Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)(11)

“Neither do I.” My body shook as my free hand rode up the outside of his thigh.

He exhaled sharply as he slowly brought his free hand to the base of my shirt; disregarding the soft cotton in favor of my skin. I pulled it in tighter, making my desire clear. The tip of my fingernail drew a line of goose bumps on the skin just inside his belt line.

“Ahh,” he sighed as he lunged forward and laid me down in the sand, cradling my head in one hand.

Our lips found their homes in each other, and we picked up where we left off the night before. If square had a taste, it was his jaw. If clouds had a touch, they were his lips. Every pore on my body drank him in with such eagerness that I could hear their cries of gratitude. My body had wandered the desert for too long; Bo was my oasis.

His full weight wasn’t on me, as his legs were still on the ground to my side, but it was enough for me to crave more. I released my hands from his waistband and surged them through the back of his thick, loose hair. I forced our lips tighter together. A faint groan of relief escaped my throat as we worked our tongues together in familiar rhythm. I wanted all of him, badly, but it couldn’t happen here. Not in the sand behind Finnegan’s.

“God . . . November.” It seemed to be all he could manage when he lifted his mouth from mine.

Each time he spoke my name, I was recharged with a need I’d never felt before. It was unsettling, but only in the way drinking half a bottle of wine is unsettling. My quenched thirst had turned to emotional drunkenness; I had to sober up.

I anchored one hand to the sand, and slowly pushed myself to a seated position. He didn’t fight it, but our mouths never parted. When we were both seated again we heard the back door to the bar open; the second act for the night had finished, and everyone else in Finnegan’s wanted to enjoy the ocean breeze. Their interruption forced a quick space between us. Damn them.

“Shit!” I giggled as I returned my gaze to the ocean, my face hot with a desire I’d yet to feel in my 26 years.

“Yea, shit.” His voice was clipped and his body seemed a bit wobbly as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me in to him, “Next time I hope we’re not interrupted.” Once again an unidentifiable feeling ran through me at the sound of his voice. When he was on stage, it was one thing. This was different, it was confusing.

“Get a room!” Monica teased like the teenager inside of her that I loved.

“Mon, really?” Jo-sh tried to pacify the situation.

“Like you’re any better, Joshua,” I jested.

Bo laughed as we turned our bodies so they could join us in the sand. Josh and Monica congratulated Bo on another great performance and Josh asked if he’d be back any weekend in the near future. Realization grounded my live nerves; he was from New Hampshire, just here for the weekend. He owed nothing to me, we just happened into this and now he had to go home. Monica must have seen me turn white through my thought process because she shot me a sympathetic smile. She understood. In that same moment, Bo found my hand.

“I’d love to come back and play.” He didn’t release his grip. “I’ve actually got to stay in town this week for business. I’ve got plans Friday night, but I’d love to play Saturday.”

The color returned to my face and Monica’s smile echoed; no longer sympathetic, it was excited - devilish even. My eyes told her to “shut up,” and she took a long look at Bo before flinging a cheeky smile my way.

“Bo, let’s get you settled up inside.” Josh flashed me a sweet and knowing look. He knew Monica and I needed to talk; he was more emotionally tuned in than I was sometimes.

“Wait for me?” Bo tilted his head, eyeing me when he stood up.

“Of course.” I smiled back as I watched Josh and Bo head back inside.

“Ember! I’ve never seen you like this. What’s gotten in to you? He is so freaking hot,” Monica squealed.

“You just answered your own question, my friend.”

“Are you going to go home with him tonight?” Her seriousness drew laughter out of me.

“Geez Mon, I don’t know. I don’t really know anything about him. He’s hot, he plays music, and he sings. Oh, and he’s from New Hampshire, we have the same taste in music and we sing well together. That’s all I know.” My responsible side came up for air for the first time after 24 hours of swimming in desire.

“You two have serious chemistry. I haven’t seen that look on your face since Adrian.” She winced a little as she said his name.

“You can bring up Adrian, Monica, we broke up like five years ago. We dated and had great sex. I fell in love but he didn’t fall in after me. That’s all.”

Monica also knew that wasn’t all there was - she was there. She held me as I cried. When Monica and I first met Josh at Finnegan’s, I saw sparks between them immediately. Still, she nearly asked my permission to date him. She treated what happened with Adrian with great care, even though it was years old. Maybe she knew more than I did how much it hurt. The dissolution of that relationship didn’t dissolve my belief in love, though. What I was feeling for Bo was completely soul-shifting.

I had to tread carefully, even though my bones ached and my soul thirsted for everything he had to offer. I’d spent the last day trying to think spontaneously, to remind myself that I didn’t care he would have to go home. After just a second kiss, however, I was starting to care.