Beautiful Chances (The Beautiful Series) (4 page)

“Okay, I guess that will do for now. Snorkeling it is—as long as you promise that we won’t see any sharks.”

His chuckle came from deep in his chest, and the sound made my insides stir. I tried to ignore it and shut it down. I deliberated over my strange but intense response to Kyle. It was not a normal reaction I had when I met someone. It was so much more. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.

“There won’t be any sharks, beautiful. If you feel scared, you can snuggle up to me. I’ll protect you.”

I smiled as l laid my head back to soak up the lovely sun. The tides were high today, and the crashing waves were a peaceful melody that relaxed me. As I took in his tone and his statement to protect me, I felt an odd sense of security that he would do exactly that.

I later crooked my head to the sounds of Kyle rummaging through his bag. As sweat beaded across my forehead, I lowered my cheek to rest on my forearm as I watched Kyle. He opened his sunscreen and began lathering himself again.
I would hate to see that beautiful skin burned, too.

Kyle stared down and tipped the bottle in my direction. “Would you like me to help you put some more on?”

Visions of his hands on my exposed skin flowed through me.
What would they feel like?
“Sure,” I answered.

Then, his warm hands began to rub lotion on the back of my legs. I held my breath as rapid sensations spread like wildfire along the path of his hands. Kyle touching me made ever nerve ending rise in awareness. I did not understand these overwhelming feelings coursing through me, but my body instantly reacted, and a low moan escaped my mouth.
Hopefully, that was just in my head.

A throaty noise emerged from the back of his throat. “I couldn’t resist wanting to touch your body. You are beautiful, Lily. And, of course, I didn’t want you to burn in the sun.”

An unrushed sexy smile tugged at the corner of his luscious mouth. His large, firm hands continued to leisurely make long strokes up and down my legs. Slowly, they made their way up my back. I bit back a sigh threatening to escape. My shoulders became putty under his skilled hands. He traced a pattern up and down my spine and looped up by my neck. I could hear his breathing grow rougher.

“Turn over, Lily,” he said, his voice deeper than normal.

I braced on my forearms and slowly flipped my body over. I blinked, taking in the full force of the sun. Silently, he started on the front of my lower legs again. It was the most sensual experience and such a simple act at the same time, but I had no control over the way he was making my body respond. I could tell by his body language that he was affected by being this close to me as well. His breathing had slowed, matching the pace of his hands tenderly caressing my bare skin. I thought my shoulders and arms were torture until he put his hand on my stomach. A second moan escaped my lips.
At least, I hope it was only the second.

His hand stopped just on my lower side by my hip as he turned his heated gaze on me. My eyes locked with his, and I could not look away. Nervously, I dug my fingers into the sand near each side of my towel.

“I want you, Lily. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone so much, and I barely just met you,” he said.

It sounded like a confession, and I wasn’t sure if it was more to himself or me. Either way, the effect on me was instantaneous as my cheeks turned pink at his straightforwardness.

“Excuse me?” I wasn’t sure if I’d heard him correctly. Maybe I was delusional from heat exhaustion because what he’d said seemed extremely direct.

“I want you, Lily. I want you to be mine. I’ve wanted you since the first second I laid eyes on you at the beach.” He shook his head. He looked as though he was lost in his own thoughts. “And I’ll be honest. I’ve never been much of a relationship kind of guy with the amount of work I do, but for some reason, the moment I met you, I knew things would be different with you. I’ll be patient and try my best to give you hearts and flowers, but I want you all to myself.”

Well, I guess I can’t call him a bullshitter. On the plus side, at least he’s forthright.
With his forwardness, I knew that I should run fast
and not look back. Kyle was intense and overwhelming, and I was in way over my head. But the thought of walking away seemed impossible. I was drawn to him, and I did not understand why.

“Um…how about we start with a first date?” I compromised with an edge of nervousness in my voice.

He let out a low, husky chuckle as he ran his hands up to the edge of my bathing suit just below my breast and down across my stomach. As he leaned over my body, I held my breath as he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. I restrained from sucking his thumb into my mouth, and instead, I released a small sigh.
Sucking his thumb in my mouth? I am definitely suffering from heat exhaustion around this man.

“Of course, Lily. We’ll take it slow, starting with snorkeling and dinner. No, we’re not having pizza, which you seem to be a huge fan of. I’ve never seen a woman who was so tiny and could pack in so many slices of pizza. We’ll go out on a real date to a nice restaurant.”

I was totally embarrassed that he’d apparently seen me before, eating pizza nevertheless, and then I quickly thought better of it. I wasn’t a girl who would give up my favorite food. I would just make myself suffer an extra mile of running along the shore to make up for the additional calories.

“I hope you have a sexy black dress and heels. I can’t wait to see these toned legs in them.”

In my mind, I was rummaging my closet, trying to decide which shoes to wear.
Hmm, I think I have the perfect pair to make the man suffer a bit.

“Okay,” I breathed. “Oh, and Kyle?”

“Yes?”

“I like wildflowers—you know, for the hearts and flowers part. Wildflowers are the only flowers I like.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Kyle beamed over at me. “In the meantime, let’s get back to our suntan, and I’ll remember to reapply your lotion every fifteen minutes.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I’m pretty sure the bottle says every hour if not longer.”

Kyle’s grin widened. “Better safe than sorry.” He paused. “How about we take a walk on the beach?”

“Sure.”

When we rose to our feet, he grabbed my hand to help me up, and I took in his full height, estimating he was about six-three. At five foot nine, I had to tip my chin to meet his eyes
.

I couldn’t help the smile forming on my face as I thought about my upcoming date with Kyle.
My first real date.
At twenty-four, I was embarrassed to say that I had not been on a date before. In high school, I had been very focused on my grades and getting into a good college. School and my family had kept me extremely busy and distracted from boys.

“Are you thinking about that date?” Kyle said teasingly as I walked a half-step behind his long strides.

A small blush crept up my cheeks. “You bet. I have high expectations for my first real date—”

I ran into a hard wall of muscle as he stopped dead in his tracks. He pivoted quickly, and his arms came out to steady me as he looked down into my eyes. I was glad no one was on this side of the beach as I quickly figured out my mistake. This was not a conversation I wanted to have with a man—let alone, this gorgeous man in front of me.

“First real date?” He hesitated. “Can you explain that, please?” He looked tense and confounded as if he was waiting for me to admit it was a joke.

My mind lost focus as I stared straight ahead, trying to decide what to say or how much to reveal to him. The sight of his naked upper body kept distracting me, and I just wanted to run my hands up and down his chest and shoulders. I needed to know what he felt like. I was overwhelmed with all these new feelings coursing through me.

“Lily? First real date?” he persisted.

“Oh, yes, first real date. Did I say something wrong?”

Kyle’s surprised look said we would discuss this further, but I was still hoping to avoid it. It wasn’t easy being a twenty-four-year-old who hadn’t dated…and was still a virgin. But I was definitely not going to discuss that or the out of control sensations my body was feeling.

“You’ve never been on a date before? Ever?” he asked incredulously.

“Ah, not really, no. Is that okay? If not, I can just head back to my cottage and forget—”

“Yes, it’s okay. I’m just surprised. You’re beautiful, Lily,” he answered kindly, looking gently into my eyes. His expression immediately softened as he took in my uneasiness. “I’ve noticed you have many admirers. I’m just taken aback that you haven’t ever accepted any of their offers, that’s all,” he explained as he took my hand in his.

“I’ve just been busy I guess. I’ve had a hard few years,” I said defensively, feeling like I didn’t owe him any explanation.

“Lily, besides writing, you haven’t been busy in the few times that I’ve seen you. However, I have noticed the sadness in your face.” He hesitated, clearly wanting to tread lightly. “I can see it in your eyes. I hope to one day lift that burden and bring light into those beautiful ocean blue eyes. But back to your first date…I’m honored, Lily. I hope I can make it special for you. Hearts and flowers will be new for me.” He raised my hand and kissed the back. “Come on, let’s walk.”

I tried to process what he’d said as we began to walk along the shoreline. It was a lovely sight of just miles and miles of ocean. The tides were rolling in, crashing against our legs.

When we came up to the large rocks, two boys came barreling around the corner, and they almost collided into me. Before I had time to react, strong arms wrapped around my waist. As Kyle tucked me closely into his side, I tried to stabilize my breathing. I realized that I would have been seriously injured if Kyle hadn’t moved me out of harm’s way so quickly.

“Thank you,” I whispered, tightening my hand around his.

“You’re welcome. Those punks are lucky. If they would have hurt you, I would have chased them down.”

I smiled widely at his protectiveness. It was a serious turn-on for me. I moved my body in front of his, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him in for a hug.

“Really…thank you,” I said, still shaking.

“You’re welcome.” He leaned down and enclosed his strong arms around my lower waist.

I smiled as I looked up at him.

“I love your smile, Lily. I will work very hard to see it as much as possible…every day.”

It warmed my soul to hear such comforting words while feeling a warm body pressed against mine. I had felt so lonely these past three years, and I knew the longer I enjoyed our time together, the harder it would be to give him up.

On the way back, I decided to fill the silence. I still knew next to nothing about him. “So, let’s move on to round two of the pre-stalker date scan.”

He snickered softly. “Fire away.”

“Ever kill anyone? Or do you have a stalking record?”

Kyle frowned, deliberating his answer. “Ah…yes and no.”

I immediately tensed and prepared my body for flight.

He laughed and grabbed my waist. “Relax, Lily. I served in the Army for four years. So, yes, I had obligations to my country. And no, no stalking record,” he said.

“Oh, okay. How long have you lived in California?”

“My whole life, other than my military years. I love it there,” he answered easily.

We kept walking along the shoreline. We passed a few kids who were working together to build a sand castle. I smiled at them and then continued with my questions, curious to know more about Kyle.

“Family?” I asked hesitantly.

“Normal parents. I grew up in Lake Tahoe with my family. My parents have been happily married for over thirty years. I have a brother and a sister. My brother, Ryan, just married his college girlfriend, Kate, and they are awaiting the arrival of my niece. We are all very anxious to meet her. My sister, Abbey, works with me in real estate. I have a normal dog, too, who chews some of my stuff.” He chortled.

I could hear the love in his voice during the brief description of his family.

“Friends?”

“I grew up with my best bud, Drake. He and I went to college together. We tried to stay in contact during my four years in the military, but it was hard. When I came back though, it was like I’d never left. I haven’t had much time for others since I work a lot.”