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“Gemma Jones.”
Gesturing ahead as we took our first steps, his arm swept out in front of me. “Well, Gemma, I promise this tour is going to be the start of a very special week for you.”
That much I’d already figured out, but didn’t say anything.
* * *
For the next week, Lance and I did a dance around each other as we kept bumping into one another, our chemistry growing more palpable by the meeting. First on the beach, then the pool, at the bar, and outside by the valet where I was waiting for my car to journey off the property for an evening. Whether it was destiny playing with us or something else, I wasn’t sure, but as much as we both seemed to want to jump each other’s bones, neither of us gave in. I was working for the resort, but technically staying as a guest, and he was an employee who wasn’t allowed to have relations with guests. It was a tangled web of deceit that I didn’t want to entangle myself in.
It didn’t matter now, though. I was leaving, getting on the elevator to go back to my room from breakfast where I was all ready to check out, to collect my bags and walk to my car where I’d drive the four plus hours back to Orlando. It was all planned out and there seemed to be no reason for me to stick around.
Don’t get me wrong, I considered finding Lance and telling him that today I would no longer be a guest, that technically he wouldn’t be breaking any rules. But he knew I was here for a week and where to find me if he wanted me.
I also respected that things must be more complicated for him because he had a son. Being a single dad must’ve gotten lonely, though.
Before I could finish my train of thought, my heart threatened to beat right out of my chest at the sight of a strong hand stopping the elevator doors before they fully shut.
Lance.
He stepped into the elevator with me and said, “We have to stop meeting like this,” looking over at me as he leaned against the wall and grinned. Always the flirt.
I scanned his body and dragged my tongue over the corner of my mouth. He was wearing a light blue buttoned-down shirt with board shorts and sandals. When my eyes finally connected with his, neither of us seemed to be able to look away. “Lance,” I said breathy, barely able to find the words. “I’m on my way to get my things to check out.” Could I be any more obvious about the effect he was having on me? “I’m leaving,” I tried again. If he wasn’t staring at me, I would’ve slapped my forehead. This was what I wanted, I reminded myself, to see Lance again. So why was I acting like a blubbering mess?
“Easily the longest week of my life,” he told me. My eyes rapidly flew from his eyes to his lips, where he watched them move as he said, “I was hoping I’d catch you before you left.” He stepped away from the wall and began moving closer to me. With every inch closer he got, my brain screamed, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” If I was right, he was going to kiss me. And I was going to let him.
When he fully had me backed into the corner, he brought his hand to my cheek and I leaned into his touch, loving the way it felt to be touched by this man that had invaded my thoughts since the first time I saw him in Felicity’s office.
“Listen, I played by the rules and waited the week, but you’re not a guest anymore and I’ve waited to do this since the first moment we met. I think you have, too,” he said, his mouth a hair’s breath away from mine at this point.
I slowly nodded and stared at his lips. Without another word or any argument from me, he dropped his head, looked at my lips and moved his hand to lift my jaw before pressing his lips against mine. Neither one of us took the kiss any further, but I’d have been lying if I said I didn’t want to, that I didn’t want to feel his fingers on the rest of my body. It was just as gentle a touch as his kiss but both held the promise of so much more.
Placing my fingers over my lips where his just laid, I looked up at him, drinking in this sexy man who charmed me right from the start. “Maybe I can extend my trip,” I decided before adding, “for pleasure.”
Chapter Two
Gemma
“Coffee, croissants, and chocolate chip muffins from the bakery downstairs,” Lance said, strolling back into the hotel room with a white bag and coffee tray. A girl could get used to such fine treatment, especially when they were being delivered breakfast in bed by one of the hottest men they’d ever laid eyes on. I was easily the luckiest girl in the world. To have this man all to myself? I had never been so glad I decided to extend a trip in my life.
I was sitting criss-crossed on the bed, wearing nothing more than his polo shirt. It was big on me, though, so came mid-thigh. “Mmm,” I moaned, and stretched off the bed, leaning forward for a kiss. “You know, what I like more than croissants and chocolate chip muffins?”
He walked over, closing the gap between us and laid the bag on the bed next to me before coming over to me. “Me?” he asked before lavishing me with the attention I craved. I curled my hands into his hair, fussing with the hair on the nape of his neck, as he brought his lips down to me. He tasted like coffee and smelt of aftershave. I licked my lips when we broke apart and sighed happily, closing my eyes. “It’s a good morning, beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked, coming to sit next to me on the bed.
I looked over at him and placed my head on his shoulders as he rubbed my back with one hand and started opening the bag with the other. “Indeed,” I responded. I didn’t think life could get much better. I didn’t want to ever leave this room. I certainly didn’t want Lance to leave this room. But like every other day, this day would be no different, and he’d have to go to work eventually. Some days we got lucky because he didn’t have surf lessons scheduled until later in the day, so we could enjoy a leisurely morning together, but other days not so much. Today we were lucky, though.
“Here’s your coffee,” he remarked, handing me mine. I clutched the cup and took in the incredible smell. “Cream and sugar, just the way you like it.”
I held a hand to my chest and smiled. “You’re starting to come around to this idea of cream and sugar in coffee, aren’t you?”
He shook his head. “No, I’m not. I still don’t know how you call that coffee.”
I feigned surprise. “You mean, you don’t like to drink your coffee any other way but black?”
He raised a brow and gave me a you-know-I-don’t look that immediately had me chuckling.
I kissed the line that appeared on his forehead and went back to drinking my coffee. “I know you well enough by now to know you hate coffee any other way but black.” I shivered just thinking about the bitter taste black coffee had. “I just don’t know how you drink it like that.”
He shrugged and broke a piece off his muffin. “Never did care for anything that sweet in the morning.”
