs stretched out during the movie to prevent the hem of my dress from riding up, even though the beach was dark. Leo sat with his knees to his chest. I rested my shoulder against his for the last half hour, sneaking glances at him during the movie and spotting a few from him in my periphery as he leaned back into me.
His arm was like a long, muscular brick, and being this close to him was comforting and exhilarating, not at all weird like it should have been.
It was inappropriate, not because it was too fast to be sitting on the sand like a couple, but because it didn’tseemwrong or fast.
“Thanks for this. I’m sure you want to get home and get some sleep before starting your shift wherever you’re working tomorrow.”
“It’s not even ten. I can stay up if you can.” He shoved his hands into his pockets as we made our way back to the resort area. He seemed jumpy, as if he’d slid his hands in his pockets because he didn’t know what to do with them.
I flexed my own hands back and forth into fists at my sides for the same reason.
“I can. I left Nicole in charge of what to plan at night, and when she got sick, I only focused on whether I should still come, so I never investigated the nightlife.”
Or ever planned on truly participating in the nightlife in the first place.
“What else is there to do here?” As we walked, I gathered the hair at my neck and lifted it off my drenched nape. “Besides sweat.”
“Florida in July is Satan’s backyard.” He chuckled. “You can go for a swim if you want.” He motioned toward the crowd in the pool, drinking and splashing and not enticing me in the least.
“I’m sure if I go in, they’ll feel like their mother is crashing the party.” I snickered, peeking at the small crowd thrashing around and throwing one another into the pool. They all seemed only a few years older than Chloe, enough to be of drinking age—I hoped.
While I cringed thinking of her as a young adult taking shots poolside like the group, I wanted to see her carefree and not full of worry at that age.
But to get her there, I had to work on me first.
“Well,” Leo started, tilting his head to the side. “I know of a more private pool. Around the back.”
“You mean staff quarters?”
Leo chuckled when I batted my eyelashes. “Do I need to carry a watermelon in?”
He laughed at my silly reference to the scene in the movie we’d just watched where Baby carried a watermelon into a private staff party of debauchery.
“No, no private dance party. Just a place to cool off. If you want to go change and meet me back here, we can take a dip if you’d like.”
A little air drained from my lungs when I spied the heat in Leo’s eyes. I still didn’t know much about him other than small talk, but I yearned to know more and didn’t want the night to end yet.
Being alone with him wasn’t a good idea for a lot of reasons. But what unnerved me the most about going off with him wasn’t that I didn’t completely trust him yet. I didn’t trustmyself. I had no reason to believe he was asking for anything other than a quick dip in the water, but I was considering things I shouldn’t have been with someone I’d only just met, and that was dangerous on too many levels.
“There is always someone back there, and while it’s more private, it’s still out in the open because that’s where the seasonal staff stays for the summers,” Leo assured me as if he could read my mind. “I promise I’m harmless, but we won’t be completely alone if that’s what’s bothering you.”
“It’s not bothering me. I know you’re harmless. I mean…” I draped my hand over my eyes and groaned. “I would love it if I could just stop making an idiot out of myself in front of you. I had a nice two-hour streak during the movie when I didn’t have to speak.”
I laughed, but Leo didn’t laugh with me or smile. His gaze was serious and intense as he came closer.
“You have this line right across here.” My eyelids fluttered when he dragged his finger across my forehead. “I managed to get rid of it for a while this afternoon and tonight, but it looks like you’re thinking too hard about something. We’ll go in and cool off, nothing more.”
