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“Did you say suite?”
“I did. Come on and let’s see it.”
Sterling had picked the Pacific View Suite for Reese, which sat in a corner, giving ocean views on two sides. It was one of his favorite suites, where you felt like you were in a room that was an extension of the beach.
“Sterling,” Reese breathed out as they entered. He couldn’t contain the grin on his face. It felt so good to spoil her. “This is too much!”
Like the lobby, the room felt like a home, not a hotel. But Reese ignored the luxury details and went straight for one of the balconies and opened the doors wide, stepping out into the sun. He couldn’t blame her. She leaned forward, hands on the railing.
Sterling wanted to come up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist, but hesitated. He had been touching her almost since the airport, but would this be too much? Swallowing back his nerves and the thoughts that held him back, he moved behind her and circled his arms around her, resting his head lightly on her shoulder. She relaxed back into him with a sigh and he pulled her even closer, luxuriating in the feel of her in his arms.
“You like it? I wanted you to have the best.” He spoke close to her ear and felt her shiver.
“If this is my room, I can’t wait to see yours.”
“You might be a little disappointed,” he said. “Mine is a normal room. I wanted you to have the suite.”
Reese spun out of his arms, turning to face him with her back against the balcony railing. The breeze moved her hair around her face. “You can’t do that! I don’t need this. It’s too much, Sterling!”
He shifted forward, putting his hands on the railing to either side of her. She was so close. His pulse picked up its tempo and his nerves were stuttering, sending a wave of sensations through him. The desire to kiss her was almost untamable.
As he spoke, he inched closer. “I can do it. I did do it. And you can’t do anything to stop me. Some women would just say ‘thank you.’”
Reese opened her mouth, but then didn’t speak. Her eyes darted over his face, not resting on any one place too long. Sterling brushed her hair back over her shoulder and she trembled as his fingers touched her neck. He slid his hand down her shoulder and back to the railing, keeping her trapped.
Her gray eyes looked more blue in the sunlight and Sterling felt like she was pleading with him. He wanted to bridge the distance between them and kiss her. Is that what she wanted? Was she pleading that he kiss her? Or pleading that he step away?
As he leaned forward, she closed her eyes, lips slightly parting. Her breathing seemed to stop. Sterling put his cheek to hers instead of fusing their lips together. He was so close now that he could feel her body shaking.
“Tell me no,” he said. “If this isn’t what you want, tell me.”
His lips brushed her cheek as he spoke, and he clenched his arms, trying to hold himself back. Her skin felt so soft against his. He loved the way the stubble on his jaw and cheek dragged over her smooth skin. He waited. Reese didn’t move and didn’t speak.
“Tell me what you want,” he said, feeling like any moment his heart would ricochet out of his chest and explode like fireworks over the beach. Heat flooded his chest and neck. His grip on the railing was punishing.
He didn’t want to push her. He didn’t want to take something that she didn’t want to give. Everything in him told him that she felt the same way, but he could also feel her struggling. Debating. They had toed the line for a while and probably crossed it today. But a kiss would be like both of them jumping right over the invisible line together.
When Reese spoke, her voice was hardly more than a whisper. He felt it against his cheek more than he heard it and the feel drove him wild.
“I want you, Sterling.”
It took every bit of self-control he possessed not to crush his lips to hers. He wanted to be slow instead. You could only have one first kiss.
Lifting his hands from the railing on either side of her, Sterling cupped them around her face, hoping his calloused fingers weren’t too rough on her delicate skin. Her eyes were still closed and her breathing shallow. He brushed his thumbs over the swell of her cheeks and watched her eyelids flutter open.
He paused before her, his lips so close to hers that when she spoke little puffs of air tickled his skin.
“Too … slow …” she breathed.
Smiling, Sterling brushed his lips over hers lightly. Teasing her. She made a strangled groaning sound that had him smiling even more. It was hard to kiss while smiling, but when he finally did press his lips to hers, it was still the single best kiss of his life, right from the start.
It wasn’t so much the kiss. It was her.
She kissed him back like she had been starving, just for him, and now could not get her fill. Her hands touched his chest and it was like lightning struck him there. She moved her hands to his neck, then to the back of his head where they ran through his hair, pulling him even closer.
Sterling heard music playing in his head, notes tumbling over each other. If he hadn’t been so engrossed in this moment, he would have run for his guitar to get the melody down. But he could not have broken away from Reese if he tried, not even to capture the music in his head. His hands still cupped her cheeks and he dropped them to her waist, then circled around her back. His fingers moved over her back like she was a one-of-a-kind instrument he had been deemed worthy enough to play.
After a few minutes, Reese pulled back and rested her forehead against his. They were both breathing heavily and she laughed softly. “That was—I mean, you are—” She shook her head slightly, not losing contact with his forehead. “I don’t have any words.”
