“I’m sorry,” she whispered. I glanced down at her face. She looked worried and embarrassed. Shit.

I kept her close to my side. Bending my head so that my mouth was at her ear, I pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. “Don’t ever say you’re sorry for that.”

She studied me a moment before replying. “OK.”

Bethy

Something changed that night. After that kiss, Tripp’s hands were all over me, and he wouldn’t let me move away from him. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world. I wanted him to kiss me again. I had been kissed before but not like that. Never like that.

The sun had set, and in the darkness, Tripp pulled me closer. His hands were under my dress now and resting on my stomach. His touch on my bare skin felt like an electric current coursing through me. I had no idea who was singing or what they were saying. My eyes were closed as I leaned against Tripp, and I felt his hardness against my back. When I had sunk down on it, I’d had to bite back a cry of pleasure. The sensation between my legs was new, but he’d moved me fast.

His hands slowly moved up until they rested just under my breasts. I breathed hard. I couldn’t help it. With each breath, his thumb brushed the underside of my bikini top. Unable even to pretend I was listening to the band, I laid my head back against his chest and inhaled shakily.

“What’s wrong?” he asked close to my ear. “Is this OK?”

I wanted to scream God, yes! But I didn’t. I simply nodded. Tonight things had taken a drastic turn. I had been convincing myself that Tripp saw me as a friend and nothing more. Then he’d kissed me. Telling myself that he just wanted to be my friend was impossible now. My infatuation was full-blown. I couldn’t hide it anymore.

“Can we go now?” he asked, moving his hands from their resting spot. I wanted to groan in protest. He was so close. The tingling in my body had been doing things between my legs again. It was driving me slightly crazy.

I managed another nod. Tripp picked up the blanket and threw it over his arm, then grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd. His height made it easy for him to navigate through the bodies, since he was taller than most of them. I wasn’t ready to go home, but the idea of getting to press my very needy body against his for the next hour sounded wonderful. Maybe I could find some relief then.

It wasn’t until we were out of the crowd that I realized we weren’t going to the parking lot where we had left his bike. We were going farther away from the beach to the stretch ahead where there were no condos or houses.

It was dark, and I watched for crabs as we walked farther away from the noise. My heartbeat picked up and the butterflies in my stomach started fluttering again as we headed into the darkness of the deserted beach. We walked under a bridge, and Tripp stopped and threw the blanket down before looking at me.

“Come here, Bethy,” he said. His eyes were hard to see in the darkness, but I didn’t question him. I was pretty sure that if he asked me to jump off that bridge into the dark water, I would.

He reached for the hem of my dress and pulled it off, then dropped it onto the blanket. “I can’t promise you anything, Bethy. And I shouldn’t touch you. But I want to so damn bad. Tell me to stop, and I will, sweetheart.”

Tell him to stop? Not in this lifetime. I didn’t say anything.

“Do you want me to touch you?” he asked in a whisper as he reached out and pulled me closer to him.

I managed a nod this time.

He dropped his head, buried his face in the curve of my neck, and muttered a curse. The warmth of his breath caused me to shiver, and I stepped closer to him. “You’re so beautiful. It hurts to look at you and not touch you,” he said against my neck, then placed a kiss there. “I’ve tried to fight this. I just want to keep you safe. Even from me,” he said again as his mouth moved to kiss my jawline.

I didn’t want to be protected from him. Ever. “I don’t want to be safe from you,” I said. Before I could lose the nerve, I reached up and untied my bikini top and took a breath as we both froze. It would fall down and expose me the moment one of us moved. I wanted his hands on me. I wasn’t scared of Tripp. I was in love with him.

Tripp moved first, and I closed my eyes as the top of my swimsuit fell down, leaving the breeze to dance across my bare breasts.

“Holy fuck,” Tripp whispered with awe in his voice, which made my nipples tighten up and the tingle between my legs ignite again.

It felt like forever before his large, warm hands covered me. The feel of his palm against me made me cry out his name as I reached to grab hold of his arms. I wasn’t sure I could remain standing if he did much more.

He ran his thumbs over my tender area. My legs wobbled, and I held on tighter, gripping his hands. “Look at me, Bethy,” he said in a hoarse whisper. I forced my eyes open, knowing he was going to see everything I was feeling reflected in them. I wasn’t able to hide my feelings for him anymore. Not like this.

His hands moved from my breasts. I started to protest before I could stop myself, but he pulled me against him as he reached around and undid the back of my suit so that my top no longer hung there but fell to the sand below. Then his hands were back on me, holding the weight of my breasts as he looked at them with reverence. I trembled, and his eyes looked back up at me.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Yes,” I breathed out. The desperate sound in my voice should have been embarrassing, but it wasn’t. Not when he was looking at me like that.