His words made her lips burn for another taste of him.

“Alex?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to talk about what happened earlier with your mom?”

“Fuck no.”

His adamant reply made her sorry she’d asked.

“This is what I need.” His hands were big and rough against her face as he held her still for his almost violent possession of her mouth. Lips and tongue and teeth and needy moans combined in an explosive wave of desire. “Take me upstairs.”

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Jenny was moving toward the stairs before the words were fully out of his mouth. With her hand wrapped around his, she led him up two flights of stairs to her bedroom.

“This is awesome,” he said reverently as he went to the window to check out the glow of the moon over the water.

Jenny took advantage of the opportunity to stash the picture of Toby in her bedside drawer. Before the guilt could set in, Alex held out a hand.

She went to him.

“I’m sorry I was rude downstairs when you asked about my mom. It was nice of you to ask, but it’s the last thing I want to talk about.”

“I understand.” And she did. How could she not? She had her own list of things she’d rather not talk about.

He looked at her, seeming to see all the way inside her. “Somehow I think you do.” Glancing at the bed and then at her again, he said, “Is this what you want?”

“Yes,” she said without hesitation. For the first time since she lost Toby, she felt like she was exactly where she belonged, and even if nothing came of the intense attraction between them, she was determined to enjoy it while it lasted.

“I don’t share. If we’re doing this, and I hope we’ll be doing a lot of it, you’re not doing it with anyone else at the same time.”

“Neither are you.”

“Done. I haven’t been with anyone in the year since I moved back here. I’m healthy, and I can prove it. Do we need protection?”

After she’d made the decision to start dating again, she’d seen Victoria, the island’s midwife, about birth control. “No.”

“Jesus, I think I just died for a second there.”

“Please don’t do that.”

“Figuratively speaking.” He drew the tank top up and over her head.

Jenny’s heart beat so hard she could feel it in her temples and between her legs and the bottoms of her feet in a steady drumbeat of desire and adrenaline. She stood perfectly still while he unbuttoned and unzipped her shorts, inserting his hands into the back to push them down. The heat of his hands branded her bottom through the silk of her panties.