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Looking down at her, I ran my fingers through her long, wavy hair. “What are you going to miss about this?”

Yes, I was fishing.

“Smelling your piney scent. I love it so much. I’m going to go on Amazon and buy something that smells just like you.”

Not knowing what she was talking about, I tried to hold back my laughter but ended up shaking us both with it. “If you like the way I smell so much, you can take one of my shirts home with you.”

Her head popped up. Her smile was blinding. “Really?”

I had no idea she enjoyed it that much. “Sure thing. Is there anything else you’ll miss?”

“Seeing your dimples every day.” Reaching up, she traced along one cheek. “Being in your arms, listening to you talk.”

My brows furrowed. “Even though we’ll be apart, we’ll still talk as often as we can.” Was she done with me once we separated? “You’re not done with me, are you?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be done, but it’s different hearing your voice in person than on the phone. It’s still…good, but not the same. I don’t know how to describe it.” She took in a deep breath and let it out. I felt it fan over my confused face. “I don’t think I ever told you what I thought about you when we first met.”

“No, you didn’t. What did you think?”

“The first thing was your voice, and it immediately got my panties wet.” I liked the sound of that. Sitting up against the headboard, I dragged Lexie on top of me and let her sit back against my knees. I tried to keep my eyes on hers instead of drifting down to her perky breasts and lower, but I failed quite a few times. Lexie didn’t seem to mind and continued on. “I loved the sound of your voice, and while I knew you’d be good-looking since you’re a model, I wasn’t prepared for what I turned around and saw. Ryder, you’re perfection. Your body and face,” she let out a dreamy sigh. “Even your hair. So I thought this man can’t be that perfect. He must be an asshole and have a small dick because it wouldn’t be fair for you to be the total package. At every turn, you proved me wrong. You, Ryder Williams, are the total package. Inside and out. And I’m just lucky enough to be on this ride with you. I’m in awe you’d want to be with me when you could literally have any woman in the world. Hands down.”

I had no idea Lexie felt that way about me. None whatsoever.

“Sometimes, I feel like I’m objectifying you with the way I can’t keep my eyes off you and the way you turn me on without even trying, but then you do something so amazingly sweet and caring…” Leaning forward, she cupped my cheeks. I didn’t even notice her breasts as I listened to all the amazing words Lexie had to say about me. Her beautiful words were only going to make our separation harder, but I didn’t care. I ate up every syllable that fell from her mouth. In that moment, I knew I was falling in love with her. “I know that even if you were ugly, I’d look at you the same way because you are so undeniably beautiful inside.”

I wanted to marry this girl.

Eliminating the distance between us, I crushed my mouth to hers. I knew our lips would be swollen and bruised in the morning, but I didn’t care. Each touch, each caress was like a sip of elixir that I never knew I needed. She was the balm to my lonely soul, and I never wanted to be apart from her. I wanted the world to know that my lips had been attached to hers for the entire night.

Laying her down on the bed, I hovered over her. When our eyes locked, she smiled softly at me. Slowly her hand came up to rest on my cheek. “Does that mean you liked what I said?”

“I more than liked every word that came out of your pretty little mouth,” I nipped at her bottom lip before sucking it into my mouth.

“Show me.” She demanded breathlessly from underneath me, so I did as I was ordered. For the rest of the night, I tasted every inch of her beautiful body, kissed her until our breaths were ragged, and brought her to climax more times than I could count. It was the perfect way to end our time together.

When we headed to the airport the next morning, our eyes bleary from getting no sleep, we had contented smiles on our faces until we pulled apart and it was time to say goodbye.

I left a little piece of my heart in Rio that day.

16

Lexie

1 Month Later

Crossing through my checklist,I marked off the hotel I’d just booked. Raine walked in with her giant cup of Starbucks and sank into the chair in front of my desk.

“Rough night?” I asked as I looked at her over my monitor.

My usual perky Raine was nowhere to be seen. Her clothes were rumpled, her hair was in disarray, and she had bags under her eyes. “You could say that. My roommate’s boyfriend broke up with her, and Sierra was up all night crying, so I was scrolling through different social media sites and…” She looked down at her lap and then up at me with tears in her eyes.

What had Raine so upset?

“What, honey? You can tell me whatever’s upsetting you.”

She took in a shaky breath before she opened and closed her mouth a few times. “I don’t think so; you’re not going to like it.”

“Was someone talking trash about me?” I didn’t really care if they were. It wasn’t going to hurt my feelings.