Ty was actually grateful for the new boat that cruised into sight off the point. As he’d told her, this time of year, there were more locals and regulars out than strangers, but this was a brand that was chiefly used by a boat-rental operation near the park.
He watched the small vessel for a moment, noticed the turn and the overcorrection as it tried to get closer. Unfamiliarity with the controls, or maybe boats in general.
It was enough.
“Time to head back,” he said, still watching.
“What is it?”
“Time to head back,” he repeated, turning and taking her elbow in case she wanted to argue. Even as he thought it, she denied it.
“I wasn’t arguing, but why? That boat you were staring at?”
“It’s a rental.”
“Is that unusual?”
“Sort of. It’s from a place that closes down to just a few boats this time of year, so they can repair and maintain the rest of their fleet.” He glanced at her, then. “I used to work there summers, and some of those renters brought boats back in sorry shape.”
She looked out toward the newcomer. “Like this guy, who can’t figure out the controls?” No, she didn’t miss much. He’d just had the thought when he heard her breath catch. “You think he’s here...because of me?”
“I think we don’t gamble he’s not.”
To his relief, she didn’t make a case out of it and started back the way they had come. He felt a little easier once they were out of sight from the water, knowing that if it had been someone intent on her, they’d been far enough out and the boat’s driver awkward enough that they likely hadn’t had a chance to verify it was her.
She seemed intent on the walk, but he knew all too well by now that that agile mind of hers never rested. She would be hell on wheels to try to keep up with.
Why he was even thinking that escaped him. It certainly wouldn’t be his job to keep up with her, not after this was over. Since she’d only promised her parents two weeks, it soon would be. Although he had a feeling if Elite could show a valid actual threat, her parents would at least try to convince her to extend the situation. He didn’t know whether to hope for that or not.
Of course not, you idiot. You want her in danger?
No, he didn’t. But he wasn’t looking forward to the end of this job, either. He’d gotten too much enjoyment—something rare enough for him to be notable—out of the quiet hours they’d spent reading, or the time spent hiking, fishing or just talking.
Of course, it would be entirely different on the outside. In her normal life, she’d be on the go all the time, jetting here and there, mostly glued to that phone of hers, or being interviewed or making speeches or giving talks on her favorite causes. There wouldn’t be many quiet, peaceful hours of the sort they’d shared under these conditions. No, her life was not only different, it took place in a different world, and one he wanted no part of.
As if that were an issue. It’s not like she—
He heard her let out a little cry in the same instant he saw her start to fall backward toward him as she apparently slipped or put her foot down wrong. He reacted instinctively, instantly grabbing her and stepping forward at the same time. She stayed upright but ended up pressed solidly against him.
“Oh,” she said, rather breathlessly.
Yeah. Oh.
He thought it as his body went on full alert. The jolt of adrenaline when he’d thought she would fall had shifted to other purposes, and when he felt the taut, luscious curve of her backside pressed against him, there was no denying where it had gone.
He should let her go, step back, yet the simple act seemed beyond him at the moment. And so he held on, until she turned in his arms, obviously unaware of what the added friction was doing to him.
She stood there, looking up at him with the oddest expression. Warm yet cautious, shy yet intent. And that smile, that slight curve of those soft lips he just knew would be warm and pliant, was the sweetest damn thing he’d ever seen.
And then she was moving, still pressed against him but stretching up, her slender body sliding over him in a way that made newly awakened parts start demanding.
“Ash...”
He couldn’t even finish her name, because he’d known where she was headed. Again, he gave his body the order to step back, to get his hands off her. And again, it ignored him, far too enamored of the feel of her to give it up merely because he knew he should.
Then she was kissing him, and it was more than even his recently vivid imagination could ever have produced. Her mouth wasn’t just warm and pliant. It was luscious, sweet and at the same time fierce and demanding. And when he felt the tip of her tongue brush over his lower lip, it sent a shudder of sensation through him and he was lost.
For a moment, Ashley was afraid she’d miscalculated. Or else she’d stunned him, which was more acceptable than thinking he hadn’t wanted this at all.
But that was her last coherent thought. In the instant after she had her first delicious taste of him on the tip of her tongue, he broke and was kissing her back. She knew he had wanted this, and if his intensity was anything to go by, he’d wanted it as much as she had. That made her want even more.
She hungrily deepened the kiss and savored the low groan that ripped from his throat. Her head spun, but she didn’t care, as long as he didn’t stop. The ground seemed to shift, until that slip and near fall she’d manufactured might become the real thing. It built and built as she probed, tasted, relished. Only a need for air, after longer than she would have thought possible, made her pull back enough to catch a breath.
His fingers tightened on her shoulders, as if he were afraid she would bolt, which made no sense since she’d started this. With full and aware intent. But without any idea what it would really be like, with no clue about the way it would erupt into a searing blaze. How could she have any idea, when she’d never felt anything like it in her life?
Her first thought, when friends told her of their own experiences, was that the accounts were exaggerations. That while you could feel attracted, even fiercely so, to someone, the tales of fire and soaring sensation were hyperbole. But then she would think of her parents, and their decades-long love affair, and the fact that despite their wealth, all they had ever told her to do was to find the kind of love they had and be happy. The more disconcerting fact was that they both insisted that they’d known their destiny before they’d even spoken, the moment they’d spotted each other across a college lecture hall.
That she was thinking that now, after a kiss that had shaken her from head to toe, was beyond unsettling. If Ty hadn’t looked as stunned as she felt, she didn’t know what she would have done.
He started to pull back, or at least tried to, but it seemed he was no more able to move away than she was. She caught a glimpse of his eyes, a darker blue than ever, heard him suck in a breath so deep it hinted that he’d needed it as badly as she had. Then his head came back down, his mouth captured hers, and she felt an entirely different kind of thrill, which made no sense to her either. Why would it be different? Why would him kissing her instead of the other way around be so very...special?
Then she was lost again in that flood of sensation, that rippling heat, until she was clutching at him almost wildly, wanting more, ever more. Right here, right now, on the cold ground, she didn’t care. She had to have more. She had to have it all. With him, it had to be all.
When he broke the kiss, her head kept spinning for a moment. She heard a low, faint “Damn,” and it took her a moment to register he’d actually said it. She felt a shudder go through him, ending with his hands tightening on her shoulders once more. And then he stepped firmly, purposefully back away from her. If she hadn’t had the prominent evidence that he’d been as aroused as she had been pressing against her abdomen seconds ago, she might have felt hurt.
“That should never have happened,” he said stiffly. “I’m sorry.”
She, who had an answer for every situation, didn’t seem to have one ready for this. It took her a moment to remember how to speak, anyway.
“I...believe I’m the one who started it.”
“Doesn’t matter. I should have stopped it.”
She should have realized he would react this way. If she’d learned nothing else about Ty Colton this week, it was that he took his job—protecting her—very seriously. And obviously, in his mind, that included protecting her from him. Even if she didn’t want that particular protection.
“I’m very glad you didn’t,” she said softly. “I wouldn’t have missed that for the world.”
He looked startled that she’d said it, but when he looked away, as if he couldn’t meet her gaze any longer, she thought she saw the slightest curve of one corner of his mouth. As if he were pleased but didn’t dare show it.
“It’s getting late. We’d better get back.” His voice was so rough she knew she’d been right. And that was enough.
For now.