Shattered Ties(26)

“Sounds like she’s one of the stuck-up *s that I was complaining about earlier.”

I laughed. “She is. My dad is the total opposite though. He couldn’t care less about what people think of him. I never understood how the two of them ended up together. They’re so different.” “Sometimes, opposites attract,” Jesse said.

I gave him a sly grin. “Like us?”

“I never said that I was attracted to you.”

I raised an eyebrow, and he conceded. “Okay, maybe I did.”

“You so did.”

“You’re kind of cute. Don’t get all big-headed over it.”

“Me? Never.”

“Whatever.” He laughed. “Want to try the surfing thing again? I promise not to distract you with my shirtless, wet self.”

“You’re hilarious, you know that?”

“I do. Come on, let’s go surf.”

I stood and followed him back out into the water with my board tucked under my arm. We spent the rest of the morning catching waves. I fell off on almost every one of them, but I never gave up, and Jesse never laughed at me. He would just tell me what I had done wrong, and then he’d help me back up onto my board.

By the time we finally called it a day, I was exhausted. I carried my board to where our towels were, and I stuck it in the sand.

“I need a nap,” I said as I fell to the towel and closed my eyes.

When Jesse didn’t reply, I opened my eyes and squealed. He was no more than two inches away from my face.

“What are you doing?”

“Seeing how long it took for you to notice me. I wanted to make you scream like a girl.”

“Well, mission accomplished. That wasn’t funny.”

He still hadn’t moved, and my eyes dropped to his lips as he spoke.

“I thought it was hilarious. You need to get up and go home or wherever you’re going to go. I don’t want to leave you out here on this beach alone, and I need to get to work.”

“I can take care of myself,” I whispered, my eyes still on his lips.

His eyes turned dark as he noticed what I was watching. “What are you watching?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you want to kiss me, Emma?”

“No. Do you want to kiss me?”

“Nope.”

“Then, why are you still so close?” I asked, refusing to back down. I wanted to kiss him more than anything, but I wasn’t going to be the one who caved.

“I like making you uncomfortable.” He leaned in until I could feel his breath on my lips. “Are you uncomfortable right now?”

“No,” I lied as I tried to keep my breathing normal. My heart was racing, but I couldn’t let him know how much he was getting to me.

“I think you’re lying,” he whispered.

He leaned in that last centimeter and touched his lips against mine. He didn’t kiss me though. He just rested his lips there. Before I could stop myself, I kissed him. It was like I had no say in the matter. One minute, I was staying strong and fighting my impulses, and the next, I had my hand around his neck as I thoroughly kissed him. His lips felt incredible, and I couldn’t seem to get enough of them. I moaned as he ran his tongue over my bottom lip. He was going to kill me or at least put me in a lust-induced coma.

He pulled away first, much to my dismay. “I thought you didn’t want to kiss me.”

“I didn’t. You kissed me,” I said.

“Wrong. You definitely kissed me.” He leaned forward and kissed me lightly. “Now, I kissed you. We’re even.”

“Not even close. You kissed me twice, and I have yet to kiss you.”

He grinned. “Why don’t you make it even then?”

My breath caught as I stared at him. Whatever was happening between us, I didn’t want it to stop. I knew what we were doing was wrong, but I’d never felt anything so right in my life.

“Maybe later,” I said.

“I’m holding you to that. Come on, let’s get packed up, so I can go to work, and you can do whatever it is you do on the weekends.”

I nodded as I helped him pack up our stuff. I was still in a daze from our kiss, and I could barely pay attention to what was going on around me. I thought I’d told him good-bye once we had loaded his surf stuff in his Jeep, but I wasn’t sure. I pulled out of the lot, thinking that I might just be the luckiest girl in Santa Monica.





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I drove to work with the most idiotic smile on my face. I had no idea what had made me kiss Emma, but I didn’t regret it in the least. Okay, maybe I’m lying. I did know what made me do it. Spending the day with her, especially while she was wearing that tiny bikini, had driven me insane, and I’d clearly lost my mind. I’d spent a lot of time kissing girls over the past few years, but kissing Emma had been something else. She’d tasted as sweet as she looked, and I already wanted more.

I kept telling myself to stay away from her, that anything between us could never work out, but I couldn’t seem to control myself around her. She was beautiful, and she had a kindness to her that seemed to be rare in this world. Considering the first time we met, being able to say that was a bit of a shock. Instead of being the stuck-up princess I’d expected, she’d blown me away with her warm heart and down-to-earth personality.