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“C’mere.”
I hesitated, but the pull was stronger than my nerves.
I let him guide me into his lap, the arms of the chair wide enough for both of us, barely. His arms slid around my waist like they belonged there, his chest warm against my back.
I should’ve pulled away.
Instead, I settled in.
“Comfortable?” he asked, voice low near my ear.
“No,” I whispered.
His laugh rumbled against my spine. “Liar.”
We sat like that for a long moment, the breeze lifting the hem of my dress and the heat of his hands spreading like wildfire where they rested on my hips.
“You’re quiet,” he murmured.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I said honestly.
“This?”
“This … being close to someone. Letting it mean something.”
His arms tightened slightly. “Then let it mean nothing for tonight. Just feel what you feel.”
I closed my eyes, trying to follow the rhythm of thewater, the breath in my lungs, the weight of his body against mine.
“I shouldn’t want this,” I whispered.
“But you do.”
I turned my head just enough to glance back at him. His face was inches from mine, the last light of the evening catching the sharp line of his jaw, the shadows beneath his eyes.
“I’m not good for you,” he said. “But God, I want to be.”
And then he kissed me.
Soft at first, like he was asking permission with every inch.
Then deeper.
Hotter.
I curled into him, one hand at the base of his neck, the other clutching his shirt like I didn’t want the world to exist beyond the four corners of that dock.
It wasn’t just a kiss.
It was a breaking.
A falling.
And something in me knew—nothing would be the same again.
10
NOAH