Page 56 of Distant Shores (Stapled Magnolias #2)

His smile was shy, but his heart took off under my palm, and mine thumped harder in answer. “Someone should tell Cole that. He called me his little succulent and vowed he wouldn’t neglect me. I guess he keeps forgetting that he murdered mine by overwatering it.”

“I won’t let him overwater you. ”

“My hero,” he whispered.

Sliding my hand up his chest, I grasped his smooth jaw in my hand.

Even perched on the knee scooter, he was still taller than me. After weeks of only seeing him sitting on the couch, I’d nearly forgotten just how big he was.

Or lying on his back.

That memory had goose bumps erupting all over me. But no matter how much I ached for him, then and now, I did nothing but hold his face and look at him. Because, really, I was still trying to just… perceive him.

Adair Jacks. Here , out in the world at large.

“What’s this?” he asked, brushing his fingertip over my furrowed brow.

Still the man who missed almost nothing.

“I’ve only ever seen you here. At Live Oak.” I said, gently smoothing his hair off his forehead.

He tipped his head to the side, pushing his cheek into my hand, and I could almost see him cataloging every time we’d crossed paths. His eyes flicked over me, as if he was placing me here, in this moment, like I’d been trying to do to him.

I waited for that feeling to hit me, for my goose bumps to turn into barbs.

I used to despise the feeling of being known. Of feeling the weight of others’ impressions of me. When I showed up at Live Oak all those months ago, the very last thing I wanted was to be noticed.

It was still an effort to not wrap the blanket of shame I’d rode in with around my shoulders every day, my punishment for letting Dad down almost confused with comfort after wearing it for so long.

“Where would you like to go?” he asked, trailing his fingers down the side of my neck .

My eyes fluttered shut as I softened under his touch. Apparently, I loved being petted. I’d never known that until him.

“I don’t know,” I whispered.

When I opened my eyes again, his eyes were on my face, and he seemed just… so damn happy with whatever he saw. Content to just occupy the same space with me.

And again, I had no idea what to do with it.

But then he kissed me, and I went where he took me. His lips were soft, but so painfully sure against mine as we moved together, kissing for several long moments until a weird clicking sound made us pause.

The sound of a rapid shutter sounded, but I only processed it when Adair broke away and cradled the back of my head, pushing me into his chest.

“ Cole .” His chest rumbled. “What the hell are you doing?”

I tapped Adair’s hip, and he let me go so I could look at his best friend.

“Apple Jack told me to get pictures.”

“ Of this ?” Adair asked incredulously.

Cole shuffled on his feet, camera limp in his hand. “Well, she said to see if Ireland was ready to come upstairs, so… basically.”

Adair didn’t look happy, and I couldn’t get a read on which part upset him the most, but then he sighed. “I wanted to tell Delly first, so not a word.”

Ignoring the sinking in my stomach, I tapped his hip again. “Too late on that one.”

He turned to me in surprise.

“I told her yesterday,” I explained.

His eyes flicked between mine, and he didn’t say anything for long enough that I tried to pull away, but then a huge grin broke across his flushed face .

“Really?” he asked quietly, just for me.

It was my turn to search his face, and there was nothing but gratification there.

He liked that I’d told her.

Turning to his best friend, Adair jerked his head to the hallway. “Why don’t you skedaddle ahead and let Delly know we’re coming.”

Somehow, that worked, and Cole left.

I pulled my jean jacket around me, preparing to head upstairs, but Adair stopped me, his hands covering mine.

Then he pulled our hands apart, making the jacket slip down my shoulders.

“I’m your boyfriend,” Adair said, his eyes staying on my face even as he exposed more of my skin.

“You’re my boyfriend,” I repeated.

His hazel eyes shifted, the deep green overtaking the gold. “You told my sister about us.”

I nodded, and just before the jacket fell off me completely, he caught it, adjusting it so it stayed on, hanging around my elbows.

“I’ve been so careful, Indigo.”

“You’ve been so careful,” I said quietly. “So good.”

He shuddered, then reached for the door without looking and closed it.

Then he locked it.

He plucked at the straps crisscrossing my chest, and I stepped into his touch. My goose bumps melted under the wave of searing heat from inside me, my body flushing all over.

My gaze flicked to his obvious arousal, and I bit back a groan as I guided his hands down my chest, remembering how much he loved playing with me here.

How much I loved it.

His gaze narrowed on the straps again, and he snaked his hand down my chest to the bottom of my top, tugging at it experimentally.

With a truly excited smile, he yanked the entire thing up, exposing me to him. Before I even felt the air brush my nipples, he covered them, one with his hot mouth and the other with his broad palm, sucking and squeezing.

My head fell back on a moan as I cradled the back of his head, pushing him into me. His teeth grazed my nipple as he pinched the other, and I tucked my chin down, trying to watch, my chest heaving with pants.

But then I remembered the mirror.

Tilting my head to the side, my mouth fell open in a silent cry at our profiles. I could see everything under the vanity lights.

Adair’s big hand on my skin, his fingertips digging into me. His skewed glasses as he cupped me and licked across my nipples, one and then the other.

“ Adair .”

His answering groan was hot against my skin, and my pussy clenched at the sensation, my toes curling inside my shoes.

I saw him look up at me and tore my eyes from the mirror as he smoothed his hand down my stomach. He stopped at the band of my shorts, and after an enthusiastic nod from me, he surprised me by gripping my hips and spinning me around.

He banded his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder, and I met his eyes in the mirror as he pushed his hand into the front of my shorts.

Without stumbling even once, his firm fingers found my clit, pressing hard. My mouth parted with silent pants as I braced my head back against his shoulder, wrapping my arm behind his neck and opening myself to him as much as I could .

I felt him smile against my shoulder and kiss me there before his other hand cupped my breast, completely engulfing it.

He muttered a curse into my skin as his gaze locked on us in the mirror and he pushed two fingers inside me, dragging my wetness back to my clit.

He got right to business then, rubbing tight, fast circles there while his other hand kneaded and pinched my flesh.

I bucked and gyrated under his touch, and when I reached back toward his hardness, he nipped my neck.

“Can’t,” he rasped. “Can’t. Time. No time.”

I laughed at his jumbled words, but I got his meaning, so I just kept gripping the back of his neck and leaned into the feel of him.

His solid presence, his scent, how he made me feel just by existing, let alone with his hands on me.

It was those thoughts that had me coming.

As I gripped the ends of his hair, my body arched and was suspended in time. Unending, unyielding pleasure washed over me from my head to my toes, like a wave finally reaching shore.

Once I came back into my body, I gasped as if I’d actually been underwater, sucking in a lungful of his pine scent.

Adair nuzzled into my neck, one hand cupping me possessively within my shorts while the other turned my face toward him. He kissed me soundly, almost lazily, as if I’d given him as much pleasure as he’d given me.

After several more soul-affirming kisses, we broke apart, and awareness of the time constraints trickled back in.

My skin was so sensitive that I shivered at the feel of my own fingertips as I fixed my top back into place.

Adair gently spun me toward him and pulled the jacket back around my shoulders, then took my hair out from under its collar, arranging it neatly on the other side, then tucked my hair behind my ear.

Just how I liked it.

He smiled softly even as he adjusted himself behind his sweatpants. At my frown, he shook his head.

“So worth it, Indigo,” he said quietly. “So worth it.”

We stepped out of the room together and made for the elevator. Adair’s eyes were full of warmth and humor when we stepped on, and he raised his eyebrows at me.

With a soft laugh, I brushed past him and pushed the “3” button.

His hand came to my lower back, staying with me when I straightened.

As the elevator doors closed, I thought of Dad.

If he asked me if I’d found any happiness today when we got to his apartment, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to say “yes.”

Because when he asked that question, he didn’t mean did I experience it.

He meant did I seek it .

I couldn’t help but think of the times Adair had been the one to reach for me. Today. This past week.

Ever since we’d met, really.

I spun around and took Adair’s face between my hands and kissed the surprised gasp right off his lips.

His hands flew to my waist, anchoring me to him.

When the elevator jolted to a stop just moments later, our lips slowed, and we breathed each other’s air for those two suspended seconds before the doors opened.

The dazed look on his face as we left the elevator matched whatever was going on in my chest.

Just by letting me kiss him, by being him, he might’ve made me less of a liar.