Peachy Keen (11 page)

“Your parents?”

I nodded. “I don’t remember them ever liking each other. And at a certain point they started actively hating each other. They got a divorce when I was sixteen.” My lips pressed together in a thin line and I took a long drag from my quickly dwindling beer. “Lots of people’s parents are divorced. I don’t think I’m special or anything, but my inner psychoanalyst can assume that’s why I’ve never…”

“Wait. You’ve
never
had a boyfriend?” he asked hesitantly.

I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. The shocked look on his face made me feel no more than two inches tall. Every time I even thought about my history with relationships, I was embarrassed. I was the oddball girl who didn’t look at every guy as a future husband or really anything more than a night’s fun—an addition to the monthly roster if I was lucky. But something about the way Harrison looked at me in that moment, and the fact that his own admission of his romantic past had poured jealousy into my body…I was saddened. Had I wasted opportunities in love? Had I missed something great by keeping my walls solid all these years, never letting a man get further than my bed? If I’d had at least one example of a functioning adult relationship with a man, would I feel less afraid of the foolish desires that kept swarming me the more time I spent with Harrison?

“What’s the other reason?”

I looked over at him, the clouds in my mind darkening the more I damned myself for the choices I’d made. “What?”

“You said there were two reasons you don’t have a boyfriend.”

A laugh escaped me and I answered honestly, before I could think to censor myself—my ease around Harrison and the comfort of his new friendship all the more apparent. “Well, what do they say? Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”

It was his turn to answer with silence. The artificial smile on my lips faded when I watched his expression soften on me.

“I like to have fun. Always have. I mean, you’ve seen me in action,” I said, my mouth two steps ahead of my heart. “I like sex and I’ve never really made apologies for that. But I don’t think any guy has ever seen how quickly I jump into bed and thought ‘now there’s a girl I can take back home to Mommy.’ You’re either a lady or a tramp and it’s easy to see which one I am.”

“Why do you say stuff like that?” he snapped. My lips were parting to ask him what he meant, but he shook his head angrily and continued. “Like that night, you said I’d think you were a slut for being with me and not knowing my name. I don’t. You’re not.”

The pulse of electricity shooting through my ribcage nauseated me. The dark look in his eyes and the sheer conviction in his voice as he scolded me were things I’d never witnessed from a man. I waited to feel shamed by him. I waited for him to nod in agreement—assuring me that he knew my reasons for barring the notion of our vacation affair were justified. That night he scattered chills over my flesh and elevated me to another plane of ecstasy, I saw something in his eyes. It scared me and intrigued me and crushed me all at once. Harrison saw through my walls without even knowing my name.  

“Is that what you think of yourself?” he asked quietly.

“No.” It was only half a lie. The truth was, I tried hard not to think of myself that way, but sometimes the world’s opinion pressed itself upon me. Sometimes I looked in the mirror and saw a stereotype—a busty blonde who spreads her legs easily—though I knew I was more.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of. I…I envy you.”

My eyes flashed to meet his and I broke into a smile, letting a laugh distract me from the vulnerable way his gaze made me feel. “Yeah? Wish you could slut it up more often? Have I created a monster?”

“Stop,” he said, moving closer to me. “Stop talking about my friend that way.”

Air caught in my throat as the warmth of his breath tickled the top of my shoulder. “What is there to envy about me?” I whispered.

His deep brown eyes danced across my face for a silent moment. “You’re fearless. Girls I know, girls like Meredith, would never have the guts to take a vacation alone without batting an eye the way you did. You vowed to leave you nine-to-five job behind for a new gig teaching sexy exercise classes! No one does that, but think of how much happier people would be if they did. You don’t ask for opinions, approval, or permission for a single thing in your life because it’s
yours
. I don’t know. Ninety percent of the time I’ve spent with you, I’ve been fascinated by an amazing, bold, confident, beautiful woman...”

His hand rose to repeat a move from last night, brushing a few windblown strands of my hair away from my face, and he wet his lips.

“And the other ten percent of the time?”

He sighed and his jaw shifted. “You’ve called yourself names and left me wondering about one thing… I just don’t understand why you care so much about what Danielle and Evan would think. Of your trip. Of you and me.”

I pulled a trembling breath in between my lips as I hung on to his words. “I’m not fearless.” I sighed. It was all I could muster. How were my walls so incredibly sheer to him and him alone?

With his fingers still near my face, he traced my jaw delicately and watched the goosebumps break out along my arms. “Tell me what you’re afraid of then,” Harrison murmured, inching even closer to me.

“You.”

His brows cinched together and a frown pulled at his lips. He scared the hell out of me. The way he made me feel, the way my body reacted to him after the simplest of motions. He’d scared me before I even knew his name. Harrison’s hands dropped from my face and just when he moved to give me space, I locked my hand at the back of his neck and let my fingers thread into his hair.

“This,” I said, pulling him to me.

He groaned the moment our mouths met and I reveled in the wave of exultation that rippled through my senses at the noise. His strong hands came to cradle my head and I lost my grip on him, relinquishing control completely.

Harrison melted me the way warm tea melts sugar. Slowly and deliberately. And although he destroyed me with the kiss, changing me ever so slightly to enjoy me…he did so with the sweetest of intentions.

11.

Do That to Me One More Time

Georgia

I pulled back from the kiss and rested my forehead to his as a whimpering sigh fell from my lips.

“We can’t,” I breathed.

Harrison’s hands smoothed over my hair and traced sweeping lines down the back of my neck. For a moment, my mind blanked out and I let my other senses step back so I could relish the feeling of his gentle touch. I’d been pushing every tempting thought of him so far out of my mind since the instant I figured out who he was that I’d completely banished the recognition of how perfectly his fingers eased my soul and lit me up from the inside out.

“We already have,” Harrison whispered as he moved me away from him just enough so he could press his lips to my forehead.

My head shook slowly back and forth. The pulsing neon words spelling out the reasons why we shouldn’t lodged pain behind my eyes. Despite Harrison’s words about what an amazing, confident girl I was, he’d never denied that I was the fun, free-loving, anti-girlfriend. He was too good of a man to fixate on a woman like me. He was thoughtful and funny and sexy and chivalrous. While I remained the opposite of girlfriend material, it was clear Harrison would make the perfect boyfriend—husband, even. Just not for me.

His hands slid to the tops of my shoulders where heat from my light sunburn radiated off my skin. He gently moved me back and looked me squarely in the eye.

“Okay,” he said.

“Okay?”

“You have your reasons. I don’t understand them at all—I wish like hell I did, but I’ll respect them.”

My stomach dropped, realizing he was accepting my termination of…us. He wasn’t going to push me or convince me or beg me.

“I’m just glad I got to kiss you one more time,” he added with a smile.

I exhaled a light laugh and put one hand on the side of his face, stroking the thick, dark beard he wore. “Thank you,” I replied as I sat back a little farther away from him, nervous that the warmth of his breath and the strength of his stare might cause me to waver.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “It’ll be a hell of a lot easier when we aren’t secluded at a romantic resort together, don’t you think? Sunsets, bikinis, and free drinks don’t exactly suppress attraction.”

I chuckled and slipped completely out of his grasp, running my hands over my face and hair with a soft groan. “Yeah, you’re right. We won’t even have that many opportunities to see each other once we’re back. Self-control won’t be an issue in a few days.”

“I leave tomorrow,” Harrison said.

My eyes snapped up to meet his and, watching his grim expression struggle to stretch into a smile, I felt sick. So that was that. By tomorrow, he’d be gone, I’d be alone at Desire, and we’d be nothing more than two friends. I’d introduce myself to him again in a few weeks at his birthday party. I’d go back to scrolling through my contacts list for a lay and I wouldn’t have to think about the complication named Harrison Simms ever again.

I heard him sigh heavily and shift to lean his shoulders against the rock behind him. My eyes grazed over his body as he opened a book, turning to the first page. I craned my neck to see the cover of yet another worn paperback, this time
Great Expectations
. Who would’ve thought well-read would suddenly be a turn on?

“You finished
Gatsby
,” I noted, repositioning to lie on my back, my head near the rock that shaded my upper half. Harrison hummed an affirmative. “I should’ve brought books.” I muttered my internal thought to the clear blue sky. Books hadn’t crossed my mind when I was packing. I figured the anticipated dancing, drinking, and screwing would’ve left me far too preoccupied to read on this vacation. Now I craved a distraction from him and the things I so desperately wanted to do with him.

“Have you read this one?” Harrison asked, closing the book on his finger as he flashed me the cover.

I shook my head and a crooked grin pulled at his lips.

“Then allow me.”

My brow furrowed but the moment he set his eyes on the page and began reading aloud, I grinned. I put my hands behind my head and settled comfortably on my towel beside Harrison as he read me the classic in the most soothing tone. Soon my eyes drifted closed and the sound of his voice, along with the thick, warm air lured me to sleep.

***

The feeling of a hand rubbing my shoulder was the first thing to stir me. Then a bit of a chill made me hug my arms around my middle and I felt something covering me. Finally, a voice from above me caused my eyes to open.

“Georgia, wake up, hon.”

Hon?
A sleepy grin spread on my face.
Honey.

I heard a soft chuckle. “Come on, sleepyhead. The last boat is here and I’m not swimming back,” Harrison said.

I drew in a deep breath through my nose, the oxygen waking me up a little more. I sat up and saw that clouds had rolled in, darkening the entire beach. Harrison crouched next to me with a half-smile and his beach towel covered me like a blanket. Pulling myself from the confusion of sleep, I moved the towel to my thighs and sat up, scrubbing at my face.

“How long was I out?”

“You didn’t make it through chapter one.” He laughed as he extended his hand to help me to my feet. “It’s been about an hour. It’s looking like rain so they want everyone to go back.”

I dusted a little sand off my legs and leaned back for a good stretch. The sky had dimmed and the air had grown colder. I saw the boat pulled up on the shore and followed Harrison’s lead, taking his hand when he offered it again to help me aboard. By the time we were at sea, it had begun sprinkling at Lover’s Beach. Harrison took the towel he’d turned into a makeshift blanket for me and held it over our heads as an improvised umbrella. Without thinking, I snuggled under his arm and caught his tempting scent.

The rain shower only lasted a moment and as Harrison lowered the beach towel, he kept his gaze on me and left his arm draped over my shoulders, keeping me tucked beside him.

“Thanks,” I said over the sounds of the rough waves.

“Of course,” he replied. “You wanna grab dinner tonight?”

I beamed up at him uncontrollably, still loose from sleep. Mashing my lips together, I smothered the smile and merely nodded. It was only dinner. It was only one more night.

We spent the rest of the boat ride and the entire bus ride back from the marina in comfortable silence. He watched slyly as I slipped my clothes on over my bathing suit before we boarded the bus, clearing his throat when I shot him a coy smile after catching him. But he was the one smirking when he heard my distinctly happy sigh the moment he put his arm around me on the bus, matching the cozy position we’d settled into on the boat.

Hadn’t I shut this all down after that foolish kiss? What flustered me so much in an hour’s time that had me sighing at his touch and breathing in the scent of his skin so deeply it seemed I was trying to inhale his life force?

Strolling beside him through the courtyard, taking the long way to our rooms, my lips flicked up in a smile when he bumped his hip into mine playfully.

“Today was fun,” he mused.

I pushed him in return but the force of my hand barely moved him. He was like a brick wall, sturdy and unyielding next to me. I giggled at how I stumbled back when I tried to shove him. “Yeah…you’re pretty cool, I guess,” I replied.

On our way to the stairwell that split to lead us each to our respective rooms, my eyes locked on a familiar face. A breath clung painfully to the inside of my lungs. Nate and his friends along with three beautiful barely-legal girls headed right toward us—toward the night club a few feet behind us. His blue eyes fixed on mine and before I had a second to grab Harrison’s hand and pull him in the other direction, Nate smeared on a cocky smirk. He looked Harrison up and down and pushed his hands in his pockets casually while the brunette bobbing beside him slipped her hand around his waist. Harrison shot me a sideways glance and I shook my head.