“Teasing me while you laid out by the pool,” he murmurs against my lips after he breaks the kiss, his breath a warm, shiver-inducing gust upon my skin. “Taunting me in this skimpy little bikini. I imagined peeling you out of it more than once.”

“You did?” I sound breathless. I feel breathless. His words conjure up all sorts of images, things I never thought I’d want to do with a guy who’s really just a stranger. One night stands aren’t a part of my repertoire. Kissing, a little bit of groping, that’s all I’ve ever experienced. My mother scared me all through high school, insisting I didn’t want to get pregnant like she did—yes she had me at sixteen, there’s some birth control for you—and I listened. Oh, how I listened.

And once I started community college, I worked full time and took night classes. I had no time for serious dating. Boys became a thing of my distant pass. I was so focused on getting my associates degree and getting into a good university, I couldn’t let a boy distract me.

Mama wouldn’t let it happen either.

But Mr. GQ—Gabe—is tempting. So beyond tempting I’m going along with his seduction, leaning into his touch, allowing him to kiss me again, his tongue teasing along the seam of my lips before darting into my mouth.

Oh holy hell, I felt that all the way down to my toes.

“I did,” he says when he draws away, his gaze heavy lidded as he studies my face. He looks…tired. Sleepy. I feel sleepy too. Dizzy. And I’ve forgotten what we were talking about. “I dreamed about you.”

“Did not,” I immediately say, making him chuckle.

“Did so.” His smile is closed lipped, full of wicked intent. “Dirty dreams, Lucy. Of all the ways I could fuck you.”

Shock runs through me. I feel it in between my legs, a jolt that makes my thighs quiver. I should end this conversation. I should, I should, I should. I don’t talk about dirty dreams with boys and I definitely don’t do it while sitting on his lap and letting him devour me.

Of course, I’ve never been in this sort of position before so this is all new territory for me.

“Listen.” I slide my hands from his shoulders to his chest, my fingers drifting across his rock-hard pecs. I’m momentarily stunned at how good his skin feels beneath my palms, at the low sound that rumbles from his throat, as if he likes the way I just touched him. Damn it, I need to focus. “Um, maybe we need to slow down…”

“I can slow down,” he immediately says, his mouth hovering over mine once more. “Just one more little kiss, Lucy. Please?”

He sounds so sweet when he asks. And his tongue swipes across my lower lip, just before he takes it between his lips and gives it a tug. Oh, that’s it. I cave like a house of cards, tilting my head to the side when his hand comes up to cup my cheek, his fingers warm against my skin, his mouth hot as it covers mine.

This kiss is even better than the others. Deep and hot. I’m drowning. His hand slides up, cupping the back of my head, holding me to him and I let him, revel in the feel of his fingers tightening around my hair, his tongue delving deep, his other hand squeezing my hip, fingers slipping just beneath the top of my bikini bottom and I suck in a breath. Shocked at the way he’s touching me.

Shocked even more at the way I like it.

I break the kiss and he lets me, his breath hot against my lips. I touch him there, tracing the plush contours of his lower lip, my gaze focused on that perfect, swollen, magical mouth and his breathing becomes heavier. As does the hand in my hair. So heavy in fact, it feels like a deadweight resting on the back of my head and I yelp when my face nearly falls into his.

“Hey,” I mutter in protest but he doesn’t make a sound. I tilt my head to the side, his hand falling from me with a loud slap into the water and I lift away from him to find that his eyes are closed. His mouth is hanging open.

He’s asleep.

Fucking asleep!

I stare at his beautiful face in utter disbelief. Really? He fell asleep while kissing me? Am I that bad? That uninteresting? I can’t even wrap my head around this. I don’t know what to do. I can’t leave him. He’ll drown if I do.

Irritation coursing through me, I can’t deny his good looks as I continue to stare at him. Can’t deny his kissing skills either. Because the boy can kiss, and he does it well. He’s good with his hands too.

But he fell asleep. And that’s sort of a bullshit move if I’ve ever seen one.

Deciding to go with my gut instinct, I pull away from him, chewing on my lower lip as I raise my hand…

And slap his cheek as hard as I can.

What the actual fuck?

A splash sounds and I sit up quickly, watching as Lucy tumbles off my lap and falls into the water, her head going under. I watch in complete panic as she breaks the surface with a sputter, the water running down her face as she pushes her hair away from her eyes.

My cheek hurts like a motherfucker and I cradle it in my hand, wincing when I touch it a bit too firmly. What the hell happened? One minute I was kissing her. Touching her. Enjoying it too. She’s responsive. I like the little sounds she makes, the way her body leans into mine as if seeking more but then…

Then I sort of, I don’t know, drifted off and now she’s glaring at me as if she hates my guts and my face feels like I just got clobbered by a two-by-four.

“Did you just hit me?” I ask incredulously.

The withering look she sends my way is answer enough.

“Why?” Did I go too far? I tried to be as respectable as possible but hell, I’m still buzzing. And I feel so tired. The warm water and excessive alcohol consumption is really doing a number on me. No offense against the hot girl sitting in my lap but I could sort of use a nap right about now…

“You. Fell. Asleep.” She bites out the words, emphasis on each one. Oh, she’s pissed. I get why too, though I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.

“No way.” I sit up straighter, brushing my wet hand over my hair to push it away from my forehead. I don’t believe it. I was kissing her. Getting into it too. My hands were exploring all that exposed skin and the kiss had gotten real serious, real fast. I remember that. I remember all of it…

Though there’s a tiny break in time where I don’t remember anything at all. Was her kiss that good that she like, literally blew my mind?

“Yes way,” she counters as she rises from the water like some sort of goddess. Droplets slide down her skin in crisscrossing paths and I want to explore every single one of them with my tongue. “You need to leave.”

I watch in disbelief as she climbs out of the hot tub, my gaze zeroing in on her ass and how her bottoms ride up a bit, exposing plenty of flesh that I want to rub and stroke and bite. Jesus, what is this woman doing to me?

“Wait a minute.” I practically leap out of the tub and go after her, taken aback when she turns and shoves a towel in my hands. “There’s no way I could’ve fallen asleep while I was kissing you. I was way too into it.”

I swear her cheeks turn bright red at my words but otherwise she doesn’t really react. Meaning, she’s really pissed. “Well, you did.” She gives her head a vigorous scrub, then slides that thick sea-blue towel down the length of her body, missing all the good spots. My hands are more than eager to rub all the good spots but I’m afraid she’ll bite one of my fingers off. “I know I’m boring but I didn’t think I was that terrible. So sorry to disappoint you.”